JISC

Too many staff still lack basic access to ICT, report finds

Nearly a third of further and higher institutions in the UK do not have formalised policies governing staff access to ICT. This is in spite of the broad recognition amongst all institutions that all staff should have some access to ICT.  

This is one of the findings of a JISC-funded report published today which explores the restrictions on access to ICT by staff in FE and HE and the impact of such restrictions both on individuals and on the institutions which employ them.

The survey, covering more than 100 FE and HE institutions across the UK, also found that job function was the most commonly cited factor affecting staff access to ICT in both sectors, while in FE financial constraints, contract type, geographical location and seniority were also considered to be of particular importance.  

The first comprehensive report of its kind in the UK, the survey found that most institutions in both FE and HE (73% and 89%) do not have a formal policy governing which staff have their own PC. Academic, clerical and research staff are most likely to have their own PC in both sectors, with catering, cleaning and estates staff most likely not to. 83% of FE and 74% of HE respondents said that ICT training is made available to all staff groups.

Significantly, more FE respondents (81%) said that they currently had initiatives to improve staff access to ICT, than the 54% of HE respondents. However, given the less than universal access to ICT, it is perhaps surprising that one fifth of all responding institutions do not make corporate documentation available in hard copy form at all.  

Among the report’s other findings are:

• 83% of responding FEIs and 91% of HEIs said that they use networks to deliver substantial amounts of teaching materials
• HEIs are significantly less likely than their FE counterparts to have a policy relating to who has a PC for their individual use
• Hard copies, meetings, newsletters and notice boards are the favoured means of disseminating information to staff without computer access in both sectors, while for FEIs staff handbooks, home e-mails and posters are also favoured, and in HEIs ‘departmental arrangements’, payslips and ‘responsibility of contractors’ are other means used

Although the report points to ‘a broad recognition of the importance of all staff possessing basic ICT skills’, with a number of innovative approaches in this field, it also calls for an attempt to win ‘the hearts and minds’ of non-desk staff and their managers to support their gaining new skills and overcoming ‘the fear factor’.   

Although the research suggests that access to ICT is for most staff less problematic than might have been expected, it concludes that ‘issues of time, training, motivation and, in some cases, line manager attitudes need to be addressed further. Personnel who are most disadvantaged appear to be contracted staff in manual roles; other estates staff and part-time teaching staff are also at risk of information access disadvantage.’

Maria Lee, Head of the Centre for Educational Development at Queen’s University Belfast and Chair of JISC’s Organisational Support committee, which commissioned the survey, said: ‘The picture painted by this report is by and large a healthy one, pointing to a lot of important and innovative work in both FE and HE institutions to broaden access to the benefits of ICT for most staff. It also gives us for the first time vital information about any gaps in provision and where further efforts could perhaps be made.’  

To access the report please go to: Staff access to ICT

For further information, please contact: Philip Pothen(JISC) on 07887 564 005 or p.pothen@jisc.ac.uk