"Any organization operates in an environment replete with a variety of assumptions, threats, and opportunities (societal, economic, political, regulatory, financial, technological, and organizational)…and those threats and opportunities are ever changing and often hidden. " - Tromp and Ruben (2010, p. 59) To create solid strategic goals, you must have a thorough understanding of your institution’s environment. The internal component of an environmental scan provides you with a micro view of an institution’s environment, while an external scan provides a macro view of the environment. Once you have gathered data from an environmental scan, you can organize the data by completing a SWOT analysis. In this analysis, you organize the data into four categories: Strengths (internal) Weaknesses (internal) Opportunities (external) Threats (external) As you complete the Media in this module’s Learning Resources, you will simulate the internal environmental scan process. You “visit” Grand City University staff members serving in different roles to hear their perspectives on technology at Grand City University. Be sure to record notes during your “conversations” with these staff members, as you will be organizing the data in a SWOT analysis and writing an environmental scan report. For the external environmental scan, interview a staff member at a university. This staff member may hold a leadership position, serve as a faculty member, or serve in an administrative role. Develop questions to learn about the technology-related issues, challenges, and trends at the higher education institution where the interviewee works. The information you obtain from this interview, along with the research you completed in Module 3 on technology in higher education, will serve as the external environmental scan. In the Discussion post, you report back to your groups (the same Module 3 groups with whom you collaborated to write a strategic technology goal) to discuss your environmental scan findings and SWOT analysis. Based on the collaboration in this Discussion, you will decide whether to edit the technology goal you drafted in Module 3. Post in your designated group area what you consider the two most significant findings from your environmental scan and the two most significant findings from your SWOT analysis. Explain how these findings either support the technology goal you created in Module 3 Week 6, or how the findings suggest the goal should be adapted. Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the module resources link to access the resources. This requires four references. I will attach the learning resources.