Achieving Technology Admin buy-in for classroom tools can be difficult. To really understand the benefit of a classroom technology tool, Administrators often need to see the tool in use and visualize it from a teacher’s perspective. Getting Technology Admin buy-in can be particularly challenging for tools like classroom management software, that make teacher’s jobs infinitely easier but aren’t vital to make a classroom function.
Tech Coaches in our network have said that once they see a Dyknow demo, they wonder why our classroom management software isn’t automatically implemented in K12 classrooms. The only challenge with getting it into their teachers’ classrooms is achieving Technology Admin buy-in. Mike Cromie, a Technology Coach at Ventura USD, had some insight into how he achieved buy-in from his Technology Admin to implement Dyknow in their school district.
Here’s how Mike Cromie achieved Technology Admin buy-in for Dyknow’s classroom management software…
Mike’s Background
Mike Cromie began his career as a classroom teacher and was excited to be in a 1:1 middle school and then he quickly realized that unless he was standing behind the students watching their screens, most of them were doing something other than what he expected them to be doing in class. When he moved to his role as a Tech Integration Specialist, he was at a 1:1 school where they used Dyknow, letting him experienced an environment where student device distractions were under control. Mike then moved into his current role as a Librarian/Tech Coach at a school where they were newly implementing Chromebooks in their classrooms.
Problem Recognition
Given his previous experience with managing 1:1 device programs, Mike told the administration that if they don’t have a way to monitor and block what students are doing, then students will constantly be off task and teachers are going to be battling that, getting so frustrated that they will stop using the technology altogether. Ultimately, he was successful in getting a Dyknow trial for teachers in their schools, but their CTO still wasn’t convinced that classroom management software was a necessary district investment.
Achieving Buy-In
Finally, Mike had a one-on-one meeting with his CTO so that he could work to get Technology Admin buy-in. In this meeting, he showed his CTO the Dyknow trial that their teachers were using, explaining that teachers can see what students are doing on their screens without leaving the front of the room and implement blocking plans to get full their attention. Mike was able to achieve Technology Admin buy-in by showing his Admin Dyknow’s classroom management software from a teacher’s perspective to emphasize the usefulness and importance of such a tool.”
“Getting Technology Admin buy-in takes demos. They have to see it in action, especially the IT people who have never been in the classroom and don’t understand the temptation and distractions that come with providing students with devices. The further away from the classroom you are, the more abstract everything gets, and these decision-makers are so far removed from the classroom that they need the opportunity to be brought in and see how it can be used in the classroom.”
– Mike Cromie, Ventura USD
Looking to achieve Technology Admin buy-in in your district? Here is a Dyknow demo that you can show to your school’s decision-makers in order to help them understand the importance of Dyknow’s classroom management software.
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