ICT investment and e-maturity progression: a case study of a midlands community school

In a world that is becoming increasingly dependent on technology, people are becoming more at ease with its importance. Despite this, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) investments in the Irish education system are still met with some uncertainty as how best to invest the money. ICT has not yet seemed to penetrate into Irelands classroom to a meaningful degree and pedagogical practices are varied and often off target from recommended usage. Since the launch of IT 2000, schools at different levels have received £40 million, €50 million and €22 million in 1997, 2007 and 2009 respectively. With the announcement of another investment of €20 million in September 2010, this study has been set out to look at the factors that influence the success, or lack of thereof, of this type of investment in helping a second level schools reach e-Maturity. This case study was carried out in a communal school in the Midlands which has a high level of ICT facilities. Through using a mixed approach of questionnaires, to collect quantitative data, and interviews and observations, to collect qualitative data, this study was set up to investigate how best the school could spend the latest funds, and to investigate the idea question: “Does provision of ICT equipment mean it is being correctly adopted and integrated as an integral part of pedagogical practices?” The findings of this study indicate that time, training and access are the factors holding teachers back when it comes to incorporating ICT into their classes as a real pedagogical tool. Accordingly this study concluded that further investment, which does not address these issues as part of the initiative, will see the same low levels of adaptation of pedagogical ICT use as has been seen since the launch of IT2000 in 1999.