Our current business architecture is somewhat of a disarray. I believe a school district that has so many employees and students can be very difficult to work in unison. The business architecture is the plan you need to follow in order to be successful and to have your mission statement come to reality. When you have over 3,000 employees with three different unions coming together it can be difficult. We have a teachers union, classified staff union, administration union and the school district. It seems this whole year has been focused on contract negotiations for classified and teachers. I don’t understand how a district is going to address needs that really matter when half of your employees don’t have a contract and there is hundreds of hours being taken to negotiate contracts for a school year that is over half over. The business architecture is great if it can be executed. I feel that somewhere along the way politics play a huge role in the path that our students will take. For example, if a school board vetoes a suggestion from the teachers or the technology department the students suffer. Our school board has been under fire from many organizations including the NAACP for non-ethical practices. With people in charge who may not have the same goals or interests as the people who are in the trenches day in and day out it can be difficult for student success.
After trying to reach out to others in my school district about Business Architecture was a little overwhelming. My school district is so large that each department employs many people. From Maintenance to Technology these departments serve over 30,000 students in the school district. To say the least it opened my eyes on how many departments have to work together for the common goal. The Business Architecture outlines the organization’s strategic business intent, and the plans on how to meet the goals outlined in the business intent (Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, 2014). The mission statement states, “We pledge to communicate the District's shared values in order to prepare our students for the day after graduation. We will communicate to our students that they are the focus of our work, whether it is providing a safe and well-maintained learning environment, or sharing the joys of life-long learning and how to flourish in a global society, and that from the day a student enters into our system to the day they leave, all of us are here - in whatever capacity - to ensure student success.” With such a large district it can be difficult for everyone to be on the same page. Our district has over 80 million dollars in reserve funds and there has been many arguments in board meetings on how to spend this money. We have the teachers union who want a pay raise. We have the administrators who want a raise. We have the technology department seeking $10 million dollars for technology without a proper business plan. With all of this money I didn’t find an actual Business Architecture plan in any of these departments. It seems to me that with more money we have more arguments then with very little money. Our district is in trouble if communication is not re-focused on to the original vision statement and the success of the students.
Resources Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook. (March, 2014). Reform Support Network. Retrieved February 2, 2016, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/implementation-support-unit/tech-assist/education-architecture-guidebook.pdf What I know?
What I know I know that technology is a large part of our society. It is not going anywhere in our culture. Students need to be up to date on technology in order to succeed after High School in our fast changing world. What I would like to know? I would like to know how to help teachers who don’t know anything about technology help students to become efficient with technology What I learned? What I learned I would like to know how to help teachers who don’t know anything about technology help students to become efficient with technology. I learned that there are many different structures including and that Enterprise architecture is not a business plan. Enterprise architecture includes more than just an abstract description of the system's structure and behavior. It includes also principles, policies and standards. Governance of the enterprise architecture and of its implementation requires organization and Planning. I learned about the different layers of the Process. Environment, Business Layer, Data Layer, Information system, Technology Layer. All of these layers are important and can’t run efficiently without one another. Reflections
I don't have a lot of knowledge with the structure of IT. I don't work in the IT field and I don't deal with a lot of the personnel of the IT personnel. The only time I really see these people are during a training or if I have technology issues. "An enterprise architecture (EA) is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. The intent of an enterprise architecture is to determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its current and future objectives. " I will be honest this is very foreign to me and I don't have a great grasp on these concepts yet. I am really looking forward to this subject in the upcoming class. |
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