Sustainability, Evolution and Dissemination of Information and Communication Technology Supported Classroom Practice

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Sustainability, evolution and

dissemination of information and
communication technology
supported classroom practice
ARTICLE in RESEARCH PAPERS IN EDUCATION MARCH 2007
Impact Factor: 0.51 DOI: 10.1080/02671520601152102
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Research Papers in Education

Vol. 22, No. 1, March 2007, pp. 6594
Sustainability, evolution and

dissemination of information and
communication technology-supported
classroom practice
Rosemary Deaney* and Sara Hennessy
University of Cambridge, UK
Research
10.1080/02671520601152102
RRED_A_215137.sgm
0267-1522
Original
Taylor
102007
22
rld29@cam.ac.uk
RosemaryDeaney
00000March
and
&
Article
Papers
Francis
(print)/1470-1146
Francis
2007
in Ltd
Education (online)
This study took place in a climate of an intensified focus on approaches to whole school improvement through embedding technology in teaching, learning and management. It examined the
evolution over time of classroom practice supported by information and communication technology
(ICT) and its wider implementation within and outside of subject departments. Three years earlier
a group of teachers in five secondary schools in England had participated in a collaborative
programme of ten small-scale research projects in which they developed a range of pedagogical
strategies involving use of ICT. These spanned six main Curriculum areas: English, classics, geography, history, science and technology, plus a language support group. The present study investigated the extent of development and dissemination of these practices over time, and identified the
underlying mechanisms and supportive or constraining factors. This follow-up study comprised an
interview survey of the 16 teachers and nine of their colleagues. Pedagogical approaches to using
new technologies proved to be robust over time, to be spreading from subject teachers to their
colleagues, and to be integrated into departmental schemes of work. However, findings indicated
that evolution of practice depends on adequate access to reliable resources, and development of
ICT as a school priority in turn leads to soliciting further resources and expanding practice.
Individual teachers confidence, skills and motivation towards using ICT to promote learning
develop in response to other contextual factors, most prominently a supportive organizational
culture and a collegial environment, and they play a critical role in the processes of developing and
disseminating new practice. These processes are thus complex and iterative.
Keywords: Classroom practice; England; Information technology; Learning communities;

Professional development; Secondary education
*Corresponding author. University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Road,

Cambridge CB2 2PQ, UK. Email: rld29@cam.ac.uk
ISSN 0267-1522 (print)/ISSN 1470-1146 (online)/07/01006530
2007 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/02671520601152102
66 R. Deaney and S. Hennessy

Introduction
Three years before this study, a group of 16 UK secondary teachers had participated
in a collaborative programme of ten small-scale research projects in which they developed a range of technology-integrated pedagogical strategies (TiPS) within their
subject areas. The teachers were supported by a university research team which
included the authors of this paper. The study reported here investigated whether and
how the teachers practices had moved forward over the three years, and what had
influenced these developments. It comprised a follow-up interview survey with the
original teachers plus nine of their colleagues.
The paper begins by describing the educational context of the study and relates the
research to previous work concerning practitioners developing use of ICT within the
classroom. Details of the earlier TiPS project and the research methods employed in
the follow-up study precede an account of the findings. The first two findings sections
report on the extent to which practices had both evolved and been disseminated and
the underlying mechanisms involved; the third section describes the factors that
appeared to have influenced these processes. A case study is then presented to
illustrate how particular factors and mechanisms came into play in one department,
and contrasts made with other cases. The interrelationships between mechanisms and
factors are discussed and a model suggested to show how these links may operate.
The paper concludes by outlining some implications for policy and practice.
Educational context
Over recent years, unprecedented Government investment in ICT in schools has
been directed at implementing infrastructure and connectivity. An exponential
increase in computer-based resources (including laptops for teachers and projection
technology: DfES, 2004) has ensued, and focus has now shifted towards whole school
improvement through utilization of the electronic systems and services that continue
to be put in place (DfES, 2003). However, the potentially transformative power of
technology so widely acclaimed within official rhetoric is not yet reflected in the reality of mainstream educational practice. Findings of a major national study, ImpaCT2
(Harrison et al., 2002), pointed towards the potential yields to be derived from
embedding ICT in all aspects of learning, teaching and management, but progress is
slow. Reports suggest that as few as 15% of all schools have so far incorporated ICT
in these ways across the whole school (Day, 2004).
In order to assist teachers to become competent users of the new technologies, 230
million pounds was made available in 1999 from the New Opportunities Fund
(NOF) to provide training programmes across the UK. Around 80% of eligible teachers completed the training, but feedback indicated that support at school level was key
to promoting classroom use of the new tools and more understanding of underlying
pedagogies was needed (Preston, 2004). Indeed, the continuing importance of
providing guidance on incorporating effective, subject-related pedagogy has been
widely acknowledged (see Cox et al., 2003; Ofsted, 2004) and is now emphasized in
ICT-supported classroom practice
67
the ICT in Schools initiative (DfES, 2003). The study reported here provides
unique qualitative information concerning teachers experiences of developing and
disseminating ICT-based practices during the recent period of intensified
Government focus on technology provision and training.
Integrating use of ICT into secondary school subject teaching
This project built on previous work in the area of integration of ICT use into subject
teaching. That research takes an evolutionary perspective on the processes of cultural
change. For example, Kerrs (1991) interviews and observations with American
teachers indicated that incorporating technology into their practice allowed obvious
and dramatic changes in classroom organization and management, yet changes in
teachers pedagogical thinking were slow and measured. Similarly, Nordkvelle and
Olson (2005) assert that teachers use ICT instrumentally in their practice to amplify
preferred, pre-existing instructional practices. Our previous interview and observational studies within TiPS project schools indicated that a gradual but perceptible
process of pedagogical evolution appears to be taking place (Hennessy et al., 2005b).
This involves both pupils and teachers developing new strategies and ways of thinking
in response to new experiences and the lifting of existing constraints.
This line of previous research has also highlighted the many factors which may have
an impact on teachers motivation to implement, continue to develop, or to share
innovative practice. Perceptions about the usefulness of ICT in aiding and extending
learning and challenging pupil thinking are influential (Cox, 2004), and the belief
that an innovation should offer added value above and beyond existing practice
(Hennessy et al., 2005b), is central here. New approaches must also be compatible
with existing pedagogy and be perceived as meeting a need. We might additionally
expect sustainable and transferable innovations to be user-friendly, adaptable and
applicable to other classroom contexts. Many studies have pointed to the practical
constraints operating within the working contexts in which teachers currently find
themselves. Indeed, Cuban (2001) suggests that the cellular classroom organization,
tight time scheduling and departmental boundaries that characterize secondary
schools, along with the demands of curricular coverage and assessment, may both
inhibit use of technology in classrooms and retard widespread changes in teaching
practices. Innovation and adaptation are costly in terms of time; developing effective
pedagogy around ICT involves significant input in terms of planning, preparation and
follow-up of lessons (Cox et al., 2003). Other contextual factors which can act as
barriers include: lack of confidence, experience, motivation, and training; access to
reliable resources; classroom practices which clash with the culture of student exploration, collaboration, debate and interactivity within which much technology-based
activity is said to be situated (Hadley & Sheingold, 1993; Becker, 2000; Dawes,
2001). Some writers distinguish between school level and teacher level barriers,
with teacher level factors such as pedagogical beliefs, technical skill and confidence
viewed as particularly influential (Mumtaz, 2000). Another literature review focusing
on barriers to using ICT highlighted the complex relationships between external or

