Tag: Technology Strategy

Digital Standards in schools: Consultation

It was with some interest that I read the DfEs consultation in relation to making some of their digital standards compulsory by 2030.  I think the digital standards are a positive step forward, providing guidance to schools to help in developing processes and procedures around technology use in schools, plus helping to guide technology decision making, however equally they aren’t without some limitation.

You can see and respond to the consultation here.  

It was on a Teams call that I first heard of the consultation which looks at making six of the digital standards compulsory.  So, my first act was to try and guess which standards would be involved, with me going for Leadership and Governance, Cyber, Filtering and Monitoring and Broadband.   These felt like the right ones as technology can be expensive, even if not in terms of hardware and software, it is still expensive in training and staff development, especially where wrong technology decisions are made.   As such it seems only logical that leadership and governance would be covered.    You need to have a direction, a strategy, before you look to make any other decisions.  Next was cyber security and filtering and monitoring as they are both areas widely discussed in relation to education, and like leadership and monitoring, these three are very much about leadership, processes, procedures, policies and risk management, all of which can be explored and examined with minimum cost. My next selection was broadband, as this is something which schools can easily assess and act on as soon as any existing contract is up.

At that point I was a little stuck for the remaining two standards, which as I found out, would be Wi-Fi and Switching.   Now I totally get why these would be selected as these are the basics infrastructure comments of technology use.   We can have plans for fancy AI software or plans related to the most advanced end point devices, but without reliable and robust infrastructure, the network switching and Wi-Fi provision, they are of little use.   The challenge her however is one of cost both in terms of the equipment but also the resources to setup and maintain this post install.   Now some money has been promised to support schools in this area, so I see this as a positive step, however I don’t think there is truly an appreciation of the state of IT infrastructure in schools across England so therefore any funding allocation could only really be a guess.   Whether that guess stands up to be enough is yet to be seen, although it is important to note that any investment will move things forwards, so it is way better than nothing.

There is another challenge or concern I have, and it relates to funding.   I have seen in the past where funding gets allocated to support technology in schools however technology investment is not a “one and done”.    Once you invest and once teachers and students start using technology in lessons and around school, you will need to continue to invest just to maintain the status quo, never mind to advance.   This is due to the fact that Wi-Fi access points and switches will need replaced when they go end of life, as will end point devices and the other components which go together to make up the IT in a school.    Using end of life equipment may introduce cyber security risks or reliability risks which in turn could impact on technology use in lessons and on students.   It is funny that the DfE standards do refer to refresh cycles, so I wonder if said refresh cycles will factor in future funding plans.

Another challenge I see in the standards is the fact that they are trying to guide schools where schools exist in very different contexts.   We have large Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) with strong centralised IT functions, small individual primary schools or large secondary schools with more limited IT resources, and everything in-between and more.   It is therefore difficult for the standards to be uniformly applied to all which would need to be the case if they are to be compulsory, rather than allowing for them to be contextualised and interpreted where they are simply guidance.    There is also the question of why actually will be checking that schools have complied;  I don’t think OFSTED would be able to check this so who would?

Conclusion

I think some schools will have difficulty meeting the digital standards, especially if there is an absence in funding.  That said sometimes what matters is what is measured, and maybe by requiring schools to adhere to the digital standards this will propel Technology up schools’ list of priorities.    

I very much look forward to seeing the results of this consultation although I suspect funding will be the key, particularly around the Wi-Fi and switching standards.  If so maybe the easy solution is simply to apply four standards initially and maybe this could even be done before 2030?

EdExec Live, Herts

I recently had the opportunity to contribute to the EdExec live event in Hertfordshire.  Now I have contributed to EdExec Live events in the past but this is the first time I have done so in Hertfordshire.   I need to admit, as is all too common for me, travel to the event came complete with travel disasters, with me getting easily to London and across London but then subsequent trains being cancelled and delays, leading to an Uber and a total travel time of just over 6hrs.  But enough of my usual travel woes.

