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Introduction

Every school identifies that it has a need for technology, and when technology is used in the right way, it can have a positive impact. But at the same time, with financial budgets and pressures on schools, it’s difficult to know – and choose – where those precious funds are best spent.

Our advice and belief is always that the best starting point is to have a digital strategy; a plan of what you want to achieve and why. First and foremost, it should be driven by educators and leaders in terms of outcomes – and secondly, it should tally with the financial and budgetary opportunities of the school.

In lots of schools, and particularly in groups of schools, the driver for implementing new technology is often determined by the finance function saying, “We have this much to spend – what would you like?”. Although that has a degree of sense, it’s the wrong way round to start a digital strategy. The impetus should perhaps instead come from the educators in the classroom, setting out the things they want to do and deciding on the tools that they believe will have a positive impact on learning. As Michael Fullan writes, a “pedagogy first” approach is most likely to bring the best rewards.

Then comes the part where the school considers, based on their budget, how they will achieve those ambitions. Therefore, the starting point shouldn’t be where the finance team says, “We only have X amount to spend, what are you going to do?”, because we need to plan for not just ‘the now’ but what the subsequent steps of the strategy will be, linked the teaching, learning and curriculum aims of the school and its key stakeholders.