| What lessons can be learned from experience in other countries ?
Our findings
As regards the deployment of virtual learning platforms :
• It is gradual, generally slower than expected, and, depending on the case, concerns 40-55% of schools in the United Kingdom, Andalusia and Catalonia. In Denmark, however, 97% of state schools delivering compulsory education have a virtual platform.
• It is usually based on a combination of top-down approaches (those initiated by the responsible authority) and bottom-up approaches (initiated at the “grass roots” level), with the exception of Andalusia, where the top-down approach is clearly more pronounced.
• The governance of the process deployed – and of its follow-up after the platforms are operational – is based in Denmark on very close involvement of stakeholders; elsewhere, it is based on a clear but sometimes complex division of responsibilities in terms of implementation.
As regards their use :
• Communication between teachers and the management and organisation of school life are the most advanced uses, as opposed to educational uses, which are considerably less developed, whether in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Andalusia or Catalonia; active pupil participation remains limited in all countries, but in Denmark such participation is seen as being supported by the fact that the curriculum encourages project-based teaching.
• Communication with parents has only really been developed in Denmark.
• Administrative uses are very advanced in the United Kingdom, and are growing in Andalusia; generally this reflects the need to reduce administrative burdens in areas responsible for a significant number of schools.
Success Factors
In terms of the general approach adopted :
• Consider the implementation of virtual learning platforms first and foremost as a process (objectives, strategies, partners, stages, etc.). and not as an essentially technological intervention.
• Organise active, close participation by the different stakeholders (teachers, local authorities, commercial publishers of digital educational content, etc.), in ways and with an intensity appropriate to their respective roles in the virtual learning platform system, from the outset and throughout the process.
• Direct the technology towards educational objectives immediately – from platform design to implementation.
• Bring together the resources and multifaceted expertise required to carry through projects of the scope and complexity typical of virtual learning platforms.
• Organise (quasi-) permanent access to ICT equipment at school level, particularly in classrooms rather than in dedicated laboratories.
In managing the implementation process :
• Be pragmatic and patient at all stages of the process.
• Carry out more or less formalised evaluations, either integrated into the process itself or at regular intervals, to allow for any necessary adjustments or corrections en route.
• Use virtual platforms to solve recognised problems of organisation or teaching or to simplify unavoidable procedures.
In supporting teachers :
• Develop programmes and actions for training teachers not only in ICT and platform operation, but also in their pedagogical use, bearing in mind the value of running such courses online.
• Provide technical support, available during usage time (school hours and even outside these) and capable of responding quickly and effectively to spare teachers from technical tasks and enable them to concentrate on pedagogical aspects. |