I think the first thing of note is my belief in the fact that education, teaching and learning in schools, takes a village.   It requires various people doing various roles.   This includes teachers in the classroom, teaching SLT members, IT staff supporting the IT setup as well as school business leaders and more.   Now am lucky to, as a teacher of many years, contribute to the teaching side of things, and as an ANME ambassador to contribute to the IT side of things, however the EdExec events allow me to contribute to the school business leader side of things.   As I have said many times before, collaboration and sharing is so important or as david Weinberger put it: “the smartest person in the room, is the room”.   As such it is so important that we share widely, including sharing beyond silos associated with specific roles.   So, I am therefore keen to share and be involved with discussion with educational professionals across the various roles which work towards ensuring schools operate and students succeed.

The conference was opened by Stephen Morales from the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) and so much he said aligned with some of my thinking.   Firstly, he mentioned the implications and impact of geopolitics on education.    This was something I heard only a few weeks earlier at an Information Security conference, where it was clear information security and cyber security of organisations, including schools was being impacted by geopolitical issues.     Stephen also mentioned the privilege divide, which refers to socioeconomic divides, and in turn has a direct impact on technology divides.    We clearly need to reduce divides where possible, building equity, however sometimes the easy “solutions” have unintended consequences in this complex world so we need to make sure our decisions are measured and considered.

Stephen referred to the need for collaboration and also to the need to consider technology.   Both of these are things I believe strongly in, believing there is a relationship between the two.   Given how tech changes and advances so quickly we cannot seek to stay up to date on our own so the best solution we have continues to be collective action, to be sharing and discussing and using the wealth of experience, thought and skills of the education sector as a whole.   He also referred to structures, processes, people and technology, and I think this is key, considering not just the technology but the people using it and the processes it is being used for.  This immediately got me thinking about teaching and the TPACK model.

He also mentioned AI which was the focus of the presentation I was giving immediately following his keynote.    You can access my slide here.    Some of my key points from the session where the fact that AI is here now and students are definitely using it, as are many staff.    We can’t put that genie back in the bottle.    As such we need to look to how we can harness AI, and that’s not just generative AI, but includes the various other branches of AI.   We need to look to it’s using in teaching, in helping teachers prepare content and in marking, in learning, putting AI in the hands of students, and also in the administrative aspects of schools, both in the classroom and in the wider school.     I made the point that this isn’t without risk, which was apt when the next session I attended, led brilliantly by Laura Williams, was specifically about risk management.    If we want to benefit from the potential of AI, we will need to deal with the risks.   If we don’t allow use of AI, if we ban it, we don’t need to deal with the risks of AI usage, although there are risks resulting from this, from not teaching about and not allowing AI use.   It’s the balance issue I often talk about.

My session talked about the need for an AI strategy which aligns with the technology strategy which in turn aligns with the school strategy.  They are inter-related.    I also mentioned the need for appropriate foundations, so we cant look at AI without good infrastructure, devices, support and training.    An Ai, and a tech strategy, as well as a school strategy, has to be built on solid foundations.    So chasing the next shiny AI tool, without the fundamentals in place just wont work.

In terms of risks, I mentioned bias and inaccuracies however also mentioned that humans are not short of these challenges either, albeit we don’t always appreciate them.   Data protection continues to be an issue, however Data protection in the world of Ai is often simply good data protection related to any online or technology service.   Obviously automated decision making needs a little more consideration, however how many of the online content platforms schools have been using years, and which recommend and direct students to learning content, aren’t fully transparent as to how their algorithms, their AI, make decisions.

Thinking back to Stephens presentation he mentioned about fears as to AI replacement of humans.    For me, as for Stephen, it is about AI and humans working together, rather than one replacing the other.

The conference was yet another opportunity to share my thoughts and to engage with others as to their thoughts, and some of the discussions I had over lunch were very interesting indeed.    Schools are clearly at different points, and with different contexts, and this for me is fine, however if we wish to move forward I continue to believe in the need to work collaboratively and to share.    I came away from the event with new thoughts and ideas, and I hope those who attended my session came away the same.

EdExec Live – London

I recently spoke at the EdExec live event, talking about school IT strategy.   I thought I would share some of my somewhat rambling thoughts from the event.  I note one of my opening slides related to Star Trek and what appears to be an ipad-esqe device in captain Piccard’s hands, back in a 1992 episode of The Next Generation.   Now Star Trek TNG is set in the 24th century, yet the iPad made its appearance in 2010, in the 21st century.  This shows how poor we are at predicting the future, however also hints to the pace of technological change.

