Tech Plan
Administrators
Brady Burton, Superintendent
Tim Winter, High School/Middle School Principal
Jim McCormick, Elementary School Principal
Classroom Teachers
Jeanne Dowell, High School Teacher
Jennifer Taylor, High School Teacher
Judy Shultz, Middle School Teacher
Cindy Johnson, Elementary School Teacher
Donica Nelson, Elementary School Teacher
Other Instructors
Carole Marcotte, Special Education Teacher
Kathy Monser, Instructional Technology Coordinator
Students
Ryan Lund, Student
Megan Whearty, Student
Staff
Melody Pfaff, Classified Staff
Board of Education
Deb Williams, School Board Member
Parents
Kathyrn Apley, Parent
Community
Tom Nelson, Community Business Person
Educational Institutions
Kent Unruh, Education Technology Consultant, Kansas State University
1b. Technology Needs Assessments
Blue Valley USD #384 will be progressive in terms of technology growth and planning. Our schools will continue to do well, making progress in keeping up with technological changes.
A survey of the status of school infrastructures and hardware/software inventories is a perpetual process. The moving target, emerging technologies, requires flexibility and a willingness to identify and act upon needs.
Blue Valley USD #384 will continually examine emerging technologies for possible implementation. Since we are beyond simply providing technology for teachers and students, our needs will be identified through the following processes:
1. Evaluation of data collected from our various forms of assessment…
a. Locally developed assessments and surveys of students and staff.
b. LoTi Framework annual assessments of staff.
c. NWEA MAP annual assessments of students.
d. KCA annual assessments of students.
2. Direction set by our School Improvement Plans.
3. Direction set by the District Leadership Team.
4. Direction set by the Professional Development Council.
5. Direction set by our Professional Learning Communities.
6. Learning and teaching implications of available and emerging technologies.
7. Prioritizing based on needs of the students, staff, and community.
All assessments and surveys will be done on an annual basis, with opportunities for additional assessments and surveys during the academic school year.
Data from assessments and surveys is available from School Administrators, the Technology Director, or the Instructional Technology Coordinator, but not included in this document.
Information collected from these assessments and surveys, along with input from all constituencies, will be the driving force for implementing this technology plan.
Student learning needs are based on data from locally developed assessments and surveys, state assessments, and national assessments. This data will be used to determine needs, establish baseline data, develop a program, and evaluate progress of all students.
The Professional Learning Communities (PLC) will also determine the needs of students through their meetings and assessments. This data will also be used to determine needs, establish baseline data, develop a program, and evaluate progress of all students.
Online assessments, in-house developed surveys, and other tools will be used to determine needs, establish baseline data, develop a program, and evaluate progress of all staff members.
The Professional Development Council (PDC) will also determine the needs of the staff through surveys and meetings. The PDC will use this data to help establish the agenda for staff development days.
Parent and community needs and opinions are determined by collecting and evaluating data from surveys and questionnaires placed in the bi-monthly district newsletter, from information collected at Site Council meetings, open forums at monthly school board meetings, online resources, and casual conversations at school and community activities.
Blue Valley USD #384 employs an Educational Technology Consultant (ETC) from the College of Education, Kansas State University. The ETC provides expert advice and consultation on our equipment, curricula, staff development, and future trends based on real expertise and real-time work with our students, staff, and community.
Each of the Instructional Need and Technology objectives includes a means for gathering and reviewing evaluation data.
Analysis of this data will be used to determine future planning and implementation efforts, ensuring that progress is being made toward the goals and objectives.
School District Mission Statement
It is the purpose of Blue Valley Randolph School District Number 384 to develop and maintain a functional curriculum that will provide maximum learning opportunities to all students.
Instructional Technology Vision Statement
Our vision for emerging technologies in education in Blue Valley USD #384 focuses on enhancing opportunities for development of continuous learning skills in changing environments.
This will be accomplished through the development of data driven learning goals, researched based staff development, and demonstrated by mastery of student learning outcomes.
USD #384 will incorporate technology as a natural part of the education process, with emphasis on using technology to enhance instruction and learning rather than just teaching the use of technology.
USD #384 supports the continued infusion of multiple technologies into the school district as a means of promoting both the expansion of learning opportunities for students and staff, and data management.
USD #384 will provide a learning environment that will equip our students, staff, and members of our community to understand present technology and be prepared for new innovations in the future.
Optimizing instruction and learning through the integration of technology into the curriculum will be the guiding force for technology implementation in USD #384.
This Plan
The USD 384 school board has approved this plan, May 11, 2009.
This plan has been submitted for approval by the State of Kansas for a three-year period, June 2009 thru June 2012.
This plan will be evaluated and updated on an annual basis by the District Leadership Team.
3a. District Technology Use Goals and Objectives
The Goals
Goal 1: To select and deploy technology to support the achievement of the instructional goals of the district, the state, and our community.
Goal 2: To select and deploy technology to support the preparation of students to live and work in changing environments.
Goal 3: To select and deploy technology that will facilitate communication between the school and its patrons.
Goal 4: To select and deploy technology that will allow the staff to effectively run the school.
Instructional Need and Technology Objectives
Objective 1: Identify and implement effective use of technology to improve student learning of district curriculum objectives as measured by the school improvement plans; local, state, and national assessments.
Objective 2: Develop the expertise of teachers to learn and apply technology to the teaching of content within the disciplines; and to move from a teacher centered environment to a student learning centered environment.
Objective 3: Train students and teachers to become competent in the effective use and application of technology tools.
Objective 4: Provide students and teachers with ready access to varied technologies and technology-based information.
Communication, Management, and Infrastructure Objectives
Objective 5: Develop and install software tools that support communication, instructional and administrative needs, and activities in the district.
Objective 6: Install and maintain communication links between all school sites so that district needs for voice, data, and video are met.
Objective 7: Provide communication links that connect the district to information services and networks, then make these links available to students, staff, parents, and the community.
3a-1. Technology Use Assessments
Student Learning
Data will be collected from district, state, and national assessments; from the Professional Learning Communities, and student surveys. This data will be used to modify and improve planning in order to increase learning and performance.
Professional Development
Data will be collected via internally developed surveys, PDC surveys, and online assessment tools. This data will be used to determine strengths and weaknesses within the staff, then be used to determine staff inservice and professional development.
Community Involvement
Data collected from the district online resources, Site Council meetings, public meetings, and surveys will be used to modify and improve planning in order to increase student, teacher, and community access to technology.
Overall Assessment
The Educational Technology Consultant, College of Education, Kansas State University (ETC) will assist teachers and/or administrators with evaluating and selecting hardware and software. The ETC assesses the overall effectiveness of the district's instructional computing program and will make reports and recommendations.
Sources of Data and Information
- Locally developed surveys
- LoTi Framework annual assessments
- NWEA MAP annual assessments
- KCA annual assessments
- ALTEC ProFiler surveys
- District Leadership Team
- Professional Development Council
- School Improvement Plans
- Professional Learning Communities
Expectations will be: increased test scores, student technology skills, and staff technology skills; better use of technology in daily lessons; increased community involvement and awareness.
3b. Curriculum Integration and Enhancement
Current technology use in USD #384 can be summed up best by these LoTi evaluations:
Technology Implementation - Level 2 (Exploration) the instructional focus emphasizes content understanding and supports mastery learning and direct instruction. Teacher questioning and/or student learning focuses on lower levels of student cognitive processing (e.g., knowledge, comprehension) using the available digital assets.
Digital tools and resources are used by students for extension activities, enrichment exercises, or information gathering assignments that generally reinforce lower cognitive skill development relating to the content under investigation. There is a pervasive use of student multimedia products, allowing students to present their content understanding in a digital format that may or may not reach beyond the classroom.
Current Instructional Practices - Intensity Level 3, the participant supports instructional practices aligned somewhat with a subject-matter based approach to teaching and learning—an approach characterized by sequential and uniform learning activities for all students, teacher-directed presentations, and/or the use of traditional evaluation techniques. However, the participant may also support the use of student-directed projects that provide opportunities for students to determine the "look and feel" of a final product based on their modality strengths, learning styles, or interests.
Evaluation techniques continue to focus on traditional measures with the resulting data serving as the basis for curriculum decision-making. The use of research-based best practices expands beyond basic classroom routines (e.g., providing opportunities for non-linguistic representation, offering advanced organizers).
Personal Computer Use - Intensity Level 5 indicates that the participant demonstrates a high fluency level with using digital tools and resources for student learning. Participants at Intensity Level 5 are commonly able to use an expanded range of existing and emerging digital-age media and formats in support of their curriculum and instructional strategies. Participants at this level advocate the safe, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies and participate in local and global learning that advocate the positive impact of existing digital tools and resources on student success in the classroom.
