Prior's Field share their 3 tips to encourage whole-school adoption of Frog.

Technology implementation rarely works in isolation, the successful ones are those where collaboration, training and regular use are all in evidence.

1. Forget about the technology at the outset

It's tempting to look at Frog as the starting point and then working backwards to engineer a solution for your school. Instead we recommend focusing on school practices and procedures, identifying opportunities to become more efficient.

Intangibles are the new measure of a digital product's worth, only by examining the value it has for individuals and organisations can a return on investment be fully realised. All stakeholders should be engaged to understand where workload burden and budget inefficiencies are of concern.

Creating a digitally positive culture will help your school adapt more easily to the pace of change. The next generations are using technology in their everyday lives and so will expect it to be embedded in their education.

Apparently 80% of our screen time is spent on just three main applications. We recommend setting a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for Frog to become one of the main three in-school as a measure of true adoption.

It will take time to steer a large group of people towards a common goal and understanding. We believe that two years is a realistic timescale for a whole-school adoption of Frog.

2. Be Strategic

At Prior's Field we implemented an information gathering process, auditing activities throughout the school and putting an objective against those we wished to improve.

For example, we placed an objective against school cover notices to reduce the number of emails generated and incorporate real-time sharing. This meant that everyone had a clear view of when each objective would be addressed. The additional benefit to this exercise is that individuals could see the positive impact it could have on their workload.

3. Get Launch Ready

Build
Being ready to launch 6 weeks prior to the actual launch date will allow time to step back, look at everything objectively and collect feedback from a select group of testers.

Test
If someone finds a broken link or a permissions issue, this can affect confidence down the line. The more you can fix in the testing phase, the better the implementation and user experience down the line.

Launch
We recommend setting the launch on a whole staff agenda. This ensures everyone knows what's coming and when. Providing a quick tour of Frog gives time for questions.

We applied the cutover method, which means the old system is cut and overwritten with the new system. This allows the new version to become immediately available when it's operational.

Summary

You can't communicate enough! The more people felt involved, the more they engaged with the technology.

Be clear about what you need the technology to do for you before it arrives. It is much easier to measure the impact when you know how onerous or expensive certain tasks and activities were before implementation.

Never stop learning! Frog hosts several free events throughout the year where you can learn new things. There's also a wide range of support materials available online in the Frog Community.

From the first lockdown Frog schools have generously shared their experiences to help others. Almost a year down the line Frog would like to thank those involved.

The Real World Learning (RWL) series became the umbrella for sharing information volunteered through schools to help others. Stories have come in all forms, from anecdotes and articles to videos and speaker sessions from school representatives.

We have been so impressed with Frog schools and have no doubt that many will have benefited from this growing community. As we approach the next Real World Learning virtual event, it seemed fitting to use this forum to recognise the amazing examples we have been privy to.

The Real World Learning Recognition Awards shine a light on the schools involved in contributing to the community so far. As the stories were already shared, the Frog team has nominated schools under given categories. 

ICT Evangelist to pick category winners

Winners of each category will be independently chosen by the ICT Evangelist (Mark Anderson) and revealed at the next Real World Learning event.

Created for a History focused BSME webinar, Salesian College show us how subject leaders can utilise a digital platform to save teacher's time and extend opportunities for learners.

Supporting a Frog feature in BSME webinar: Using Learning Technology Effectively for Blended and Online Learning in History, Andrea Leforte volunteered to share her digital department structure. Although this is a History department example, her use of Frog to share resources and promote the department's work can easily be replicated for any subject area. Here she takes us through a very considered approach to bringing History lessons to life...

Structuring

"Crucial for me as a History Teacher, is developing that love of learning and intellectual curiosity and fostering that in our students. We're able to do all of that through Frog."

Going Text Book Free

"We decided to go textbook-free and instead build online textbooks."