Good strategic planning that sees IT decisions as a core part of supporting students achieve the desired learning outcomes, will always produce the best results. However, even if your planning is still in development, there are still a number of things that schools can feel confident about spending some time and money on that will still support and enhance learning experiences.

While I have tried to keep jargon to a minimum, there are a number of technical terms in the body of this post, for which I thought about creating a glossary. Instead, I will simply encourage you to search the web for further explanation if needed, as there is no shortage of definitions out there. Where possible, I have added links for your convenience.

1. Managed wireless networks

In the good old days many schools got away with having a collection of stand-alone wireless access points and these were sufficient for connecting a few wireless devices to the network. Of course if you wanted to change something like the network name or the password then you needed to log onto each access point individually which was a bit of a nuisance.

Having a managed wireless network means that you can control your wireless access points from a single administrative interface. This allows you to do things like change passwords centrally, create new service set identifiers (SSID’s), and get some statistics about how your network is being used. The admin interface also allows you to get statistics showing things like, which devices are using the most data, where the heaviest concentrations of wireless users/devices are, and will alert you if any of the access points are unplugged.

Before you rush out to buy your managed wireless network, if you have not yet got your Ministry of Education subsidised School Network Upgrade Project (SNUP), then you might want to wait, as you will now be offered managed wireless as part of that process. It is hard to compete with anything that has been subsidised by 68–80% (depending on whether you are a state integrated or state school). If you were going to have to fund it yourself, then it would be worth getting 2-3 quotes. I believe the MoE currently provides Ruckus, Aerohive, Aruba, and Fortinet wireless equipment when they upgrade school networks, and so quotes for a couple of those brands would be a sensible place to start. But I also think you should get a price for Unifi gear, as it is pretty good value for money, in my opinion.

No matter what gear you end up using, you need to discuss your needs with the installer to ensure you get both the coverage (ie where you can pick up a signal), and density (ie how many devices you expect to have in one place) that you expect. Remember though, that you can add additional access points later, as your students’ needs will almost certainly increase over time.

2. Migrating services to the cloud

There are a number of cloud services that most schools should now be running offsite, the most obvious being mail. By migrating to one of the free offsite mail servers, you no longer need to pay for a local technician to configure or maintain mail on your own server, you also don’t need to do updates, backups, or think about remote access. Microsoft and Google both have solid cloud mail options that are free for schools to use.

Of course, mail is just one of a number of services that schools are moving into the cloud. Other popular ones are file storage such as Dropbox, Student Management Systems (SMS), Learning Management Systems (LMS), library and finance packages. The only caveat to put on some of these is that they can be frustrating to use if you do not have a fast enough Internet connection.

You probably still need a server to do things like hold your directory of users, allocate network addresses to devices and some local DNS. But, when your current server needs replacing, it should almost certainly be a lot cheaper than your last one. That’s because it will not need to have as many services configured on it, meaning lower setup costs, and because it is running less stuff, then your hardware costs and backup requirements should also be lower.

3. Buying mobile devices rather than desktops

I am not sounding the death knell of desktop computers. Indeed, for processor-intensive tasks, and when you need a lot of screen space to work with, they are unbeatable. Rather, I am saying that mobile devices are a nicer fit in the classroom — and often beyond the classroom. Also, it is more natural to have the device be a part of the learning, wherever it is happening. Of course, a mobile device could be a laptop or tablet-style device. Schools are spoilt for choice in terms of mobile devices.

The pros and cons of all the available mobile devices is beyond the scope of this post, but what I would like to say is that I love two things about tablets. One is that their shape is “vanilla”, so it’s easy to repurpose them in ways that would be difficult on a laptop. For instance, they can easily be used as a video camera, musical instrument, or GPS. The second is that when a group shares a tablet it seems more equitable, for a simple tilt or touch means that each participant can contribute far more easily than when one person is sitting with the keyboard and screen facing them on a laptop.

4. Saying yes to SNUP

I still occasionally come across a school that has turned down SNUP in the belief that the network they currently have is all right, or that they could achieve the same result for less money by doing it themselves.

To be fair, if a school has paid for their own network upgrade in the last 2-3 years because they could not wait for SNUP, then they may have a point. But any existing network that is more than 5 years old could probably benefit from at least new switches, wireless gear, and additional power outlets. The idea that the total cost for a school to purchase all of the switches, data cabling, power outlets, and wireless equipment that they would be offered under a SNUP for the same price as their SNUP contribution alone seems most unlikely. If that is the advice a school has been given, then they should get a second opinion.

5. Moving to fibre if current connection speeds are causing issues

Fibre is stonkingly fast compared with the ADSL connection that most schools have been using for the last 5–10 years. By having a connection that has both fast upload and download speeds it is likely that the school will see better value for money from its Internet connected devices, because users be able to get things done more easily.

