LetsChange

InLindaMacRaeCampbell'sarticle,FacilitatingChangeinOurSchools,shementions
that"numerousschoolsacrossthecountryhaveacceptedthechallengeofupdatingand
upgradingtheirservices."butmanylackaneffectiveactionplanthatwillallowthat
changetotakeplace.Inordertoforthispositivechangetotakeplaceinaneducational
setting,asetofguidelineshavebeencreatedtohelpfacilitatethatchange.
Guideline1:Identifyanewmissionoraneedforreformwithintheschool
InordertomakethetechnologicalchangethatIfeelisneededinordertosatisfythe
necessaryreform,itisimportanttobeginthedialogueandcreateastrongactionplanto
makeithappen.ThechangeIwouldliketoseetakeplacewithinmyownclassroomand
schoolistheavailabilityofdevicesforallstudentsandteachersatalltimes.This
fundamentalchangecanbeeitheraBYODdeviceoption,whichbringsawiderangeof
unsolicitedcomplicationsalongwithit,orpreferably,aschoolwidetechnologyplanthat
includesclassroomssetsofdevicesforteacherandstudentuse.Thischangein
philosophyobviouslyrequiresalotofresearchintopossibledevicestopurchase,ahuge
ongoingPDsession,teacherbuyinandaknowledgeabletechnologycoachtohelpwith
theintegration,amongothers.
ThefirstphaseofmakingthischangeaccordingtoCampbell'sguidelines"istowriteor
updateaneducationalmissionstatement."Bydoingthis,theinstitutiontryingtomake
stageallowsallstakeholderstoclearlyunderstandwhatchangeistryingtooccurand
allowsfortheproperreadjustmenttobemadetoallowchangetohappen.Althoughthis
isagiantstepintheprocess,itcanbecrucialtotheoveralleffectivenessoftheplan.

Guideline2:Seeksupportforeducationalchange
Inthisstep,inordertoseekthesupporttheneededtofacilitatethischange,datawould
needtobecollectedonthecurrentstudentsandtheiracademiclevelsandcompare
themtootherschoolsthathavethissortoftechnologicaladvancementinplace.Finding

therightevidencetosupportthischangemaybeoneofthebiggestchallengesasthe
newdataisstillbeingdrivenandpotentiallynotavailableforcomparison.

Guideline3:Createandcommunicateamodelofthechangeeffort
Amodelclassroomwouldneedtobecreatedinordertodemonstratethedesiredeffect
ofhavingdevicesavailabletoallstudentsinallclasses.Thiscanbedonebyoutfitting
oneclassroomwithaqualifiedteacherandtheknowhowtoimplementtechnology
accordingly.Thismodelwillthenprovideopportunitiesforthestakeholders(other
teachers,administrators,schoolboardmembers,PTAetc.)toseefirsthandthepossible
newlearningoutcomeswiththedesiredchange.Duringthisstage,therewouldneedto
bealotofdocumentationdonebytheclassroomteacherwhoisinchargeofthismodel
inordertoprovidetheevidenceneededtoprove,infact,thatlearninghasincreaseddue
tothischangeofeducationalandinstitutionalphilosophy.

Guideline4:Secureneededresources
Inorderforthischangetotakeplace,theproperresourcesandmaterialsarerequired.
Consideringmygoalofprovidingdevicesforallstudentsineachclassroomisextremely
heavyonthefinancialspectrum,Iseethisbeingthebiggesthurdleintheprocess.
However,inourschool,therearelaptops,chromebooksandiPadsavailableforthe
wholelowerelementaryschooltouse.Someofthesedevicescouldbestrictlyallocated
tothemodelclassroomasatesttoseeifthestructureindeedissuccessful.Another
resourcethatwouldbeneededisahighlycompetentandreliableteacherwhocan
seamlesslyintegratefulltechnologyuseinclasswithlittleornooutsidehelp.Havinga
teacherwhocanpilotthisprogramwithlittlesupportandatahighlevel

