Content first, devices second

Teaching education clients to stay on message can be part of the reseller's role, notes Andrew Henderson

Thanks to Michael Gove's planned shake-up of the ICT curriculum, I'm sure I'm not the only one excited by the prospect of 11-year olds writing computer animations and 18-year olds writing programming languages. I'm only sorry that I missed out.

This atmosphere of innovation in the education sector should remind the channel what schools and colleges are all about: enabling learning. And that means delivering educational content.

It points to the best ways to work with the education sector; ways that not only bring schools and colleges the greatest benefits, but that also encourage long-term partnerships and ongoing contracts.

Traditionally, schools started their interactions with IT suppliers by asking for a specific number of machines. Some of that attitude remains, and as fashionable and flashy devices multiply, they may retain that focus. Will a classroom full of iPads attract more students to a school? Possibly.

But if you go back to that task of enabling learning, it is clear that the best place to start thinking about technology investment for education is with content, not devices.

One example that springs immediately to my mind is high-definition imagery. This media can enliven the sciences and the humanities. It can also help students develop more practical skills.

Many design-based courses and careers, for example, are now so heavily reliant on computer-aided design that the management and manipulation of high-res graphics should begin in the classroom.

Then there is what I call administrative content. This is less glamorous but equally important. Having to disseminate messages about coursework deadlines, money owed, or overdue library books is the bane of many educational staff.

Enter a dialogue with a school or college about delivering such content, and it is a simple step to introducing options such as virtual desktop infrastructures, wireless access and mobility that have been designed specifically to facilitate that content delivery. These technologies can grow and develop with schools and colleges because they are scalable and upgradeable, not outdated or unfashionable within a couple of years.

The benefit for the educational institution is that this technology is truly geared towards enabling learning.

The advantage for the supplier is that these technologies demand bespoke design and a consultative approach, which encourages long-term, sustainable partnerships.

When devices are the starting point for IT buying decisions, it is too easy for educational organisations to lose sight of their end goal. So it can be part of the role of the IT reseller to bring the conversation back to the end user and back to content.

Andrew Henderson is managing director of Lanway