2008

Technology Plan
Tammy Renae Story
Admin of Technology
Dr. Kenneth Clark
December 3, 2008
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Technology Plan
Part 1: Narrative

Demographics of McDuffie County:

McDuffie County currently has an estimated student population of 4050 children;
in addition, McDuffie County has an estimated computer student ratio of 2.2:1. The
majority of McDuffie County elementary schools are Title I schools and therefore
receive Title I funding.

An overview of McDuffie County’s Technology Plan:

The strengths of McDuffie County‟s technology plan are the following:
its mission statement, because McDuffie County focused on the instructional outcomes
and state what they will do to make their vision a reality; its needs assessment,
because McDuffie County‟s assessment is comprehensive and includes specified
information from hardware resources; and clarity of writing, because McDuffie County‟s
technology plan is clear and easy to understand and it contains no grammatical errors.
The weaknesses of McDuffie County‟s technology plan are the following:
Identifies contributors and stakeholder groups, because McDuffie County‟s membership
list is not included and stakeholders are not identified; vision statement, because
McDuffie County‟s is brief and does not fully address learning outcomes;
conclusions and recommendations, because McDuffie County does not include at this
point; technology and learning statement, because McDuffie County has parts mixed
into various sections; technical support, because McDuffie County does not have very
much information on a plan or requirements for technical support.

Outline of changes in the technology plan:

A. Problems viewed in existing plan.

Problems that need to be address in McDuffie County‟s technology are the same as the
weakness of McDuffie County‟s technology plan. The problems are listed as followed:
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 Executive Summary, because there was no actual executive summary section.

 Identifies contributors and stakeholder groups, because a membership list is not
included and stakeholders are not identified.
 Vision Statement, because it is brief and does not fully address learning
outcomes.
 Conclusions and recommendations, because currently at this point they are not
present.
 Technology and learning statement, because parts of it are mixed into other
sections.
 Technical support, because there is little information on a plan or requirements
for technical support.

B. Needed changes in for existing plan.

 Include an executive summary should be at the beginning of the technology plan.

 Identify the stakeholders and list the membership.
 Include a vision statement that is thorough and fully address the learning
outcomes of the impact of technology.
 Include a conclusion or overall summary along with future recommendations for
the implementation of instructional technology in McDuffie County Schools.
 Implement specific sections that focus on technology and learning.
 Include a specific section that outlines the plans and requirements for technical
support.

C. Reasons why changes were necessary.

I believe these changes are necessary because it will add more strength and
depth to McDuffie County‟s Technology Plan; in addition, it will make the overall
technology plan more comprehensive and easier to locate specific needed information.
For example, implementing specific sections that focus on technology and learning will
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allow readers to navigate through McDuffie County‟s Technology Plan with ease;
furthermore, it will give their technology plan a sense of organization.

Detailed explanation of resulting improvements that I hope to see due to

needed changes:

As a result of the recommended needed changes, I hope to see McDuffie County

develop an updated and more comprehensive technology plan that will address the
steps and guidelines that must be followed in order for McDuffie County to develop a
vision statement that is thorough and fully address the learning outcomes of the impact
of technology within McDuffie County schools; furthermore, I hope to see a technology
plan that will Include future recommendations for the implementation of instructional
technology in McDuffie County, so this way McDuffie County will begin researching the
resources and guidelines needed for future implementation of instructional technology.
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Part 2: The Technology Plan

Broad-Base Support:

The system leadership team, consisting of principals, assistant principals and central
office staff, meets quarterly to target system needs, to discuss effective strategies and
interventions and to develop ongoing school improvement initiatives. In addition to
leadership planning session, the system administration, consisting of central office staff
and principals, meets monthly to discuss on-going school and system issues.
Additionally, each school has both a leadership team and a school council consisting of
school staff, business partners, parents and administrators. Student academic
performance goals and benchmarks are based on most recent student performance
data. The system goals and mission were determined by a team consisting of system
and school leadership and community representatives five
years ago and are reviewed each year. Instructional budgets are given to the schools
and support funds such as Title I, II, IV, V, etc. are allocated to the schools. School
administrators took their school-based student data and, working with their staff and
stakeholders, developed their Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. The
technology plan was fully integrated into each of the Comprehensive School
Improvement Plan and into the Comprehensive System Improvement Plan. The system
administrative team met to map out the school and system improvement plans to
insure that each of the components of the school/system plans was addressed. Each
Comprehensive School Improvement Plan sets primary academic goals in each of the
academic core content areas. Goals are based on student academic needs as identified
by student assessment data for each school: specifically the Georgia High School
Graduation Tests, the Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT), and local
assessments. After each academic goal has been established, the current status, using
the most recent student achievement data in that content area, is defined in order to
set a baseline for student achievement. The specific students targeted for the goal are
also determined. A goal is set for each grade level and in each content area within the
school. Specific goals for the next academic year are set based on the current status
from the previous year to show increase in student performance. Incremental
benchmarks are set for a three-to-five year window to indicate the level of achievement
that is anticipated over that period.

