EDUC 638

Prince William County Public Schools

Educational Technology Plan SY 2011-2012

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Table of Contents
Vision, Mission, and Goals 2 Needs Assessment . 5 The Planning Process 6 State Goals and Objectives with Local Strategies . 6 Environment 6 Engagement . 7 Application . 7 Tools .. 8 Results .. 8 Executive Summary ..

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Mission, Vision, and Goals of Prince William County Public Schools

Mission Prince William County Schools (PWCS) will seek to acquire and implement the best technology, based on research-based and data-driven assessments, for all students affiliated with PWCS schools. PWCS will seek to hire the highest quality educators and administrators. PWCS will research and implement best strategies and technologies to take advantage of native learning environments to reach all students and to increase learning potential for all students at all times.

Vision PWCS desire to create a digital learning environment that eliminates boundaries and allows all students to have their learning experience enhanced to its fullest potential. PWCS will be a school district that provides a place for all students in Prince William County to receive every manner of help to maximize their own personal learning while realizing their significance in the world.

Goals Student Goals: 1. Classrooms will provide and environment in which all students will have equal opportunities to find solutions, whether by unique means or accepted practice, through individual and group work for their own benefit and for the good of all their classmates. 2. Classrooms will encourage all students to acquire the ability to learn new technologies and show increasing mastery of known technologies to enhance academic output and personal growth by means of engagement with meaningful curriculum with the help of assistive technologies as needed. 3. Classrooms will allow all students to apply appropriate technology in discerning long term objectives, devising appropriate steps to accomplish these goals in an acceptable amount of time, and producing artifacts. 4. Classrooms will provide students with an awareness of resources, and ability to use said resources, for differences in language and culture, learning and physical disabilities, and socioeconomic status. 5. Classrooms will discern achievement for all students through a variety of data-driven, researchbased methods and use that data to increase learning opportunities for all students, with an emphasis on digital equity issues.
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Educator/Administrator Goals: 1. Educational and administrative staff will encourage an environment where technology is used to enhance the student experience by providing flexibility and variety in instructional settings, materials, and assignments. 2. Educational and administrative staff will be assessed for understanding of technology and classroom integration and provided with opportunities for professional development to acquire necessary skills with essential technologies. 3. Educational and administrative staff will be tasked with designing and implementing curriculum that appropriately uses technology in allowing all students the freedom to produce artifacts of interest to them and relevance to the course objectives. 4. Educational and administrative staff will receive training and resources to maximize potential for equal access to technology tools that provide opportunity for learning. 5. Educational and administrative staff will receive training in providing learning experiences in a manner that is research-based and can be analyzed for future data-driven adjustments.

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Needs Assessment
Strengths What are the current strengths? According to an informal survey of schools it is believed that 98% of current students have access to some technology at home. A preliminary 2011-2015 Technology Plan was produced, without an Instructional Technology Director, and correlated basic local positions with new Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Technology Standards of Learning. PWCS has implemented a Strategic Plan for all schools covering 2011-2015. This plan allows for greater understanding of district goals while developing a single year technology plan. Weaknesses What are the current weaknesses? The new VDOE standards are very broad and require many specific technology issues, especially those regarding digital equity, to be resolved at the local level without state guidance. PWCS are structured in a site based leadership module making it a difficult and lengthy process for any new technology programs or standards to be implemented across the board. The PWCS Instructional Technology and IT departments are separate and function with separate plans, budgets, and leadership. Opportunities What are the future opportunities? The new VDOE Standards of Learning allow for a framework from which to build future programs with an expected review and update of those standards prior to the 2015-2016 school year. The new VDOE Standards of Learning allow each district to have a common starting point but also offer incentive based grant programs that encourage creativity and progress in developing and implementing instructional technology. Threats What threatens those future opportunities? The primary threat is financial. Due to recent economic problems, budget cutbacks are commonplace. New and unproven methods and programs become more risky and less likely to be approved with greater budget limitations. Failure of new programs, and new technologies, whether real or perceived, will increase the difficulty of continuing to adapt new technologies to instruction despite what research suggests. Site based leadership in PWCS schools could lead to a lack of willingness to experiment with trial programs and technologies and thus stunt the growth of instructional technology programs within the district.
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The Planning Process

State Goals and Objectives with Local Strategies

Each segment below will feature the current VDOE Goals and Objectives with a local Strategy for both students and educators/administrators. Schools are being tasked with developing and appropriate and adequate learning environment for technology use. Schools are being tasked with developing curriculum that provides meaningful engagement in the learning process for each student. Schools are being tasked with finding purposeful application of learning tools. Schools are being tasked with using authentic technology tools to extend and expand upon learning capabilities for all. Schools are being tasked with using authentic and intelligent assessments to determine the validity of current practices and inform new teaching and technology decisions. As such, the instructional technology department must provide a framework that guides the individual schools towards best practices verified by research and data.

