School Technology Plan

1. School Technology Plan By: Kelly Rainwater ITEC 7410 Fall 2013

2. Objective: • Discuss the technology vision will drive the focus of technology use at Daniell Middle School • Explain why this is the best direction for the school in the future • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats • Describe the current reality of technology at our school • Explain why the proposed plan and how it will be effective

3. Why is this the best direction for our school? • Daniell Middle School strives to prepare students to be successful in high school and higher education • Technology is the way for students to be successful in the 21st century work place • Students will achieve higher order thinking skills and become more invested in their own learning • Daniell Middle will create a shared vision for technology • Through professional development, students will gain the skills and confidence to use technology regularly in the classroom • Technology use to create real-world situation through real-world application • Creates an instructional environment that promotes engaged learning

4. Best direction cont. • Creating a shared vision that focuses on the school, teachers and students • Use procession development to practice using the technology in classroom to encourage successful usage (Potter and Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012, p.23). • Encourage collaboration between teachers to develop lesson plans that support the standards and digital age learning • Students will become more invested in their learning by being able to analyze and evaluate their work (Hopson and Snezek, 2001, p. 117) • By creating a shared vision that focuses on supporting teachers and students, Daniell will achieve their focus of preparing students for high school success

5. Current Reality • Data was gathered about the current reality at Daniell Middle School through a technology survey completed by the staff • Focused on: • General technology use • Specific technology use • Opinions and attitudes toward technology • Areas of improvement and technical needs

6. Strengths • Daniell Middle School aligns with the Cobb County Technology Plan in order to be competitive with the other schools in the district • Teachers are provided with many technology tools and feel comfortable using the basic technologies on a daily basis • Word processor, projection screens, and internet search engines • There is a shared agreement that technology is a growing trend that is here to stay • Daniell has many computer labs that available and portable laptop carts • Teachers agree that technology is an important aspect to teach content standards

7. Weaknesses • Technology at the school is often unavailable or the technology is not working properly • Technology is not viewed as essential due to the fact that there is inconsistence with the amount of technology available for students outside of school • There is not enough time to practice the new technology skills in order to successfully implemented into the classroom • Lack of support in the building to fix technology problems when they arise • Students do not know how to use basic computer software programs

8. Opportunities • Incorporate technology into the current School’s Strategic Plan • Incorporate the increase in differentiation and flexible grouping through technology to support current goals • Use grants and Title II funds to help develop the skills to support the staff in learning the necessary skills and improve CRCT scores

9. Threats • Teachers lack the skills necessary to use technology in a higher capacity • Due to a lack of technology goals in the School’s Strategic Plan, there is not a set plan on how technology use can grow • A lack of unusable technology will frustrate teachers and make them not want to incorporate technology in the future • Families may not have access to technology in the home which causes teachers not to use it as much because everything must be completed at school • Teachers are often unengaged during profession learning • Many teachers do not know that technology standards exist

10. Why the proposed action will be successful • Teachers will develop the skills necessary to use available technology effectively in the classroom and create a technology rich learning environment • Through professional development that focus on implementing a technology rich learning environment • A technology support system with mentor teachers • Teachers use web based programs to promote the development of higher order thinking skills and problem solving abilities in connection with the Common Core/ GPS • Professional development classes to support a more advance use of technology rather than drill and kill • Teachers will collaborate to support implementation of web based programs

11. Cont. • The school technology leaders and administration will create a technology committee to help create a shared vision for technology that support the schools’ strategic plan and enhance students learning • Conduct meetings once a month • Develop a technology support system • Observe teacher implementing technology integrated strategies that support the schools’ strategic plan

12. I hope you found this presentation helpful and useful. • Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this technology plan. • Thank You! • Kelly Rainwater

13. References • Hopson, M., Simms, R. and Knezek, G. (2002). Using a technology-enriched environment to improve higher- order thinking skills. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34 (2), pp. 109--120. • Potter, S. and Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. (2012). Technology integration for instructional improvement: The impact of professional development. Performance Improvement, 51 (2), pp. 22--27. • School Technology Survey • Daniell Middle School Strategic Plan