1.4 Diffusion of Innovations & Change
Candidates research, recommend, and implement strategies for initiating and sustaining technology innovations and for managing the change process in schools. (PSC 1.4/ISTE 1d)
Artifact: Action Evaluation Plan (ITEC 7410)
Reflection:
Designing an Action Evaluation Plan was a requirement of ITEC 7410, Technology Leadership & Vision in Schools, completed in Spring 2013. The purpose of the Action Evaluation Plan is to identify technology goals for the upcoming academic year, including indicators of success, strategies, timelines, a budget, and required personnel. This artifact involved collaboration with school administrators and the school technology coordinator to determine what goals would be feasible and would help the school to improve based upon the findings of the previously-completed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.
Synthesizing the weaknesses revealed by the SWOT Analysis into the Action / Evaluation Plan allowed me to demonstrate mastery of Standard 1.4, which says that “candidates research, recommend, and implement strategies for initiating and sustaining technology innovations and for managing the change process in schools.” When Lambert High School opened in 2009, the opening staff consisted of staff members from schools across Forsyth County. Many staff members came from schools that did not employ technology to the degree desired by the administration and the technology coordinator for the school. After four years, there was still much work needed to get all staff members on board with the LHS Vision for Technology Use. Creating the SWOT Analysis allowed the school to see the strengths and weaknesses, but seeing does not produce results – action produces results.
Developing this Action Evaluation Plan permitted me to research the best methods to initiate and sustain technology innovations as recommended by the results of the SWOT Analysis. The Action Evaluation Plan outlines plans for meeting three goals:
Presenting the results to the school administration and technology coordinator allowed me to recommend and implement a plan that would allow us together to manage the change process. While there is still much to be accomplished, the faculty is well on its way to meeting two of the three goals. After designing and implementing the Action Evaluation, I believe that the goals established are good, but that future goals should have the input of staff members as well. An important part of the change process is to create buy-in among shareholders and encouraging shareholders to have a voice in the changes being proposed can create that more easily. For next year’s implementation of the e-portfolio, I hope to seek out input from teachers and administrators on what purpose they see for the e-portfolio and how they hope to use it.
Designing an Action Evaluation Plan was a requirement of ITEC 7410, Technology Leadership & Vision in Schools, completed in Spring 2013. The purpose of the Action Evaluation Plan is to identify technology goals for the upcoming academic year, including indicators of success, strategies, timelines, a budget, and required personnel. This artifact involved collaboration with school administrators and the school technology coordinator to determine what goals would be feasible and would help the school to improve based upon the findings of the previously-completed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.
Synthesizing the weaknesses revealed by the SWOT Analysis into the Action / Evaluation Plan allowed me to demonstrate mastery of Standard 1.4, which says that “candidates research, recommend, and implement strategies for initiating and sustaining technology innovations and for managing the change process in schools.” When Lambert High School opened in 2009, the opening staff consisted of staff members from schools across Forsyth County. Many staff members came from schools that did not employ technology to the degree desired by the administration and the technology coordinator for the school. After four years, there was still much work needed to get all staff members on board with the LHS Vision for Technology Use. Creating the SWOT Analysis allowed the school to see the strengths and weaknesses, but seeing does not produce results – action produces results.
Developing this Action Evaluation Plan permitted me to research the best methods to initiate and sustain technology innovations as recommended by the results of the SWOT Analysis. The Action Evaluation Plan outlines plans for meeting three goals:
- Teachers at Lambert High School will deliver differentiated assessments to students via itslearning at least once per semester. Differentiated assessments will permit teachers to personalize the learning experience for students and meet their individual needs. Using itslearning has made this goal a reality via the Recommendation Engine, which automatically suggests remediation activities for students who are not meeting individual course standards based upon their learning preference profile. The willingness of itslearning to work with Forsyth County Schools to develop the Recommendation Engine was a primary factor in the district’s decision to adopt itslearning as the new LMS.
- Teachers will integrate technology on a performance-based assessment that reaches the top tiers of Bloom’s Taxonomy. After the Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards (GAPSS) review was completed at Lambert High School in 2011, one of the areas recommended for growth was for technology integration to assist learners in reaching higher levels of achievement, rather than “drill and kill” use. The district chose to perform mini-GAPSS reviews at all schools during the 2013-2014 school year and so this has been a primary focus of the administration throughout the year.
- Students at Lambert High School will compile an electronic portfolio of work samples showing their progress from the beginning of the year to the end of the year in both academic and elective classes. Unfortunately, this goal has been delayed due to technical difficulties with implementing the new learning management system and will hopefully be part of next year’s goals.
Presenting the results to the school administration and technology coordinator allowed me to recommend and implement a plan that would allow us together to manage the change process. While there is still much to be accomplished, the faculty is well on its way to meeting two of the three goals. After designing and implementing the Action Evaluation, I believe that the goals established are good, but that future goals should have the input of staff members as well. An important part of the change process is to create buy-in among shareholders and encouraging shareholders to have a voice in the changes being proposed can create that more easily. For next year’s implementation of the e-portfolio, I hope to seek out input from teachers and administrators on what purpose they see for the e-portfolio and how they hope to use it.
