Before we can start planning, we need a vision of our planning outcomes.
Does your school ICT planning vision look like.....
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this?.... |
or |
...this? |
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As educators, what are we trying to achieve? |
As with any other school planning, school ICT planning should start by considering the school learning environment, then work towards the development of Teacher Professional Learning programs and ICT infrastructure that support this environment.
Too often schools start their ICT 'planning' with the development of ICT infrastructure, then try to shoe-horn their curriculum needs into this (possibly ill-fitting and restrictive) infrastructure. And then tack some PD on at the end!
There are now a wide range of online activities that have been created to support the classroom learning environment. Those not familiar with the role of ICT in a quality learning environment may consider these online activities to be a "magic fix" to address a shortfall of meaningful ICT access in a school's curriculum offerings. It will soon become obvious, however, that these sites and activities do not "stand-alone", and are only of any real benefit when used in conjunction with strategic application in the classroom. It is essential that relevant Teacher Professional Learning is a key ingredient in any school ICT planning process.
The diagram below suggests that curriculum considerations should be the starting point for any school planning process, including ICT planning, resulting in a more relevant (and transparent) ICT infrastructure development program, supportive of a Quality Teaching model.
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The school ICT planning process is much the same as any other planning cycle, but each phase of the cycle revolves specifically around three key areas:
