Technology Action Plan

Action Plan
Goal: The quality of instruction in the school will improve to meet the needs of all student populations as demonstrated in improved student performance by all subgroups on district benchmarks and state assessments. In order to achieve this teachers and administrators will attend technology professional development to improve their classroom instruction and to enhance student learning.
Action Step(s)	Person Responsible	Timeline:Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Texas STaR chart and AEIS charts will be evaluated to determine needs of students. From there administrative staff will determine what technology professional development needs to occur.	Janice Kattawar Technology Liason William Daniels Principal Campus Improvement committee	May 2011- June 2011	STaR chart AEIS Reports District Improvement Plan Campus Improvement Plan	Changes in STaR chart and AEIS results
Teachers will be surveyed to ask what technology professional development they feel would be beneficial to them.	Janice Kattawar	May 2011-June 2011	Campus based email survey sent to all teachers	Teachers will have a letter put in their file if they do not complete the survey since it was a directive from the principal
Campus administrators will choose a monthly professional development course that will be lead by experienced teachers on campus for technology incorporation. These will be small groups and hands on lessons to teach the teachers new instructional techniques.	Principal Assistant  Principals Teachers leading professional development	August 2011-June 2011	Various technology handouts to provide to teachers Computers Technology resources that each course is covering	Teachers will demonstrate how they are incorporating the technology into their weekly lesson plans
Revisit step one at the conclusion of the school year to evaluate improvements and needs that may need to be sought out with more experienced professionals	Janice Kattawar William Daniels Campus Improvement Committee	May 2012-June 2012	STaR Chart AEIS Report	Changes in STaR chart and AEIS results

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Week 2 Assignment - Blog #3

The main goal of the National Educational Technology Plan is to “urge our education system at all levels to: be clear about the outcomes we seek; collaborate to redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility; continually monitor and measure our performance; and to hold ourselves accountable for progress and results every step of the way.” In order to accomplish these goals the only sensible and efficient way is to incorporate technology into our educators and our students. There are five goals for states, districts, the federal government, and other stakeholders in the areas of learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity. Each goals also provides recommended actions in order to achieve these goals. One of my concerns with the NETP is that one of it’s clear goals is to raise the number of college graduates to 60%. While I do support that we should be encouraging our students to attend college I do not feel that our education system should be depending on colleges to prepare students for the workforce. After working in a low income school many of my students have gotten the impression from school leaders and new educational goals that if they do not graduate from college they are a failure. I feel that we should be equipping students with the knowledge to go in two directions: the work force or to college. From an economic standpoint many students cannot afford college and some simply do not desire it. In order for our country to survive we need to teach students that they need to achieve to their highest level, and if the work force is where they need to be then that is success in my eyes.

Week 2 Assignment - Blog #2

When reading the progress report for the Texas long range technology plan there was not too much that surprised me about the data that they received. For the most part students are utilizing technology in order to research, take on-line classes, and playing learning games. From what I reviewed it feels as if students are not actually using the technology as much as the teachers are. While this is a step in the right direction to have the teachers setting an example, I do not feel that we have reached a true immersion of technology into the classrooms and we have a long ways to go. I found the report on the immersion classrooms very interesting because it shows the impact that technology can have if it is utilized correctly. What stood out to me the most was that students who were in the immersion classrooms showed that they “experience slightly more intellectually demanding work.” The progress report also showed that these students performed higher on their TAKS tests. In my opinion this shows the direction that our classrooms should be moving. It is much easier to justify this immersion in the elementary classrooms, but if often feels there is hesitation when it comes to the secondary schools. Now that there is evidence that this is helpful to the 21^st century learners it is crucial that schools create a plan to get this technology to our older students. I find it ridiculous that our high school students are not allowed to use laptop computers and wireless devices in the classroom. As soon as these students enter college and the real world these tools will be a central part of their daily learning and jobs.

Week 2 Assignment - Blog #1

One of the main goals of the Texas long-range plan for technology is to promote academic excellence for all Texas students. The plan outlines four major areas: teaching and learning; educator preparation and development; leadership, administration, and instructional support; and infrastructure. One of the areas that I find key to the success of this plan is educator preparation and development. Students that are entering classrooms often have the upper hand on most teachers when it comes to technology. Many students are more familiar and better equipped to use technology than the teachers. The vision of the long range plan is that all professional educators, both present and future, have the skills to change their instructional methods to meet the learning needs of this new type of students. The learning that professional educators receive cannot simply be a one time workshop, it must be ongoing and current with the new technologies that are constantly emerging. Educators must be proficient at the technology TEKS that are expected of all Texas students. In my opinion there needs to be a great deal of improvement in educator preparation in order to truly meet the needs of 21^st century learners. At the local level, our school district is often one step behind in technology. For instance many educators are just now learning how to operate the older versions of Microsoft when there is already a new version available. It is not useful to be teaching our educators to use software that is already outdated. As a physical educator there are many opportunities to incorporate technology in my classroom, but because I am not a “core class” teacher I do not ever receive technology training. I think it is ridiculous to deny me my professional development in this area. If the district does not feel that I am worth their time to train in technology why would I feel obligated to incorporate it into my classroom.