4.++Implications+for+Professional+Practice

Implications for Professional Practice
Because E-Rate funding is largely based on [|the number of students receiving free and reduced lunch] in a given district, it is especially important for technology directors who work in rural, inner city, or otherwise underserviced school districts. As school districts become increasingly financially strapped, the burden of procuring additional funding for technology through both public and private grants will come to rest squarely on the shoulders of the technology department. In many school districts, the technology director is already solely responsible for overseeing the E-Rate application process and that means that he or she must be well-equipped to fulfill all the necessary steps of the application process.

The E-Rate application process ensures that a technology director must have the ability to plan with instructional uses in mind. The second step of the E-Rate application process requires that school districts submit a technology plan that outlines how the district intends to use the telecommunications funds they will be given to positively impact teaching and learning. This step of the application process reminds me that it is vitally important that a technology coordinator understands what teachers need to teach and students need to learn. The technology plan requirement also illustrates an important aspect of effective leadership- the ability to plan. More progress is made when there is a well-designed plan that everyone can buy into and understand.

In essence, E-Rate Funding has the potential to dramatically increase the level of connectivity in underserviced k12 learning environments, but those funds will never help anyone unless they can first be professionally procured.