Several school district officials have told us they want to embrace our philosophy of empowering students and teachers through technology innovation, but lack the right infrastructure to support this vision. After our district completed a three-year, district-wide technology refresh cycle, we wanted to share our top takeaways to help our peers get more educational benefits from your network infrastructure.
Lesson #1: Organizational structure matters
Like many districts, in the past our IT department delivered products and services as a separate entity from our curriculum and instructional development staff. Now we’re all organized under the same leadership and our joint team is headed by a chief learning officer.
Related content: What’s the one tech tool you can’t give up?
This reorganization resulted in a strategic shift to giving our curriculum staff the voice that drives our services. In other words, they provide the curricular vision and then we meet their expectations by delivering the right technology. Having a strong and collaborative relationship is critical for determining the infrastructure our district needs for the personalized learning and user experiences that support our district’s mission: “Every student enters with a promise and exits with a purpose.”
Related Content:
eSchool News IT Solutions: Hardware and Management Guide
The eSchool News IT Solutions: Hardware and Management Guide is here! It features strategies to help K-12 IT leaders work with school administrators and teachers to prioritize IT solutions that support innovative digital learning in classrooms. A new eSchool News Guide will launch each month–don’t miss a single one!
- How technology can support diversity in the classroom - January 19, 2022
- 3 ways chatbots can support mental health in schools - January 18, 2022
- 9 social-emotional learning strategies to use in the new year - January 17, 2022