What do we mean by quality indicators when thinking about building a new school.
The following information was provided as part of the UK's BECTa Agency work for UK government. Becta was disbanded in 2010. The links below have been updated to archive copies of materials which are still perfectly valid documents
Do we ask about the quality of the school fabric? - what materials have been used etc or are we more concerned about the impact of the design on the people who work there? Designing a new school is fraught with difficulty - the people who work in our schools only encounter a few school buildings in their career and will not have considered or have been exposed to what might be possible. No wonder that they tend to design better versions of what they are used to. Learners are almost never consulted on what they would like to see in a school design and those that are often feel that their views are not really taken seriously. This is not true in all cases but I have come across very few examples of designs that have been influenced to any real degree by learners.
Very often when you ask what is required in a new school design teachers and other stakeholder don't really know or they simply point out the things that they don't like about their current school. This is hardly the basis for establishing the design for a school of the future.
BECTa, the UK government agency for ICT has come up with a novel way of stimulating discussion between students, teachers, governors and others about the role of ICT in a school of the future. BECTa developed a set of ICT Quality Indicators (DQI's) on behalf of the government to encourage a better understanding of what we should strive for in the UK education system.
The original documents can be obtained from the links below:
Very often when you ask what is required in a new school design teachers and other stakeholder don't really know or they simply point out the things that they don't like about their current school. This is hardly the basis for establishing the design for a school of the future.
BECTa, the UK government agency for ICT has come up with a novel way of stimulating discussion between students, teachers, governors and others about the role of ICT in a school of the future. BECTa developed a set of ICT Quality Indicators (DQI's) on behalf of the government to encourage a better understanding of what we should strive for in the UK education system.
The original documents can be obtained from the links below:
- Word [http://localauthorities.becta.org.uk/upload-dir/downloads/ICT_quality_indicators.doc]
- PDF [http://localauthorities.becta.org.uk/upload-dir/downloads/ICT_quality_indicators.pdf
The statements in the ICT QI framework relate to one of three sections:
Impact: ICT can make a building a worthwhile place in which to work and learn. It can make an impact on learning and teaching.
Build Quality: ICT performance, scalability, environmental considerations, sustainability and adaptability.
Functionality: meeting the demands of any users and integrating different devices.
BECTa have developed an online tool called 'DesignMyICT' (Now unavailable) to help draw together the perspectives of various stakeholders and stimulate discussion about just what would need to be done so that a school could make the most of their available technology. The tool is free to use once you have registered and it is then possible to add stakeholders with differing perspectives, manage their interaction with the quality indicators and collect trends and accumulate profiles of opinion.
Impact: ICT can make a building a worthwhile place in which to work and learn. It can make an impact on learning and teaching.
Build Quality: ICT performance, scalability, environmental considerations, sustainability and adaptability.
Functionality: meeting the demands of any users and integrating different devices.
BECTa have developed an online tool called 'DesignMyICT' (Now unavailable) to help draw together the perspectives of various stakeholders and stimulate discussion about just what would need to be done so that a school could make the most of their available technology. The tool is free to use once you have registered and it is then possible to add stakeholders with differing perspectives, manage their interaction with the quality indicators and collect trends and accumulate profiles of opinion.
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