Meeting Digital & Technology Standards in School

In March, the Department for Education released new guidance in meeting digital and technology standards in education.

The guidance covers broadband, network cabling and wireless networks and has been established in an attempt to help schools, colleges and other educational institutions to make more informed decisions about technology.

This, in turn, will lead to safer and more cost-efficient practices, creating new learning opportunities for students.

In this guide, we’ll be explaining the guidance and how DMS can help your school to meet digital and technology standards, ensuring your students and teachers get the most of technology whilst being protected online.

Using a Full Fibre Broadband Connection

Full fibre broadband services can provide the necessary capacity and speed that is needed for the effective use of online learning tools.

Having an ultra fast speed has offers a number of benefits, including:

- Allowing teachers to feel confident making full use of online resources as key parts of teaching and learning.

- Making cost savings through the use of cloud-based solutions as opposed to an on-site technical infrastructure, products or services.

- Provides flexibility, helping to future proof schools as the demand for internet services increases.

When Should You Be Aiming to Meet the Standard?

According to the Department for Education, you should aim to implement this standard as quickly as possible.

A good time to do this is when your current contract comes to an end or as soon as full fibre becomes available to you.

How to Meet the Standard?

Primary schools should have a minimum 100Mbps download speed and a minimum of 30Mbps upload speed.

Secondary schools, all-through schools and further education colleges should have a connection with the capacity to deliver 1Gbps download and upload speed.

At DMS, we can conduct an audit of your existing network and infrastructure to investigate your current internet speeds and whether full fibre is available to you.

We can then help you to find the best deal to meet your broadband needs at an affordable cost.

Backup Broadband Connections

As schools become more reliant on internet-based services, a backup broadband connection is crucial in ensuring that you can continue to operate should there ever be an issue with your primary broadband service.

When Should You Be Aiming to Meet the Standard?

You should install a resilient backup broadband when you install your new full fibre connection.

How to Meet the Standard

At DMS, we can help you to implement a backup broadband service at an affordable cost so your school is never left without the internet.

Appropriate IT Security and Safeguarding Systems

Under both child protection and data protection legislation, it is essential for children to be safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate content online.

When Should You Be Aiming to Meet the Standard?

You should already have measures in place to meet this standard as part of your ongoing safeguarding requirements as this is set out in the statutory safeguarding guidance on keeping children safe in education.

How to Meet the Standard

The online safety section of Keeping Children Safe in Education sets out the requirements when it comes to safeguarding children online. You can see the full guidance here, paragraphs 123-135.

The four main areas of risk include:

Content

This includes being exposed to illegal, inappropriate or harmful content.

Contact

This includes being subjected to harmful online interactions with other users, such as peer-to-peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or adults with the intention to groom or exploit children for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes.

Conduct

This risk involves the child themselves using the internet in a way that could increase the likelihood or cause harm, such as sending and receiving explicit images and online bullying.

Commerce

This risk relates to commercial issues such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and financial scams.

One important thing to remember is that if you’re purchasing new digital devices such as laptops, tablets or computers for your staff and students, you must get them connected to your existing network infrastructure to ensure all of the same safeguards are in place across all devices.

You should also ensure that your internet and network system has a firewall to protect it from cybersecurity threats.

At DMS, we can provide a range of technology bundles such as iPads and laptops for schools at an affordable price.

We can also help to get them set up on your network to ensure you’re meeting safeguarding requirements and install an appropriate firewall to prevent threats to your security.

DMS Helping Schools to Meet Digital & Technology Standards

At DMS, we’re dedicated to helping organisations in the education sector to meet all of the necessary digital and technology standards to keep children safe online and maximise opportunities for learning.

DMS One takes care of all your technology needs under one easy to manage bundle package.

Following an independent and thorough investigation of your existing infrastructure, we can pinpoint your school’s needs and create a tailored package to meet them.

Packages can include solutions such as:

- Managed Print

- Audio Visual Solutions

- IT Services

- Document Workflow

- Workspace Solutions