Expectation…
To raise within each LoTi Framework a minimum of one level per academic school.
Objective 1: Identify and implement effective use of technology to improve student learning of district curriculum objectives as measured by the school improvement plans; local, state, and national assessments.
Action Plan
Plan and maintain a system for technology support throughout the district. This may be achieved by continued involvement with the College of Education, Kansas State University, Education Technology Consultant program, developing technology support personnel in each building, the hiring of full-time or part-time technology support personnel, and/or using students as technical assistants.
Develop the role of the District Leadership Team in coordinating and evaluating district technology implementation.
Increase the role of the Instructional Technology Coordinator to assist students and staff with technology implementation.
Increase the opportunities for parents and the community to be involved with developing and supporting technology implementation.
Focus innovative technology funds on finding solutions to specific instructional needs.
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Objective 2: Develop the expertise of teachers to learn and apply technology to the teaching of content within the disciplines; and to move from a teacher centered environment to a student learning centered environment.
Objective 3: Train students and teachers to become competent in the effective use and application of technology tools.
Action Plan
All staff will be given the opportunity to participate in after school staff development sessions.
More staff development will be incorporated into Late Start days, with continued follow-up in after school sessions.
Allow the Instructional Technology Coordinator to be available to work with students and staff in the classroom.
Target tech experts in each building to help with support and development.
Objective 4: Provide students and teachers with ready access to varied technologies and technology-based information.
Action Plan
Identify and install technologies that support and enhance instruction and learning.
Identify and provide adaptive technologies to those students and teachers that require them to participate fully in our instructional program.
Maintain a computer to student ration of 1:1 using laptop computers at the high school.
Establish a computer to student ration of 2:1 using laptop computers at the middle school and grade school.
Maintain a wired computer lab at the High School and Middle School to accommodate technologies not readily available or viable on wireless laptop computers.
Upgrade classrooms to be multimedia capable.
Establish and upgrade hardware and software standards as needed.
Repurpose and relocate older equipment.
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Objective 5: Develop and install software tools that support communication, instructional and administrative needs, and activities in the district.
Action Plan
Develop, improve, and expand information available on our Student Information System.
Improve and expand online calendar offerings.
Improve and expand our Content Management System for online learning.
Look for other web-based solutions to support the mobile learning in the district.
Objective 6: Install and maintain communication links within and between all school sites so that district needs for voice, data, and video are met.
Action Plan
Explore ways to improve the high speed communications link between the Randolph and Olsburg schools, capable of handling data, voice, and video.
Upgrade internal wireless network infrastructure to meet the demands of media rich content.
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Objective 7: Provide communication links that connect the district to information services and networks, then make these links available to students, staff, parents, and the community.
Action Plan
Work with local ISP and Kan-Ed to improve/upgrade Internet connectivity.
Work with local ISP and Kan-Ed to gain access to additional online resources.
Work with local communications providers to offer high speed Internet connections to our patrons.
Find ways to open the computer labs to the community.
3b-1. Curriculum Integration Assessments
Objective 1: Identify and implement effective use of technology to improve student learning of district curriculum objectives as measured by the school improvement plans; local, state, and national assessments.
Action Plan
Evaluate emerging technologies for potential instructional use.
Design and implement methods for gathering data on student and staff performance…
- ALTEC Profiler surveys
- LoTi Framework assessments
- Locally developed surveys
Collect and Review assessment data…
- NWEA MAP assessments
- KCA assessments
Use data to modify and improve planning in order to increase learning and performance.
Report data to stakeholders.
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Objective 4: Provide students and teachers with ready access to varied technologies and technology-based information.
Action Plan
Identify classroom technology needs using information gathered through school plans, surveys, meetings, and/or other means.
Conduct regular surveys that address student, teacher, and community access to technology.
Use data to modify and improve planning in order to increase student, teacher, and community access to technology.
Report data to stakeholders.
3c. Professional Development – Teachers and Administrators
Building a technological infrastructure to reach toward our vision is only a small step. A major task is the building of the human infrastructure. Several key bases must be covered for preparing teachers for the role changes, which new technologies will bring.
A significant way to accomplish this preparation is to involve all the players in the development of their site plans as well as the district plan; particularly with respect to staff development plans.