The Comprehensive System Plan and the Comprehensive School Plans are reviewed
annually during the month of May. The plans are documented after test scores are
received to indicate whether goals have been met and to project continuing goals into
the three-to-five-year window. The school improvement planning process also includes
targeting specific interventions and effective teaching and learning strategies that will
lead to increased student achievement. Comprehensive school improvement planning
involves targeting specific strategies/activities/and interventions that will assist the
students and staff to reach the targeted benchmarks. Other components of the plan
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include: the time frame of implementation, resources available, person(s) responsible

and means of evaluation of the strategy/activity and intervention, any staff
development required and the funding source(s).

The Comprehensive School Improvement Plan includes all local planning initiatives. For
example, as a part of the total planning initiative, the Title I plan, Action Plan for the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Technology Plan and other
school-based plans are integrated into the coordinated effort to promote consistency,
unity of purpose and collaboration. The academic needs of all children are included in
the comprehensive planning effort to include regular education students, students with
special needs, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), gifted, etc.

Needs Assessment:

Student‟s test scores such as CRCT test scores and graphic organizers.

Mission:

Update as necessary.

Vision:

Rewritten with original material:

Our vision is to utilize technology as a resource and tool to provide all students a safe
environment that will maximize their learning potential and inspire students to
participate in the learning process.

Goals and objectives:

Update as necessary.

Action plan/multi-year planning:

Plan is currently effective from July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2008.

New effective date June 30, 2008 – June 30, 2011.

Program Integration:
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Documents that should be connected to the Technology:

Georgia Quality Core Curriculum and Georgia Performance Standards for each area.
The ISTE NETS*T standards for teachers, so teachers will have established guidelines
of how to incorporate technology into their curriculum.

Curriculum Integration:

Emerging Technologies
As new technologies emerge, teachers and students alike will have the tools necessary
to learn and communicate new ideas that will become the framework of tomorrow‟s
businesses employees and leaders. The promise of high-speed telecommunications and
low-cost hand-held learning devices would provide the necessary vehicle for this new
form of interactive learning to take place. The announcement of a new “folding display”
technology could be the beginnings of this reality, where displays could be painted on
surfaces, such as cloth, film, glass, classroom boards, school bus windshields, or
student clothing.
With these advancements comes the challenge for schools to provide the necessary
product, our children, for tomorrow‟s communities. Thus, it becomes paramount for our
students to have reliable access to information in order for them to become effective
citizens of tomorrow.

Evaluation:

The process of analyzing student test scores, questionnaires and interviews will be used
to evaluate the success of technology in the educational institution.

Standards:

*Borrowed material:

NEW COMPUTERS
“New computers, including desktops, laptops and servers, must be purchased from
pre-qualified vendors named on the Strategic Sourcing vendors list. There are specific
consequences for not following this section of the policy. Schools that purchase
equipment outside of these guidelines must comply with the Network Standards at
their own expense. Such expense will be billed at the standard rate for service. It is
estimated that bringing a new machine into compliance will take a minimum of two
(2) hours. Non-standard and older equipment will take longer.”

EXISTING, USED AND DONATED COMPUTERS

 Existing and used equipment must meet the minimum standards;
 External Resources and Partnerships must be notified about all donated
equipment and;
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 Equipment that does not meet the Network Standards may be used as standalone
resources (i.e. not connected to the CPS network).

