This presentation is designed to give School Leaders who have little or no knowledge and experience of Information Technology some insight into how to lead and manage I.T. The Presentation looks at three things 1) Why and How Educationalists should take control of making IT decisions; 2) Three Principles to help School Leaders Understand IT 3) Ten Questions to ask your IT Network Manager. The presentation was given at the Digital Education Show in Dubai on Wednesday 16th November 2016.

1. EmpoweringSchool
Leaders to Lead and
Manage I.T.
Mark S. Steed, MA (Cambridge), MA (Nottingham)
Director, JESS, Dubai
@JESSDubai
@JESS_Director
@IndependentHead
Digital Education Show, Dubai Wednesday 16th November, 2016 14:40

2. Taking Back Control
Three Basic Principles to help
you understand IT Networks.
Ten Questions to Ask your
Network Manager

4. Taking BackControl
Who’s running the School:
the Head or the Network Manager?

5. Taking Back
Control
What’s your
Network
Manager like?
The Indispensable Man
 Says that it’s not
possible to do
whatever is being
asked
 Paints a doomsday
scenario of security
breaches or
information
meltdown
 Speaks in baffling
Techno-babble
 Runs a network that
works for the
TechTeam

6. Taking Back
Control
What’s your
Network
Manager like?
The Indispensable Man
 Says that it’s not
possible to do
whatever is being
asked
 Paints a doomsday
scenario of security
breaches or
information
meltdown
 Speaks in baffling
Techno-babble
 Runs a network that
works for the
TechTeam
The Facilitator
 Starts by asking what
the School wants to
achieve
 Outlines costs and
risks in a coherent
fashion – for
Management to
evaluate
 Explains technical
issues in simple
language
 Runs a network that
works for the
School

7. Taking Back
Control
Who is
calling the
shots?
IT strategy cannot be seen in isolation
– it has to be part of a whole school
educational strategy.
IT strategy is too important to be left to
the Network Manager.
Someone in the School Senior
LeadershipTeam needs to take strategic
responsibility for IT

8. Taking Back
Control
How to get
control of
School IT IT User Group
People on the Ground
feed up
• Problems
• Ideas about what
they want to do

9. Taking Back
Control
How to get
control of
School IT
Typical IT User Group
 The member of the Senior LeadershipTeam
with Strategic Responsibility for IT
 Head of e-Learning -Teacher
 At least 4 teachers
 3 “enthusiasts” who are not techies
 1 “cynic”
 Member of the AdminTeam
 Lead IT Classroom SupportTechnician
 (In a ListeningCapacity)

10. Taking Back
Control
How to get
control of
School IT
IT Strategy
Group
IT User Group
People to make
Decisions
• Cost-Benefit
Analysis
• Allocating Scarce
Resources
People on the Ground
feed up
• Problems
• Ideas about what
they want to do

11. Taking Back
Control
How to get
control of
School IT
Typical IT Strategy Group
 The member of the Senior Leadership Team
with Strategic Responsibility for IT
 Head of e-Learning -Teacher
 Lead IT Classroom SupportTechnician
 IT Network Manager
 The Head or Deputy Head
 The Bursar / Finance Manager

12. Taking Back
Control
How to get
control of
School IT
IT Strategy
Group
IT User Group
Role of the ITTeam
• To advise
• To provide costs
• To outline benefits
• To outline risks
• To find solutions
ITTeam

13. Taking Back
Control
Take Back Control:
Educationalists should
make IT Decisions

15. Understanding
IT Networks
They’re not that complicated.

16. IT Networks
MadeSimple:
Think of IT as
you do
Electricity
 IT Network
Performance Think of IT Networks
as you do Electricity
You need enough plugs/
power to do the job
You need them in the
right place in the room

17. IT Networks
MadeSimple:
Think of IT as
you do
Electricity
 IT Network
Performance Think of IT Networks
as you do Electricity
You need enough plugs/
power to do the job
You need them in the
right place in the room

18. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
Reliability Security
IT
Network
Performance

19. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
1. Network
Performance
Reliability Security
IT
Network
Performance

20. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
1. Network
Performance
IT Network
Performance
Road Network
Performance
Processing Power of the
Servers
Power of the Car
(Lambo v. Jetta)
The Speed of the
Network Cabling
The Speed Limit of the
Motorway
The Bandwidth of the
Network
The Number of Lanes on
the Motorway
The Speed of the
Switches
The Speed of the
Junction (Roundabout v
High Speed Interchange)
The Volume of Traffic –
the number of users on
the Network
The Volume of Traffic –
the number of drivers on
the Motorway
 IT Network
Performance

21. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
1. Network
Performance
 IT Network
Performance

22. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
1. Network
Performance
IT Network
Performance
Road Network
Performance
Processing Power of the
Servers
Power of the Car
(Lambo v. Jetta)
The Speed of the
Network Cabling
The Speed Limit of the
Motorway
The Bandwidth of the
Network
The Number of Lanes on
the Motorway
The Speed of the
Switches
The Speed of the
Junction (Roundabout v
High Speed Interchange)
The Volume of Traffic –
the number of users on
the Network
The Volume of Traffic –
the number of drivers on
the Motorway
 IT Network
Performance

23. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
2. Network
Security
Reliability Security
IT
Network
Performance

24. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
2. Network
Security
There is a balance between issues of
security, accessibility and cost.

25. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
3. Network
Reliability
Reliability Security
IT
Network
Performance

26. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
3. Network
Reliability
IT Network Reliability Car Reliability
The Age/ Quality/ State
of the Network
The Age/ Quality/ State
of the Car
The Quality of the
Network Manager
The Quality Car
Mechanic
The Frequency of the
Network Monitoring
The Frequency of the
Car Servicing
Availability of Spare
Capacity = “Resilience”
Availability of Spare
Parts
Availability of
Uninterruptable Power
Supply (UPS)
Availability an
Emergency Petrol Can
 IT Network
Performance

27. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
3. Network
Reliability
 IT Network
Performance

28. IT Networks
3 Key
Principles:
3. Network
Reliability
IT Network Reliability Car Reliability
The Age/ Quality/ State
of the Network
The Age/ Quality/ State
of the Car
The Quality of the
Network Manager
The Quality Car
Mechanic
The Frequency of the
Network Monitoring
The Frequency of the
Car Servicing
Availability of Spare
Capacity = “Resilience”
Availability of Spare
Parts
Availability of
Uninterruptable Power
Supply (UPS)
Availability an
Emergency Petrol Can
 IT Network
Performance

29. ITNetworks
3 Key
Principles:
Reliability Security
IT
Network
Performance

30. ITNetworks
3 Key
Principles:
Cost-
Benefit
Analysis
A faster, more secure, more
reliable network is always
possible . . . . .
. . . . . it’s just a matter of cost-
benefit analysis.
(That’s something that Heads
do every time they set the
budget – you can do this!)

31. ITNetworks
3 Key
Principles:
Cost-
Benefit
Analysis
Performance Is it worth upgrading the servers?
Is it worth upgrading the switches?
Is it worth upgrading the network
cabling?
Is it worth upgrading the speed of the
internet connection?
Security How do we balance User access with
security?
What are the risks?
What are the costs?
Reliability How much spare capacity do we need?
How many spare machines shall we
have sitting on the shelf?
How much should we invest in UPS?
How much time should we devote to
monitoring the Network?

32. IT Networks
Knowledge is Power:
Understanding IT is
Empowering

34. 10Questionsto ask
your Network Manager
that s/he doesn’t want to be asked

35. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
One
If there was a major fire in the
server room, how long would it be
before each of these services could
be restored:
 School Management Information
System,
 Email,
 Telephones,
 Accounts?

36. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Two
If a generous donation of
AED 1,000,000 was given to the
school specifically for IT
developments (in addition to the
normal budget)
What would you recommend we
spent it on? and
What would be the advantages
for the school and end users
(Pupils, Staff, Parents)?

37. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Three
If your budget was suddenly cut by
50%, how could you cope? and
What would be the effects on the
School and the end users?

38. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Four
What would be the effect of our main
Internet connection being severed
by a JCB somewhere?
What services would we lose?
Have we any backup systems in
place, or would they have also been
severed by the same JCB?

39. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Five
Can you show me any records of the
systems' reliability over the past 12
months?
Do you regard the reliability as
acceptable?
If not, how could we improve it and
how much would it cost?

40. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Six
What might happen if a major
incident occurs while you (or any one
specific member of your staff) are
away on holiday abroad for
2 weeks?

41. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Seven
How many individuals are sufficiently
privileged administrators that they
can see my (the Head's) documents,
emails, etc.?

42. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Eight
If a pupil got hold of a staff
password, and started using it, how
would we ever know? and how long
might it take to find out?

43. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Nine
Can you retrieve a file which was last
seen one month ago? and how long
would it take to retrieve?

44. 10Questions
to ask your
Network
Manager
Question
Ten
For each member of your technical staff
(including yourself) what would be the
immediate effect on the running of the
system if they suddenly left (with no
notice)?
Is there adequate documentation to
minimise such a problem?

45. Network
Managers
Get your
Network Manager
to be part of the
solution

46. Take Back Control:
Educationalists should make IT Decisions
Understanding IT is empowering
Get your Network Manager to
be part of the Solution

47. MarkS.SteedMA(Cambridge), MA(Nottingham)
DirectorofJESSDubai
Email: Director@jess.sch.ae
Twitter: @JESS_Director
@independenthead
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/independenthead
Blog: http://independenthead.blogspot.com
SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/independenthead
JESS,Dubai
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