Week 2 Learning from a Project "Post-mortem"

In 1993, I was employed as a multimedia instructor at a local vocational school. I realized that the school lacked current technological resources. My supervisor instructed my partner and I to implement a five-year project plan that demonstrated evidence for improvement for our multimedia program for high school students. The goal for the five-year improvement plan would increase successful employment among the students in our high school program. At that time, students qualified to seek employment in this field was low. Hence, our program was out dated with inefficient computers and software programs that could not be utilized in the real-world businesses. Organizations requested students to be trained with current emerging technology prior to being considered for employed with their local corporations.
Immediately, my partner and I decided to develop a plan to meet the social change within our business community in order to have my students employed within the district. My partner was a thirty year veteran teacher who did not have the desire to learn emerging technologies for our program; this was the single most frustrating part of my project. I realized I needed to encourage him to become knowledgeable with current trends, yet he was not interested. I knew I was going to be the major force toward implementing this program into the current twenty-first century. I collected data and statistics from community leaders and presented the summary project report to the board of education.
Unfortunately my initial plan did not impress the board of education. The following September, they only approved three small Macintosh computers for an enrollment of thirty students into my program. The board of education continued not to understand the urgency for staying current with multimedia software.
Quickly I utilized the Kurt Lewin approach, unfreezing, moving, and refreezing. (Hitt, Miller & Collela, 2009). I had to unfreeze the administration's attitude about the use of technology in meeting local corporations request for computer savvy students. The moving process entailed six months of contacting community leaders to visit the school's program. The professional leaders shared their insight on how to improve the program with current technology. They were interested to attend a school board meeting and share ideas with the board members in a positive way. At the meeting, I provided a PowerPoint summary for a five-year plan that would transition multimedia student's into a real-world environment for employment. A summary of equipment, time-frame, and anticipated expenses were embedded in the summary report for review.
I informed and encourage the board of education that support and training would be provided in order to obtain employment for the students upon graduation. Finally, the refreezing stage enabled changed behaviors among the students who were motivated to learn new technological strategies and became employed before graduation. Overall, seventy-five percent of the students became employed as a result of the planned phase of change brought into the revised program at the vocational school. Initially, the multimedia program was a stepping stone to implementing a phase of technology resources exposed throughout the entire school. The five-year plan was a grueling experience, yet as a result of a cohesive strategy to stay current, the multimedia program remains as one of the most popular courses to enroll in at the vocational high school.

References:
Hitt, M. A., Miller, C. C., & Colella. (2009). Organizational Behavior: A Strategic Approach (2nd ed.) by A. Copyright 2009 by John Wiley & Sons Inc. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons Inc. in the format electronic usage via Copyright Clearance Center.