Technology Action Plan

Technology Action Plan

Objectives:

This technology action plan addresses the needs that have been identified in the Campus Improvement Plan and the Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. The district and campus technology goals are:

• Infuse 21^st Century skills throughout the District integrating technology as a tool for problem-solving and creativity.

• To increase the exposure, training and implementation of technology across the curriculum by teachers and students.

Organization Chart:

Instructional Technology Coordinator

Oversees all of the Technology Facilitators, instructional technology planning and implementation of hardware and software. Assists the middle school SmartLabs with updates and maintenance, new technology purchases, and station equipment.

Technology Facilitators

Instructional Technology Facilitators are assigned to two middle schools. Their role is to assist and train classroom teachers in the planning, and implementation of technology into their curriculum. They also provide staff development in order to promote integration of technology.

eLearning & Technology Staff Development Facilitator

Promethean Facilitators - Title 1

Our Title 1 campuses have access to a team of Promethean Facilitators who are available for both on-site training and individual teacher support. Their role is to assist and train Title 1 teachers in the planning, integration and implementation of Promethean technology into their classroom.

Campus Librarian – Supports Technology Facilitator with campus resources. Provides training, support, and checks out mobile lab carts.

Campus Principal

Our principal works closely with the Technology Facilitators to plan staff developments and to implement new technology into the classrooms. It is the administration’s responsibility to analyze reports such as the Texas STaR Campus Chart and the Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology. This will allow the administrator to be proactive and know the campuses’ strengths and weaknesses. Walk-throughs and observations by principals and Instructional Coaches are used to monitor the implementation of technology into lesson plans.

Professional Development Plan

Goals for Improvement	Professional Development Activities	Person(s) Responsible	Measures to Evaluate Progress
Improve student performance in academic areas using available and existing technology.	Use INOVA data to identify students needing extra assistance. Schedule students into the Success Maker Lab (SML) during elective times. Train SML teachers on software and reporting. Science department will utilize Study Island materials weekly to build a foundation in science concepts.	Assistant Principal Testing Coordinator At-Risk Coordinator SML – Teachers Science teachers	Students attendance and use of the lab. Progress reports generated by software used in the SML. Benchmark Assessments Student Report Cards Study Island reports of usage and student progress reports.
Increase teacher and student interaction with Promethean SmartBoards and slates. Use Active Smart voters.	Provide and requre staff training on slates and SmartBoards. Integrate slates and voters into Math classes on a weekly basis.	Principal Technology and Promethean Facilitators – Title I All teachers	Monitor usage by walk-throughs and lesson plans Student work Results of 2011 STaR chart summary
Implement more technology based programs and tools used by students and teachers. Improve communication with parents.	Require attendance at technology staff training provided at the school after class hours. Require creation and updating of blogs by academic teams and/or departments. Post blogs on school’s website. Have students create a class blog.	Principal Technology Facilitator All teachers Librarian School Webmaster	Review of website Sign-in sheet for attendance. Lesson plans and walk-throughs Schedule of computer labs or mobile cart with laptops.
Improve STaR Chart performance in all domains. Technology TEKS review.	Address the purpose, results, and campus goals of STaR Chart in staff development, cluster or faculty meeting. Use bi-monthly cluster meetings to review the technology TEKS and integration of these TEKS in lessons.	Principal Instructional Coaches Technology Facilitator Librarian	Results of 2010 – 2011 STaR Chart Lesson plans Walk-throughs Scheduling of computer labs and mobile carts Attendance at meetings.

EDLD 5352 Web Conference - March 17, 2011

I participated in Dr. Attaway's web conference tonight. This was my first web conference for this course but I did attend one earlier in another class. This one tonight had a few technical difficulties with audio but I prefer the chat. I had audio at the very beginning and you could hear children in the background and I had problems knowing who was talking. It seemed only one person was dominating the conference but that could be part of the audio problem.

The chat session was working great and I could follow it. I appreciate hearing from other students that they had questions about the assignment. I don't think the questions were actually answered, except the one about the format. A lot of discussion was focused on "exit tickets." An exit ticket is a strategy to check for understanding at the end of the class period. Students write a short summary or answer a few questions about the day's lesson before they leave the classroom. I don't know how that became such a hot topic and hope participants learned something useful.