first order influences such as access to reliable technology, and internal or second
order influences such as school culture, teacher beliefs and skills (Becta, 2003a).
Tearles recent work (2004) confirms that availability of resources and whole
school characteristics, culture and ethos are all highly influential. Similarly, in a
comprehensive review of literature concerned with factors that enable teachers to
make successful use of ICT, Scrimshaw (2004) cites the central role of school leadership and whole school strategic planning, but also notes how, at teacher level,
perceptions that link ICT with promotion of a student-centred pedagogy may in fact
deter some practitioners whose preference is for a more teacher-centred model.
Pedagogical adaption may thus represent a more difficult transition for many teachers
than the process of acquiring new technical skills (Fabry & Higgs, 1997). Dawes
(2001) describes how teachers develop professional expertise and the motivation to
evolve from being potential users (through the stages of participant, involved and
adept) to integral users ultimately; hence, potential obstacles may affect different
individuals and groups of colleagues to varying degrees.
Finally, secondary teachers in the UK do not generally work alone; the subject
department acts as a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), sharing
resources, approaches, cultural values and aims, and collaboratively-developed
schemes of work. Our previous work leads us to expect departments which work
effectively together as teams to constitute robust communities of practice within
which innovations involving ICT may be readily shared (Ruthven et al., 2004).
However, research indicates that practice develops over time and this process is not
automatically triggered by simply sharing information with colleagues (Loveless et al.,
2001). It entails developing ideas and trying them out, considering the principles and
purposes that underpin activities in particular contexts, and critically reflecting on
them. Likewise, Hargreaves (1999) stresses the importance of professional tinkering
in the collaborative processes of knowledge creation. At the time of the TiPS project,
participating teachers spanned the spectrum of developing expertise but shared a
commitment to extending their practice in using ICT to support subject teaching.
They also worked within a supportive organizational culture, as evidenced by the
agreed agenda of schools within their research partnership to focus on developing use
of ICT. We were interested to see whether these apparently favourable conditions had
facilitated the dissemination of promising pedagogic approaches; independent
evidence about this from the relevant research coordinators was central here. We also
solicited the accounts of subject colleagues concerning their ways of working together
in order to understand the mechanisms underlying development of existing and new
pedagogical approaches to classroom use of ICT.
Research aims and focus
This project investigated the views and experiences of a group of teachers who had
already invested considerable time and research funds in a process of developing,
trialling and evaluating some new forms of technology-supported practice in their
own classroom settings. It examined a further stage in that process, namely the
69
subsequent evolution and dissemination of practice to colleagues. The first aim was
to evaluate the extent to which ICT-supported practices initiated by individual teachers or collaborative pairs were sustained and/or developed over time. Secondly, the
study assessed the actual and potential extent of dissemination of ICT-supported practices within or outside their subject department, via additional interviews with the
relevant colleagues. The third aim was to identify the key influences and constraints
upon teachers in sustaining, extending and disseminating innovative uses of ICT to
support subject teaching and learning.
Our central research questions were as follows:
Which practices were still in evidence three years later, had they been further
developed by the originator, and had they spread more widely?
What were the motivational and organizational factors of influence? In particular,
were the sustained practices considered to be particularly successful in terms of
pupils learning?
Were there any obstacles to sustaining or disseminating practice and had they been
overcome? Were any emerging organizational constraints school-based or departmental?
Additionally we were interested in between-school differences in ICT ethos, and

these were investigated via contrasting a case study of one English department with
practice in other contexts.
Background
The TiPS Project
The Technology-integrated Pedagogical Strategies Project was the main phase of a
wider research project concerned with analysing, developing, refining and documenting effective pedagogy for using ICT in subject teaching. It took place during the
school year 20002001 in the context of a research partnership between
the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and state secondary schools in the
local area. All of the schools had identified the use of ICT to support subject teaching
and learning as a common priority for development.
Teachers participating in the TiPS project came from five of the partnership
schools and were funded mainly by the DfES Best Practice Research Scholarship
(BPRS) scheme. They were all researching and developing strategies incorporating
ICT within their own classroom practice and were represented by a colleague in each
school, acting as local research coordinator for the partnership programme. Details of
individual projects are provided in Table 1.
The university research team provided research support and feedback as well as
observing lessons on two occasions whilst case studies were underway. A cross-case
analysis of data derived from lesson observations, follow-up interviews and teachers
written research reports focused on two main aspects: teachers practical theories
about the contribution of ICT to teaching and learning (Ruthven et al., 2004; Deaney

Table 1.
School/
research
coordinator
Teacher
Colleague
Subject
Focus of TiPS project
Year
RG
History
Yr 9
Classics
RU
None
interviewed
ZA
Use of the Internet and other

resources to support project work on
the First World War
Developing search skills through
Internet research about Roman Life
Use of computer-based activities in
after-school club eg email, use of
DTP for compilation of recipe book
OT**
FE
Science
Use of the Internet to study the solar

system
Use of the Internet to study
ecosystems
Use of a technical design/drawing
package to support teaching of
orthographic projection
Yr 9
Use of text formatting tools to

support identification of poetic
techniques, textual form and
structure
Use of simulation software to
support teaching and learning of
electronic theory
Yr 8
Computer-based work on the theme

of homelessness and study of
Macbeth
Use of computer based resources to
support study of rivers and flooding
Yr 9
Use of DTP and web-authoring

packages to support re-versioning of
material on vampires for a Yr 7
audience
Yr 13
Use of word processing and

presentation software to support
production of Internet-based
material on vampires
Yr 7
Community AY
college
OL
(CC)/OL
LL*
Media
college
(MC)/QN
Sports
college
(SC)/LR
Technology
college
(TC)/SI
Village
college
(VC)/BI
Details of participants and their original TiPS Projects
EAL
VM
JN
MV
GR
Design
technology
LR
RE
BR
English
KE
AK
Design
technology
AI
SI
English
DR**
None
interviewed
Geography
YL
JI
Teachers
acted as
colleagues
to each
other
English
RA
Notes: * Interviewed whilst on secondment; ** interviewed, but had moved schools since TiPS Project.
Yr 10
Yr 12
Yr 9
Yr 10
Yr 8
71
et al., 2006) and the strategies teachers used to mediate the use of these technologies
within the classroom (Hennessy et al., 2005a; Ruthven et al., 2005).
At the time of the TiPS project, three of the five schools involved had specialist
statusarts and media, sports, and technology respectively; one of these was also a
beacon school. All were mixed-sex, non-selective schools and two included sixth
forms. By the standard benchmarks of free school meal entitlement and percentage
of higher GCSE passes, all but one of the schools were relatively socially advantaged
and all were relatively academically successful though only one was in the upper quartile range for this indicator.1 There was, however, considerable variation in ICT
provisionthe technology and media colleges being markedly better resourced than
the others, where inspection reports showed that limited access to ICT facilities
restricted development and use of ICT by subject departments. Since that time, ICT
provision has increased across all schools, notably in one school (SC) which has also
achieved leading edge status. A further school (CC) has been awarded specialist
(technology) status.
Follow-up
Three years had elapsed between the TiPS project and the follow-up study undertaken in 20032004. It was anticipated that some of the original 19 TiPS teacher
researchers would have left their posts during the intervening time and it transpired
that five were no longer working within the schools where they undertook their case
studies. Of those, two had taken up more senior appointments in other local schools
and another teacher was on secondment to the University Faculty of Education.
These three were included in the interview sample. Two teachers had moved away
from the area and these cases were not pursued. Of the 17 teachers we approached,
only one declined to be interviewed due to time pressure from other commitments.
All of the teacherresearchers who participated in the TiPS project were
established practitioners, motivated towards ICT use, who had volunteered to
develop their classroom practice in this area and were keen to apply research-based
approaches to their work. However their prior experience of using ICT varied
considerably. Ten of the 19 teachers had subsequently been promoted to management positions, either within their school or elsewhere and seven had continued
classroom research activities with funding from the BPRS scheme.
Research design and procedure
Participants
The participant sample for the TiPS follow-up interview study comprised three
groups: 16 of the original teacherresearchers, six of their nominated colleagues, and
the five research coordinators (two of whom were also TiPS teacherresearchers).
Cover funds were offered in each case to facilitate participation in interviews. In five
of the six cases where teachers had undertaken joint projects within their

