Coordination with Other Resources

Overview

Technology-related initiatives in a school or district might range from something as specific as "integrating graphing calculators into high school science and math classes" to something as far-reaching as "using technology tools to support differentiated learning across all curriculum areas in all grade levels." The funding sources for these initiatives vary. What these initiatives do have in common, however, is the necessity for some degree of innovation and change (within the district, administration, school culture, or teachers' practice) and the necessity for a coordination of focus if there is to be successful implementation of the new ideas. If these varying innovations are consistent with district initiatives, the rate of adoption of the new ideas will be faster (Rogers, 1995).

Many schools and districts are finding they can fund transformation by combining previously separate funding sources to support integrated school initiatives. Karen Hawley Miles (2000) describes three school-level resources: the use of time, the organization of staff, and the use of funds from external sources. She notes that so-called best-practice schools take some of the external resources from specific programs (such as bilingual education) and integrate those resources into school or district-wide agendas, such as literacy improvement.

Strategies for Addressing Local Technology Applications and Plans

In order to coordinate varied initiatives within a district, a first step might be simply to find out which existing grants could benefit from the addition of technology resources (hardware, software, support), or to find out which grants had been written to include specific technology components. These grants may be curriculum centered or might be focused on administrative issues or activities. In some districts, key staff (Director of Technology, SPED, Title One, IEP Teams, Library Media Specialists, and Curriculum Specialists) have created a map of funding sources and amounts, project activities/goals, planned professional development activities.

To ensure that technology will be used to support content and student learning goals, districts might want to staff curriculum planning committees with members that have both content knowledge and technology integration skills, or with both curriculum specialists and technology integration specialists.

To maximize resource allocation, provide technical support, and ensure district-wide implementation of the district technology plan, it is useful to develop procedures that allow for coordination of technology acquisitions and implementations through the central technology department.

"All together now..."
(Lennon & McCartney, 1969)

Technology Briefs for No Child Left Behind Planners was developed by the Northeast and the Islands Regional Technology Consortium (NEIRTEC) project, a collaboration of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), TERC, Education Alliance at Brown University and Learning Innovations at WestEd, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

© 2002 Education Development Center, Inc. All rights reserved.

Permission to copy is granted for educational use.
 
 
 

NEIRTEC Partners:

Extended Resources

The School-Wide Assistive Technology Team (SWAT)
http://www.mespa.org/mtc/assistive/about.html
This project trains teams to design strategies which ensure compliance with the IDEA mandates of 1991 and 1997 requiring an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) to consider whether a child requires assistive technology devices and services.

U.S. Department of Education, Technology Grant Programs
http://www.ed.gov/Technology/edgrants.html
General information on grants and grant programs for educational technology funding.

Northwest Educational Technology Consortium
http://www.netc.org/grants/
General information on grants and grant programs for educational technology funding.

Concord, NH: Case study (1999).
http://edc.techleaders.org/idea99/resources/case.htm
A case study done in Concord, NH, illustrates an example of pooling resources to accomplish larger district-wide goals. In this case, resources were pooled to provide technology tools to support the learning of all students.

References

Fullan, M. (1991). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers College Press.

Lennon, J. and P. McCartney. All together now. From Yellow Submarine. Apple Records.

Miles, K. (2000). Money Matters: Rethinking School and District Spending to Support Comprehensive School Reform. Retrieved May 28, 2002. Available online at http://www.naschools.org/uploadedfiles/MoneyMatters.pdf.

Miles, K. (2002). Pathways. Retrieved May 28, 2002. Available online at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/haw.htm.

Rogers, E. (1995). Diffusion of Innovations (4th edition). New York: The Free Press.