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Teachnology

With the coalition Government having abolished schools technology agency Becta, Ann Logan suggests an alternative source of ICT advice and support for teachers.

Tackling your technical challenges

Teachers are asking for help in managing their technology more effectively. But with funding cuts and the closure of Becta, where are they to find what they need?

The Fits (Framework for ICT Technical Support) Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation that helps schools manage their use of technology. It is now offering schools a customised service as part of its new consultancy package, Getting started with Fits. The package is tailored to schools’ individual needs and helps them get the best from their existing equipment, as well as plan for the future.

“Schools can now move away from the old fire-fighting techniques to developing a money-saving, strategic approach to managing technology,” explains Steve Butler, Operations Director.

“The consultancy package helps schools identify their most challenging areas and the impact these are having on school life. Once teachers and technical staff can see the root causes of technical difficulties, schools can become more effective and have far fewer ICT failures. They can also save money,” he says.

A recent evaluation by one local authority showed that Fits typically cuts 14 per cent off the cost of delivering ICT within a school.

As an independent organisation, Fits is well placed to help educators assess their relationships with commercially motivated managed-service providers (third parties who provide schools with technology services). By conducting this assessment, teachers can ensure that the managed service meets the highest standards and offers the best value for money.

Fits also provides tools and professional qualifications for ICT staff. School technicians at all levels can gain accreditation through its courses. These help them improve their trouble-shooting skills and professionalise the service they offer.

For instance, technicians will learn how to set up a service desk that becomes a point of contact between them and teachers. Having this central point means teachers and technical staff can build up a picture of what is happening across the school. They can collect and analyse data on how the equipment is running, identifying patterns of incidents. Having this picture is a good starting point for preventing future incidents.

Fits also has courses for senior managers and ICT co-ordinators so they can achieve qualifications in effectively managing ICT.

Visit the website to find out more about the Getting started with Fits package and all the available courses in your area.

www.thefitsfoundation.org

My ICT favourites 

NQT Simon Knight teaches psychology, philosophy, sociology and citizenship at Saffron Walden County High School, Essex.

Favourite software

Windows MovieMaker is a standard tool, but I use it pretty frequently. I take videos and podcasts and cut them down to get the clips I need. I add captions to highlight key points, or ask students questions.

Favourite gadget

Acer aspireone – I’m writing this on my Acer netbook, and I love it! It’s small, reasonably fast and weighs only 1kg. When laptops are scarce in school I use my netbook and the classroom PC so I can get two groups watching different clips in my A level classes.

Favourite websites

www.psychexchange.co.uk is a fantastic resource-sharing website. It’s part of exchange- network.co.uk, which includes science, sociology and PE sharing websites.

www.newsmap.jp shows news stories for keywords, split by country and type of story (eg sport). It’s a nice way to view items on a topic, and can throw up the unexpected. For example, a search on ‘divorce’ showed an article on some iphone apps to help in the process.

www.twitterfountain.com – enter a tag and view an onscreen scroll through tweets related to it, on a background of images with that tag on Flickr. You can’t censor; it shows all tweets, so it isn’t yet suitable for all classes. But it’s one to watch for an alternative to picture starters.

www.delicious.com/sjgknight This social bookmarking website provides a fantastic way to share (tagged) bookmarks with students. Students can select any topic we study to see articles on that area, or I can give them a topic URL, for example www.delicious.com/ sjgknight/psychology+memory.

Which websites, software and gadgets help you most in your professional life? Email your favourites to teacher@nut.org.uk by Monday 11 October. If we publish them you’ll receive a £10 shopping voucher courtesy of Countdown – see page 44 for details.