How to replace your school’s technology seamlessly
Technology is quickly revolutionizing the education sector by changing how teachers and students interact and drastically transforming conventional teaching and learning practices. Computers, the internet, and other interactive technologies are now commonplace in many modern schools.
The prevalence and need for school technology
A recent global survey involving nearly 20,000 educators and students found that tech adoption in schools is accelerating worldwide. In the survey, 48 percent of the students reported using desktop computers in classrooms, 42 percent used smartphones, 20 percent used tablets, and 33 percent used interactive whiteboards.
Besides aiding in teaching, school technology crucially serves as the digital backbone for many learning institutions. The rapidly expanding education software market indicates a rising trend in the industry. More schools are keen to utilize digital school administration solutions for various data and management-related functions such as financial planning, scheduling, data organization, communications, and logistical operations.
How to replace your school’s tech
Technology is inherently volatile. You have to make frequent upgrades to devices and software to keep up with emerging innovations. The same is true for school technology. Here is a short guide on effectively upgrading or replacing your school’s digital infrastructure with minimal disruptions.
Identify the necessary changes
The first step is identifying the various changes needed and why. It could be that the equipment has become outdated or is no longer robust enough to meet the needs of a growing institution. Also, find out how the changes might affect daily operations. For instance, replacing a server might cause temporary data unavailability.
Come up with an action plan
After listing all the necessary replacements and their dependencies, you must develop an upgrade or replacement strategy. School technology usually comprises of sensitive data systems and essential tools that facilitate critical functions. So, you’ll need a clear plan to ensure that every replacement preserves the system’s integrity and that the process does not cause unwanted technical downtime.
Bring everyone on board
Your action plan should also include bringing everyone on board with the new changes. You might gain some valuable insights by involving all concerned parties in the decision-making process, so consult staff members, teachers, or student representatives before making any critical alterations to the digital facilities. Additionally, arrange trial runs and training sessions to introduce and familiarize users to the new system before, during, and after implementation.
A smooth transition with TFE
At TFE, we can help you design a seamless school technology deployment plan for a smooth transition with little to no downtime. Our approach is simple but effective. We start by creating a priority list of all the critical systems that need replacing after carefully evaluating your school’s IT requirements and available resources. That way, we can work out what has to be replaced first and the best way to do it.
We then develop an incremental deployment strategy. Replacing everything all at once can be overwhelming, especially for the users, so we break down the process into manageable stages, addressing a few issues at a time.
User training is a big part of any internal transition. We take time to help train your staff on the new systems’ operations, functions, and features to ensure efficiency.
We understand the importance of school technology in any learning institution, so we customize deployment plans for each particular school. We make sure that the whole transition process is stress-free and straightforward from beginning to end.
