2. Technology Plan for 2011-2013 Central 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.
3. Vision and Goals for the School District The 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.
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5. 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.
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7. Teachers will provide age appropriate web sites in which the students can further research topics at both school and home.
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9. Teachers will analyze the data to determine which staff development training opportunities would best meet the needs of the students.
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11. Professional Development Our 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.
12. 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.
13. Technology Integration Integration of technology will be required throughout the curriculum. We must teach children in a way that is relevant to them.
14. 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.
15. More ways to Integrate Students 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.
16. How to Introduce Teachers will change the way in which they would traditionally introduce material. When teaching about the Earth and maps, use Google Earth. When introducing new Science concepts model the concepts for them by using programs such as Brainpop. 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.
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18. Cisco routers and switches provide distribution for computing and telephone systems district wide
19. Cat5e (100 megabit) cabling provides connectivity to each computer within the District
20. Multiple appliances are connected to protect the end users and secure data; including Spam, Internet content filtering, and firewall protection
23. Chapter 4 Action Plan The 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.
24. The Five Troubling Variables Low percentage of teachers who are comfortable working with spreadsheet programs. Low percentage of teachers who have received any sort of previous computer training. High percentage of teachers who get a “sinking feeling” when thinking about working on a computer. High percentage of teachers who would like to learn more about computers. Low percentage of teachers who instruct using presentation programs.
25. 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.
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. 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.
29. 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.
30. 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. Policy for Computer Usage The 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.
36. Funding Sources The 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.
37. Evaluation The effectiveness of the technology plan implementation will be seen in many ways. The Annual Needs Assessment survey, will continue to evaluate the use of technology, level of proficiency, and the quantity of technology training received. Documentation of technology integration into the curriculum will be seen in lesson plans and teacher observations. An increased number of computer-generated reports or technology-centered student assignments will reflect growth in the use of technology. 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. Teachers will be able to make data-driven decisions using the spreadsheet programs.
