TECHNOLOGY PLAN:

What is the ideal technology-based learning environment? Seymour Papert (MIT) believes that it will be a vibrant and exciting atmosphere with beginners and experts all learning together. He states that technology offers the flexibility that will allow every individual to find personal paths to learning, "how they absorb knowledge best, what motivates them, what their interests and preferences are." (Papert, p.. 60, 1999)

Implementation Strategies

The successful integration of technology into the curriculum involves more that just locating computers in a building. The ‘traditional’, or least ineffective place to put computers has been in a computer lab. The lab provides groups of students access on a scheduled ‘computer time’ basis. However, the lab setup may indicate a didactic framework, exposing the fact that technology has not truly been integrated into the curriculum. A developing rule of thumb places one computer in the classroom for, at a minimum, every three students. But a facility with abundant computer resources signifies nothing special about a student’s intelligence or about the amount of learning occurring. The key to the positive use of technology is in the implementation strategy which:

  1. Supports the innovators willing to devote energy and commit to change.
  2. Plans for teacher education first. Teachers must have access to the equipment and time to practice while they are learning.
  3. Delivers on-site and individualized technical and instructional support.
  4. Moves forward with those who are ready. Some will resist change. Allow others to become models of what can be accomplished.
  5. Expects changes in the school power structure. Sufficient training of all personnel should minimize conflicts.
  6. Implies changes of huge magnitude in educational philosophy, classroom management, and curricular goals. Knowledge of how to use technology does not guarantee that teaching and learning will improve. "For technologies to be used optimally, teachers must be comfortable with a constructivist or project-based, problem solving approach to learning; they must be willing to tolerate students’ progressing independently and at widely varying paces; they must trust students to sometimes know more than they do" (Healy, p. 68).
  7. Remembers that change takes time. It requires that already over-worked individuals undergo profound belief and habit transformation.
  8. Builds learning from what is known for teachers as well as students. Introducing teachers to new technologies is most effectively done by reducing the implicit threat of change. For example, emphasize that multimedia is not an end in itself, but rather one more means to accomplish familiar educational goals.
  9. Considers the social and emotional aspects of learning to use technologies. Teachers need hands-on, personal encounters to understand how these programs can be of use to them, not abstruse explanations of the inner workings of the computer.
  10. Allows students to take responsibility for teaching others. A cadre of classroom volunteer ‘experts’ can help other students and troubleshoot simple problems.
  11. Uses technology to link school, parents, and the wider community. Parent technology-training sessions, interaction with senior citizen programs, and technology open houses bring the community into the school.  ParentAccess web-based software provides the parents the link to their child(ren)’s academic record and progress.
  12. Builds an understanding of how to use technology effectively and understanding how technology works are quite different. Many technology implementers are focused on how technology works. Most educators need to understand how technology can be used.
  13. Moves technology into the mainstream of education means having support systems. Every technology plan must assess and make recommendations for technical support. Until crucial support systems are provided, your mainstream colleagues will continue to see technology as a tool that consumes too much while delivering too little.

 

Typical classroom configuration:

 

Typical computer lab configuration:

 

Typical library lab configuration:

 

Typical mobile wireless computer lab configuration (WOW):

 

 

Campus

Computer Labs

Library Computers

WOW Cart

Classroom Computers

Elementary

1

15

1 per 250

6

Intermediate

1

15

1 per 250

6

Junior High

3 – 4

20

1 per 250

6

Senior High

6 – 8

25

1 per 200

6

 

Wireless 3-phase implementation for new and existing construction:

  1. Large-group areas (library, LGI, cafeteria, main office, etc) for administrative and student use.
  2. Major hallways with minimal coverage in the classrooms, typically for teacher use.
  3. Classrooms for student use.

 

Instructional Strategies Technology Plan Index