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Managing ICT: Review
Managing ICT by Terry Freedman (Hodder and Stoughton) ISBN 0-340-75334-X
This is one of the Effective Teaching Skills series edited by Professor Trevor Kerry. I came to this book as someone interested in computers but no way am I an ICT coordinator. Now I've read it I reckon I could do well at interview - if I were mad enough to want to move from one coordinating role to another. A recent conversation with Alastair Wells convinced me that being an ICT coordinator is rather too like being a SENCO.
This in fact is a book that should appeal to at least three audiences that I can think of. Firstly there is the aspiring ICT coordinator. This is a book that tells you what you need to know if you wish to go down that road. Secondly, if you are already a coordinator then it provides a useful bench mark against which to judge yourself. Finally, this is a book that would prove most useful for a head teacher who needs to know what they might expect from their ICT coordinator.
The book takes you clearly and logically through all the issues you need to consider starting with the personal skills required to do the job. This I think is a vital area that is not always considered. (How many schools are stuck with an anally retentive ex-maths teacher who doesn't really like people using his toys.) As Terry says, "If you are a "techie" who would rather be in a room with a file server than helping someone save their work, then managing ICT in a school or college is not for you."
Terry does not attempt to provide a definitive list of answers to all the questions you might want to ask but what he does do is is make sure you know what questions you might need to ask. For example if you are about to go down the network route then you need to know exactly the right questions to ask potential installation companies. Lack of sufficient detail when you write the contract can result in a lot of unexpected additional expense with over runs and so on. Terry admits he is not in the business of providing a technical manual but I found myself repeatedly muttering "oh, right, hmm" and so on as I worked through his chapter on infra structure. I particularly liked the comment that if you are too effective in your use of old computers then the management may not so easily understand the necessity to replace equipment on a planned five year cycle. It was also refreshing to see that Terry shares my view that platforms are less important than actual access.
The chapter on INSET was interesting too, though it doesn't mention NOF money - probably the book went to press before the details were known but the advice on auditing staff skills is still valid, particularly what you do with the results.
As a MirandaNet person my main interest lies in how teachers use the Internet so I saved this chapter till last (conveniently this is its position in the book). This chapter has some little gems in it that are obvious once you consider them. For example if you have an intranet then any old piece of junk can run a web browser and load those beautifully lean HTML pages. so my old A5000s still have a useful life ahead of them.
The discussion on undesirable web content caused me to think as well. Terry points out that there are circumstances when you may actually want children to look at racist sites. This means that you may have problems with a filtered managed service or software that blocks keywords. This chapter illustrates one of the problems with traditional printed media, especially books. The time between writing a book and publication is so great that in the fast moving field of technology important innovations occur after the book has gone to press and the reader is tempted to wonder why the omissions are there. Well, Terry mentions the National Grid for Learning so full marks there, but not in the chapter on the Internet but rather the one on managing the paperwork and then only briefly at the end of the chapter. The second edition (which I sincerely hope will appear quickly) is sure to remedy this but who knows what new developments will then be missed! None the less, there are a number of mentions throughout the book of items that were precursors to the NGFL and in that sense the book provides useful background.
To conclude, this is an excellent text for anyone wanting to know how to go about being an ICT coordinator. It is clearly laid out, written in a jargon free manner and has a good appendix full of useful web sites and printed document resources. See: easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~etfreedman/index.htm
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