To win this endorsement, the innovation being proposed must promise outcomes and benefits that match the daily realities, concerns and desires of the staff. Teachers have seen bandwagons come and go. They are appropriately skeptical about untested, expensive changes that seem peripheral rather than central to their purpose. They want to know how this venture will improve student performance. In the case of educational technologies, there is often a vacuum when it comes to educational purpose.
Teachers usually look askance at such efforts.
Making good change demands the cultivation and engagement of the key stakeholders within the school community, especially the classroom teachers. The decision to network a school is usually made by powerful figures outside the school. Failure to involve building staff in the development of the learning program, the design and placement of the network resources and a robust 3-4 year professional development program is courting disaster. Making good change involves a strategic and balanced deployment of resources. Schools optimize use by moving resources around to where they will do the most good.