The title I’ve picked for my talk is meant to point to an important and often overlooked aspect of schools ICT: the power of understanding what we are trying to do and believing deeply and sincerely in its value. The idea of an imaginary is drawn from the work of Charles Taylor and is chosen as an anchor point here because of the depth and richness of meaning it carries in relation to belief and reason. For Taylor, a social imaginary is to do with ‘…the ways people imagine their social existence, how they fit together with others, how things go on between themselves and their fellows, the expectations that are normally met… the common understanding that makes possible common practices and a widely shared sense of legitimacy’ (2004:23). It’s about shared convictions and a moral vision. And it’s something we badly need in our area of concern just now.

By having a closer and at times perhaps slightly cynical look at what we actually use IT /ICT for and what we could do, I hope simply to draw-out some of the tensions and issues that inform the way we currently go about the business of schools ICT and suggest a few starting points for dealing with these.

For me, the idea of a new education imaginary is helpful. We certainly would seem to need such a radical re-envisioning of what we are about where education ICT is concerned. There are essentially two reasons for this: the changing nature of the kids we teach and the changing nature of the profession itself. Ireland’s young people are becoming more digital by the day. In her conference opening address, Minister Hanafin referred to the 95% on line mentioned recently in the papers. The true figure may well be lower – perhaps closer to 60% - but it is, none the less, significant how many of our students are in the digisphere, how often, and why they go there. They are ‘digital’ in ways that we see rather than fully comprehend: they surf, text, rip & burn, and IM like they were born to it. They are consumers of whatever they can get in terms of ready to hand technology and – increasingly – they are comfortably digitally literate by their mid-teens.

Teachers are also changing as a professional workforce. This is well captured by Andy Hargreaves when he writes that we are: “… living in a defining moment of educational history, when the world in which teachers do their work is changing profoundly, and the demographic composition of teaching is turning over dramatically. The vast cohort of teachers who entered the profession in the expansionist decades of the 1960s and 1970s are retiring. Teaching is becoming a young person’s profession again. Whoever enters teaching, and however they approach their work, will shape the profession and what it is able to achieve with our children for the next thirty years.”(2004)

In brief. The children we teach are changing. The core values underscoring education are going through a radical shift as the knowledge society impacts on institutions and modalities of instruction that date mainly to the 19th. Century. And while what we are (and what we do) as teachers is also changing, we are mostly seen as conservative in our methods and our views about learning, and in our usage of information technology in particular. We don’t do ICT like ‘they’ think we should. And this last point is proving particularly problematic for education policy makers not just here in Ireland but around the world.

This therefore is the frame that I’d like to set around the talk and in the nature of these things it will be more a sketch-map that detailed topography. But it will do, I hope. The rest of the talk is in two parts, The first considers how we got to where we are in terms of ICT usage – or lack of it . And the second and final part looks at what we need – in my view – to begin doing now to engage sincerely with the task of designing, developing and deploying education fit for purpose in the early 21st century.

Getting to here

Basically, in School IT2000 (1997)and in Michael Martin we got a man and a plan. For all its shortcomings and weaknesses – and there are many – the Framework was a reasonably robust policy statement. It held at least the possibility of action and direction and laid out many of the structural and practice centred changes that were to be pursued. And while Martin was Minister there was an undoubted urgency in the way IT was driven forward or more accurately driven into the education system. With his move to other responsibilities, IT was moved swiftly off the serious policy agenda. Michael Woods wasappointed Minister for Education and the schools IT project lost impetus and direction. One indication of this can be read from the risible quality and lack of substantive reach of the follow-on policy position – outlined in the wonderfully misnamed Blueprint document of 1991. It was late, vague and anodyne. Essentially more of whatever is politic but don’t ask for vision just about sums it up.

Does this mean that the Schools IT2000 legacy is all doom and gloom? Not really. We have a number of legacy features which go some way towards holding at least some of the gains made. These include the ICT Advisers network which collectively and singularly made a remarkable difference to the skill-base, ICT capability and ICT practices of teachers up and down the country. The NCTE which (despite rather than because of consistent DE&S support) manages to achieve some remarkable results in seeding and supporting education ICT. The quality and range of rich-media materials and that have recently come out of the Centre and the various initiatives it has put in place to secure and add quality to the digital agenda for schools, are worth particular mention. More especially worth mention are the very considerable leading-edge, sandbox and test-bed type projects that the Centre has funded or supported – SIP, SchoolSat, DLLI, DISC and ePortfolio, to mention a few.

