The Four Component Guide for Successful Technology Implementation

Administrators play a pivotal role when implementing educational technologies. Whether it’s a new LMS (learning management system) or actual hardware, administrators need to familiarize themselves with whatever technology is being addressed.
I believe that it is imperative that administrators need to know the essential functions of the tech and what best teaching practices it will help support. In order for instructional leaders to accomplish this gigantic undertaking, we must look at the most current EdTech models and learn to diffuse this information to our staff. 

According to The Technology Coordinator’s Handbook, as an administrator considers the technology available, they must also consider four key factors when making a decision to implement a particular technology. These components are vision and planning, budgeting, infrastructure, and professional development/diffusion. These essential considerations help create a positive and open environment in which to implement technology.

The first factor that an administrator must consider is vision and planning. As an administrator, a vision is akin to knowing where you are going when taking a trip. The planning piece is knowing how you will get there. Considering this analogy, an instructional leader cannot succeed with implementation without having both vision and planning. The administrator must also take into account, not only the school’s vision and planning, but the school district’s overall technology vision and planning as well. 

The second factor to keep in mind is the school and district’s budgeting. Many times, leaders have amazing ideas to make learning more accessible, unfortunately, there may not be any funding available. Leaders must consider what is already being used within the district and if there is a necessity to improve upon it. Continuing with the travel analogy, budgeting is important so that you are able to stay on track and reach your destination. 

The third factor is the school and district’s infrastructure. Much like budgeting, infrastructure plays a role in knowing what technologies that the school will be able to successfully use. For example, I once worked for a district with four schools in all within the district. This district’s infrastructure is vastly different from a large metropolitan school district. This is due to a combination of different components of internet access, state and federal funding, and location of the need. Considering a school’s location is paramount to understanding the quality of internet and access available to the school. Many times, rural schools are short changed when it comes to access and quality, due to the lack of federal internet infrastructure. Although this problem has been somewhat addressed through the Affordable Connectivity Act, there are still largely remote areas of the country that have very limited internet options to consider.

The final factor that a leader must consider is the professional development available and how they plan to roll out the new technology. When considering different technologies, leaders must look at what type of professional development is available to help their staff fully understand and integrate the new technology, as well as considering any continued professional development that may be required in the upkeep of the technology as well. Leaders must also think about how they will, eventually, “diffuse” the technology to staff or students. Administrators must consider some sort of tracking and maintenance system when rolling out technology to staff and students. This allows tracking of needed technology maintenance and repairs to the technology as well. 

These four components are crucial for administrators to create, consider, and implement when thinking about new classroom technologies. 



Source: 
Frazier, M., & Hearrington, D. (2017, January 1). The Technology Coordinator’s Handbook (3rd ed., pp. 75–106). International Society for Technology in Education.

Comments

  1. J. LoweFebruary 16, 2023 at 8:15 PM

    Vision is such a huge thing! "A vision benefits the school because it unites everyone to work toward a common goal. A well-developed vision leaves no room for confusion or misinterpretation" (Northwest Missouri State University, 2017). A vision is so beneficial to any organization, and a lack of one can affect it greatly. When a leader lacks vision, the staff doesn't know where it's going either. This can create confusion and even dissension in a faculty.This can also create issues with utilizing resources as best as possible. When a technology leader has a plan, he or she knows what resources they have, and where they want to go with them, how they want to improve them, and how they want to develop their faculty with them. Without that plan, they most likely don't know what they are working with and don't know how to equip their faculty.

    Reference
    Northwest Missouri State University. (2017). Why you want to be a Visionary School leader. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://online.nwmissouri.edu/articles/education/visionary-school-leader.aspx

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