Brought to you by…
Read via Email (Feedblitz)
-
Technology Committees: Getting The Right People on the Bus
19 CommentsHi everyone … sorry for not blogging quite so much this summer, it’s been both crazy busy and amazingly relaxing, either way, I’ve not spent a lot of time here and I miss it. Meanwhile, my “blog this” Delicious tag has (as of today) 367 entries in it, meaning I’ve got plenty of material, just haven’t quite been in the writing groove of late. Mea culpa! I’ll be back in action soon, promise!
photo credit: kevindooleyOur district is (depending how you look at it) restarting/reinstating/expanding its Technology Committee. The timing couldn’t be better; in a few short months, our 2010 – 2013 District Technology Plan will be due to the NJDOE. Our 2007-2010 plan is all but history at this point, and I personally can’t wait to begin planning with our district leadership especially including our new superintendent (our former elementary principal), our new elementary principal (from outside the district), as well as our Board of Education and members of the community / local businesses. In fact, we’re having our first meeting tonight, which brings me to the reason for this blog post:
Does your technology committee have the right people on the bus?
Schools are complex organizations working in a complex and changing world. For all the grief we take about being behind technologically, I think it’s fair to say the average person just doesn’t understand what goes on behind the scenes in today’s public schools. They remember what school was like WHEN THEY WERE STUDENTS back in the day. (I don’t want to get off on a tangent about how much we NEED TO CHANGE, that’s a conversation for another time). That said, any group charged with leading or managing a critical function – and educational technology is misson critical from many perspectives including curriculum design, total cost of ownership, professional development and even human resource management. So, do you have the right people on the bus?
Jim Collins, in Good to Great, offers these thoughts:
When it comes to getting started, good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with “who,” you can more easily adapt to a fast-changing world. If people get on your bus because of where they think it’s going, you’ll be in trouble when you get 10 miles down the road and discover that you need to change direction because the world has changed. But if people board the bus principally because of all the other great people on the bus, you’ll be much faster and smarter in responding to changing conditions. Second, if you have the right people on your bus, you don’t need to worry about motivating them. The right people are self-motivated: Nothing beats being part of a team that is expected to produce great results. And third, if you have the wrong people on the bus, nothing else matters. You may be headed in the right direction, but you still won’t achieve greatness. Great vision with mediocre people still produces mediocre results.
We’re a small town, about 8,000 residents, 2.2 square miles. We’re one of four similiar-sized districts (three K-8 and one high school) in a 10-mile area targeted as a prototype for regional consolidation in our county. We have a track record of fiscal prudence that places us among the most efficient districts statewide in terms of cost per student. So, I’m pondering … who do we need on our committee?Who will have the skills to navigate these issues? So I’ll ask … who’s on YOURS?
- Students?
- Faculty & Staff (all types – but which ones?)
- School Board Members?
- Parents?
- Community Leaders?
- Senior Citizens / Empty Nesters?
- Local government?
- Civic organizations?
More questions…
How did you go about recruiting these people? What is the role of the technology committee in your district (influence vs. authority)? Where are the exemplary districts using committees positively and what are their strategies? In short, what’s working well? And, what could be better?
Our meeting is at 6:00 pm, but this conversation is just starting. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
-kj-
Published on August 19, 2009 · Filed under: Leadership;
19 Responses to “Technology Committees: Getting The Right People on the Bus”
-
Josh said on August 19th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Great to see this restarting, or whichever word you want to use to describe it.
We are somewhat in the same boat, only that we don’t need to report to anyone outside our district. That’s good and bad. It’s good because we aren’t pushed by a deadline, but that’s also bad in that we can easily push it back. Right now, our bus only has 3 people on it, myself (instructional technology), director of curriculum (who is now asst supt of curriculum) and IT director. So while I feel confident of who we have on the bus, we understand there are some empty seats. We are looking at people who are district staff because we are in the infancy stage of this development, but we also know that the public & school board need to have an idea and the ability to contribute to our vision.
