Shared Vision It all starts with a “Vision Statement”

Getting Started The foundation for the successful implementation of technology has come from first developing a solid well designed technology plan.  Any technology plan has at its foundation strongly rooted in a vision statement. A vision statement is a document that clearly outlines the goal(s) of the plan and the actions one will take to carry it out. It is a statement of purpose that embraces the needs and desires of each stakeholder or department representative, while balancing them with the realities of time, money, and additional resources.  The first activity will help you to construct a vision statement that has the potential to become a reality.  A nice metaphor for this task could be a "vision quest."vision quest Think about it as a vision quest.

What is a vision quest? Start with a definition of the words:  Vision, n. the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be.  Quest, n. a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something.

Buy In Establishing a Steering Committee  Anyone who is concerned as to the direction of the school must "buy in" to the task. The best way to achieve a buy in is to involve those stakeholders in the creation of the vision.  A key factor in picking your team, also called a "steering committee", is making sure there is representation of key stakeholder groups. Keep it small. It might consist of an administrator, a teacher/union person, a parent, a student, and a staff person, with perhaps a local business person involved as well. Make sure everyone knows this is a working committee, not an advisory board. You don't want to be stuck conducting dozens of interviews or analyzing hundreds of surveys by yourself!

Finding Your Stakeholders Below is a list of possible stakeholders. Select the ones that have a stake in your particular situation. Briefly describe their role they would play in contributing to the vision of technology in your district.  Teachers:  Parents:  Students:  Technology leaders (Technology committee members, or teachers who have shown interest in using technology in their classrooms):  School board members:  Experts in technology and curriculum:  Site administrators (principles, vice principles, etc.):  Technical support (facilities managers, maintenance, etc.):  Union representatives:  Local business and industry:  Service clubs:  Government agencies:  Local colleges and universities:  Others:

Questioning Stakeholders  Before you begin you should survey or contact stakeholders Begin by preparing and asking them some key questions. Remember you are seeking information and thoughts as well as how they feel about technology in the schools. By questioning as many stakeholders as possible is an excellent way of achieving buy-in.

Questioning Stakeholders (Cont.)  Examples of questions you might want to ask to elicit their vision This is designed to broaden your thinking of who really has something at stake and what they have to offer.  For example, many people forget about the role that facilities and maintenance workers play, and these are the very people who are essential to install the technology and keep it working!

Examples of questions for…  Teachers: "How do you feel about using technology in your own classroom?" "What do you think your classroom will look like in 5 years?"  Parents: "If you could imagine your child working and learning in a high tech classroom, what would it look like?" "What are your biggest concerns about technology in schools?"  Students: "Describe a time at school when you really learned a lot using computers?" "How do you feel about being taught more about computers in school?“

Examples of questions for…  Site administrators: "When you envision technology at work in your school, what does it look like? What are teachers doing? What are students doing?" "If you were to overhear a parent talking about technology use in your school, what would they be saying?“  Technology leaders (Technology committee members, or teachers who use technology in their classrooms): "If you could wave a magic wand and transform your classroom with technology, what would it look like?" "What's your biggest concern about using more technology in your classroom?“  Experts in technology and curriculum: "What will teachers be doing differently then than they are now?" "From your experience, what is the worst thing that can happen from integrating technology in our schools?"

Examples of questions for…  School board members: "When you visit a classroom, what technology-based activities would you want to see students doing?" "If you read a newspaper report about technology use in our district, what would you want the headline to read?"  Technical support (Facilities managers, maintenance, etc.): "With the current rate of growth of technology in our schools, what will your department look like in five years?" "Do you have any ideas or concerns about the increasing use of technology in our schools?"  Union representatives: "How does a great teacher use technology in their classroom?" "In an ideal world, what kind of support would a technology-using teacher have?"  Local college and university technology coordinators: "What are some of the best examples of good technology using schools in our area?" "What does the research indicate about trends in school technology?"

How To Question?  How you talk with stakeholders depends on who they are, how much access you have to them, and the extent to which personal contact is an important element, both with respect to eliciting real input about visions and for soliciting "buy in." Interviews, focus groups, and informal, one-on-one contact are the most personal, but also take the most time on your part. Surveys and phone calls tend to be less so, but you can contact lots more people in a limited amount of time. Large, group meetings, if well planned, can be both personal and efficient.

Sorting It All Out  Eventually you're going to have to: pull all the diverse ideas you gathered into a single, coherent vision for your district and write it down! That means getting together with your steering committee  to combine and group goals, prioritize them, draft, proofread, and edit them, and so forth  in an effort to reflect the sense of what various stakeholders are getting at in their diverse visions Get feedback from the important stakeholder groups on your steering committee. Make sure everyone can "live with" the vision, even if it isn't everything they wanted.  Remember, it is this vision that will drive the rest of your planning process. If it isn't in the vision statement, the goals you've set up for yourself, it isn't in the plan!

Task Your first assignment is composed of several parts. Organize yourself into small groups by schools.  Review and compare your “personal vision”  Identify stakeholders – Who do each of you represent?  Establish and agreed upon “shared vision”

Deliverables for this Task  Prepare an introduction which identifies a general description of your “school” including demographics  Identify the assigned role of each stakeholder on your team (ex: District Administrator, Principal, Teacher, Tech Director, etc. and who will represent each)  Develop your agreed upon vision statement  Recreate the “Personal Vision” form/table for your “Team Vision” In the HEADER include: School Name, Names of team members and roles Introduction and Demographics Final version of your team vision form  Specified tasks are to be submitted as one document prepared by the “team” (unless otherwise specified). Hand in ONE TEAM hard copy of the completed team work