Writing Tech Plans: PB Wiki to the Rescue

Writing an educational technology plan that passes the rigors of state requirements can be a daunting task, even for seasoned professionals. If you've ever had to write a district technology plan, you know that it requires:

1. Collecting District documents
2. Organizing teams
3. Distributing Assignments
4. Scheduling meetings
5. Keeping teams on a timeline
6. Monitoring progress
7. Filling in the gaps.

Wikis have become the ultimate collaboration tool for undertaking such a massive project. I like PB wiki for its ease of use, even for first-time users. It's also free. We were able to accomplish a lot, without ever purchasing premium levels of service.

Wikis make it easy to break down a large document into chunk-size, digestable pieces that can be easily written, discussed and edited by many people - even if participants are not housed in the same building or at the same site. Not only can one team see the work of its own contributors, but each team can see how their work relates to another. The wiki also serves as a convenient repository for all of those documents that are scattered far and wide and that are needed for reference in creating the new technology plan.

This year, I worked with five school districts to develop district technology plans. Using PB wiki, I was able to develop a template that could be recreated for use by each district. Once I had a working model, all I had to do was cut and paste the word prompts and localize the links.

For District project leads and me, the best part of the process was that PB Wiki notifies you every time there are changes. Sometimes, that can be a nuisance. But for a time-sensitive deadline, it's nice to have that reassurance that people are actually working! You can see a model of our work at http://dixietechplan.pbwiki.com

A bonus benefit of using a wiki to write a tech plan was that it provided on-the-job training. Administrators and teachers who had never used a wiki before began to see reasons to create wikis of their own.