Why is it important for educational programs to use this type of approach? How has it helped you to understand and possibly lead an organization that might face these important decisions?

When I first saw the matrix assigned to us to study in the appendix of our text this week, my first thought was "Genius!"  To people with a background in Enterprise Architecture, I'm sure this matrix which lines out the the data needed to complete an Application Rationalization process for an organization is considered to be EA 101.  But for someone just getting her feet wet with EA, well, my reaction was more exuberant  :)  My next thought was, "I wonder if my school district does this?"  I'd love to know, but I've been asking so many questions of our IT director lately, I don't want to become a pest.  For that reason, I've asked him if we can sit down for a face-to-face chat soon, so I can show him what I am studying, and ask him all of my burning questions in context. But I digress...  

The reason it is so important for educational programs to use this type of approach to prioritizing, selecting, and maintaining applications is that, if implemented properly, the approach removes the subjectivity from this important process of choosing applications for use organization-wide.  Without this matrix, I can imagine a group of teachers, IT, and district admin sitting around the table, armed with their subjective rationale, ready to defend their stance.  "Armed" and "Defend" are not concepts that should be present at a collaborative meeting of a TEAM, dedicated to making decisions for the school district.  This approach provides data and information about each application, and hopefully provides a wide-lens snapshot of each application and the entire spectrum of applications, so team decisions can be made more objectively.  It seems vital.  Sometimes I wonder if teachers are even included in some of the decisions that are made, as at times we find ourselves looking at applications and thinking ... "How does this fit my needs or the needs of my students?"  To be sure, I have ultimate respect for how difficult it is to make decisions for an organization, so I try to table my judgments, on decisions that are made, but it does make me wonder about the process and rationale being used to make them.

 "Enterprises that ignore long-range planning risk dealing with escalating maintenance costs for out-of-date applications, a lack of access to information critical to decision making and regulatory compliance, and a loss of business agility in an increasingly agile world" (Gartner 2015). For a school district, the importance of going through a process with this approach is so important because our "customers" are our students.  Our school district exists to serve them, and there are so many factors to consider, including financial, ease of integration with already prioritized applications and systems, pd required at time of roll-out, and what functions the application will allow and serve ... districts have to choose wisely so that students are served and can learn in the best way possible. I would hope that with what I am learning about this, I can be a valuable voice in our district when asked to contribute.  In my new role as a digital resource teacher, it is already coming in handy.  Our IT director recently granted me, my partner, and several content resource teachers a meeting in which he listened to our ideas regarding our district website, and how to make resources more easily accessible (with fewer clicks needed to access) for teachers.  The resource teachers have worked so hard to put very organized resources together for teachers, but nobody can find them or knows that they exist.  Our IT director, an ultimate professional, listened and took action immediately, creating a page just for teacher resources with all of our links, and is taking that proposal to HR for approval.  It felt like teamwork with teacher input, and for that we all have much gratitude. 

References:
Gartner.com,. (2015). Retrieved 22 March 2015, from http://www.gartner.com/it/initiatives/pdf/KeyInitiativeO

The idea of a single sign on to access the many digital tools we currently utilize in VUSD sounds amazing.  We are part way there now, but there is still room for improvement.  Being  a GAFE district, it is nice that both students and teachers have a single sign on to access all of the Google tools we use most often.  That is a huge help, as my students, colleagues, and I work most often within the various Google applications in creating work products, collaborating, and communicating.  Where there is room for improvement is in all of the other applications we use as well.  For the adults in the district, there is still another log in required to access our SIS, Aeries, and every other application ranging from LMS to various curriculum applications or web 2.0 tools; all require separate log in.  As an adult, I seem to manage my various log ins well, although it is sometimes frustrating to have several tabs open as I work on a project, and inevitably get logged out of an application because I have timed out- which means logging in again and asking myself, "Ok- which account was that?"  Of course I deal with that because I have to, and it doesn't impact me or my productivity profoundly.  

