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May 15, 2002
It's Time to Take a Lesson from Business
By Susan McLester, Editor in Chief
When you read this month's cover feature, "Strategic Planning: Lessons Learned from a Big-Business District," by Richard Hoffman, your first reaction may be to wonder what your district could possibly have in common with the mammoth, technologically sophisticated Fairfax County Public Schools. Instead of the seven technology positions we profile in this article, it's possible that many of you may be employed in districts where only one, two, or a handful of staff members share responsibility for the entire technology show-from providing vision and troubleshooting IT woes to previewing software, and even perhaps (to borrow a solution from Bill Bateman, our IT Guy columnist) supplying the Krispy Kreme doughnuts that may tip the scales in favor of meeting attendance. Despite even very broad differences in setting, people power, and other resources, however, there remain valuable key points for all to take away from the first-person perspectives Hoffman provides after interviewing experts in his district.
Fairfax's determination to dedicate resources to the long term rather than the quick fix is a good example. Another is their desire to learn lessons from business-and this means considering the district as the professional organization it is. Instead of having to make predictions-or worse, being taken by surprise-about what industry vendors have in development, why not be proactive when it comes to planning for new products that will be hitting the market? As Hoffman points out in his piece, it makes sense for even the smallest districts to invite vendors to share their plans. Standardizing operations, setting up processes, automating manual tasks, and documenting successes so that they can be duplicated are some of the other practices from business that can be applied to education environments. Seeking out multiple perspectives and buy-in from users was another piece this district found to be essential when planning ahead, and the sidebar, "High-Tech Renovation," details how one ed tech expert did this quickly and efficiently. We hope you'll find the detailed descriptions of their planning processes and job roles helpful in customizing your own district's program.
This month we also check in briefly with the school library/media center, offering a quick recap of some of the changes it's undergone in the past couple of decades. Perhaps more than any other position in K-12, it's been the school librarian whose daily work life has been most dramatically altered by the introduction of new technologies. In a second part of the series next fall, we'll zoom in for a closer look at exactly how librarians and media center specialists are keeping up with the demand to ensure kids are being taught digital literacy and responsibility, as well.
We hope you'll find plenty in this issue to assist you with whatever technology decisions you're making today and tomorrow. You can also look forward to additional practical tips, as well as visionary pieces from experts, data mining suggestions, and a comprehensive grants directory, in our special June offering: A Guide for School Technology Leaders 2002. Stay tuned.
Read other articles from the May Issue
Send a letter to the Editor in response to this article.
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