Technology PlanBrady Davis

Technology Plan for 2011-2013Central Unified Middle School will fully

immerse students in technology throughout the entire spectrum of classroom instruction . Students will be exposed to a wide variety of technological tools in order to learn and operate in both a more efficient and productive manner.

Vision and Goals for the School DistrictThe vision for the Central Unified School

District is to ensure that all students have a well rounded basis throughout all areas of the curriculum in order to be successful life-long learners who will challenge themselves to be productive members of society.

Goal 1 Ensure achievement of high academic

performance by all students in the core component area of math.

• Students will become familiar with the TI series of calculators by using them daily in Math class.

• Teachers will be expected to use Smart Software to present Math instruction so that the students will be more actively engaged in the daily lessons.

• Benchmark test data and teacher observations will be used to identify struggling students and they will be placed in an ongoing tutoring program to prepare them for the EOG test.

Goal 2Teachers will instruct students using a

variety of age appropriate, intellectually stimulating, and technologically advanced means to instruct students.

• Teachers and students will implement the usage of Smartboards, Air-Liners, and ELMOs on a daily basis.

• Teachers will provide age appropriate web sites in which the students can further research topics at both school and home.

• Teachers will engage students with social networking as part of instruction.

Goal 3Staff Development courses will be carefully

selected by collaboration of both the administrative and School Improvement Teams, that will pinpoint needs for the students and teachers based upon the data.

• All teachers will complete the basic technological courses available in order to correctly utilize the technological classroom tools that are available to them.

• Teachers will analyze the data to determine which staff development training opportunities would best meet the needs of the students.

• The SIT will work in conjunction with the administration to decide upon the training most needed to meet the needs of the teachers.

Professional Development One of the continuing goals of the school will be to research and implement the usage of applicable technology based staff development that will help both the staff and students.

1. Staff surveys will be given to formulate which aspects of technology the school is both proficient and lacking in.

2. The school will base whole staff development on the results of the survey.

3. PLC groups will discuss and study data and research to determine which professional development opportunities would be best for the school.

4. Teachers will be encouraged to attend technology based staff development of their own choosing and assist in sharing the results with both their PLC group and the entire staff.

Professional DevelopmentOur Professional Development plan will allow

us to meet the goals that have been set out in the SIP.

Goal 1 pertaining to high achievement will hopefully be helped by our PD plan.

Goal 2 will definitely be met, due to the usage rate of technological tools throughout the classroom.

Goal 3 is having the teachers get the technological staff development that is needed.

How will we do this

Each school will be have a technology specialist who will attend the county meetings and be responsible for going back and sharing with the school.

The technology specialist will be able to assist those struggling teachers who are in need of assistance in integrating technology into the classroom.

Technology IntegrationIntegration of technology will be required

throughout the curriculum.

We must teach children in a way that is relevant to them.

How will we Integrate?Smart boards and Elmos will be equipped in

every room and are expected to be used to deliver instruction.

Classroom web pages/social networking can be used to post homework, important classroom information, virtual newsletters, etc.

Students will be encouraged to complete assignments on computers and word processing programs as opposed to writing everything.

More ways to IntegrateStudents will be assigned to record Youtube

videos that display their knowledge of a subject rather than a traditional report.

TI series calculators must be used on a daily basis in Math class.

Teachers will change the way in which they would traditionally introduce material.

How to IntroduceTeachers will change the way in which they

would traditionally introduce material.1. When teaching about the Earth and maps, use Google

Earth.2. When introducing new Science concepts model the

concepts for them by using programs such as Brainpop.3. When introducing a Math topic have a list of websites of

leveled questions for the students so they receive questions appropriate for their individual levels.

Infrastructure already present in the Schools• Multi-mode fiber (1 gigabit) connects to each network wiring

closet • Cisco routers and switches provide distribution for computing

and telephone systems district wide • Cat5e (100 megabit) cabling provides connectivity to each

computer within the District • Multiple appliances are connected to protect the end users and

secure data; including Spam, Internet content filtering, and firewall protection

• Multiple servers distribute content, software, internet, secure data and email to all clients

• Our District’s infrastructure also includes new Isolated Electrical Wiring and Uninterrupted Power (battery backup) to support the additional capacity and protect servers and PCs from power spikes

Infrastructure will provide for File sharing, Streaming video, shared printers and applications Electronic mail for local, as well as Internet mail Teacher and student access to the software necessary to support the

full range of curriculum and instruction Teacher and student access to a wide range of specialized peripherals

such as Smart Boards, Digital Media Projectors, large format printers for CAD, color printers, digital

tablets for drawing, scanners, digital cameras, probes (science measurement devices), document

cameras, and music keyboard (MIDI) interfaces Re-writeable CD-ROM (RW) and re-writeable (RW) DVD systems

available for teachers to assemble lesson materials and to create student portfolios

Web-based resources are available on the District web site Student and teacher access to information via the web provides a full

range of textual, audio, and visual resources

Chapter 4 Action PlanThe action plan will be based upon how we

can apply the data from the teacher technology survey to assist us in meeting the goals of our school technology plan.

There are five main variables from the survey that will need to be taken into account in order to meet the goals in our SIP.

The Five Troubling Variables1. Low percentage of teachers who are comfortable

working with spreadsheet programs.2. Low percentage of teachers who have received

any sort of previous computer training.3. High percentage of teachers who get a “sinking

feeling” when thinking about working on a computer.

4. High percentage of teachers who would like to learn more about computers.

5. Low percentage of teachers who instruct using presentation programs.

Only 16% of the staff reported daily or weekly use of spreadsheet programs.1. Why is this a problem?

This is a definite problem because spreadsheet programs allow for teachers to search through data in an efficient manner and it is necessary for the teachers to understand how to use the program in order to teach the students how to use it.

