Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Lab Report

Getting Stakeholders Onboard

- 2003.04.24

In our previous articles on grantwriting, we addressed establishing a purpose and identifying expenses to write into your grant. This article addresses the concept of getting other folks interested in your project and why you should try.

Last summer I had the pleasure of participating in the Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education (TLRBSE) project, a project dedicated to improving science education through the use of authentic research activities.

It is also a project that attempts to show how teachers can provide leadership to inspire others to try new things and expand their horizons.

Toward this end, we participated in a role-playing game called Making Change for School Improvement. In this game, "stakeholders" (edu-speak for people who may be involved in your project) are playing pieces, and you must move them across a game board as you gradually persuade them to either accept your project or at least tolerate it.

In the context of attempting to get funding for some Macs, for example, one obstacle you may run up against is having some decidedly anti-Mac stakeholders who are not ever going to change their minds. If you identify and connect with all the other stakeholders, you may not need to convince everyone.

Who, then, are stakeholders?

Parents
Teachers
Students
Administrators
Community Members
and anyone else you can think of!

However, many of these groups are subdivided into smaller ones. Administrators, for example, are more than just principals. There are assistant principals, counselors, directors of curriculum, deputy superintendents, superintendents, budget directors, and school board members. And secretaries, the backbone of any organization.

My point is just having one or two representatives "in the loop" may not be sufficient. Some decisions are made by the school board, and if your advocate is not there to represent you, no one present at the meeting to decide the fate of your project may know anything about it.

I strongly recommend that you look into asking your professional development office to purchase this game and use it to learn about how to advocate for your project. It's expensive, but it's worth it.

The game is called Making Change for School Improvement Game. The game costs $375 with a $10 shipping and handling fee. Three boards and game pieces, with handouts and directions, are included in one game set. The game is available from several different sources, including WestEd, or from

ST&C Associates Dept. 1

25 Hammond Road

Natick, Massachusetts 01760

Phone: 508-653-3284

Fax: 508-652-9954

The ST&C address is the one given to me by my trainer, Katherine Stiles. If you order it, please mention her name.

Jeff Adkins is a science teacher who isn't afraid to state his preferences in computing platforms. In his classroom he has everything from a beige All-in-One to a a G4 XServe, and they all work together nicely. He calls himself the "poster child for technology integration" in the classroom. He was the 2006 Outstanding Educator of the Year for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) organization. He also maintains a site for astronomy teachers at www.AstronomyTeacher.com.

Recent Mac Lab Reports

Microsoft Word 2004 vs. iWork Pages 1.0 for writing a book, 01.10. Microsoft Word is great for technical writing, powerful yet slow, while Pages lets you concentrate on just writing, making it great for novels.
iWeb a great tool for quickly creating an attractive website, 09.11. Apple's iWeb software isn't just easy to use, it also integrates nicely with .mac and other programs in the iLife bundle.
Use your Bluetooth phone to control your Mac? Maybe, 02.27. Salling Clicker software turns many Bluetooth phones into remote controls for Bluetooth-equipped Macs.
Two more markets the iPhone could conquer, 02.01. How Apple could redefine the ebook and calculator markets with a pair of free apps for the iPhone.
More in the Mac Lab Report index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Lisa, Jan. 1983 - The ancestor of the Macintosh had a mouse, a graphical interface, and a $10,000 price tag.
Group of the Day: Unsupported OS X is for those using OS X on unsupported hardware.
March 22 in LEM history: 00: Macs and digital video - 01: My Performa - Fun at CompUSA75 Mac Advantages - 02: Don't try this at home - History of portable computing - 04: Prolong battery life - 05: Symantec's ravings spread FUD about OS X security - 06: Picking a Power Mac G4 - France and the end of DRM
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best 13" MacBook & MacBook Pro Deals, 03.22. Used 1.83 GHz, $570; 2.0, $599; 2.4 GHz, $889; refurb 2.26, $849; new, $900 after rebate; Pro, $1,119 a/r, 2.53, $1,399 a/r.
Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 03.22. 1.8 GHz single, $399; dual, $445; 2.0, $609; 2.5, $724; 2.7, $799; 2.3 GHz dual-core, $669; 2.5 GHz Quad, $799.
Best AirPort Deals, 03.22. Refurb AirPort Express, $79; new, $95; refurb dual-band AirPort Extreme Hub, $129; new simultaneous dual-band, $168.
Best Intel iMac Deals, 03.17. Used 17" from $600; 20" from $750; 24" from $825; refurb 21.5" nVidia, $999; new, $1,099; refurb Radeon, $1,299; new, $1,399; refurb 27" 3.06, $1,499; more.
Best G5 iMac Deals, 03.17. 17" 2.0 GHz, $380; 1.9 GHz iSight, $479 shipped; 20" 1.8 GHz, $509 shipped; 2.1 GHz iSight, $549 shipped.
Best Time Capsule Deals, 03.17. Close-out 500 GB, $140; new 1 TB, $279; used 2 TB simultaneous dual-band, $400; new, $455. Shipping included.
Best iPad Deals, 03.16. 16 GB iPad, $499; 32 GB, $599; 64 GB, $699; 16 GB with 3G, $629; 32 GB 3G, $729; 64 GB 3G, $829. Free ground shipping.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Mac Lab Report copyright © 2000-08 by Jeff Adkins. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.