Mahatma Gandhi is credited with saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Sounds sugary sweet and relatively easy, just change yourself and you will change the world. Not so fast...Change is extremely difficult to create and sustain but not too difficult that it is impossible to achieve. Organizational change takes a great leader with great vision and the capacity to influence others to alter their behaviors for the betterment of their self and the organization. This week in EDLD 5304, we were challenged to use the book Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change as a guide for implementing a disruptive innovation that will serve as a catalyst for change in our learning environment. After reading Influencer, I believe my organization could definitely benefit from a little change. Currently, my campus is 3+ years into a district wide 1:1 initiative and to put it mildly, the honeymoon period for technology use is definitely over. Teacher apathy towards daily device usage has led to a lack of parent and student buy-in of the technology initiative. When asked why they hardly ever bring their devices to class, students say teachers do not use it, so why bring it everyday for just one class. Parents share similar concerns with the lack of teacher use and often choose not to let their child take the device to school rather than risk it getting broken, lost or stolen resulting in hefty repair fees or replacement costs. All of these are valid concerns that tug at my educator heartstrings. I know there has to be a way to change teachers current feelings towards technology use before it is too late and one to one becomes one to none. In avoiding a one to none outcome, my job as an influencer of change is three fold. First, I must identify the vital behaviors that can be leveraged to bring about change in my organization. Second, I must pinpoint my organization's influencers and third, I must determine the six key sources of influence and explain how they will be used to shape the desired vital behaviors I am trying to change. Starting out any project, I have a tendency to think "too big" in what I want as my end result. Ideally, I want all teachers district wide to integrate meaningful and purposeful technology into their classrooms daily. As exciting and audacious as that sounds, I need to narrow my focus if I want to create rapid, profound and sustainable change. So, more specifically, I want teachers to integrate the use of Microsoft OneNote into their personal and professional lives. I plan to to see this through to fruition by meeting with teachers bi-monthly in an informal setting to celebrate the positives, troubleshoot the negatives, discuss concerns and hear suggestions for improvement. In talking with teachers in a relaxed environment, I hope to quickly identify the other organizational influencers willing to join me in creating positive change. First up in my plan, was to figure out which behaviors needed to change and determine the desired results. VITAL BEHAVIOR #1: Teachers use Microsoft OneNote on their district device for personal organization. Teachers create personal notebooks allowing for all important information, meeting notes, to-do lists and much more to be stored in one convenient location. OneNote can also be downloaded for free to all personal devices for instant use anywhere anytime. RESULT: Using the district device more personally creates a sense of attachment and necessity much like the feelings we have for our cell phones. VITAL BEHAVIOR #2: Teachers use Microsoft OneNote on their district device for professional organization. Through the use of Microsoft Classroom, teachers can easily carry over those important behaviors learned from personally using Microsoft OneNote into their daily classroom routines. Teachers can quickly manage all classes from any device, create and grade assignments, provide immediate feedback to students and collaborate with other teachers. RESULTS: Because teachers are excited about using OneNote, students will be excited to use OneNote. Students will see the necessity in bringing their device charged and ready to go everyday. Why? Because teachers are continuously modeling the expected behaviors for technology use in a fun and engaging way. Students do not want to feel excluded from daily activities because they did not bring their device. Now that I have carefully identified two very vital behaviors to creating organizational change, let's see how using the six sources of influence will shape those behaviors and increase my odds for success. The Influencer Model is broken down into two main factors: motivation and ability which are then subdivided into three categories that apply to one's self, society and the environment. When combined, all of these factors comprise the six sources of influence. Sorting through the plethora of resources on the Influencer Model, I found the devil can definitely be in the details. However, the simplistic layout of the influencer matrix is easy to understand and easy to draw out for visual learners. With a goal of having 50% of campus teachers using Microsoft OneNote both personally and professionally by the end of the first semester, I set out to use all six resources as an analysis for change.
Personal Motivation: Do teachers enjoy using technology to stay connected with friends and family, gaming, entertainment and organization? Personal Ability: Do teachers possess the knowledge and skills to successfully integrate technology into their classrooms daily? Social Motivation: Do teachers model technology integration even when met with resistance from other reluctant teacher friends? Social Ability: Do teachers practice behaviors that create a sense of value and help to build a community of like-minded influencers strong in numbers rather than resistance? Structural Motivation: Do teachers create an environment rich in visuals promoting technology use? Do teachers display student's digital accomplishments campus wide? Structural Ability: Do teacher's actions change the environment to promote a technology driven culture of success? I firmly believe in using ALL six sources of the influencer model to create change. Anything less than that and you open yourself and your organization up to failure. Gandhi was onto something when he suggested for people to be the change they want to see in the world. Hopefully, in finding my inner influencer, I can avoid failure in leading organizational change and become the rapid, profound and sustainable change I wish to see in the world.
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AuthorMadeline Brandi Collins is a Louisiana girl through and through. Raised by her beloved Maw Maw and namesake, she moved to Texas 13 years ago to pursue a career in education which proved to be one of the best decisions EVER!
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