As we developed our school plan, we referred to the readings that we did throughout this course as well as other literatures that offered theories and explanations. There are several theories that provide examples on how an idea is successful and how an idea inherit acceptance and gravitates toward a widespread adoption among a group of individuals. Our plan was to utilize the knowledge that we gained during our course readings and outside literary works as a platform of creating our schooling plan. The three people that are responsible for a majority of our schooling plan are Malcolm Gladwell, Everett Rogers, and James. B. Ellsworth. Combining their ideas and researching new ones provided us with strong evidence and reasoning for each aspect of our schooling plan. Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, introduces the terms, “mavens”, “salesmen”, and “connectors”. Mavens are referred to as “information specialists” and he describes salesmen as “persuaders” (Gladwell, 2000). In our school, teachers will act as mavens and salesmen, because they are the skilled professionals that will connect the students and other faculty members to the information and convince them of the worthiness of each component. The connector is an individual that connects the people from different social systems (Gladwell, 2000). Our school Principals and administrators will serve as the connectors, because they will share our school’s ideas with members of our local school district as well as other school throughout the state(s). Another concept that Gladwell introduced was “stickiness factor”. The Stickiness factor involves how effective an idea or product stays in the mind of the potential viewer or consumer (Gladwell, 2000). We are using our technology based approach to promote the “stickiness” in our student population’s minds in hopes that they will remember the content more efficiently. Everett Rogers (1995) defined diffusion as "the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system" (p. 35). Rogers perception of an innovation is as any new idea, practice, or object considered new to an individual (Rogers, 1995). Our school will be full of innovations, because everyone is learning these technologies for the first time. He explained that "a technology is a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome" (Rogers, 1995, p. 35). Our teachers will deliver information with the rationale that technology is to be used to deliver information instead of just letting it serve as equipment. This practice will satisfy Rogers’s belief on the desired role of technology in the classroom. James B. Ellsworth's overall view can be summarized with the following: a change agent wishes to communicate an innovation to an intended adopter. This is accomplished using a change process, which establishes a channel through the change environment. However, this environment also contains resistance that can disrupt the change process or distort how the innovation appears to the intended adopter (Ellsworth, p. 26). This applies to our school plan, because school officials and corporations (change agents) will incorporate technology use onto teachers (intended adopters), but if the teachers are unwilling or unable to use technology effectively, then the entire innovation is in danger. Our plan requires that all teachers receive mandatory training on each technological device and its implications in the classroom. Also, assessments will be performed on the teachers’ activities and technology use will be one of the major criteria. Aside from Gladwell, Rogers, and Ellsworth, our schooling plan also included ideas from Larry Cuban. Cuban expressed his views of technology in schools by stating: “Before we can get the education revolution rolling, we need to recognize that our public schools are low-tech institutions in a hightech society. The same changes that have brought cataclysmic change to every facet of business can improve the way we teach students and teachers. And it can also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how we run our schools.” (Cuban, 2009). There are many books by Larry Cuban that discuss the role of technology in schools, but this passage validates our reasoning for choosing to develop a technology based school plan, because we want to better prepare our students for the technological workforce. Students are now encouraged to be more creative than in the traditional classroom setting. Cuban speaks on this in another article, “Open classrooms’ focus on students’ “learning by doing” resonated with those who believed that America’s formal, teacher-led classrooms were crushing students’ creativity.” (Cuban, 2004). References: Cuban, L. (2004). The open classroom. Education Next , 4(2), Cuban, L. (2009). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Ellsworth, J. (2000). Surviving change: A survey of educational change models. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technolog Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference.Boston: Little,Brown. Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5th ed.). New York: Simon and Schuster.
Malcolm Gladwell’s, The Tipping Point, introduces the terms, “mavens”, “salesmen”, and “connectors”. Mavens are referred to as “information specialists” and he describes salesmen as “persuaders” (Gladwell, 2000). In our school, teachers will act as mavens and salesmen, because they are the skilled professionals that will connect the students and other faculty members to the information and convince them of the worthiness of each component. The connector is an individual that connects the people from different social systems (Gladwell, 2000). Our school Principals and administrators will serve as the connectors, because they will share our school’s ideas with members of our local school district as well as other school throughout the state(s). Another concept that Gladwell introduced was “stickiness factor”. The Stickiness factor involves how effective an idea or product stays in the mind of the potential viewer or consumer (Gladwell, 2000). We are using our technology based approach to promote the “stickiness” in our student population’s minds in hopes that they will remember the content more efficiently.
Everett Rogers (1995) defined diffusion as "the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system" (p. 35). Rogers perception of an innovation is as any new idea, practice, or object considered new to an individual (Rogers, 1995). Our school will be full of innovations, because everyone is learning these technologies for the first time. He explained that "a technology is a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome" (Rogers, 1995, p. 35). Our teachers will deliver information with the rationale that technology is to be used to deliver information instead of just letting it serve as equipment. This practice will satisfy Rogers’s belief on the desired role of technology in the classroom.
James B. Ellsworth's overall view can be summarized with the following: a change agent wishes to communicate an innovation to an intended adopter. This is accomplished using a change process, which establishes a channel through the change environment. However, this environment also contains resistance that can disrupt the change process or distort how the innovation appears to the intended adopter (Ellsworth, p. 26). This applies to our school plan, because school officials and corporations (change agents) will incorporate technology use onto teachers (intended adopters), but if the teachers are unwilling or unable to use technology effectively, then the entire innovation is in danger. Our plan requires that all teachers receive mandatory training on each technological device and its implications in the classroom. Also, assessments will be performed on the teachers’ activities and technology use will be one of the major criteria.
Aside from Gladwell, Rogers, and Ellsworth, our schooling plan also included ideas from Larry Cuban. Cuban expressed his views of technology in schools by stating: “Before we can get the education revolution rolling, we need to recognize that our public schools are low-tech institutions in a hightech society. The same changes that have brought cataclysmic change to every facet of business can improve the way we teach students and teachers. And it can also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how we run our schools.” (Cuban, 2009). There are many books by Larry Cuban that discuss the role of technology in schools, but this passage validates our reasoning for choosing to develop a technology based school plan, because we want to better prepare our students for the technological workforce. Students are now encouraged to be more creative than in the traditional classroom setting. Cuban speaks on this in another article, “Open classrooms’ focus on students’ “learning by doing” resonated with those who believed that America’s formal, teacher-led classrooms were crushing students’ creativity.” (Cuban, 2004).
References:
Cuban, L. (2004). The open classroom. Education Next , 4(2),
Cuban, L. (2009). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Ellsworth, J. (2000). Surviving change: A survey of educational change models. New York: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technolog
Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: how little things can make a big difference.Boston: Little,Brown.
Rogers, E. (2003). Diffusion of innovations. (5th ed.). New York: Simon and Schuster.