My first introduction to e-Learning came in 2004 when then State Education Superintendent Robert Schiller (ISBE) announced at his weekly cabinet meeting that his newly hired Division Administrator would not only be assuming the reigns of the Division of Curriculum and Instruction, but would also be absorbing the Division of e-Learning.  That newly hired Division Administrator was me.  Until that time, I had been a traditional classroom teacher and a building principal struggling with practical issues such as how to finance computer hardware and software for classrooms.  I knew very little then about the tremendous potential of technology-based learning, but I was soon awakened to the changing landscape that e-Learning introduced to public education.

In my new role, I was the state-wide administrator who worked with the Illinois Virtual High School and the Learning Technology Centers which facilitated intermediary services between the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the ISBE, and local school districts.  I was also the administrator who launched the multi-million dollar state-wide one-to-one laptop initiative.  It was quite an experience, and I learned more about vision and planning (Bates, 2000) and diffusion, adoption, and implementation (Khan, 2005) than I ever would have had I not been in a state educational policy position.  It is ironic to now, a decade later, be reading the theory behind the practice in which I was so fully immersed in the mid 2000s.

Bates talks about developing a vision and then setting forth a plan.  Clearly this is the appropriate approach to maximize fiscal investments and impact; however, at the state level, when funds have a one year statutorily established shelf life, vision and planning are commensurate to building an airplane in mid-flight.  Politics and future funding sources depend on immediate launches of public initiatives regardless of failure cautions such as those set forth by M. M. Lynch & J. Roecker (2007).  Unfortunately, this inverse approach, cart before the horse, is more prevalent than many realize.  Obviously the potential impact of technology on teaching and learning is extraordinary; however, the contraints of time and fiscal resources on public school administrators can be restrictive.  So if we do better when we know better, the best we can do is know that good practice is supported by sound theory and research; be informed; and stand ready to mobilize the limited resources that might come our way . . . even on short notice.

 References

Bates, A. W. (2000). Managing technological change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Khan, B. H. (2005). Managing eLearning strategies: Design, delivery, implementation, and evaluation. In Managing eLearning strategies: Design, delivery, implementation, and evaluation (pp. 23-103). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Lynch, M. M., & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing eLearning: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management Routledge, Chapter 1.