Steffan Barreau, managing director, Simply IT, discusses how to close the gap on digital maturity in schools
The pressure is on for schools across the nation to level up – not in relation to economics, but their digital and technical capabilities.
The Schools’ White Paper announced in March sets out the ambition to equalise the chances of all children; IT will be a key contributor in achieving that ambition. However, IT equipment and capabilities in schools are currently very far from equal. The government knows this, and has published digital and technology standards that schools must strive to meet.
It is never easy to create a curriculum for IT change; every school is starting in a different place. The Department for Education’s own survey found that just 9% of schools could be deemed as being ‘digitally mature’, with 31% classed as having low maturity – and reveals huge variance in between.
The research revealed that only the most digitally mature schools were likely to have any formal technology strategy; others were more likely to use reactive, ad hoc, decision-making – and this presents a key challenge for the sector. School respondents gave many reasons for their IT situation, including technical capacity and expertise; funding issues and budget pressure were frequently cited as barriers, despite the known benefits of technology.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. Pressure to provide remote education opportunities and equipment for pupils during the pandemic created a surge of demand for the urgent procurement of hardware, software and cloud services leading to ineffectively-planned installations, based on thin research and sub- optimal decisions.
Chaotic IT environments
The lack of existing IT strategies, tight budgets, and the outcomes of speedy procurement created inefficient – and sometimes chaotic – IT environments. These often feature re-purposed legacy equipment and rushed software implementations which can be challenging to manage, counterintuitive to use, and expensive to maintain in terms of operational support and energy consumption.
To step up to new digital and education technology standards, schools must first ensure they know exactly what they have, and whether it is being utilised effectively and managed efficiently; only then can they understand what actions to take – and how urgently. They must then decide how to close the gap.
Schools must not just make smart and informed technical decisions but those that also make optimal financial and educational sense. Simply IT helped the Potton Federation and many others to achieve this balance, introducing a ‘desktopless’ solution to multiple schools which helped to reduce operational costs by over 50% and simplify IT future strategies. It not only keeps costs down, by leveraging economies of scale, but also improves availability. Migrating the whole desktop estate and server environment into the cloud means that computers can effectively follow their users so they can connect from a mobile, laptop, tablet or even a games console.
Forging the way ahead may not be easy, but it can be simple.
It starts by ensuring that all you have now is effectively organised, managed, supported and secure. Bringing in fresh eyes with experience of working in partnership with schools is a smart first step to supporting and managing existing systems, and delivering simple and effective solutions that support your school’s technology journey.
Calculate your school’s digital gap with our free assessment tool
As defined by the DfE, it comprises three pillars:
Strategy – including strategic planning, technology investment and change management.
Technology – including connectivity, infrastructure, cloud readiness, hardware, software and threat protection.
Capability – including staff training and confidence, access to ICT expertise, ability to deliver a curriculum remotely, and support for pupil use of IT.
This is a sponsored article, brought to you by Simply IT.
To find out more about how to close the gap on digital maturity, come and chat to Simply IT at EdExec LIVE South in London on 9th June 2022. Book your tickets here!
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