EDLD 5352 Week 4 Assignment

Explanation of Responsibilities: Technology Organization

1. School Board, Superintendent, and Technology Steering Committee

· Define technology vision for the district.

· Secure support from community for technology initiatives.

· Secure financial resources through school tax bonds.

2. Executive Director of Educational Technology

· Implement vision and long-range plan to integrate technology in the learning and work environment.

· Collaborate with instructional staff in the development and delivery of curriculum, instruction, professional development, and technology to achieve district’s instructional goals.

· Develop and manage the technology budget and facilitate grant writing and management.

· Provide leadership for the teaching of Technology Curriculum.

3. Chief Technology Officer

· Facilitate communication between and among staff, management, vendors, and other technology resources within the district.

· Responsible for design and implementation of district-wide communication infrastructure and maintenance of local area networks.

· Ensure sufficient and effective user support and access to information and related technology by all campuses and administrative departments.

4. Instructional Technology Officer

· Coordinate and administer the schedules and responsibilities of the District Instructional Technology Teachers.

· Chief administrator of the district’s Technology Integration Mentor Program. Co-ordinate professional development with principals.

· Keep up with TEA curriculum guides, bulletins, and developments in current research related to instructional technology.

5. Director of Information Technology

· Work with administration and staff to assess and respond to campus needs.

· Supervise the ongoing operations of the IT department providing quality and timely support to district staff and students concerning hardware and software needs.

· Identify emerging information technologies to be assimilated within district infrastructure.

6. Principal and Technology Administrator

· Work with SBDM team to develop technology vision for the campus.

· Monitor the results of the campus plan and make adjustments as needed.

· Collaborate with district personnel to ensure implementation of campus technology needs.

· Collaborate with district personnel to secure resources for campus technology and professional development.

· Principal is instrumental in making sure all technology mandates and standards are met at the campus level.

· Leader of campus technology team to implement a good technology environment to equip students for 21^st century technology.

7. District Instructional Technology Teachers

· Technology trainer/teacher liaison to faculty and staff on all campuses.

· Teach district technology professional development classes.

· Develop and teach strategies for using district software and that support TEKS objectives.

8. Information Technology Specialist

· Responsible for the timely support and assistance of reliable information technology for each campus.

· Insure that technology is in agreement with campus and district technology plans.

· Manage and maintain network services, systems, and devices as requested.

9. Campus Instructional Technology Specialist

· Actively participate in campus and grade level technology planning.

· Provide ongoing, job-embedded professional development to classroom teachers.

· Perform any other teacher/technology duties required by the principal.

10. Teachers

· Implement district and campus technology curriculum in the classroom.

· Participate in technology professional development.

· Ensure students have access and participate in technology assignments an projects.

Part 2: Professional Development Planning:

Campus Technology Needs:

Through analysis of our Campus STaR Chart data of the last three years: our campus staff has been rated as ‘developing’ in the Teaching and Learning category. Interviews with students and some members of the SBDM committee indicate this is a need on our campus. The district has supplied an abundance of technology tools in each classroom, including: at least four computers, starboards, e-instruction, document cameras, and digital cameras. However, fourth and fifth grade students I interviewed stated they did not know how to blog, email, or use much of the software loaded on their classroom computers. It seems we may have several teachers that may be classified as ‘digital immigrants’ as referenced by Prensky, 2001 and our instructors in the round table discussion from Week 3. However, our state, district, and campus technology plans indicate that all students shall have access to 21^st century technology and teachers who are prepared to use this technology to appropriately engage these students in learning.

Professional Development to Improve Needs:

Ø Atomic Learning on-line professional development. The district provides access to this professional development available to staff 24/7. Advantages of using this on-line development includes:

1) Educator chooses classes that fits his/her needs.

2) Classes include use of 21^st century skills that are alighned to district curriculum.

3) Tutorials for utilizing technology tools teachers have access to in their classrooms.

4) Classes that address gathering, using, and analyzing information from a variety of sources.

5) There are 21^st century technology projects listed that teachers can learn how to utilize in their classrooms.

6) Ability to collaborate with other educators across the globe through blogs.

7) Workshops cover Web 2.0 tools.

Ø Other district provided online tutorials include:

1) Easy Tech from Learning.com which includes interactive tutorials in the use of district software.

2) District website tutorials available on district website with instructions in how to use district software

Ø District and Campus based classes offered and listed on Eduphoria.

1) Offers a variety of classes in the evenings and on Saturdays to all employees at no cost.

2) Campus administrators collaborate with district instructional teachers to offer training sessions for specific teacher needs.

3) Teachers earn staff development credit for attending workshops.

4) Campus teachers can mentor other less knowledgeable technology teachers through campus training and earn a small stipend.

Ø Other technology workshops outside district include classes offered by the region and the county department of education.

Each educator has multiple opportunities to improve their 21^st century digital technology skills and meet the state, district, and campus technology standards.

Part 3: Evaluation Planning

The district and campus technology goal is for all teachers and librarians demonstrate competency and proficiency in all five standards of the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) Technology Standards for all teachers. All campus administrators to demonstrate proficiency of the ISTE Technology Standards for Administrators.

Evaluation components of the technology action plan include:

• Analysis of the SBEC standards on the annual district and campus STaR charts.
• District Technology Self-Assessment Tool – available on the district website. It targets the skills (What all Teachers Can Do) specified in the right column on the SBEC Technology Standards Chart. All teachers, librarians and campus administrators must complete this self-assessment at the beginning of each school year.
• Net Day Speak-Up Survey.
• AEIS, AYP, and PEIMS data
• Campus administrator classroom walk-throughs
• District Technology Instructional Officer observations

Campus principal, along with the SBDM and the technology professional development planning committee use the results of all these evaluation components. They are utilized to plan for and direct technology professional development that meet the needs of the staff; so that all teachers, librarians and administrators master all competencies in the SBEC Technology Standards.