Harnessing Technology for Every Child Matters & Personalised Learning

Services for children are changing in form, content and delivery. This book examines three key children's services strategies, considers their individual impact and inter-relatedness and argues that information and communication technologies (ICT) are integral to their success. For instance, through ICT we can more easily identify the most vulnerable children by collaborating in online Common Assessment Framework assessments, and can share information between the professionals necessary to meet children's needs. The use of ICT gives easier access to achievement and attendance information. We are then able to analyse all this information in a more sophisticated way.

While providing an outline of the key strategies, the book also provides plenty of practical examples to show how ICT underpins the development of these strategies. Examples include changes in teaching and learning, ways in which services can reach out more effectively to those at risk of exclusion, and how ICT can help us to support young people more effectively. The book is not entirely uncritical and asks whether the intended aims of these strategies are attainable, even with recent reforms to children's services, without more fundamental and systemic changes.