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 For some reason my navigation buttons don't work after conversion.  Crosby ISD Technology Plan

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National Educational Technology Plan

The National Educational Technology Plan is an extensive plan that outlines how and why the educational system in the United States needs to change. 

The plan has five main goals. The first goal is titled “Learning: Engage and Empower” (U.S. Dept. of Education, pg. xvi).  The point of this goal is to engage learners in and out of school and empower them to be active participants in our society.  The second goal, “Assessment: Measure What Matters” is about making continued improvements in the way that technology is used in education (U.S. Dept. of Education, pg. xvii).  The third goal, “Teaching: Prepare and Connect” focuses on educators and creating resources to enable and inspire creative teaching with technology (U.S. Dept. of Education, pg. xvii).  The fourth goal, “Infrastructure: Access and Enable” focuses on creating an infrastructure that will make it possible for students and teachers to connect with technology (U.S. Dept. of Education, pg. xix). Goal five is “Productivity: Redesign and Transform”.  This goal is about changing the educational system at all levels to use technology in way that makes efficient use of time, money and staff (U.S. Dept. of Education, pg. xx).

The plan explains that learners need to be given more options on how and what they learn.  It explains that there are core standards and competencies that all students must learn, but beyond those there must be more options.  The technology that is available to students in their free time has had an impact on the way they think and learn.  The education system must be able to make adjustments in order to capture the attention of the students.

The plan explains that teachers must be prepared to use new technology tools in the classroom.  Ongoing professional development needs to be available in order for teachers to be effective in this rapid climate of change.

The plan says that funding is an issue.  It also says that the time for change is now.  I think that if the government wants a complete overhaul of our educational system to be complete by 2020, then they need to make education a priority in the budget.  As much funds as possible need to be funneled into education to ensure that these changes will happen.  Unfortunately, our government expects rapid change without financially investing enough for this to happen.  I think this will lead to a lopsided change in education.  Some schools will manage to make the necessary improvement, but others will fall short of the mark.

U.S Department of Education. (2010, Novermber). National Education Technology Plan. 2010. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf

Week 2 Web Conference

I attended the week 2 web conference for EDLD 5306 on Thursday, January 26, 2012.  The instructor gave us a lot of useful information.  I found some of it to be overwhelming, but there are eighteen months to do it all.

The internship information was the part that I was most interested in learning about.  All of my questions were answered during the conference, so I feel much more confident about this area. 

She explained the rotation of courses, which made me wonder how I will be affected by missing a couple of courses when I have my baby this summer.  This concern was promptly addressed, and I now know that I will continue with whatever course is currently being taught and will have to wait for the rotation to get back to the courses that I will be missing.

Since the conference, I have been trying to make some contacts at Crosby ISD to find a mentor.  At this time it looks like it will either be the instructional technology coordinator or the high school principal.

Crosby ISD Technology Plan

Crosby ISD has an extensive extremely detailed technology plan.  The plan is reviewed every year and updated as needed.  The plan has four broad goals.  The first goal is “Infrastructure for Technology: Enhance the quality of instruction through district wide implementation of industry standard technology hardware and software as an integral part of the learning environment.” (Crosby, 2).  The second goal is “Crosby ISD will utilize technology as an integral part of instruction to improve student learning and achievement across the curriculum.” (Crosby, 5).  The third goal is “Educator Preparation: Crosby ISD will provide high quality, on-going staff development and support.” (Crosby, 8)  The fourth goal is “Administrative and Support Services.” (Crosby, 11) 

This last goal is about the role that the administration and support staff will have in making all the previous goals possible.  They have the responsibility of working on the budget, assessing STaR charts, evaluating the district’s progress, and building community support.  The bulk of these responsibilities are assigned to the director of information systems, instructional technology coordinator, and campus principals.

The strategies that are used to reach the goals seem to include every possible step that must be taken in order successfully reach the goals.  There are so many strategies that I feel I cannot adequately describe them in this forum.  I think that this is an extremely detailed plan that is well thought out and will leave no doubt about the progress the school is making.

The professional development opportunities include on-site training, on demand on-line training, distance learning, and training seminars at federal, state and local levels.  The director of information systems and the instructional technology coordinator share responsibilities of overseeing professional development.  The financial resources are available, but time resources are currently stretched to the limit.  The time issue can be worked out by either hiring more instructional technologists that are not also classroom teachers or by completing other areas of the technology plan, so the instructional technology coordinator is not as busy.

The telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services are continually monitored.  There is also an annual computer replacement schedule in place that replaces twenty percent of the computer inventory every year.  There is also a working plan that increases the number of computers by a small percentage each year, in order to reach the ideal student to computer ratio with expectations of growth. 

Currently a technology planning committee meets annually to review and update the technology plan. They evaluate using the STaR chart and informal surveys.  Regular meetings are planned to keep administrators informed of progress, but there is no plan in place to make mid-course corrections.

Crosby ISD has taken the time to develop a thorough technology plan.  The plan answers almost any question that could be asked.  The only improvements that I think the plan needs are a more clearly explained budget statement and a plan for quick changes as new developments arise.

Reference

Crosby ISD. (2011, September 19). Website:  http://www.crosbyisd.org/technology/e
plan/eplan2012-2014.pdf

Technology Assessment Systems

Assessing the knowledge and skills of leaders and students is very important, because it helps schools identify areas of weakness.  This can help schools focus their improvement efforts on the areas that are in the most need.

I do not think that the current assessment systems are the most effective way to help schools.  The STaR chart is filled out by campus leaders.  The results can be skewed by biased leaders.  If a leader does not place a high priority on technology integration, then the STaR chart could have a higher score, because the person filling it out thinks that things are good enough.  If the leader places a high value on technology integration and is frustrated by the slow progress, then they may put lower scores on the STaR chart even though their school may actually be progressing well.  Even leaders that try to fill out the chart based on how well the school is progressing with its own technology plan can get inaccurate results.  The school may have an overambitious plan that can leave a leader thinking that their school is not making adequate progress.

I think our state has done a good job at trying to get everyone to follow a specific set of standards, but the assessment system needs to be revamped.  If the system were working properly, then you should see a steady improvement in STaR chart reports for individual campuses.  The STaR chart for my school shows very little improvement in the last three years.  It even shows some areas where the scores have decreased.  I know that steps are being taken to improve technology integration, but there has been a change in administration.   I think the change in leadership may have more to do with the lack of improvement in the STaR chart rather than the lack of progress.

References

Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. (2009, April 1). Website:  http://starchart2.epsile
n.com/campusSearchlist.aspx?foryear=20082009&district=Crosby&campus=Drew%20Intermediate

Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. (2010, March 10). Website:  http://starchart2.ep
silen.com/campusSearchlist.aspx?foryear=20092010&district=Crosby&campus=Drew%20Intermediate

Texas Campus STaR Chart Summary. (2010, November 18). Website: http://starchart
2.epsilen.com/campusSearchlist.aspx?foryear=20102011&district=Crosby&campus=Drew%20Intermediate