Governance: Plans & Strategies - Information & Communication Technology Strategy |
| ICT Overview 2008/09 | ==>> ICT Strategy |
Introduction
The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) supports the College in providing an excellent and inclusive lifelong learning environment in terms of:- its use to enhance learning;
- its use to improve access to learning;
- its role in developing better, more informed or more efficient systems for administration and management within the College;
- meeting the requirement for ICT skills throughout the current and emergent labour force; and
- the growing demand for specific higher level technical knowledge and skills.
Objectives
A significant investment has been made to improve the ICT equipment and infrastructure, particularly at the new East End Campus. This includes the rollout of up to date computers and a state of the art server farm providing data and voice over internet protocol services using the latest Cisco based infrastructure. During session 2008/09 the College will continue to invest in new equipment in the Easterhouse Campus and the Learning Network, along with investigating how best to support the expanding provision.The new campus uses a modular Cisco switch infrastructure with structured cabling to all rooms and a fibre backbone. It also has complete coverage for wireless devices to allow for potential mobile innovations. Currently this allows laptop computers to be used anywhere without the need to be plugged in, providing greater flexibility for students to learn and staff to work. It also provides coverage for wireless phones. The campus now has the potential to develop further mobile innovations with handheld devices, voting systems, location detection and other emerging technologies. The potential benefit of such systems will be considered in relation to the requirements for effective operation. Similar facilities will be rolled out to the Easterhouse Campus during session 2008/09.
Every teaching location in the East End and Easterhouse Campuses will have access to a networked computer, interactive board and data projector for multimedia presentations. These have already been used effectively in the College and their ubiquitous availability will encourage staff to use these to enhance the learning and teaching experience.
Further investment has also been made in the computers of the Learning Network and these will be updated on a regular basis throughout the period on the plan with support from the Community Planning Partnership and Glasgow Housing Association. The success of the Learning Network will be built upon as the numbers of venues is increased.
In recognising the importance of ICT to its primary role, John Wheatley College has set a number of strategic objectives:
- to make ICT available wherever appropriate to the learning and teaching;
- to ensure that the ICT provision reflects the current industry standards with higher specifications used where the demand justifies this;
- to provide staff with the ICT skills and resources necessary for the most efficient and effective performance of their duties;
- to develop partnerships that enhance the teaching and learning environment in the College, allow the College to serve the community and improve the standing of the ICT element of further education generally;
- to work toward the implementation of an integrated managed learning environment;
- to provide a secure and resilient service for supporting the business and administrative functions;
- to review the balance between ICT equipment and the requirement for support to ensure a reliable and acceptable service;
- to review College ICT provision on an on-going basis;
- to review the impact of ICT on teaching and learning;
- to review the management and structure of the ICT support service.
Priorities
College committees have identified areas which will be prioritised in order to meet the objectives:- Virtual Learning Environment
We will further develop the Virtual Learning Environment, using a combination of the FirstClass email and Intranet system, and the College website supported by a variety of databases including digital asset management and student individual learning plans. Other standard off the shelf Virtual Learning Environments will be investigated and utilised where appropriate dependant on the allocation of resources to carry out this research.
The College‘s Learning and Teaching Strategy recognises that a blended learning approach is most appropriate for improving the experience for our learners. Our integration of a Virtual Learning Environment with other ICT systems along with direct tutor support will continue to be developed. Other systems will be implemented where there is potential for these to be of benefit.
- Flexible Learning
Flexible Learning is an area that can make excellent use of ICT. One particular area which has benefited and will continue to develop with the support of ICT, is the community based Youth Access project.
In line with the timeframes established by the relevant awarding bodies we will introduce online assessment to further support flexible learning where appropriate.
- Managed Learning Environment
The most efficient exploitation of our digital assets and data requires good systems integration within a Managed Learning Environment. This includes the FirstClass email and intranet system, Windows network and authentication, Internet access, file storage, digital asset management, UNITe student records and online registers.
The College has developed a digital asset management service to be used as a repository for electronic resources. This will continue to be populated and integrated with the developing Managed Learning Environment and library catalogue.
- Technology Refresh
It is essential that technology is continually refreshed and services are upgraded and developed effectively. It is recognised that this involves significant capital costs and the best use will be made of existing equipment to obtain the maximum reasonable useful operational life. Whereas the East End campus now has a state of the art and new infrastructure, it will be a priority over the period of the plan to address the infrastructure, computers and servers in the Easterhouse campus and the Learning Network. The sustainability objectives of the College will also govern the ICT equipment that is utilised in order to ensure that as far as possible it is environmentally friendly.
During session 2008/09 the balance between the most appropriate equipment, systems and support of these will be reviewed to consider how best to ensure a reliable service.
- Security and Resilience
Underpinning the effective use of ICT are the measures taken to ensure a secure and resilient service. There are continual and growing threats and dangers to ICT systems from many avenues including malicious attackers and automated threats like viruses, as well as the inherent instability of computer software and equipment that is prone to unavoidable failure at some point in its operational life. To protect against these events, the College will ensure all users are aware of its Acceptable Use policy, that security software and hardware is installed and that critical systems have added protection and resilience.
With all the investment which the College has made in servers and services, the ICT Services team will continue to update and maintain a comprehensive and detailed Business Continuity plan.
- Quality Assurance
The quality of the ICT provision will be reviewed and monitored on an annual basis gathering evidence from various sources and reporting at College and Board of Management committees. This includes:
- survey of ILT Champions;
- student focus group meetings;
- the Student Evaluation of the Learning Experience;
- mid-programme learner evaluations;
- Evaluation of the Learning Experience Reports;
- John Wheatley Training Needs Survey;
- The Career Development Review process; and
- Evaluation of ICT Services (using the nationally produced toolkit ‘Bootstrap’).
The College will review and update its ICT Strategy each session in line with technological developments and recommendations from evidence gathered from the quality enhancement process.
With the significant investment in the new East End Campus coupled with the refreshment of ICT at the Easterhouse Campus and deployment of the technology, the ICT Strategy will be informed by these developments.