Research Results
Report on IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' Information and Communication Technology Literacy
Prepared by Distance Learning and Information Technologies Unit, Program Development Branch, Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning
Interpretation and Profiles
- Basic computer operation
- Hypermedia
- Videography/Video editing
- Web Page Creation/Design
- Information searching
- File management
- Spreadsheet
- Internet research
- Graphics/Animations
- Database
- Networking
- Word processing
The following section is an interpretation of the differences observed between the raw scores on the Entrance Assessment and the raw scores on the Exit Assessment for each of the thirteen ICT skill areas in the rubric. It also includes charts illustrating the profile for each ICT skill area.
Most teachers identified themselves as already possessing skills in basic computer operation at the Accomplished and Exemplary level at the beginning of the project and many (59%) reported a change from Developing or Accomplished to Exemplary. Training in basic computer operation was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis. By the end of the IMYM8 year, 97% teachers reported being at Exemplary level in this area (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). (see Appendix Part I) It appears that a single school year involving consistent use of computers in the classroom is sufficient to bring virtually all teachers to a high level of skill in basic computer operation.
Pilot teachers report the greatest overall improvement of ICT skills in the area of hypermedia. By the end of the IMYM8 pilot year, 77% of teachers reported being at the Exemplary level in hypermedia skills as compared with only 26% at the beginning of the year (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level). A dramatic change in skill levels occurred in almost half (48%) of the teachers. These teachers initially assessed themselves at the Beginning or Developing level in their skills for hypermedia. These same teachers later reported being at the Exemplary level in hypermedia skills (see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). The Exemplary skill level was defined as being able to use hypermedia for their own classroom presentations and also having taught students to create hypermedia presentations (see Appendix Part XI).
Another dramatic increase in ICT skill levels occurred in half of pilot teachers who first reported to be at the Beginning level in their skills in using multimedia peripherals such as digital cameras for videography and video editing. These same teachers later reported being at the Exemplary level in this area (see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). Over 70% of all pilot teachers were able to digitize still images and video and use video editing software to create a video clip to insert into hypermedia presentations by the end of the IMYM8 pilot (see Appendix Part XII).
Pilot teachers reported major improvements in their ICT skills in the area of Web Page Creation. At the beginning of the project over one-third of pilot teachers had never created a web page. By the end of the project, almost two-thirds (61%) of teachers reported being at the Exemplary level (see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level). Of the nine teachers who reported no change in web page creation/design skills during the project, three teachers remained at the beginning level, one at the developing level and the other five teachers reported being at the Exemplary level from the start (see Appendix Part VIII).
Pilot teachers also reported major improvements in their ICT skills in the area of email use (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). Most teachers (87%) also identified themselves as regular users of email for accessing professional information from list servs, and as active participants in online discussions (see Appendix Part IX).
Overall, at the end of the pilot training, 74% of the pilot teachers rated themselves at the Exemplary level in the area of information searching skills (see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level). This is a 39% increase from those rating themselves at the Exemplary level at the start of the project. These teachers were able to incorporate logical search strategies into their inquiry and to teach their students to do so as well (see Appendix Part X).
Most teachers (81%) identified themselves as already possessing skills in file management at the Accomplished level at the beginning of the project and many (55%) reported no change in these areas (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). Training in these areas was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis. By the end of the IMYM8 year, all 31 teachers reported being at the Accomplished and/or Exemplary levels in the area of file management skills. (see Appendix Part II)
By the end of the project sixty-one percent of pilot teachers were able to use spreadsheets to store, analyze, and graph data (see Appendix Part IV). Training to improve spreadsheet skills was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis.
Internet research
Pilot teachers also reported major improvements in their
ICT skills in the areas of Internet research
(see Table:
Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level;
see Table: Percentage
of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see
Table: Self-Reported Increase
in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May
2000 to May 2001). By the end of the IMYM8 project all
pilot teachers believed they were able to make efficient
use of web-based search engines to explore educational appliscations
of the Internet. (see Appendix
Part VII).
In the area of graphics use, less than half of teachers felt their use of graphics was at the Exemplary level at the beginning of the project. By the end of the year, 77% of pilot teachers felt their use of graphics skills was at the Exemplary level (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level). Nineteen percent of teachers who reported being at the Accomplished level in graphics use at the start of the project, reported being at the Exemplary level by the end of the project (see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001). Exemplary use of graphics was defined as not only being able to use and create their own graphics but also having taught students to create and use graphics to improve their communications (see Appendix Part VI).
Although there was a low percentage of change reported at the Exemplary level for database use skills, one-third of the pilot teachers reported improving one level. Nineteen percent of pilot teachers reported moving from the Beginning level to the Developing level (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level). Of the eleven teachers who reported no change in their database skills during the project, four teachers remained at the beginning level, three at the developing level and one at the accomplished level. Three teachers had already reported being exemplary at the start of the project. Training to improve database skills was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis (see Appendix Part V).
Overall, many pilot teachers, through experience in using their classroom network, became more comfortable operating their network. At least two-thirds were able to troubleshoot and correct simple technical problems and could add or remove devices from their classroom network (see Appendix Part XIII). Of the twelve teachers who reported no change in their networking skills during the project, eight remained at the developing level, two at the accomplished level and only two teachers had already reported being exemplary at the start of the project. Training in this area was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis.
Almost all teachers (94%) identified themselves as already possessing skills for word processing at the Accomplished or Exemplary levels at the beginning of the project and many reported no change in these areas. Training in these areas was the responsibility of the school division Productivity Tool Training Person on an as needed basis. Seventy-four percent of pilot teachers reported no change in their ICT skill levels in word processing (see Table: Number of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Percentage of IMYM8 Pilot Teacher at each ICT Skill Level; see Table: Self-Reported Increase in Level of IMYM8 Pilot Teachers' ICT Literacy from May 2000 to May 2001) (see Appendix Part III).
