As we approach the end of our Current Trends and Issues in Instructional Technology course, the final project has me thinking. So many of these trends require supporting an organization or, in the very least, a group of people in adopting a change that involves technology. Whether it involves digital storytelling vs a traditional paper report, video learning games, virtual worlds or social networking to name a few, it requires educators (and learners) to change their teaching (and learning) process.
I began to search for a resource which simplifies the change process and guidelines to help a leader facilitate this technology change. I found this article and thought it had some good ideas (http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6333_11-1057896.html). This article touches on many topics we discussed in our Leadership Reports. Hopefully repetition is as beneficial for you as it is for me. There may be some new information. I’ll summarize the main points below:
- Agree on a desired state
- The organization needs to decide on what the desired state will look like. This article focuses on corporate consultants instituting change but I can see this in many situations. Both the change agent and the recipients of the change must understand what the recommended changes will look like and require in terms of resources. For example, if a teacher is going to change a project from the traditional pen, paper and oral presentation format to a digital storytelling format, what will this require and what resources will be needed? Do all parties have a clear picture of these needs?
- Present supporting research
- “To justify such changes, the consultant should be able to demonstrate the favorable outcome of the changes and how they relate to the organization’s desired state by presenting white papers, case studies, anecdotal evidence, or other types of research.”
- If we are going to ask someone to change a longstanding process (or try an unproven one for that matter), they must understand the reasons and the benefits for doing so.
- Focus on business benefit of change
- In a corporate setting, this usually means aligning the suggested change with budgetary or business goals.
- In an educational setting, especially a k-12 setting, I am not sure what goals would be most beneficial in aligning technology changes with? My guess would be that you must first align the change with student learning. You would need to show learning is certainly not hurt and hopefully enhanced by the change.
- I welcome any comments from those with more experience in this area.
- Present a detailed change plan
- “What you want to show the client, according to Snedaker, is that a map exists of how to reach the desired state. “A bridge from point A to point B,” she said. In many cases, because point B can be so far off in the distance, Snedaker recommends a change plan that has several phases so as not to overwhelm a client and its business.”
- Anticipate pockes of resistance
- “Once the desired state, the research, the business benefit, and the change plan are in place, the final step is to anticipate and discuss resistance.LaMarsh has her clients sketch what she calls a key roles map, which looks similar to an organizational chart but identifies what the new roles for each group would be, and outlines potential reasons for the resistance in each group.”
