The role of technology in school building programmes was called into question this week by prominent principal Armando Di-Finizio from Bristol Brunel Academy who was quoted in a Times article saying that millions of pounds were being wasted on “white elephant” technology in schools. He went further to say that there were pressures on schools to buy expensive equipment and that headteachers were being led up the wrong path by ‘IT experts’ and had to contend with a fixation for constantly updating classrooms with the latest gadgets, which had not been tested to destruction.
But was the story all it appeared to be? The subtext for this article, felt to us like it was the opening salvo in the debate about the place of technology within school building investment. But an interesting turn of events happened with a series of tweets from former Principal and Education Adviser Bob Harrison who said ”I am not sure what the Times article reported was what I heard Armando say on the panel at the Westminster Forum event”.
“I have been supporting schools and colleges with their technology visions for several years now and in the early stages mistakes have clearly been made” said Bob “And there are a number of reasons for this including a local authority or schools lack of clarity about their needs, a tendency for companies to ‘over-promise’ in the competitive dialogue, and a failure, on all sides, to seriously commit to partnership approach. I think a further complication in the Brunel Academy was the change of ICT provider during the BSF process and now the procurement is sharper and schools are better at defining their needs”
It will be interesting to find out what the headteacher thinks about the article. What is clear to us is that technology does have a major role to play in school capital programmes. What we need now is an honest debate about what really works and not a procession of white elephant stories.
No related posts.
