Developing an ICT strategy

Experience has shown that when engaging with strategic planning for information, communications and technology (ICT) there are a number of key questions that need to be considered. Questions such as: in five years, what type of learning environment would you see within your school or college? How will pedagogy have changed and how will ICT support this change? How and where would learning take place, and what role will students play in the design of the learning?
    
Answering questions such as these, together as a school community, will help you focus on priorities within your strategic planning and point you towards the next steps.  
    
Third millennium learning demands new pedagogical and technological approaches to using ICT for learning. It is the responsibility of teachers and school leaders to prepare students for the demands of an ever‑changing world, through facilitating learning in a technology-rich environment, where students and teachers don’t just learn about technology, they become powerful, intelligent consumers of technology and indeed, creators of that technology.

ICT IN LEARNING
In England and increasingly the rest of the UK, planning for the use of ICT in learning has taken a backward step in favour of planning for a new Computing curriculum. While planning for the effective implementation of a greater focus on computer science is essential, of equal importance to schools is the preparation for the effective and appropriate use of technology to support school improvement.
    
“It is also important to look at your budget and check that what you can afford will match your school’s needs, putting items of priority in order,” explains Dave Smith, Naace board member from Havering Education Services. “For example, if you are thinking about what devices you are going to be investing in, you can’t suddenly decide to have a 1:1 model across your school if your budget doesn’t allow that. There are other ways of implementing these ideas. You could arrange some parental involvement in that strategy so parental purchase could be an option. You could also look to lease; so you don’t have to purchase outright in the first year, but you can start thinking over a longer period such as a three to five year plan of how you are going to afford it.” There are leasing models which have flexibility within them to potentially opt out of the contract if the items aren’t suitable for your school’s needs. “If you purchase resources for your school and then they’re not suitable, you are left with products that cost a lot of money and will never be used by your students,” reasons Dave. “You have got to make sure you do your research and find the most suitable products that will work for your school.”

PARTNERSHIP WORKING
Another idea is to work with partner companies; many of the hardware manufacturers will lend you kits so you can test out various products before purchasing them outright. “Try before you buy is a good rule to follow,” suggests Dave. “Alternatively, you could also visit other schools and see how certain products are working for them. Look for case studies and ask the manufacturers that you are dealing with to give you names of schools that used these products, and ask these schools if you can visit them or get their feedback. For advice on which products to choose, it’s worth visiting the Bett Show 2015 or the Naace Strategic Conference in March 2015; there are plenty of exhibitors available to demonstrate their products and talk you through your school’s ICT needs on a one to one basis.”
    
There are many ways in which the appropriation of technology can be divided into manageable tasks for the overloaded school management team. One such method might be to think of strategic development in five areas: management and administration, technology enhanced learning, cross curricular integration of a computing curriculum, a distinct computing curriculum and safeguarding and preparing the learner for digital citizenship. Whilst it can sound obvious, it is worth bearing in mind that strategic planning should establish a long‑term, broad view of the school direction in the five areas of concern and must be based on the educational needs of the students. The plan requires a commitment of time and resources from management to set up and must be ‘owned’ by all members of the school community. By this, we mean that every staff member feels empowered to be a part of the plan, and a catalyst for its continued development, helping it to be fine-tuned throughout its implementation.

THE WHOLE CURRICULUM
It is also crucial to plan for the entire Computing curriculum, not just computer science, or worse, just coding. Roger Broadie, Naace Board member explains: “Having a vision of what you want to achieve educationally is vital, before you start working on technology aspects of the strategy. Try asking yourself, ‘what is the single most important thing your school does for the pupils and what is the single most important thing you as a team of teachers can do to ensure your pupils get this from their time at school?’ Then every time you make a decision about technology ask whether, what you intend to do with the technology really will help pupils gain what you consider to be most important.”
    
Roger continues: “Focusing on a single short answer to these questions will make you answer from the heart and identify what you really care most about for the pupils. It is likely that your answers to these questions will be human qualities that you hope your pupils will develop, such as a thirst for learning, ability to learn through life, opportunity to collaborate and learn with others, confidence and success in learning and other similar aspirations.”
    
The Naace Self Review Framework (SRF) has for many years played its part in the strategic planning of schools with regards to technology. This framework has now been updated and improved to reflect changes and emphasis placed in technology, however it is still the belief of the Naace community that, important though the SRF can be, it is the planning process that is of primary importance.
    
Dave Smith explains: “From a Naace perspective, I would reiterate the importance of the self-review framework which enables you to evaluate what you already have in place. So the first thing to do is to audit your provisions before you do anything else. Look at the current position you’re in and evaluate everything from here.”
    
“The Naace self-review framework is broken down into six elements and each one of these helps you to consider aspects of the resources that you have in place,” continues Dave. “Then you can at least start to think about what your school needs. It’s about developing a vision; making sure you know what you want for your school, what your own priorities are for your school, for your pupils, for all of your stakeholders, and agreeing to those before you put the wider strategy in place.”

INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY
Good strategic plans are developed by consensus and collaboration involving the whole community. Successful strategic planners make informed decisions based on examining best practice elsewhere. However, this can be time consuming and haphazard in terms of the quality of provision under scrutiny.
    
Engagement with the Naace community of practice gives school leaders access to experienced professionals drawn from schools, as well as those successfully supporting schools who are passionate about the appropriate use of technology. These people have worked together to develop standards that can provide confidence, for example the ICT Mark, which acts as a badge of quality, is still used by thousands of current holders of the award who are actively renewing their accreditation. This mark is an indication of their commitment to providing an education experience to their learners that is absolutely relevant to the technology influenced world of employment.  
    
“Put in some time to understand the really important ways in which technology impacts on learning,” explains Roger. “For instance, online systems can make pupils work considerably more visible. This drives higher expectations and understanding of what good work looks like, encourages much better feedback on the quality of their work, and it enables peer tutoring – all things that we know from research are highly effective at improving learning.”
    
“Technology also promotes communication and collaboration which can drive learning in numerous ways,” continues Roger. “It enables access to vastly greater and more diverse resources for learning. These are really big areas of impact.”

SET OUTCOMES
A successful strategic plan includes a defined set of educational outcomes and a proposed pathway to try to get there. Most importantly, a successful strategic plan is not a shopping list or a budget, it involves much more than simply buying resources. The changes in attitudes and ideas which come from planning sessions will be more important than the shiny new technologies themselves. Schools that have already got a solid understanding of this concept include the Naace Third Millennium Learning Schools, regularly illustrating their commitment to developing pedagogy and practice. These schools capture the developments in technology and pedagogy by recording videos of their learning journeys along with professional commentaries for peer review and potentially progress to a submission for a Naace Third Millennium Learning Award.

Naace makes these videos available through its web site and they could form an important element of the research stage of your strategic planning. Of course, it’s impossible to capture everything of this incredibly complex aspect of school organisation in one article. However, if you would like to know more please do seek to connect and interconnect with others who are prioritising the use of technology as a key tool in their school improvement agenda perhaps even consider joining Naace and adding your voice to this developing community of practice.

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.naace.co.uk