The Development of ICT in UK schools

Computers first found their way into UK schools as long ago as the 1960s. The first ‘A’ level GCE in Computer Science examinations were in 1969. During the late 1970’s, interested teachers introduced their students to microcomputers through the study of electronics and build-your-own kits. In the early 1980’s, as the first PCs became available, many schools acquired early BBC micros and Research Machines computers. Macintoshes, Apricots and Acorns were also popular platforms for school computing in the 1980’s.

In 1992, Tesco Stores initiated the annual Computers for Schools voucher scheme in partnership with Xemplar. Schools were enabled to acquire new computers, usually Acorns, and related equipment. Beginning in the 1990’s schools showed some evidence of purchasing PCs in preference to other platforms, though it is noteworthy that the Macintosh iMac was given a major award at BETT’99. A major difficulty confronting schools, especially in the primary sector, is that of incompatibility between different computers and operating systems.

During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s many secondary schools developed more substantial IT facilities, often setting aside a room specifically for IT with several networked PCs or Macs. By the mid-1990’s, there was a move away from keeping all the school computers in a dedicated computer room to using IT as a more general resource across the whole school. Some schools began to develop distributed networks and establish school intranets and web sites.

Primary schools have continued to use their BBC micros and early Acorns, supplemented by second-hand 386s and 486s and the occasional new computer obtained with the help of Tesco vouchers. The problem of obsolescent hardware is a continuing one for schools, not only in the UK but in all countries which include ICT education in their schools

Education Department’s Superhighways Initiative

In 1995, the then Secretary of State for Education invited the telecommunications, cable, broadcasting, information technology and multimedia industries to work with the education community to develop a commonly accessible national – and ultimately international – education superhighway. This marked the beginning of the Education Department’s Superhighways Initiative (EDSI). The Government funded an independent evaluation of twenty-five projects involving more than one thousand schools of all types, representing the full range of attitudes towards ICT. (BECTa, 1998). They explored aspects of the potential usefulness of broadband internetworking technology in school settings. The projects all involved partnership with commercial companies and/or the not-for-profit sector.

European Perspective

At about the same time as the first EDSI projects were initiated, the European Union was considering a document entitled "Learning in the Information Society – Action Plan for a European Education Initiative". The Action Plan concluded: "The Community, along with the Member States, should ensure that all schools, universities, and libraries, are connected to the knowledge networks by the year 2000 in order that all young Europeans can benefit fully from the multimedia revolution." (European Union, 1996).

Appendix B reproduces an appendix of the Action Plan detailing the public initiatives for multimedia education in schools throughout the European Union being initiated at that time.

Stevenson Report

In 1997, the Labour Party commissioned an independent inquiry into Information and Communications Technology in UK Schools. The Stevenson Report recognised that ICT in schools may be used for a wide range of purposes:

To administer schools
To train students in skills necessary for further education, lifelong learning and employment
To provide access to information and communication
To support teacher development
To support the learning and teaching process

It concluded: "If the next government does not take steps to intensify the use of information and communications technology in our schools, a generation of children – and a generation of adults as teachers – will have been put at enormous disadvantage with consequences for the UK that will be difficult to reverse." ( Stevenson Report, 1997).

The National Grid for Learning

In January 1998, the Government launched the National Grid for Learning (NGfL). The NGfL is envisaged as a ‘mosaic of interconnected networks’ linking schools with education authorities and the community. (DfEE, 1997)

The objectives of the National Grid for Learning as set out in the Government green paper ‘Connecting the Learning Society’ ( DfEE, 1997) are:

By 1999 all newly qualified teachers would need to become ICT-literate to mandatory standards to receive the award of Qualified Teacher Status.
By 2002 serving teachers should generally feel confident, and be competent to teach, using ICT within the curriculum.
By 2002 all schools, colleges, universities and libraries and as many community centres as possible should be connected to the Grid, enabling perhaps 75% of teachers and 50% of pupils and students to use their own email addresses by then.
By 2002 most school leavers should have a good understanding of ICT, based firmly on the standards prescribed in the curricula operating in the various parts of the UK, and there should be measures in place for assessing the level of school leavers’ competence in ICT.
By 2002, the UK should be a centre for excellence in the development of networked software content for education and lifelong learning, and a world leader in the export of learning services.
From 2002 general administrative communications to schools by the UK Education Departments, OFSTED and non-departmental public bodies, and the collection of data from schools, should cease to be paper-based.
The green paper also made the following proposals in relation to building the NGfL:
Creating an architecture of content within the Internet – that is, providing excellent content and paths to excellent content for NGfL users. …the first step towards creating this architecture of content was building a Virtual Teachers Centre.
Implementing a programme for delivering infrastructure to access the Internet in schools underpinned by a commitment of £100 million from the DfEE’s Standards Fund.

In November 1998, the Government pledged £1 billion to be spent by 2002 in equipping schools and training existing teachers in the use of ICT as a teaching tool. The NGfL grew out of the Education Department’s Superhighways Initiative and the Stevenson Report.

The NGfL is supported by a Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) sponsored Virtual Teachers’ Centre (VTC) to support teachers and provide access to curriculum materials. The National Council for Educational Technology, which for many years supported the development of IT in schools, has been re-constituted as the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTa), and been given responsibility for kite marking products, suppliers and trainers. "It will be BECTa’s task to ensure the companies are what they claim to be and help schools not to jump from the frying pan into the fire." (John, 1999)

From this year, 1999, trainee teachers are required to achieve a statutory minimum competence in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) before being granted Qualified Teacher Status. Existing teachers are being provided with ICT training funded by a grant of £230 million from the Lottery.

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