What is a big deal though, is the classroom management and student achievement issues that arise as teachers try to manage the many student log ins required to use curriculum applications and web 2.0 tools.  A teacher will inevitably have two or three students in a class that have trouble logging in, which slows down the learning for the entire class if a plan for management is not in place.  I have read about many emerging solution services that will create a single sign-on for use of many popular educational applications.  That sounds like it could be very helpful, and a viable solution, although it could be limiting if the solution service doesn't allow sign on to all of the applications desirable.  

One drawback to a single sign-on approach is that of security.  If a user's log-in information is compromised or hacked in some way, it puts many accounts in jeopardy all at once.  That could be problematic for sure, which is why people always advise that you don't use the same password for all accounts.  

With the amount of applications and tools out there, and more amazing tools being developed everyday, there may not be a comprehensive easy solution yet. In my opinion, single sign-on for education has more pros than cons in terms of productivity, classroom management, and student learning.

A funny video that many of us have seen before, but is appropriate here:

I have always been a teacher, and have always thought as a teacher. I am only now considering other points of view in K-12 education, such as the view of an IT professional or a school leader.  As a teacher, I have always taken my cues from two groups: students and administration.  When administration asks me to do something, consider something, try something, implement something, I do my best to meet their expectations.  This school year especially, my school district has made an assertive push with technology.  We have the infrastructure in place, the connectivity, and we are very near our goal of having 1:1 devices.  I have fully embraced the excitement and opportunity for learning and growth with the integration of technology into the classroom.  Therefore, I am shocked that our district administration has not made more effort to make sure teachers district-wide are aware of the student data privacy laws that are in effect.  Most recently in California is the SOPIPA, which stands for the Student Online Personal Information Protection Act.  This piece of legislation prohibits online educational services from selling student data or profiling students for advertising purposes or any other purpose than K-12 education.  James Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, who helped to create the law, said, "I think this is a blunt call to industry to say that school data is for educational purposes.  Period" (Herold, 2014).  I agree, and think it is a timely piece of legislation, as school districts get excited about the educational possibilities inherent in ever-evolving technology.  

The advice I would give to the leadership in my school district is that it needs to become SOMEONE'S job to know SOPIPA and other student data privacy laws, inside and out.  Our district needs a Technology Security Specialist, not to scare everyone or batten down the hatches, but to really know the parameters of these laws and to provide current and accurate information regarding these laws, to all stakeholders in the district.  Teachers are overwhelmed with just trying to learn how to use technology, but it is clear that teachers need more than how-to; teachers need comprehensive information about how to implement technology and resources in a manner that is responsible and aware of the parameters of the laws aimed at protecting student privacy.  This technology security specialist should work with the district to create clear policies and procedures for how teachers investigate and choose online tools and resources.  I think this technology security specialist should have ample knowledge of educational and non-educational online resources and tools, and generate a comprehensive list of the most widely-utilized of these that contains pertinent information for teachers to reference when designing online learning experiences in the classroom. This policy should also create a procedure for teachers to follow when they discover a new tool that isn't on the comprehensive district list- like a work order.  The tech security specialist could review the online tool and give it the thumbs up or thumbs down.  This would take the guess-work out of trying to plan a lesson or design a classroom work flow.  This would be ideal because everyone would win: the district would know it was taking a giant step toward ensuring privacy in regard to student data, teachers could move forward more confidently with technology integration, and students and parents could rest more easily, knowing their personal data is secure.  Our school district wants to become the model of innovation and excellence in education, and we are well on our way. The district wants teachers to be innovative with technology, to transform the teaching and learning happening in their classrooms.  If our district put something like a technology security specialist in place, as I have described, I feel it would be much progress toward that district vision and mission, proving that, "The old notion of trading privacy for innovation is a false choice" (Herold, 2014). 

References:
'Landmark' Student-Data-Privacy Law Enacted in CaliforniaEducation Week - Digital Education,. (2015).'Landmark' Student-Data-Privacy Law Enacted in California. Retrieved 9 March 2015, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2014/09/_landmark_student-data-privacy.html