Shared
Vision
Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for
educational technology among all education stakeholders, including teachers and
support staff, school and district administrators, teacher educators, students,
parents, and the community
What is it?
A shared vision serves as the driving force behind a
technology implementation plan — but it’s not formulated and disseminated from
the top down. Rather, a shared vision arises from the collaborative voices,
goals and values of the educators, support staff, students, parents and
community members within the system. All stakeholders provide input for the
vision and understand how it impacts them and how to apply it within their
individual roles.
Why is it important?
Effective technology implementation requires a clear vision
of where the organization is headed and what it will take to get there. A shared
vision becomes the paddle the organization uses to steer toward the future. When
a system is guided by a clearly defined vision and leaders actively collect,
incorporate and share input from stakeholders at all levels, a community of
understanding and collaboration develops to propel the organization forward in
its mission.
What does it look like?
In a standards-ready system, leaders use the following
process to establish a shared vision for the organization:
- Define a system-wide vision.
- Identify all
stakeholders.
- Create a plan for communicating with stakeholders
about the vision.
- Allow stakeholders to provide input about the
vision and plan.
- Ensure all stakeholders are able to define the
vision and understand how it applies to them in their roles.
- Develop
multiple vehicles for communicating the vision (graphics, images, posters,
messaging, etc.).
- Leaders can conduct a simple poll to measure the
effectiveness of a shared vision: How many people within the organization can
explain what the vision is?