Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of digital technology

Achieving Our Vision

Through the experience of delivering a national programme of support, the Scottish Government and Education Scotland identified a number of key objectives that need to be achieved in order to embed the use of digital technology in education. These objectives were further refined through extensive policy research (including the review of international evidence from academic, professional and governmental sources) and tested during a comprehensive public consultation. The objectives below are the result of that development process. These objectives must be achieved if we are to realise our vision and enable all of Scotland's learners to benefit fully from learning and teaching enhanced by digital technology.

• Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching.
• Improve access to digital technology for all learners.
• Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery.
• Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology for learning and teaching.

Crucially, it is only by achieving all four of these objectives that we will create the optimum conditions for the effective and appropriate use of digital technology to enhance and support education.

The four strategic objectives will replace the five ICT in education objectives

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has developed its policy around the use of digital technology in education against the five following objectives.

• A change in the culture of digital technologies in education.
• Improved confidence in the use of digital technologies by learners, teachers, school leaders and parents.
• The promotion of new pedagogies.
• Increasing and strengthening parental engagement.
• Provision of the best possible support for hardware and associated ICT infrastructure.

Whilst progressing a national programme of work against the five objectives, it has become evident that if we wish to truly embed the use of digital technology in education, our approach must be more strategic in nature, more action orientated and include contributions from across the education system.

The four new digital learning and teaching objectives encompass the same aims as the previous five objectives but will also deliver the necessary strategic approach.

Achieving the Objectives

To achieve the four strategic objectives will require a transformational change in the way education in Scotland is delivered. Such a change cannot materialise overnight nor by virtue of a small number of actions. The forthcoming chapters therefore set out a range of actions that have been developed with a number of key principles in mind ^[7] . These actions will act as a catalyst for change at local authority and education establishment level. Taken as whole, all the actions at both national and local level will help to deliver the desired transformational change.

While this change primarily seeks to deliver improved learning and teaching across all areas of Curriculum for Excellence, it will also provide the stimulus, inspiration and environment for all our learners to develop the increasingly sophisticated digital skills which will be vital to them in later learning, life and work.

Objective 1: Develop the skills and confidence of educators in the appropriate and effective use of digital technology to support learning and teaching

It will be our educators and not the digital technology itself that will be the key to delivering improved educational outcomes for our children and young people. Our children and young people will only get the most out of digital technology when it is skilfully deployed to support their learning. It is vital therefore that our educators have the skills, confidence and knowledge to know when and how digital technology can be deployed effectively.

The fact that our educators will be key agents of change is also reflected in Education Scotland's technologies impact report:

"It is important to underline that these achievements are based first and foremost not on the digital technology itself, but on key decisions which staff make about the most effective framework and resource for learning. That conclusion affirms the continuing, central role of staff and the importance of their professional and technical expertise."

The actions outlined in this section will help to ensure that all of Scotland's educators are supported in gaining the necessary skills to deliver learning and teaching supported by digital technology. To ensure that the distinctive needs of early learning and childcare practitioners are met, further engagement with that sector will take place during the implementation of this strategy.

What we will do to deliver

• Ensure Professional Standards for registration and for Career Long Professional Learning reflect the importance of digital technology and skills.
• Ensure that all Initial Teacher Education ( ITE) providers instil the benefits of using digital technology to enhance learning and teaching in their students, in line with GTCS Standards for Registration.
• Ensure that a range of formal and informal professional learning opportunities are available to educators at all stages to equip them with the skills and confidence to utilise technology appropriately and effectively, in line with the GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning.

Action Plans

Ensure Professional Standards for Registration and for Career-Long Professional Learning reflect the importance of digital technology and skills
Action	Benefit
The General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS) will strengthen references to the use of digital technology and digital skills in the Standards for Registration and the Standards for Career-Long Professional Learning. A review of the standards will commence early in 2017.	Strengthening the prominence of digital technology in GTCS standards will see a change in the delivery of initial teacher education and in the take up of career-long professional learning ( CLPL) opportunities related to the use of digital technology. Thus more of our teachers will be using digital technology across all curriculum areas to enrich both learning and teaching.

