Month: January 2023

ANME and Microsoft Event

So, Friday morning was an early start, up at 5:20am for a 6:20am train heading to Reading and an ANME and Microsoft event at Microsoft’s offices.   As always, I had my concerns regarding potential travel mishaps as often happens with me.   I was however prepared with multiple cans of “the Bru” to keep me going throughout the day;  I suspect Microsoft arent yet forward thinking enough to supply the Bru.   As it was, it turned out my expectations were correct;  Many less acceptable brands, such as Coke, were available but not a single Bru in site, so that’s the event marked down not long after it had even started!

It promised to be a busy but good day, with this event originally having been planned for late in 2022 with it cancelled at the last minute due to adverse weather conditions.   It was a shame this happened, albeit understandable.

Networking with the IT network folk.

So, like a lot of events one of the key features was catching up with quite so many great people all contributing to the use of technology in education.   The ANME’s Rick Cowell introduced the ANME and Microsoft even before others such as Alan Crawford and Kevin Sait presented on various topics.    Then there were the ANME ambassadors, Peter Othen and Ian Stockbridge to but name a few (and apologies to those I have missed off).  

Ian interestingly enough was wearing a T-Shirt which relates to a little project we have both been working on during Jan; Further info on this to be shared soon.

Every event I attend continues to emphasise the fact the “the smartest person in the room, is the room” and therefore the more people we share, interact and collaborate with, the better, with this being one of the key purposes of the ANME.

The presentations

In terms of the presentations and the event itself there were some techie discussions looking at Intune, a really useful session exploring Microsoft licensing as well as more strategic sessions looking a school 1:1 journey and the benefits of the MIEE (Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert) and Microsoft Showcase School programmes.   From my point of view, I took quite a bit away from a number of the sessions particularly in relation to Microsoft licensing and the use of Intune.   The use of Intune is definitely something I think we need to build on.   Additionally I noted references to the importance of having a plan regarding infrastructure including ongoing replacement, and the need to consider cyber security/resilience;  Both these issues are key and should be part of initial planning ahead of tech deployment, particularly in relation to mobile devices or 1:1 programmes.   They also need to be continually reviewed in relation to changes in technology usage and changes in the available technologies themselves.

On the way out

Upon the conclusion of the event and after a nice group photo, which hopefully will be shared in the near future, I arrived at the train station a little early.   I therefore availed myself of a bar next to the station for a quick pint.  There I ended up chatting with a stranger also waiting for a train.    This highlighted to me the continuing importance of social contact and the totally random interactions which technology doesn’t tend to currently provide.   Technology continues to be a tool but we need to use it to support and enhance our lives, where our lives are that of social animals who crave interactions and especially those which are outside the norm.  It was very nice to share a pint and a chat while waiting for a train.

Conclusion

It was great to visit the Microsoft offices, to catch up with so many people I already know and a few new people along the way, while listening to some technical tips and some more strategic insights.   This was my first in-person event of 2023 and I can only hope that the events later in 2023 will only build and enhance on this.    Onwards to the rest of 2023………

School IT Tendering

The recent court case in which a school management information system (MIS) vendor took a multi-academy trust (MAT) to court is of concern to schools.   It highlights the potential risk of vendors taking schools, colleges or multi-academy trusts to court where decisions don’t go their way.   In these cases, for me the educational institutional organisation will always suffer a loss, independent of any court decision as their plans have to be put on hold while any court proceedings are undertaken.

Now first, and to be very clear, I don’t have all of the details as to the court case in question so what follows are some general thoughts and my personal opinion on the information I have read in relation to this case, and also on the wider risks and implications.

Tendering processes have to be clear and fair

I think this is one of the key issues here, that any tendering process must be fair to the parties involved and that the methodology should be clear.   Time spent on ensuring this can hopefully prevent time lost in court cases.    It therefore is important to consider the factors that you will decide will influence your decision making.   Some of these are obvious, such as cost, service level agreements, the vendors reputation and size, while others are maybe less obvious.

Total cost of ownership

Examining the total cost of ownership is critical, as the cost of a solution, whether it is a software solution, hardware solution or mixture of the two, is more than just the upfront and annual costs.   There are the costs incurred through use of staff time during the setup phase and then the ongoing maintenance of the solution.   There is the cost of training staff to use the new solution, with this often being a largely hidden or at least difficult to predict cost.    These factors which relate to change management need to be carefully considered and weighed up.

