This article from School Administrator magazine (August 2005) deserves the attention of any educator who believes technology policies need to serve the school system's primary mission -- high quality teaching and learning. "Many school districts have not yet figured out how to create good policies about technology use," writes Doug Johnson, a district technology director in Minnesota. "Unilaterally made and often unofficial rules are creating what seems like a new range war -- not between the cattle ranchers and the sheepherders but between the educators and the technologists." How can central office administrators, IT directors, principals and teacher leaders work together to shape sensible technology policies that encourage 21st Century learning? In Johnson's district, policy development is a collaborative process that often begins with a dialogue built around Edward deBono's brainstorming techniques. "No one will agree with every decision," says Johnson, "but at least everyone can have a better understanding of why it was made."
Johnson, D. (2005). More voices create better policies. The school administrator (Aug. 2005). Retrieved from the American Association of School Administrators 13 May 2008. http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=2810&snItemNumber=950&tnItemNumber=951
}, URL = {http://www.aasa.org/publications/saarticledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=2810&snItemNumber=950&tnItemNumber=951}, author = {Doug Johnson} }