ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY



Name: Christa Mariakis Mathis Semester: Summer 2016ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: Effective Instructional Uses of Technology Embedded in Standards-Based,Student-Centered Learning ISTE Definition: Use of information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate engaging approaches to learning.Guiding Questions: How is technology being used in our school? How frequently is it being used? By whom? For what purposes? To what extent is student technology use targeted toward student achievement of the Georgia Learning Standards (GPSs, CCSs)?To what extent is student technology use aligned to research-based, best practices that are most likely to support student engagement, deep understanding of content, and transfer of knowledge? Is day-to-day instruction aligned to research-based best practices? StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsOur biggest technology that is used in the school is our Canvas account. LMS system. This LMS allows for teachers to teach students in a blended classroom. It also allows for teachers to put up assignments for students who have missed days. These students can access the LMS from home and not be behind in class when they return. With the school going 1:1 next year, this LMS will be used almost daily by every teacher. This will optimize learning time for the student and will give them something to go back and review for their exam. With this being online, students are not just sitting behind a desk and taking notes. Students are engaged and excited to learn. Canvas has many weaknesses. One weakness is that it requires wifi. With a school of 1800 students and 150 personnel using the wifi at once can cause problems. Many times last year, the servers crashed and the school lost wifi for a couple of minutes to an hour. This can be stressful for both students and teacher who are trying to give instruction. Canvas is also new and is always coming out with updates. Even though these updates make it better, tying to fine the new place to add assignments can be frustrating. Students also have a hard time learning the system. There is so many things for students to do, they tend to get lost in the system. Canvas has an opportunity to change how our school teaches for the better. We could eliminate snow days because students can access the content online. We could not miss instruction time just because the school day is over. Students can catch up on work and even chat with their teacher after school hours for extra help. Canvas provides many opportunities to help both the student and the teacher. With our school going 1:1 next year, each class will be getting their own wifi hub so there should not be any server crashes. Canvas is password protected by both the school district and the student. Each student has their own login and password. This gives them privacy to their grades. The school provided these passwords and logins which is the same form for the students. A student could figure out another student’s login and password if they knew the correct information about that student. We have already had “break-ins” to students’ accounts. These “hackers” have sent messages to teachers and other students pretending to be someone else. Summary/Gap Analysis: Canvas is a great tool to be used in the classroom. Teachers can use the tool to help students achieve their goals in the classroom. One of the major things that need to be done better with the implementation of the tool is to increase the wifi connection within the school. With the students having their own 1:1 device next year, the opportunities that will be available to the students will double and allow them to be more creative with their projects and assessments. Once we are able to correct the password hacking, Canvas will have little to no downfalls. Data Sources: Observation, Teacher Reports/Communication, Personal ExperienceESSENTIAL CONDITION TWO: Shared VisionISTE Definition: Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among school personnel, students, parents, and the community. Guiding Questions: Is there an official vision for technology use in the district/school? Is it aligned to research-best practices? Is it aligned to state and national visions? Are teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members aware of the vision? To what extent do teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members have a vision for how technology can be used to enhance student learning? What do they believe about technology and what types of technology uses we should encourage in the future? Are their visions similar or different? To what extent are their beliefs about these ideal, preferred technology uses in the future aligned to research and best practice? To what extent do educators view technology as critical for improving student achievement of the GPS/CCSs? To preparing tomorrow’s workforce? For motivating digital-age learners? What strategies have been deployed to date to create a research-based shared vision? What needs to be done to achieve broad-scale adoption of a research-based vision for technology use that is likely to lead to improved student achievement? Explain how will you advocate for a solution.StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsTeachers are notified when there is a technology change within the system.Administrators are included in the decision making of the technology visions of the system. They do see the importance of technology and how it can improve student’s learning. Many teachers are not able to put their input into the vision statement for the school. Only a select few are able to be on specific committees for technology within the school. Parents/ community members are not aware of the technology decisions being made until it is posted in a board meeting or in a newsletter.By sending out a simple survey before decisions are made, might provide insight into how teachers are feeling about a new technology change. Parents/ community members should be allowed to sit in on technology meetings so they will know what is happening within the school system. Because there are so many teachers within the school, they all might not take the time to complete the surveys. This could skew the data for the “whole” school. If only a few teachers respond, not everyone will have their thoughts heard. Summary/Gap Analysis: Teachers need ore involvement in technology planning. Not all teachers think the same on technology so there should be a survey sent out taking a poll of what would be best for the school. Teacher will have a chance to voice their opinion. The only problem would be that some teachers might not participate so the data would not show the full thought from all teachers. The vision should be something that everyone can agree on. Data Sources: Observation, Teacher Communication, Personal Experience, District WebsiteESSENTIAL CONDITION THREE: Planning for Technology ISTE Definition: A systematic plan aligned with a shared vision for school effectiveness and student learning through the infusion of ICT and digital learning resources. Guiding Questions: Is there an adequate plan to guide technology use in