Why do some school and local authority initiatives, not to mention government initiatives, fail, especially when they concern education technology? In my experience, the cause can usually be found in one or more of the following. The next time you read about a 1:1 project turning into a nightmare, or a fantastic opportunity being wasted, it is almost certainly going to be because of one or some of the following (one problem almost invariably leads to or implies another).
Projects need managing! (Cartoonist unknown)
- Unclear reasons for doing it
You would think this is a no-brainer: if you are going to spend a lot of time and money on a project, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to know why. But often the reason is not very clear – “I think it seems like a good thing to do” – or not an educational reason as such:
“We have to be competitive with our neighbouring schools”
“Having this new technology initiative will raise our grades”
“Parents expect us to”
None of these are sound educational reasons.
Read more.
cross-posted at www.ictineducation.org
Terry Freedman is an independent educational ICT consultant with over 35 years of experience in education. He publishes the ICT in Education website and the newsletter “Digital Education."
