TELA: Laptops for Teachers Evaluation—Final Report Years 9-13

1. Introduction

1.1 LAPTOPS FOR TEACHERS IN NEW ZEALAND

The provision of laptops to teachers began with the Laptops for Secondary Teachers ^STELA scheme which was one component of the New Zealand compulsory school sector ICT strategy: Digital Horizons: Learning through ICT ¹ (Ministry of Education, 2002a). Initial information sent to schools in September 2002 was followed by implementation commencing in November 2002 (Ministry of Education, 2002b). Following the success of this, further budget announcements have extended the scheme. The original STELA scheme was replaced by the Digital Horizons: Laptops for teachers scheme (Ministry of Education, 2003). The scheme is now known as the Laptops for teachers or TELA scheme².

Schools, not individual teachers, may apply to join the TELA scheme and they gain access to laptops for their teachers on the condition they manage the integration of the laptops into the school environment; this includes providing and meeting the costs of additional ICT infrastructure, professional development and technical support. Indeed, the Ministry information package for the scheme states that school commitment to these requirements is ‘essential for an application to succeed’ (Ministry of Education, 2004, page 4). Initially, all permanent full-time teachers in state and integrated schools working with Year 9 to 13 classes for at least 0.8 FTE were eligible to apply (Ministry of Education, 2002b). Now, permanent fulltime and part-time teachers in state and integrated schools working with Year 1 to 13 classes for at least 50% FTE are eligible to apply (Ministry of Education, 2003). Approved applicants are reimbursed for approximately two thirds of the costs of leasing a laptop leaving a deficit of around $7 per week to be paid by the applicant or the school Board of Trustees.

The scheme reflects the government’s commitment to increasing the use of ICT in schools to help improve student achievement and teaching practice.

The objective of the scheme is to encourage teachers to develop greater confidence and competence in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), so that they increase their use of ICT for teaching and learning, class management and administration. (Ministry of Education, 2005, p.3)

1.2 LAPTOPS FOR TEACHERS (TELA) EVALUATION

The purpose of the evaluation was to investigate the impacts of TELA laptops on New Zealand secondary teachers’ work over a period of three years beginning in 2003, feeding into considerations of how the scheme might be enhanced (see evaluation timeframe in Appendix A). The particular focus of this long-term evaluation project was to explore the impacts on teachers’ confidence and proficiency with ICT, professional growth and collaboration; on their lesson planning and preparation, and administration; and on their access to and the quality production of teaching, learning and assessment resources. Information over the course of the evaluation has been gained through yearly cycles of focus group discussions, individual teacher questionnaires and case studies in schools.

1.3 STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT

This final report is a summary and synthesis of the three years of data collection (2003-2005) carried out with secondary school teachers who were participants in the TELA scheme and reported in Research Reports 1 to 7 (see Appendix A).

The report begins by providing background information on international trends in the desktop and portable computers/laptops in education. The evaluation methodology is explained in section three, and in section four, the impacts of teachers’ access to a TELA laptop on their professional work are explicated. Enablers and constraints for teacher laptop use are described in section five. The report details teacher perceptions of how their laptop use has been sustained and accelerated in section six. Recommendations at national, school and teacher levels are made in section seven. The appendices contain details that may illustrate information given within the body of the report such as tables describing the changes over the three years in the different areas of teacher use.

Footnotes

1. Digital Horizons: Learning through ICT is the foundation policy document for ICT in the New Zealand compulsory education sector. It outlines the government’s goals in relation to ICT as an area of knowledge relevant to all students.
   
2. http://www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/tela