Technology Action Plan

By: Kaitlyn Sassone

What is Systemic Change?

"Systemic change is a cyclical process in which the impact of change on all parts of the whole and their relationships to one another are taken into consideration. In the contexts of schools, it is not so much a detailed prescription for improving education as a philosophy advocating reflecting, rethinking, and restructuring." 

 Systemic change involves working with stakeholders to: • Create a vision of what you want the system to look like and accomplish. • Take stock of the current situation. • Identify strengths and weaknesses of the current system in light of the vision. • Target several priority items for improvement. • Establish a plan for addressing these priority items and for measuring success. • Assess progress regularly and revise actions as needed. • Take stock again and use feedback to revisit vision and begin cycle again

when the action cycle is completed.

"What is Systemic Change." National School Boards. February. 2003. 

Action Plan• The action plan should be planned and agreed on by a

District Technology Committee• To reach the best potential with incorporating technology

into the schools - the committee would need to focus on a plan for each of the following: 1.Tech. Coordinator2.Administrators      3.Teachers4.Students

District Technology Committee

• A District Technology Committee representing teachers, administrators and parents should be formed when gathering ideas for implementing a technology action plan.

 • The goal of this committee is to provide all stakeholders with

a framework to guide them in establishing a technology enriched learning environment.

Tech. Coordinator's Responsibilities

• Be knowledgeable of state standards, curriculum, and NETS standards for both teachers and students

• Have great communication skills, coordinators would have to....o Work with several teacherso Develop ideas of how teachers could successfully achieve NETS

standards o Setup and instruct workshops for teachers to learn necessary

skills for implementing technology in the classroom• Be creative (explained on next slide)• Have flexible schedules 

o Coordinators would have to constantly be meeting several teachers and principals, and even helping with students during class

Tech. Coordinator Continued...For each workshop that Tech. Coordinators would setup and instruct, the Tech. Coordinator would:

• Help teachers learn a necessary skill (i.e. using SMARTresponse for SMARTboard lessons)

• Assist teachers in creating a lesson/activity/project using the specific skill they learned

• Help each teacher (who needs additional aid) plan, get started, and would even come the first time this type of project is in use

• For teachers who do not need additional assistance, the coordinator would make sure that they have a good idea of a lesson/activity/project in which they could use the skill just learned

This should be the routine for each workshop teaching a new skill, happen after any new workshop that teaches a new way of integrating tech. in the classroom. The technology coordinator should also be available often for teachers to get in touch with and ask for advice how to tie certain things in the curriculum with technology. The coordinator would be there to offer ideas, websites, resources, and would also help teachers plan/start any of these type of projects.

Teacher Responsibilities . . .

• Align lesson plans that implement technology with NETS for teachers and students. 

• Participate in Professional Development Days (Throughout the year, presentations can be scheduled to demonstrate toadministrators and teachers what technologies are available for classroom use and what best practices integrating these technologies look like. In addition, teachers have time scheduled in their day to facilitate and participate in staffdevelopment activities related to new technologies. It is the teacher's responsibility to use what they learn) 

• Cooperation/Collaboration: teachers need make the effort to schedule times to meet with the Tech. Coordinator to plan effective ways to integrate technology with the curriculum.

• Internet Safety Curriculum: teachers need to teach students how to properly use the internet as a research tool.

• Use a variety of educational technology tools such as: Wikis, blogs, Google Docs, Power Point, Microsoft Office, SMART tools, Photoshop slideshows, etc.

Student Responsibilities

It is the students responsibility to use... • The provided technologies creatively• Caution when navigating through the Internet• The Internet for research• Provided technologies (i.e. PowerPoint to present information

effectively)• Technology to collaborate with peers and teachers• Educational technology tools so that they can reflect on their

experiences, share ideas with others , and formulate their own opinions.

• Technology to learn how to recognize and solve problems• Responsibility for their own "Meaningful Learning"

NETS for Teachers

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences & Assessments

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship & Responsibility

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

NETS for Students

1. Creativity and Innovation  2. Communication and Collaboration   3. Research and Information Fluency  4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving & Decision Making    

5. Digital Citizenship     6. Technology Operations and Concepts   

21st Century Learning

The four elements represented by the rainbow are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century.  These four elements include:• Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes• Learning and Innovation Skills• Information, Media and Technology Skills• Life and Career Skills

Technology Action Plan Evaluation

To ensure that the Technology Action Plan is working properly, teachers need to assess what is being completed in the classroom. By answering these questions teachers can view the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. Improvements can always be implemented to the action plan.  Some questions to think about:  • What projects have you/your colleagues done with your students that

integrate technology?• What technologies did they incorporate?• What are the strengths of our technology program?• What areas can be improved?

Time Frame for Implementation

• Within 1 - 2 years this Technology Action Plan will be entirely implemented into the school districts curriculum. 

• NETS will be aligned with lesson plans.  • Every three months, teachers will participate in Professional

Development meetings/trainings about how to use new technologies. 

• Weekly grade level meetings will foster collaboration of ideas.

Technology Action Plan Question

  

If using technology in the classroom requires all teachers to implement a new style of teaching "technology - as - partner", how do school districts ensure that all teachers are teaching 

using this new approach?