EDLD5362+Reflections

EDLD5362 Reflections: Informations Systems Management

The assignments for this course dealt with examining how our districts plan, budget for, and implement information systems. It was good to see how districts in general, and specifically the district where I work, plans and budgets for technology that we use in classrooms and throughout the district. I use student information systems and all other kinds of software and technology in my classroom on a daily basis. It was good to see more background behind this as far as how those items actually make it to the classroom. It is easy to say that we need more or different things in our classrooms. Seeing the process that these items go through in order to be purchased and finally placed in the classroom for staff and student use gave me a new perspective. I have found myself wanting access to certain data, wishing we had different software, or wanting specific new technology in my classroom. It is not a simple process to get from the desire to have those things and the acquisition of them, though.

When I was researching the specifics of my district's expenditures for our student information systems, I was surprised at how hesitant the personnel I spoke with were to release that information to me. I called repeatedly with no call back, and when I did get a call back, I was told that they would have to check on what they could share with me. It was surprising to have our central office employees treating this information as proprietary. Mary MacBeth, a district level employee overseeing technology, shared with me that she did not feel she had the authority to share this information with me without approval from others "higher up" than she is at central office. There seemed to be a question of, "Why would you or your master's program need to have the specifics of that information?" I would like to be able to find out more on what my district pays per student on student information systems and other technologies, since accessing that information during this course was a challenge. It was still puzzling to me after the course was completed way the district had such trouble sharing the information, since it was being used in a higher education setting.