Strategic ICT Toolkit Field Tests - University of Gloucestershire
Summary
The University wants to address the ‘Disconnect’ between ICT and Learning & Teaching (L&T) strategies to ensure ICT strategy outlines a technology roadmap to help ensure that the technical infrastructure is in place over the next 3-5 years to support the effective delivery of L&T through technology enhanced resources. Academic Board have decided to approve recent revision of the L&T Strategy, which provides an ideal opportunity to use the SICT Toolkit to support greater alignment between the developing L&T Strategy and the current ICT Strategy.
Objectives
The major benefit of the project would be to improve alignment of key University strategies through raising awareness and improved communication at strategic levels within the organisation. It should ensure that ICT underpins the primary business objectives in the institution and delivers the potential operational benefits and savings that can be achieved through the effective use of ICT.
The project will not only help to align ICT and L&T Strategies, but will also improve the learner experience by identifying how ICT can support the delivery of L&T’s core principles, which are:
- Learner empowerment
- Communities of learning
- Real-world learning
- Learning for the digital age
- Research- informed teaching and learning
Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes
If the SICT Toolkit is successful in aligning ICT and L&T strategies, with measurable benefits identified, then this would be heralded as best practice and the toolkit used by senior managers to routinely address the strategic use of ICT when developing departmental strategy, as well as institutional strategic and business plan objectives. The project will also use the toolkit to identify successful approaches to cross-institutional communication and engagement. This will be key in ensuring successful implementation of the SICT Toolkit, as well as support from the TLI department and senior management for the strategic use of ICT.
The self analysis toolkit will be used to review of the University’s maturity in deploying strategic ICT, and inform the project by identifying opportunities for institutional improvement - and the enablers to support delivery. Positive project outcomes will used to inform a future business case for change.
Finally there will be benefits to both JISC and the HE sector from the planned project outputs and lessons learned in trialling the SICT Toolkit.