ILT Strategy Development Guidelines
JISC RSC Guidelines for developing an Information and Learning Technology (ILT) Strategy for Work-based Learning (WBL) providers
The following Guideline has been produced by the JISC Regional Support Centres to give guidance to WBL providers when developing an Information and Learning Technology (ILT) Strategy. It is a guideline for a coherent approach to strategic planning for ILT and e-learning within an organisation that is delivering work-based learning.
These guidelines themselves do not attempt to define what your strategy should look like. Your strategy will be appropriate to the specific needs, size and culture of your organisation. Your strategy will be part of your organisation’s business strategy and may feed into other strategic plans. The strategy you produce is intended as a living document serving to guide development of ILT within your organisation.
The guidelines suggest that you give a short summary of your organisation’s provision, and current use of ILT. The guidelines then ask you to answer a sequence of questions as follows:
1. Vision and Strategic Planning:
a. What is your vision for development of e-learning within your organisation?
b. How will the vision and strategy be communicated across the organisation?
c. How will your ILT strategy relate to other strategic plans? (eg Self-assessment Plan, Quality Improvement Plan)
d. How will you manage your ILT strategy?
e. How will you evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the strategy?
f. What are the local, regional and national strategic priorities that may inform your ILT strategy? (eg the governments e-strategy, LSC priorities, CIF and FFE frameworks, Leitch report etc)
2. Teaching and Learning:
a. How is technology/ILT currently used in teaching and learning? What contribution does it make?
b. How can you realise the potential of technology to personalise learning? (i.e learning that caters for a range of abilities and learning styles)
c. How can you realise the potential of technology to offer flexible learning? (i.e that gives learners choices about where, when, and how learning occurs)
d. How will different delivery models (eg options for learners to access learning resources in the workplace or at home) affect the different programme areas?
e. How can learners access learning on and off the job?
f. What e-learning resources are already in use and for what purposes/occupational areas do you need to identify and acquire e-learning materials and resources?
g. What resources are available to you free and what do you need to buy?
h. How will you ensure that the development of learning resources will meet legislative requirements e.g. Disability Discrimination Act, Special Educational Needs and Disability Act and Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
i. How do you currently make use of the Internet in teaching and learning? Can this be enhanced by increased or improved use of the Internet? How?
3. Assessment and Verification:
a. What is currently used for portfolio building and assessment? How can technology help?
a. How can assessment procedures/ learner tracking become more efficient?
b. What occupational areas will be affected by changes to assessment procedures?
c. What procedures within your organisation will be affected by changes to assessment procedures?
d. Does online testing play any part in testing for technical certificates and key skills? How? And in which programme areas?
e. How might you implement online testing in programme areas where you do not offer it, but where it is endorsed by the awarding bodies? Who would it affect?
f. How could you enhance e-assessment further by offering testing as and when the learner is ready at a location that suits them?
g. How is technology used in Internal Verification practices? How might you use technology to plan and manage Internal Verification? Who will be affected by any changes?
h. What organisational policies and procedures will be affected by changes to verification practices?
4. Learner Support:
a. How is technology used to deliver Information, Advice and Guidance to stakeholders?
b. How could you use technology to enhance the delivery of IAG to stakeholders?
c. How is technology used to provide additional support to learners?
d. How could you make use of technology to fulfil the legislative requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act and Special Educational Needs and Disability Act?
e. How is technology used for communication with learners?
f. How could you make use of electronic communication to improve communication between staff, learners, employers and other stakeholders?
g. How is technology used to ensure that learners have the necessary ICT skills to access the learning and support you deliver?
h. How could you ensure that through initial and on-going assessment learners have the necessary ICT skills to fully benefit from the learning and support you offer?
i. How is technology used to set targets and record progress and achievement?
j. How could technology help your staff and learners to set, record and review targets?
k. How could technology assist you in obtaining accurate and detailed information on learner progress and achievement, as and when you need it, in a form that meets your needs?
