Aligning On Tech Purchases Requires Transparency
Getting all of those involved on the same page is no small task. It takes collaboration, compromise and tough conversations about how and why we do the things we do in classrooms. We need to create a common understanding of the work that we are doing and develop transparency around our processes. Ultimately, we need a philosophy to build upon. At Parkway, we call these our Instructional Technology Commitments, and they guide our decisions when it comes to how and why we use and purchase technology for our students.
Without a philosophy or guiding documents, districts may be making technology decisions based on how those involved feel on any given day. Instead, it’s critical to identify organizational commonalities.
Ask These Critical Questions When Building Your Ed Tech Document
A great starting point is to recruit people from the school community who representative all the different groups that might be a part of the decision-making and input process. This may include teachers, building administrators, librarians, district curriculum leads, technology staff and students, as well as parents and local industry partners. Not every single stakeholder can be included, but ensuring that there are a variety of voices at the discussion table makes for a more reliable and credible philosophical stance.
DISCOVER: Select essential classroom technology to reduce digital overload in K–12.
What you’re looking for is something to stand on, something that you can point to and say, “This is why we made this decision.” Once together, look for common ground and consider a few guiding questions along the way, such as:
- What do we want kids to do using technology? Would our students agree with our answers?
- What skills do students need to master when they leave our schools?
- What kind of experiences do we want to provide students to prepare them for the world beyond our district?
- What actions do we need to take to keep students safe online?
- What pre-existing policies do we need to follow?
These questions alone will not get you to a final document. However, they are a great way to take the temperature of your group and begin to determine what’s important to the community.
47%
The percentage of K–12 educators surveyed who say ed tech enables more effective instruction
Source: HMH, 9th Annual Educator Confidence Report, August 2023
Community Backing Builds Support for Leadership Buy-In
After you’ve created a draft, reconvene the group to get feedback and ensure that you have captured all member input. From there, engage those school leaders who may be making decisions about technology use and purchasing. These are the people who will need to buy in to the overall philosophy as they make their own decisions. The more people that provide feedback (whether it is used in the final document or not), the more representative the document will be of the overall community.
Whether you refer to your completed document as technology commitments, guidelines or a philosophy, the main point is that you know you have created a transparent process and have community-backed reasons for making your technology decisions.
WATCH: One school district’s IT and curriculum teams work together.
