Meridian Middle School Computer Technologies Journal Print this Meridian Article ICT and Academic Rigour in Middle Schools: An Australian Case Study Rod Chadbourne, Patricia Kershaw, Bill Leadbetter, & Rick McMahon Issue I, Volume 9, 2006 View Online http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/win2006/ICT/index.htm Abstract This project investigated the question: Does using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a teaching and learning tool in middle schools make a difference to academic rigour, and if so how? The project on society and environment was conducted at a Perth, Australia metropolitan middle school with two classes each completing two open-ended tasks (in digital and print mode) over two school terms, with the same teacher. Analysis of data showed that students displayed high quality intellectual work using both digital and print modes of learning. Overall the print mode provided greater academic rigour for students than the digital mode. This finding stands in contrast, if not contradiction, to another finding of the study; namely, that students working in digital mode engaged in more social and collaborative interaction and demonstrated more independent problem-solving ability than students working in print mode. Introduction During the past 15 years, countries such as Australia (Chadbourne, 2001; Luke, 2003) and the US (McEwin, Dickinson, & Jenkins, 2003) have seen the growth of separate middle schools for young adolescents. While welcomed in some quarters, this development has raised concerns with some educators. Arguably the most damaging criticism is that middle schooling undermines academic rigour. Critics argue, for example: Overemphasis on the social, emotional, and physical needs of the middle school student has led to neglect of academic competencies. (Bradley cited in Beane, 1999, p.4) The most frequent criticism of middle schools is that their so-called “child- centred” pedagogy has failed miserably with regard to academic achievement, behaviour control, and every other imaginable measure of