ETEC 589: The Final Project
Considering Internal and External Resources for a Sustainable initiative:
To illustrate this point, let’s consider a mini case study. Envision a school concerned about the sustainability of efforts to increase literacy for high school students. For long term success, the school needs to consider looking at both internal and external resources necessary to support the literacy effort. By internal resources, we mean things within the school or institution, and by external resources, we mean things outside the school or institution.
Internal resources to support the sustainability of the literacy effort may include the development of a literacy strategy; book clubs to promote reading; video game groups to support “new literacies”; and the human resources at your site (teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals) who will lead this initiative further. Internal resources includes the knowledge and experience of internal experts who can provide skills and contribute knowledge.
External resources to increase sustainability include the connections made to other literacy initiatives outside of the high school, including other organizations, clubs, and projects. External resources includes the knowledge and experience of outside experts who can provide the necessary tools for success. This includes stakeholders outside the high school who have an interest in supporting and promoting the literacy effort, such as business leaders, parents and other community members, local, state and national advocacy groups, such as the National Center for Literacy Education and the Michigan Education Association.
The Importance of Sustainability
Focusing on sustainability is important for educational leaders because it encourages leaders to think more comprehensively and strategically about narrow problems and immediate solutions; instead of a narrow focus, a focus on sustainability demands that leaders consider their particular problem in a broader context. For example, the effort to increase literacy at a particular high school involves more than “just” teachers and students in a given classroom. This effort is part of a much larger one involving state and national literacy efforts, businesses, educational researchers, parents and parent organizations, and so on.
Practically speaking, educational leaders who are interested in seeing their efforts continue (or begin) should think carefully about their most pressing problems of practice and try to connect it to other projects, campaigns, or campaigns. This means that to broaden your focus, seek connections broader than you and your “pet initiative,” you are more likely to succeed.
Sustainability Final Project Details
For your final project, you are responsible for creating a final project that addresses a significant problem of practice in your school or institution. This draws from your work in Modules 7 and 9 , for which you identified a problems of practice, and identified a solution that includes technology.
This final project takes that work further through challenging you to think of ways to shape this into a long term, sustainable (and successful) initiative. By revisiting the work you have done over the semester you have a chance to reflect both on how your thinking has changed since you initially identified a problem of practice, and, if you desire, to modify your existing problem of practice, or select a new, more relevant problem of practice.
There are four components to your Final Project. The final project will take the form of a document (Word or Google Doc). Looking beyond this course, I envision that the work you do for this final project can easily be re-purposed into an external grant application.
Part 1: Problem of Practice and Technological Solution
Identify a “problem of practice” related to teaching/learning in your educational context. This task should look very familiar, as your Module 7 and 9 assignments centered on this task.
You also identified technologies that addressed your problem of practice. Feel welcome to revisit and revise your Module 7 or 9 problem and solution (okay if you used the same for both), or to identify a different problem and solution.
Write at least one paragraph for the problem, and at least one paragraph for the solution.
Part 2: Resources
With your problem described, and your low-cost technological solution to help, it is time to identify the most important resources that will help your initiative succeed. This consists of two parts: a) internal resources and b) external resources. Please identify these individuals by title/name as well as their specific experience/expertise they contribute.
Identify and briefly describe (2-3 sentences) at least five internal resources, and at least five external resources.
Part 3: Budget
After identifying the necessary resources to help you solve your problem of practice, you will create a budget. The development of a budget is as much about planning and demonstrating that your project has both internal and external support. Specifically, create a budget that is both feasible and aspirational (that is, it suggests “wishful thinking” but also, given enough pluck, could be possible).
This budget should be less than one page and can be in spreadsheet/summary format.
Part 4: Sustainability Statement
Tie together your work into an organized “mission statement” about how your efforts will continue for the foreseeable future.
a) What is the mission for your school, site, or community? (Describe using “missional thinking” addressed in Module 7).
b) How will your initiative continue to bring together multiple partners from diverse areas (business, community organizations, school leaders, parents, student groups) to tackle this mission statement?
c) What specific leadership skills will you use to champion this mission statement?
d) How will you know if your efforts at successful?
e) What educational resources (research, discourses, and conversations) will help you frame this mission statement, and why?
Address the above questions in approximately 500 words
To Summarize: Final Project Requirements
One paragraph problem of practice, and one paragraph for technological solution
List and description of five internal resources, and five external resources
A one page budget
500-word sustainability statement
Prior student examples from spring 2020
Alaina download (file attached: Alaina.docx)
Rubric
Your assignment will be evaluated using the following criteria worth 200 points:
Completeness (100 points) – required elements include
Problem of practice and technological solution
Internal and external resources
One page budget
Sustainability statement
Creativity (40 points) – demonstrated strategic and creative thinking in devising a sustainable solution that is elegant and well supported
Connection with course content (40 points) – evidence of how course content informed thinking and planning
Writing (20 points) – crisp, clear, and succinct, with proper spelling, grammar, and mechanics
