Strategic Planning

The decisions that schools make about ICT, including investment decisions, should be driven by their broader strategic goals and needs. Such decisions should also be consistent with the policies and advice of the school system or sector to which they belong.

A school’s goals and needs are generally identified through strategic planning processes. Effective strategic planning enables schools and school systems to allocate resources in ways that provide the best educational outcomes for students.

It is good practice for schools to develop and regularly update their ICT strategic plans—sometimes known as e-learning plans—to support their broader strategic plans.

Useful tools

Many government and non-government school authorities provide advice, tools and templates to assist with ICT strategic planning. Schools should use those resources to meet the strategic priorities and policies of their school systems.

ICT planning frameworks, such as those developed by the MCEETYA ICT in Schools Taskforce and some school systems and sectors are very valuable. They explain the different elements that need to be planned for and help schools evaluate their levels of readiness. For each element, schools are then able to:

assess their current level of readiness
establish their target readiness for the next year (or other time period)
identify what needs to be done to reach that target level.

Preparing the school ICT plan

Schools preparing an ICT plan need to understand:

their overall strategic plan, including its vision, objectives and priorities for teaching and learning
their administrative needs
the opportunities offered by ICT for supporting and improving teaching, learning and school administration
the strategic priorities and policies of the school system or sector to which they belong
their current level of readiness against the appropriate ICT planning framework
the financial, human and other resources available to them.

Developing the plan

Planning is more than the production of a document. The process of planning develops and articulates a shared vision for ICT in teaching, learning and administration across the school community. It is an opportunity for self-review and evaluation, and is crucial to understanding and managing change well.

Leadership and participation

Good planning blends active leadership with broad participation across the school community. Good practices include:

ICT planning that is driven by school leaders—see the MCEETYA ICT Taskforce’s Leadership strategy: learning in an online world
the integration of ICT planning with other aspects of school planning
the use of appropriate expertise and advice, particularly that provided by the school system or sector to which the school belongs
early assessment of the school’s current level of readiness
endorsement of plans through clear governance processes and by relevant school governing bodies, such as school councils.

When to plan

Planning is a cyclical process. ICT strategic planning should be undertaken regularly—generally annually—and it should be aligned with other school planning processes, including:

overall school strategic planning
curriculum planning
planning for professional learning
school budgeting
building and facilities planning
ICT infrastructure planning.

Documenting the plan

ICT strategic plans are generally presented as consolidated documents. They are provided to key stakeholders in the school community, including staff, parents and governing bodies. Where required, the school’s ICT strategic plan should utilise the school system’s templates and advice.

Vision and goals

ICT strategic plans need to describe the school’s vision and high-level goals and should support the school’s overall strategic plan. Plans usually outline:

the teaching and learning practices to be supported through ICT
the administrative practices to be supported through ICT
the ways that ICT supports the use of learning spaces throughout the school
areas of change in the school in which ICT will have an important enabling role.

Strategies

The school’s ICT strategic plan should set out the strategies for achieving goals according to the elements of the relevant ICT planning framework. An example is included in Digital education - making change happen, which describes 10 elements and associated strategies where ICT can contribute:

personalising and extending student learning
enabling leadership
supporting professional learning
connecting learning beyond the school
improving student assessment and reporting
developing measuring and monitoring student ICT capabilities
accessing and utilising student information
providing, accessing and managing teaching and learning processes
automating business processes
providing reliable infrastructure.

Outcomes

Each strategy should describe:

intended outcomes, including the target level of readiness against the ICT planning framework
measures of achievement
evaluation processes.

Implementation

Each strategy should describe how it will be implemented. The details may be set out in related plans such as a professional learning plan or an ICT infrastructure plan. Implementation details should include: