Building a new century

“Building a new century” was the name for a dream.  The fact that we are talking about its “Post Mortem” brings mixed feelings.   In 2003, I had the opportunity to teach at an Elementary School in a rural area at Puerto Rico.  It was a beautiful small school where I used to study in my elementary years.  For my surprise, when I was hired as a first grade teacher I found that every classroom was kept in the same way it was when I studied there.  No technology was present or used in an instructional way.  As a teacher, I shared my technology integration ideas with my principal asking for the permission to write a proposal for a grant.  I had no prior experience in this writing process.  Presenting my ideas to the staff and administrators was interesting; they laughed and my administrators just said that it was up to me.

Next day, I was researching, writing, planning, designing and wishing.  My proposal included the creation of two full equipped classrooms with 10 computers each, a computer lab, mini labs of 5 computers in 3 classrooms, 1 computer for each classroom, TV and DVD player for each classroom, printers, projectors and the use of Plato software’s (language arts, math and science).  For everyone’s surprise the grant was approved and $300,000 were assigned to our school.  My next step was to set everything up, train and implement.

What contributed to the project’s success or failure?

“Constructing a new century” project fails its initial dream and goal.  The first challenge was the absence of a team.  It was great to have new equipments; the only problem there was no commitment on learning how to use them effectively.  Each participant should be committed and understand their responsibilities as players of a team. (Greer, 2010)  Many teachers were afraid to allow the students use the equipments and others did not take care of it.  The fact that I was teacher and coordinator at the same time limited my time and space to train other teachers and supervise the implementation process.  The software used was designed and aligned to National Standards, bringing difficulties to its use.  Teacher needed to translate worksheets since all students were Spanish speakers.  Students were motivated in the learning process; teachers could not change their traditional teaching methods.  At this point students were reading texts from a screen instead of a textbook. 

Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?

The project management should include time management, staffing management and weekly status and issues report.  This project became a giant for one person to control and manage.  My days as coordinator became very long and the week started to have 6 or 7 days of work.  One limitation was the lack of a curriculum to follow and to enrich with technology.  Each teacher was responsible for developing their lessons and adding technology, which was a challenge for them.

In 2005, I moved to Maryland, leaving a dream behind.  Many teachers continue using technology and others covered their equipments.  “Building a new century", was more than just a design; it was needed a team.

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.