Exclusive Interview with BECTA'S Expert Consultant, Doug Brown


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Doug BrownExpert Consultant, BECTA
"The future is already here, it's just not widely distributed". Borrowing William Gibson's famous phrase, Doug Brown, Expert Consultant at the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA), opened his keynote speech at ictQATAR's second ICT in Education Conference, held on 7-8 March, 2009 at College of North Atlantic in Qatar's main campus. Following his speech ictQATAR had an exclusive interview with Brown.

First, can you tell us more about BECTA and its role in the field of education?

BECTA is the UK government's lead agency for technology and education. Its function is to try and help the government with its educational policy and strategy, but also to take this policy and implement it, thus helping schools to understand and set their technical standards, as well as providing information for teachers. So, we work at two levels: the strategic level and also the classroom level, by going to schools and helping people understand how to use technology to make a real difference in their lives. We carry out a lot of research, to ensure that what we are calling for is based on proper evidence.

You opened your keynote speech by quoting Gibson's phrase "The future is already here, it's just not widely distributed." How does this statement apply to the developing versus the developed countries, and to the Arab world in particular?

I think it's not just a comparison between developed and developing countries, it's very much within developing countries as well. What I have been trying to point out today, was that the way technology impacts education is very much based on not just the technology in itself, but also the teacher, the leadership in the school, and the educational system as a whole. So, when you put all these small constituents together it may be quite easy for a developing country to actually achieve quicker and more structured developments than a developed country.

It's about taking people on a journey—that journey can equally be for developed countries, just as much as it could be for developing countries. Of course, there remains to be a challenge in terms of the resources available, but it's also a matter of how countries essentially view education and are willing to finance it. One of my other messages today was that education is part of the key to the future economy, so the way we invest in our education will determine how many resources we have in the future in terms of the economic standing of the country.

Some people believe that the integration of ICT into the educational system may eliminate or lessen the "human touch" or the role that teachers play in the educational process. Do you agree?

Teachers will be more important than ever before. The role of the teacher will change, but the need for the teacher is greater. In the past, teachers may well have known more than the pupil. The process of education was a simple transfer from 'I have knowledge, I'm going to pass it on to you'. The challenge in the future is that that knowledge is available, but the understanding of it, and the ability to help people learn and grasp the concepts - that has become more important than ever. This means an increasing need for teachers.

Some of the research results you shared indicates that technology can help improve attitudes and behavior. Can you elaborate on that?

The research we have done looked at a whole range of different learners using technology and how this can be reflected in the classroom. Evidence shows that children become more motivated to learn and pay more attention when technology is integrated in their education. An interesting finding is that they tend to stay longer on tasks, which implies more engagement in learning and because they are more engaged, they tend to behave better.

In one of the schools I used to advise in the UK, teenage boys used to show up two hours early before the school day begins, in order to get in to school to utilize the technology due to the limited number of computer machines available. Those boys were very difficult in terms of behavior and control, so why and how would they turn out early to learn? Having seen that, their teachers had to inspire them in some way and find the things that "turn them on". Technology is certainly one of those things.

From your point of view, how can ICT help make parents more involved in the educational process?

Evidence shows that engagement of parents in the learning process does help their children to achieve better results. That's why we developed the concept of 'Learning Platforms' in schools, which is like the Intranet, but is available and accessible outside the school as well.

Parents at home can check at any point to see whether their children are in school and registered in their regular classes, what their timetables are for the day, whether there were any misbehaving or undesirable behavior by their children. Then, when the child goes back home, they can chat with him about it. At the same time, if a child gets rewarded at school, they can provide them with positive reinforcement, such as "Well Done" or "Congratulations". Test results are also available for parents.

In your speech, you mentioned several examples of interactive ICT techniques, such as video conferencing and interactive whiteboards. Do you think such new methods can really make a difference in education?

One of the very early things we've discovered was the ability to use technology for whole class teaching. That can't be with simple projectors. The interactive whiteboard gives the teacher the ability to interact with his or her students. Children would come up and actually do things with the teachers on the board, which engages students even more.

So, it's like sinking the traditional concept of the chalk board which was a two-dimensional experience for children. Students are now experiencing a three dimensional experience, not just because of the videos and moving parts on the board, but also because students can change what's happening on it. Again, I believe that technology in itself has no value - it's how the teacher uses it. That's what makes it effective.

Finally, when a school starts to integrate ICT in its educational processes, could there be any drawbacks to this?

No. I think that generally, the advantages will always outweigh disadvantages. Clearly, there is a range of changes taking place when you have ICT integrated in your school which will lead to challenges. The opportunity of children using but also misusing technology is of course something that needs to be addressed by schools through education and by ensuring that students are in a safe and secure environment.

So, there are technical solutions - but also 'human relationship' solutions about how children should behave in an online world versus the real world. There are challenges for teachers in terms of how children will learn the information available to them but overall it's like telling the young people: You want to learn and we want to create the environment in which you can learn, and make it so inspiring and exciting that the issues of behavior go away. 

- By : Mina Nagy

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