Melbourne Graduate School of Education - Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    An investigation of the role description of the information and communications technology leader in secondary schools
    Keane, Therese ( 2008)
    While growing numbers of schools have an Information and Communications Technology leader, the role is defined in a variety of different ways. As position descriptions vary from school to school, there is surprisingly little consensus on who an Information and Communications Technology leader should be or what the position should entail. Although the role of the Information and Communications Technology leader in schools has not been formally investigated as much as that of Principals, some commentators have begun to suggest that Information and Communications Technology leaders have a crucial role to play. In Victoria, Australia, Information and Communications Technology leaders in secondary schools have been given a variety of position titles. In some schools the position is treated as a senior role, while in others it is not terribly important. Financial remuneration and time allowance for the Information and Communications Technology leader role varies. In addition, no system-wide description of the role or expectation of an Information and Communications Technology leader .exists. Moreover, there are differences in practice as to what kinds of experience and qualifications are necessary to undertake this role. In describing the Information and Communications Technology leadership role, the goal of this research was to obtain perspectives from a variety of personnel in key leadership positions in schools as well as teacher perspectives to evaluate: the similarity and differences of perspectives compared to the literature. For this purpose, comparisons were conducted across the seven schools. In all, a total of 51 questionnaires were completed by the participants: Heads of Departments, Deputy Principals, Classroom Teachers, Head Librarian, Computer Technicians, Principals, Network Administrators and Curriculum Coordinators. In addition, six people were interviewed from the pool of participants in the questionnaires. From the study it was identified that to be an effective Information and Communications Technology leader, one needs to have experience and skills in four specific areas. The four specific areas are: � Resources/Equity � Pedagogy � Professional Development � External Factors These specific areas are strongly connected to key aspects of the questionnaire and provide important points of amplification in terms of developing a position description. Additionally, the study identified that the Information and Communications Technology leader needs to as have the following components in the role: � Knowledge and Skills - both in terms of having a sound educational background and knowledge of hardware and software. � Team Leadership - with regards to technical team and Information and Communications Technology vision team and all staff in terms of professional development. � Leadership - with particular respect to vision and strategic leadership � Seniority - especially with respect to belonging on senior teams within a school and being able to have direct communication with the Principal. From this study, an Information and Communications Technology leader's role was derived and a position description produced which may be applied to schools.
  • Item
    Thumbnail Image
    A case study in identifying institutional influences on why female students at a private co-educational school do not elect to study Information Technology at senior secondary level
    Keane, Therese ( 2000)
    This thesis is a study of the patterns of female enrolment in Information Technology in a co-educational private school in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne. What makes this school so interesting is that few girls elect to take any of the Information Technology subjects in Years 11 and 12. This study set out to explore the reasons for these striking statistics in the light of the research which has already been undertaken as well as indicating areas for future research. The first chapter provides a basic introduction to the study outlining the context in which the research took place. Chapter Two sums up the theoretical writings and research findings conducted by others in the field of females not studying Information Technology. What emerges is that the literature is categorized into the seven factors and each factor is discussed in turn. Chapter Three outlines the method of evaluation of the history of the introduction of Computer Science at Wrixon Grammar. The method of evaluation was by case study. The case study which is Chapter Four reconstructs the history and development of Computer Science at Wrixon Grammar. Chapter Five analyses the case study in Chapter Four and compares it to the current literature in Chapter Two. The seven factors which became apparent in Chapter Two form the basis for the analysis. The findings suggest that rather than identifying only sociological factors in the reasons why females do not elect to study Information Technology, more research needs to be conducted on school based/institutional factors which have an impact on Information Technology enrolments. In the final chapter, the conclusions and recommendations for further research and practice are presented.