your school? (either at the district or school level? Integrated into SIP?) What should be done to strengthen planning? In what ways does your school address the needs of diverse populations in the school or district to include how race, gender, socio-economic, and geographic diversity giving consideration to how these factors commonly affect K-12 students’ access to school and beyond-school access to high-speed Internet, modern computing devices, software, knowledgeable technology mentors, culturally-relevant digital content, and other affordances critical to technology literacy acquisition.StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsThe school has a 4-year plan. This plan will help provide students with the technology they need to be successful within the school. The 4-year plan will end at the end of 2016 which will call for a new plan to be created. There has not been talk about a new plan in the makings but will need to include the 1:1 implementation. Not all teachers look to the technology plan for guidance and not many teachers even know we have a technology plan. The major thing that can happen is the school create a new technology plan. This plan needs to have a layout for all students (low SES, race and gender).Creating a new technology plan will call for new ideas to be created. We need to make sure that the people who are creating the technology vision are experienced in technology and have a good background in technology making.Summary/Gap Analysis: The school needs to create a new technology plan. The plan needs to include sections about the 1:1 implementation and also the needs of the diverse populations within the school. Teachers need to be more involved with the creating of the technology plan. They also need to use it to guide them in their use of technology in their classrooms. The teachers and leaders who create the new technology plan need to be well trained in the technology and have a good background in technology. Data Sources: District Website, 4-Year Technology Plan, ObservationsESSENTIAL CONDITION FOUR: Equitable Access (Specifically address low SES and gender groups – ie. females.)ISTE Definition: Robust and reliable access to current and emerging technologies and digital resources.Guiding Questions: To what extent do students, teachers, administrators, and parents have access to computers and digital resources necessary to support engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning? To what extent is technology arrange/distributed to maximize access for engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning? What tools are needed and why? How will you advocate in regard to digital equity issues among low SES and gender groups (ie. females)? Do students/parents/community need/have beyond school access to support the shared vision for learning? StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsAll students and teachers have access to technology within the school. All students will have their own devices while teachers have a dedicated laptop or Surface Pro. The school also has 8 iPad charts and 4 laptop carts for classroom use. Not all students have access to the internet outside of school. Low SES students might not even can afford a taxi to the local Library. Not all the technology carts are being used in the classroom. Work with a local internet provider to get free or discounted internet for our Low SES students. Provide time after school for students to stay and use the school network to complete homework and assignments. Some students might not take the help. This will make the technology less effective because students will not be using it for their homework and will not get full use out of the technology. Summary/Gap Analysis: Students will have their own device to use. They can use the device inside and outside of school. Because not all students have access to internet outside of school, we need to form a partnership with the local internet provider to offer free or reduced internet for our low SES students. The school will need to provide time after school for students to use the internet. This will allow them to complete their assignments on a stable connection. The only problem will be to get students to stay after school to use the internet connection. Data Sources: Observations, Teacher Communications, Personal ExperienceESSENTIAL CONDITION FIVE: Skilled Personnel ISTE Definition: Educators and support staff skilled in the use of ICT appropriate for their job responsibilities. Guiding Questions: To what extent are educators and support staff skilled in the use of technology appropriate for their job responsibilities? What do they currently know and are able to do? What are knowledge and skills do they need to acquire? (Note: No need to discuss professional learning here. Discuss knowledge and skills. This is your needs assessment for professional learning. The essential conditions focus on “personnel,” which includes administrators, staff, technology specialists, and teachers. However, in this limited project, you may be wise to focus primarily or even solely on teachers; although you may choose to address the proficiency of other educators/staff IF the need is critical. You must include an assessment of teacher proficiencies.)StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsMany teachers have the knowledge to complete basic tasks using technology. Most staff are able to use productivity tool for everyday use. (Mail 365, Study Island, Microsoft Word and Infinite Campus)Teachers are not able to use these tools in order to create higher order thinking. They do not have the technology skills to create meaningful lessons for the students. The technology that is used the most in the school would be for its basic purpose.Due to the amount of teachers within the school, new technology training is limited to a chosen few.Skilled technology teacher should serve as mentors/models for other teachers who would need extra help in creating technology lesson plans. Many older teachers will not be willing to put in the extra hours and effort it takes to learn the new technology. Summary/Gap Analysis: All teachers at the school have the basic skills to complete tasks using technology. Many teachers do not have skill to create lessons that are meaningful to the students because they do not know how to use the technology tools to their fullest. One way to help show teachers how technology can be used is by having mentors around the school. These mentors could come to the teacher’s classroom and model how technology should be used in a classroom setting. This will give the teacher an opportunity to learn the technology and know how it needs to look in a classroom. Many older teachers might try to buck this system because they do not like change and do not want to try and learn new technology when they are almost out of the school. The might not want to put in the effort to try and learn the new technology. Data Sources: Observations, Teacher Communications, Personal ReportsESSENTIAL CONDITION SIX: Ongoing Professional Learning ISTE Definition: Technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities with dedicated time to practice and share ideas. Guiding Questions: What