departments, we interviewed them together (in pairs or, in one case, as a group of
three). In the remaining case, one of the two teachers concerned had moved away
from the area, so no joint interview was possible.
At the end of their interview, each teacher, or pair of teachers, was asked to nominate an appropriate colleague (such as the head of department, or another colleague
within or outside the subject department) who had used the approach or materials
that were developed during the TiPS project; it was important that this colleague was
able to comment on take-up within or beyond the department and/or shed light on
any organizational constraints experienced. In two cases, namely where teachers had
moved school or were on secondment, it was deemed inappropriate to seek colleague
corroboration. In a third case, the three teachers interviewed together acted as
colleagues to each other. Interviews were also arranged with each of the five research
coordinators in order to gain a wider view on the impact of TiPS projects within each
school.
In total, ten teacher interviews (five individual and five joint), six colleague interviews and five research coordinator interviews were carried out; 21 interviews in all.
In two cases, teachers were interviewed twice: once in their role as research coordinator, and once as classroom practitioner.
Interviews
Our survey was conducted through a series of semi-structured interviews so as to
explore in depth and face to face the salient issues underpinning our research questions. We devised and piloted three separate schedules for teachers (both individual
and pair/group interviews), colleagues and research coordinators, though there was
some overlap since all were asked about development and dissemination (teachers
only were asked about sustained practice). The colleague interviews were intended to
improve reliability of the data by providing corroboration for wider development of
the ICT-supported practice as a result of formal or informal dissemination, or, as
applicable, about any obstacles to this process. Similarly, research coordinators were
asked to describe any whole school or departmental organizational changes and/or
initiatives that had taken place within the last three years. They commented on
whether, and how, these had affected the use of ICT generally within the school, and
the further development and dissemination of ICT-supported teaching and learning
strategies. Where available, documentary evidence of sustained, disseminated and
evolving practice (e.g., worksheets and other materials) was also obtained.
Cross-case analysis
All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were segmented into relatively short units of talk and imported into a computer database (QSR NUD*IST, a
dedicated qualitative data analysis package). The initial coding framework was
centred around three main (but interconnected) themes relating to how the ICTbased practices had been sustained, developed and disseminated. A provisional,
73
detailed coding framework was then developed through a process of constant recursive comparison (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). It focused on teacher interviews in the
first instance and was then refined to incorporate new codes needed to capture
themes arising from scrutiny of colleague and coordinator interview data. The
prototypical categories employed in vivo codes (Strauss, 1987) using the participants own language to describe codes wherever possible, for example: technology
access; technical confidence. Through further iterative review, categories were
organized into wider, analytic themes such as organizational factors and motivational factors for final coding of all of the transcripts and interrogation of data
within and across schools. Note that coding was restricted to classroom uses of ICT
rather than including administrative purposes. All coding was checked by both
researchers.
The cross-case analysis incorporated two distinct strands:
1. Sustainability and development of practice.
2. Disseminationincluding the extent of, and mechanisms associated with, these
processesplus the supporting or constraining factors across both strands.
In each case teacher data were compared with colleague and researchcoordinator
data, focusing on corroborative, elaborative and counter-examples.
Findings are outlined in the following sections. A case study of one English project
is then presented which illustrates the processes of evolution and dissemination of
practice within one department in more detail, drawing contrasts with other cases.
Strand 1 findings: sustainability and development of TiPS practice

Extent of sustained use and development over time
All of the participating teachers were found to have sustained and further developed the
particular approaches and practices they had initiated three years previously, and to
be using technology in other ways as well. In seven cases, minor modifications or refinements had been made, for example instigating more focused Internet research activity
in Science. In eight cases, the practice had been developed in new or substantial ways,
for instance the introduction of electronic writing frames in English which allowed the
teacher to exemplify effective writing practice and to comment unobtrusively on pupil
work in progress.
Most teachers perceived considerable potential for further development of their
practices, either in ways which they could imagine themselves (mainly) or in ways
which colleagues had developed. In five cases, anticipated increases in technology
resources or speculation about how new technology might be used underpinned the
perceived potential:
This other lad in the department hes virtually always got the projector set up and is
using it to show just one thing, maybe from the Internet, how populations changing
Ive done it once since Ive been there and Im sure it will develop the computer work
for me is not finalized by any means. (DR)

All colleagues and three research coordinators similarly reported that there was
some potential for further use of the practice or of ICT more generallywithin the
topic or subject area, or in terms of cross-curricular links:
If we create a basic framework, we can substitute the information, change the information
and put it across any year group and do similar tasks at different levels but on different
topics, using broadly the same approaches. (RB)
All of the teachers also described how they had integrated either the TiPS practice
specifically and/or ICT more generally into their departmental schemes of work. (In
some cases this was a deliberate mechanism for extending the practice to colleagues,
as described below under Dissemination.) This progression had gradually led away
from classroom use of ICT as quite a big deal towards becoming part and parcel of
what you do (OL/AY). While the participants were clearly a motivated group originally, their technical expertise and pedagogy for using ICT were not necessarily well
developed. Over time they had shifted towards being confident, integral users of
ICT (Dawes, 2001).
Mechanisms for change
Mechanisms through which evolution of practice had taken place included trialling
pedagogic strategies over time and refining thembouncing ideas about to see what
works (RB); dropping unsuccessful features and extending them to new topic areas
or pupil groups. Lessons learned from trial and improvement included general ones,
most notably the development of more discerning use of ICT:
What perhaps the TiPS did do for some people in the school is question the effectiveness
of the use of ICT on learning. So were very well-versed now in seeing what is the point of
doing this. Could you do this better on paper or through dialogue? (LR/RE)
One teacher had moved away from an approach which tested whether ICT could
be employed for all activities within a topic series, and whether learning could be
devolved to the technology:
The work that Im actually doing using computers is much more focused rather than using
the computers for the sake of it, which I think was the big problem with the project that
we did. (DR)
Insights also related to the specific practice; for example one colleague described
the importance of leaving enough time for an introductory phase before conducting
Internet research, and for a final (plenary) phase:
We were tending perhaps to dive in too quickly to use the computer without enough reflection. What are our objectives? What are we going to use to get there? What search
engines are you aware of? (FE)
The other major mechanisms for developing practice over time were feedback from
colleagues, collaborative development, constant review and sharing of resources (this
theme is elaborated further under Dissemination):
75
I always like feedback on how well the booklets run, whether there is anything that the
students dont understand. The staff said that the students found that so difficult to do
wacky box first that. I actually sat and had to re-alter it. (JN/MV)
Because were able to collaborate on it together, it encourages us to then apply that
method to other topics as well (OL/AY)
This extension to new domains was corroborated by the colleague of this last pair,
who went on to emphasize the benefits of collaborative working for producing better
ideas and avoiding tunnel vision:
Were having a unified lesson planning approach we share resources, we flag up good
web sites on our Intranet, initially. (RB)
Another pair (VM/OT) described how colleagues assisted with updating of websites
and had new inventive ideas all the time which helped to improve search activities.
Strand 2 findings: dissemination of TiPS practice
Extent of dissemination to colleagues
Teachers involved in eight of the ten interviews had consciously and comprehensively
disseminated their practices within their own subject departments, such that all relevant
colleagues were reported to be using them in some form. A further teacher had moved
schools and reported some resistance to using ICT in his old department; his new
department was more receptive to change and the practice was starting to infiltrate.
The final teacher reported use of ICT by her colleagues but none that was directly
influenced by TiPS or herself as yet (although she planned to offer training).
Four colleagues were reported to have taken their own paths through adapting the
approaches or activities in some way, for example in design technology:
Weve reversed the whole booklet. We are all individuals you dont actually attack it
in the same way because weve all got different methods. What works for us wont necessarily work for the other one. (GR)
The need for cultivating a sense of ownership was also raised by an English teacher:
We did give a number of presentations to various audiences of what wed done and
hopefully thats been helpful to our other colleagues but I think people tend to find their
own way, dont they, through these things and try it out. (VM)
By contrast dissemination outside of departments was limited, although available

opportunities had been exploited. (This might be expected since some practices were
very subject-specific.) There was only one clear-cut case of successful whole school
dissemination. Here, materials pertaining to Internet research and lesson management had been distributed widely via a full staff meeting, teachers had talked to all of
the other departments and obtained feedback, and the approach was built into development work across the school. In three other cases, practices were beginning to
spread. One teacher had disseminated the practice outside the school through exchange
of ideas with a similar-minded head of department.

