UNI Technolgy for School Leaders

crucial for students to be able to navigate the digital world around them without fea

n the ways that brought them to power

implicit threat to the power that they worked hard to get to.

ROI is calculated by measuring benefits in dollars. But schools are not in business to make money, and should not measure success in terms of dollars. The business of schools is learning. Of course, if technology projects save money or improve efficiency, then a business-focused ROI is useful, but in general it is important to define the "value" of learning in education. School system leaders need to understand their educational goals and how technology will support those goals. In other words, they should focus not on demonstrating ROI, but what we at CoSN call the value of investment or VOI. So how do you measure investments in technology that are focused on educational rather than financial benefits? A good place to start may be at your district's long-range strategic plan, which may contain goals similar to the following: Increasing student achievement Increasing student engagement Improving attendance and behavior Attracting and retaining staff Developing 21st century skills for students Decreasing dropout rates for at-risk students Engaging parents and communities

The class began with all seats facing forward. The teacher points to a chart on the white board showing fastest times for 8 different furniture arrangements in this class (list). She holds up a stopwatch.

While there is now software available to allow such monitoring from the teacher's computer, most teachers must rely upon a technique we will call eyeballing.