Strategic challenges in E-Learning Nordic 2006

E-learning Nordic 2006 is the first inter-Nordic study specifically focusing on the impact of ICT on key areas in schools in the Nordic region – and the results are positive. Results from E-learning Nordic 2006 show that ICT is a strong tool to support pupil performance, learning and the communication between pupils, teachers, headmasters and parents. However, the results from the study also indicate that the use and impact of ICT is often still random, and that the full potential of ICT as a tool to support better schools has not yet been realised. This could be easily understood if ICT were a new phenomenon in Nordic schools, and that we just had to wait for the impact to show. But this is not the case. The use of ICT in education has been a major focus in the last 10-20 years – both at political and school levels. According to Ramboll Management, E-learning Nordic 2006 reveals that the Nordic school system faces some very crucial and strategic challenges if the full impact of ICT is to be achieved. In this section Ramboll Management will present the five most important strategic challenges that we envision for the Nordic school system in the coming years. The analysis behind these strategic challenges and the recommendations presented are solely the opinion of Ramboll Management. Optimal use of ICT requires organisational implementation If the potential impact of ICT in Nordic schools is to be further realised, school owners and management need to be more professional in their organisational implementation of ICT. Substantial investments in ICT have been made at both regional and local level, but often with no clear criteria for success and no structured monitoring of the benefits. At many schools, the situation can be compared to buying 10 new laptops and not
un-wrapping them. For example, during the last few years a number of schools have invested in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with the ambition of improving education and knowledge-sharing. However, often the investments have not been accompanied by use of the new systems. Though benefits from the implementation of, for example, an LMS cannot be expected from day-one – implementation may take several years – there should still be a clear and continuous focus on harvesting the benefits. It is Ramboll Management’s assessment that such a focus is often lacking.

The same goes for the ability of many schools to benefit from the ICT projects in which teachers and pupils participate. The study shows that even though many schools have participated in ICT
projects, these projects have not had an impact on the general use of ICT at the schools (see Chapter 8). Disseminating and anchoring the best experiences from the projects into daily routines is not ensured.
Return on investment from ICT investments and ICT projects require a commitment to organisational implementation on the part of the school management. They must be visionary enough to initiate and continuously support the use of ICT as a strategic tool for developing the general ambitions of the school. This is so obvious, but still so hard to do in real life: Successful
organisational implementation of ICT is the most important prerequisite for maximum impact of ICT in schools. Most headmasters know this, but they do not have the competences for doing so1. For many years the ICT implementation at school level has been driven by a few committed enthusiasts among teachers, and many Nordic schools can be stated to be on a low maturity level, where ICT is not strategic but something that enthusiasts and the ICT department takes care of. This often results in arbitrary use of ICT at school where ICT is not seen as a part of the general strategy at school level. The study shows that many schools have indeed developed
an ICT strategy (see Chapter 8), but Ramboll Management assesses that in many cases the strategies were developed years ago, they are not linked with other strategies at school and are not widely known among teachers or pupils. Instead ICT needs to be integrated into the schools’ overall strategies and used to support school goals. In this way ICT has the greatest potential to act as a catalyst for change.
Ramboll Management believes that the responsibility of successful organisational mplementation of ICT is in the hands of school management. The management cannot outsource the strategic goals of ICT to a deputy director or some committed enthusiasts among teachers. The successful school managers have understood that ICT implementation needs to be embedded in the core strategic development of the school and that it often contains a great
deal of change management, because the school has to adapt procedures in organisation and administration, co-operation and teaching principles, if the school is to benefit fully from ICT investments. Furthermore the consequences of unsuccessful ICT implementation can be very costly and time consuming. Therefore active leadership regarding ICT must be a core competence in school management. The average school manager in the Nordic countries is not sufficiently competent when it comes to leadership of ICT. There is a need for competence development, ranging from understanding ICT per se, to understanding the pedagogical possibilities in ICT, to understanding how to link ICT implementation to change management.
Ramboll Management believes that national initiatives on leadership within this field will create substantial return on investment.