Ensure that all Initial Teacher Education ( ITE) providers instil the benefits of using digital technology to enhance learning and teaching in their students, in line with GTCS Standards for Registration
Action	Benefit
Through their accreditation of ITE Programmes, GTCS will ensure course content adequately reflects revised standards in relation to the use of technology and development of digital skills.	Newly qualified teachers in Scotland will commence their careers with a solid understanding of how to use digital technology for learning and teaching.
The Scottish Teacher Education Committee ( STEC) will provide a forum for all ITE institutions in Scotland to discuss digital learning and teaching.	The STEC digital subcommittee will allow ITE institutions to discuss innovative approaches to teaching digital pedagogies and to share innovative practice in this area.

Ensure that a range of professional learning opportunities are available to educators at all stages to equip them with the skills and confidence to utilise technology appropriately and effectively, in line with the GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning
Action	Benefit
GTCS will promote Professional Update as a means through which teachers can develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in the use of digital technology for learning and teaching and thereby facilitate the digital literacy of their learners.	Professional Update is a vital part of career long professional learning for practitioners. GTCS promoting the process as an effective way for practitioners to develop their digital knowledge will help to ensure that more of our educators are skilled in the use of digital technology to enhance education.
In partnership with Education Scotland, the professional associations EIS, SSTA, NASUWT and Voice Scotland will use their communication channels to disseminate information, practice examples and CLPL opportunities related the effective use of digital technology to educators.	It is crucial that information reaches those educators who need it. Utilising the communication channels of professional associations will help to ensure that happens.
Ensure that a range of professional learning opportunities are available to educators at all stages to equip them with the skills and confidence to utilise technology appropriately and effectively, in line with the GTCS Standards for Career Long Professional Learning
Action	Benefit
Education Scotland will launch and promote Barefoot Computing Programme in Scotland.	This programme of online support materials and workshops run by trained volunteers will help primary teachers deliver Computing Science in more engaging and practical ways.
Articles and materials to illustrate practice relating to the use of digital technology will be created and published regularly on Education Scotland's National Improvement Hub.	Educators utilise research, guidance and advice to support their professional development. The new National Improvement Hub will provide a repository for such research which will inform practice and highlight the benefits of using digital technology to support education.
Education Scotland will continue to build a national digital learning community by organising an annual National Digital Learning Week.	For the last two years National Digital Learning Week has promoted the benefits of using digital technology in education. It has provided education establishments and educators with a valuable opportunity to share ideas and approaches relating to the use of digital technology to support education and digital skills development.
Education Scotland, in partnership with key networks including digital leaders from local authorities, will create a range of e-learning modules that will support educators to use the digital tools and services available through Glow . The first suite of modules will be available by the end of 2016.	These modules will build the capacity and confidence of educators in the use of digital platforms (including Glow) to support learning and teaching across all curriculum areas.
Education Scotland will promote the use of platforms that facilitate professional sharing and dialogue, particularly through Glow and the National Improvement Hub.	Educators benefit from the sharing of knowledge and practice to facilitate their professional learning. Glow offers a range of tools and services that allow educators to engage in professional dialogue. Education Scotland is committed to maintaining this opportunity through Glow to allow educators to develop their knowledge around the use of digital technology.

The Role of Glow in Career-Long Professional Learning

The Scottish Government and Education Scotland allow all educators to access a variety of digital tools and services through Glow. These digital tools and services are available at no cost to educators and can be used to share information and opportunities and support career long professional learning. For example:

• Yammer is an online discussion and collaboration tool that allows educators to make connections and share resources in a secure social network. Users can connect with a range of others to share knowledge and advice as well as joining or creating groups for people that share a common interest.
• Glow TV can provide national interactive broadcasts allowing professional dialogue between the host and the participants. These sessions can be recorded and are made available in the Watch Again blog to allow educators to view these again at any time.
• Glow Meet is an online meeting tool to allow educators to easily engage in professional dialogue, share documents and deliver presentations.
• Glow Blogs can be used by schools and local authorities to share information and facilitate professional working and interaction.

In addition to digital tools and services, Glow also allows educators to access a range of professional learning communities. These nationally available online spaces allow educators to share resources, work collaboratively and take part in online discussions across a range of curriculum areas and educational topics.

National Numeracy and Mathematics Hub

In August 2015 the National Numeracy and Mathematics Hub was launched in Glow. This is a virtual learning environment for all practitioners which provides an innovative approach to career-long professional learning. During the 2015-16 session there were 45 broadcasts covering a range of content and approaches to learning and teaching in numeracy and mathematics across the 3-18 curriculum. This included advice and guidance regarding mental agility, the senior phase, developing number knowledge, financial education and outdoor learning. There were also broadcasts on planning for effective learning and teaching including a look at teaching approaches from around the world.

