Communicating with Stakeholders

If I were to put together a presentation for stakeholders in Yorktown I would focus on the following three things:

1. Reasons for Integration

a.       Parents, teachers, school board members and the community need to understand the need to prepare students for the 21^st Century Global Community.  Many adults who have not been exposed to the rapidly changing need for 21^st Century Skills may not understand that we cannot continue to teach the way they were taught and expect the outcomes to be students prepared for the challenges of learning and living in today’s digital world.

2.  How technology will change day to day lives at home with homework, grades, etc?

a.       One of the questions/statements I get most often is; I liked it when my child brought home papers with grades.  Now I have to get on the computer if I can remember my password and look at a calendar and then find a link for schoolwork.  It’s so much more complicated.  Is there any way to make this easier?

b.      The answer to this is Yes and No.  Doing school is going to look and be different.  Providing training and workshops to help parents adjust to these changes is as important as the training to use the devices is for the students. 

3. Where to go for help?

a.       I believe this is the key.  If parents know that there are resources available to help them learn to use the technology such as short instructional videos, step by step instructional guides and a place to send questions and concerns than I think parents and teachers as well as all stakeholders will feel more comfortable with the transition. 

For many corporations funding as well as other concerns might be in the top three areas to address, but I believe for our community and schools providing the reasons for integration, how this change will impact them and how to find help would be the most important concepts to address with our stakeholders.