News
Education the ‘most progressive sector’ in the race to digital maturity, but faces greatest challenge
E
ducation is the most progressive sector in terms of making the transition from a state of digital transformation to digital maturity, according to the latest research from Coleman Parkes, commissioned by Ricoh. The findings reveal that more education leaders see digital maturity as a key priority (80 per cent) than representatives from other sectors. They are also confident that they can reach digital maturity within the next two years, with 34 per cent believing they will accomplish the move by 2016 and 71 per cent expecting to have achieved the goal by 2019. The importance attached to digital maturity is likely linked to the opportunity that digital is providing to attract new students through enhanced classroom and online learning experiences. When compared to other vertical sectors, education has the largest number (23 per cent) of respondents seeing a stronger competitive edge as the number one benefit of becoming digitally mature. Other top ranked benefits include: • Improved business processes (19 per cent) • Easier access to information (17 per cent) • Less time required to complete tasks (12 per cent) However, the research highlights a number of hurdles on the road to digital maturity – where an organisation uses sophisticated tools to drive performance and demonstrates an ongoing commitment to technology, technology-led initiatives and digitally managed processes. Education leaders face both financial and cultural transformation challenges as they continue digital initiatives.
Respondents singled out cost as a significant obstacle, with 48 per cent considering it the biggest barrier to achieving digital maturity. This perhaps reflects the fact that the education sector is often subject to the greatest restraints on expenditure as it faces the daily need to balance limited budgets across investing in people, facilities and technology. The 2013 OECD Education at a Glance report revealed a decline in public spending on education institutions in a number of European countries including Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Reflecting the importance of digital to competitive advantage, senior teams in education are likely to be engaged with digital activities, with 62 per cent concerned and interested in keeping operations digitally mature. However, the education sector also has one of the lowest percentages of respondents who have a clear vision for achieving digital maturity (71 per cent), with only the Public Sector having fewer. This lack of clarity may be down to a greater reliance on internal expertise than other sectors. The research reveals that education leaders are more likely to say that working with an expert external partner would be critical to achieving maturity.
Further hurdles illustrate the ongoing difficulties education leaders face in bringing a workforce with varying degrees of technology literacy into the digital age and the critical importance of leaders communicating a clear vision. Almost half (48 per cent) said that
educating all business functions of the benefits of digital was an obstacle to achieving digital maturity, while 43 per cent cited changing the way work is carried out to keep up with new technology already in place.
Phil Keoghan, CEO Ricoh UK, said: “Todays’ technology-enhanced classroom experience, the rise of remote learning and massive open online courses (MOOCs) make it clear that the future of education has digital at its heart. The big questions facing education leaders are what does digital maturity look like for my institution and how can I ensure that our people and processes are working in harmony with this vision.” “With interactive whiteboards now present in many classrooms and the increasing usage of mobile devices by students, the next five years will see real-time collaborative experiences becoming the norm. However, the impact of digital should be considered not only in the classroom and online but also as a means to optimise processes and increase efficiency. Having a robust digital framework and partner support are essential if education leaders are to make the most of restrained budgets and remain relevant in an environment where digital capabilities are constantly evolving.”
Imperial College London and Tigtag join forces for CPD I
mperial College London and the award-winning primary science resource
www.tigtagworld.com recently launched a pioneering partnership to provide continuing professional development resources (“CPD”) aimed at supporting primary school teachers in the UK.
Known as ‘Reach Out CPD’, the web-based programme is championed by Imperial’s Professor of Science and Society Professor Lord Robert Winston, and will provide teachers with resources and ideas to support their teaching and engage primary school children across the UK in the wonder of primary science.
Reach Out CPD sees Imperial College London and Tigtag responding to the call made by government in December 2013 for institutions to provide materials, resources and tools to help schools inspire and motivate students to reach the required standards.
With only 5% of the UK’s primary school teachers holding a science degree, access to appropriate training, guidance and resources is recognised as key to improving teachers’ confidence to give engaging and inspiring science lessons. However, the time commitment and cost of courses, which can be over £300 a day, are often barriers to teachers participating in science- specific professional development training resulting in a variation in the amount of science CPD undertaken in schools.
Through a substantial investment by Imperial and Tigtag, the new Reach Out CPD online video and interactive resources for teachers are free and accessible to all 200,000 primary teachers in the UK. Covering all of the UK primary science curricula and available anytime and anywhere Reach Out CPD is designed to be tailored around teachers’ lesson planning.
Reach Out CPD champion Professor Lord Robert Winston said: “If you’re going to single out one of the most important jobs in our society it has to be teaching. We need to nurture, value and promote teachers. To give them the career professional development and support they need is so important. If you really want to change your society, you’ve got to invest in the youngest children. And if you’re really wanting to change your society and make it a better place, then primary school is the key opportunity.” Through specialist films produced by Tigtag, teachers will learn about scientific concepts while gaining imaginative classroom ideas to inspire students and encourage them to engage with science. Introduced by Imperial College London academics, Reach Out CPD also features wide- ranging supporters of the programme, including Olympic athlete Katherine Grainger and experts representing the Royal Academy of Engineers and the Royal Observatory.
The first 20-minute Reach Out units to be 12
www.education-today.co.uk
released cover topics ranging from energy to the digestive system. Each includes videos and interactive elements that highlight the applications of science and encourage learning through peer discussions and reflective self- analysis. By early 2015 units covering all of the UK curricula will be available.
Teachers have already responded enthusiastically to the resources. Sam Sims, Headteacher of Meadows Primary School in Ipswich says:
“Reach Out CPD is a fantastic way to get knowledge fast. I’ve just taught a lesson on rocks and was able to use some of the examples I saw in the films. I’m not a science specialist so it¹s great to have that information at your fingertips that you can use in the classroom that same day.”
October 2014
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