MIT 522-Organization and Management of IT

Context and Conditions: The technology plan, Rachel Freeman School of Engineering, was a group project designed and developed as a requirement for MIT 522, Organization and Management of IT. The project was completed under the guidance of Dr. Monica Deture during the spring semester of 2007. The purpose of the technology plan was to prepare Rachel Freeman School to become Rachel Freeman School of Engineering. The focus of the technology plan was to 26 “interactive” classrooms within three years.

My teammates and I worked with Pamela Federline, Grants Coordinator for New Hanover County Schools, and Lizette Day, Media Specialist for Rachel Freeman Elementary. Both ladies provided us with information about the current state of technology and information about the proposed upgrades. We were also given a copy of the grant application submitted by Rachel Freeman School.

Scope: After meeting with Pamela and Lizette, we developed a “change initiation and purpose statement” describing the processes involved in making Rachel Freeman a magnet school. After a thorough front-end analysis of the situation, we formulated the mission statements and goals and developed a “resource gap chart.” Three phases were involved in the implementation plan. Phase one entails the implementation of the technology resources. Phase two involves the scheduling of staff development. Phase three focuses on the evaluation of the technology change.

Role: My roles within this project included instructional designer and team leader. As an instructional designer, I worked collaboratively with my teammates to research the current technology resources as well as resources needed. Based on the data collected, we formulated the technology mission statement and goals. We also worked cooperatively using the division of labor approach to complete the writing of the technology plan. As team leader, I set up and maintained contact with Pamela and Lizette. I ensured that each team member worked efficiently and that our group completed each task in a timely manner.

Reflection: Because this was my first experience working with a Magnet School, I found it is necessary to research the background and purpose of Magnet Schools. Knowing some of the background made me feel more prepared to take on the challenge of writing the technology plan. As a teacher, I was very excited to see the new instructional technology available.

After all the hard work put into the creation of the technology proposal and plan, it was disheartening to hear the grant was submitted two minutes late, therefore was not accepted. I am not sure if it was due to human error or technological error-either way the loss of the possible funding (four million per year) was very devastating to Rachel Freeman Elementary. From this experience, I learned that the instructional designer or project leader should always pay close attention to every aspect of the grant proposal requirement. An oversight in any step can result in projects not going as planned. Although the proposal was not funded, it was a valuable learning experience.