5. Staff Development:
a. What systems are in place to review staff needs and skills in ICT/ILT?
b. What ILT/e-learning staff development activities are you planning towards the achievement of your ILT strategic objectives?
c. How do you plan to address staff ICT/ILT development needs on a regular basis?
d. How do you make use of ILT champions/enthusiasts?
e. How will you co-ordinate and integrate the work of ILT champions/enthusiasts into a staff development programme and ensure that all staff have access to these individuals?
6. Infrastructure and Equipment:
a. To what extent do staff, learners and employers have access to resources; hardware and software, required to carry out their roles?
b. What resources; hardware and software, are required for staff to fulfil the organisation’s ILT vision?
c. How will you ensure staff, learners and employers have the necessary access to resources and equipment at all learning and assessment locations?
d. Does your organisation have a network, (computers/laptops connected either by cabling or wirelessly)? What additions or changes do you need to make to your network status to support your planned ILT development?
e. What is the present situation regarding internet connectivity at your organisation’s premises, employer sites and learner homes?
f. What action, if any, do you need to take to achieve internet connectivity with appropriate bandwidth at your own premises?
g. How do you plan to overcome the problem of learners not having internet connectivity in the workplace or/and at home?
h. To what extent are learners, employers and staff able to access required electronic resources?
i. Do you need access to a comprehensive on-line learning platform, such as a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) or website in order to deliver your electronic resources to stakeholders?
j. What is the best way to obtain such access (e.g. purchase, hosting from a third party)?
k. What technical support is currently available to staff? Do you have an internal technical support function, or do you outsource this service?
a. How do you plan to ensure that technical support will meet the needs of learners and staff?
b. Who has ownership and responsibility for maintenance of the technical infrastructure and equipment?
7. Action Plan and Budget for ILT and e-learning strategy
a. How will you finance your ILT strategy objectives?
b. How will you ensure that appropriate finance enables sustainability of the outcomes of your ILT strategy objectives?
c. Are you currently in receipt of any ILT/e-learning grants?
d. Do you plan to bid for any future ILT/e-learning grants?
e. Are there any funding streams that the organisation receives, that are not specific to ILT/e-learning that you can use to supplement the ILT/e-learning budget?
f. For each activity in the Action Plan (see below) you will need to estimate an associated cost
Sample Action Plan and Budget
Strategic Objective Ref / Key Activity/Objective / Key Staff/Job Role / Target Completion Date / Progress Monitoring / Success Indicator / Date Completed
cross ref. to strategy objectives / Objectives identified in the ILT strategy / Who will be responsible for implementing the objective? / Date when you intend that the objective will be fully implemented / What processes will you put in place to monitor progress and when will it occur? / How will you know when the objective has been successfully achieved? / Date objective has been successfully implemented
Budget
Budget:
· What will it cost?
· Costs can be estimated for each activity in the action plan
8. Managing and Implementing your ILT strategy
a. What procedures will you put in place to ensure that the ILT strategy objectives in your action plan are achieved against the targets set?
b. What procedures are in place, or how do you plan, to monitor and the review the ILT strategy?
c. How do you communicate the ILT strategy and action plan to all staff?
d. How will you fully engage staff in the organisation’s vision for ILT, the strategy, its objectives and the action plan?
e. Are you currently engaged in any partnership arrangements to develop or utilise ILT/e-learning?
f. Who are the external organisations who you could involve in the development of ILT/e-learning, and how can you develop relationships and partnerships with these organisations to implement ILT/e-learning projects?
9. Help and support
a. Who can help your organisation to deliver the planned programme? Free advice and support is available from:
· The JISC Regional Support Centres (RSCs) who provide a first point of call for information about the range of free services available to the WBL sector
· JISC who provide leadership in the innovative use of ICT to support education and research (www.jisc.ac.uk)
· Agencies such as NIACE (www.niace.org.uk), Becta (www.becta.org.uk) and the Centre for Excellence in Leadership (www.centreforexcellence.org.uk/) offer staff development and access to free ILT resources
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