Evaluation of Student Facing Web-Based Services: WickED
The report on the WickED pilot as part of a larger evaluation of web-based learning services for children and young people in New Zealand.
WickED is an educational resource website aimed at students between the ages of 7-12 years. It is a non-commercial site funded by the Ministry of Education and was developed in 2001 as part of the government led Digital Opportunities initiative. Originally the aim was to provide online materials to motivate and extend student learning and to support the use of ICT by after-school ‘Study Support Centres.’ Study Support Centres were required to have a teacher in attendance and to be connected to the web. Four Study Support Centres were located in four South Island venues, and operated during the first round of Digital Opportunities initiatives from 2001- 2003. The purpose was to provide educational resources (particularly online) for students who may not have access to ICT at home, or whose personal circumstances require that they need a quiet, after-school-space to help them with their studies. The Study Support Centres are no longer operational.
While the original focus of WickED was to provide after-school activities for Study Centre students, the WickED site access statistics, have in recent years, indicated that the greatest use of the WickED site has occurred during school operating hours. This has led to the site moving towards catering for more school-based usage in addition to independent student use in study centres or from home.
The summaries of findings in this section are collated from evidence from the interviews with staff, students and WickED management and from student workshop surveys.Key findings in the report appear in the following sections.
- Student perceptions of WickED
- Teacher perceptions of WickED
- The quality of service provision
- Immediate learning for young people
- Alignment and transfer of learning for young people
- Learning for providers, teachers and schools