Another common negotiation is between the available capacity and the nature of the information task in the curriculum. In situations in which the complexity of the information task is beyond the capacity of the devices, teachers may reconcile the complexity of the tasks with the capacity of the devices. Consider video editing, which is a Read More
Category: Leadership
Negotiating #edtech Price versus Capacity
When making purchase decisions, IT professionals must negotiate cost and capacity. In general, devices that have greater capacity are more expensive; this can be seen in comparing the cost and capacity of devices with full operating systems (most expensive and greatest capacity) with Internet-only devices (least expensive and least capacity). There is an inverse relationship Read More
#edtech for #edleaders: Negotiating Capacity and Price of Devices
School and technology leaders have an obligation to provide access to sufficient digital devices so that teaching and learning needs can be met. Sufficiency is a complex concept grounded in: The number of devices that are available (too few impedes access); The nature of the devices (to little capacity impedes sufficiency); The manner in which Read More
Innovators’ Toolkit
Eric von Hippel (2005), a scholar who studies technological innovations, suggested lead users, those individuals who tend to develop new applications of technology are most productive and contribute the greatest innovation when they are provided with a toolkit that affords: The ability to complete the entire trial and error process- This is particularly important for Read More
Planning and Goals
133: Planning and Goals For the last several decades, school planning has focused on first setting goals or defining expected outcomes and then designing and implementing systems to accomplish those goals. In this, educators are following the strategic and logistic planning that has been common for leaders of other organizations. In the 21st century, curriculum Read More
#edtech for #edleaders: Technicians
Placing a technician in every school to be the primary source of IT support does improve efficiency of repairs but, coincidently, it increases dependence on that technician, thus efficiency can actually decrease. When teachers and others depend on the technician, they are unlikely to develop their own troubleshooting skills, so rather than resolving a problem Read More
Mintzer’s Typology: Components of Systems
Especially in large and diverse organizations in which the logistic goals are only achieved by individuals who have greater expertise than others in the organizations, the division of labor and responsibility is more marked than it is in other organizations. Efficacious IT management is clearly an example of such a situation, so it is helpful Read More
Rogers’ Stages of Adoption
141: Rogers’ Stages of Adoption Everett Rogers’ (2003) influential work on the diffusion of innovations explains much that we see on how new idea and practices spread throughout populations. This excerpt from my book Efficacious Technology Management which was released under a Creative COmmons license about a year ago is one summary I use when Read More
Defining Change
The literature surrounding organizational change often uses the terms “change” and “innovation” interchangeably. When organizations deploy innovations, the leaders and members adopt new tools, follow new procedures, and are driven to meet new purposes. Scholars and practitioners in the field also recognize change can affect different levels within the organization and also the purpose of Read More
#edtech for #edleaders: Freezing
While imaging is a reaction to software changes that have adversely affect the performance of a system, freezing is a strategy that prevents software problems from occurring. A technician installs the application that provides the freezing function and then configures the system exactly as he or she wants it to function. Just like imaging, all Read More