Change management

This is where, in my personal opinion, the issues examined during the school management court case appear to have gone a little wrong.     In this case one of the vendors already had a separate contract for some of the schools within the MAT.   The tending process however did not include these schools so was clearly separate to this contract.   The courts assertion seems to be that the consideration of discounts in relation to this unfairly influenced the decision to go with this vendor, meaning the competing vendor was at a disadvantage from the outset.

A pragmatic view

As a Multi-Academy Trust you want consistency in your MIS due to economy of scale and ease of support when working on a single solution rather than differing solutions across schools.   This put one vendor at a disadvantage from the start, in tendering for a new contract limited to a subset of all schools.   I wonder if the school could have approached the existing vendor regarding exit from their contract and put out a tender for all the MATs schools?    I suspect the existing vendor may have been reluctant here however it seems, in hindsight, to have been one possible solution.

We also need to acknowledge the real-world disadvantage; As the MAT is already using one vendor they already have experience of that vendor, including trained and experienced staff in using it, experience migrating to it or setting it up, etc.   In any abstract examination of two equal solutions, where we have a positive experience of one of the solutions, plus have people already trained and skilled such that they could support others as a migration is undertaken, it seems clear to me that we would tend towards this solution, thereby disadvantaging the other.    It’s the availability bias, its confirmation bias, and its risk aversion and sticking with what we know versus what we don’t.    I note that if the current solution was poor and ill fitting in the schools currently using it, this would likely have disadvantaged them in any tendering process.   The fact it didn’t suggests to me that the solution in its practical, everyday use, rather than in a sales demo, has been viewed at least neutral if not positively.   I also note, assuming the two solutions did compare equally when disregarding the fact the MAT already had practical experience and skilled staff working with one of the solutions, would we then expect the MAT to simply flip a coin to pick a solution and in keeping the selection process fair?

Conclusion

For me this whole incident is of concern.  We are in a time of limited budgets plus time pressures yet this court case took up both and may signal similar cases occurring with other vendors and schools.   I note that the MAT is planning to appeal the decision so this may help in providing some clarity but only time will tell.   In the meantime, it highlights the need for care in tendering processes especially where they relate to bigger sums, such as where large MATs may be involved.    My learning experience from this incident seems to be that time spent in planning the process and ensuring transparency at the beginning may prevent time loss further down the line.    Sadly, it has taken this incident to make this more apparent.

The only final thought I have to share is that I hope it all gets resolved as soon as possible as until it does all the schools in the MAT, and all the many students they support are simply sat waiting to find out what will happen next.  This period of watching and waiting can’t be a good thing.

References:

United Learning loses High Court battle over £2m MIS deal (schoolsweek.co.uk)

ChatGPT and IT Services

I recently wrote an article for the ANME on ChatGPT and on the benefits but also risks.   You can read this here.   My view is that AI models like ChatGPT are going to become all the more common and also more and more accurate, and therefore we need to explore them and identify how they might be positively used within education.   Seeking to block their use is, in my opinion, guaranteed to fail.   

Following my post, I saw a reply on twitter to the article with ChatGPTs view on AI and education.  You can see this here.    It picked up a couple of points which I hadnt included in my piece and I note that some of my piece actually included content generated by ChatGPT itself.    It wasn’t obvious that ChatGPT had a hand in both pieces which suggests it wont be easy to identify where ChatGPT is used.

All this got me thinking about how ChatGPT might benefit IT Services and the IT teams particularly in schools.   As such I gave some quick thoughts as to possible uses cases, which I have outlined below:

User guides and Help

ChatGPT can be used to create a knowledge base of information that can be easily accessed by IT staff and other school personnel including simple user and help guides.  This seems like the most obvious and easiest use of ChatGPT;  I have already tried asking it some questions in relation to iPad related issues and its responses were clear and accurate.

Creating software and other solutions

Where schools are creating their own internal software solutions including website solutions, ChatGPT can help with the basic code building blocks, thereby speeding up development.   It will still require human input to finalise the projects and add that bit of creativity and flair however ChatGPT can get us part of the way there, thereby saving time and resources.

Policies, processes and procedure documentation

Writing policy and process documentation can quite often be a long and laborious job but ChatGPT and other AI language models can quickly put together a basic document which human staff can then refine and customise to fit the school.

Chatbots

ChatGPT can be used to create a chatbot that can interact with students and staff, answering questions and providing information.   This therefore allows IT support staff to focus on more complex issues or more strategic tasks.

