Naace Achievements 2006-2007

Key strategic areas

This year Naace has worked successfully in several key strategic areas by:
• strengthening the Association's reputation as an established quality assurance agency through the national ICT Mark;
• undertaking research into key characteristics of e-maturity;
• consolidating its position as the leading Association for ICT in education across all phases and sectors;
• developing and enhancing the range of services for Members; and
• starting to work more closely with sponsoring Partners.

Meeting the core objectives

Naace has engaged in a wide range of activities during the past year to achieve its core objectives.

Engaging in consultation and influencing policy development. Naace has

• hosted a series of think tanks in special interest areas and developed policy positions including MIS, BSF, Transforming Education, Learning Platforms, Managed Services, Every Child Matters, Care Matters, 2020 Vision, QCA Curriculum Review and Primary Review;
• held positions on key national agency and DfES committees; and
• represented members on numerous agency reviews, including Functional ICT, KS3 online test and GCSE, the e-confident learner, SLICT and BSF.

Supporting networking opportunities for Members. Naace has

• extended membership to leading edge schools and Academy programmes;
• analysed which services are most valuable to Naace members and filled gaps in provision;
• strengthened Naace membership links within the independent sector, primary schools and initial teacher training;
• hosted numerous conferences and events;
• developed a new Naace website launched June 2007;
• created a members register of interests; and
• experimented with the Moodle learning platform to debate special interest areas in depth.

Providing practical information, resources, support and guidance to members. Naace has

• identified and shared good practice through debate and discussion within online communities;
• used new technologies including blogs, wikis, skype and google docs to determine value for educational and communication purposes;
• expanded Primary online resources;
• launched 'Sharing Success' a fortnightly e-mag; and
• extended the Microsoft SELECT agreement to provide educational discount.

Providing professional development opportunities. Naace has

• worked in collaboration with the TDA for a national roll-out of the ICT co-ordinators course;
• developed the initial phases of an ICT in Education Knowledge Framework with a focus on pedagogy and technical issues relating to ICT in education;
• worked with University partners to develop plans for a co-ordinated national workforce development framework;
• extended rollout of the ICT Mark following a successful pilot;
• undertaken research to lead provision of an IT Quality Mark for education professionals across all curriculum areas;
• collaborated with national partners and other subject associations to progress a chartered award for IT teachers;
• hosted a number of CPD events including the all members annual conference, annual strategic conference and MIS national conference.

Driving up the skill set of the organisation in the use of ICT. Naace has

• developed podcasting, webcasting, blogs and wikis;
• introduced Skype to maximise efficiency of communication;
• moved conference and election arrangements to an online format; and
• explored the use of learning platforms to strengthen communication.