“The plan that is not connected directly to the budget process could become a disjointed effort with minimal success and no long-term gains” (Dalrymple, as cited in Bates & Sangra, 2011, p. 119).
In ETEC 520: Planning and Managing Learning Technologies in Higher Education, students were asked to work in groups to create a plan which integrates e-learning into either a school, district, or nation. Our group decided to focus on creating a virtual learning commons e-learning initiative for the students, teachers and parents in the Vancouver School District. We felt that by creating a platform for online learning in which all stakeholders in the district had access to, the traditional boundaries that confine learning in physical environments would be lifted and the student, teacher and parent relationship would be further enhanced.
Artifact: ETEC 520 Virtual learning commons Implementing e-learning strategies and policies into the Vancouver District School Board
This course was an interesting challenge for me, as I have never considered program design from an administrator’s perspective before. I learned that in order for a new e-learning initiative to succeed, a well-thought-out, thoroughly revised strategic plan is crucial. The plan must have a clear vision and address issues such as faculty/teacher and student buy-in, timeline, funding, and more. However, since most of the students who took this course had little or no experience in strategic planning on a district level, the plan that our group created could have been improved with more revisions and feedback.
Through this course and particularly this assignment, I realized why so much time is required to transform traditional schools/districts into ones that are up to date with technology. In addition to the fact that most schools/districts do not have the necessary hardware infrastructure to meet the non-stop demand for faster processing speed and Internet connectivity, a shrinking economy which limits the budget that schools/districts have each year also leads to a lack of human resources to provide sufficient maintenance for such change.
Nevertheless, with programs such as One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) and business-education partnerships with companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and educational ventures such as Knewton, I believe that the day will soon come when all learners have access to technology (e.g., personalized learning tools) to support the learning needs in the 21st century. Our role as educational technologists must bring about change in our classrooms by taking the initiative first and trying to get involved in the strategic planning process so that in this ever-evolving global economy, no child is left behind.
The particular skill I gained from this assignment is:
- Strategic planning for e-learning initiatives
References
Bates, A.W. & Sangrà, A. (2011). Managing Technology: Strategies for the Transformation of Higher Education. Available from https://play.google.com/store/books
Chen, J., Barr, E., & Kitchen, E. (2013). Virtual learning commons: Implementing e–learning strategies and policies into the Vancouver District School Board [Unpublished graduate essay]. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-1WCu6cC_MyYU9DQkhaNFBGOWM/edit?usp=sharing
