1. How did the plan meet the existing needs in technology,
funding, and management issues?
Currently the district plan
states that it is close to reaching the state goal of three students for every
one computer, but since this goal was recently changed to 1:1 in the 2007 Texas
Long-Range Plan for Technology the current technology plan is going to need to
be updated. The technology
services center personnel have been working diligently to raise funds to work
toward these goals by writing numerous grants. The current technology budget isn’t large enough to quickly
reach these goals and funding will have to be located outside of normal funding
options. Most technology funds are
being used to update telecommunication services, Internet access, and
electronic computer and cabling for eligible computers. (ISTE NETs, 2012)
The current plan includes
allowing students to bring their own devices to be used at school but the
district will need to have sufficient computers within classrooms to make sure
that all technology TEKS are taught. To fulfill these needs, the district plans to maintain
the use of mobile computer units (COWs) for classroom use. All campuses are equipped with wireless
connectivity and many of the campuses have spent campus funds to make sure that
projectors are available in each classroom teachers’ classroom. (Bryan ISD, 2011)
With the growth of the computers
with the district, it has made it difficulty for the technology staff to
support the staff quickly in troubleshooting and maintenance of computers. Currently their plan is to have one
technology person to one hundred computers. This is overwhelming when two to three campuses are sharing
one technology staff member. (Bryan ISD, 2011)
2. How did the goals provide the measurable outcomes for
future improvement?
By using professional development
for the teachers in troubleshooting and management of computers within the
classroom. There are measurable
goals to improve response time after the training of the teachers is
completed. It is the hope that the
call ticket response time will decrease by 30% because the minor problems that
teachers call the technology support services unit for will be removed since
teachers will be able to correct them on their own.
Currently with the district plan
is “providing instructional support for teachers and students as the utilize
technology resources provided by the district, expenses for this is already
within the budget for existing staff.
Analyzing the district STaR chart, additional staff development will be
defined to increase technology skills being applied with the classroom.
The training for the design of
the teacher website will improve teacher, student and parent
communication. Productivity will
increase because the teacher can learn how to post homework assignments and
upcoming events on the website.
3. How did the strategies defined meet the proposed
objectives?
Currently the goals I have established within my current
plan will improve the productivity of the teachers and the technology support
staff. When training is completed
the teachers and staff will be able to focus more on the implementation of
technology application within their classes. Furnishing time to assist the teachers in setting up their
websites and learning how to maintain them will also help them to model for the
students the use of technology in communication.
Works Cited
Bryan ISD. (2011). Bryan Independent School District
Technology Plan 2011-2014. Bryan ISD, Technology Service Center. bryan: BISD.
ISTE NETs. (2012). Retrieved March 31, 2012, from
International Society for Technology In Education:
http://www.iste.org/standards.aspx
Our district is planning on becoming a bring your own device district next year. How effective do you feel it is? Do you feel that the kids take advantage of having their devices? Or is it a beneficial program?
ReplyDeleteCurrently when I am using the bring your own device expectation, the most important part of this is for the device to be visible to the teacher to make sure that it is not being used inappropriately.
DeleteWhen we need to use their cellphones for a task, I ask the students to put the phones on the corner of their desk until it is time for them to use it for the responses or for taking photos of the lab we are working on. I really prefer this over the use of Classroom Response Systems. I always have glitches with these or the kids have problems with the activity, but they know their cellphones very well and how to text in info and other features of their phones. When their time is up for using the devices, we do a quick check by again placing the phones on their desks, then putting them up while I supervise. My students really like being able to use their phones and they don't want to lose the privilege so I haven't had any problems with them.
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteMy campus has discussed becoming a Bring Your Own Device campus. I am also interested in knowing how that is working out. One article says “[t]he hope is to improve students’ problem solving and critical thinking through the use of technology” (Senders, 2012). I believe it would be a great idea and open many doors with technology.
Cara
Reference:
Senders, J. (2012, January 19). Schools to pilot bring your own device program. Retrieved from http://www.wickedlocal.com/reading/news/x1674229923/Schools-to-pilot-Bring-Your-Own-Device-program#axzz1sLcMgloy
Cara,
DeleteCurrently when I am using the bring your own device expectation, the most important part of this is for the device to be visible to the teacher to make sure that it is not being used inappropriately.
When we need to use their cellphones for a task, I ask the students to put the phones on the corner of their desk until it is time for them to use it for the responses or for taking photos of the lab we are working on. I really prefer this over the use of Classroom Response Systems. I always have glitches with these or the kids have problems with the activity, but they know their cellphones very well and how to text in info and other features of their phones. When their time is up for using the devices, we do a quick check by again placing the phones on their desks, then putting them up while I supervise. My students really like being able to use their phones and they don't want to lose the privilege so I haven't had any problems with them.
I see that your district uses the Texas STaR chart to help guide their technology planning. Has you district adopted the ISTE NETS? I'm interested to see how many school districts have adopted these standards since they "were intended to influence university preparation programs, district/state policies, and inservice professional development in the field".
ReplyDeleteWilliamson, Jo; Redish, Traci (2009-02-01). ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards: What Every K-12 Leader Should Know and Be Able to Do (Kindle Locations 390-391). International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Kindle Edition.
Currently, no it hasn't. Most of the technology requirements that our district is based on the needs for the classroom teachers from the TEKS for technology and also based on the NCLB guidelines.
DeleteDeborah
ReplyDeleteDoes the plan include when to replace old computers? (Such as, replacing computers after they reach 6 years old?) This important consideration seems to get missed often when districts make their technology plan. "A sustainable technology practice means not purchasing more technology than a school can regularly maintain, upgrade, and replace... Computers much more than five years old become unreliable. If we’re going to replace our computers every five years, we need to purchase 20 percent of them new each year. Therefore, our annual computer budget needs to be .20 replacement rate x [number of computers] x $1,000—this year and every year from now on. If you don’t maintain the technology, you get unreliable computers that teachers won’t use." (Johnson, 2011)
Reference: Stretching Your Technology Technology Dollar.Full Text Available By: Johnson, Doug. Educational Leadership, December 2011, Vol. 69 Issue 4, p30-33
Currently within the plan is the replacement of teacher computers every five years and the student laptops are being replaced every six years. The student laptops are only being replaced with about half as laptops and the other half as iPads. Mainly because the iPads are cheaper to purchase. The technology department has discovered that they can replace one laptop with two iPads.
Delete