Why a Digital Strategy?

Imagine for a moment that your school needs to integrate technology, and you have been chosen to lead the planning and implementation of this integration. You must now decide whether your school needs a technology plan or a digital strategy. The challenge is these terms are used interchangeably all over the internet, and it is challenging to extricate one concept from the other because they appear to be the same thing. Nevertheless, despite how close they may appear, there is a distinct difference between a technology plan and a digital strategy.

The emphasis of a technology plan is the technology and the organisation’s overall goals. As a consequence, the focus of a technology plan can encompass any and all areas. These can include productivity, improved customer service or employee morale (Truong, 2021). If this is placed in an education context, it means that a technology plan can focus on any area of importance to a school including, but not limited to, the curriculum, communication, data management and staff engagement. Therefore, a technology plan is wide-ranging in its application.  

In contrast to a technology plan, with a digital strategy, the focus is on how technology can positively impact student learning. According to Anderson and Kingsley (2011), “the driver for implementing new technology is often determined by the finance function saying, “We have this much to spend – what would you like?”. However, they note that with a digital strategy, this is the wrong way around (Anderson and Kingsley, 2011). Anderson and Kingsley argue that “the impetus should perhaps instead come from the educators in the classroom … deciding on the tools that they believe will have a positive impact on learning”. In other words, with a digital strategy, it is a “pedagogy first” approach, (Anderson and Kingsley, 2011). With that in mind, it means that when developing a digital strategy in education, the focus should surround what students need to know; what is the best way to help them to know it; then, as a last resort, what digital tools can help in the process.

Based on the above distinction, a digital strategy is the preferred option when student engagement and results are of primary concern. At my school, where many of the students perform below the national mean in the BSSEE, and where many of them are from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, there is a pressing need to make learning more engaging, equitable and relevant.  As a result, a digital strategy is the preferred option to help my school appropriately integrate technology to achieve its goals.

Citations

Anderson, M., & Kingsley, A. (2011). a guide to creating a DIGITAL STRATEGY In Education. https://www.netsupportsoftware.com/webresources/brochures/Digital_Strategy_Guide_v3.pdf

Truong, H. (2021). Introduction to Technology Plan. Anyconnector.com. https://anyconnector.com/software-integration/technology-plan.html#:~:text=Technology%20planning%20refers%20to%20the