Teachers perceived a strong degree of potential for further sharing or demonstration of
their practice, especially within departments. In one case, the style and structure of a
teaching booklet produced was thought to be potentially useful in guiding other
subject (design technology) practices. In an English department, distribution of tools
on CD-ROM for analysing poetry was planned. Take-up of ICT-supported practice
by colleagues was in fact considered to be a lengthy evolutionary process:
They give their time to ProDesktop and learning it as and when they have to support
students being taught and its slow. (JN/MV)
You have to take a much longer term view if these projects are going to make a big and
lasting change, its got to have a longer time cycle somehow. Otherwise youre not
getting value for money. (FE)
Mechanisms of dissemination
Integration of practice into departmental schemes of work emerged in seven cases as
probably the most powerful means of disseminating the TiPS practices widely to
colleaguesthrough both encouraging colleagues to generate schemes collaboratively and in some cases actually making its use compulsory:
We all have ownership of the schemes of work because we work as a team to try and
develop them some of the ideas that came from the project were fed into [the] new
schemes of work. (VM/OT)
Ive learnt that the most effective way to make someone learn something as a teacher
within the context of technology is that you write it in the scheme of work and kicking
and screaming, whether you like it or not, as a teacher, you have to walk into a room on a
regular basis and deliver. (JN/MV)
Colleagues corroborated these accounts:

The A5 booklet has now been institutionalized. I, as head of science, did say Im really
impressed with this, I think its good and I made that very public, and made a public point
of including that in [the scheme]. (FE)
The latter example illustrates the pivotal role which heads of department in particular were found to play in disseminating practice. In two cases reluctant teachers were
recruited to the desired practice through this integration process, for instance:
Something else that [RE] has devised called a cyber-novel you get to a certain
climactic point and the kids then write the two alternative chapters, which are hyperlinked. When some people didnt get round to it we said, Right. Everyones got
to do this and the computer room has been booked for your group on these three days
and that way, it happens people might feel a bit bullied but we really think that all
the children are entitled to do this. (BR)
The originators played a key role in disseminating practice themselves less formally
through their proactive support for colleagues. In three cases there was a strong perception that colleagues required guidance, moral and practical support in getting to grips
with the new approaches, and teachers appeared more than willing to provide this.
Two participants highlighted the importance of demonstrating or working with
colleagues in order to break down resistance and barriers:
77
The first step is to try to show them what the potential is: This is how to do it, this is how
easy it can be, come and watch me teach this lesson once they get receptive theyll
start to appreciate that computers can work. (DR)
I think if you were able to increase the frequency [of] sessions where we physically
sit together and we all do then you would inevitably break down barriers to it that
way they gain confidence and learn it. (JN/MV)
By contrast, one teacher invited her colleague to observe some lessons but did not
see it as her role to provide specific guidance or resources: I gave her some web sites
but then I left her to it she wants to find her own feet (LL).
Support was mentioned as instrumental in dissemination by three colleagues
themselves, for instance: As I was coming up against obstacles and problems I
could then go back to [JN/MV] and theyll show me another little bit (GR).
One history colleague felt that colleagues from other subjects within his humanities
faculty would benefit from clear tasks to hold your hand through it (RB). Such hand
holding and a certain amount of cajoling was described by an English colleague:
If youre saying not only is the computer room booked for you but [RE] is going to come
too and show you how to do it and someone from ICTs going to be there as well! And if
you smooth out all the problems and say Its not going to be threatening and the kids
will really love it, you dont even have to do it, you can just come and watch and then
the next year you can do it yourself. In that way, the things tend to come through. (BR)
Physically sharing resources and approaches was a second important form of support
(mentioned by four teachers and one colleague). Mechanisms here included electronic
collation of materials, including opportunities to contribute good lessons or resources
to schemes of work or an Intranet. Careful preparation of user-friendly resources for
colleagues was mentioned.
Other aspects of the role of the originator in disseminating practice involved
exposition at department meetings of something that we can all use so that we all get a
feel for it (VC) or colleagues observing lessons and then hopefully com[ing] out and
do[ing] it themselves (DR). One colleague felt that personal contact of this kind
would be ideal but very expensive in terms of time and difficult to achieve (FE).
Opportunities for this were clearly dependent on levels of resource and willingness in
schools; a research coordinator elsewhere reported that her school financed a successful peer observation programme: you can go and watch people doing things that
you want to learn (BR).
Passing on experience of using ICT through training colleagues, on an individual
basis or in department meeting time, was another useful mechanism here:
When he learned ProDesktop first, he went on the training course, and when he came back
he said, Im going to teach you and my group at the same time. So he took the lesson and
I was a student (GR)
One colleague pointed out that merely including lessons in the scheme of work may
be insufficient and that the originator perhaps ought to sell herself a bit more in terms
of whats been achieved (FE). He believed that spontaneous realization of the benefits of a new practice was very rare and that teachers need to be involved in training

colleagues. While one teacher strongly preferred department level, personalized and
relevant training from colleagues to whole school training initiatives, his colleague
espoused the benefits of training over informal exploration:
I cant sit down for hours on end and play on a computer. Its not a plaything, its a tool
that I have to learn to use. I didnt learn to drive by driving a car round a field; I had
lessons. (GR)
There was some evidence of a perceived need for more training than was available.
One teacher expressed her view that in-service training on how to use the web as an
efficient teaching tool would be a very useful means of spreading good practice. A
research coordinator stated:
Its a question of finding time to fit it in and if you were to say the next entire INSET day
is going to be spent in departments with a focus on disseminating positive use of ICT,
youd get a lot more take-up. (BR)
In sum, a strong degree of departmental collegiality emerged throughout the interviews and this was summed up by a colleague who reported that he and his peers were
trying to drag each other along (GR) through sharing their evolving expertise.
Whether dissemination was planned or incidentalas in the informal conversations
described by one research coordinator (BI)teachers appeared to be embarking on
a joint learning enterprise where ICT use was concerned. However, this collegiality
and dissemination were mainly confined to subject departments. One research
coordinator attributed the lack of knock-on impact of TiPS to the isolation of
departments within schools:
I think schools do tend to be quitecollections of enclaves of different teachers and of
different subjects and the boundaries and borders between those really can be quite
distinct. Something going on in another subject area wont necessarily have been heard of
by another area or deemed to be of interest. (SI)
Factors of influence upon sustainability, development and dissemination

of practice
Three broad groups of factors were identified (see Figure 1) which variously influenced the processes of evolution over time and dissemination of practice for both the
teachers and their colleagues. Many of the factors emerged as both enablers and barriers to these processes and individual teachers comments reflected the aspects most
salient to their particular situations. The predominant themes are described in the
following analysis.
Figure 1. Distribution of factors relating to development and dissemination of ICT-supported practices
Organizational factors
Overall, extrinsic organizational factors or whole school characteristics were found to
have the biggest motivating influence on both sustainability/development and
dissemination of ICT-supported practice. The research coordinators provided independent evidence for this; indeed such factors were mentioned in all 21 interviews
conducted.
Organizational factors
Motivational factors
79
Pedagogical
factors
No. of teacher & colleague interviews
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Figure 1.
Development
Dissemination
Distribution of factors relating to development and dissemination of ICT-supported

