The ninth in a series of articles looking at the work of Creative Partnerships, this issue looks at how the use of information technology can encourage creative approaches to learning.
Not so long ago, when I was at primary school in the late eighties, the concept of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in schools barely existed, writes Oliver Berry. If you?d asked to see the school computers, chances are you would have been greeted by blank stares and pointed in the general direction of the secretary?s typewriter. In fact, the sum total of the ICT resources for our entire school was just two computers ? a couple of small, brown, boxy units designed by an offshoot of the good old Beeb, BBC Micro ? and a single dot matrix printer which seemed to print everything in a kind of indecipherable paper-based morse code. Networks, intranets, ICT suites and digital applications were all a thing of the far future ? the most we ever managed to achieve on our school computers was to beat each other?s high scores on Space Invaders. But walk into any school in the country today, barely fifteen years on, and the picture is almost unrecognisably different. Britain?s schools have embraced the concept of ICT education with open arms. From interactive whiteboards to digital cameras to cutting-edge multimedia software, our classrooms are packed with a range of technological resources that would put most medium-sized graphic design houses to shame. In the space of two short decades, the advent of information technology has precipitated a sea-change in the way our young people are learning, thinking and developing ? and the ICT revolution has barely even begun.
Beyond the classroom
One of the key reasons ICT has become such a central part of our education system is that, in an increasingly technological, fast-moving and competitive world, young people are for the first time being actively encouraged to see the real-world relevance of their education ? to look beyond the narrow boundaries of the school classroom into the world beyond. Information technology empowers young people to engage directly with their own education, to become gatekeepers and arbiters of their learning, and to shape it to conform to their own expectations and aspirations. Learning to design a web page, or layout a document, or cut a digital film, are skills that transcend the narrow trammels of conventional education, bringing together the worlds of school, training and work in exciting and ever-changing ways. Technology ? from digital television to 3G phones ? plays such a fundamental part in young people?s lives that it?s fast becoming not only the most useful, but also the most natural, way for them to engage and interact with their education.
This unique ability to fuse academic and professional learning is perhaps the most important reason ICT plays such a central role in many new educational projects. Recently I helped set up a new magazine at a school in Camelford in North Cornwall, and from the outset it was clear that the young people involved with the project were determined to produce something unique. Working with two professional graphic designers and a journalist gave them the confidence to think ?outside the box? ? to move away from thinking about a school magazine as a bland, photocopied publication full of sports results and school news no-one really wanted to read. Working entirely within the classroom, we were able to use ICT to set up a microcosmic version of a professional magazine production house. Our editorial team researched their stories online, swapped versions and drafts through email, and sourced pictures and visual ideas from web magazines and online news media, while our design team laid out our features and prepared files for print using the same graphic design software you?d find in any magazine art department. The result was a magazine that looked, and felt, like a professional-calibre publication ? inspiring the students on the project to build on their newfound skills, and hopefully encouraging teachers, parents and the wider community to see the unprecedented opportunities ICT can open up within the mainstream education system.
Imagination
Inspiration and practical experience are the twin pillars of the ICT revolution in schools. Engaging and interacting with digital technology frees young people up to think and to imagine, and to experiment with their ideas in uniquely immediate and powerful ways. Rightly or wrongly, young people are growing up within a profoundly visual culture. The power of the image, and the grammar of television and film ? cross-fades, dissolves, cutaways, montage sequences and reaction shots ? are hard-wired into the imaginations of today?s schoolchildren, so constructing a narrative within the filmic framework ? whether it?s a short film, documentary or a music video ? comes as naturally to them as writing down a story or poem. Using tools such as iMovie, Garageband and even professional software like Final Cut Pro, practitioners can help give life to the storyboards that already exist with children?s imaginations, and turn them into something real, immediate and inspiring.
And, of course, the process doesn?t stop there. Digital films can be streamed on the web or distributed on DVD. Digital photographs can be processed, compressed and sent around the world using web galleries or email accounts. Poems, stories and articles can be distributed with the click of a mouse button. Schools ? and practitioners ? can share experiences, ideas and inspirations in a global virtual community, regardless of their geographical location or financial resources. ICT is not just a revolution in schools ? it?s a fundamental rethinking of the way kids experience the process of learning. It?s a brave new world out there ? one that we?re only just beginning to explore.
Oliver Berry is an independent writer and journalist who has worked with Creative Partnerships Cornwall as well as The Guardian, The Telegraph, Lonely Planet, Kneehigh Theatre, Wallflower Press and kamera.co.uk.
e: olivertomberry@mac.com