Some things a Head needs to know
about ICT
ICT Conference for IAPS London North and SouthWednesday 21st March 2012
Mark S. Steed, MA (Cantab.) MA (Nottingham)
Principal, Berkhamsted School
Some things a Head needs to know about ICT
1. Who should make ICT budget decisions?
2. Some key principles of ICT strategy
3. Other strategic issues
4. The future of teaching and learning
5. What is going to make the biggest difference in your school?
6. Protecting your school on New Media sites
7. Questions? Discussion
Who should make Strategic ICT budget decisions?
ICT Strategy
Who sets the ICT strategy?
ICT strategy cannot be seen in isolation – it has to be part of a whole school strategy.
ICT Strategy
Who sets the ICT strategy?
ICT strategy cannot be seen in isolation – it has to be part of a whole school strategy.
ICT strategy is too important to be left to the Network Manager.
ICT Strategy
Who sets the ICT strategy?
ICT strategy cannot be seen in isolation – it has to be part of a whole school strategy.
ICT strategy is too important to be left to the Network Manager.
Someone in the School Leadership Team needs to take strategic responsibility for ICT
ICT Strategy
Who sets the ICT strategy?
Educational priorities must inform ICT priorities
Learning from Past Mistakes
Supply Driven ICT procurement
Learning from Past Mistakes
Supply Driven ICT procurement
Interactive Whiteboards
Learning from Past Mistakes
Supply Driven ICT procurement
Virtual Learning Environments
ICT Strategy – An Example
Educational priorities inform ICT Strategy
Teachers want to Stream YouTube or ClickView clips
Make videos in lessons
ICT Strategy – An Example Educational priorities inform ICT Strategy
Teachers want to Stream YouTube or ClickView clips
Need excellent internet connection
Make videos in lessons Need a media server Need a lot of storage
ICT Strategy Educational priorities inform ICT Strategy
Typical ICT User Group The member of the Senior Leadership Team with
Strategic Responsibility for ICT Head of e-Learning - Teacher (ICT Classroom Support Technician) At least 4 teachers
3 “enthusiasts” who are not techies 1 “cynic”
ICT Strategy Who sets the ICT strategy?
Typical ICT Strategy Group The member of the Senior Leadership Team with
Strategic Responsibility for ICT Head of e-Learning - Teacher (ICT Classroom Support Technician) ICT Network Manager The Head or Deputy Head The Bursar
Some key principles of ICT strategy
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
ICTNetwork
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
Reliability
ICTNetwork
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
Reliability
Security
ICTNetwork
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
Reliability
Performance Security
ICTNetwork
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
Reliability
Performance Security
ICTNetwork
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
A faster, more reliable, more secure network is always possible
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
A faster, more reliable, more secure network is always possible
- at a price
ICT Strategy
Key Principles:
Ultimately, ICT budgeting is no different to any other budgeting:
It comes down to senior managers conducting an informed a cost-benefit
analysis
ICT Strategy
1. Network Speed
The speed of the network is determined by the simplicity/ complexity of the overall
network the processing power of the servers the speed of the switches the speed/bandwidth of the network
cabling the volume of traffic at peak times
ICT Strategy
1. Network Speed
The speed of the network is determined by the simplicity/ complexity of the overall
network the processing power of the servers the speed of the switches the speed/bandwidth of the network
cabling the volume of traffic at peak times
Is it worth upgrading the servers?
Is it worth upgrading the switches?
Is it worth upgrading the network
cabling?
Is it worth upgrading the speed of the
internet connection?
ICT Strategy
2. Network Security
ICT Strategy
2. Network Security
Beware the Network Manager who wants to prevent pupils and teachers accessing the School Network
ICT Strategy
2. Network Security
ICT Strategists need to balance issues of security, accessibility and cost
ICT Strategy
2. Network Security
ICT Strategy
2. Network Security
ICT Strategists need to balance issues of security, accessibility and cost
ICT Strategy
3. Network Reliability
The reliability of the network is determined by
the quantity and availability of spare capacity, the network may be required to cope with peak usage [‘resilience’]
the quality of the network cabling the quality of the network monitoring by
the Network Manager the availability and quality of the
Uninterruptable Power Supply
ICT Strategy
3. Network Reliability
The reliability of the network is determined by
the quantity and availability of spare capacity, the network may be required to cope with peak usage [‘resilience’]
the quality of the network cabling the quality of the network monitoring by
the Network Manager the availability and quality of the
Uninterruptable Power Supply
How much spare capacity do we
need?