Education Scotland promote these broadcasts via Hub Champions at local authority level. Last session more than 8,000 teachers logged on and participated in these broadcasts.

Objective 2: Improve access to digital technology for all learners

Although access to digital technology will not by itself lead to an improvement in educational outcomes, it is central to that aim. Our consultation process combined with national evidence has provided a picture showing us that the digital infrastructure in Scotland's education establishments remains inconsistent. The impact of this inconsistency is that educators often lose confidence that the available digital technology will work, and as such they choose not to incorporate it into their teaching. If all of Scotland's learners are to benefit from an education enhanced by digital technology, action must be taken not only to bring the digital infrastructure of education establishments up to standard but also to continually review and improve that provision to achieve sustainability. The actions outlined below aim to help all of Scotland's schools, early learning and childcare establishments and local authorities improve the provision of digital technology for the ultimate benefit of their learners.

What we will do to deliver

• Continue national investment into initiatives that support digital access in education establishments.
• Provide guidance at a national and local level around learner access to digital technology.
• Promote approaches to digital infrastructure in education that put users' needs at the heart of the design.
• Encourage and facilitate the development of partnerships that will improve digital access and digital skills development opportunities for our learners.

The Importance of Cyber Resilience

We want to ensure that all of our learners are not restricted in accessing appropriate online content that can support and enrich their education. However, we also want our learners to be able to remain safe online. To achieve this goal, the Scottish Government and Education Scotland will work with education establishments and local authorities to ensure that learners and educators are fully aware of the importance of being digitally resilient. This means not only having the technical measures in place for online security, but also teaching learners and educators to be prepared for online threats and ensuring that they can respond and recover if they are encountered.

This work will be guided by and closely aligned with the Cyber Resilience Strategy for Scotland.

Improving Digital Infrastructure in Schools - Edinburgh City Council

In 2015, Edinburgh City Council signed a new contract for provision of ICT services across the authority. One of the key improvements brought about by this new arrangement is that bandwidth is set to increase by up to 50x in primary schools and up to 100x in secondary schools. This will help to ensure that learners and teachers across the city are not restricted by bandwidth and are able to access online tools and services that support their education as and when required.

Full details of the new contract can be found here -
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/news/article/1890/council_set_to_save_50m_through_new_ict_contract

Anytime, Anywhere Learning in Falkirk

In 2011 Falkirk Council launched a new local ICT strategy entitled 'Anytime, Anywhere Learning'. This strategy aimed to ensure that learners and educators could access the benefits of digital technology throughout all stages of learning and teaching.

During strategic development, Falkirk Council recognised that achieving appropriate connectivity and 1:2:1 device provision would be out with available budgets. Instead, Falkirk Council set about providing wireless internet access across all of its school establishments. This meant that all learners and educators could connect their own personal digital devices to the Wi-Fi for use during learning and teaching, in addition to school provided devices.

To help ensure a smooth transition to this arrangement, Falkirk Council developed a new acceptable use policy in partnership with learners, parents, teachers and Unions and set up a support blog containing hints, tips and FAQs.

This new Bring Your Own Device ( BYOD) arrangement has successfully delivered anytime, anywhere learning as both learners and educators can access curriculum content across mobile and desktop devices both in and out of school. This benefit has been keenly felt at St Mungo's High School in Falkirk where OneNote within Glow is utilised as the main storage platform for lesson content. This innovative work has resulted in the school being awarded 'Showcase School' status by Microsoft for 2016/17; the only school in Scotland to achieve this status.

