Transcript Instructional Technology Plan for the West Shore School

Instructional Technology Plan
for the
West Shore School District
Lewisberry, PA
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By Tammi Gearhart
Rationale
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Where are we now and where do we want to be?
How will we evaluate whether or not to adopt new
programs? What will be our focus and standard?
How will we consistently and effectively communicate our
mission to all stakeholders?
How will we ensure that we are in compliance with
regulations?
How can we plan to optimize funding opportunities?
Planning Team
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Director of Curricular Technology Integration
Coordinator of Technology & Media Services
Assistant Superintendent
Principal, teacher, educational technologist, and
parent from elementary, middle, and high school
One student from each of the high schools
Two community representatives from the West
Shore Foundation
Planning Team
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The Planning Team will form the
following committees and meet once a
month:
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Learners
 Professional Development
 Equipment and Facilities
Planning Team
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The head of each committee will
then meet once a month to review
their findings and make sure that
each committee is staying on task
and that they are moving in the
same direction.
The Process
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Establish the team and discuss the process.
 Inventory the following equipment: laptops,
desktops, smartboards, projectors, digital
cameras, video cameras, scanners, printers, and
student response systems
 Determine program needs for the next three
years, and align them with Learning Focus goals
and 21st Century goals.
The Process
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Outline professional development
needs
 Determine budget needs
 Outline a timeline for disposal and
replacement of outdated equipment
 Write a rough draft of the technology
plan, submit for revision, and submit
final copy
Technology and Media’s Vision
Statement
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The Technology and Media Department seeks
to provide the necessary components for
technology success to students, faculty, and
staff. This will include hardware, software,
professional development, and support. We
will consistently seek and share ways to
implement strategies for developing 21st
century skills in all students through the use of
integrating technology into the curriculum.
Technology Integration Vision
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We believe that technology skills are no longer
optional, and that they are not developed in
isolation. Teaching students to use technology
as a tool that is embedded into their everyday
routine will create strong users of technology.
Integrating technology will lead to students
who are creative problem-solvers who are
able to collaborate, global in their perspective,
critical thinkers, and ready to adapt to new
challenges and developments.
Objectives
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Learners
Professional Development
Equipment and Facilities
The time line for all goals to begin would be by
the beginning of the next academic year, or at
the latest, the second academic year.
Each would be reviewed annually.
Learner Goal 1
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Adapt the instructional program to
ensure all students have weekly
access to a dynamic technology
experience.
Learner Objective 1.1 and 1.2
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Students in grades 1 – 8 will progress through
a course of technology instruction that is
based on state and ISTE NETS standards that
will support the integration efforts of the
classroom teachers and help in developing
21st century technology skills.
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Review student benchmarks, incorporating
new technologies and methods for meeting
state and ISTE NETS standards.
Learner Objective 1.3 and 1.4
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Establish a class schedule for grades 1 - 8 to meet once
per cycle for a 45-minute class period to work through an
established technology curriculum.
 Continue to support the push-in model of integration
through the use of laptop carts at all levels, making sure
that each building has a laptop ratio of one laptop per
seven students.
Learner Objective 1.5
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Develop and review a list of Web 2.0 project choices to be
presented to teachers in grades 1 - 12 as “integration
expectations”.
Leaner Goal 2
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Establish research-based evaluations
to ensure all students have
established technology literacy by
eighth grade.
Learner Objective 2.1
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Beginning in first grade, students will develop
electronic portfolios that will travel with them
throughout their academic career, and that will
consist of the technology projects that they
have created both during the structured
instructional time and during their classroom
integration time.
Learner Objective 2.2 and 2.3
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Beginning in first grade and continuing through
eighth grade, students will be assessed on
benchmarks that are based on state and ISTE
NETS standards. Click here for the link to
benchmark standards for grades 1 -5.
 Create and review a database of standardsbased rubrics for teachers to use when grading
technology projects.
Leaner Goal 3
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Develop and implement appropriate
responses to special needs.
Learner Objective 3.1
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Continue to work with the Capital Area
Intermediate Unit to find and provide adaptive
and assistive technologies for students with
special needs in an effort to make them more
successful and productive students.
Learner Objective 3.2
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Establish online learning opportunities for special
needs and independent study opportunities,
beginning at the ninth grade level, and
progressing down to include sixth grade.
 Time frame: To include grades 9 through 12 by
the beginning of the second academic year;
adding grades 6 through 8 by the beginning of
the third academic year of this plan.
Professional Development Goal
1
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Refine and communicate evaluation
methods based on current ISTE
NETS-T standards.
Professional Development Objective
1.1 and 1.2
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Re-evaluate the five-level teacher tier plan
against current ISTE-NETS-T standards and
revise as necessary. Distribute to all faculty.
 Implement a weekly reporting system that will
allow principals to know the frequency of and
roadblocks to classroom integration.
Professional Development Goal 2
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Provide support that will allow
success for new teachers, lateadopters, and avenues for teachers
who have been successful adopters of
technology to communicate their
ideas and methods.
Professional Development Objectives
2.1 and 2.2
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Increase the number of Educational
Technologists at the elementary level to assist in
mentoring and assisting classroom teacher in
integrating technology.
 Based on principal observations and weekly
reports, identify faculty who are having difficulty
integrating technology into their lessons.
Establish mentoring relationships for those
faculty.
Professional Development Objective
2.3
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Implement changes in planning time that will
allow the Educational Technologist to be a
part of team planning at least once a month
for each grade level.
Professional Development Goal 3
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Develop an increased awareness of
Web 2.0 tools and the changing
technological world that will develop
higher achievement and 21st century
skills in our students.
Professional Development Objective
3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4
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Identify a new set of faculty to attend the Apple
Cadre training each year.
 Schedule an integration professional
development in-service day required for all
faculty and administrators.
 Continue to offer a variety of training
opportunities for summer exchange days.
 Develop a conference-style professional
development exchange day where the theme is
technology integration.
Facilities and Equipment Goal 1
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We will strive to maintain a balance
between performance, cost, and
environmental impact in our
equipment purchasing decisions.
Facilities and Equipment
Objective 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3
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Digital books adoption at the high school level in
math, science, and history.
 Determine student equipment that needs to be
replaced based on committee recommendations.
Develop plan for disposal of outdated equipment
and plan for ordering new equipment.
 Assess buildings for network connectivity issues
and replace equipment as needed.
Facilities and Equipment Objective
1.4, 1.5, and 1.6
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Evaluate the schedule for teacher laptops to
be replaced and follow through. Develop
schedule for purchase, rollout, reallocation,
and necessary training.
 Establish a plan for completing installation of
smartboards in remaining classrooms and
outline a plan for replacing smartboards as
they age.
 Develop cost-effective methods to provide
color printing at each building.
Needs/Assessment
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Online Needs Assessment Form
How teachers are assessing student work and their
familiarity with the benchmarks
What applications are being used; are they using the
more creative applications the standard applications
such as PowerPoint and word processing
Equipment issues
Attitudes towards integration and the teacher’s role
in taking responsibility for his/her training needs
Professional Development
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The need for professional development will be
determined by
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Surveys
Weekly reports and principal observation
Student input from the middle and high school level
Educational Technologists observations
Professional Development
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Select a new set of faculty to receive Apple
Cadre training.
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Select 20 faculty members to attend each year
They will become technology leaders in their buildings
They learn programs, web applications, AND how to
integrate technology
Professional Development
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One day in-service devoted to integration and
21st century skills
 This will not be a “how to” day, but a “why to” day
 Try to secure a keynote speaker, but also have
hands-on activities
 Make it an annual event
Professional Development
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Continue to offer a variety of training topics
during summer exchange days
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Strengthen computer skills so teachers will feel more
comfortable with technology
Introduce new technologies
Opportunities to review older technologies for late adopters
Professional Development
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Develop a conference-style professional
development exchange day with a theme of
integration
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The mission will be to showcase the best of what teachers
and students are doing in classrooms
Have a variety of offerings for a variety of skill levels
The goal will be to develop enthusiasm for integration based
on how it changes the learning environment
Evaluation/Research
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This plan looks at three main areas:
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The Leaner
Professional Development
Facilities and Equipment
Evaluation/Research
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This year we will begin getting baselines for
student performance in grades 1 - 8 that will be
based on state and ISTE NETS standards
 We will start developing portfolios
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Each year, we will follow-up to see if scores have improved
We will compare portfolios year to year
Evaluation/Research
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The first year we will establish a baseline of
the number of times teachers have used
technology to provide an integrated lesson
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We will compare that number each consecutive year
expecting to see the number increase; if it hasn’t, we will
be looking for answers to why
Evaluation/Research
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The teachers will continue to do self-evaluations
of their tier levels at the beginning and end of the
school year. This year we will establish the
number of teachers at each level.
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We anticipate that teachers will be moving up in their tier
levels each year and will monitor the percentage of teachers
at each level.
Evaluation/Research
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We will bring in the Metiri Group to do a survey of
teachers’ attitudes towards technology for this
first year, and again in year three.
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Using the results, we will address necessary issues
We anticipate finding progress in the third-year survey
Evaluation/Research
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Based on Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels
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Reaction - did you enjoy the training? If the
method wasn’t enjoyed, it wasn’t effective.
 Learning - do the teachers believe it impacted
their skills?
 Transfer - can the teachers be observed using
the skills?
 Results - has there been a change in their
effectiveness in integrating technology because
of the professional development that’s been
designed?
Timeline
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Establishing the planning team: 3 months
 Process Description: 6 months due to
ensuring that the integration standards are
aligned with district curricular goals
 Needs Assessment: 1 month
Timeline
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Professional Development: getting things in
place for it to happen will need to begin
immediately; however, it will take place and be
evaluated each year over all three years
 Evaluation/Research: Will take place over the
course of the three years of the technology
plan, with major research conducted at both
the beginning and the end of the technology
plan.
Comments or Questions
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If you have comments or questions,
please email me at Tammi
Gearhart,
[email protected].