Effective Technology Planning-
1. A definition of technology use planning.
Technology use planning in a school or school system is a multi-part
process. A committee of interested, knowledgeable, and responsible
teachers, technology staff, and administrators would be needed to begin
the planning. The planning would involve reviewing current technology
practices in the school/school system. The review would include an
inventory of current equipment, if it is being used, how often, and in
what context is it used. The review would also include what
applications are being used regularly and if they are thought to be
effective by the teachers and students using them.
Next, the committee would interview teachers and students for
subjective ideas of what types of technology would be useful to help
student learning. While the interviews are going on, committee members
would also be responsible for researching different areas of technology
(equipment and apps) that would be useful in the classroom. Each member
would then bring back to the committee their recommendations based on
interviews and research.
Then the
committee could make a flexible 2-3 year plan. The plan would include
purchasing of new equipment and apps to be used with students and
teachers, and ongoing intensive professional development for teachers to
be introduced and immersed in the technologies that would benefit their
classrooms. Please notice that the equipment, apps, and professional
development would be flexible in that it would fit the needs of the
classroom/students. An example would be the third grade classrooms have
computer stations while the fourth grade has tablets, and the fifth
grade wing has a 3-D printer.
Technology use planning should be ongoing and have an open
communication pattern between the committee members and all teachers.
This would increase the successful use of the technology in the
school/school system.
2. The new National Education Technology Plan 2010 as an effective tool in planning.
The NET Plan 2010, if used in technology use planning, can be a very
effective tool. It covers learning, assessment, teaching,
infrastructure, and productivity. The scope of the plan is nationwide
and has some high aspirations for our nation's education- such as
reshaping our definition of a classroom, making sure that every student
and teacher has access to technology at school and home, and using
learning analytics during a student's education lifetime to help them be
successful.
This overall plan has some wonderful concepts that could change
education to be more meaningful and student centered. So using this
plan as a reference in technology use planning makes sense. Each state
school system will have to look at its resources to decide when
implementation of different parts can be made. Common Core seems to
have made strides in many states, which begins to address the learning
section of the NET plan 2010. The assessment section, using learning
analytics plan, will be a complex challenge because, for it to be truly
effective, it needs to be nationwide while protecting each student's
information. The teaching section, one of the most important models,
should be a placed in technology plans immediately. The professional
development suggested in the plan would be instrumental in creating a
successful technology infused learning environment. Finally, the
infrastructure and productivity, models will be changing to incorporate
the 24/7 style of learning that is suggested in the NET plan 2010.
One of the benefits of using this plan as a basis for
state/county/school wide technology use planning is that it should make
it easier to find grants and donations to fund these changes.
3. John See's Paper on Technology Plans
John See
wrote a paper that covers what effective technology planning should do.
I found it to be full of common sense and practical. I agree with the
premise that technology planning should be short term, no longer than 2
years. His argument that technology is changing so fast that anything
longer than that may be obsolete within 2-5 years is practical.
4. & 5. Technology plans should focus more on apps than equipment.
I agree with this statement. Mr. See's statement "It may be better to
go to your school board saying this is what we want our students to be
able to do-output. Then tell them what technology you need in order to
accomplish your goals ...", is right on. It is the output, what
students are learning, that is important. Having a I Pads in a
classroom with only games on it will not help a student who is
struggling in math and reading. It will not propel a high achieving
student to grasp higher concepts in those subjects.
Technological equipment is changing at a fast rate, however with budget
constraints and age appropriate needs, older equipment can be used
effectively as long as the apps within that equipment are appropriate
and the equipment can handle the apps size and programming needs. As
students mature so can the equipment. It is really important to have
apps that enhance student learning and it makes sense to place more of a
budget in this ever-improving type of technology.
6. My experiences with technology planning.
At one point in my career at my Title One Elementary School, I was the
co-chairperson for the school improvement committee and the technology
representative for our school. During that time, the committee made
technology equipment a priority. The school board made the decisions
for apps at that time, so we did not have much say about what was on the
computers. Our school went from having a just a teacher computer to
having 6 computers for student use in each classroom, several teachers
applied for and received technology kits that included interactive
equipment and Smartboards. Each teacher got LCD projectors and a
document camera. Each group of 3 teachers shared a printer to help with
quick copying or finally printing student work. The school got two sets
of laptops that could be used by a whole class at one time.
Many of these improvements were helpful. They all came with
challenges. The committee had to actively budget for LCD projector
bulbs and printing cartridges. Teachers used the equipment like
overhead projectors. Some teachers used the printers to print whole
sets of worksheets (it was for lesson plans and example worksheets) so
they used their limit of ink before the year was out. Some teachers did
not let the students use the computers, or only used the computers for
games at recess. The teachers that got technology kits from the school
board had to deal with some jealousy issues. There was not enough wi-fi
strength for the laptops to work all at once.
Even with these challenges, the improvements were successful. Many
teachers started to used the document camera, LCD projector, and
computer as a teaching tool- incorporating videos, board approve apps,
and websites to enhance learning. The students finally had
opportunities to use computers regularly in classrooms. The computer
lab was used by all grade levels so the whole class could create a
project or do research at the same time. A signal tower was built on
the school property to assist with wi-fi strength.