Action Plans

Continued national investment into initiatives that support digital access in educational establishments
Action	Benefit
The Scottish Government will continue to offer to fund broadband for education to a central point in all local authorities through the Scottish Wide Area Network ( SWAN).	The internet is an essential educational resource. Continuing this initiative will help to ensure that all of Scotland's learners have access to important online educational resources.
The Scottish Government will continue to offer a suite of national procurement frameworks that allow public sector education establishments and local authorities to buy digital devices.	The provision of digital access can be an expensive undertaking. Continuing this initiative will help to ensure that local authorities and education establishments can achieve easy market access and best value for money.
Education Scotland will promote the opportunities for early learning and childcare ( ELC) providers to gain access to Glow either through their local authority or through Education Scotland.	If our learners are able to access the benefits of appropriate digital tools and services from early years onwards, we can enrich their education from an earlier age.
The Scottish Government and Education Scotland will continue to fund and develop Glow and provide access to all learners and educators in Scotland at no cost to them.	Glow allows all learners and educators to access a range of up-to-date and relevant digital tools and services that can enrich education across all areas of Curriculum for Excellence.
Education Scotland will continue to support educational establishments in how digital technology (and Glow in particular) can best be used to enhance learning and teaching across all areas of Curriculum for Excellence.	This support service helps education establishments understand how they can use digital technology appropriately and effectively.
Education Scotland will work with partners including GTCS and SCEL to increase the range of education services that can be accessed through a common 'single sign-on' authentication mechanism. The first set of services will be available through Glow by the end of 2016 and work to add other services will continue throughout 2017.	Having different login details for a variety of different education services can be a barrier to their use. Greater use of a common single sign-on mechanism would simplify access, increase utility and reduce bureaucracy.

Provide guidance at a national and local level around learner access to digital technology
Action	Benefit
The Local Government Digital Transformation Board will formally recognise that early years and childcare settings, schools, learners and educators have a distinct set of needs when it comes to digital access and require a tailored approach.	Our consultation activity indicated that education establishments are often constrained by corporate IT networks. These networks inadvertently block access to a range of valuable online resources. An agreed approach that allows access to a wide range of useful material while still protecting learner safety would help to improve digital access for all our learners.
The Local Government Digital Transformation Board will provide guidance to local authority IT departments relating to digital access and digital infrastructure for education.	It is essential that all local authority IT departments have access to a clear specification for the future requirements for the digital access of education establishments. This will allow them to work towards building an appropriate infrastructure within funding and geographical constraints. Guidance produced by the Digital Transformation Board will help to ensure a consistent understanding across Scotland.

Promote approaches to digital infrastructure that put users' needs at the heart of the design
Action	Benefit
Education Scotland will convene a 'Digital Leaders Group' comprising representation from all of Scotland's 32 local authorities. The first meeting of the Digital Leaders Group will take place early in 2017.	It is essential that strategies, plans and practice relating to the provision and use of digital technology in education is shared across local authority boundaries. This group will include a representative from each local authority and will provide a valuable forum for the sharing of practice and experiences.
Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust will bring more robust scrutiny to the principles that relate to digital technology which are outlined in the Scottish Government's School Estate Strategy.	This action will help to ensure that digital infrastructure will be a key design consideration for all new schools being built as part of the School's for the Future Programme.
Skills Development Scotland in partnership with Education Scotland will conduct and disseminate research that will identify and test innovative approaches to high level digital skills development in secondary schools with a view to developing a national framework.	This will help schools and local authorities to understand how they can best deliver digital learning and teaching and digital skills education, including any improvements that need to be made to digital infrastructure.

Encourage and facilitate the development of partnerships that will improve digital access and digital skills development opportunities for our learners
Action	Benefit
Education Scotland will work with industry partners to deliver the Digital Schools Award Scotland Programme. This will give all primary schools in Scotland the chance to work towards an accredited digital school award.	This programme will aim to promote, recognise and encourage excellence in the use of digital technology across primary schools in Scotland. It provides access to a step by step framework detailing how schools can make the best use of digital technology in their local context.
Education Scotland will encourage and facilitate opportunities for schools to build partnerships with employers as part of the Developing Young Workforce programme.	The Developing Young Workforce Programme aims to ensure education and employers work in collaboration to enrich learning across the curriculum. This can include employers facilitating the use of digital technology to improve young people's understanding and readiness for employment.

Objective 3: Ensure that digital technology is a central consideration in all areas of curriculum and assessment delivery

Curriculum Delivery

The importance of our learners being able to use a variety of digital technologies and possessing a range of digital skills in today's increasingly digitised world is clear. Yet our consultation exercise has indicated that our learners tend to have limited opportunities to use digital technologies and develop the associated digital skills during their education. This is because digital technology is still seen as the preserve of specialist teachers and is therefore not being fully utilised to deliver experiences and outcomes across Curriculum for Excellence.

