Getting the Best from Your Information Technology: A school planning guide

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1 Getting the Best from Your Information Technology: A school planning guide This article was originally published in Classroom Magazine in It was intended to help teachers and others involved in implementing computers in schools. While the technology has changed significantly since then, the document remains relevant today. Chris James April 2 nd 2013 Selecting and purchasing strategies for bringing information technology to your school can be improved with CHRIS JAMES planning guide. Information Technology (IT) funding is a very significant and growing part of State education budgets. For example, the New South Wales government is implementing a $186 million Computers in Schools program, funding the delivery of 90,000 personal computers to schools, and paying for a massive teacher education program, Technology in Learning and Teaching (TILT). Historically, the quality of Information Technology implementation in schools has been extremely variable. Well managed IT resources have brought great benefits to students. But there has also been misuse or under-use of IT, wasting valuable time and funds. It is critically important that an unequal spread of Information Technology through the school system does not develop through lack of adequate planning. Information Technology has the power to help reduce the gap between the haves and have-nots. It also has the potential to exacerbate the differences between pupils who can afford their own computers and those who cannot. Parents roles in supporting their children s learning will change significantly as the use of IT in schools expands. In particular, parents who do not use IT themselves run the risk of being educationally isolated from their children. Unless steps are taken to address this, the educational gap between parents and their children will increase as Information Technology exerts ever more influence in primary education. What can principals and teachers do to make Information Technology productive and valuable for students, teachers and parents alike? In an environment where hardly a day goes by without some new announcement of software, or hardware, or use for Internet, how can schools know what to invest in and how to take best advantage of what is available?

2 Create objectives, strategies and processes Schools can ensure they maximise their benefits from Information Technology by: establishing objectives developing a strategy to achieve them putting in place a sound process to ensure that the strategy is carried out. This flow of processes is shown below. Objectives Strategy Investments and uses The Objectives Examples of the types of objectives schools may establish are: All students should achieve a basic level of Information Technology literacy by the time they graduate to secondary school. Outcomes might include: able to create documents on a word processor; able to locate information on a database. All teachers should be capable of effectively using Information Technology and integrating it into their lessons. All investments in Information Technology should result directly or indirectly in improved educational outcomes for pupils. All teachers and students should understand and adhere to the highest ethical standards in their use of the school s Information Technology. Example outcomes: able to selectively research on the Internet, able to understand and avoid inappropriate uses of computers and networks. Parents should be closely involved in developing school Information Technology plans, and in their implementation. The above are just a few examples; principals, teachers and parents should confer to determine their own objectives for their school.

3 The Strategy Once the objectives have been established schools can develop their Information Technology strategy. The following checklist can be used to help do this. It is by no means exhaustive, but should help to develop a school s strategy for achieving its Information Technology objectives. Information Technology Strategy Checklist Direction and scale of strategy Set objectives of the school s investment in Information Technology Provide teacher education on the integration of Information Technology into the teaching and learning processes Decide on network(s) infrastructure Decide on hardware requirements Decide on software requirements Plan for distribution of resources, eg, placing all of a school s computers in one room, or distributing them across all the school s classrooms. Ensure educational benefits will flow to students Provide equitable access for all students Allow for education and involvement of parents Provide technical support for hardware, software and/or networks Provide software help for users Establish key milestones (eg, time frames for IT system implementation, teacher training and student outcomes). Financial elements of strategy Work out extent of current and future available finances School funds State funds Parent funds Create a purchasing and/or leasing strategy External influences on strategy Ensure consistency with the State school authority s IT strategy Establish annual reviews and updates to take account of new IT products and training methods

4 Investments and Uses Once the strategy is in place, decisions on subsequent investments or uses of Information Technology will become a lot easier. The strategy should provide the framework within which such decisions can be made. The following questionnaire provides some guidance on the questions that need to be asked in the final stage: when investments or new uses of technology are being planned. Obviously, larger investments will require more comprehensive analyses than smaller ones. In situations where only a small investment is required it may not be necessary to answer all the questions on the checklist below. Larger installations may require an even more thorough analysis than indicated on the questionnaire. However, these questions go to the heart of the problems that need solving when a school makes a major commitment to Information Technology, and they should help staff and students find the right IT system for their school. A computer investment and use questionnaire for schools 15 Questions about Our IT Investment and Use 1. What is the hardware, software, other IT and/or corollary investment (eg, teacher education) being requested? What is its intended use? 2. How will the proposed investment or new use fit into each element of the school s IT strategy? 3. What will be the initial and ongoing annual costs? 4. Will the State fund the intended investment in IT? If not, what will be the source of funding? 5. What will be the educational benefit of the IT investment? 6. Will the proposed investment in Information Technology be better than traditional methods of education? 7. Will the IT system be wholly for students or are other uses for it envisaged? 8. How many students and teachers will use the system, and how often will they have access? 9. What will be the planned life of the system? 10. How many teachers are educated in the use of this software/hardware product?

5 11. If extra teacher education will be needed, how will this be done? 12. How will this product or service be integrated into the teaching and learning processes? 13. What technical and product support for software, hardware and IT infrastructure will be available to teachers and/or students? 14. Will the technical and product support cost-effectively meet the practical needs of students and teachers? 15. What do we know of other schools experience of this IT product or service? Chris James has 22 years of experience in the information technology industry and has been a member of a number of K 12 IT committees, including the National Professional Development Program (NPDP) IT Co-ordinating Committee. Some of the concepts contained in this article were developed in discussions with Anthony O'Connell.