Neil Limbrick FISBL, partner and IT consultant at Limbrick Consultancy LLP, founder of theEducationCollective and ambassador for the Association of Network Managers in Education, discusses how developing an IT strategy is similar to someone slipping on a banana skin…
The ability of a school to produce an IT strategy is a lot like a banana skin’s ability to make someone slip and fall over; it is universally accepted as the norm, and yet something few, if any, have ever witnessed. Indeed, if you search the internet for ‘person slipping on a banana skin’ the only results you will get are people testing/discussing the possibility, rather than any video evidence or documented cases.
For the majority of school business managers being able to develop an IT strategy feels like something they are not able to undertake, but feel equally unsure about who else in their school or MAT could or should be charged with doing it. Those lucky few who do feel they have someone who could take the reins are then faced with having to try and muster enough understanding to be able to support and challenge the process effectively.
The reality is that most schools have already drawn up and implemented a solid IT strategy in the last couple of years, but just did not know that this is what they were doing.
During the pandemic schools started to either begin to use a host of new technologies to support remote learning or to increase their use where some scattered practices already existed. Now there may not have been some formal document, or plan, for doing this due to time constraints and capacity, but this was an implementation of an IT strategy in its purest form – born from a very real necessity to solve a problem.
Although less obvious or immediate, there are dozens of problems and challenges that exist in schools that could be addressed by some sort of IT strategy – and probably one that is far less radical and complicated to implement. The real trick to an IT strategy is not finding the solutions, but identifying the problems, challenges and opportunities that technology can answer.
My guess is that, in most schools, there is no end of individuals willing to tell you all the things that are wrong; the problem will, perhaps, be filtering out the most appropriate ones to tackle. However, identifying the opportunities can be a lot more difficult, and needs the best minds in an organisation working together – not unlike the process of pulling together the school development plan and, in fact, an IT strategy can be thought of more as a school digital development plan.
The challenge is for those involved to be able to understand that it is more important to have an understanding of the organisation than it is of the technology – if you involve those who only understand technology, and not the school, you will probably not get what the school needs.
On the many occasions when I support a school or MAT to develop an IT strategy I describe my role as that of a midwife – and that is always the role any technical expert should take in the process – there to offer support and guidance, but not to pass judgement on the conception, or lecture you on the decisions you make in the coming years.
Nevertheless, there is one golden rule to remember when looking at any investment in time or money on IT in school. We know that learning is at its best when there is a strong relationship between a teacher and a pupil; anything getting in the way of that relationship is getting in the way of learning.
So, any IT investment can only be justified if it supports that relationship, either directly or indirectly – otherwise you may as well spend your money on bananas.
To find out more about how you can develop an ICT strategy in your school come and join Neil at his seminar at EdExec LIVE NORTH in Manchester on 6th October 2022.
To register your interest for free or discounted tickets email [email protected] quoting the subject line ‘I want to learn more at EdExec LIVE!’
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