Evaluating Technology Purchases (Blog 3)

Evaluating Technology Purchases

Instructional Technologist and Tech Team Leaders have a very important job in front of them. One of their jobs is to help determine what technology should be purchased. This can be very touchy, because some teachers will have ideas about technology purchases, but your infrastructure may not allow for what they want to purchase. So how does one properly evaluate and make a decision about what is a probable purchase? How do you say no to eager teachers who don’t know the ropes of choosing technology? According to Pusey (2019) there are four essential questions that schools should use when determining which equipment to purchase. 

1.How do you approach purchasing education technology tools?

The very first step I would take is to meet with the Budget Committee from the school to find out how much money was allotted for technology purchases. “Keeping a close eye on the budget will help you clearly picture what technologies are necessary to advance the curriculum” (Whitehead, Jenson & Boschee, 2013, pp. 202). Once I see the device is within our budget, I would need to find the device(s) on one of the approved vendor sites. Once the item is found, I would review: network capabilities, ideas of educational delivery, and I will check to ensure that the device(s) can be inherited in 5, 10, or even 20 years (Whitehead, Jenson & Boschee, 2013). Once these items have been evaluated, I would consider the equity of the device, our districts tech plan, how the technology can be evaluated, professional development needed, maintenance and service, and the infrastructure. The process must also include an “equity assessment” to determine that all students and teachers can access the technology outside of school (Pusey, 2019).

 2. What role do learning goals play when searching for the best edtech?

This question is one of the most essential elements to ask. Teachers don’t want to just purchase equipment because it was force fed to them. We should not be looking at purchasing substitutes, instead, we should let the learning goals drive the decision. 

3. What do you look for to know an edtech tool is high quality?

 Schools want to look at the future of the technology. How will it look in five or even ten years? Pusey (2019) also suggests we look at third party reviews before even bringing any new ideas to teachers. “Most educators want to see results from a third-party evaluation because they don’t trust research run and validated by the publisher” (Pusey, 2019, para.9). What if you have to say no because you find it's not high quality or it doesn’t match the district's learning goals? The best solution is to explain to the person why the school cannot purchase the new device. You should use the “What If” approach that (Denning, 2011) wrote about on Forbes.com. The statement would be what if we were able to find another device, with similar capabilities, that would fit better with our network? 

4. How do you approach implementing a new edtech tool in schools?

“Teachers' use of technology for curricular purposes is almost exclusively a function of their access to that technology” (Norris, Sullivan & Poirot, 2003, p.11).  Teachers being trained on the technology purchased and having equitable access has been a major issue in schools. Innovative districts embrace failure. One way Pusey (2019) suggests schools train teachers is to have a group of teachers try it out before actually training others.

References:

Denning, S. (2011, May 30). Leadership: How to Say 'No' While Also Inspiring People. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/05/30/leadership-how-to-say-no-while-also-inspiring-people/#5ed574e538b1

Norris, Cathleen, et al. “No Access, No Use, No Impact.” Journal of Research on Technology in Education, vol. 36, no. 1, 2003, doi:10.1080/15391523.2003.10782400.

Pusey, Stacey. “For Better Edtech Purchasing, Ask These 4 Crucial Questions.” EdScoop, 12 July 2019, edscoop.com/edtech-purchasing-procurement-k12-tips/.

Whitehead, B. M., Jensen, D., & Boschee, F. (2013). Planning for technology: a guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.