“I won’t tolerate a system where some children benefit from innovation whilst others are left disconnected,” said UK Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, emphasising the importance she places on closing the digital divide among English schools.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have similar targets. Across the UK, schools and colleges must bridge the digital divide. This presents educators with a challenge.
At a time of declining budgets and numerous competing priorities, including improving provision for pupil needs, closing the attainment gap, and addressing the educational legacy, how can they affordably and efficiently meet the digital-inclusion objectives?
Table of contents
- What is the digital divide in education?
- What school IT do pupils and teachers need to bridge the digital divide?
- Get more out of your school ICT, with managed support
- Managed IT services: How to choose the right one
- Rely on expert help to ensure cyber security compliance
- Next steps
What is the digital divide in education?
Simply put, the digital divide in education refers to the gap between schools and colleges that provide the necessary IT infrastructure for pupils to thrive, and those that do not.
The UK government includes in its definition of the divide factors such as the absence of stable, high-speed Internet, the right devices or the required digital skills.
Other elements of the digital divide in education include:
- Schools and colleges often lack the digital skills necessary to provide students with the opportunities they deserve.
- Young people lack access to the devices, software, and data they need to learn effectively across the curriculum.
- Access to online services and other resources can’t be provided safely, putting students at risk and limiting their opportunities.
This has real-world impacts for learners. Carnegie Foundation and UNICEF identified the digital divide as one of the key drivers of the UK’s persistent attainment gap.
What school IT do pupils and teachers need to bridge the digital divide?
So, what should schools and colleges do to bridge the digital divide? The common themes, drawn from DfE digital and cyber security standards, are as follows:
- IT infrastructure action points:
- Provide stable, high-quality, ideally fibre, broadband
- Make sure staff and pupils have access to reliable, on-site Wi-Fi
- Skills and capabilities action points:
- Make sure school leaders have the skills required for IT governance
- Ensure you meet relevant cyber security and data protection standards
- Device procurement and management action points:
- Keep students safe with high-quality filtering and monitoring
- Make sure you have sufficient, high-quality devices for learners
- Source and manage your devices for value and efficiency
These are the areas that require the most attention. Each school’s priorities and plan of action depend on its learners’ needs and its specific situation.
How can schools access the skills and technologies they need to bring their digital infrastructure up to scratch? And how can they do this affordably and effectively?
Get more out of your school ICT, with managed IT support
To accelerate your path to digital maturity, you can work with an IT provider. The right MSP will have a record of experience in the education sector and will be able to give you instant access to digital expertise, without prohibitive upfront costs.
Working with an MSP benefits schools and colleges by:
- Enabling them to work with market-leading IT talent, without hiring costs.
- Giving them access to a broad range of expertise in different technologies.
- Shortcutting their path to identifying and resolving any gaps in their IT provision.
- Modernising their outdated IT infrastructure.
- Delivering value for money with predictable, managed costs and no capex.
- Enabling cyber security compliance and data protection with access to expertise.
The right MSP will have the expertise you need to procure, secure and support the right mix of devices for your staff and learners.
They help you choose and manage cloud and on-premises systems to deliver against your educational goals. And they’ll ensure you do it in a way that is compliant.
Managed IT services: How to choose the right one
If working with a managed services provider (MSP) is the fastest, most cost-efficient way for schools to meet their digital-inclusion targets, how do you choose the right MSP?
- Look for an MSP with a record of providing IT support for schools and colleges.
- Also, seek an MSP that can introduce innovation from other sectors.
- Pick a future-proof MSP with support for innovative, emerging technologies.
- Make sure your MSP offers a wide range of education-specific IT services.
- Check that your MSP can deliver market-leading cyber security and compliance.
- Ask for helpdesk metrics, including expertise, availability and resolution times.
- Check that the MSP can support all the devices and platforms your school uses.
The right MSP will have a full range of capabilities, market-leading depth and breadth of skills, knowledge of ICT in the education sector, and a record of delivering value.
Rely on expert help to ensure cyber security compliance
The recent cyberattack on West Lothian Council's education systems serves as a stark reminder of what is at stake. Despite contingency plans protecting exam delivery, sensitive data from teachers, parents, and possibly students was leaked online. It's a clear demonstration that bridging the digital divide isn't only about access - it's also about resilience. Schools must not only provide devices and connectivity but also ensure that these systems are protected against ever-evolving threats.
There are nearly 100,000 unfilled cyber security roles in the UK, making it difficult and expensive to build in-house expertise. Working with an MSP ensures that your school can comply with DfE data protection standards while minimising costs.
This makes complying with the relevant DfE cyber security and data protection guidelines easier. It also makes sure that you can demonstrate the steps you took, with your MSP, to ensure cyber security compliance.
Next steps
Texaport is one of the UK’s leading experts in providing secure IT services to schools and colleges, helping them upgrade their IT infrastructure and bridge the digital divide.
Texaport helps schools across the UK close the digital divide with expert-led IT and cyber security services. Whether you’re upgrading infrastructure or navigating DfE compliance, we’re here to help securely, efficiently, and within budget.
Contact us today to speak to one of our IT and security experts.