SECURITY AND MANAGEMENT

“Standards are created as a guideline to ensure that each unit is aware of its
responsibility to the security of all other units. By putting these Standards in place,
the network environment will be secured from unauthorized external and internal
harm.”
 All computers attached to the network must be named according to the CPS
Naming Standards, labeled with a CPS standardized asset tag, and registered
in the OTS database;
 For PC computers attached to the network, Trend Micro and SMS clients must
be on all machines; and
 For Macintosh computers attached to the network, McAfee Virex and Net
Octopus and Timbuktu clients must be on machines.

*Borrowed from Chicago Public Schools Policy Manual:

http://policy.cps.k12.il.us/documents/604.5.pdf

Funding Alternatives:

Funding alternatives shall include the following: government funding, fundraisers and
local business sponsors.

School Pilot Projects/Educational Research:

Computer infused curriculum with a group of Pre-K & Kindergarten students.

Project: Monitor how technology has enhance the learning of primary age students.

Model Classroom Configurations:

*Borrowed Material:

Chicago Public Schools/University of Chicago Internet Project:

CUIP’s suggestions for effective classroom setup:

Spread the classroom computers at least several feet apart from one another along the
wall. This allows the teacher to send students in pairs to work at each workstation.
Most schools do not have a computer for each student so „doubling up‟ is important and
can only be done effectively if there is space between the workstations. Spacing the
machines out also cuts down on copying – one student looking on the monitor of
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another for answers – and general behavior problems. It is important to note that to be
able to space out the classroom machines requires sufficient furniture (tables or
computer desks and chairs).

Consider how you as the teacher wish to monitor student computer use. It is a good
practice to have the computer monitors easily viewable from both the teacher‟s desk
and the front of the classroom. Students easily can fall off-task and even discover
content that is offensive or inappropriate while using the computer. Therefore, setting
up the computers in your classroom so you can see what your students are working on
is important. Equally important is the fact that you ideally do not want other students
who are participating in the non-computer based activities (e.g. lecture) to be distracted
by the computer monitors. Placing the computers along the back wall allows the
teacher to see the monitors from the front of the room but should not distract the other
students at their desks.

It will be easiest to place the computers on the wall where the network ports are
located. However, if this is not the most convenient location for any reason
(configuration of the classroom, glare from windows, too distracting to other students)
the computers can be moved to another wall with the help of long network cables. If
this approach is taken the cords should be secured to ensure safety and keep an
orderly appearance.

Create a comfortable workspace at the computer for the students. Often teachers want
students to take notes from their Internet research or complete a paper assignment or
WebQuest. It is important that students have a place to write effectively next to the
computer. If the computers are spaced out sufficiently there should be space beside the
keyboard for note-taking and writing.

Do not place computers on student desks. These small desks do not provide even
enough room for effective use of the keyboard or mouse not to mention giving the
students nowhere to take notes or write if needed.

Maintain your classroom computers. Small things like mouse pads and keyboard trays
improve the general appearance. Monitor screens should be cleaned regularly.
Computers that are not setup properly or maintained can quickly look „junky‟ and
become disrespected and damaged by the students.

Most educational software (especially for K-3) and many Web sites have audio
components. Strongly consider getting headphones to reduce the distractions for other
students.
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Students seem to enjoy stealing the ball that controls the mouse – rendering the
computer useless. Strongly consider moving to optical mice that do not have a ball and
are harder for students to damage.

If your computers are visible to the students at their desks use simple and non-
distracting screensavers.

If you have a classroom printer it is important to think through where the printer will be
setup and what kind of access individual students have to print. Allowing unlimited
student access to the printer often leads to lots of unnecessary printing that burns
through print cartridges. Even well-meaning students can accidentally print a Web page
that has images and a colored background that will use significant amounts of ink.
Strongly consider locating the printer close to the teacher‟s desk and/or requiring a
teacher password to allow students to print. CUIP can help you setup this type of
password-protected printing.

Borrowed from Chicago Public School & University of Chicago website:

http://cuip.net/cuip/teachers/model_classroom/index.htm

Facilities:

Any facilities that were not constructed in the late 80s, 90s or 00s must be brought up
to a standard in which technology can be implemented into their classroom setting; in
addition, such facilities will utilize a wireless network to connect to the internet.

Maintenance/Support:

It is recommended that the school‟s computer tech do a maintenance check at least

once or twice every week to insure that all equipment is working properly.

Software Agreements:

*Borrowed material from Homewood City Schools.

