implementation plan
Maintenance & Technical Support
Since the launch of the ICT Policy for Education, a lengthy consultative process was undertaken with all partners involved in the deployment and support of ICTs in education in Namibia. The outcome was the creation of the National Education Technology Service and Support Centre (NETSS Centre).
The NETTS Centre, located in Khomasdahl, Windhoek, is responsible for overseeing the sourcing, refurbishment, installation and support of ICTs in all educational institutions. The NETTS Centre acts a distribution hub for ICTs in education, as well as provides a national helpdesk for technical support. The design of the NETSS Centre is based on the deployment and support models of SchoolNet Namibia and Microsoft Pathfinder, as well as a review and analysis of the issues faced by the end users themselves.
In order to guarantee the success of the ICT Policy for Education, an efficient, effective and robust maintenance and support structure will be established. It will provide timely responses to issues to ensure that the motivation to use ICTs is not reduced as a result of broken equipment, that the technology itself is not rejected through frustration, and that benefits are reaped from the high investmen14-Sep-2007 level of service that the end users receive is consistent, also to avoid the potential issues listed above.
Technical support can be a costly service, undoubtedly if site visits are required frequently or to remote locations, and so efficiencies must be sought and a balance found between local basic capabilities and highly technical experts. Site visits should only be used as a last resort, given the expense involved.
As a result three lines of technical support have been identified as necessary for the success of this initiative:
In addition, NETSS Centre will provide pedagogical support for educators.
First Line – Educational Institution ICT Technicians
To reduce the costs of the support model, and also to empower the institutions not to be fully dependent on external support parties, training will be provided immediately following deployments to each educational institution with ICTs on a basic level of technical knowledge called First Line Technical Support (FLTS).
Functionally, this FLTS training will be provided during the initial period when the ICTs are installed at the educational institution. At the end of this training, there will be an assessment to ensure that, before the training provider leaves, the technicians are comfortable and able to:
- Carry out routine maintenance and repairs
- Undertake basic troubleshooting
- Utilise online support mechanisms (knowledge bases) to resolve problems
- Liase with both 2 nd and 3 rd line Maintenance and Technical Support through the central helpdesk or the regional support.
Participants will receive a certification in First Line Technical Support upon successful completion of the course. This type of training and assessment will provide each institution with the ability to provide a first line of technical support “in-house”. A high percentage of support requests currently received are envisaged to be addressed through this first line of support.
Second Line – NETSS Support Team
If the issue cannot be resolved by school technical support, then the school’s ICT Technician will contact the NETSS Centre, either by email, webform or by telephone, where their email or call will be routed through the centralised helpdesk to the relevant support capability based on the platform in use, and the nature of the enquiry. Technical support will be provided for all deployed platforms and cover all applications and content available. The NETSS 2nd line Support team will be located in the NETSS Centre in the Windhoek (former NTTC building) and will be staffed by experienced technicians qualified in the operating systems that there are supporting.
From the NETSS Centre, this group will be able to resolve a number of more complex issues due to their technical experience. Not only will they be able to guide the school ICT Technicians through the necessary steps to resolve the issues, they will also have the ability to remotely access the school’s system and resolve issues in this way.
A knowledge base will be developed by this team and used to update the technical training provided to the First Line support, in the aim of reducing the number of contacts through the helpdesk further.
Third Line – Regional Support Capability
Regional support capabilities will also be part of the solution provided by the NETSS Centre. It will therefore be necessary to ensure that there is sufficient regional coverage across the country to make this line of support as effective and efficient as possible.
It is important that educational institutions across the country receive equal levels of support, irrespective of their location. During the initial years, this support capability will be provided in partnership with stakeholders who have facilities in the various regions, while in the longer term it is hoped that satellite office of the NETTS Centre can be established.
Pedagogy support
In addition to computer hardware/software support, pedagogy support will also be available through the NETSS Centre. Enquiries will be routed through NIED officers or other experts on issues of ICT integration and appropriate use of technology in the classroom. These requests will also be logged in the NETSS Systems, so that training curriculum can be updated in light of frequent requests.
Last modified on:
14-Sep-2007
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