Digital Learning Framework Planning Resources

Identify focus

The school*should firstly familiarise itself with the DL Framework. Having reviewed the domains and standards, the school should identify the standard(s) on which it wishes to focus. It is not recommended that a school will focus on all 32 standards, but instead identify a sub-set that is relevant to the school.

Gather evidence

Having identified their digital learning focus, the school carefully considers the standards and statements of practice from their chosen area and commences the gathering of evidence which demonstrates the level the school is currently operating at. While the DL Framework has articulated what “effective” or “highly effective” practice might look like for each standard, the school may decide they are not yet operating at either of these levels. This judgement should be informed by the evidence gathered.

Evidence can be both quantitative and qualitative, gathered from a range of sources that includes teachers, students, parents, management, classrooms and other relevant sources.

Analyse and make judgements

Having gathered data from a range of sources, the school analyses the information and benchmarks it against the statements of practice being evaluated.

Having collected all the necessary evidence, the school then draws conclusions and makes judgements in relation to how existing practices compare with the statements of effective and highly effective practice in the DL Framework. Schools should use these statements as a benchmark to judge their own performance and to determine their strengths and there are aspects of their work that need to be improved or developed.

Write and Share Digital Learning Plan

Having analysed the data and made a series of judgements in relation to their digital learning practices, the school creates their DL Plan. The plan should provide the basis for discussion and reflection amongst teachers, management and others in relation to the role of digital technologies in the chosen focus area.

The Digital Learning Plan consists of two parts:

• Part 1 articulates the vision for the use of digital learning technologies and outlines the current situation with regard to digital learning.
• Part 2 describes how the DL practices will be improved over a specified time-period.

Put improvement plan into action

Having created a DL Plan the school should begin implementing the identified actions. All relevant personnel should be aware of the actions that need to take place at individual teacher, class, subject department and whole-school level. These actions should become part of the normal teaching and learning process.

Monitor actions and evaluate impact

The actions must be monitored on an ongoing basis to evaluate their impact on learning, teaching and assessment practices.

The school will need to decide:
• How monitoring will be organised and carried out
• Who will be responsible for monitoring13
• How progress will be determined and reported
• When and to whom progress will be reported (for example at staff
meeting, planning meetings, board meetings)
• If targets and actions are realistic or need to be changed.

The active engagement of school leaders and teachers in the ongoing and systematic monitoring of the DL Plan is essential. The evidence gathered, as a result of ongoing monitoring, should inform and influence the next phase of the DL Plan, or could lead to the identification of a new aspect of digital learning that the school focuses upon. Ultimately the goal for the school is to enhance their DL practices in all areas of school life and this should be an ongoing activity.