Tech is here and here to stay

We just need to look at our lives today and we can see that technology is a key part of it.  On my way to London for the EdExec event I used digital train tickets, I listened to music via spotify, worked on some blogs using my MS Surface while also engaging in social media discussion.   I also used Google Maps to help me navigate my way to the event venue.   Technology is now an essential part of our everyday lives.   And looking at schools it is no different.  When I qualified as a teacher, back in the late 90s (and that does make me feel old!) you put your lesson content on a roller blackboard or acetates for display via an OHP.   You recorded student attendance manually in a register.   Now, all of these things involve technology, recording attendance on your schools Management Information System (MIS), putting digital content on your digital panel, smartboard or projector.  You also use digital tools for safeguarding, for communication and for much more.    All of our schools are digital, to some extent, already.

Strategy

And if schools are digital there should be some sort of plan to manage the training needs of staff, sustainability into the future, renewal and updates, etc.     Although the technology is already here, we need to ensure we have a plan to make this situation sustainable into the future.    Beyond the basics, if you are looking to significant innovation, such as rolling out a learning platform or 1:1 devices for the first time, we need a detailed strategy and plan to ensure we get all the basics in place, such as infrastructure, training and support.   After this, once technology is largely embedded and mature, such as at Millfield where 1:1 devices have been in place 2012, office 365 has been phased in since 2019, and Teams/OneNote from 2022, there isnt the same need for a distinct technology plan and technology now takes its lead from the broader school vision and strategy.  So the need for a distinct technology strategy varies with the technology maturity in the school.   I also note as you go down the iPad route, over chromebooks or windows laptops, or Office 365 rather than Google Workspace for Education, etc, and as these become embedded, it becomes increasingly difficult to change path.

A key issue in all the technology decision making is that it is not about the technology, the shiny new Chromebooks or Google Classroom, but about the Why and what you hope to achieve.   Is it about improving access for students with SEND, or about students with EAL?   Is it about supporting the development of soft skills such as creativity, communication, collaboration and problem solving?  Why are you seeking to use technology and what do you how to achieve?    Once you have this you can then look at which technology or technologies are the best fit for your requirements.

Balance

I also highlighted the importance of balance during my session.   Everything we do, which we do for good reasons, will have a negative implication.   We ban phones and students will still use them, plus we lose an opportunity to teach students about appropriate use of their devices.       We buy 1:1 devices and we increase the safeguarding risks as students now have their own personal devices, while also possibly having a wellbeing impact due to increasing screentime.   There is a constant balance and very few, if any, binary situations where something is purely good or bad;   The reality is that technology tends to be good and bad.   The key therefore is the need to consider the options and the good vs. bad continuum and then to work out what works for your school and where on the continuum you will sit, your risk appetite.

Some of the future

I also spent a little time looking towards the future, but acknowledging that we are poor at predicting the future, so I had opted for some future advancements, which are almost here, or here but not fully implemented at this time.     Now this clearly had to include mention of Generative AI (GenAI) and how education and schools need to look to adapt to this new technology, which both students and staff are already using.    If GenAI gives all students the ability to create coursework, homework and other content, but with a broader vocabulary, independent of their primary language, independent of any special educational needs or disabilities and of their creative thinking, isn’t this a good thing?   But if this is the case, how do we continue to grade student work and award them their GCSEs and A-Levels, or maybe we no longer need to rank and order students in the same way we used to?    There is the potential for such a broad shift in education resulting from GenAI, but I also am concerned that there is also potential to expand the digital divides which already exist.

Linked to the above is hopefully that shift towards digital exams rather than sitting students in an exam hall once year with paper and pen.   And I am not talking about the “paper under glass” exams which are planned for the coming years, where the paper exam is just made into an identical digital exam.   I am thinking more about adaptive testing, allowing students to take exams as and when they are ready, allowing schools to manage 100’s of students through a Maths exam for example, but where they don’t have that number of devices and therefore have to put students through in batches.   It may even be that students don’t even sit these exams in the school but can actually engage in them anywhere and anytime.