professional learning opportunities are available to educators? Are they well-attended? Why or why not? Are the current professional learning opportunities matched to the knowledge and skills educators need to acquire? (see Skilled Personnel) Do professional learning opportunities reflect the national standards for professional learning (NSDC/Learning Forward)? Do educators have both formal and informal opportunities to learn? Is technology-related professional learning integrated into all professional learning opportunities or isolated as a separate topic? How must professional learning improve/change in order to achieve the shared vision? StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsAt the beginning of the school year there are many different technology trainings.If there is a new technology presented to the school, there are a few PL opportunities for the teachers to attend.Most of the PL opportunities are a brief overview of the technology and does not match the skills of all the teachers. All the PL opportunities are formal and teachers are told when they will attend these meetings. Most PL opportunities are created for that one topic. Technology is not intergraded into other PL opportunities.Once the school year starts, there is little to no technology PL available for the staff. Allow teachers to lead the PL. This will let the other teacher fell more comfortable about asking questions and the presenter could explain the technology on all teacher levels. There could also be leveled PLs for teachers. This would help with information being too basic or too much for the teachers in the session. Some teachers might not like when other staff present the PLs.If more than one PL opportunity is being presented, there might not be a consistent support system. Some presenters might skip one area of the technology while another presenter wont. Summary/Gap Analysis: PL opportunities are available to staff members in the beginning of the year but once the school year gets rolling, the PLs stop. The PL opportunities that are offered do not go into detail about the technology. It is an overview of the technology and the teachers are sent on their own to figure out how to navigate the technology in their classroom. The school could allow teachers to lead the PL sessions and offer leveled sessions so teachers with different leveled skills can choose the one PL session that is right for them. Some teacher might not like having other teachers lead the PLs. There could also be inconsistent presentations between the PL presenters. Data Sources: Observations, Teacher Communications, Personal ReportsESSENTIAL CONDITION SEVEN: Technical Support ISTE Definition: Consistent and reliable assistance for maintaining, renewing, and using ICT and digital resources. Guiding Questions: To what extent is available equipment operable and reliable for instruction? Is there tech assistance available for technical issues when they arise? How responsive is tech support? Are current “down time” averages acceptable? Is tech support knowledgeable? What training might they need? In addition to break/fix issues, are support staff available to help with instructional issues when teachers try to use technology in the classroom? StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsThere is technology available to both staff and students within the school.Because the school holds 1800 students plus about 150 staff members, there is an onsite tech assistant available.As of last year, there was not enough technology tools for all students to have their own device.The tech assistant is always working so if there is a problem that needs to be corrected, it takes time for him to get around to fixing the problem. The tech assistant is able to fix any issues but is not able to help with any instructional issues in the classroom.Use ESPLOST money to purchase devices for all students.Provide training for tech assistants to help with instructional technology issues.Collecting the money to provide devices will not happen within a year. (time)In order for the tech assistants to go to training, they will need to be “off” a few days. This will cause a back -up in issues that will need to be fixed once they return. Summary/Gap Analysis: There is technology available throughout the school for both students and staff. Because the school is so large, this causes a shortage of technology. The technology is spread so thin that not all students can have a device at one time. The tech assistant is onsite at the school which helps with fixing technical issues. The largeness of the school provides problems for the tech assistant to be booked up all the time. The tech assistant could go to training for instructional technology so he could better help the teachers with their technical questions. Data Sources: Observations, Teacher Communications, Personal ReportsESSENTIAL CONDITION EIGHT: Curriculum Framework ISTE Definition: Content standards and related digital curriculum resources.Guiding Questions: To what extent are educators, students, and parents aware of student technology standards? (ISTE Standards for Students) Are technology standards aligned to content standards to help teachers integrate technology skills into day-to-day instruction and not teach technology as a separate subject? To what extent are there digital curriculum resources available to teachers so that they can integrate technology into the GPS/CCS as appropriate? How is student technology literacy assessed? StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesThreatsOur school have Infinite Campus, Study Island, BrainPop, Canvas, NearPod and Flocabulary available to teachers and students to help integrate technology into the lesson plans. With my 5 years teaching at this school, I have never heard or seen any technology standards being mentioned within the school. With that being said, many lesson plans are not aligned with the technology standards for students. ISTE-SStudents are not assessed for their technology literacy unless they are placed in a technology connections class. Students and teachers need to be aware of these standards. Teachers could asses the students’ technology literacy at the beginning of the year by giving a simple assessment. This will give the teachers a starting point for their students.One teachers might not give the assessment to all students. Some students come in later in the year and will not get the assessment given to them. Summary/Gap Analysis: Our school has many different technology resources available to both the teacher and the student. Not many students or teachers know there are technology standards out there for the students and teachers. If teachers knew of these standards, they could give the students a technology assessment to test their technology literacy. This will help the teacher know where the student is tsrating in regards to technology. Some students will come in the school later in the year and will not get the assessment. Teacher are going ot have to work to make sure that every student gets the assessment. Data Sources: Observations, Teacher Communications, Personal Reports, District Website ................
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