I will say though, it’s important that you don’t get too many people who will just go along with each other and not challenge your thinking. Our asst supt of curriculum, while very supportive, does a great job of stepping back and saying “Why would you do that?” Very important not to get “dumber.”
Good luck! Excited to hear more about your progress. -
Thanks Josh. Totally agree with you about getting people on who will challenge everyone’s thinking! Will be interesting to see how tonight’s meeting plays out. Wonder if I should live-blog it? lol
-
Great questions, Kevin. I head up our building-level technology committee and serve at the district-level. To be honest, the committee is mainly comprised of interested educators and administrators. We don’t hold a lot of authority, but do have some influence on purchases and some small initiatives. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your experiences.
-
Kathy said on August 19th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Hey Kevin! My school district has been very fortunate for the last few years to expand the technology planning to include many people. We have ten schools that each have their own technology committees. We send out planning guides to each school for their committee’s use. The committees then come together for one exciting “planning” day. We present new district-level initiatives, present ideas for consideration, and listen to each school committee’s thoughts and ideas. We use polling software to “hear” from everyone. Door prizes are, of course, new technologies that need to be tested. Every school is encouraged to include students, parents, and community members on their committees, so the large district-level committee has a broad range of representatives. The planning day in itself causes excitement, so the technology plan is fun to produce.
-
Jenn Broekman said on August 19th, 2009 at 8:58 pm
I hadn’t commented earlier because my school and district don’t seem to have a tech committee that’s visible to the faculty. I’m looking forward to seeing how your committee works, in the hope that I can point you out to my administration as an example. (No pressure or anything. :) )
I think faculty involvement is crucial, mostly because teachers aren’t going to use tech that isn’t recommended by someone who’s in a classroom on a daily basis. No one wants to use tech that’s imposed from outside. We’ve had too many experiences with “bungee tech” (see Dilbert’s “bungee boss”). So recruit a teacher or two ASAP.
-
@kathy – thanks for commenting! We are a much smaller district but the idea of a ‘planning day’ is very intriguing. I like it because it sounds like an honest, genuine dialog that benefits both parties. I especially like the part about presenting new initiatives and ideas for feedback.
@Jenn – thank you for commenting as well. I appreciate the prospective kudos but think you will find other people, like Karl Fisch, to be a much better example. His tweets here: http://bit.ly/vA3ie and here: http://bit.ly/18kMtI tell the story. I’ve asked Karl to comment here, hope he does. I’d love to learn more about his efforts too.
-kj-
-
@Matt – thanks for commenting. Rescued your comment from the spam pool this morning. :) Your group may not hold a lot of authority but it sounds like you do have a voice as part of a larger district conversation, so that’s very positive. Has your district had to deal with any controversial topics and if so how did the committee respond? We just had our first meeting last night and it went well overall, I’m still processing…
-
Kevin,
Any and all controversial topics have pretty much been handled by our curriculum/technology director. He has since retired and we are in an interim year without formal district leadership. This year will be a true test if/when something “big” happens. It’s also a great opportunity to cast a new/revised vision on where the district is headed with the correlation of technology and curriculum. Thanks for starting this conversation. -
My district has an Educational Technology Advisory Committee that is made up of teachers, administrators, parents, community members and students. Last year it was chaired by a student (senior in high school).
It serves in an advisory role, but really does have an impact on the vision and direction of our district.
-
Hey Kevin,
I served on a technology committee in my district not so long ago and it was an interesting experience for a different reason than you mention.
While we definitely got to help shape direction (we were a committee of influence and ideas but no authority), the best part about our work were the relationships that developed between the IT folks and the classroom teachers serving on the committee—two groups who rarely cross paths in most buildings/schools/districts.
Those relationships were important because both groups made discoveries about one another. I learned a ton about the completely legitimate digital and legal limitations that cause many of the services that I want to use to be blocked—-something that I ranted about forever but had no explanation for.
And the tech guys learned about the kinds of things I was actually trying to do with technology, which helped them to better spot services, tools and abilities that they should target in their decision making.
But better yet, our relationships continued beyond our committee….There are tech guys that call on me for advice about teaching and I can advocate for tech guys at the classroom level.
