SchoolNet Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to help education planners and practitioners integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into education systems. It is meant to be a practical resource about ICTs in education, and more specifically about setting up and operating schoolnet programmes and projects. A schoolnet programme is an organised set of activities that expands the use of ICTs and promotes sharing of educational resources by teachers and students at schools. Schoolnet programmes may be located inside or outside government, may be large initiatives with substantial funding, or smaller innovative projects without big budgets.

A number of Southeast Asian countries have contributed their experiences to this toolkit. While the exact form of schoolnet programmes varies from country to country, the case studies on which this toolkit is based show substantial convergence towards a body of best practice in ICT integration in education. The toolkit distils these experiences into a clear and simple format, of use to both start-up and mature schoolnet programmes.

The toolkit is meant for use by policymakers and high-level managers, Schoolnet builders and managers, and practitioners. It is structured into four main sections, designed with different readerships in mind:

• Guidebook1: ICTs in Education and Schoolnets is intended for everyone. It describes the value proposition for ICTs in education, and the broad processes that need to be integrated to ensure sustainable impact
• Guidebook2: Planning Schoolnet Programmes is intended for policymakers and high-level managers, and for schoolnet programme managers
• Guidebook3: Implementing Schoolnet Programmes is a practical and operational guide for managers of schoolnet programmes, covering project planning and implementation and the key elements involved in an ICT project
• Guidebook4: Practitioner’s Guide provides pointers on ICT integration for educators, school management, and others directly involved in producing or using educational ICT resources in a school context.

There are also two appendices which may be consulted for further detail and references to source and follow-up material. The toolkit and additional resources are available on CD, and can also be accessed online from UNESCO.