Guideline5:Acknowledgetheemotionalreactiontochange
Therewillnodoubtbeanoverallemotionalreactiontothischange.Again,asCampbell
pointsout,therearemultiplephasesofimplementedchange.Thehoneymoonstageno

doubtwillbehighintheclassroomasitwillbeanultraexcitingtimeforboththe
educatorandthestudentstotakepartinamodelclassroomexperience.Theinformed
pessimismstage,or whenproblemsoccur,canbealleviatedbyhavingtheproper
teacherbehindtheproject.Eventually,thegoalwouldbetoreachthefinalstage,"a
senseofrewardingcompletion",whereallstakeholdersseetheresultshavetakenplace.

Guideline6:Anticipaterestructuringproblemsandidentify
problemsolvingskills.
Thebiggestrestructuringhurdleintryingtoprovidedevicesforallteachersand
studentsinaschoolwillmostlikelybeaccountabilityofuseamongstaffandstudents
whileprovidinginstructionthatenhancesstudentlearning.Inordertohandlethis
restructuringprocess,awholesetoffactorsneedtotakeplace.Amajorproblemthat
willarisewillbeinstaffing.Atminimum,Theschoolwillneedtohaveatechnology
coordinatorandcoachavailabletoworkwithstafftoplanunitsofstudyandalsowork
alongsidestaffmembersinsidetheclassroomtofacilitatelessons.It'sunreasonableto
thinkthatsuchalargetechnologicalshiftcanoccurwithouthiringtheproperstaffto
implementthedesiredchange.
Guideline7:Sharetheleadership.
Partoftheoverallprocessofchangeattheschoolwillrequireinputfromallareas,
includingbutnotlimitedto,holdingmeetingswithstaffmembers,creatingstudent
surveysandinvitingparentstoseetheprogressinthechange.Inordertomakethis
planeffective,Iwillfirstsurveythestaffwhomaybeinterestedindevelopingaspecial
interestgrouptodiscussvariouswaystheyfeeltechnologycanimprovestudent
learning.Thisgroupwillmeetonceamonthtodeterminewhatarenewtechnologiesor
strategiesproveneffectiveintheclassroom.Afteralargedatabaseofideas,lessonideas,
assessmentresourcesetcaredetermined,thisinformationcanbepassedalongtocreate
adatabaseaccessiblebystaffmembersforfutureuse.

Guideline8:Anchortheinnovationasquicklyaspossibletoclassroompractice.
Ithinkintheaboveguidelines,it'sclearthatenhancingstudentlearningistheessential
clauseforaddingmoretechnologytotheclassroom.It'sessentialthattherightchange
isevaluatedandimplementedasquicklyaspossibleintoclassroompracticebutit'salso
necessarytobecautionaryonimplementingatechnologychangethathasnotbeen
thoroughlythoughtout,tested,provedanddesigned.Technologyisoftenagameof
trendssodecidingwhatworksbestduringthetestingphaseofimplementationislikely
tobephasedoutbeforeevenreachingfullschoolwiderollout.Tohelpwith,theabove
mentionedtechnologydirector/coachwillbeconstantlyresearchinganddevelopingthe
bestsolutionsfortechnologyintegrationforimprovingstudentlearning.

Guideline9:Embedtherenewaleffortandprocessintoorganizational
practice.
AccordingtoCampbell,"Restructuringisaprocessthatmustbecomearegularfeature
ofschoollife,enablingcontinualinitiation,implementation,andinstitutionalizationof
changewithineachschool."Thisbecomesincreasinglydifficultforaschooltomanage
whenthefinancesbehindatechnologicalrestructuringcanoftenbeoverbearingand
unrealistic.Inorderforthisrestructuretotakeplace,alargepartoftheschool's
operatingbudgetneedstobeallocatedfordevices,staff,development,insuranceand
extraservices.However,iftherestructuretakesplaceandisefficientinmakingthe
desiredchange,staffandstudentswillbuyintothenewideasandwillmakeeverything
seemworthwhile.