9. Implement a New Technology Program

In this type of project, because it is a major undertaking, you have chosen to limit yourself to implementing the new technology program and leave the determination of its effectiveness to a later time.

There is nothing wrong with this. Often the task of implementing a new program or administrative structure is such a major effort that it would not be possible during the time of your dissertation period for you to also carry out an evaluation of the program's impact on the school's operations or student learning

However, though establishing a new technology program is an entirely respectable task in its own right, having chosen to do only the implementation in your project, you will not be able to reach any conclusions or make any statements about the new technology program's impact on such things as organizational productivity, student achievement, and the like. That will have to await the completion of an outcome evaluation.

Your evaluation will be of the formative (not the summative) type. Your evaluation task is to determine if the major elements of the new technology program are in place and operational. Thus, you will need to assemble credible, objective evidence (not simply your own judgments) on the following types of questions:

1. Have adequate resources been allocated to the new program?
2. Have sufficient and competent staff been assigned to the new program?
3. Have the necessary hardware, software, Ethernet cables, etc. been procured and installed?
4. Has the needed space been made available to the new program?
5. Have the proper number and type of computers been installed in offices and classrooms?
6. Are teachers, students, and clerical staff being trained in the requirements and capabilities of the new system?
7. Has a review and evaluation mechanism been established to determine if the new technology system, once it is fully established, has improved administrative productivity and student learning?

This kind of evaluation will tell you whether the new technology program is operational and potentially capable of having an impact-information that is administratively invaluable. It is essential to complete this type of evaluation before undertaking a summative, impact, or outcome evaluation. It makes no sense to evaluate the effectiveness of a program that does not exist-even though we regrettably see many instances of this.

If you decide that you want to both implement the new technology program and assess its impact on such things as organizational productivity, student achievement, and the like, you must carry out both a formative and summative evaluation. See evaluation designs 2, 3, 6, and 8.

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