When a school district decides to implement a new app to their existing digital offerings, it comes with a major hurdle everyone must face. How can you roll out this new app once with the greatest success rate? This is one of the key issues at the heart of edtech programs in their early stages. However, it is crucial to handle this now so that your school district can take advantage of these helpful apps in the near future.
Fortunately, plenty of school districts are already paving the way for the best practices in an app rollout. Following the example set by others can help you to implement your own rollout more effectively. You can take a few tips from some of these key concepts to help your new app implementation move more smoothly.
Do your homework.
The easiest way for an app rollout to go awry is by selecting a product that doesn’t ultimately meet your district’s needs. You should be having a conversation with students, parents, and faculty about how the technology will benefit them on a daily basis. Their specific needs should guide your decision-making when selecting the right apps and programs. Doing the homework in advance helps you to select apps that will have the right capabilities, the right durability, and the right cost for your school.
Make a plan with every department.
Before the app hits the classroom, you need to have a solid plan in place with every department for how the technology will be handled. This should include giving teachers strategies for managing the app, and training on how to submit for assistance with a qualified IT department, and more. According to some, the success of an app rollout will ultimately depend on the collaboration between your departments.
Start slowly.
The goal might be schoolwide implementation over the coming years, but you should start slow. Choose a few teachers who have the training and confidence to begin implementing the technology immediately. This gives you time to work out the kinks in a given system without the overwhelming amount of issues possible with schoolwide distribution. From here, you might consider moving onto grade-level app rollouts until they eventually cover the entire school.
Not only does this give you an opportunity to allow your staff to train one another, but it also gives your IT department an opportunity to catch up with the increased workload. Set specific goals and standards for which groups will come next for implementation. Overall, this could be the most beneficial way to start an app rollout in the modern school district.
Rolling out the usage of new apps in a school system can be a real challenge. Early adopters are always eager to start using these new products while others may struggle to keep up. With a few of these best practices, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page before the rollout is finalized. Preparation is truly the key to creating a successful app rollout in your school.
