In the past several years, school districts have invested time and money to upgrade and integrate new technology into schools. While K-12 leaders have made inroads in closing the connectivity gap and creating meaningful digital learning experiences, this new technology requires continuous IT support that is challenging to complete while school is in session.
According to the 2018 National K-12 IT Leadership Survey Report from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the majority of IT department time is spent reacting to technical problems. This results in less time to focus efforts on leveraging technology for learning, implementing, or planning for new technology, or evaluating the impact of implemented systems and applications on learning outcomes. As staffing levels are unlikely to change, new strategies are needed to find pockets of time for these important activities.
The good news is that school calendars introduce three natural periods for proactive planning and maintenance: winter break, spring break, and summer. During these times, schools have cleared out, reducing support requests and minimizing the impact that any maintenance may have on students, staff, and teachers.…Read More