Think differently about ICT strategy - think of ICT as you do electricity

There is a real danger of putting ICT strategy into a special category, but this status is unjustified. It may be helpful to consider ICT in the same way as we think of electricity. Electricity is taken for granted in every classroom; it undoubtedly facilitates teaching and learning, but it would be odd to ask how teachers might use electricity in a Geography lesson. This might have been a hot topic a hundred years ago, but not today. ICT in essence is no different to electricity. It is the newness of the technology that has blurred our vision. Much is made of ICT networks, but, when distilled down, there is very little fundamental difference in delivering electricity to a classroom and providing connectivity and Internet access. Both are delivering power through cables, routers and junction boxes.


Consider how you organise your school ICT team.

Our forebears throughout the twentieth century had to come to terms with the power of electricity – first light and heat, then plug-in appliances, such as washing machines, televisions, dishwashers, microwave cookers and so on. Two key aspects that faced electricity users of a previous era, face schools today in regard to ICT today – namely infrastructure issues [wiring the building] and training needs [how to use and maintain the appliances]. It is helpful to think of ICT strategy in terms of these two categories. ICT has now reached a stage in its development in schools where there is much to be said for separating the two areas of ICT network and ICT support.


The ICT Network Team

Network managers are concerned with infrastructure issues – thus this is essentially an “Estates Department” matter. As with the wiring of a house, there will be times when an area needs to be upgraded in order to cope with the additional demands of what is plugged in [consider how schools have had to put additional electricity sockets into boarding house studies in order to cope with the demands of the twenty-first century student], but fundamentally supplying connectivity is something that will be routine from now on.


The ICT Support Team

There are two key areas of ICT support: maintaining the machines [think washing machine or photocopier repair man]; and training people to use the machines and to get the most out of what they can do. The computer is, after all, just another electrical device.

On the whole, school ICT support teams have focussed on the first of these roles, replacing maintaining, repairing and replacing computers, upgrading software, distributing printer cartridges. Schools will always need this sort of support to trouble-shoot the inevitable technical problems, although as ICT equipment become more reliable, the relative importance of this role is likely to diminish. However, a strong ICT Support Team that is focussed on training can transform the way in which ICT is used in the classroom and can make a significant difference to teaching and learning. This is the more important area to which School Leadership teams should direct their energies over the coming years.

This blogpost includes material from an article "What a Head needs to know about ICT - Structures and People" which will be published in the ISC Bulletin next month.