Key principles

Training programmes need to be developed by schools to meet the identified training needs of staff. A training programme should outline the activities that will be covered, who will deliver them, and where and when they will be delivered. The training programme should link to the overall strategic direction and development of the organisation. Special consideration also needs to be given to the school calendar, as there will be many times of the year when staff would find it difficult to attend training sessions, especially twilight sessions or whole days out of school. Plus, resources need to be in place for when the training and development activities have taken place – there is little point training staff to use an application or piece of technology if it is not available for them to use after the training.

The training manager/coordinator will in all likelihood be responsible for drawing together programmes of training since they will hopefully have received and recorded the training needs of the staff. A database for recording training and development needs is very useful here; more information on this can be found in the Monitoring and Evaluation section.

Training needs can be met using internal and external providers – the training manager will be able to advise on the best solution, which may be drawn from:

• internal or external courses
• text-based distance learning
• technology-enhanced training, ie computer-based training, CD-ROMs, interactive video, etc
• individual coaching and mentoring
• textbooks and manuals
• open learning courses
• short-term secondments
• learning sets or self-development groups
• role models.

Using in-house staff to design and deliver ICT training is very cost-effective, and once sessions have been designed, they can be used many times over or recycled to address other needs that arise in the future.

This section covers what you will need to do to prepare before developing an ICT training programme. It also discusses the types of ICT learner that may need to be accommodated, gives tips on how to deliver ICT training, and finally provides an example of what a training programme can look like. Training programmes need to include not only skills-based training provision but, more importantly, development programmes focusing on the use of ICT in the classroom and getting the most from subject-specific software packages, ICT-based management information systems and administrative programs.