2. How will we go about fixing it?The county will use one of the work days at the beginning of the year to hold staff development on how to use various spreadsheet programs such as SPSS and Excel. The schools will also provide the teachers with opportunities to disaggregate data throughout the year using these programs.

Variable 1 (cont)3. What will the cost be?

The cost will be minimal for this because the software is already on the computers and it will only require time in training the teachers how to correctly use it.

4. How will the effectiveness be measured? The effectiveness of this objective will be measured by

having the teachers required to apply these spreadsheet programs to go through data and by observing whether or not the teachers are using these programs when instructing their students in class.

Only 30% of the staff report having received any sort of previous computer training.1. Why is this a problem?

We cannot expect the teachers to be able to implement the usage of technological tools in the classroom if they are not comfortable in knowing how to correctly use them.

2. What is the solution?The PLC groups will report to the SIT which types of technology related staff development opportunities would best fit their skill set pertaining to technology usage. The SIT would then schedule the needed staff development on-site. All teachers would also be strongly encouraged to attend basic technology staff development classes at the district level.

Variable 2 (cont)3. What will the cost be?

The cost of the staff development may be in the thousands of dollars depending upon what the needs of the individual teachers are at the school and which courses the SIT decided to be the most appropriate.

4. How will the effectiveness be measured?This goal cannot exactly be measured, except for the fact that the next survey will show a result very high in the percentage of staff who have attended technology training, because we would have done it in-house.

15% of teachers get a “sinking feeling” when thinking about working on a computer.

1.Why is this a problem?There should be no teachers who get a sinking feeling when working on a computer. Every teacher must use a computer on a daily basis to give instruction, read emails, etc. There is no excuse for having a “sinking feeling” when doing so.

2.What is the solution?The only solution for this would be to require teachers to use the computer more often so that it becomes second nature to them. Only sending memos out in email and requiring teachers to use the Smartboard/Elmos when giving instruction would require them to feel more competent when doing so and thus the fear would dissipate.

Variable 3 (cont)3. What will the cost be?

The cost for this will be minimal, because the Smartboard/Projectors are already in the rooms and the usage of emails may even save money due to making less copies.

4. How will the effectiveness be measured? When the survey is given at the end of the year there should

not be any teachers who state that they get a sinking feeling when it comes to technology. The teachers will also use the technology in the classroom which will be noticeable and also hopefully have a positive affect in allowing the students to help meet their goals.

55% of teachers would like to learn more about computers.1. Why is this a problem? This is not really a problem as much as it is an

opportunity to teach willing teachers more about computers and how they can apply them in daily usage in the classroom. The teachers do not feel as if they have learned enough yet, but they are willing to learn more.

2. What is the solution?The solution for this will be to have the staff development opportunities available to the staff. They also would be encouraged to share new technological ideas with their PLC teams to see who can come up with the most cutting edge ideas to stimulate the students.

Variable 4 (cont)3. How much will this cost? This will cost in the thousands of dollars, but the staff

development will match up with our Technology Plan as well as our SIP. The PLC level training will not cost the school anything.

4. How will the effectiveness be measured?The effectiveness of this will be measured in a couple of ways. The usage of technology as a teaching tool should be noticeably increased during daily walks around the school. Teacher attendance rates at county level technology courses should go up. PLC groups will be able to share innovative ideas with the rest of the school, which would in return inspire others to be more creative and technologically savvy in the classroom.

Only 42% of teachers instruct using presentation programs on a daily basis.1.Why is this a problem?

The infrastructure is in place so that all teachers can be using PowerPoint and Smart Software on a daily basis. It is imperative that the teachers meet the goals of the Technology plan for the school and implement more technology in the classroom, in order to stimulate and motivate the students.

2. What is the solution?To show teachers how easy and efficient it is to use programs such as PowerPoint and Smart in the classroom. Explain that once they have created a lesson they can present the same lesson over and over . Also point out that they can search for lessons and download them off of the Internet. They will need to feel comfortable with using these tools.

Variable 5 (cont)3. How much will it cost?

The presentation program hardware and software has already been purchased and put into place in the classrooms. There would be no extra cost to meet this objective.

4. How will the effectiveness be measured?The effectiveness will be measured by observing the frequency of use of these presentation programs. As a result the students will be more actively engaged in the classroom and will in return hopefully have higher test results.

Policy for Computer UsageThe school District reserves the right to log and monitor

District technology use byall users.  Accordingly, system users possess no privacy expectation in the contents of their personal files or messages on the school resources and/or passed through the school resources.  Specifically, routine maintenance and monitoring of the system may lead to discovery that a user has or is violating this or other policies of the Central Unified School District and/or the law of the United States of America. An individual search will be conducted if there is reasonable suspicion that a user has violated the law or the District's policies.  Finally, all users should be aware that their personal files may be discoverable under state public record laws.

Funding SourcesThe annual District budget is the primary

source of funding. In school year 2011-2012, nearly 2% of the

total budget is earmarked for technology. In addition, $5.2 million in Capital Outlay has

been allocated for technology. For school years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, a

similar percentage will be allocated specifically for technology.

Evaluation The effectiveness of the technology plan

implementation will be seen in many ways.1. The Annual Needs Assessment survey, will continue to evaluate the use

of technology, level of proficiency, and the quantity of technology training received.

2. Documentation of technology integration into the curriculum will be seen in lesson plans and teacher observations.

3. An increased number of computer-generated reports or technology-centered student assignments will reflect growth in the use of technology.

4. Student academic achievement will improve as progress is made toward meeting the educational goals of the curriculum due to the integration of technology in the classroom.

5. Teachers will be able to make data-driven decisions using the spreadsheet programs.