practices
Access to technology resources was the most frequently mentioned factor in this
group. While provision had recently risen dramatically, competition for its use and
block booking of ICT suites meant that availability, especially within subject
departments, remained a problem. In addition to new types of software triggering
development since TiPS, provision of projection technology had greatly increased,
mirroring the national trend (interactive whiteboards in schools had more than tripled
in number over the last two years: DfES, 2004). Perceived advantages of projection
technology are numerous (see Becta, 2003b; Kennewell, 2004) and in our study the
introduction of whiteboards and data projectors had impacted very positively on
development of practice.2 These tools enabled teachers to model processes (such as
writing) using students work, to work more collaboratively with the whole class (e.g.,
on a history essay) and have a dialogue while youre working rather than merely
giving them instructions. Consistent and flexible access was seen as key to effective
use of projection technology:
You might need it just for two minutes at the beginning of the lesson but the current situation is where you have it and you feel obliged to squeeze every drop of blood out of it and
you dont get the best out of it. (RB)
However, even in the most well-resourced school, it was reported that teachers
were sometimes reluctant to use distributed forms of ICT because of the hassle
involved; for example time taken in fetching the laptop trolley, pupils logging on, and
in organizing sharing of machines: The smoother you can make that process, the
more likely you can get a take-up in the department (BR).

Moreover, system reliability was cited as a major issue in three schools; development of practice was impeded through lack of technical back-up, not through lack of
willingness and in one school lessons using ICT had become very, very high risk.
Organizational changes affecting school ethos or department culture since TiPSsuch
as new specialist school status, increased resource levels, changes in personnel and
prioritization of ICT by the schoolwere also perceived as having had a significant
impact on both development and dissemination. For example, bidding for technology
college status had engendered more of a focus on [ICT] in every aspect of the
schools work (BI). In another school, staff changes at senior level had led to an
increased focus on use of ICT for administrative and management purposes and this
had encouraged greater use of computing equipment generally; there was now said to
be a mindset that ICT has a role to play. In one very well-resourced school it had
become inherent and engrained within the culture. It was reported that staff training
was readily available, every department had a policy for ICT use and a nominated
ICT coordinator (see Case study). Despite the general commitment to developing
ICT that characterized each school, competing school priorities were reported as
having affected both development and dissemination of TiPS practices:
I dont think theres a general reluctance but it is a problem, particularly in light of all the
other things that have to be donethe Key Stage 3 literacy strategies, changes to the
SATs, changes to the GCSE papers and everything else. There isnt really time it sort
of gets pushed down the list of priorities. (AI)
One teacher highlighted the importance of having someone to drive the process
within the department. Similarly, where practitioners had moved or taken up other
responsibilities, uncertainties were expressed about how successfully an approach
could be maintained without the presence of the originator:
I dont actually teach it now, I just manage the teaching of it its all going to be devolved
to two completely new people, so itll be interesting to see how it pans out, what kind
of input is required by me to keep it robust. (RU)
Lack of time for familiarization with new equipment and for preparation was
mentioned as a constraint on both developing and disseminating practice, though this
factor was mentioned far less often by colleagues. One practitioner described how his
attempts to disseminate practice had been hampered not by lack of vision, but of
time: Its not that I dont know what to do, its that Ive not had time to do it (KE).
The increased planning time required for ICT-based workespecially involving use
of the Internethad ultimately deterred some enthusiastic colleagues from taking up
and developing new approaches:
They had some fantastic ideas on how they wanted to integrate Internet-type learning into
lessons and I think if given the time would produce fantastic lessons and schemes of
lessons, but in the end they are paid to be in a classroom. (VM/OT)
Subject Curriculum requirements such as the need to be doing research much lower
down the school, a much greater focus on poetry at Key Stage 4 in English and the
introduction of CAD/CAM in design technology had stimulated three groups of
81
teachers to develop their ICT-based practices. However, it was reported that the
demands of Curriculum coverage at Key Stage 4 made it more difficult to include
ICT-based activities than in Key Stage 3though more time was sometimes available
with lower ability groups where you dont have to go into the detail (DR).
Meeting Curriculum requirements had proved to be a powerful factor not only in
sustaining practice, but in disseminating it to colleagues:
When the Curriculum changed for Key Stage 4, Seamus Heaney was one of the key poets.
So many lesson plans, assignments and lessons that wed worked on, [departmental
colleagues] started to use and adapted them in their own ways. (LR/RE)
Similarly, elsewhere, focused activities devised during the TiPS project were
promoted confidently to departmental colleagues because: We knew now that it
worked It kind of ticks the right boxes as far as the National Curriculum goes
(VC).
The role of training in relation to disseminating practice was cited as influential in
three teacher interviews and referred to by four colleagues. In two schools, ICT skills
training for staff was readily available and this facility was seen as helpful in supporting staff who were keen to take up ICT-based practices:
Some people, rare people will connect with it, see how it affects them and they can
see Oh yeah, that will benefit, and theyll then build it into their teaching. Thats very
rare. You have to have an ongoing process youve got to have some form of training
for most people theres got to be that personal contact. (FE)
This view was also reflected in one research coordinators call for dissemination
activities to include more structured training, providing an action plan and continued support (SI).
Motivational factors
Two internal or motivational factors, namely teachers technical confidence and confidence in approach played a key role too, although they were linked twice as often to
dissemination, and thus more to colleagues confidence levels. The teachers involved
in TiPSwhile not experts initiallyhad subsequently used ICT regularly for over
three years and may therefore have developed their confidence to higher levels than
colleagues coming to it more recently. Many teachers had been involved in supporting colleagues through disseminating practice and the mechanisms they adopted are
outlined in the previous section. Lack of confidence in classroom use of technology
was viewed as a major inhibitor to take-up of TiPS approaches: It comes down to
people actually using the technology, building their own confidence and thinking
Yes, I can do this with a group of 30 students (VM/OT).
One pair spoke of staff who were very hesitant and nervous about using ICT, even
in the simplest ways. Their solution in helping them get over that barrier was to
shape the practice into more accessible mini packages (see Case study). The
colleague of this pair indicated that provision of laptops for staff had contributed to
growth of confidence and take-up of the TiPS practice.

