All too often, we select technologies based on their abstract capabilities and feature sets -- or worse, on their ability to fit in a budget -- rather than on their strategic appropriateness for a school's mission and culture. This is an unavoidable consequence of the world we work in. Sadly, it all too often can lead to the mis-application, misuse, and in the end the underutilization of a technology or set of tools, and a loss of value, resource, and effort.
But wait! All is not lost!
Remediating this problem is possible by applying the practice of effective professional development for your teams, appropriate identification of skills and strengths in your people, and cultivating and managing those people in conjunction with the technologies and tools they must support. Even the least appropriate tool can be salvaged for beneficial practical use when serviced by highly functioning and well-supported people. And when it cannot, if your people are well supported and trained, and given the sense of autonomy and security necessary, they will be able to present the gaps and needs they see, and help support a positive argument for technological change.
In this session we will look at some of the ways to attract, train, and hold on to excellent team members. We will discuss real world examples of puzzling together some of the challenges of identifying and nurturing true skill sets, assigning (and reassigning) individuals within a team to play to their strengths, and discuss how the human factor in the infrastructure and architecture of educational technology is the most significant, and under-represented, equation in the overall algorithm of strategic success for a technology practice.
NOTE: Pairs well with Jon Johnson's [jrjohnson (4032)] proposal titled "From Stuck to Soaring"