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	CoSN Online Courses Smart Budgeting for Technology - Total Cost of Ownership for School Leaders Register Now!

Smart Budgeting for Technology - Total Cost of Ownership for School Leaders

Course will begin September 20, 2005

Course Description

It is imperative that educational leaders have the skills and knowledge necessary to respond to the multiple challenges of increased accountability for budgeting, and growing concerns about the impact of technology investments in education. It is no longer sufficient to be knowledgeable about the installation of equipment, networks, software, and professional development models and resources; you must also have the skills and resources necessary to make strategic decisions about calculating ongoing costs, allocating resources, and projecting multiyear budgets.

This Smart Budgeting for Technology course will provide appropriate, timely, targeted resources for technology budgeting; help you deal with issues of fiscal accountability and ongoing technology costs; provide a framework outlining the major considerations when budgeting for technology integration; and help you respond to the school board and community concerns about investments in educational technology.

Through intensive use of the web-based K-12 CoSN-Gartner TCO tool, students will be guided in the collection of most of the data required to perform a complete TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis for their school or district. Personalized interpretation of the TCO tool results will also be reviewed with each interested student.

This course is intended for technology coordinators, school principals, district superintendents, and other K-12 technology decision-makers or stakeholders who are interested in investigating successful allocations of funds within an instructional and administrative technology budget.

Course Objectives

Participants will:

• Read relevant articles and discuss technology budgeting and Total Cost of Ownership issues with other participants.
• Review some benchmarks and strategies that other technology leaders use for budgeting for technology.
• Learn the importance of budgeting adequately for the "soft costs" of staff development and technical support, in addition to the up-front costs of hardware.
• Review and evaluate budgeting tools and guidelines developed by other school districts and organizations to budget for technology and consider the relevant needs of your own district.
• Kick-start a budget and planning process.
• Become part of a collegial network of learners by sharing experiences and ideas with other school and district leaders.

Course Prerequisites

This is an introductory workshop for technology coordinators, school/district administrators, superintendents, principals, and other K-12 technology educational leaders who have at least a general understanding of the computers and networks used within their district or school. Participants are expected to have regular access to computers. In addition, participants should be proficient with using email and a current web browser.