Moving things on

The preceding sketch is brief . It skips much of the politics and the turf-wars that have characterised the journey. But hopefully it is enough to give a sense of how we got to where we are. And so this allows the question, where do we go now? Matt Reville noted in his opening remarks that these are ‘interesting times’. They are. But interesting times can be dangerous times, especially for the unwary. There are risks we should be aware of and the stakes are high. So what should we do to move things forward? I would suggest three things: • Use technology more imaginatively and in ways that better match the imaginaries of the ‘always-on’ generation. • Join / find / make networks of teachers who are interested in the smart usage of ICT and who will support each other. • Take those risks; from the school to Marlborough Street. Using technology more imaginativelyThese don’t have to be ‘invented’ they already exist. More imaginative usage involve activities like: Web publishing / blogging, using control technology, ‘Claymation’ / animation, authoring / using WebQuests, using digital Video in a number of variations (eg Fis, Greenscreen, min-movies, digital storytelling etc.), using Ready at hand technology ( mobile phones, pda, ipods etc), making digital music, digital radio / podcasting … The list is far form inclusive but in any talk it is only possible to give a flavour and to show a small sample of what’s out there. What hold the list together might be described as its acceptability quality. These are in the main usages that can resonate to some degree with teachers because of their fairly self-evident educative value. But there are other uses out there that are equally worth noting. These might broadly be termed ‘street uses’ – the kinds of usage kids themselves are more likely to be involved in or see as ‘cool’. This would include activities like social networking & file sharing, using chat / boards, Photostorage & sharing – names like Bebo, Neopets, Flickr surface here. There is also the growing area of gaming and on-line gaming ( PSP Nintendo, Doom, WarCraft, Halo) and the emergence of the multiplayer ‘movie’ (codex.com). Not surprisingly perhaps given the driven nature of so many young people (and their parents?) there is also the area of on-line help and tutoring. This would include sites like examsupport.ie – fast becoming an open secret in second-level schools throughout the coutry – and Gill and Macmillan study support. Joining, finding, making ‘smart-use’ networks‘Smart use’ networks centre around developing user capability, interesting usages, materials and resources for the classroom or school and then sharing these with others. In the true sense of the term it involves hacking. But given the scare-effect of this word, it is not too surprising that such networks and how they work can be a bit difficult to describe to anyone who has never been involved in one. Essentially they draw on the sort so ideas and organisational principles put forward by system innovation thinkers like Davis Hargreaves. A recent and easily accessed introduction to the core idea involved can be found in his work with DEMOS and the DFES Innovation Unit (UK) around the ‘Education Epidemic’ concept. These include ‘Education Epidemic’ itself and what has been described as the more teacher friendly ‘Working Laterally’. Both can be downloaded from or through the DEMOS website at www.demos.co.uk . It is important to note at this point that there are some really good illustrations out there of smart use networks in the education arena. One example would be the NCSL UK’s ‘learning networks’. These are good example of development-focussed, blended community – still very much a real world enterprise, a network of common interests – but with a digital aspect –it provides boards, and chat space and a resource area that is shared by the members. Another slightly more dated, very much more impersonal but still interesting example would be the US-based tappedin.org network. This is essentially a point-and-click, combined with text-typed platform which is used by (mostly American) teachers to trade & share ideas and resources and to update their professional knowledge bases. It is interesting to speculate about the power of something like this with the addition of VOIP applications such as Skype or GoogleTalk. It is also important to note that the idea of smart-use networks is not unproblematic. Smart networks are essentially about people connected to other people. Networks do not just happen: they are built and they have a maintenance cost. Also they requires vision and commitment to leverage effectively. This is part of the new imaginary we need and it is still very much undiscovered country for those of us in education ICT.
Taking those risks Is there a failsafe prescription for our new imaginary? Not really. But there are some starting points -- some risks -- that in my view need squaring up to if we are to move in a worthwhile direction:

1. Get serious as a country about schools ICT. It is a matter of disappointment to many involved in schools ICT that long recognised issues around the provision of a stable and effective IT / ICT network still remain to be addressed. As long ago as the Portmarnock Symposium of December 2000, a number have been known to be policy-critical: technical support, properly researching school usage, the challenges of integrating ICT into practice, the need for and value of test-bed / SIP-like projects. Sadly these are still out there… still needing to be engaged. We need a new ICT agenda. An agreeed, fully signed-up, partnership for education ICT: built on what we now know about schools and ICT and on the gap between our reality and what we know to be possible.