And in the way of balance, with GenAI, and with a shift towards digital exams, and with more digital time generally, we need to consider the risks related to addictive social media content, data protection of increasing volumes of data being shared, particularly where the data relates to young people, the risks associated with fake news, and with influence and manipulation of people via social media and other platforms.   

A solution?

I finished my session with my favourite quote, which I have been using for years, the quote from David Weinberger, “the smartest person in the room, is the room”.    In a world where technology is moving so fast, and where education has a tendency to move much slower, our best change to maximise the positive impact of technology, while minimising and controlling the negatives, is to focus on the power of the collective.   Working collectively, sharing ideas, what works, but also what doesn’t, will allow us all to be better than any of us can be individually.    Our biggest strength is in networks, in collaborating and in sharing.    The bigger the room, the smarter we all are.

Do I really need a digital strategy?

I have recently been wondering about whether there is a need for a digital strategy.  I had always considered it important that every school had a digital strategy however more recently I have been wondering does the need for a digital strategy vary with a schools technology maturity?   If a school has technology which is reasonably well embedded is there still the same need for a digital strategy?

Getting started

At the early stages of technology use in a school I believe it is very important for a digital strategy to exist.   You are managing software and hardware requirements, underpinning infrastructure, maybe device end points as well as training and communication.   And it’s all new to you as you are only getting started.  There are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of interrelated decisions, plus there is the whole issue of change management and bringing people with you.    The need for a strategy is key in planning all of this but also in showing people where they are going and charting a path there.   Without the strategy you may have different people pulling in different directions.

Mature technology usage

When however, you get to mature technology usage and your systems and processes are more embedded the challenges are different.   Significant change is much more difficult as you are no longer moving from a blank slate.   You are likely from a situation where technology is being used and is likely having benefits, albeit there may be issues which are leading to considering change.   Consider moving from iPads to Windows Laptops for staff for example;  Your staff will be aware of the benefits of the iPads given they use them so availability bias plays its part here in that we know with certainty the benefits of our current setup however the benefits of the planned new solution are not as clear or definite, therefore we over weight our current setup.   In terms of the drawbacks of the iPads, we are aware of these too however given we are using iPads we equally already have workarounds or simply sub-optimal processes whereas for the new solutions we are only predicting the possible drawbacks, so again we come back in favour of our current setup.   And the same issue arises if you are looking at changing an established MIS system or various other bits of technology.   You also have the issue that different technologies and associated processes might be tightly integrated, meaning any new solution, which would be a different solution, would need to be able to be equally tightly integrated, where this is seldom guaranteed.

If not technology strategy, what?

Once you have a relatively mature technology usage I suspect rather than significant change, it is more like iterative or evolutionary change.    The technology is more transparent rather than having a more central focus.   There isnt the same need for a three-year strategic roadmap and the ongoing renewal of infrastructure should be a simple matter of operational process.   So, given we accept technology continues to evolve, if it isnt digital strategy, what is it?    In a recent chat with Ian Yorston he planted the idea of Digital Culture with me and I think that is exactly what we should be looking to develop, where technology is simply the way we do things around here, supporting the overall objectives and aims of the school.   And culture is something that changes more slowly based on the stories and the narratives told around school, so we need to be paying more attention to this.  So its about having the opportunities to constantly review the narratives around technology use in school, to assess the impact and value and iterate and evolve.    In my school this is our IT Management Group but also working parties such as our AI working party.   It is also feedback processes through SLT and through Heads of Department.   I don’t think we have it 100% nailed by any means but then again if things are constantly evolving maybe this is to be expected.    One of the things I want to do more of is look to the “how we measure” impact and value and the how we know things are working or not.   

Conclusion

Maybe a technology strategy is very important to get started, but maybe once technology is embedded it’s all about developing the culture and softer adjustments and changes around the edges.      

And maybe it easier to show change and impact in the beginning which makes it easier to demonstrate the impact or progress against the strategy.   Once technology is more embedded this isnt so easy to measure or assess which means we need to start looking deeper, and this is something I hope to look into over the coming months.