Teachers and their colleagues highlighted the importance not only of developing
confidence and competence in use of the technology but also in the pedagogical
approaches at the heart of each practice:
I think people tend to take an individual lesson plan for a particular lesson but Im not
sure that they necessarily work in the way that we work but because its quite a long
road that youre on before youre confident about whats worth doing and what isnt, its
quite hard just to say to people, Heres a strategy. Off you go because with experience
you learn a lot of things which give you confidence about how to run the lessons, what you
really need is somebody who wants to come on the journey in the same way and fall into
a few pits (LR/RE)
One colleague felt that provision of additional guidance and accompanying tasks
would facilitate more effective use of the resources by other staff.
The emerging theme of affinity with a particular approach concerned the notion
that individuals were more likely to take up a practice if it resonated with their own
pedagogical ideas. For example, one colleague spoke of take-up of practice by new
members of staff who were very keen on that approach too. (The affinity theme may
be related to previous research illustrating that teachers who successfully integrate
ICT tend to be those with an innovative pedagogic outlook: see Harrison et al., 2002.)
The extent to which an individual perceived the approach to have immediate relevance to their own teaching area was seen as important too.
Finally, technology skills and experience, resistance to change, and teacher age
(younger teachers were construed as natural and innovative users of ICT) were also
influential.
Pedagogical factors
All of the teachers and almost all of their colleagues considered the practices they had
developed to be largely successful in terms of enhancing pupils learning. The terms
in which success was perceived reflected the spectrum of different approaches which
teachers had developed and often related to the affordances of the technology, for
example facilitating more collaborative working with pupils during lessons, widening
the range of available resources and enabling links to be made with the everyday world
outside school. In two casesEnglish (YL/JY) and design technology (KE)
improved examination results had reportedly been achieved in modules incorporating
work with ICT. For the two science teachers who had produced a set of practical
guidelines for using the Internet in teaching, success was seen in terms of the generic
nature and applicability of the principles they had proposeda view corroborated by
their colleague:
So I was interested to see what their research had to say, because I was a bit concerned
whether the students were getting as much out of [using the Internet] as they could. It
seemed to me that the kids were treating it a bit like a jolly, etc. So it was useful reading
through what theyd put because the next lesson that I taught was radically different;
much, much more successful, and subsequent lessons have been. I have to say, it did
work. (FE)
83
The need to show evidence of genuine, useful learning was a strong factor for two
English teachers:
I do think that the whole business of feeling the need to be able to defend what youre
doing in terms of genuine, useful learning, that was really brought home to us [by
TiPS]. That has informed what weve been doing ever since. So even when we
seem to be moving quite slowly in terms of further progress were not that bothered
by that because were aware that real progress, its something quite interesting. (LR/
RE)
Their colleague (recently appointed head of department, who had previously

developed similar ways of working) described success of the practice in detailed
terms, closely linked with pupil motivation:
Somehow, annotating poetry on the computer is more interesting than annotating poetry
in a book. So youve got this whole motivational force behind it, but its useful as a way
in to looking at the actual poem and its not the be all and end all, you know, sort of
colouring in the poem and rearranging it but if you can grasp their attention that
way get them to do a little bit of feature-spotting, having done that bit, its more easy
to say OK, well why is that being used? Whats the effect of that? Whats the overall
effect of the poem? Can you see how these different elements are kind of fitted together?
(BR)
Pupil motivation was an important factor in accounts relating to development and

to a lesser extent, dissemination. These findings resonate with other recent work
concerning both the motivational effect of ICT on pupils (Passey et al., 2004) and the
critical impact of teacher beliefs about the benefits of classroom ICT use for students
(e.g., Cox, 2004; Ruthven et al., 2004; Tearle, 2004). Software tools were seen as
enabling pupils to process material more efficiently and to produce neater work: Its
quite complex because theyre dealing with so many different pieces of evidence and
the computer actually helps them record it but also helps them sift it quite quickly
(OL/AY).
One group of teachers strategically planned their use of ICT to motivate pupils
towards the subject trying to do things that kind of we hope will switch children on
to English (VC). The two history teachers spoke of ICT providing a really exciting
experience and in design technology, use of a design package encouraged pupils to
see and learn and get inspired.
However, comments relating to dissemination also focused on the need for discriminating use. For example, one pair described how, during their early work with ICT,
colleagues had been attracted to it because screens looked lovely and jazzy and the
class looked absorbed and interested whereas pupils were actually just labelling
things they didnt understand and that wasnt productive (LR/RE). Similarly, a
research coordinator in another school noted that pupils habituating to the new technology could obstruct wider dissemination.
The following case study brings together some of the themes outlined in previous
sections. It describes in some detail the comparatively favourable school context in
which two of the TiPS English teachers (LR & RE) were working. It highlights some
of the institutional features that were reported to have influenced the development

and dissemination of their practice over time. Contrasts are then made with other
departments in our sample.
Case study: evolution of ICT-supported English practice in a highly
resourced school
The school (SC) is a mixed sex, non-selective village college in Cambridgeshire with
1150 pupils aged 11 to 16 years old. It is a foundation training school, with specialist
sports college and leading edge status (gained in 2003)all of which have attracted
additional funding for expansion of facilities. Two per cent of students are entitled to
free school meals and an outstanding proportion, 85%, achieved five A*C grades at
GCSE in 2003 (the year of our follow-up study). Access to ICT resources increased
significantly during the three years between our studies through provision of four
additional computer rooms, laptops for every teacher, data projectors, several sets of
pupil laptops and development of an intranet to enable sharing of resources. The
English department now has a dedicated ICT room and two data projectors, and
plans to install a projector in each of the six teaching rooms within the next year.
Every department has an ICT policy and a nominated ICT coordinator whose role is
to identify ICT dimensions of courses and facilitate access; staff ICT skills training
is offered at all levels by an advanced skills teacher.
A recent Ofsted report (2004, p. 11) indicates that the majority of teachers are
actively involved in developing their work by undertaking research or by leading
innovation, within a culture and atmosphere where innovation and experiment are
the norm. The school is on the list of the 123 most outstanding secondary schools
in England.3 Provision and performance in English are deemed excellent:
The department is an enthusiastic and reflective team, with a strong interest in developing
and sharing good practice. Several members of staff are involved in action research projects
which directly benefit the students, including work on the modelling of writing using ICT.
(Ofsted, 2004, p. 32)
Throughout the school peer observation is supported by funding from the central
budget to cover each teacher for three periods per year. Since the school is successful
with lots of initiatives on the go at once, departmental training time is mainly dedicated to current whole school programmes. However the head of department (BR, a
highly enthusiastic, research active, innovative teacher who works widely with ICT)
has encouraged staff to use their peer observation time to develop ICT-based practice.
The TiPS project of LR and RE focused on the use of text processing tools to assist
the (re)organization and (re)presentation of poetic texts so as to explore form, content
and genre. They aimed to improve pupils capacity to identify techniques by which
writers persuade and affect. For example, one task involved pupils highlighting
instances of alliteration and assonance and annotating these electronically with
comments on the perceived effectiveness of the poetic devices. The teachers had
subsequently developed this approach to create toolkits or mini-packages containing
source material and suggestions for suitable analysis techniques. Their initial decision
to focus on poetry had been driven by a requirement for greater emphasis on this
85
genre in the Key Stage 4 syllabus; through trialling and refining the approach they
were able to pass on to colleagues the things that work.
Another aspect of LR and REs work was the use of hyperlinks to support the
construction of new texts. Whilst the initial inclusion of this approach within departmental schemes of work did not result in universal take-up, the head of departments
subsequent strategy of making it mandatory, pre-booking the computer room, having
both a TiPS teacher on hand to demonstrate the approach and an ICT teacher to
troubleshoot technical problems and provide skills support, proved highly successful
and all staff in the department now use the materials. Her rationale for the presence
of an ICT teacher was to enable the subject teacher to continue English teaching
and because you cant ask teachers to teach a skill they havent got themselves. In
order to ensure that pupils were equipped with specific technical skills (for example
hyperlinking), these had been written into the global ICT schemes of work. (This
contrasted with School VC where TiPS teachers commented on the lack of such
synchronization: its like were laying the foundations for the ICT department for
what comes later in other areas.)
At School SC, although equivalent resources and training opportunities were
available across all departments, another TiPS practice (using simulation software to
support teaching of electronics in design technology) had been less widely disseminatedpartly because it related to a specialist area but also because of the identified
need for a person to drive it all. Here, the TiPS practitioner was also head of department but additional responsibilities as an assistant principal had left little time for
developing this aspect of departmental practice. Indeed, despite all of the resources
and support available in the English department, carving out time was likewise a
major issue for the TiPS teachers there in developing and disseminating their work.
Both had diverse, complicated jobs; one was an advanced skills teacher and the
other had again been promoted to assistant principal.
Contrast with other contexts: access to resources
The ease of access enjoyed in this school was unique amongst schools in our study;
for example, it contrasted with the situation at School MC where, despite increased
provision of resources, the vision of interactive whiteboards, projectors for everybody, every teacher hav[ing] a laptop that works was seen as a long way in the
future.
Similarly, English teachers in School VC described how the need to book computer
rooms several months in advance had led to ICT-based approaches being mainly
restricted to groups where there was a specific curricular or examination coursework
requirement to include it. In a third English department (TC), the TiPS practice had
not been widely disseminated or taken up. This was largely because of limited availability of resources (although this was one of the most well-resourced schools at the
time of TiPS) and colleagues lack of technical confidence. The research coordinator
at this school stressed the need for dedicated time and training if research outcomes
were to affect departmental practice.

