What's an Academic Technology Tactical Plan?

It is easy to argue that technology has infiltrated the educational enterprise; however, to create a unified vision and harness energy to develop the best ways to use technology in teaching and learning can be daunting. But that is what an Academic Technology Tactical Plan (ATTP) sets out to do.

An ATTP operates within the framework of a larger strategic technology plan, but focuses primarily on the development and implementation of curricula, courses, and teaching methods that incorporate sophisticated technology. The creation of an ATTP involves faculty and academic leaders at the highest level and brings them together with IT staff as a planning group.

Through a collaborative effort, the ATTP identifies:

• High priority tactical objectives - A limited number of objectives should surface that the planning group agrees are centrally important and that can be accomplished in a reasonable time frame.
• Implementation projects - These are a set of actions that have practical implications and advance the high priority objectives. They are, in fact, "tactics."
• Owners - Each tactical objective needs an owner or in effect, a project manager. This person shepherds the projects toward completion.
• Funding sources - To ensure that a tactical objective and the projects that flow from it are feasible, the planning groups must determine a bottom line and a source of money.
• Dependencies - For a tactical objective to be accomplished, are there any steps that must be taken first, that is, are there "dependencies"? By identifying dependencies the planning group can avoid false starts and dead ends."