EdTech 501 Tech Use Plan

1. An overview
TECHNOLOGY USE PLAN

2. RATIONALE
 “The idea of technology planning should be
an attempt to be proactive instead of reactive
to the situations created by technology
planning” (Anderson, 1999)
 A technology plan is meant to be a catalyst
for change in the responsible use of
technology in the 21st century classroom.
 Without a well thought out plan in
place, technology will not be an effective tool
to help students.

3. PLANNING TEAM
 When picking a team to write a technology plan, it
is essential to involve all the stakeholders, not
just the obvious ones. A selection of possible
members is provided below.
 Students  Human resources
 Teachers personnel
 Administrators (dept.  Librarians
heads, principles, super  Technology trainers
intendent)
 Parents
 Technology Coordinator
 Software developers
 IS and IT Specialists
 Web master

4. PROCESS-STEP 1
 Convene a planning committee to review the
current school improvement plan and
research the district needs in relation to
instructional technology
 Include a variety of interested parties not limited
to those in the school building
 Garner the support of administrators and key
teachers

5. PROCESS-STEP 2
 Educate team members on how students
learn, what skills students will need in the
workplace, and how technology can be used
to improve student learning
 Read current research
 Get input from educators and community
members
 Investigate current facilities, cost of technology
and professional development opportunities for
staff and students

6. PROCESS-STEP 3
 Develop a vision statement that describes
the role of instructional technology in the
school district for the future
A vision means an image of what the school can
and should become. It is deeply embedded in
values, hopes, and dreams.
A mission statement is more specific and often
defines what the school is trying to accomplish
and for whom. It can be developed from the
vision itself. (November & Staudt, 1996)

7. PROCESS-STEP 4
 DataAnalysis: use data to determine the
current status of educational technology in
the district, the needs of your
stakeholders, etc.
 School Report Cards
 Teacher Needs Assessment Survey
 Student Needs Assessment Survey
 Open meetings
 Past technology inventories

8. PROCESS-STEP 5
 Establishclear goals and strategies to
accomplish those goals
 Include:
 Description of the goal
 Strategies to accomplish the goal
 Activities to accomplish the goal
 Budget (cost and funding source)
 Time Frame (start and finish dates)
 Person Responsible

9. PROCESS-STEP 6
 Staff development
 Help teachers become comfortable with the technology
through professional development
 Courses, workshops, graduate programs
 Give teachers the time and resources to devise ways to
use the technology in their classrooms
 On-site support
 On-line support
 Focus on curriculum, instruction and collaboration not a
“show and tell” of technology
 Technology should be used to further student learning not
as glitz and glam

10. PROCESS-STEP 7
 Evaluation
 Continuous process necessary to determine
effectiveness of the technology plan
 Each step should have an evaluation component
 Decisions can be made based on data from the
evaluation

11. VISION STATEMENT
 Develop a vision statement that supports
“meaningful, engaged learning for all students, outline
the district's learning goals for placing technology in the
hands of educators and students, and support the
curricular goals of the school” (November &
Staudt, 1996)
 Consider the following questions (Anderson, 1999):
 What will our work area(s) of the future look like and include?
 How will technology be infused with daily instruction and
activities?
 How should the community be involved?
 What kinds of skills, competencies, and attitudes must be
nurtured for technology infusion to be successful?
 What hopes do we have for ensuring that all members receive

12. SAMPLE VISION STATEMENT
 Takenfrom the Poway High School Technology
Use Plan, 2005-2008
Poway High School recognizes that the use of
technology plays an important role in
improving the quality of instruction and is a
tool for the entire learning community.
Students graduating from Poway High School
must possess the knowledge, skills, and
attitudes necessary to succeed in an
increasingly complex, global, information-
based society.

13. PLAN GOALS/OBJECTIVES
 Create plan goals or objectives that relate to:
 Infrastructure
 Hardware
 Technology Support
 Software
 Proposed Technology Needs
 Technology Integration
 Staff Training & Professional Development
 Community Involvement
 Curriculum and Instruction (use NETS·T and
NETS·S)

14. SAMPLE PLAN GOALS/OBJECTIVES
The following goals were taken from the Poway High School
Technology Use Plan 2005-2008:
 Goal 1-Student learning: Students will enrich their educational experience by
using technology as a tool for effective communication, personal productivity, and lifelong
learning. Students will acquire technology skills that meet Levels I-II as defined in the
CTAP proficiency standards.
 Goal 2-Powerful teaching: Utilize technology for teaching and learning through
out the entire learning community, to build awareness and understanding of varied
teaching methodologies, and to publish best practices and student and staff
accomplishments. Teachers will acquire technology skills that meet Levels I-III of the
CTAP proficiency standards.
 Goal 3-School-to-Community connections: The learning community will
utilize technology to increase the connection between school and community through the
sending and receiving of information.
 Goal 4-Technology Training for the Learning Community: Develop and
implement opportunities for technology-training for the entire learning community to
increase productivity, efficiency and communication.