Homewood City Schools Software agreement for 2008-2009:

With the increasing number of computers and computer users in our system, it is
essential that everyone know and understand software copyright laws. It is illegal to
make or distribute copies of copyrighted material, including software without
authorization. Copyright law is written this way to protect software programmers/
publishers and the investment they've made in their product. When software is
purchased, please read the license agreement carefully. Purchasing a single copy of a
software package generally entitles the buyer to install this program on a single
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computer. Duplication of any copyrighted software is prohibited unless specifically

allowed for in the license agreement. If more than one copy is needed, a site license, lab
pack or network version must be purchased. Failure to adhere strictly to this license
agreement could result in a fine and/or imprisonment.

All software loaded on school computers must be registered with the Technology
Support Specialist in the following manner:
1) If the software is purchased with a school purchase order, a copy of the purchase
order and the original diskette or CD must be given to the Technology Support
Specialist if the software is loaded on the hard drive of the computer. If the software
requires the diskette or CD to be in the computer in order to execute, then it must
remain in the room with the computer at all times.

2) If the software is donated, it must adhere to certain guidelines and be properly

registered with the Technology Support Specialist.
Do not allow anyone to load personal software, such as application programs, utilities,
menus, games, etc. on the school's computers. By permitting the loading of
unauthorized software you will be legally liable for any copyright laws that may be
violated which could include fines and/or imprisonment. If such software has been
placed on the school computers, please remove it immediately. If you need assistance in
doing this, please let the District Director of Technology or the Technology Support
Specialist at each school know immediately.

As computers are routinely checked and repaired, any unauthorized software (software
not registered with the Technology Support Specialist) will be immediately removed from
the school computer.

Please sign below, as your signature indicates agreement to this document. Also, please
make a copy of this information for your own records.
****************************************************************************************************
I have read and understand the above information on SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT LAW.

*Borrowed from Homewood City Schools:

http://www.homewood.k12.al.us/technology/docs/Software08_09.pdf

Copyright/Acceptable Use Policy:

It is recommended for staff, parents and students to refer to the following website to
view the federal copyright laws:

Copyright Office Basics: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

Also view Wisconsin‟s Depart of Public Instruction website for more copyright resources
for schools and libraries: http://dpi.wi.gov/lbstat/copyres.html
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Gifts and Disposal:

School Properties Disposal Procedure

DO
Issued Date: 1/11/95
The McDuffie County Board of Education shall sell surplus or obsolete property on the
recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools. The Superintendent may dispose of
items where the projected sales value is $300 or less at his discretion. Such items
disposed of will be reported to the Board specifying: property sold, purchaser and sale
price. Items where the projected sale value is more than $300 must have the prior
approval of the Board before being offered for sale.

The Superintendent will request that the Board declare such items for sale to be
surplus. The Board may direct that the sale be made by advertised bids or by
negotiation based upon a reasonable estimate as to which method would
most economically benefit the Board.

Staff Development:

Professional Development Strategies:

The professional development strategies that will be implemented are a part of the
overall comprehensive school improvement planning process. The System Staff
Development Council meets annually in March to re-establish the academic areas that
should be targeted by professional development throughout the system. The areas to
be targeted for 2005-2008 is: Reading, Mathematics, Research-Based Effective
Strategies based on Learning Focused Schools (Researcher: Dr. Max Thompson) and
Technology.

The professional development that will be provided is scientifically research-based on

effective learning strategies and based on the National Standards for Staff Development
(National Staff Development Council).

The Context Standards for professional development include the following essential
elements:
· Essential elements in organizing adults into Learning Communities,
· Development of school and district Leadership for continuous improvement,
· Resources that support adult learning and collaboration.

The Process Standards for professional development include the following essential
elements:
· Designs learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal
· Improves learning for all students
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· Provides educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate

· Uses disaggregated data to determine learning priorities and monitor progress and
help sustain continuous improvement.
· Uses multiple sources of evaluative information to guide improvement and
demonstrate its impact
· Prepares educators to apply research to decision making.

The Content Standards for professional development include the following essential
elements:
· Improves the learning of all students equitably
· Provides quality teaching for all students by deepening educators‟ content knowledge
and providing them with research-based instructional strategies
· Improves the learning of all student s by providing educators with knowledge and
skills to involve families and other stakeholders.