It is only when digital technology finds a place in all curriculum areas that our learners will be able to fully benefit from an education enhanced by digital technology.

The Prominence of Digital Technology in the Curriculum

There is now a wide consensus that digital technology should receive a more prominent role in curriculum delivery.

"It is important that young people have the opportunity to develop technology and industry awareness across all parts of the curriculum"

ICT and Digital Technologies Skills Investment Plan (2014) Skills Development Scotland

"Digital skills should be embedded in the curriculum and developing a digital literacy for all has to be integral throughout Curriculum for Excellence"

Digital Solutions to the Productivity Puzzle (2016) Scottish Council for Development and Industry

"Students who were only exposed to digital education in designated ICT classes suffered a distinct disadvantage when compared to those whose schools chose to mainstream technology and digital skills across the curriculum"

Digital Skills Crisis (2016) House of Commons Science and Technology Committee

Assessment Delivery

Assessment is an integral part of learning and teaching and digital technology has significant potential to improve the assessment process. If utilised appropriately it can help to reduce teacher workload and ensure a more efficient assessment process both in terms of the assessment time itself and the time required to provide results and feedback. Digital assessment platforms can also easily provide personalised feedback to learners, this feedback can then be utilised by educators to ensure that learners focus on areas in most need of improvement. The time saved can instead be used to enrich learning and teaching.

The Benefits of e-Assessment at Armadale Academy, West Lothian

In 2014 Rosie Steele, a maths teacher at Armadale Academy started using the SQA's online assessment platform to deliver summative unit assessments for her pupils studying Lifeskills Mathematics at National 4 and National 5.

Using online assessments allowed Rosie to save time in relation to preparing for and marking assessments, moderating assessments and providing targeted feedback to learners. As a result of using e-assessment Rosie calculated she had saved 46.5 hours of time per year.

In addition to achieving time efficiencies, Rosie also received positive feedback from her pupils. They enjoyed the way that the use of digital technology was consistently present in their day to day learning through to their final assessment. Furthermore the use of digital technology for assessment purposes resonated with their everyday experience of living and learning in a digital world.

Full details of Rosie's story can be found at http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/73283.html

What we will do to deliver

• Ensure aspects of Curriculum for Excellence relating to the use of digital technology and development of digital skills are relevant, ambitious and forward looking.
• Support, develop and embed approaches to assessment that make effective use of digital technology.

Action Plans

Ensure aspects of Curriculum for Excellence relating to the use of digital technology and development of digital skills are relevant, ambitious and forward looking
Action	Benefit
In partnership with key stakeholders, Education Scotland will lead a refresh of the technologies area of Curriculum for Excellence which includes the cross curricular experiences and outcomes relating to ICT to enhance learning and digital skills development.	It is vital that the Experiences and Outcomes which underpin learning from 3-18 reflect the importance of digital literacy and more specialist digital skills. This update - the first refresh of the Scottish curriculum since the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence - will support educators in providing an education enriched by digital technology.
Education Scotland will support educators in the delivery of the refreshed technologies experiences and outcomes and bench marks to be produced later this year.	This action will help to ensure that all of our educators are supported to deliver a refreshed Curriculum for Excellence.

Support, develop and embed approaches to assessment that make effective use of digital technology
Action	Benefit
The Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA) will re-design existing and build new digital services that will provide support and information to meet the identified needs of its different customer groups. As part of this re-design the SQA will continue to develop and grow the use of formative and summative on line assessments to support qualifications.	SQA's commitment to develop new digital services and redesign existing ones will ensure that all customers always have ready access to up-to-date information on qualifications and assessments through services that are designed around their needs. This includes information on digital assessment services. By building on the significant work already undertaken in this area, SQA will help to ensure that all learners and educators can benefit from the use of digital technology to support assessment.
Support, develop and embed approaches to assessment that make effective use of digital technology
SQA will, over time, develop the capabilities needed to manage assessment evidence in a digital format for all of its qualifications.	Learners are developing increasing volumes of their evidence in digital formats. SQA's commitment to develop their capabilities to accept evidence in a digital format will mean more of our learners can choose to utilise digital technology and its associated benefits to create work that will contribute to their final qualifications.
SQA will champion the use of digital approaches to assessment in education by establishing mechanisms for engaging with representatives from local authorities to ensure that innovative practice is shared and digital approaches to assessment are fit for purpose and meet the needs of both the learners and education establishments.	As digital technology continues to develop, the ways in which it can support assessment will also change. Effective engagement between SQA and local authorities will ensure that the place of digital technology in assessment is continuously strengthened and that new approaches are developed in a way that ensures their validity and fitness for purpose.

