Dissertation committee:
Βλάμος Παναγιώτης, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Πληροφορικής, Ιόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο.
Δασκαλάκης Δημοσθένης, Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Μπαμπάλης Θωμάς, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Βρεττός Ιωάννης, Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Γιαλαμάς Βασίλειος, Καθηγητής, ΤΕΑΠΗ, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Μπαραλής Γεώργιος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Παιδαγωγικό Τμήμα Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Ζαράνης Νικόλαος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Προσχολικής Αγωγής, Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης.
Summary:
The concepts of "quality", "effectiveness", "efficiency", "quality control", and "evaluation criteria" hold a central position in the educational sphere over the last years. These concepts come mainly from the domains of economy and businesses, where they are
mainly linked to the objective of increasing the efficiency of modern competitive production units. Lastly, we observe that their impact is extended to the educational area, where they are used as a vehicle to formulate strategies and methodologies for the development of modern educational systems. The contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the evolution of education to date, has been approached mainly in terms of learning-educational results, while the relevant research literature internationally focuses on the pedagogical, psychological and sociological impact of technology and other related forms of teaching in a digitally transformating educational environment. It is relatively rare that research efforts focus on the economic evaluation of the contribution of ICTs, by exploring the effectiveness or efficiency of the training providers, the costs and benefits for the participants, or the overall impact on the surrounding learning environment. Therefore, this study has a dual purpose: on the one hand, we attempt to record, present, analyze and correlate the educational costs of secondary schools with their degree of effectiveness in a critical comparative context, through a customized Cost-Effectiveness Analysis methodology, deploying a representative sample of 30 school units, and on the other hand, we attempt to validate, through an empirical research design, a complex pre-existing theoretical model of total quality improvement of the secondary education, that proposes certain factors of quality and evaluation criteria for them. In this direction, we attempt, via a sample of 512 secondary school teachers, to investigate the extent to which teachers' attitudes towards ICT influence their views on the importance of other model factors in improving the quality of education. Regarding the data collection method used, we chose the exploratory and productive approach. An extended bibliography overview was held, in the field of economic evaluation of educational programs, where the approaches proposed by the researchers were studied, and on the other hand the role of technology in the improvement of quality of education was studied, as well as the main problems involved in such an approach were taken into consideration. The research results revealed that the educational costs of a secondary school unit do not significantly affect the degree of ICT use in it. Also, the type of school (public vs private) was not found to affect the amount of educational costs of a secondary school unit. Finally, it was found that teachers' attitudes towards ICT do not affect their opinion about other factors that contribute to the improvement of quality of education. The results can be used as valuable scientific aid by the researchers who are interested in the issues of administration and organization of education, as well as in the promotion of educational quality at multiple levels of analysis.
Keywords:
cost-effectiveness analysis, ICT, education, quality in education