Language Translation

Where schools include non-English speaking students ChatGPT can be used to assist IT support staff in communicating with non-English speaking students and families by providing translations in real-time.

Process automation

A number of the above relate to process automation where ChatGPT is used to automate common support tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions, troubleshooting basic technical issues, and providing instructions for software and hardware.   There are likely other areas where simple processes can be automated through the ChatGPT or other AI Language models.

Conclusion

I think one of the key conclusions I arrive at from my thinking is not related to the benefit of using ChatGPT, or other AI language models, in itself, but for the potential for ChatGPT and a human user to work together.   This hybrid approach of AI and human is, in my view, the way forward as both complement each other.  The AI solution can easily do the basic and repeatable parts of a task, such as creating a user guide, while the human can bring that flair and creativity to make such guides engaging, accessible and usable.    It isnt a case of ChatGPT or humans, or ChatGPT replacing humans.

I suspect there are many other applications of ChatGPT within an IT Support or IT Services capacity which are yet to be realised and I look forward to finding out more in terms of how AI Language Models can enable IT staff to deliver, enhance and even redefine the services provided to users in schools and colleges, and to the communities they serve.

These are interesting times!

Ransomware – A criminal enterprise

A recent story of a ransomware incident impacting a hospital for sick children highlighted for me how ransomware, and by extension other cyber-crime, is often a criminal enterprise.   It is run by individuals and groups in much the same way that a conventional business or enterprise would be run, but to a criminal ends.

The story in question related to a ransomware incident which impacted on SickKids just prior to Christmas this year (you can read more here).    The incident was reported as resulting in longer patient waiting times however where this story diverges from the normal ransomware story is that a ransomware gang publicly apologised for the attack and provided resources to help the hospital in the form of a free decryptor tool.   Now it is unclear if the decryptor worked on all or some of the effected systems, or even if it was used at all, as using a file provided by a criminal operation doesn’t come without its risks.   The ransomware gang also acknowledged that the attack came from a “partner” and that they have been expelled from the ransomware gangs “affiliate program” for violating the gangs rules.

If we change the context to a simple and legal business operation a lot of the above would still make sense.   Affiliate programs, business or partnership rules, a public apology for an error plus the offer of support;   This is what you might expect from an conventional business operation, not a criminal gang.

This I believe is the big challenge for education and the wider world, that we need to accept that some see a business opportunity, an opportunity to make money off the illegal activity of cyber-crime.   While this continues to be the case criminal gangs and cyber crime will continue to exist.   And if we consider increasing technology usage and increasing data volumes being gathered in society as a whole, this opportunity can only be viewed as continually increasing.    Additionally, if we extend the business analogy these illegal gangs will likely be constantly seeking to improve, expand existing revenue streams and create new revenue streams in much the same way as a conventional, and legal business would do.

So cyber crime is likely to continue to grow as a threat and this is pretty inevitable.   What do we therefore do to try and protect ourselves?    For me it comes down to a number of things, to organisations but also to individual staff, to seeking to regularly review, test and improve defensive measures, while also preparing to deal with an incident when it should eventually arise.  It is about building awareness as to the risks and preventative measures and building a wider cyber culture in organisations.  

All of this makes me think of business competition, where two business fight it out in a given sector or product market, to see who wins.   Coke vs. Pepsi for example.  Here however one business will be legal, fighting against another illegal, criminal enterprise.    I can’t help but think that this is an inherently unfair fight but one that will continue to become more and more common!

Pledges for 2023

In thinking about the pledges for the coming year I think I need to include an equal share of big picture, more strategic aims, alongside some more measurable smaller targets.   I think this should provide a balance between things which will be easier to assess in terms of achievement at the end of the year, alongside aims which are much broader, more challenging but also equally more difficult to evaluate come the end of the year.

So lets get into my pledges for 2023…..

Podcast

I last did some short podcast episodes in 2021 with a plan to build on this in 2022 however other priorities meant this didn’t happen.   It is definitely something I want to progress and something I have been in discussion with a colleague about, however have so far not managed to progress.    For 2023 it would be good to get maybe 2 seasons of podcasts produced and shared, with hopefully at least 6 or 8 episodes in each.    My thinking would be focus on cyber security, digital citizenship, data protection and technology in schools as the key themes of the podcasts.