Contrasting approaches to development/dissemination within departments
Collaborative development of practices was notable in two other departments
where dissemination had also been widespread, although the mechanisms for
dissemination contrasted with those of the SC English department. For example,
the open plan layout of the design technology department in School MC meant
that colleagues tended to be aware of each others teaching activities in the course
of daily routine although there was no formal provision for peer observation.
Departmental meeting time was allocated for hands-on software training of
colleagues. Support for mandatory use of the TiPS approach was
provided through informal collegial departmental activity and collaborative
development:
We run an open department and we walk through each others lessons regularly so we
are aware that things are done in our own style. But at the same time, we all have our
coffee together, we always have informal discussions and we say, You know when Im
doing this, Im finding this is happening and A will say, Well, have you tried doing this?
and B will say, Have you tried doing that? (GR)
In the history department at School CC, the TiPS practice had not been built into
schemes of work, but had been taken up on colleague recommendationthough it
appeared that neither formal nor informal opportunities to see the approach in
action existed here. Nevertheless, teachers in this department worked closely
together and emphasized their commitment to collaborative development of
resources and methods:
We have a culture as a department, which is a questioning culture and an ideas culture
and if people have got things to say or do which they think are an improvement of what
weve already got in place, or a different way of looking at them, then I think we are all
happy to embrace that really, arent we? (AY)
I find that we always tend to produce better materials when we work as a department So
the two of you sit and one says, Yeah, Ive done this. And I think you get better ideas.
(RG)
This case study illustrates the interplay between factors influencing the development and dissemination of practice: whilst initiation of the TiPS approach was predicated on the English teachers desire to harness technology to support curricular
goals, access to reliable resources and a supportive organizational culture enabled
them to develop it. The department leaders affinity for similar ways of working, her
leadership skills, and a strong degree of cooperation between the ICT and subject
departments were further factors in successful dissemination and take-up of
practice.
The pedagogical motivation to identify and develop approaches that work was
also evident in less well-resourced departments, where dissemination of practice had
nevertheless been achieved through collegial activity. However, even in contexts
where neither resources nor motivation were lacking, competing professional
responsibilities sometimes impeded evolution of practice.
87
Discussion
This study examined the evolution over time of ICT-supported classroom practice,
within a climate of significant investment in technology resources, teacher training
and support. However, the literature suggests that contextual factors may mitigate
against development and dissemination of ICT-supported practice (see Cuban,
2001; Becta, 2003a) whilst others may act as enablers (see Scrimshaw, 2004). It was
notable, therefore, that all of the ten teams of participating teachers were found to
have sustained and further developed the particular practices they had initiated
during their action research projects three years previously (despite being unaware
that a follow-up study would ensue). To some extent this may be explained by the
fact that the sample were originally practitioners who were keen to develop their use
of ICT and volunteered to take part in the TiPS research. Over time, however, they
have become much more experienced and confident in employing ICT in a diverse
range of ways, such that use has reportedly become inherent and engrained within
their teaching, learning and management processes (Day, 2004).
The key mechanism underlying evolution of the teachers practice and thinking was
trial and improvement of pedagogic strategies; the critical reflection upon success
which this involved corroborates the conclusions of Loveless et al. (2001). Undertaking such a trialling process may explain why the more cautious, critical approach
exemplified by some of these teachers and their departmental colleagues when
interviewed in focus groups nearly four years before (prior to the TiPS study) was
much less evident here. At that time and during their TiPS projects teachers were
formulating and trialling new mediating strategies which were designed to use ICT
discerningly, to add value to existing practices and to focus pupils attention onto
underlying learning objectives (Hennessy et al., 2005a, b; Deaney et al., in press). It
is these successful practices which have persisted over time and subsequently been
further developed and disseminated to colleagues.
Our previous research with core subject teachers at secondary level additionally
indicated that practitioner knowledge and thinking is tied to specific subject
cultures, pedagogies and activities (Ruthven et al., 2004). We observed a strong
degree of collegiality here too such that subject departments were acting as robust
communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) within which new practices
involving ICT were constructed, shared and built upon. Dissemination of ICTsupported practice to departmental colleagues was reported by the vast majority of
teachers involved in this study. Colleagues perspectives proved invaluable here,
partly in corroborating teachers views (there was no conflict between the two
groups although emphasis varied sometimes), but especially in providing further
insight into the mechanisms and factors underlying dissemination. Finlayson,
Wardle and Rogers (2003) emphasized the important role of experienced colleagues
who exemplify good pedagogy in teaching with ICT and possess willingness to give
advice and share their experiences within the department. In our study, the stimulus
of informal or formal opportunities for actually seeing such practice in action was a
key motivating influence for colleagues: Seeing what was possible could I be

doing something similar? How would I use it with my class? And if you can see it
fits, you do it (FE).
Figure 2 illustrates how teachers multifaceted motivation and the mechanisms for
developing and disseminating their classroom use of ICT are construed as closely
interrelated. The proposed directional links between the diverse contextual (whole
school level), external (national policy), and internal (teacher level) factors operating are portrayed. These links are potential, depicting the multiple possible pathways
within development and dissemination processes. For the sake of simplicity, the
figure combines factors influencing both development and dissemination (nuances of
the differences operating here were portrayed in Figure 1) in order to provide a more
global overview of the interrelationships between key factors and mechanisms in the
evolution of practice within departments (only those affecting both processes to some
degree are included).
We suggest that the National Curriculum and other policy requirementsticking
the right boxesare initially influential to some extent in take-up and integration of
ICT-supported practices. However, once practices are established and trialled, then
teacher confidence, skill and enthusiasm for using ICT, their strong pedagogic
beliefsdefending what youre doing in terms of genuine, useful learningand
affinity with particular approaches may become more significant motivational factors
underlying sustainability of practice over time and generalizability to further contexts.
Although these pedagogical and motivational influences constituted both barriers and
enablers in different contexts, proactive colleague support, cascade training and physical sharing of approaches offered mechanisms for facilitating take-up of new strategies, especially by less experienced users of ICT.
By contrast, a further mechanism for successful practice becoming established
within a department was what we have called the institutionalization of ICTsupported practice, particularly through its integration into schemes of work. In some
cases where small groups of colleagues generated the schemes collaboratively, this
reflected shared ownership of practices. In others it effectively served to make their
use compulsory; heads of department were the catalysts here. The aim was to erode
remaining resistance from additional colleaguesalthough our case study and other
interview data illustrated that additional support (hand holding by colleagues) may
prove necessary to achieve this. The diagram in Figure 2 illustrates how merely incorporating new practices within the scheme of work may be insufficient to spread practice (institutionalization is not directly linked with development and dissemination).
It shows that institutionalization is also viewed as driven by the National Curriculum
which prescribes the use of ICT within all subjects (or indirectly driven by school
policy, as elaborated below); it is thus an externally stimulated (or whole school)
factor as well as a departmental one.
Both exploiting proactive colleague support within departments, and development
of ICT at a whole school level, were encouraged or constrained by organizational
factors and a school culture which valued and promoted ongoing collegial activity
generally. The nature of the knowledge creating school (Hargreaves, 1999) offering
regular opportunities for reflection, dialogue and enquiry related to professional
Figure 2. Influences, constraints and mechanisms of development and dissemination

