In
general, I think that this presentation is a good outline of the planning
process. In viewing the video, I noticed that there were several good points
included in addition to the six steps the presenters reference. First, the
presenters let us know the magnitude of their school district. Also, they let us
know from the beginning that this plan for technology was a priority of their
administration and, therefore, had the support of the administration. Another
point was that planning is hard. (I think they mentioned that more than once!)
Instead
of just trying to sit down and write a plan, a committee identified a process
for planning. They thought things through. I think that too often people just
try to get through with their work as quickly as possible; planning takes more
time and effort.
The
fact that they identified their stakeholders and involved them in the planning
was extremely important. Also important was that they kept involving the
administration through several reviews before there was a final draft. Keeping
the support of the administration by keeping them involved may have been a
factor in the funding that they mentioned in the video.
The
presenters also mentioned that the review process in step 6 made them more
accountable. I think that is interesting. There are people who would rather not
be held accountable for what they have done or have failed to do. This step
forces them to review their actions.
One
application of this process occurred to me as I was watching the video. There is
a committee in my office that began basically as just a meeting of a few people
to address issues regarding Y2K. It grew into our "Technology
Committee." We have a vision statement, mission statement, goals, and task
list. I think we feel more in control because we have a plan and can see what is
being done within our office in the technology area. It is also clear to this
committee that the six steps in the video are, as the presenters mentioned,
non-linear. I think that is part of planning, though. Since planning is ongoing,
different steps are being addressed at different times.
All in all, I think this video has the basic steps outlined quite well and is full of information to help in technology planning.
For information about this page, contact Jean Alice McDavid.
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Last modified: Friday, September 08, 2000 02:35:38 PM. URL: http://www2.msstate.edu/~jwm/videos.html