2. Learn from experience. So much of what has been done since the outset of Schools IT 2000 and in particular relating to cutting-edge projects has been lost because it has not been properly documented and disseminated. We are particularly poor at doing this on the policy making side but also as a professional group. The necessary lessons of SIP have been by and large lost to the national discussion – despite some really striking local success and achievement. Getting this right is about putting in place practices and procedures to help turn leading-edge into the commonplace and to systematically make sense of what works & why / what doesn’t & why not.

3. Be open to possibilities. Whatever the source of initiatives that might make a difference to what we do with ICT in schools, we as teachers should engage with these. Increasingly such initiatives are coming from ‘outside’. We need to be open to but discriminating about these. Involvement with programmes such as Microsoft Innovative Teachers Network, Intel Teach to the Future, Sun Academy and so on. Getting the best from these involves getting inside and turning them to our own ends. Having the confidence and vision to do this in part of the new imaginary.

4. Engage with new modes and usages. There is always something new coming down the line and while the danger of overload is ever-present, we really need as teachers to be always on the watch for the next education gain point. Some of these will be predictable enough in their origins; education podcasting and education blogging are direct switch outs from more mainstream ICT development. eTwinning and the new usages it allows through its dedicated web-service is a less obvious but nonetheless interesting. And ‘street uses’ like examsupport.ie should also come under the lens. This last example is one of the fastest growing ‘open secrets’ among exam-level students in our schools. As an example of emerging broadband-based usage it deserves close attention.

5. Be / become teacher activists. Judith Sachs (2003) describes well the nature of teacher activism. She sets it within the context of collaboration and peer development: ‘…teachers are developing new ways of working with each other [ways] that move them beyond what have been orthodox forms of association to more progressive and participatory ones’. Part of building a new imaginary for teaching and schools fit for our times means engaging these new ways of working and growing our professionalism. ICT can be a defining aspect of this process. It can be a disruptive force. But it can also facilitate communication and collaboration for professional development in ways not previously possible.

6. Shut the DE&S IT Policy Unit. As a country we are rather unique in our approach to policy and policy making but that does not excuse the fact that we have had no coherent national policy in place to guide investment and development of schools IT since 2003. And no real meaningful policy at all since 1999. This lack of policy production over a six year period has shown the IT ‘Policy Unit’ to be capable of little other than micromanaging pre-existing initiatives; and even this is done without vision and imagination and without indications of understanding the realities of trying to make ICT relevant and worthwhile at the level of the school. This is not the function of a policy unit. The result is a choke-point that actively harms policy development and leaves us further and further adrift in an area where drift is devastating in its impacts.

7. Position and resource the NCTE so that it is fit for purpose. The NCTE is a valuable asset and does stalwart work to advance the meaningful use of ICT in our schools. Yet it can only achieve a fraction of its potential because of the DE&S restrictions and constraints that it is endures. The Centre has an unrivalled grasp of the possibilities of ICT in the Irish school setting. Its mission is critical in delivering on the promise of schools ICT. But leadership in meaningful change needs time and continuity. The non-statutory nature of the Centre and the type of working arrangements result detract critically from its mission. Currently the core functions of the Centre are restricted to ‘delivery boy’ activities. This is an appalling situation and ignores the lessons of other settings where national technology centres have been vital to the information society project. NCTE can and should play a significant and meaningful role in terms of policy and the ICT policy process, leadership for change, teacher education and development for digital capability, and practice and field research. Given the appropriate level of autonomy and resourcing, I have no doubt that it would do so. And do so in a way that put us back in the game where preparing students for life the information society is concerned.

Closing Thought

When you are among those who make creative and educative use of ICT and other learning and teaching technologies it is easy to lose perspective. When a place is buzzing with talk about moodles, mp3 in education, bluescreen in schools, wikis, podcasting and so on it is easy to forget that we are still very much the exception rather than the rule. And to be honest many of our colleagues remain – for a variety of understandable reasons – less enthusiastic about technology in education. Nevertheless, as someone said at one point in the conference, the buzz is back. And CESI should take some of the credit for this; you have kept the faith. The arrival (finally) of broadband in schools gives us an opportunity. There is tide in these things. One that in the words of a technologist from another era ‘…which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune’.

We missed the last one and have been in the shallows long enough. Now let’s see if we can find the imaginary that will be our boat this time. It’s out there.