Dive Brief:
- Considering and planning for how new initiatives and resources will affect educators is a crucial component of change management for district tech leaders, whose decisions often have major impacts on classrooms, University of Wisconsin-Superior Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Steve Baule writes for eSchool News.
- Baule, also a former school administrator, suggests that timing is everything, and that administrators should target breaks or the beginning of a semester to implement a change.
- Additionally, he stresses that training is essential and major shifts in ed tech should be accompanied by plenty of professional learning material and time for face-to-face assistance.
Dive Insight:
When implementing change at any level in a school or district, administrators must also consider that veteran educators who have been doing something the same way for decades may be especially resistant to new tools or platforms. Including educators in the decision-making process as early as possible can help alleviate that resistance, with at least one study showing teachers are more likely to embrace change if they're part of the process.
Conversely, teachers who were subjected to several “fad” programs that fizzled after the first year showed less enthusiasm for new ed tech applications and initiatives.
New ed tech requires teachers’ buy-in to be effective. Students will most likely pick up on teachers’ reactions to the new tools and embrace them or push them away.
School leaders can develop a school culture where teachers are willing to take the risk to try new things through leading by example, Learning Innovation Catalyst co-founder Jason Green suggests, noting that administrators can inspire their staff by committing to learning how to do something new.