Time management

The last few years have felt as if time has been flying by, with weeks, months, terms and years flying by in what seems like the blink of an eye.   I think therefore, in the year ahead, I want to look at how I manage time particularly trying to ensure I allocate specific time for reading, for exercise, for relaxing, etc, building up appropriate habits in relation to how I use the finite time available in each day, week, month and year.    Part of this will likely start with some long term initial planning at the start of the year in January.   My hope is that through better planning of my time I will be more satisfied with how it is used, but also will achieve a better balance between being busy and relaxing.   

Also related to this, especially at home, I need to let and encourage others to contribute rather than trying to take things on myself.  More delegation should hopefully allow me to achieve more or at the very least focus on things which are more important or where my efforts add the most value.

Running

I would again like to keep up my running in 2023 however with more consistency.  As such am thinking a minimum of 50km per month, which would equate to 600km for the year as a minimum.   I would also like to very much achieve at least one 10km run every two months, so meaning I should have completed six 10km runs by the end of the year.   Now it would be good to achieve more however I am also concious of avoiding pushing my exercise too much.    From a weight point of view I want to try and keep my weight around the 84kg mark, which was always part of my aim in terms of regular running.

Reading

Having struggled with reading in 2022 I would like to again stick with trying to read 6 non-fictions books by the end of the year.  This equates to one book every two months which I think should be achievable.    I already have a number of books purchased ready to read.   I will share some info on some of the titles in a future post.

Bigger picture

The last couple of years I have worked hard on maintaining a to-do list however I feel this may have led to me focussing on things at a micro and small scale, and in focusing there I have taken my eye of the bigger picture.     As such, in the year ahead, I need to spend more time looking at the bigger picture, at strategic tasks and aims over the smaller day to day tasks.    Part of this will be rolling up the regular day to day tasks which currently exist as separate tasks to achieve and considering them as a singular grouped task, taking the small tasks each day and bundling them up as routine single task.   Equally I will need to establish the more strategic projects, tasks and aims that I want to look at possibly either on a monthly or termly basis.  

Holidays and Experiences

I would like to ensure I create some new memories, particularly family ones in 2023.    There are clear opportunities over the summer holiday period, easter holiday period and also key points in the year such as my birthday, wedding anniversary, etc.   I need to make sure that I make the most of each of these opportunities.   I think it will also be important to take photos as a record of events so I have something to look back on and refer to.     Linked to this, I think it will also be important to continue journalling and keeping records of achievements, etc, on a week by week basis, again so that I have something to refer back to in being able to more effectively and accurately reflect on the year once I get to the end of it.   Part of me wonders about having achievements and challenges as part of my journal template so that it makes me stop and think, plus take note as I regularly seek to journal my thoughts and feelings.

Contributions to the wider Edu and Tech communities

I would very much like to see me building on 2022 in 2023 including continuing to contribute to other organisations, podcasts, blogs, magazines, etc with my thoughts and ideas.    It has been very enjoyable and at times challenging to do this in 2022 however I have definitely considered it to be worthwhile so it is clearly something I want to continue.    I would be particularly good to be involved in some bigger conferences if possible and even in some international events however this will be dependent on logistics, etc.     It will also be useful to explore the potential for new opportunities and challenges so this needs to be something I keep my eyes open for as 2023 progresses.

I have considered personal studying a certification as an option for 2023 however had decided that the cost v benefit especially of the technical certifications I have been looking at is not sufficient to justify the time, effort and cost.   This may however be something for me to reconsider as the year progresses.

Work

In work I cannot think of a particular target or focus in 2023 however if there was to be something it is in relation to innovation and change.   I would like to be able to focus on innovation and change projects and hopefully creating a culture and appropriate support functions which encourage and promotes this.   Other than this, I hope to support the members of my team to grow and develop such that they are able to continue to feel engaged, challenged and also to better contribute to the school.

Conclusion

In work I often use a single word or phrase as a theme or focus.   I think this might also be useful in setting my pledges for 2023.  So what one word or phrase would summarise what I want to achieve:

              New opportunities and experiences

I think the above summarises what I want from 2023.   2022 has felt a little routine, albeit with some notable achievements and positive points, but I just don’t feel there were enough truly memorable moments mainly as our memory needs the unusual and the new.   So in 2023 I hope to try and find and achieve the unusual and new.   Here’s to 2023 and the year ahead.   

And happy new year and all the best for 2023 to all in my PLN.