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Pupils in more than half of all UK state schools have poor access to ICT according to research by BESA. Will the digital divide widen in 2015, and what can we do to prevent this?
Justin Beck: This is ultimately related to a lack of public funding, especially as you go down in age and into poorer regions of the country. Will the digital divide continue? Absolutely – unless access and funding is provisioned for those schools lacking. State schools in largely middle class areas will probably fi nd it easier to source the latest gear and resources to empower their learners, by appealing directly to parents for support. The rest will struggle unless the government, interested companies and charitable organisations provide scalable programmes and fi ll in the gaps for ICT equipment purchasing. A likely solution is for less resource-rich areas to adopt a BYOD strategy as the access to smart devices, across all income ranges, is nearing ubiquity. This would enable state schools to focus on the content and delivery of resources. Thus by removing the bulk of hardware purchasing needs, administrators can provide low-cost and fl exible software-as-a-service solutions to deliver new/expanded curriculum and learning opportunities for pupils.
Brian Fischer: At present, all schools are facing signifi cant cuts to their budgets, and, as a result, are having to make some impossible decisions. For example, in the ideal world, we would have a refresh budget ring-fenced for the ICT provision within the school to ensure that we could at least ‘stay still’, never mind move forward with new ideas and innovations. However, how can we do this whilst making staff redundant in order to balance the books? If it comes down to a choice between upgrading the ICT or put ing staff in front of students, there is really no option, so the simple answer is, that in the short term, the digital divide will inevitably widen until someone can come up with a bet er funding strategy.
Simon Harbridge: In response to Brian, budgets are of course a concern, but we think there are things that can be done to improve access to ICT for pupils, even under the tightest fi nancial constraints. BESA recently declared that a high percentage of devices in schools are not fi t for purpose. We still see a lot of potential in such legacy devices. Hardware can be refurbished with the specifi c purpose of improving digital access. Devices can also be recycled, and recycled machines can be purchased for one third of the cost of new ones. There’s also re-distribution – secondary school machines can be deployed in primary schools, where lower usage and processing power are required. There’s also no reason to see investment as an
enormous initial outlay, when payment solutions focused on shifting expenditure to a revenue model rather than capital are increasingly being adopted by schools. With BYOD, CYOD and One-on-One device schemes, part-funding by parents, teachers and admin staff is also increasing. Similarly, in procuring infrastructure and software as a service rather than
as a capital investment, all schools regardless of fi nancial circumstance can allow their pupils access to the latest technology.
David Tindall: Keeping pace with current and future levels of provisioning within schools is essential. Pupils can’t learn unless they have a decent internet connection. Improved access to ICT for schools is an issue that lies at the very heart of Schools Broadband. Whilst we can’t infl uence funding, new technologies mean we can directly infl uence improved broadband speeds, essential to prevent the digital divide. Ethernet over Fibre to the Cabinet (EoFTTC) is one
technology Schools Broadband now uses as standard. This allows us to guarantee speeds of up to 20Mbps, making a huge diff erence to all of our schools who have previously struggled with internet speeds because of their physical location. I’m confi dent as technology progresses, so the
digital divide will lessen. But as demand on these sorts of resources grows, it’s more important now than ever before for schools to ensure they speak to education specialist ISPs, who can make sure they have a communication network that can cope with the needs of today, with built-in fl exibility for the demands of tomorrow.
2014 saw the introduction of a new computing curriculum in UK schools. How will we see this evolve in 2015?
Justin Beck: The new computing curriculum is incredibly important as it will expose all students to not only computer science (the how) but strengthen their ability to apply logic and computational reasoning to problem solving. In 2015 I will expect to see an increased focus on the use of coding skills to be an educational avenue in supporting this curriculum. Learning basic coding challenges students in a couple of ways. First it teaches a baseline skill which, while not required in all work set ings, supports an understanding of how programs, software and hardware interact. Second, it will help pupils with complex problem solving and analysis, thus sharpening their skills further.
Simon Harbridge: Evolution will continue, at a myriad of diff erent rates. I think many schools weren’t completely prepared for the new curriculum, but some were raring to go. We fi nd, especially when we at end shows like BETT, that a collaborative approach to improvement works really well. When CPD experiences are shared and people talk about what’s working for them, change happens faster. We believe that schools should take this approach and keep the curriculum evolving.
Teachers believe online risks such as cyber bullying are on the rise, what steps can we take to further tackle e-safety in the classroom in 2015?
Justin Beck: A core component of the new computing curriculum is for pupils to understand how
Brian Fischer, Assistant Head Teacher for Tibshelf Community School
Justin Beck, VP Education, Kaltura
Simon Harbridge, CEO, Stone Group
David Tindall, Managing Director, Talk Straight, Schools Broadband
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