Developing Effective Technology Plans
By: John See
Effective technology plans for schools are short term, not long term. Five-year plans are too long. Technology is changing so fast that it is almost impossible to plan what type of technology will be available for use five years from now. Even one-year plans may be about as far ahead as we now can effectively plan for specific purchases of certain types or brands of equipment. Perhaps, technology plans should be divided into phases, not years.
If you do develop a long-term plan, tie it to your school's budget cycle. Pull the plan out every year during the budget process and review it to make sure you have not tied yourself into buying outdated equipment. Do not let a technology plan lock you into old technology and applications just because it says so in the plan. Newer, more powerful, lower cost technology may be available to replace what you have specified in your plan.
Effective technology plans focus on applications, not technology. In other words, make your technology plan output based, not input based. Develop a plan that specifies what you want your students, staff, and administration to be able to do with technology and let those outcomes determine the types and amount of technology you will need.
Effective technology plans go beyond enhancing the curriculum. Don't buy technology to teach about technology. We better be able to do more than enhance existing instruction with new instructional technology. Do you really want to spend a lot of money to put in a computer in order to teach computer literacy? Do you really want to spend thousands of dollars to teach students how a computer works? Do you really want to spend thousands of dollars for machines that will only be used for keyboarding? Why do we need a computer to teach keyboarding anyway? Why make high-powered technology available to students and staff and then not let them use it to increase personal productivity because the computers are always scheduled to teach keyboarding or low-level drill and practice games?
I agree that we need to teach keyboarding skills. Keyboarding is a basic skill now, but it is a temporary one at best. Spending thousands of dollars to teach about technology at the expense of using technology for more powerful tasks seems to be a waste of money.
Remember that the real question is, "What applications of technology are available that will help our students, staff, and administration work smarter, not harder?" What do you really want to use technology for: teacher/student productivity, management of instruction, or curriculum applications? Maybe all three areas are appropriate at the same time.
Effective technology plans define technology as more than computers. Many technology plans only deal with computers, but there are many types of technology available that have appropriate uses in education. Include as many types of technology in your plan as possible.
Effective technology plan stress integration of technology into the curriculum. Effective technology plans help teachers answer the question we have all heard before, "What do I have to stop teaching to teach about the computer?" The answer to that question is, "What are you teaching now that you can teach more effectively and efficiently with this tool?" And the answer applies to all curriculum areas. Technical applications must be taught as part of an existing subject so students understand how technology can be a tool that makes them a more productive and powerful person.
It is also important not to develop technology learner outcomes in isolation from other subject areas. Technology outcomes must be included in every subject curriculum revision cycle. It must be a cooperative joint effort.
Effective technology plans are tied to staff development plans. Technology plans that are not tied to long-term staff development are destined for failure. We need to think of staff development in technology as a circle. Around the outside of the circle are the words Awareness, Application, Integration, and Refinement. Staff development must put people through each of those phases. First, teachers must become aware of the technology that is available for them to use. That's the awareness part, and that's where we traditionally stop. We need to take them to the next steps and show them applications that they can use in their classrooms to help them work smarter, not harder. We need to show them the applications that they can use with kids to help students become learners and thinkers, not just learned.
When teachers are aware of the types of technology and applications available, we can begin to show them how to integrate technology into the curriculum, to help them teach what they are teaching now, only more efficiently and effectively.
We need to help teachers refine their use of technology. They must reach the point where they start to ask the question, "If all these technical applications are available and I can use them to help me teach, maybe I can use them to help me change what I teach and how I teach it." That's refinement, and that's part of technology's role in restructuring schools.
Effective technology plans make technology part of the daily cost of doing business. The most common questions about integrating technology into the curriculum are, "Where are we going to get the money?" and "Where am I going to get the time?" The money and time to start are available now.
Look at money first. It's really a question of available resources, and I think there are some resources available now. We need to examine what we are spending resources on now and look at more effective ways to use the dollars.
Part of the cost of doing business will also include finding the funds for a building-level support person that has a schedule flexible enough so they can go to meetings or conferences and find out what is going on in the world. They will need the time to learn, grow and become a powerful person, but, more importantly, they will have to share what they find out with teachers so they can become powerful, too.
As far as time goes, I think the time is there to start as well. I know that schools have to take some responsibility for providing staff development, but, ultimately, each person is responsible for their own personal and professional growth.
I don't know where all the money and time is going to come from, but I do think there are enough of both available to start making a difference in what we are doing to, for and with kids.
Effective technology plans have critical attributes based upon research. A recent survey of Minnesota schools conducted by the Instructional Design Section of the Minnesota Department of Education found that there were four critical attributes to successful use of computers by teachers. They are:
* On-site technical support
* Access to adequate hardware
* Access to appropriate types, and amounts, of software
* Long-term, sustained staff development
Effective technology plans are developed by the staff members who will implement the plan. It makes even more sense to me to have a plan that allows for the purchase of technology based upon funding proposals submitted by teachers who wish to use the technology or try something new.
Maybe technology funds are best spent on technology that people are going to use effectively, rather than buying something because a plan said so. Those kinds of purchases end up sitting in the back of the room gathering dust because no one really wanted it anyway. One teacher turned on to a technical application will become your best trainer and sales person. Why not fund initiative, effectiveness, and success?
Effective technology plans focus on a vision. Develop a vision for the future and focus on that vision. Pick out what you can do right now to help your school move toward making that vision come true. It is time to begin taking advantage of the power of the tools we have available. Time to use technology is one of the tools we have available to help us begin restructuring our schools and make the dreams we all had once finally come true. If you start now, taking one step at a time, you will be amazed how far you went when you look back five years from now.
John See is technology integration specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education. This article is courtesy of the National Center for Technology Planning.
Sidebar
Planning for Security Technology
Considering the recent events at Virginia Tech, no school can take security for granted. Many schools and universities were already taking proactive steps to ensure the physical security of their campuses. Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, is already well ahead of the curve in terms of ensuring the safety of its staff and students, as well as giving parents the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their children are in the safest campus possible.
Established in 1960, Duchesne Academy offers a college-preparatory curriculum for girls from Pre K through 12th grade and is part of the Network of Sacred Heart Schools. The campus contains two main classroom buildings, a fine arts building and theatre, tennis courts, sports fields, and a chapel.
From the beginning, John Bowles, director of facilities, wanted to take proactive steps in ensuring the security of the campus. One of the most important focuses of the Duchesne security system is the careful monitoring of entrances to the campus, as well as main entrances to the classroom buildings and administrative buildings.
To that end, Duchesne took great care in planning their implementation, especially in terms of camera placement. Each of the three entrances to the campus has at least one security camera. In addition, there are six interior cameras focused on building entrances and five exterior cameras focused on high-traffic areas within the campus. A 24-hour guard service monitors all cameras. Bowles and the school's director of finance and operations also have access to live and recorded video using the school network. The mere presence of the security cameras acts as a strong deterrent.
The importance of camera placement in any installation cannot be emphasized enough. However, the selection of the recording devices and software is of equal importance. Duchesne selected digital video surveillance software from Houston-based Video Insight because it delivered the required functionality at an affordable price. With the Video Insight Network Client, security guards, facilities and administrative personnel can view live and recorded video from anywhere on the school network. The server itself with the video recording history resides in a secured school server room.
owles plans to add more cameras specifically to view the Duchesne parking lots. Duchesne continues to place the highest priority on safety and security for their staff and students.