Several strategies will be used to facilitate staff development:
· A District Technology / Resource Coordinator
· A school based technology resource person
· In school training sessions
· After school training sessions
· LoTi – Levels of Teaching Innovation
Strategies to be considered and/or developed:
· Mentor system with contact persons.
· Set up trained students as support network for teachers and students.
· Help Desk which supports shared information.
· Training of trainers model with the provision of appropriate funding and release time
Objective 2: Develop the expertise of teachers to learn and apply technology to the teaching of content within the disciplines; and to move from a teacher centered environment to a student learning centered environment.
Action Plan
Plan and deliver training to new staff of the district on current technology within the district. Plan and deliver training to all staff in effective use of technology.
Establish contracted time during which teachers can be trained in technology use and integration into instruction. Examples would be release time, paid weekends or summer time for training, in school training time.
Have schools develop and prioritize staff development goals at the building level with budget support.
Develop and offer inservice opportunities that combine curriculum learning with related technology enhancements. Identify effective ways teachers can use technology to manage instruction and carry out best practices in technology application and integration, and then provide specific training in these methods.
Look for new ways for inservice delivery, i.e. seminars, camps, workshops.
When purchasing curriculum materials look for complete solutions, ones that not only supply hardware and software, but training also.
Develop technology leadership teams at all levels. Have members of these teams be responsible for planning and delivering staff development; investigating new technologies and their appropriateness for instructional use; developing and implementing effective models for integrating technology into the curriculum; supporting and mentoring colleagues in technology use.
Objective 3: Train students and teachers to become competent in the effective use and application of technology tools.
Action Plan
Develop description of technology proficiencies for students and staff. Once developed, provide inservice to teachers on how to teach established technology proficiencies to students.
Continue to train teachers to become competent in uses of technology.
Use the LoTi system to assess the staff, plan staff development, implement changes, and sustain improvements.
Continue to match software tools to curriculum needs, i.e. Reading Counts to reading, STAR Math to math.
Continue to identify appropriate technology-based tools.
Ensure equity of access to technology for students and staff. Consider both home and school access. Find ways to make school technology more available for community use.
3c-1. Technology Professional Development Assessment
Evaluation and Review Statement
The review, evaluation, revision, and adjustment of our goals and objectives are a perpetual process. The real measure of our success will be in the accomplishments of our learners.
Current evaluation, review strategies, and criteria to measure our successes will be:
· District Leadership Team to monitor and reflect on the success of the plan.
· Professional Development Council to monitor and evaluate the needs of the staff.
· Professional Learning Communities to monitor and evaluate the needs of the student.
· This plan is on the web with an invitation for input, review, and feedback from our stakeholders.
· The sharing of successful programs and projects, which encourage students and teachers to use the technology in a significant new way.
Objective 2: Develop the expertise of teachers to learn and apply technology to the teaching of content within the disciplines; and to move from a teacher centered environment to a student learning centered environment.
Action Plan
Design and implement methods for gathering data on staff performance.
Staff will be surveyed annually using the LoTi Framework.
Use data to modify and improve planning in order to increase learning and performance.
Develop and implement computer inservice programs through hands-on workshops, after-school informal sessions, in school training sessions, collaborative inservices with other schools, locally sponsored conferences, interschool visits, and offer courses for undergraduate and graduate credit through Kansas State University.
Objective 3: Train students and teachers to become competent in the effective use and application of technology tools.
Action Plan
Design and implement methods for gathering data on student and teacher proficiency with and access to technology.
Use data to modify and improve planning in order to increase proficiency with and access to technology.
Build individual skills by providing opportunities to use the technology. Individual skill requires practice and the time to practice. Build staff development activities around using the new technologies for greater acceptance and better implementation.
Be open and honest about the complexity of the new technology. Do not shelter school personnel from the realities of the technology's vulnerabilities and its tendencies to have problems. Without open and honest communication of potential problems, a "see I told you so" response may occur when there are problems.
Build awareness by communicating the change to all stakeholders. Changes imposed on people without communication are very unlikely to succeed.
Build interest by engaging stakeholders through demonstration and invitation to participate. Hands-on experiences and personal uses can have a tremendous effect on people accepting the new technologies.
Build confidence in the technologies by demonstrating the benefits. If people know and can see the benefits of the new technology, the likelihood of success increases.
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