Better Planning, Better Process: bottom-up procurement planning through direct contact with teachers and administrators¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

This strategy has procurement officers connect directly with teachers and administrators to plan for district technology needs. "By proactively asking simple questions (e.g., Are you planning any pilots this year? Is there any software or equipment that you need?), procurement officers will be better equipped to plan for and meet the needs of their districts in a timely manner." The report adds that opening communication lines builds awareness, understanding, and empathy across key players, addressing the school-culture barrier to ed-tech uptake.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Procurement officers must regularly visit schools and proactively ask teachers and administrators about planned pilots and needs

Constraints¶

• Proposed as a concept; the report offers no evaluation of its effect

Target Learners¶

• K-12 district procurement officers, teachers, and administrators

Target Learning Goals¶

• Ensuring purchased technology fits classroom learning needs and is integrated successfully

Affordances¶

• Six Barriers Edtech Procurement Taxonomy

Related Strategies¶

• 7 Steps to Creative Financing: a stakeholder-team process for identifying financing for ed-tech
• Support future edtech OBC cohorts with readiness assessments, early planning, needs-assessment framing, and cross-cohort collaboration
• Three focus areas for evolving district ed-tech procurement: connect with vendors, within districts, and across districts

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Evolving Ed-Tech Procurement in School Districts. (2013). Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/d5ac5c19-03f4-4e40-ab47-666c38a2ce5d