That’s probably the best outcome of our committee—and it’s one I’d suggest gets overlooked by many district leaders who are managing technological change.
Any of this make sense?
Bill -
Bill,
Thanks for commenting – makes *PERFECT* sense – talk about serendipity! I also see signs of a real learning organization there. We are VERY fortunate – IT and teaching staff have a very good working relationship here. Our travails are in other areas. Onward, ho!
-kj-
-
Fil Santiago said on August 24th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Kevin,
Sorry for joining the conversation a little. I am in a District comprised of 11 schools, 700 teachers, 6000 + students. For years we have had tech team committees from each of our schools. We meet with the teams based on grades (elementary, middle, high school). The teams meet three times per year and are comprised of a teachers for each grade level for every building. It also includes all the library media specialists. It has been difficult to implement in the past year at the high school due to its size and large subject-specific departments. As a result we have been communicated with the teachers via department meetings. This year, we are going to set up Technology Team comprised of teachers, administrators, tech department staff, and students. Hope to have subcommittees on cyber safety and PowerSchool. -
Jenn Broekman said on August 24th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Fil,
How long has your district been using PowerSchool? My district is starting this year…
-
@Fil, thanks for commenting! Did the committees generate good ideas? Did information flow both ways? What will you do differently this time, with the students? More importantly, what will you do to ensure the student’s voices are heard and acted upon? That’s my biggest fear – they speak and we don’t listen…
-
fil said on August 25th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Jenn,
We just finished migrating data from Sasi to PowerSchool and are in the process of training. Our MIS department is currently training guidance counselors, admin assistants, administrators. -
fil said on August 25th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
KJ,
The committees have been very effective in terms of communication and generating ideas. Members of the committee serve as representatives for their grade levels in each school and bring issues to the table that need to be addressed. In the past my colleague and I handled these sessions. This year, however, I am getting more people from department (technology) to drive the agenda items. In regards to students, this will be the first year that we have students involved. One of my goals this year is to have a balanced team in the committee where students have some involvement. I hope that this will be a good start to get students more involved and further expand their involvement through other subcomittees –ie. Internet Safety, etc. I am looking to have at least one student involved in the Technology Plan. I am not sure what role they would have, but think it is imperative that they are involved. Last year I welcomed an invitation by Verizon to have our students participate via videoconference in a private panel discussion moderated Steve Adubato. The panel was comprised of administrators, policy makers. NJ Attorney General’s Office and President of Verizon kicked off the discussion. Once the panel started the discussion, the disconnect between parents/Policymakers and students was quite evident. The students were, as you can imagine, upset the adult’s misperception about their online behavior. It was a powerful discussion that after the first panel was over, the adults and students decided to carry over the conversation to the second panel discussion. This event served as a reminder that we need to get more students involved in the conversation. After all, it is why we come to work everyday — to serve their needs. -
Jenn Broekman said on August 25th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Oy. Sounds like Fil’s at the same stage as my district is. I do have some implementation questions that have nothing to do with KJ’s post here. Would you be willing to answer via email? jsb16.cc @ gmail…
-
@Fil, thanks – we’re in a somewhat similar boat.
I’m struggling with defining the role of the students so as to maximize their actual impact.
I fear asking these kids for input, generating great discussion, making suggestions … and having them not acted upon.
I can manage SOME of that – and be their advocate – but at the end of the day, the organization has to want the input. Hope ours is ready. Sounds like yours is!
Have a great year!
-kj-
-
fil said on August 26th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Kevin,
I am thinking of having the students initially involved with the process of surveying their peers and reporting on the surveys. The committee can come up with the survey and have the students deploy it via Web-based surveys and/or peer interviews. Perhaps they can also interview the teachers and get the school newspaper to write an article about student involvement/feedback. I am also thinking that we may want to consider having the students create and manage a District Web page outlining the committees progress and general technology events, tips, etc. A teacher on the committee can serve as editor and approve content before publishing — let me know if you come up with any strategies.
Recent Comments