Undertaking a 1:1 computing initiative is a big deal for any school or district. For those of us who work too much, we talk a lot about scaling back and taking things off of our plate. If you're in the middle of a 1:1 initiative, you know that isn't going to happen. We all feel the need for a bigger plate.
So how do we go about managing all of the tasks that come with a 1:1 initiative? I was fortunate to be able to attend the CoSN Teaming for Transformation Conference in Mooresville, NC last week. The conference was a great opportunity to get together with other educators who are planning for or implementing a digital conversion project.
On the second day, Chris Dede led us through the steps to scaling up our initiatives. A handout from Cable in the Classroom is also very helpful. We talked a lot about the traps that go along with scaling up as well as the sources to leverage. A key component of the discussion centered on the need to spread the innovation while also shifting ownership of the innovation to users. At some point in a 1:1 initiative, we need to get buy-in from our users so that they can take the innovation to the next level. We can't keep heaping the work on our plate. We need to empower our users to implement the plan and move forward with further innovation.
I'm excited about moving forward with our initiative and bringing together focus groups to discuss our next steps. People are the most important resources for digital conversion. Provide them with time to plan and a little "we can do it" cheerleading to scale your project up to the next level.
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