A web conference like this could be very useful in schools. I am in the CATE department and only the middle schools offer my class. The eight SmartLab facilitators could use this to discuss new activities and how to integrate more technology into our labs. New equipment and stations could be demonstrated by the facilitators. It would really help the newer facilitators and those of us that inherited older labs that need updating.

I will attend another conference for this course or another course. It helps to have communication with the other students. I like the questions with immediate feedback and the advice shared by students further along in the program.

National Educational Technology Plan

Education has been called the great equalizer. It is key to America's ability to be competitive in a global economy. Technology is also an equalizer. It is at the core of many of our daily lives and work. It has created jobs and careers that did not even exist ten years ago. My son is a Social Media Expert, a career that I had never heard of until maybe 5 years ago. He has a degree in Advertising and planned on writing ads and jingles, which he does, on blogs, social media sites, and other sites on the Internet.

The National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) calls for a transformation in our education system to meet the technology needs of the 21st century learner. It is very possible that my middle school students will have jobs that we currently don't know about. They need to be prepared and technology is that key to preparation.

In order to transform American education, the NETP (p. xii) has developed five goals with recommendations for states, districts, and other stakeholders. This is a 5-year plan that addresses the urgent priority that the Obama administration has placed on education.

1. Learning - All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and outside of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
2. Assessment - Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement.
3. Teaching - Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable and inspire more effective teaching for all learners.
4. Infrastructure - All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where the need it.
5. Productivity - Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.

I think these are very similar to our state Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006 - 2020, which are similar to our local goals. Now we have federal, state, and district technology goals and all want the same basic elements for our students. We must provide 21 century tools and skills for our students so that America is able to stay competitive in a global economy.

Progress of Long-Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020

The Long-Range Plan for Technology (LRPT) targets recommendations in four areas; Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure for Technology. The first progress report on this plan was published in 2008.

The Texas Campus STaR Chart was designed to align with the LRPT and is used for planning, budgeting, and evaluation of technology projects. The STaR Chart provides a profile for campuses and places them into one of four categories: Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech, or Target Tech. The available data from 2008 states that 25% of all campuses are at the Advanced Tech level with 9% at the Target Tech level. This is an improvement from previous years, but what does it mean. It means that all of the Technology Applications TEKS are being met by the time students complete 8th grade and the high schools are teaching at least two to four Technology Application courses.

There is also progress in Educator Preparation and Development with a small increase in the number of campuses at the Advanced Tech level and 67% rated as Developing Tech. The majority of teachers have taken professional development courses on the integration of technology in their content area. Teachers are using technology for instruction and management tasks.

All campuses need an infrastructure for technology to allow students and teachers to use the tools and skills needed to be successful. Our students expect to have anytime access to digital tools and resources. "With the help of collaboratives, Education Service Centers, and with local, state, and federal funds, districts in Texas are making great strides in infrastructure and creating a strong sense o community" (p. 130).

Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology

The Texas Long-Range Plan for Technology promotes academic excellence for all learners and is divided into four areas. Visions of the Teaching and Learning area are for all students to have access to digital tools and resources on demand; that they be able to use technologies to research, collaborate, and find solutions to real-world problems; and be able to communicate effectively in a variety of formats (TLRPT, p. 15).

I'm fortunate to work in a district that has empowered their administrators and teachers with the tools to make this vision a reality. All of our teachers have a desktop computer with internet access and multiple curriculum and student management systems. Our campus has multiple computer labs and laptop carts for use by the students. We have incorporated SmartBoards and slates in our Math curriculum, our ELA classes are use blogs, power points, and wikis. All our students have e-mail addresses and can e-mail their teachers with questions about assignments, or put them in a dropbox for grading.

While we are increasing the connectivity and use of Web 2.0 tools, we have room for progress. We still have teachers who incorporate the minimum of technology because the students are more comfortable with it than the teacher. Filters have been installed to provide security and safety for the students but they still manage to get around some of them. Cell phones offer technology that we are not ready to allow in our classroom. Our students need to learn more about on-line safety and etiquette. I would like to see our students be able to use these technologies to collaborate on projects and assignments, to fully participate in their learning and not rely on someone else to do it for them (cheating).