Technology In Our Institutions

Educational organisations have accumulated enormous amounts of technology over the years but the key question, especially where the investment in technology precludes expenditure on other priorities, is whether this investment has been made strategically or not. How has it improved efficiency or competitive advantage, and how do we measure any added value? The cost of technology in FE and HE over the years is difficult to determine but it is undoubtedly high, and increasing. A Becta study on ICT and e-learning in FE published in 2006 reported that around 80,000 computers were purchased in 2006 in FE. In addition to this there has been enormous growth in network availability in post-compulsory institutions, mostly funded centrally, as well as high levels of expenditure on administrative and learning software funded locally. It is clear therefore that, viewed across the whole post-compulsory sector, spending on IT directly (on hardware, software, systems and networks) and indirectly (on training and initiative projects) runs to hundreds of millions of pounds. At this level of investment IT should be transforming our institutions.

So how successful have we been in exploiting the opportunities afforded by IT? Has IT transformed processes and services in universities and colleges for the better? Whilst there are some examples of best practice that can be held up as beacons, for example Newark and Sherwood was one of the first colleges to have an extensively-used intranet linking all staff to essential systems and communications, the overall picture does not show high levels of innovation. But, whilst most institutions are not at the leading edge of IT use, portals, effective administration systems and the use of IT for learning improvement is now more common in both universities and colleges. One key to success is implementation of institution-wide systems. Silo thinking and behaviour are a major impediment to success with IT. New technology can be the glue that unites the units of the institution - but like most glues it needs to be applied liberally.