Integrating online learning in NSW secondary schools: Three schools perspectives on ICT adoption

This report examines factors associated with integration of online learning in Sydney region high schools. Past studies have shown that schools can be identified as operating at a certain level of use- ranging from non-use, through stages such as entry, and adaptation, arriving at transformation- when a focus on technology shifts to a focus on the learner. This report highlights several factors affecting the use of online learning in Sydney high schools, including systemic factors such as institutional support, as well as micro factors such as teacher capability. After questionnaires and interviews conducted with computer coordinators during 2009, it was found that immediate school factors such as school support and focus on pedagogy were perceived as being more important than broader systemic factors. Investigating the adoption of ICT for online learning The “digital learner ” can use ICT (information and communication technologies) both in and out of school using an “Internet learning style – interactive, search oriented, collaborative, but with individual autonomy ” (Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, 2001, p. 14). The Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI