Technology Planning Across the Curriculum

Project Management Applied to a Technology Integration Plan

Michael D. Nichols

     

Introduction

The status of the current situation at Athens Area High School (AAHS) is that the Social

Studies, Science, and Mathematics Departments are encountering problems in satisfying

accountability measures of State and National standards with faculty’s inability to include

geography into their interdisciplinary efforts, faculty’s lack of formal geography technology

integration, and insufficient faculty training in the use of geography technology. This situation is

affecting the ability of the faculty to deliver sound geography instruction, including curricular

integration of geographic technologies to students in the eleventh grade. In order to remedy this

situation (AAHS) needs to take the following measures: hire a technology coach (tech-coach)

with skills in Geography information Systems (GIS) and Google Earth (G.E.), acquire

Environmental System Research Institute’s GIS Software and licensure, and implement a

training workshop session for the faculty. Through the training workshop session the faculty

will be introduced to geography technologies and skills under the careful guidance from the tech-

coach.

Scope

The scope of the project will consist of training the Social Studies, Science, and

Mathematics eleventh grade faculty during the fall 2008 semester. The main topics of the

training will be following state and National standards, using ESRI’s ArcLessons with their GIS

software, and using G.E. in developing map making skills in students. During the 2008 summer

intermission the tech-coach will develop a training session of three, two day workshops that will

be conducted during the fall 2008 semester for the eleventh grade faculty.

The stakeholders of the project will be the eleventh grade Social Studies, Science, and

Math faculty. The outcomes for the project will be the faculty will learn how to identify and

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apply appropriate geography standards, develop lesson plans integrated with geography, and

learn how to use geography technologies in a classroom setting. Throughout the training, faculty

members will have individual and group assignments. Each assignment will effectively assess

and gauge faculty understanding of materials presented through the training workshops. Faculty

will then ultimately apply these skills into their eleventh grade classrooms.

During the course of the project potential problems could arise. One potential problem is

that faculty could feel overwhelmed in using new software. To prevent this, the tech-coach will

tailor training so that it is paced for maximum retention while still covering essential curricular

applications. Another possible problem is that the computer lab might be in use for other

educational purposes. In this case an interactive whiteboard will be used in conjunction with a

teacher’s laptop to conduct the lessons. If the whiteboard is in use then the teachers will rely on

a projector to continue with their lessons. All teachers involved will be taught how to hook their

laptops to both the interactive whiteboard and projector. In order to prevent or limit “in use”

issues a sign up chart will be instituted to further communicate usage among AAHS faculty.

Time

The project will start with the tech-coach gathering and developing the training materials

on June 2, 2008 which leaves ample time until the start of school. Then the tech-coach will guide

the faculty in the installation of the GIS and G.E. software on the computers in the lab. This

aspect of the project will be conducted on August 18, 2008, the week prior to school starting.

Then each faculty member will install the software on their laptops under the direction of the

tech-coach. The period in between installation and the first workshop will allow faculty time to

delve into the programs in order to get acclimated to their interfaces. The first workshop will

take place on September 20th-21th and focus on introducing basic concepts and applications of

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GIS and G.E. software. It will also focus on how to alter and change coordinate systems, how to

add data sets, and how to add data layers. The assignments will require faculty to develop ideas

to use in the classroom. Individual assignments and group assignments will be due before the

next scheduled workshop period. The second workshop will take place on October 18th-19th. At

the start of the workshop, faculty will discuss their ideas and classroom results. The focus of this

workshop will be on how to create original data sets, how to build data sets, and how to identify

applicable standards. The third and final workshop will take place on November 22nd-23rd and

start with the discussion of student reception of GIS and G.E. assignments and their effects on

student learning. The final workshop will focus on how to geo-reference, conduct on-the-fly

projection, how to make maps, and the digitization of paper based maps. The rationale is not to

overlap the training session to promote maximum retention of materials, not overwhelm faculty,

give time to complete assignments, and allow faculty to incorporate their training into the

classroom.

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0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Develop Training Materials

Installation of Software and Faculty Acclimation

Workshop 1

Assignment 1

Workshop 2

Assignment 2

Workshop 3

Develop Wiki

Develop Training Materials

Installation of Software and Faculty Acclimation

Workshop 1

Assignment 1

Workshop 2

Assignment 2

Workshop 3

Develop Wiki

Start 0 78 110 111 139 140 174 0

Duration 78 110 111 138 140 174 175 365

Gantt Chart

Days 

Cost: The following is a table depicting the proposed budget of the technology integration plan:

Resource  Purpose  Cost ESRI GIS Software  Geography technology used to 

manipulate data. $7,420.00

Google Earth  Geography technology used to display maps. 

$0.00

Interactive Whiteboards (Four) 

Used for interactive learning and display purposes. 

$6400.00

Digital Projector  Display purposes.  $500.00Wiki  Used to for Q/A and post 

instruction manuals $0.00

Data Sets  Used to display and manipulate statistics in GIS. 

$0.00

Teacher Pay (Each)  Compensation  $600.00Geography Technology Coach  Salary  $35,000.00

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The total amount of the proposed project will be $55,320.00. The software, technical

equipment, and salary will be covered by the technology grant issued by the Pennsylvania

Department of Education. However, the faculty’s compensation will have to be paid by the

school district. The rest of the resources require no additional cost because they are either free or

utilizing resources already present. Alterations to current sources will be that teacher’s laptops

and the computer lab will be outfitted with the GIS and G.E. software. The utilization of the

wikis will differ from what faculties are used to by using them as a help resource rather than

classroom assignments. One possible constraint is the cost of the software. During the

development of the project, we must be aware of the current version of the software as

companies update their software all the time which results in higher prices.

Quality

The quality of the project will be determined by the successful completion of the

objectives. Achieving these objectives will assure that the project’s outcome will positively

affect the quality of education offered at AAHS. Ensuring quality, the training materials will be

reviewed by a third party. The third party will aid in determining if the materials rectify AAHS’s

problems. The next issue involving quality will be in the training itself. The tech-coach will

give objective based assignments to the faculty involved in the training. Assignments will focus

on assessing faculty understanding of the training and their attempts to incorporate geography

technologies and standards into the 11th grade curriculum. The tech-coach will then review

assignments to verify that faculty met the objectives. The faculty will also provide insight to the

quality of the project by discussing impact on student learning and student receptions.

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Human Resources

Individuals Involved  Role in the Organization  Availability 

School Board 

• Determines educational policy 

 

• Bimonthly meetings held throughout the 

year • Via email or phone 

calls 

Building Administration 

• Fulltime position(s) • Lends support to 

faculty for project • Speaks on growing concern regarding the lack of interdisciplinary geography instruction 

• During the week • Via email or phone 

calls 

Geography Technology Coach 

• Educates faculty on the use of geography 

technologies • Aids in geography technology classroom 

integration • Evaluates faculty 

progress 

• Attends meetings and workshops 

• Via email, wiki, or phone calls 

AASD Technology Director 

• Fulltime position • Maintains AASD 

Network and computer facilities 

• During the week • Via email or phone 

calls 

AAHS 11th grade Social Studies, Science, and Mathematics Faculty 

• Fulltime educators • Implements geography 

technology integration• Attends workshops • Contributes ideas and 

concerns 

• During the week • Via email, wiki, or 

phone calls 

Communication

Current communication situation at AAHS is that faculty, technology director, and

administration contact each other through email and phone calls. Administration and faculty also

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hold meetings regularly. There is no need to improve the communication between these parties.

However, a wiki will be implemented for the faculty and tech-coach to communicate issues,

questions, problems, and concerns throughout the training. The wiki will be a help resource for

those involved. Faculty can also contact the tech-coach via email and phone calls.

Risk

The following table displays the probable risks that will be involved with the project with

the appropriate contingency solutions.

Situations Probability of Occurrence Impact on Project Contingency plan

Faculty unfamiliarity with geography technologies Extremely High High

Workshops will provide basic training and skills in the use of

geography technologies

Faculty hesitant to accept technology integration High High

Faculty will be compensated with pay. Potential educational

benefits of project will be stressed by tech-

coach

Students unreceptive to geography technologies Medium Medium

As the workshops progress, faculty

fluency in software will increase, therefore

lessons will become more engaging as time

goes on

Faculty missing a workshop session. Medium Low

Tech-coach will develop supplemental

training materials.

Software glitches Medium High

Tech-coach will instruct faculty and

technology director on how to reinstall

software or apply patches.

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Implementation

The steps to start the project are indicated in the table below.

Steps Acquisition Issues Solutions

Hiring Tech-Coach

Advertising employment

opportunity on district website, PAREAP, and other internet

sources

Finding a person with proper credentials

Asking local Geography Professors

to instruct

Purchasing Software/Hardware

Making detailed list and searching for the lowest possible price

Software isn’t the issue. It is the price

of the hardware.

Use e-commerce to find lowest hardware

prices

Developing Training Materials

Finding appropriate manuals, texts, and

resources

Finding appropriate materials for a high school curriculum

Ask the USGS or ESRI to aid in the

development of high curricular activities