The Status of ICT in National Curriculum: Research Insights

1. THE STATUS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN NATIONAL CURRICULUM FOR COMPULSORY EDUCATION Marina Štibrić Branislava Baranović cerd@idi.hr

2. Knowledge based society and ICT • innovations in ICT, networking and rapid expansion of the Internet - key factors of transformation into knowledge society • ICT - a ground for effective usage and exchange of information and knowledge • ICT - one of the key contemporary educational requirements

3. Digital competence • one of the key competencies necessary for work and life in the knowledge society • in The European Key Competences Framework • involves knowledge and skills in ICT, attitudes towards available information and a responsible use of the interactive media

4. ICT and compulsory education • introduction of ICT into compulsory education was one of the most complex curricular innovations • ICT - a significant part of transforming the teaching and learning process • an agreement about the necessity of introducing and developing ICT in curriculum, but different countries have found different solutions

5. The Status of ICT in National Curriculum for Compulsory Education – the research results

6. Research methodology • aim: to find out what is the current status of ICT in compulsory education • an analysis of national curricula in 16 countries • ways of conceptualizing ICT in each country of the sample were compared to each other, and with the current situation in Croatia

7. Research methodology • criteria for choosing the countries:- members of EU- their educational heritage- achievements of their students in international comparative evaluations • the status of ICT: - isolated as a separate subject - ICT taught as a part of a few different subjects - ICT as a cross-curricular area

8. Finland, Sweden and Norway • broad curriculum frameworks, with ICT being taught within mandatory subjects • Norway - subject Art and Crafts • has the least ICT related content • Sweden – subjects Crafts, and Technology • Finland - subject Crafts, andcross-curricular themes Media skills and communication, and Technology and the individual

9. Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada (Alberta), Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand • both national curriculum frameworks and a subject curriculum • content of each subject and area is mandatory • Scotland – cross-curricular area Environmental studies, and later a separatesubject ICT • Ireland – subjects Technology, and Technical drawing; cross-curricular areas Social, environmental and scientific education, and Art; ICT is a tool for teaching Science and Arts

10. Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada (Alberta), Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand • England - interdisciplinary areas ICT, and Design and technology • Alberta – subject ICT whose program of studies is structured as a ‘curriculum within a curriculum’, and it is infused within core subjects of English Language; Arts; Math; Science; and Social Studies

11. Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada (Alberta), Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand • New South Wales - key learning area Science and technology, later Technological and applied studies, with a mandatory subject Technology;- connected withelective subjects Information and software technology;Design and technology, and Graphics technology

12. Scotland, Ireland, England, Canada (Alberta), Australia (New South Wales) and New Zealand • New Zealand - essential learning area Technology which has application to all subjects of the curriculum, but some make a particular contribution to learning in technology, such as Science;Mathematics;Home economics, Social studies, Workshop technology;Music;Art;Graphics and design, and The study of information systems

13. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Singapore • ICT is separated into (mandatory) subject curricula • Austria – subjects Technical education, and Technical education, textile education • Technical education contributes to each of the 5 educational areas: Man and society;Nature and technology;Language and communication; Creativity and shaping; and Health and exercise • Hungary – subjects Technology and the way of living, and ICT

14. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Singapore • Slovenia – cross-curricular area Information literacy; mandatory subjects Perceiving environment, and later Science and technology; Technics and technology, and elective subjects Robotics and technics; Electronics with robotics, and Electro technology • Singapore – mandatory subjects Mathematics, and later Design and technology- in technical stream: Computer Applications; Technical studies;and elective subject Computing

15. The Netherlands, and USA (New York) • flexible curriculum that has a high degree of decentralization • the Netherlands - learning areas Technology, and Drawing, art and crafts • New York - a curriculum based on the national learning standards • area Mathematics, science and technology which includes Standard 2 - Information systems, and Standard 5 - Technology with a Computer technology as its integral part

16. Situation in Croatia • a tradition of a centralized prescriptive subject based curriculum consisted of teaching programs for each subject • between 5th and 8th grade - mandatory subject Technical culture- elective subject Information science • a possibility for extra-curricular activity in the area of Information science in the first 4 grades

17. Situation in Croatia • in the curriculum for compulsory school it is recommended that while teaching the elective subject Information science, teachers should encourage the use of ICT in other subjects • by planning to bring the focus on outcomes and to introduce ICT as a cross-curricular area, Croatian curriculum is coming closer to the world standards in education

18. Conclusions • most of the countries have national curriculum framework which serves as a base for developing detailed school curriculum • Croatia still has fragmented subject based national curriculum • Croatian curriculum still isn’t oriented towards learning outcomes as in most of the analyzed countries

19. Conclusions • using ICT through the curriculum is an example of the way to acquire digital competence • even though approach to planning and curriculum control differs among countries, ICT is recognized as an important segment of education in all of the countries

20. Conclusions • while in some national curricula ICT is being taught as a separate subject, in other curricula it is a part of a few different subjects or a cross-curricular area • acquisition of knowledge and skills is fundamental, but • more and more countries are recognizing the advantage of using ICT in teaching other subjects

21. Recommendations • ICT should be included in national curricula as a compulsory cross-curricular area • it can also be retained as a separate subject • in the constantly changing environment there is a need to possess knowledge and skills, but also attitudes concerning ICT • every curriculum should emphasize the digital competence

22. Recommendations • to elaborate the status of ICT in curriculum of every system • to ensure adequate infrastructure and Internet access in every school • to provide network and multimedia materials • to develop teachers’ skills in using ICT • teachers ought to be given support in getting those skills in order to fully exercise potential that ICT has in making learning easier