Abstract:
In the rapidly changing world of information technology, there is pressure for educators to acquire competencies and understandings in using new information technologies for their own as well as their students' learning. Australian university academics have had access to new information technologies such as electronic mail, discussion groups, file transfer protocols and other on-line services for some years through AARNET whereas school leaders have had limited access to related services. Has access to these services influenced a change towards an information technology culture? Have educational leaders become more information literate'?
Data from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the concerns about, and actual use of, computer-mediated-communication (CMC) by a large university Faculty of Education will be examined and comparisons will be made with preliminary interview data from school leaders in the initial stages of implementing on-line approaches to their own teaching and learning. Issues involved in changing to an information technology culture such as perceptions of its impact, the approaches used to acquire skills and understanding, the role of change facilitators, impediments to, and incentives for, change, and the actual levels of use of computer-mediated-communication will be explored in this paper.
Data from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the concerns about, and actual use of, computer-mediated-communication (CMC) by a large university Faculty of Education will be examined and comparisons will be made with preliminary interview data from school leaders in the initial stages of implementing on-line approaches to their own teaching and learning. Issues involved in changing to an information technology culture such as perceptions of its impact, the approaches used to acquire skills and understanding, the role of change facilitators, impediments to, and incentives for, change, and the actual levels of use of computer-mediated-communication will be explored in this paper.