15. SAMPLE PLAN GOALS/OBJECTIVES
The following goal was taken from the Northfield Township High
School District 225 2006-2009 Technology Plan:
 Description: Upgrade the district website to better communicate
district, teacher, and community information to the citizens of
Northfield Township High School District 225.
 Gap: Both parents and teachers have expressed in meetings that
access to up-to-date and accurate school information, and an
increased presence of teachers on the district website were
needed.
 Strategy: Redesign the look and navigation features to make the
website more user friendly and accessible to the community.
 Activity 1: Policies and Guidelines
 Activity 2: Website Design
 Activity 3: Teacher Website Development
 Activity 4: Infrastructure Analysis

16. SAMPLE PLAN GOALS/OBJECTIVES
The following goal was taken from the Northfield Township High
School District 225 2006-2009 Technology Plan:
 Description: Provide timely and accurate help and support to all district staff in
the application of technology in support of their job function.
 Gap: A study performed by outside consultants found that users were widely
dissatisfied with the quality of technical support and the communication of
progress/resolution of issues. Each campus operated independently resulting in
solutions to similar problems being re-created in each campus. Tracking of
issues in each campus was accomplished through different systems that were
inconsistently used.
 Strategy: Provide readily available support to all staff for technical issues.
Assign support assistance as appropriate for problem resolution. Track support
incidents for assessing efficiency. Analyze support incident responses for
planning purposes.
 Activity 1: Help desk tracking system
 Activity 2: Help desk process and staffing
 Activity 3: Communications

17. NEEDS ASSESSMENT
 Areas that may be addressed:
 Hardware
 Software
 Training Needs
 Current level of expertise
 How technology is currently being used to
enhance student learning
 Sample Needs Assessment

18. STAFF DEVELOPMENT (BLAKESLEY, 2010)
 Adequate staff development is provided for teacher understanding of the new
technology. The individuals providing the training are available for follow-up and
questions. Availability may be by phone or in person. Make sure adequate
training time is provided for the trainers to teach the entire new technology
programs.
 All teachers attending the training sessions have access to the technology they
learned.
 Use teachers who understand technology to help others.
 Ensure the training is connected to the current classroom curriculum with the
ability to reform current practices for technological advancement. Encourage
staff involvement in using the new technology within their classrooms.
 All staff members are required to attend the training, it's not voluntary. This
includes all administrators.
 Administrators need to build time into the teachers work schedules for
technology practicing.
 A solid technology plan should have an on-site technology support staff, access
to adequate hardware and software utilized by the educational system.

19. STAFF DEVELOPMENT RESULTS (MCKENZIE 2001)
 Asa result of staff development, students should
be able to...
 read, reason and write more powerfully
 communicate productively with members of a global
community
 conduct thoughtful research into the important
questions, choices and issues of their times
 make sense of a confusing world and a swelling tide
of information
 perform well on the new, more demanding state
tests requiring inferential reasoning

20. STAFF DEVELOPMENT IDEAS
 Individual Development Plans
 Study Groups
 Coursework at the schools
 Curriculum Development Teams
 Technology Coaches and Mentors
 Informal Support Groups and Support Staffing
 Help Lines
 School visits
 Work Place Visits
 Conferences
 Online Learning

21. EVALUATION/RESEARCH
 Research before beginning the technology plan:
 Demographics
 Computer use in and out of the school
 Evaluation to determine success and completion
of goals of the technology plan:
 Teacher Surveys
 Student Surveys
 Review Help Desk logs
 Review infrastructure traffic and patterns
 Open meetings

22. TIMELINE
 The plan should be completed over a one year
period.
 The committee should be formed and surveys
created in the fourth quarter of the school year to
be distributed in the first quarter of the following
school year.
 Over the summer, community members should
be contacted and current technology evaluated.
 Evaluation of the plan should happen at all steps
along the way during the 4 year implementation
of the plan.

23. REFERENCES
----. (2005, June 13). Poway High School Technology Use Plan 2005-2008. Poway Unified
School District. Retrieved July 08, 2010, from
http://www.powayusd.com/pusdphs/CAMPUS/Tech_Use_Plan_2005-2008.pdf
----. (2006, June 25). District 225 Technology Plan for FY 2006-2009. Glenbrook High
Schools. Retrieved July 08, 2010, from
http://www.glenbrook225.org/informationservices/Documents/TechPlan/DistTechPlan.pdf
Anderson, L. (1999). Guidebook for Developing an Effective instructional Technology Plan.
National Center for Technology Planning. Retrieved July 07, 2010, from
http://edtech.mrooms.org/file.php/145/Guidebook35.pdf
Blakesley, K. (2010, March 24). Developing a Solid Educational Technology Plan. Associated
Content from Yahoo. Retrieved July 08, 2010, from
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2818548/developing_a_solid_educational_tech
nology_pg2.html?cat=4
McKenzie, J. (2001, March). How Teachers Learn Technology Best. From Now On The
Educational Technology Journal. Retrieved July 09, 2010, from
http://fno.org/mar01/howlearn.html
November, A., & Staudt, C. (1996). Critical Issue: Developing a School or District Technology
Plan. North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Retrieved July 07, 2010, from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te300.htm