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Nine Digital Technologies curriculum officers supported clusters of schools to implement Digital Technologies, providing expertise to primary and secondary school teachers.

 

From 2017–20, Digital Technologies curriculum officers conducted professional learning workshops with teachers and school leaders. These workshops were customised to the specific needs of participating schools, with webinars and online mentoring complementing face-to-face events.

 

Additional workshops were offered to other schools.

 

Quick facts:

  • 160+ schools
  • 2,300+ teachers
  • 30,000+ students
  • 15 modules offered Australia wide
  • 10 project focus clusters

The 160 low-ICSEA schools participating in the Digital Technologies in focus project are located in clusters around Australia.

The Digital Technologies in focus (DTiF) project uses the key ideas of the curriculum as a driver for developing Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) and as a framework for change. 

 

Participating schools in the three-year project designed and implemented an action research project that addressed the implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum in their school. 

 

School leaders were guided through the process of identifying areas they wished to improve and the support needed to make that improvement. 

 

A key implementation strategy of the DTiF project was the development of a professional learning ecosystem to support schools to implement the curriculum and to increase sustainability of implementation. The figure below illustrates the ecosystem.

Project proposal

Each school involved in DTiF completed a proposal for an action research project. The proposal stated the school’s research question, the aims of the project and criteria for success. It outlined how the school would implement its project by identifying how data would be collected, the resources needed and risks, and described how the school would implement the Digital Technologies curriculum.

 

Project progress report 1

After the school commenced its project, the teachers reported back to the curriculum officer and other schools in their geographical cluster in a webinar. The school prepared a presentation where teachers outlined their research question, project aims, what they had achieved so far and their next steps. They received feedback from curriculum officers and other teachers in their cluster.

 

Project progress reports 2 and 4

During the second and fourth webinar progress reports, teachers commented on the changes they had made in their school. They explained why these changes had been made and the impact on the implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum. The teachers evaluated their strategies for data collection and their success against the criteria. Schools commented on the challenges they faced and on the outcomes of the project.

 

Project progress report 3 (mid-project report)

This report, presented via webinar, aimed to capture progress on the research question and the school’s implementation plan. It contributed to the final project report.

 

Final project report

At the end of the project the school team completed a final report based on the Technologies Processes and production skills strand (investigating and defining, generating and designing, producing and implementing, evaluating, and collaborating and managing). The final report is an action research case study including student work samples. A representative sample of case studies have been published to assist other schools in implementing the Digital Technologies curriculum.

Evaluation of the DTiF project was based on 3 components:

  • impact: success including sustainability within each participating school
  • outcomes: including transferability of outcomes to schools outside the project
  • methodology: including transferability to similar initiatives.

For each of these components there was a dual purpose. First, to confirm that the ‘people, processes and products’ were achieving results and to inform next steps; for example, clarifying professional learning needs. Second, the success of these components was measured to contribute to research on Technologies education and teacher professional learning, particularly for those working in disadvantaged schools. Evaluation of the project comprised an external evaluation conducted by a contractor, Deakin University, and internal evaluation conducted by ACARA staff.

 

Internal evaluation

 

The Leading Curriculum Change Using an Ecosystem Approach: Digital Technologies in focus: Supporting implementation of Digital Technologies evaluation report (June 2021) reports on ACARA’s National Innovation and Science Agenda funded project for the period June 2016 to June 2021. This report is highly relevant to those with an interest in Digital Technologies curriculum specifically, as well as to those with an interest in influencing curriculum change in disadvantaged schools and seeking to maximise the impact of teacher professional learning.

 

The internal evaluation was coordinated by the project lead and project officer from 2017 to 2021. The research methodology used a mixed-methods approach. Data sources comprised teacher surveys, teacher self-assessment matrices, student assessments, professional learning workshop evaluations, reports and reflections.

 

DTiF evaluation report 2021

 

External evaluation

 

Deakin University was contracted to complete an external evaluation of the project from 2018–2020. The evaluation focused on six schools from four states and territories as a representative sample of all jurisdictions. The evaluation gathered qualitative data to create rich case study accounts of each school's engagement in the project and the impacts and outcomes. Two reports were produced, a progress report and a final report. The reports are authored by Julianne Lynch, Glenn Auld, Anne Cloonan, Joanne O’Mara, and Christopher Speldewinde. In addition, four printable resources were developed to highlight considerations when planning Digital Technologies implementation.

 

Supporting the Implementation of Digital Technologies in Disadvantaged Schools: Case study of impact, outcomes and sustainability (2020)

 

Supporting Implementation of Digital Technologies: Progress report – Focus on curriculum and pedagogy and learning outcomes (2019)

 

Printable resources

 

External evaluation - findings on a page

 

Supporting Digital Technologies curriculum in schools

 

Good teaching practice with Digital Technologies

 

Effective DTiF strategies