Phase 1: Planning
Step 1: Research
Learning how schools locally, nationally and internationally have implemented 1-to-1 programs is an essential first step on 1-to-1 reform.
For more than 15 years, schools throughout the world have been documenting and sharing the way they implement 1-to-1 programs.
Exploring available research and case studies will help you:
* build a strong vision for how your program will greatly improve student learning outcomes
* gain broad support by demonstrating the link between moving to a 1-to-1 and improving student learning outcomes.
* prepare proactive responses to likely change resistance and uncertainty in your school community.
* understand the scope and complexity of successfully implementing a quality 1-to-1 program.
Step 2: Building a Strong Vision for 1-to-1 Learning
Your vision statement should provide guidance, serve as the foundation of your decisions and inform the direction of all stakeholders involved in the program's implementation. It will articulate how and why your 1-to-1 program will lead to improvements in student learning outcomes.
The vision statement needs to:
* clarify the mission and provide a sound basis for decision making.
* provide purpose and direction that can be shared with all stakeholders.
* provide a standard against which the project can be measured.
Step 3: Engage parents, the wider school community, and the school board
A move to a 1-to-1 earning model may challenge many people's paradigm of what learning is. Gaining support from your school board or parent body may be challenging.
Ensure the parent body is behind the move before planning becomes too advanced. Ensure you are positioned to manage expectations.
Step 4: Building a communication strategy
A successful communication strategy requires the full involvement of your information and communications technologies (ICT) committee, key staff, and other interested people.
Meet with these people to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and the potential obstacles in implementing your vision.
Then, prepare a communication strategy. Train the people carrying out the strategy on the importance of being knowledgeable, courteous and responsive to questions from others.
Step 5: Conduct a detailed readiness assessment
You must understand where you currently stand before building a strategic path to where you want to be. Do this by preparing readiness assessment that considers your current resource position on:
* ICT and infrastructure
* personnel
* facilities
The focus of the readiness assessment then is to gain an objective snapshot of the readiness of the school to initiate a 1-to-1 program, its strengths and areas requiring attention.
Step 6: Develop a project plan
Include a manageable timeline for project implementation: typically 6-12 months for planning, but projecting out 3 years. Ensure you include the communication plan within the structured project plan.
One of the fist tasks in establishing a project plan is to set up milestones to mark its progress. As part of the planning process, the project team should propose the timeline needed to implement the plan, including dates for when each task should be completed.
Step 7: Prepare a detailed budget
One way of gaining experience in forecasting future ICT expediture is to measure whee your school, region or district's ICT funding is currently being spent.
While no singular checklist can capture every possible school environment, general categories can be monitored to trac current expenditures and plan for future ones.
Step 8: Addressing Equity: Select a preferred ownership and finance model
There are three possible ownership models: school owned, parents and citizens association owned or parent owned.
You should seek guidance on the range of finance models available to support your school or parents and citizens association in managing an equitable and manageable program.
Continue to PHASE 2
