This week we had to examine the organization’s applications and explain how we would prioritize them. With district applications, many are distinct and isolated from one another and information can not be transferred easily between applications. One way to clarify and unify distinct applications within school districts is by using Enterprise Architecture (EA). EA is used to align the business aspects, programs and information technology within an educational agency (Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, 2014). Although I am not an administrator yet, I could use EA to examine the district and their applications to help clarify or unify their applications. There are multiple steps I would need to take to use EA (and I have done a lot of this work already for this class), but for aligning district applications, I would need to specifically focus on their Application Architecture (AA) . The AA delineates the current applications being used in the district and how they interact (Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, 2014). I could create a visual representation of the applications within the district, how they interact and the overall structure. This would provide the district with a visual of the current applications and they will see possibly areas for improvement. Once I have developed the current state of the AA, I can look forward to the future state to examine how we can clarify and unify the district’s applications. I will have to examine if certain applications are missing, if they have some that overlap unnecessarily and if they are not working properly (Educational Enterprise Architecture Guidebook, 2014). This would be the time where I would also prioritize the applications and make suggestions about replacing or altering the applications that are least effective. While looking for new applications, I would need to keep in mind the interoperability of the all applications. This will mean that the new or altered applications I would recommend will ultimately bring the systems together instead of purchasing another isolated application.
Currently in the organization that I am analyzing, there are many distinct applications that are isolated, but there are also multiple applications that work well together. The student information system used throughout the district (Q/Zangle) is available and used in most departments. This application provides information for other applications such as OARS (student assessment application), Go Math Curriculum (digital math curriculum), and GAFE (email and collaboration application) so they work well together. However, the application for Child Nutrition (OneSource) is not currently available to office staff or linked to the student information application (Q/Zangle). Therefore, this organization can definitely benefit from using EA to unify applications to make information easily transferable from one application to another.
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
Currently in the organization that I am analyzing, there are many distinct applications that are isolated, but there are also multiple applications that work well together. The student information system used throughout the district (Q/Zangle) is available and used in most departments. This application provides information for other applications such as OARS (student assessment application), Go Math Curriculum (digital math curriculum), and GAFE (email and collaboration application) so they work well together. However, the application for Child Nutrition (OneSource) is not currently available to office staff or linked to the student information application (Q/Zangle). Therefore, this organization can definitely benefit from using EA to unify applications to make information easily transferable from one application to another.
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