School ethos
National policy
personnel, specialist
status
ICT priority
Department culture
ICT resources
provision, access, connectivity,
reliability & technical support
Time & training
Curriculum
Institutionalising ICT
practice
Technical skill
& confidence
Trialling &
improving
Pedagogical motivation
pupil learning & motivation
confidence & affinity with
approach
Key
Contextual factors
Internal factors
Mechanisms
Supporting colleagues/
Sharing & adapting
resources
Development &
dissemination of ICTbased practices
Figure 2.
Influences, constraints and mechanisms of development and dissemination
89

knowledge and practice could be viewed as being reflected in its constituent
knowledge creating departments. In such communities, professional knowledge
about teaching and learning is no longer protected by the privacy of [individuals]
classrooms (p. 124) but shared and developed through planned and coordinated
action. This is exemplified by our case study of School SC, where the organizational
factors found to be most closely associated with evolution and dissemination of practice in this studyand in the exemplary case studies of Curriculum use of ICT in
three secondary schools by Tearle (2004)were evident. Most prominently,
increased provision of and access to technology resources, along with systemic change
in the intervening period since TiPS and a constructive whole school ethos pertaining
to prioritizing development of ICT use and supporting collegial activity (including
funding for peer observation), played an influential role in this context. The English
department in particular was found to be actively exploiting the resources and
support available. By contrast, departments in some other schools experienced
limited availability of resources and this restricted the opportunities for wider
deployment and further development of ICT-based practices. Note that while some
previous research (Becta, 2003a) indicates that lack of equipment is the biggest
barrier to ICT use, even in well resourced contexts, our teachers comments highlighted the need for accessibility and flexibility of use over and above quantity of
machines (Tearles 2004 study yielded similar findings). This may go some way
towards explaining the lack of transformation of practice documented in the
literature.
To conclude, this research shows that at least in school contexts where conditions
are reasonably favourable, approaches to using new technologies in the secondary
classroom are robust over time, are spreading from teachers to their colleagues, and
are being consolidated through integration into departmental schemes of work. The
extent of sustainability, further development and dissemination of practice found
here indicates that the substantial levels of recent investment in school ICT provision
may be paying off. We must agree with Tearle (2003) that piecemeal approaches
which address discrete elements will at best have limited outcomes (p. 581) in
terms of increasing ICT use. However, while increasing technology facilities in itself
may be insufficient, this could be construedalong with a favourable management
outlookas a prerequisite and stimulus for developing a supportive organizational
culture; teachers and subject departments actually depend on adequate access to reliable resources and connectivity if practice is to evolve. They also need practical
support in terms of time and technical support, as other research into integration of
ICT use has confirmed. For example, Tearle (2004) describes the need for a staged
implementation process and time to learn and develop meaningful practice; similar
demands clearly arise when subsequently shaping existing practices (as in our study),
either by teachers extending to new domains, by colleagues taking up others practices
and adapting them to new pupil contexts, or by department heads in leading change.
A long-term strategic plan (Cox, 2004; Scrimshaw, 2004) for developing and
supporting ICT use across the whole school in turn leads to soliciting further
resources and expansion of practice. Individual teachers attitudes, confidence, skills
91
and motivation towards using ICT also develop in response to other contextual
factors (Becta, 2003a), and these internal factors were found to play a critical role
in both developing and disseminating new practice in this study. In sum, the whole
process is complex, lengthy and iterative rather than linear. Realisation of the
perceived potential for further development and dissemination of ICT-supported
practice will probably be facilitated by future increases in technology resources and
access, institutional support, and teacher confidence and skill.
Implications for practitioners and policy-makers
The findings lead us to propose the following aims for teachers, middle and senior
managers in schools (especially where present conditions are less favourable than in
our study):
To take a whole school approach in prioritizing development and coordination of

ICT use through the school development plan and corresponding strategies.
To offer opportunities for exploration and familiarization with technology, in order
to boost teacher confidence and build up levels of technological expertise.
To increase levels of technical support.
To provide time, access to reliable resources and opportunities for individual and
collaborative development and trialling, critical reflection and refinement of
pedagogic strategies concerning ICT use in subject teaching and learning.
To integrate ICT into departmental schemes of work and everyday classroom
practice.
To offer teachers informal and formal opportunities for long-term collegial
interaction (Carney, 1998; Becta, 2003a), guidance and practical/moral support
involving sharing ideas, strategies and resources, both within and between subject
departments; these might include facilitating observation of colleagues lessons,
presentation at meetings, peer training initiatives, electronic archiving of lesson
materials.
To exploit unrealized potential through extension of established practices to new
(topic and subject) domains.
External policy, training and development initiatives by national and regional agencies have a role to play too in fostering development and dissemination of effective
practice, in terms of providing relevant training and CPD in using ICT in the classroom and linking this with a whole school improvement strategy. Teachers reported
that NOF training had had little impact on teaching in most subjects (except in the
case of the Science Consortiumabout the only light in rather a dark tunnel) and
this was confirmed by a recent Ofsted report (2004, p. 8) describing it as a cause of
severe disappointment. Evaluation of the programme (Preston, 2004) highlighted
the need for more subject-specific, skill-differentiated training, face-to-face support,
professional development time, and systemic change allowing ICT to impact on the
learning cultures of schools. These perceived needs are consistent with our teachers
views and are currently being addressed via various state-funded initiatives, including

hands-on support programmes for ICT use within particular classroom/subject
contexts and sharing practice via informal school partnerships or networked learning
communities (Jackson & Tasker, 2004) supported by the National College for
School Leadership (NCSL). Other initiatives directed at fostering a whole school
approach (towards the e-confident school) include the NCSL strategic leadership in
ICT (SLICT) course, and Naacemark (whole school framework and accreditation).
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Kenneth Ruthven, Theresa Daly, Christine Zwieranski, and the participating teachers and their colleagues for their various important contributions, and to
Peter Scrimshaw for his helpful comments on a draft of this article. We are also
grateful to Becta/DfES for funding this research and to the Wallenberg Research
Centre for Educational Improvement for funding the preceding TiPS Project.
Notes
1.
2.
3.
Department for Education and Skills Performance Tables for 2000 (www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables/).
It was notable that most of the teachers identified in our current analysis of expert practitioners strategies involving use of ICT in secondary mathematics and science (ESRCR000239823) had access to some form of projection technology in their teaching room.
Hennessy et al. (in preparation) will report on how science teachers exploited the technology
and the variation in pedagogical approaches shaping its use.
Since 19941995, Her Majestys Chief Inspectors Annual Report has identified schools that,
in the inspection year, received an outstanding inspection report and also achieved consistently
good or improving test and exam results.
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*Corresponding author. University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, 184 Hills Road,

66 R. Deaney and S. Hennessy

ICT-supported classroom practice

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ICT-supported classroom practice

Additionally we were interested in between-school differences in ICT ethos, and

70 R. Deaney and S. Hennessy

Focus of TiPS project

Use of the Internet and other

Use of the Internet to study the solar

Use of text formatting tools to

Computer-based work on the theme

Use of DTP and web-authoring

Use of word processing and

Details of participants and their original TiPS Projects

ICT-supported classroom practice

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ICT-supported classroom practice

Strand 1 findings: sustainability and development of TiPS practice

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ICT-supported classroom practice

By contrast dissemination outside of departments was limited, although available

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Colleagues corroborated these accounts:

ICT-supported classroom practice

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Factors of influence upon sustainability, development and dissemination

ICT-supported classroom practice

No. of teacher & colleague interviews

Distribution of factors relating to development and dissemination of ICT-supported

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Their colleague (recently appointed head of department, who had previously

Pupil motivation was an important factor in accounts relating to development and

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ICT-supported classroom practice

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ICT-supported classroom practice

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Time & training

Influences, constraints and mechanisms of development and dissemination

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To take a whole school approach in prioritizing development and coordination of

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