How many spare machines shall we
have sitting on the shelf?
How much should we invest in UPS?
How much time should we devote to
monitoring the Network?
Other key ICT Strategic Issues
ICT Strategy
ICT Hardware Replacement Policies
3, 4 or 5 years? To repair and upgrade or replace? To replace as part of a rolling programme
or on failure?
ICT Strategy
Back up and Disaster Recovery Policies
Prioritisation of data
How often to backup?
Remote location?
How often does the SMT test the procedure?
ICT Strategy
Internal Service Level Agreements
Response time Replace kit Network Downtime Backup and Recovery
times
ICT Strategy
Internal Service Level Agreements
Internal SLAs allow the Senior Leadership team and the ICT Support team to agree acceptable standards and thus provide a framework within which School ICT purchasing, network development and training decisions can be made.
ICT Strategy
Storage and Archiving Policies
High costs of storage
Increasing use of media files
Archiving software Annual
Housekeeping Identification of
data to be kept/ destroyed
ICT Strategy
Offsite Management
“Don’t lift the bonnet”
Remote services/ maintenance
Managed Services
Cloud Computing solutions
ICT StrategyTen Questions to Ask your Network Manager
1. If there were a major fire in the server room, how long it would be before each of these services would be restored. List . . e.g. email, School MIS, etc.
2. Can you retrieve a file which was last seen one month ago, and how long would it take to retrieve
3. If a generous donation of £250,000 was given to the School specifically for ICT developments (in addition to the normal budget) what would you recommend we spent it on, and what would be the advantages for the School and end users (Pupils, Staff, Parents)?
4. How many individuals are sufficiently privileged administrators that they can see my (the Head’s) documents, emails, etc.?
5. If a pupil got hold of a staff password, and started using it, how would we ever know, and how long might it take?
6. If your budget was suddenly cut by 50%, how could you cope, and what would be the effects on the School and the end users?
7. What would be the effect of our main Internet connection being severed by a JCB somewhere? What services would we lose? Have we any backup systems in place, or would they have also been severed by the same JCB?
8. Can you show me any records of the systems’ reliability over the past 12 months? Do you regard the reliability as acceptable? If not, how could we improve it and how much would it cost?
9. What might happen if a major incident occurs while you (or any one specific member of your staff) are away on holiday abroad for 2 weeks?
10. For each member of your technical staff (including yourself) what would be the immediate effect on the running of the system if they suddenly (with no notice) left. What specific tasks would it be difficult for the others on your team to perform, and how long might it take to recover fully from the loss? Is there adequate documentation to minimise such a problem?
Available in pdf format on the ISC Website
ICT Strategy Integrated Communications
Photo Credit: Interactive Schools
An Integrated Communications Strategy
The future of teaching and learning
What is going to make the biggest difference in your
school?
Empowerment
Empowerment
Teaching and Learning (teachers/pupils) Learning Platform (Head of eLearning) Research Skills (Librarians) School MIS (Database Manager) Multi-functional Devices (Bursar) WIFI and Network (Network Director)
Protecting your School onNew Media sites
New Media Sites
Facebook Twitter TweetDeck YouTube Blogs Flickr
Schools can set upFacebook PageFacebook Group
Given that the minimum age for Facebook is 13, it is best that Prep Schools steer clear of this medium.
However it is probably worth the school gaining control of the direct URLs to protect its reputation.
Facebook pages have direct URLswww.facebook.com/berkhamstedschoolYou have no right to own your school
Facebook page – it is first come, first served It may be wise to set up the page – if you
don’t someone else will and you won’t have control of it.
The School can “push” information to parents Less invasive than receiving an email
More regular updates Short, digestible pieces of information
Parents/Friends can opt in Parents/Friends can receive it on their mobile
phones or on computers
We can link to items on the school website or elsewhere on the web.
Key personnel can update information live from mobile phones
Can set up multiple school Twitter accounts @berkhamstedsch @berkhamstedprep @berkhamstedboys @berkhamstedgirl @berkhamsted6th
Tweetdeck allows you to run multiple Twitter accounts very easily
You have no right to your School Twitter address – it is first come first served
School Channel
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