For many schools swapping to fibre it will mean a higher monthly Internet cost. But over time, some of those costs could be recouped by checking if fibre allows you to reduce spending on other areas, such as moving to cloud-based services and swapping to VoIP phones.

The other thing to remember is that N4L aim to have all schools connected by the end of 2016, so, while your costs might be higher for a while, at some stage over the next two-and-a-half years they will drop to nil. So, do not sign a long-term contract for fibre from another provider.

6. Saying yes to N4L

In the long run I think there will be lots of good reasons to say yes to the N4L, but right now, the fact that it is free should be reason enough. And bundled with your free Internet connection, your school will also be given a managed router/firewall which the N4L will maintain for you free of charge. Other benefits include uncapped data, and a fast, filtered connection to the Internet. If one needed any more inducement, then remember that it is still in its infancy, and that over time N4L will provide even more cool stuff (like IPv6, identity management and the Pond).

7. Using collaborative online documents

Working in online office suites such as Google Apps or Microsoft 365 allows a richness and collaboration for learners previously not possible in device-bound documents. Not only does it make it simple for groups of students to work on a single document, but it also allows teachers, parents, other students, and mentors to easily share ideas, give feedback, and to co-construct learning. Additionally, it is all saved, backed up, and constantly upgraded by the ether-elves at no cost to the school or the user.

If Google Apps is your online collaboration tool of choice then Hapara Teacher Dashboard should almost certainly be considered as well. It is a great tool that lets you create order from what would otherwise be a bewildering and constantly growing collection of documents. Google has recently announced that they will have a product called Classroom that will be available from September (ready for the start of the school year in the Northern Hemisphere) that looks like it will mimic at least some of the functionality of Hapara at no cost. In the meantime Hapara is available right now, and you might as well use it for 2014 at least.

8. Recognising that Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is coming

Like it or not, devices are getting cheaper, the Internet is becoming more central to everything we do, and students and parents will expect to be connected to it if and when needed as and when it enhances their learning. Schools should be thinking about how they will fit student-owned devices into their infrastructure. Professional development opportunities should be taken to expose staff to ways that schools can cater for and benefit from connected students and teachers.

9. Digital citizenship

We would be fools to still think that a child will access only the school’s Internet network. Nor can we simply put filters and firewalls in place to keep our children safe. We need to enhance the technical barriers by embedding the concepts of digital citizenship and cybersafety throughout the classroom and wider school environment to help our young people make good choices online, choices that will allow them to be safe, empowered, caring, and responsible when they are learning and socialising online.

Schools should embed the concepts of digital citizenship and cybersafety into all elements of their teaching rather than seeing it as something that can be covered by running a module. Ideally, any digital citizenship programme would be an extension of the school’s existing values structure. Orewa College refer to their values system as Maanaki Orewa, and it is an excellent example.

Likewise, cybersafety is something that needs to be constantly addressed as part of everyday learning, and Netsafe have some excellent material for schools to follow.

10. Single sign on and identity management

When Single Sign On (SSO) and identity management are properly implemented, it will be seriously cool. Imagine this, … a new student arrives at your school and is enrolled in your SMS, later that day the identity management provider scrapes the new information from your SMS, which gives them the student name, age, classes they are enrolled in, and any other relevant details. That information is then used to create accounts on Google Apps/Office 365, the school LMS, eTV, as well as the school’s network directory. The next day, that child walks into class and can log into the school computers, can log their personal device onto the school wireless, and has access to all the classes they are enrolled in on the school Moodle site. When their period-two teacher takes them to the library, they are already on the system, and can take out a book at the same time as the rest of the class.

Of course, that all happened with only one set of data being entered by a single person, so that user now has one username that works everywhere, one password that can be reset centrally, and the system did not rely on your network technician having the time to add them to various services. What’s more, when a different child leaves your school, the following day their account is automatically hibernated.

For all this to work properly, schools will need to start thinking about cleansing their user information. Is there currently a unique way to assign usernames, do only current users have access to systems, or, are there a lot of leavers and ex-staff still on the system? As work is done on various bits of the school infrastructure, some thought should be given to tidying up some of that in readiness for SSO.

Summary

The reason I believe that the ten items listed above are areas on which schools can confidently spend money is that they are all things that form the scaffold for computer use in schools. I cannot imagine a plan that would not include all of them. Once your plan is in place you can flesh out that scaffolding with the elements that make it uniquely yours, and move forward confidently to meet your strategic goals.

One of the initial concern forecasts for the effects of national standards was that literacy and maths would dominate classroom timetables, reducing creativity and focus on the wider curriculum. Indeed, in many schools today we see the entire morning devoted to writing, reading, and maths, with perhaps a little bit of fitness or phys-ed added to the mix.  The often shortened afternoon is then the focus for the current inquiry, with art and music integrated or slotted somewhere into the week (maybe). No wonder, then, that we are now having to deliberately add science and technology back into the limelight, worry about getting a little more Asia-Pacific into focus, and working to get students off the couch to increase their fitness.

