To achieve tech success teachers must rise above “educational silos”
Teachers and IT departments need to work together and find the best way to use technology to help improve education, according to CDW-G education strategist Eric Patnoudes. While each group is isolated in "silos" thinking about their own needs with no exchange of ideas, there can be no progress. Patnoudes recommends everyone getting behind a "unified vision" of teaching and learning, and rolling it out on a small scale, with any adjustments made as necessary following data feedback.

Dive Brief:

CDW-G education strategist Eric Patnoudes has discovered through his work with hundreds of school districts around the country that organizational silos present one of the most pressing issues limiting full adoption of new technologies in schools.

Patnoudes writes for Ed Tech Magazine that silos serve a purpose in creating structure and accountability, but he recommends districts rise above them to work across departments, giving IT professionals a role in curriculum department decisions, for example.

Uniting IT and curriculum leaders allows for a unified vision of tech adoption and a strategic plan for deployment and professional development that is most likely to lead to successful outcomes for staff and students.

Dive Insight:

Principles of shared leadership necessarily break down the silos across school and district bureaucracies. Shared leadership recognizes that every staff member has a level of expertise to contribute to decision-making. But in many institutions, there is no collaborative time to even bring everyone together, let alone expect them to problem-solve.

Figuring out this organizational challenge has benefits far beyond technology implementation. Teacher morale is down and those who feel like they have less control over local decision-making are more likely to report being unhappy. Limiting teacher turnover is one of the most powerful strategies districts have in addressing a teacher shortage threatening U.S. schools, and one important step in doing so is by improving working conditions.