Abstract:

This paper will look at preliminary findings, outcomes and conclusions from a European Project on quality standards in the use of ICT in education. The paper will present experience of the project work, in particular the process of developing the ICT Quality Standards Framework by achieving common understanding of good standards in using ICT in teaching and learning and evaluating different approaches to learning. Also an ICT quality self-assessment tool will be presented along side its wide applicability to different education and training sectors across Europe.

Research shows that despite significant adoption of technologies in education the difficulty exist in demonstrating a measurable link to improved learning outcomes. Many existing reports present specific case studies with good outcomes but fall short of establishing an evidential basis to support good practice in the use of ICT in education.

Having this in mind, Fast Track Into Information Technology Ltd, a not for profit training organisation from Dublin, initiated a Lifelong Learning European project entitled: “A Quality Standards Framework for the use of ICT in Learning” (eQSF). The aim of the project is to develop and test a Quality Standards Framework (eQSF) which supports well founded pedagogies and evidence based good practices for the use of existing and new technologies in education and training. The eQSF will give education and training providers a framework to assess practice, record evidence and plan for improvement.

The eQSF is a developmental process, providing a support tool for organisations to document their ICT provision, while at the same time giving the opportunity to highlight the areas for continued improvement. The eQSF Framework sets out thirteen standards which describe effective education provision of using ICT in an organisation. The standards are grouped into three sections as follows:
1. Pedagogy, Practice & Values (Values, Learning styles, extending opportunities for learning, Assessment of learning)
2. Structure of the Learning Process (Curriculum planning, use of ICT in the Learning Process, learner input & feedback, Continuous Professional Development)
3. Leadership & Management (Strategic planning, learning resources management, partnership & networking, security and policies, ICT infrastructure management).

The eQSF implementation process should be viewed as a process to review and assess current ICT provision, to provide a structured process for continuous development, leading ultimately to improved teaching and learning delivery through ICT.

This paper will focus on the eQSF tool, a self-assessment quality process, by describing how it was created, how it was applied in different organisations during pilot testing and the feedback received from evaluators about its usefulness. Above all this paper will conclude by providing implications on how this tool could be implemented in different education organisations to foster the use of ICT in learning.

Keywords:

ICT, Quality, self-assessment, framework, European project, learning.