Technology Maturity Riverton High School 2012-2013 Academic School Year Demographics Riverton High School consists of eighth

through twelfth grades. The school was opened in 2007 and is one of two high schools within the county. The building was built for the purpose of holding eighth through twelfth graders. There is a plan in place to build another middle school which would hold all the eighth graders leaving the high school for grades nine to twelve. The school consists of 974 students, 476 females and 498 males. Of these students, 28% qualify for free and reduced lunch. There is not a wide variety of ethnic diversity within the building, but other factors within this school and individual classes support differentiation. In many classes there is a gap in socioeconomic status. This affects what prior knowledge and background experience with technology students come with to class. However, most of the schools population do have their own mobile devices and computers at home. The school does offer desktop computers in the library for students to use before and after school for assignments.

Administration Filter - Islands Policy: Behavioral - Integrated Currently, technology is a big push. Our policy states that technology must be used in every classroom at some point during the semester. Teachers are to document this use as part of their teacher portfolio. There is nothing in this policy that states how much technology must be integrated or what technology should be used within each discipline. The policy is in the process of changing to require teachers to use a certain amount of technology in order to prepare students. Students have signed an Acceptable Use Policy and most understand the protocol for using technology in school. Most teachers and students use technology regularly

Resource/Infrastructure - Islands The policy within my building is not formally assessed at all. Administration asks in meetings what, if any, technology is being used and the conversation stops there. Teachers are required to input their grades and attendance in the computer. Planning: Behavioral - Islands Majority of the planning that takes place, occurs with the use of computer labs. However, we only have 4 computer labs with a maximum of 27 computers in each lab. therefore they are a high premium. Other technology is available but is used sporadically and only by the few teachers that are comfortable using that piece of technology. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands Students complete a task using the computer and they are complete. Students complete a webquest or a project here and there. One goal is set and once it is completed, students and teachers are done. There is little to no connection to other plans within the class or other classes. Budget: Behavioral - Islands A policy is in place and there is a plan to purchase more technology. However, any extra money that the principal comes into does not go towards technology at all. She is advised to split the money, but has not in the last few years. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands At the moment, school technology specialists are working on a budget for new and advanced technology. They are in the process of writing a grant to acquire more funds. Since no other budget allows for technology purchases, they must be creative and think outside the box to acquire funds to support their needs/wants. Administrative Information: Behavioral - Integrated All attendance and grades are to be entered using software called PowerSchool. This was put into place three years ago in order to start the paperless process and allow parents to stay up to date on their childs progress in class. Referrals and conferences are all done through this program. The school is very proactive to try and limit paper as much as possible. IEPs are even put in a folder on our network so there is no paper trail.

Resource/Infrastructure - Islands All administrators, including guidance counselors have access to everything. However, teachers are only allowed access to their current students. Coaches need to seek special permission from administration to have access to their athletes grades, attendance, and behavioral issues. Majority of communication between teachers, staff, and administration is done through emails.

Curricular Filter - Islands Electronic Information Behavioral - Islands Teachers depend on technology for email, attendance and grades. A few teachers use websites to communicate with students and parents. