An investigation of the impact of a portfolio based curriculum on children's ICT independence.

Abstract

Very rarely, in education, do we see innovation that promises and delivers educational benefits without negative consequence. In the early stages of the introduction of ICT into education, promises were made of improved learning, 'state of the art' resourcing and even a decrease in teacher's workload. However, the reality was associated more with problems of integration into the curriculum. That is to say problems associated with the assessment of learning, the lack of time or money and effective management of the new ICT resources. It is within this ICT context that this research is grounded. The purpose of the research was to investigate the extent to which ICT can support the development of children's independence and individual responsibility for learning. The study used an action research approach to track the ICT development of 30 Y4 children over a period of 15 months. During four distinct action research cycles, a variety of surveys were developed and used to assess the changes in the children's approached to ICT. Changes, that were as a result of the implementation of a portfolio-based curriculum, through generally, a more child centred approach to ICT. As a result of the implementation of the above approach, it was found that the children showed an increase in their independence. They became, on the whole, more responsible and competent through their ICT work. They developed a more positive approach to their ICT tasks and showed that they could be more self-supporting at home and at school. This research illustrates the effect of a more focussed ICT curriculum. It highlights how use of an ICT portfolio can develop children's ICT thinking, ICT skills and ICT language. It illustrates the effectiveness of an integrated approach to ICT and highlights the current curricular constraints on such ICT development.