Research Projects
School Connections: Microsoft Partners in Learning
Project Director: Dr Hamish Coates
This project is investigating the use of ICTs in the middle years of school (Years 5 to 9). The project involves a partnership between Microsoft, NSW DET and ACER, and is overseen by Microsoft’s Partners in Learning NSW Advisory Board. The three-year project will provide insights to support and enhance planned educational change in schools in order to improve student engagement, learning and achievement using ICTs. In early August, 3000 student and parent surveys and 500 teacher surveys were sent to the participating schools in NSW, and the results are presently being analysed for presentation at a forum in late September.
Expected Completion Date: June 2008
Funding: Microsoft Australia
Deliverables:
- A theoretically-rich and evidence-based understanding of how middle-year students use ICTs to engage with their school study, and how ICTs can contribute to changes in student learning and engagement
- A series of focused documents for schools offering practical advice for using ICTs to enhance engagement, including through professional learning
- Documented replicable and proven methodologies that schools and teachers can use to incorporate ICT solutions into middle-years education
- A suite of validated research instruments for use with parents, teachers and students that can be used to measure, monitor and enhance the use of ICTs in learning and engagement
- A project research report and a series of papers for publication in leading international journals