1. Portfolio/Number/Name:EYP/T3: Improved access to downloaded teaching and learning resources. |
2. Programme/Activity: Around £240k investment over 3 years to provide teachers with all the resources they will need for the national qualifications courses via NQ Online. Gives teachers online access to course materials which they no longer need to develop but which they can edit to meet their own needs. In addition, £40m investment in Scottish Schools Digital Network will allow progressively more teachers improved access to wider online teaching and learning resources which would otherwise have been more difficult or impossible to obtain. |
3. Efficiency | 3.1 Current target; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Time | 0 | 0 | 5.0 |
3.2 Efficiencies delivered; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 0 | - | - |
Time | 0 | - | - |
4. Accountable Officer for delivery | Colin MacLean, Head of Department |
5. Project Manager | John Booth / Alison Coull |
6. EGDD Portfolio Manager | Fiona Page |
7. Description of efficiency and actions to be taken | 7.1 What is the efficiency improvement? How will the saving be made? NQ Online gives teachers all the resources they need to support the new national qualification courses. These have been made available through NQ Online so teachers don't need to develop their own material but can fast search it electronically and also edit the material to meet their own needs. The original efficiency calculation had been solely based on the Scottish Schools Digital Network but as this will not begin to be rolled out in schools until 2007-08 and will not be fully in place until 2009 it is only likely to generate limited savings in the 2007-08 financial year. NQ Online will therefore deliver the bulk of the efficiency target. Time savings would be used by teachers on other core duties. Estimated value of time released is based on 20% of teachers (around 10,200) with an average hourly rate of £23 being able to "save" 30 minutes per week. |
7.2 What are the main actions that are needed to secure the delivery of this efficiency improvement? The implementation of ICT in teaching and learning is a key responsibility of Learning and Teaching Scotland ( LTS) in association with the local authorities. LTS have provided materials on national qualifications to teachers through NQ Online. |
8. Associated costs | 8.1 Are there any development or redundancy costs associated with the delivery of this efficiency? These projects are not being pursued on efficiency grounds alone, and therefore the development costs associated with the efficiency savings have not been netted off. |
9. Measurement | 9.1 What are the inputs that will be measured? Input is teachers' time. Research on teachers' preparation and planning and on teacher costs is available. We will also be evaluating NQ Online through a survey of teachers. The content delivery infrastructure and SSDN will not be sufficiently embedded to assess their real benefits in 2007-08. |
9.2 What are the outputs that will be measured? Output is the learning and teaching material produced. We will be undertaking a survey of teachers' use of NQ Online and the benefits associated with that in 2007-08. |
9.3 What is the baseline for inputs and outputs? The baseline for inputs (teachers' time) and outputs (learning and teaching opportunities) is 2004/05. |
10. Quality cross-check | 10.1 What quality indicators are being used to ensure that quality of service is maintained or improved? Positive impact as teachers become aware and familiar with the NQ online resource. Already had good verbal feedback from focus groups. Regular monitoring of web traffic; number of documents published and email bulletin has significantly increased uptake. |
11. Monitoring | 11.1 What are the arrangements for monitoring the delivery of efficiencies? Evaluation will address this through teachers' survey of benefits of NQ online |
12. Reporting | 12.1 What are the arrangements for reporting the delivery of efficiencies? Some information is held centrally within Learning and Teaching Scotland. Independent research will be commissioned into the benefits in terms of time the resource generates for teachers to teach. |
13. Dependencies | 13.1 Explain if your efficiencies are dependant on legislation or other structural changes being achieved. In terms of SSDN, some levels of connectivity and access within some local authorities are still to be addressed. Connection to SSDN intranet will be phased resulting in teacher take up over a time period. |
14. Use of efficiencies | 14.1 How are the efficiencies released from improvement activity being used to improve front-line services? The time released by the improved access to downloaded teaching and learning resources will enable teachers to commit a higher proportion of their time to teaching. Consequently there will be an improvement in frontline services. |