A well-designed school ICT strategy helps to ensure that technology is being used effectively to enhance the learning and teaching experience and improve internal administrative processes. They provide a roadmap for decision-making, resource allocation, and recommendations for ongoing improvement in the use of technology. These strategies can be developed internally or externally, where third-party ICT specialists like us will often provide an unbiased and comprehensive audit to first determine the current situation before helping to create a relevant strategy.
Implementing a school ICT strategy can lead to quantifiable improvement across a range of areas and help protect schools by ensuring the latest and most suitable devices, software and practices. However, they’re not always easy to get right, especially when there hasn’t been an audit or assessment of the current strategy in multiple years, or when multiple establishments are involved such as a multi-academy trust.
Our 10 Signs
Being able to spot that your strategy is no longer effective is the first step in understanding whether a new strategy is required. Here are our 10 signs your school ICT strategy may need revisiting, or requires further development:
1. Low Adoption Rate: If teachers and students are not using the technology as intended or are reluctant to embrace it, this could be a clear indicator that something is wrong (e.g. additional training required for new tech/software).
2. Ineffective Use of Resources: It can be a red flag if you're spending a significant amount of your budget on ICT tools and infrastructure, but you're not seeing the expected outcomes or improvements in teaching and learning.
3. Inadequate Technology: If your school's technology is outdated, unreliable, or insufficient to support the needs of teachers and students, it's a sign that the strategy needs revisiting.
4. Lack of Alignment: If the ICT strategy doesn't align with the school's educational objectives and goals, it may be ineffective. This can often happen after a change in senior leadership or Trust oversight. The technology should support and enhance these goals rather than being a standalone initiative.
5. Data and Performance Metrics: Use past and present data and performance metrics to determine how student outcomes are changing over time. If there's little to no positive impact, or even signs of diminishing results, it can indicate that changes are needed.
6. Technical Issues and Downtime: Frequent technical issues, system downtime, or connectivity problems can disrupt teaching and learning, making it difficult for the ICT strategy to be effective. A modern ICT strategy will ensure the most suitable infrastructure is established.
7. Feedback and Surveys: Gather feedback from teachers, students, and other stakeholders through surveys and discussions. If the feedback highlights dissatisfaction, confusion, or frustration regarding ICT within your school, it's a clear indication that it needs improvement.
8. Compliance and Security Concerns: If the ICT strategy doesn't address compliance with relevant regulations or poses security risks, it needs immediate attention to avoid potential legal or safety issues. Check your current certifications such as Cyber Essentials and cybersecurity process and software, making sure they’re up to date.
9. Benchmarking: Compare your school's ICT strategy and outcomes with other schools or educational institutions to see how you stack up. If you lag behind significantly, it's a sign that improvements may be necessary.
10. Lack of Innovation: Our tenth and final sign isn’t simple to quantify however innovation is a key part of many school goals and objectives. An effective ICT strategy should encourage innovation that’s driven by teaching and learning, and when innovation becomes held back by the capabilities of ICT infrastructure, it's likely time for change.
Next Steps
If you believe your ICT strategy isn’t delivering the results you were expecting, or perhaps you feel it may be time to restrategise and use an ICT audit to gain a full understanding of your current situation, we’ve created a PDF guide to help you.
ICT audits will allow you to gain a full understanding of your ICT infrastructure and processes, from a technical, operational and educational perspective. Using a third-party business such as Novatia will provide you with an unbiased overview that uses decades of experience, which can then lead you onto the next stage, developing the ICT strategy itself.
When an ICT strategy doesn’t meet expectations, there’s no harm in getting a second opinion and having a separate review or reassessment. Academic years are short windows to deliver the highest quality teaching and learning environment possible, so there’s no time to waste on ineffective strategies. If you’d like to find out more about how we can help you, get in touch with us for a friendly chat and we’ll provide you with the necessary information for the next steps.
