Why does education need Enterprise Architecture?
Like most teachers, I had never heard of Enterprise Architecture and had a hard time wrapping my head around what it all meant. Much like the architecture of a home, Enterprise Architecture defines the foundation and frame of an organization or business. Instead of departments working in isolation, departments work together for efficiency of the whole organization. Rather than creating new systems and connections as they come, EA aims to set up standards and protocols for how things operate, in order to keep things organized. This kind of system can truly help a school or district save time and money, and work at the highest efficiency. The video to the right is an excellent summary of why EA is a great choice for businesses, but many reasons can relate to education as well
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With the development of Big Data, schools can easily fall into a disorganized state. especially with transitions like moving to digital records, cloud storage, and/or approaching online learning. Enterprise Architecture forces a close study of the district or school, and most importantly documentation of the current state, and through that process a structure is built from which to operate under. Although it is a “structure”, and Enterprise Architecture is not rigid. By including in the EA process a definition of the “Future State”, education organizations can continue to work towards goals and adjust for any changes in the expectations of education, such as this new Common Core approach. Frequent reviewing and updating of the EA is vital to its efficacy, and in that sense it also provides flexibility to education.
Organization Overview
I chose to analyze San Diego Unified School District for this Enterprise Architecture Framework Plan. A detailed slideshow below discusses the district background, systems in place, devices in use, networks and applications that exist, and the decision making process. Or scroll down for a brief summary of my findings.
Brief Summary of Findings:
San Diego Unified School District is the second largest school district in the state, serving more than 132,000 students in preK-12. It is a diverse student population, with more than 15 ethnic groups, and speaking 60+ languages. In fact over a quarter of their population are English Learners (26.5%). They run 226 facilities on a budget of slightly more than $1 billion annually.
They have many systems in place such Illuminate for data assessment and reporting, and sophisticated online systems for School Lunch payment and Transportation.
A variety of devices have been rolled out over the last 5 years with their i21 program, which is funded by Prop S dollars and also addresses network systems and infrastructure. SDUSD utilizes an array of applications for student use (Moodle, Destiny,etc) and staff use (EastTrac, Exceed).
The SDUSD makes the major decisions, but has strong community involvement at board meetings and strategic partnerships with industry leaders locally and nationally.
San Diego Unified School District is the second largest school district in the state, serving more than 132,000 students in preK-12. It is a diverse student population, with more than 15 ethnic groups, and speaking 60+ languages. In fact over a quarter of their population are English Learners (26.5%). They run 226 facilities on a budget of slightly more than $1 billion annually.
They have many systems in place such Illuminate for data assessment and reporting, and sophisticated online systems for School Lunch payment and Transportation.
A variety of devices have been rolled out over the last 5 years with their i21 program, which is funded by Prop S dollars and also addresses network systems and infrastructure. SDUSD utilizes an array of applications for student use (Moodle, Destiny,etc) and staff use (EastTrac, Exceed).
The SDUSD makes the major decisions, but has strong community involvement at board meetings and strategic partnerships with industry leaders locally and nationally.
EA Framework Option
Although Enterprise Architecture may seem like a new frontier in education organizations, it has been around the business world for some time and there are a variety of Enterprise Architecture Frameworks (EAFs) to choose to implement. The EAF that I recommend for SDUSD is the Zachman Enterprise Architecture Framework. I like this one for education organizations in general because it does not define the sequence, process or implementation of an EA, but rather a systematic way to categorize what is already in place, and begin to look at establishing those sequences and processes for the education enterprise.