This is one of the most complete surveys of the available data about the situation of ICT in schools ever carried out. The website elearningeuropa.info has met Arlette Delhaxhe, assistant director of the European Union Eurydice unit, director of the Studies and Analyses team to find out about the results.

The report “Key Data on Information and Communication Technology in Schools in Europe – 2004 Edition”, submitted on 18 May 2004, was preceded by another report three years ago. What are the main differences you have noted over those three years?

As far as the descriptive information is concerned, which we will call qualitative, we have observed very few changes since 2000 either in terms of initial training of the teachers or integration into the curriculum. One country, Poland, will make initial training of teacher in ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) obligatory, and four others – Bulgaria, Rumania, Slovenia and Greece – have added teaching ICT as a completely separate subject. Those are the only two changes to be observed in the official organisation of ICT teaching in Europe.

Does that mean that the situation of ICT in school has hardly changed in the last few years?

We are talking in the report about official recommendations for the teaching of ICT. We do not analyse the evolution of use as such, and it may well have evolved greatly. To return to the official recommendations, the situation has not evolved a great deal, but it was already rich at the time, back in 2000. Many public authorities had already made the integration of ICT into the pupils’ curriculum obligatory. And about half the countries had introduced an obligation to train teachers. Where things have moved and are still moving rapidly is in terms of equipment. However, we cannot compare the two reports because they depend to a large extent on different data. But I can tell you that two of the countries presented as having a low level of equipment – Greece and Portugal – have already improved their rates of equipment in 2004.

Has Europe reached a certain homogeneity in the installation of computers in schools?

Contrary to what one might believe, the computer equipment phase in European schools has not finished, except for the Nordic countries, the UK and some countries of the European Union. In the new member states, and in Portugal and Greece, the computerisation of schools is certainly not complete and it is in those countries where we find the greatest disparity in terms of equipment between schools within the country itself. That computerisation takes place gradually. Many countries which had weak equipment in 2000 have set important goals for improving the situation by 2006. And so it is a little early to say whether they will be reached.

Does the process of computerisation of schools follow the same methodology all over Europe?

It seems that the computerisation of schools is done in two broad stages: first the computerisation of the administration and the teaching staff and then the use of that equipment by the pupils. When the computerisation for the pupils phase is complete – in other words, when a good pupil/computer ratio is achieved – we observe that the pupils have access to a computer not only in the computer rooms but also in the classroom. At the age of 15, the average number of pupils per computer varies between 5 and 20.

Are the ICT used for teaching other subjects or are they considered a whole subject apart?

The official recommendations clearly tend towards use as a tool at the service of other subjects at all levels of education. That approach is shared by all the countries in the Union. The ICT are seldom taught as a separate subject, at least at primary level. In secondary, apart from the use as a tool, the ICT are offered as a complete separate subject.

Do European children use computers regularly?

On average 64% of pupils of 15 say they use computers in school regularly. We observe a more frequent use of computers in secondary than in primary. Generally the ICT are more frequently used when the schools are well equipped. Some countries, like France or Belgium, have relatively good equipment, but still many pupils say they seldom or never use ICT.

For what kinds of activity do the pupils use ICT?

The official recommendations strongly advise the use of software, searching for information and communication on the net. In fact, what pupils of 10 say they do at school corresponds relatively well to the recommendations, except for communication on the net: on average only 1.9% of pupils in primary school say they use computers to communicate. That means that there should be better internet connection equipment because the connection rates are lower than the rate of equipment, even in very well equipped countries.

Is teacher training in ICT obligatory in many countries? How much time is spent on that training?

We see that training teachers in ICT is obligatory in half the countries of the European Union, which show that some countries leave a good deal of freedom to the teachers in deciding whether or not to train in ICT. Moreover, even when training is obligatory, we can observe considerable flexibility and autonomy of training establishments to decide contents and the time to be spent on them.

What are your main conclusions?

We need to reinforce information about teacher training and the type of use of ICT made by teachers. As far as the level of equipment in schools is concerned, we must continue to measure it but we should extend the indicators to far more precise information which goes beyond computers. Too much attention is paid to them and not enough to other tools like digital cameras and printers. It is also a matter of finding out more about the age of the equipment and its power. We also need to know more about the use pupils make of the computer. Other work is being done by the European Commission on these matters. The Eurydice report on ICT in schools in Europe will be published every other year. We shall pay close attention to the different works in progress to enrich the next edition and show the changes that will be taking place in coming years.