On Thursday, July 9 our cohort had a visit from John Percevault. He is the Director of Technology for Lethbridge School District No. 51. He spoke to us about his experiences with change, vision and Leadership. He left us with the key things that happened to bring about change.

A clear mandate from the superintendent and the board.

Without support from the leader of the organization change will not occur. This is a re-occuring theme throughout many organizations. An example of this is Barack Obama's presidency. Change has been a central theme of his campaign and presidency. He has revitalized the United States and is a great example of change.

Vision process and financial planning

John spoke about the evergreening process and he used the term "forklifting" to describe the replacement of ALL technology in regular intervals rather than doing a little each year. This makes a lot of sense however this idea often meets resistance because of the cost. I feel that this idea has validity because of the payoff and equitability involved. Visioning is a key component to change because without a clear vision it becomes impossible to achieve the goals set forth.

Applying technology with supports

Without the proper supports in place the technolgy plan will fail. This means professional development opportunities for teachers. I agree that teachers must be lifelong learners and must be willing to collaborate and learn from their colleagues.


Get the right people

Visionary people are necessary to the organization. However it is important that these people be able to present convincing arguments, gain credibility quickly, lead by example and share leadership. Without these essential characteristics in senior leaders it will be difficult to bring about major change.