This talk will look at the past, present and future of ICT in UK Schools.

The past

The first investment in ICT in UK schools began in the 1980s with each school being given a BBC computer but since 1997, when the Labour Government came to office, the investment has been huge. So where has this journey taken us over the last 20 years?

The Present

This section will look at where we are now and what research evidence and government agencies say about impact. How does ICT influence teaching and learning and can its effect on standards of learning be measured?

Reference will also be made to the collaboration between ITTE (The Association for IT in Teacher Education) and the TDA (The Training and Development Agency for Schools) and how funds have been used to support ICT in Initial Teacher Education and the impact on the use of ICT by the next generation of teachers in the UK.

Reference will be made to my own research on how ICT is being used by teachers in training and pupils in contexts outside the classroom.

The Future

Politicians from all areas are committed to identifying how effective use can be made of technology in the future. There is a huge programme of developing ‘schools for the future’ and there have been discussions about “where technology is going and how it impacts on the individual, the institution and education and related systems by 2025”.

After training to be a teacher I started my teaching career in Primary schools in 1970 and spent the next 20 years as a class teacher, deputy head and Acting Head and taught all age groups from reception through to 11 year olds.

During my teaching I studied for an Advanced Diploma in Primary Education and then took my Masters in Education at Leeds University in 1997.

In 1990 I moved into teacher training at Trinity and All Saints College (now Leeds Trinity and All Saints) which is situated between Leeds and Ilkley.

After teaching Primary Science and Design and Technology I moved into wholly teaching ICT with both Primary and Secondary Teacher trainees. I have also been an external examiner for ICT courses at Keele, Sheffield Hallam and Sunderland Universities.

Since the mid 1990s I have been involved with the Association for IT in Teacher Education and became the Vice Chair in 2003 and then took the role of Chair for the past 2 years. I have presented papers at the last 5 ITTE conferences as well as contributing to its Newsletter on a regular basis.

I have one book published: Using ICT in Primary Humanities Teaching and am engaged in research into student and pupil use of ICT in contexts other than the classroom as well as other action research into ICT use in classrooms.