Service Management for Dummies®

Chapter 23. Education

In This Chapter

• Commission scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke

Computer technology is becoming ubiquitous in schools around the world. Students routinely use computers to research and write papers. Teachers use computer technology when planning lessons, enhancing classroom instruction, and posting assignments. Even some courses starting in middle school teach children how to use a computer for media design. As some of today's students begin using computers at home before they even learn to read, they feel very comfortable with the increasing use of technology. Finding the best way to integrate computer technology equitably across different schools in a community is often a hot topic of debate among educators, but for purposes of this chapter, put the debate aside.

Assuming that all things are equal, how do you maintain classroom technology? You can't have a technician waiting at every school. Besides, more and more computers are arriving while budgets are falling.

In this chapter, we consider the situation of Commission scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada. The school board's technology demands were increasing, and expanding the service team wasn't an option. The organization used a service management approach to help it manage and maintain its technology more effectively while still fulfilling its mission.

Commission scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke

The Sherbrooke school board serves 20,000 students in Quebec. Its IT group is responsible for ...