Environment
State (VA): Goal 1: Provide a safe, flexible and effective learning environment for all students. Objective 1.1: Deliver appropriate and challenging curricula through face-to-face, blended, and virtual learning environments. Objective 1.2: Provide technical and human infrastructure necessary to support real, blended, and virtual learning environments. Objective 1.3: Provide high-quality professional development to help educators create, maintain, and work in a variety of learner-centered environments. Local: Student Strategy: Informal/anonymous surveys will be distributed to all students to assess their beliefs about current technology use and ways in which they wish to see technology implemented in the classroom. Educator/Administrator Strategy: Educational and Administrative staff will be given the same survey as students. In addition, educational and administrative staff will be given an email address to contact with suggestions for improvement of the learning environment either in their specific school or across the district.

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Engagement
State (VA): Goal 2: Engage students in meaningful curricular content through the purposeful and effective use of technology. Objective 2.1: Support innovative professional development practices that promote strategic growth for all educators and collaboration with other educators, content experts, and students. Objective 2.2: Actualize the ability of technology to individualize learning and provide equitable opportunities for all learners. Objective 2.3: Facilitate the implementation of high-quality internet safety programs in schools. Local: Student Strategy: The introduction of iPads in the trial program approved for introduction in the 20112012 school year will be assessed for both quantitative and qualitative success during each quarter and at the end of the school year to determine validity for acquiring and distributing iPads to all students beginning in the 2012-2013 school year. Educator/Administrator Strategy: Educational and Administrative staff will be encouraged to identify student interest to enhance the use of technology in the classroom.

Application
State (VA): Goal 3: Afford students with opportunities to apply technology effectively to gain knowledge, develop skills, and create and distribute artifacts that reflect their understandings. Objective 3.1: Provide and support professional development that increases the capacity of teachers to design and facilitate meaningful learning experiences, thereby encouraging students to create, problemsolve, communicate, collaborate, and use real-world skills by applying technology purposefully. Objective 3.2: Ensure that students, teachers, and administration are ICT literate. Objective 3.3: Implement technology-based formative assessments that produce further growth in content knowledge and skills development. Local: Student Strategy: Assignments and assessments will be developed according to expected student technological ability and adjustments made to accommodate students when necessary.

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Educator/Administrator Strategy: Educational and Administrative staff will be provided with professional development options to acquire and enhance skills and knowledge related to essential technologies.

Tools
State (VA): Goal 4: Provide students with access to authentic and appropriate tools to gain knowledge, develop skills, extend capabilities, and create and disseminate artifacts that demonstrate their understandings. Objective 4.1: Provide resources and support to ensure that every student has access to a personal computing device. Objective 4.2: Provide technical and pedagogical support to ensure that students, teachers, and administrators can effectively access and use technology tools. Objective 4.3: Identify and disseminate information and resources that assist educators in selecting authentic and appropriate tools for all grade levels and curricular areas. Local: Student Strategy: Design assignments that utilize common technology tools, such as cell phones and laptops, already possessed by students as well as basic computer and tablet usage. Educator/Administrator Strategy: Educational and Administrative staff will receive professional development opportunities that emphasize developing assignments appropriate to various types of technology.

Results
State (VA): Goal 5: Use technology to support a culture of data-driven decision making that relies upon data to evaluate and improve teaching and learning. Objective 5.1: Use data to inform and adjust technical, pedagogical, and financial support. Objective 5.2: Provide support to help teachers disaggregate, interpret, and use data to plan, improve, and differentiate instruction. Objective 5.3: Promote the use of technology to inform the design and implementation of next generation standardized assessments. Local:

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Student Strategy: Students will receive a variety of assignments and assessments based on data and research with adjustments made as more data is recorded and analyzed in an effort to provide students with an accurate evaluation of the quality of their work and their skill level. Educator/Administrator Strategy: Educational and Administrative staff will receive professional development to aid in evaluating data and adjusting instruction and assessment both during the school year and from year to year.

Executive Summary
The plan, as presented, places primary emphasis on taking advantage of existing infrastructure and student access to technology. Site based management will allow schools to take the strategies proposed in this plan and implement them with the specific knowledge they possess concerning their own staff, student body, facilities, and technology. Schools with areas of specialty will be allowed to cater the use of technology to their needs instead of being forced into a one size fits all program. Professional development that emphasizes essential technologies will be sought out. The professional development program will seek to allow educators of all skill levels to either gain the requisite skills to properly integrate essential technologies or expand their knowledge to more advanced uses of existing technology or gaining technology skills in other areas. Professional development will be done in a way that is fitted to the individual instead of forcing all staff, regardless of current ability, to participate in exactly the same opportunities thus wasting the time and talent of some staff. This single year approach allows time to assess what technologies are present and effective and to research what technologies may best benefit the current district structure. Students and faculty will benefit greatly from a plan that is built around the existing VDOE Technology Standards of Learning as well as the International Society for Technology in Educations national standards for students, teachers and administrators. The use of existing external knowledge and research, in addition to the continual gathering and assessment of internal results, will lead to the best possible future integration of technology in district classrooms.

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