Key Learnings
The Ministry of Education carried out extensive research into the effectiveness of each of the first four DigiOps projects. They were evaluated in terms of meeting the stated goals and vision for Digital Opportunities – which was to ‘bridge the digital divide’ and use the pilot projects to ‘develop an understanding of how the use of and access to different technologies or technology-related programmes could enhance teacher practices, and provide additional student learning opportunities’.
The research design involved tracking each pilot across the range of stakeholders involved in implementing the pilot, with regular feedback from interim reports provided to the Project Manager- Digital Opportunities.
Among the benefits from the projects, teachers reported:
• Improved student attitudes to learning.
• Raised teacher skill levels in the operation of hardware and software.
• An increase in participation from the community through the use of new ICT resources and facilities.
• Changes to some teacher practices to accommodate learning with ICT.
• The acceleration of schools’ ICT development and fulfilment of strategic planning objectives.
• Raised student skill level in the operation of hardware and software.
• Increased levels of student interest in ICT related-careers.
• Schools integrated Digital Opportunities resources into ‘mainstream’ infrastructure.
• Teacher benefit from professional development opportunities.
It was found that the most effective use of the facilities and programmes was when teachers embedded the ICT skill focus within a planned unit of learning, or when Digital Opportunities resources were tailored to suit student needs.
The study identified some common requirements for project success that included:
• The ability to access readily available technical support in the event of a breakdown or outage.
• Making sure that any new technology is compatible with schools’ existing IT systems.
• Finding ways to ensure continuity of knowledge from teachers and facilitators involved in a project, in the event that they leave part way through the project.
• Ensuring that certification courses are not made compulsory for students.
• The active involvement of a facilitator or coordinator within the school who has a dedicated time allowance for overseeing the pilot.
• Ensuring that support from business partners in terms of hardware or software is well matched to the project’s intentions, and clear expectations set with the partner about their role in the project.
• Setting realistic project goals at the outset.
• Schools must willingly volunteer for involvement in DigiOps projects rather than be co-opted in.
• Regular professional development and training for teachers involved in delivering DigiOps projects.
For a full copy of the research report, please download the PDF.
Findings of DigiOps projects
