A technology master plan for the Rockhampton Diocese of Catholic Education: Design, development & retrospective evaluation

The Rockhampton Diocese of Catholic Education represents a large, diverse and unique body of school environments, spread across a vast area of regional central Queensland. The Diocese provides Catholic education to approximately 11,500 students in 27 Primary Schools and 8 Secondary Colleges located from Bundaberg in the south to Mackay in the north and from the Capricorn Coast in the east to Longreach in the west.

Over recent years the Rockhampton Diocese of Catholic Education has been investigating and embracing information and communication technology (ICTs) in the provision of Catholic education. The use of ICTs has clearly enhanced the teaching and learning processes and assisted with the efficient administration and management of both the Catholic Education Office (CEO) and schools. However, as technology use has grown, there have been increasing and continuing requests from many staff throughout the Diocese for leadership and guidance to be provided by CEO.

In response to these requests, CEO embarked upon a Diocese wide Technology Planning Initiative (WI) intended to provide a systematic approach towards ICT planning. Integral to the Technology Planning Initiative was the need for development of a systemic Technology Master Plan for the Diocese. It was considered essential that CEO base future directions for the adoption and use of ICTs on the 'real' situation and the actual problems being faced by schools and staff throughout the Diocese.

This report is the result of an investigation of technology needs throughout the Diocese as a basis for development of a holistic Technology Master Plan. This study involved a range of strategies to provide alternate sources of data upon which to base recommendations for future direction. The project included extensive interaction with staff in the Diocese and the embedding of the research component into the culture, committee structures and practices of the organisation. This has included collaboration with stakeholder groups before, during and following the actual research component of the project, thereby ensuring organisational acceptance of the processes being followed, understanding of the findings and ownership of the future directions.

Site visits and ICT audits have revealed valuable information about access, equity and availability of various technologies within school environments. The current technology-related skills of school staff (Principals, Teachers, and Library staff) was determined, which revealed considerable variation in the abilities of staff at all levels and across all aspects of school operations. The study revealed that staff attitudes towards the use of ICTs across all schools was extremely positive, with considerable enthusiasm among school staff towards the use of technology.

The study revealed that very few schools have performed formalised ICT planning for their school and that the majority of schools do not have a planning group or committee that focuses on ICT-related issues for the school. Many areas were identified as barriers to ICT adoption in the Diocese, with many respondents also providing suggestions and proposing initiatives to overcome these barriers. The study has pinpointed limitations in the current provision of ICT-related staff development across schools, and identified specific focus areas for future staff development activity.

The study has revealed the current situation within the Rockhampton Diocese of Catholic Education and enabled the translation of the current state into an action plan for future directions. The 'product' of this study is a series of sixty-two recommendations that have provided the core themes for development of a holistic Technology Master Plan for the Rockhampton Diocese of Catholic Education.

This report also provides a retrospective evaluation of progress made with implementation of the Diocesan Technology Master Plan. This reveals that significant progress has been made with the adoption and use of technology throughout the Diocese, along with substantial organisational learning.