Never mind the technology, where’s the learning?

I had a phone call yesterday afternoon from a Head in an British International School wanting some advice. Over the summer they had invested in creating an intranet over 4 sites - a computer plus interactive whiteboard into every classroom, four computer rooms contain approximately 80 computers and for the first time, data could be saved centrally onto the network. Naturally they saw this all as a giant leap forward. The system is maintained by local technicians. However:

“In the past we have had a worm that was released onto the system and our technicians are now very wary about installing any new software onto the computers and the new intranet. This is frustrating as we have a number of software packages that we have purchased from England via RM, Oxford University, BBC, etc, all reputable companies in my mind.

“If you were in our technicians shoes could I ask what you would do?”

was his question. On enquiry the technicians were being more than a little wary, they were basically refusing to install these CD ROMs, or anything unless it was certified as being virus free. There was an impasse, the teachers wanted to use their shiny new computers and interactive whiteboards, but could not get legitimate software installed. The issue was more to do with managing people that technical support or network protection. The danger was that the technicians were beginning to see the teachers as a ‘threat to their environment’, ’subversives’ who might undermine their perfection, and the teachers would see the technicians as overbearing ‘patrol men’ watching and monitoring their every ICT move. Either way, the purpose of having the kit would soon be lost.

In these situations both sides need to accept an ‘arbitrator’ who might provide a procedure that enables them to work together and realise the goal they had both lost sight of. In this case I suggested they look at FITS, the Becta Framework for ICT Technical Support.

Now FITS is not perfect, indeed it’s a framework not a manual, and needs to be adapted to the circumstances of the school. But what is does do is provide an impartial guide to doing things in a systematic way. Gates are sometime necessary, gatekeepers sometimes not.
Image credit: Tom Magliery

Blogged with Flock