Objective 4: Empower leaders of change to drive innovation and investment in digital technology for learning and teaching

If digital technology is to be used consistently to enhance learning and teaching across Scotland, then it is essential that leaders at all levels understand the benefits of digital technology in education and support its increased use. It is only with this knowledge and support that leaders will be able to make informed decisions about how digital technology can best support education in their local contexts. The increased use of digital technology in our education establishments will require careful planning and local leaders must be central to that planning process. Our consultation activity tells us that at present, Scotland's leaders and decision makers at all levels need better access to appropriate advice to guide investment, innovation and implementation in education technology. The actions outlined below will look to address this issue.

What we will do to deliver

• Ensure that the vision laid out in this strategy is adequately captured in Professional Standards, self-evaluation guidance and inspections of educational provision in Scotland.
• Support local leaders and decision makers to lead change in their local contexts through accessing and sharing relevant research in order to identify effective approaches to the use of digital technology in education.

Action Plans

Ensure that the vision laid out in this strategy is adequately captured in Professional Standards, self-evaluation guidance and inspections of educational provision in Scotland
Action	Benefit
GTCS will strengthen digital references in the Professional Standards, encouraging appropriate use of technology and the development of teachers' and learners' digital skills. A review of the standards will commence early in 2017.	Strengthening the prominence of digital technology in GTCS standards will see more of our teachers using digital technology to enrich both learning and teaching.
Education Scotland will continue to ensure that self-evaluation guidance references the importance of using digital technology to enhance learning and teaching and develop digital skills for life, learning and work.	Inspections of educational provision and self-evaluation guidance such as 'How Good is our School?' and 'How Good is our Early Learning and Childcare?' are central to the process of educational improvement. If the use of digital technology and importance of digital skills development continues to be prominent in both inspections and self-assessment guidance, our educational establishments are more likely to appreciate the benefits of digital technology in education and support its use.
Education Scotland will ensure that inspections include a focus on effective and innovative use of digital technology.
Education Scotland will provide further development opportunities to ensure that inspectors have a sound understanding of effective and innovative use of digital technology in education.

Support leaders and decision makers to lead change in their local contexts through accessing and sharing relevant research in order to identify effective approaches to the use of digital technology in education
Action	Benefit
Association of Directors of Education in Scotland ( ADES) will provide a forum for discussion and action-planning around this strategy for education authority leads; primarily through its Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications Network; and its Resources Network.	This forum will allow educational leaders to collaborate, share and plan effective approaches to the use of digital technology. All of which will guide investment and innovation in their local contexts.
School Leaders Scotland ( SLS) will run CLPL events that focus on how digital technology can effectively support learning and teaching.	The majority of local educational leaders are not experts in digital technology and as such require the opportunities to develop their knowledge in this area. The events offered by SLS will help local leaders in a secondary school setting to develop this knowledge.
The General Teaching Council for Scotland ( GTCS), the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland ( ADES), School Leaders Scotland ( SLS), the Association of Heads and Deputes in Scotland ( AHDS), the Scottish Qualifications Authority ( SQA) and the National Digital Learning Forum ( NDLF) will share practice examples of how digital technology can be used to enhance education and aid the development of digital skills.	Digital technology develops at a rapid pace, both in terms of the technology itself and how it can be used to support learning and teaching. Use of wider communication channels through our key partners will ensure that educational leaders at a local level have access to relevant research and guidance from a range of sources. This will help to ensure that they can make well informed decisions and continue to effectively review the use of digital technology to support education in their local contexts.
The Scottish College of Educational Leadership ( SCEL) will actively seek to endorse leadership programmes or other CLPL opportunities that relate to the use of digital technology in education.	This process will provide coherence and quality assurance around professional learning opportunities and will aim to deliver articulation between the SCEL Framework for Educational Leadership, the GTCS Standards and other areas of national focus.
Education Scotland will ensure that guidance relating to the use of digital technology in education is prominent and freely available in the new National Improvement Hub.	This will ensure that educational leaders can easily access relevant research and guidance through an open, accessible and relevant repository.