What do you mean by ICT?
What do you mean by ICT?
Posted by PeterT on 08 Jun 2012
One of the major problems surrounding the use of ICT in education, and in particular the current debate about the role of new technologies in the revised National Curriculum, is that we talk at cross-purposes. This is because we use the same words to mean different things. Thus, for example, people criticize the teaching of ICT when what they really mean is the teaching of IT at Key Stage 4, or [more…] they talk about Computer Science in one breath and ‘knowledge age skills’ in the next as if they were the same (or even similar) things.
We need to agree some definitions for key terms related to the use of new technologies in the National Curriculum.
Given the high profile of the Royal Society Report on Computing in Schools (2011) it makes sense to base our definitions on the ones that they suggested – though with some adaptations to reflect the very particular focus of that study, which for example, explicitly excluded cross-curricula use of new technologies.
Computing: a broad term that the Royal Society report equates to ICT.
ICT: The National Curriculum subject (in effect a container), which should encompass:
Computer Science: the scientific discipline of Computer Science, covering principles such as algorithms, data structures, programming, systems architecture, design, problem solving etc.
Information Technology (IT): the assembly, deployment, and configuration of digital systems to meet user needs for particular purposes. (Note that this is narrower than the use in industry, which generally encompasses Computer Science as well)
Digital literacy: the ability to operate effectively as a citizen in the 21st century. It covers the following areas:
• Understanding the impact of new technologies on society, including the ways in which new technologies change disciplines (e.g. history, chemistry, English, etc)
• Understanding the nature of digital identities and being able to manage your digital identities appropriately
• Being able to interact safely in a digital world (encompassing e-safety, cyber-bullying, data security, etc)
• Being able to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, analyze and (re)present information using digital technology (including using dynamic and procedural representations)
The Royal Society Report explicitly excluded the use of new technologies across the curriculum. I have therefore added another key term that relates to this:
Embedded Technology (ET): the use of new technologies across the curriculum (i.e. in all subjects other than ICT). This requires understanding how new technologies change the discipline (which the school subject relates to), and how new technologies extend the range of pedagogical strategies available. It also requires competence in using relevant technologies.
There is overlap between ET and areas of ICT - but it is important at present to have an explicit term within education for cross-curricular use of new technology where learning through rather than learning about the technology is the primary focus.
The current debate often seems to confuse the preceding terms with what might be called ‘knowledge age skills’. ‘Knowledge age skills’, would include such things as: team working, collaboration, leadership, communication, learning to learn, real problem solving, creativity, etc.. Whilst ‘knowledge age skills’ may be learnt in the context of ICT (i.e. Computer Science, IT and Digital Literacy) they are NOT the same things, and teaching ICT may not be the most effective way to develop ‘knowledge age skills’.
References
The Royal Society (2011) Computing in Schools: Shut down or restart? London: Royal Society. http://royalsociety.org/education/policy/computing-in-schools/report/ (accessed 23-Mar-2012)
Comments
"Embedded Technology" is an interesting addition to the terminology, Peter. I think it flags up another dimension, that of teaching as well as learning. I can imagine a student wanting to gain a qualification at 16 in 'computer science' or 'ICT' but not 'embedded technology'.
One thought: how would you see 'embedded technology' as different from 'computer aided learning'? I suppose the term CAL is specifically applied often to the concept of learning a subject through the medium of a computer program, but I wonder if you've just opened up discussion on the whole terminology minefield around the naming of using computers/things powered by electricity/ to support learning...
....This of course opens up a whole can of worms around what we mean by "technology"! My definition? "Technology is stuff that doesn't quite work yet" :-) (nobody calls a kettle technology because it just works, nobody refers to using biros as 'technology suppported learning' - yet Victorian engineers would probably be awe struck by the technical innovations contained in these tools....).
I think it is always difficult to define precisely a subject that is "growing". IT is such a subject as all the time there is new content that needs to be included and new developments in technology bring up new issues. The definition for computer science is fairly easy to do - it is a nice self contained area, but as soon as you consider IT then there are so many different issues to consider from psychological to economic to legal. Additionally every new use made of computer technology brings us in to a new area, for example the increasing use of GIS systems is throwing up many longer term issues about their use. I am almost coming to the conclusion that IT is actually at least in part a social science rather than a science and is the study of how computer technology is used ( the IT above?) and how it affects the world in which we live ( the digital literacy but not just from a personal or short term perspective ). I think it is dangerous to be too short sited in our vision. Perhaps this view will generate some discussion!!
The nomenclature used to describe technology related areas in education is a big issue, with misunderstanding and confusion as the same term may mean different things in different sub-sectors of education. For example, Information Systems in HE is generally understood to relate to Library systems, whereas the use of the term Information Systems in Schools and Further Education is typically linked with data systems. This is only the tip of an iceberg with terms in use in one sub-sector not being in common usage in another sub-sector. For instance Information and Learning Technology (ILT) is understood in Further Education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used in Schools to describe the same technology.
Common understanding across the education sector with concise definition of terms should form a part of any review.
When these things are often discussed on the radio or TV it does seem that certain terms get kicked around with different meanings attached to them. It's an arena with so much happening all too often there are many buzz words and it's probably quite easy for people to feel left behind and disengaged. The terms above certainly help make certain distinctions clear to me and it would be great to see more work towards this.
Computer Science obviously has a nice wrapper around it and you can see this fits into being taught as a specific subject. There also seems to be a lot happening in establishing the core concepts at younger ages, with things like graphical programming languages and cheap computing through the Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
I like the description for Information Technology, with an emphasis of this being focused around the 'application' of technologies around a specific purpose. IT seems to be a polluted word that will be harder to redefine, specifically since it's slightly more focused here compared to the industry.
With regards to Digital literacy, are the kids in the classroom currently have discussions about the impacts of new technologies on society? I bet you could have some really great lessons around that!