A solution for literacy across the curriculum

One solution, I believe, is to read again the requirement for national standards in literacy, and note that this is focused on “literacy across the curriculum.” Efforts to achieve this often mean that we select writing topics and reading material that tie in with the inquiry topic, although this may be a little forced to fit in with the fact that we are “focusing on persuasive writing this term.”

Some schools have worked themselves through this dilemma, and after considerable experimentation realised that they have the focus in the wrong part of the curriculum to achieve natural flow. When the focus goes back on the inquiry topic and what students are setting out to achieve in their inquiry, then the literacy aspects fit very naturally hand in glove, with the different styles of writing being tracked over a series of inquiries without a forced effort.

A typical just in time learning scenario

“Just in time learning” is a very natural fit with inquiry. The students find that they need to interview someone who lives outside their immediate district, so the use of Skype or Google Hangouts to connect solves the problem. This, then, is the time for some learning or revision on how to:

• contact your proposed interviewee to set up a conference
• use Skype or Google Hangouts
• develop good interview questions
• conduct an interview that is responsive to the information and ideas being provided by the interviewee rather than strictly working your way through a set of predetermined questions etcetera.

It naturally follows that after the Skype interview, students will need to be involved in some learning or revision about how to present the information they gained — this could be in the form of:

• a report (explanation and/or descriptive writing)
• a campaign to raise awareness in others (persuasive writing)
• an explanation of a process (explanation writing) that was discussed.

This is where the literacy skill teaching and practice will naturally fit, but not necessarily between 9.15am–10.30am, the prescribed writing time for the day. We start to see that we can free up the timetable to meet the needs of the learner and their inquiry, slot in literacy teaching to needs-based groups that require particular skills throughout the day, and track the coverage to ensure that all curriculum areas gain due coverage over time.

The benefits of this approach for struggling writers and readers

Our struggling writers and readers also benefit from this approach, as they see this as being part of their inquiry rather than “doing writing” or “doing reading.”  Add to the equation the use of e-learning tools that support the learner with their inquiry and with their writing/reading, and these disengaged students might actually come to enjoy the time they spend writing or reading.

For example, to help engage the students and remove the feeling that they are “doing writing”, you could use:

• text read software such as Natural Readers to assist struggling readers in their inquiry
• free mind-mapping tools like Popplet  or Bubbl.us to organise and plan their ideas to organise and plan their ideas
• online collaborative writing environment such as Etherpad, Google Docs, or Wikispaces to collaborate with others who are, perhaps, in a different classroom or school, or to involve the interviewee in the writing phase
• audio tools to embed snippets from the video conference, or to expand on the written content
• blogs or e-books to publish their ideas once written

This approach requires planning

The student may be fooled, but the teacher must not be. Improvement in writing or reading ability for struggling students will not happen without goal setting and reflection, direct instruction, scaffolding, modelling, conferencing, and celebrating successes.

It can also be used for whole class or segments of the class

This support does not have to happen with whole class, although it may on occasions where all students need the added guidance. Just in time workshops for selected groups of students mean that teachers can align the teaching sessions to meet the needs of particular groups of students, and these can occur throughout the day rather than trying to squeeze it all in to a particular session in the morning.

An opportunity for others to be involved in the teaching

Not everything needs to be teacher directed. Students can work with groups of students or individuals to show them the processes they use with particular aspects of writing or reading. Experts in the field may facilitate sessions from outside the classroom via video conferencing such as Skype. That person they interviewed may be able to assist them with that scientific report they are writing as follow up. A parent at home might read their entry in the class blog and provide some feedback that will move them forward in their writing.  The student may access online tutorials that help them with that aspect of their writing or with use of a particular tool. You can see how the focus shifts back on to the student and his or her particular needs at that particular time.

Keeping the student at the centre, giving them more autonomy in their learning and reflection, shifting teacher focus to tracking, monitoring, and guiding his or her progress are all key to effective learning that will prepare students more fully for their future. Equally they will increase the likelihood of improved student achievement against the national standards and greater teacher satisfaction and engagement in the learning programme.

Further support for extending literacy across the curriculum

For additional support with extending literacy across the curriculum, learning more about the different styles of writing, and finding relevant e-tools to support students, you can find more in the Blended e-Learning Literacy Community in the Virtual Learning Network (VLN). Check out the sections on:

• Reading
• Writing
• Understanding the different styles of writing
• Oral language
• Finding your eTools
• Cross Curricular Literacy

This is a public community with no login required to access, but joining the community will ensure you get regular updates of new content.