Over the last few months I have been in contact with an Austen Okenweze of the Technology Policy Unit at the DfE. (see http://briansharland.com/continuing-the-edtechcampaign-and-my-contact) Recently my daughter arrived so I have taken a break from this until now.
Austen and I had been trying to setup a meeting between myself and one or two twitter contacts and himself either in London or in Coventry but due to scheduling conflicts (apparently DfE personnel don't work during school holidays – do they not realise how much work teachers do during holidays?) we have been unable to setup a meeting. I have suggested to Austen that we initiate some digital contact hopefully leading to him taking part in an online meeting such as #ukedchat or a Google hangouts chat.
I will therefore be emailing him again to set out a first set of questions to him to start eliciting some information regarding the technology policy unit. I think this may be an ongoing process which could hopefully yield some positive results.
So what should I be contacting him about?
I think the easiest thing to do is start with fairly straightforward issues mixed with some key concerns.
On the fairly straightforward questions I will asking Austen the following:
- Are you able to define the remit of the Technology Policy Unit and if so what is it?
- Will there be a forthcoming policy document on the use of Technology in Schools and if so when is it expected?
- I am sure that you have some contact already with relevant individuals or organisations advising you on issues to do with edtech but would it be possible to open up that consultation to wider groups of teachers and others who work in the field through channels such as Teachmeets or online chats?
- Lastly in response to the article listed below (which I now appeared in various forms in a number of publications) I would like to know if schools can expect detailed guidelines rather than a hands off approach evidenced by other policy decisions by the DfE
Comments always welcome
