Where are you now? and, Where do you want to go?

It is important to know where your starting point is for your school; this includes the teaching staff, the learners, other school staff and those involved in the school community.

One of the first things to do is to look at the devices that your school has in place, as this will influence where your journey starts.

This does not mean that your journey is dictated by the current set-up which is in your school, it will simply influence the path you take.

Finally, you need to know where you want to get to. (We all know that this may be ever-changing, however knowing your goal is always important even when this changes.)

Remember that there is a difference between the digital skills being developed and the level of the content which learners should be adding. 

Where to start...

Platform- If you are making a start in using technology to enhance teaching and learning, I suggest starting with the Hwb platform this will give your learners access to a suite of apps that they can access through their education in Wales, both in school and at home. 

Devices- School will generally have access to a range of devices, which are usually: desktop computers, laptops, Chromebooks, iPads or other tables. Whatever your school has in place will initially dictate the way you can use technology within the school. However, this does not need to be your final plan, you can plan for the change of device setup throughout the following years when purchasing new equipment as older equipment reaches its end of life.

Digital Learning Platform (DLP)- On the Hwb platform there are two main DLPs, these are Office365 from Microsoft and Google Workspace for Education from Google. When choosing which platform to use it is important to consider which one will suit your school's needs best. It is advisable that if you are a primary school you discuss with other schools in your cluster which platform they use, as you will then be able to identify what progression within the skills used in the apps looks like. This will then support the secondary schools will having learners arrive from primary schools with a similar level of digital experiences.

Making a start with staff- Staff confidence will play a big part in the effective rollout of a digital change in your school. I advise starting with implementing the DLP of your choice and supporting staff in how they can make use of the devices they have in school to support this. There is training within this website to support an understanding of how to use the basic features of the apps available in the Hwb platform.  

Staff need to understand where they fit into the learning journey of the school and the learners within. They too are on the journey to improve their digital skills, and as much as many will like to 'stick to what they know', it is important they understand the transferable skills within digital applications. For example, many staff will be familiar with Microsoft Word, however, these skills are transferable to using Google Docs and J2Write in the Hwb tools and learners will need to understand this skill.

To further support staff with using technology to enhance their teaching I have included pages with specific examples of how they can integrate technology into their teaching activities. This list is by no means exhaustive, and it is hoped that as staff become more proficient in their use of technology, so too does their ability to adapt activities to integrate it.

Which apps first?- Staff should always start by understanding the DLP you have chosen, and what it allows them to do when assigning activities to their learners. 

Start with- Nursery and Reception can start to make use of the apps in the J2E suite. These are a great introduction to using digital tools to create and allow the skills within the DCF to be developed effectively. 

Further up the school staff can look at How to use Microsoft Teams or How to use Google Classrooms. (I used Google Classroom with Year 1, which is where this progression map of skills originated)

Next- Make use of the core apps within these platforms. Office365- Word, PowerPoint & Excel. Google- Docs, Slides & Sheets. this will allow staff and learners to understand the transferable skills within the platforms they are using

Which apps next?- Schools then have a choice on the apps they choose to start using. This can be done initially by selecting the apps which best suit the teaching and learning activities of the teacher. It is hoped that schools will look to implement all of the apps available on Hwb by the time they leave primary school, NB. when starting this process it may take several months before additional applications are used. Staff confidence and competence are paramount to this process working effectively. 

Also- Look to see where it is appropriate to introduce the additional applications within the chosen DLP. Which apps are relevant to a year group and to what level should they be used?

Which App do I use next? 

It depends on what you want learners to do, in no particular order, choose from...

When choosing which apps to introduce schools should look to develop a depth of understanding of these as learners progress through the school. 

It may be best to introduce one app per term/half-term to allow staff to develop an understanding of what is possible with the app you have chosen. To support staff confidence they must know they have time to develop their proficiency within the apps too. e.g. a year six teacher will only need to introduce the skills the school has identified as 'year six skills' once learners have also been through the development process. This should mean that teachers too have time to develop their understanding in line with the learners.

NB. There will always be learners who are more proficient in using some applications than the teachers, in this instance it is good practice to make use of those learners to share their skills with the class (and teacher). 

Skills will only improve through the use of the applications. Learners will only develop their skills through being allowed to make use of the applications when teachers allow them to.

While this process is going on- schools can begin to transition to 'paperless' by supporting their admin and SLT teams with making more effective use of the digital tools at their disposal. 

Schools can make use of Cloud storage and begin to transition away from using the school server, the additional benefit of this is documents can be accessed away from the school. e.g. a school trip 'form B' can be sent digitally, all responses return digitally and teachers on the trip have access to these responses through a password-protected device. Alternatively, teachers attend the trip with paper copies of the 'form B' and panic about losing them until they get back to school.

Admin teams can also restrict editing access to people who access documents when using OneDrive or Google Drive, meaning those with access can see documents but may not have access to edit those documents if they do not need it.

Example Timeline-

Learners should get to a stage where they have a level of proficiency with the apps at their disposal to choose which app best allows them to create a digital piece of work that fulfils success criteria. 

It will be important that learners continue to refine their digital skills across apps, and when allowed to start to choose which to use they don't keep using the same app each time and stay in their comfort zone.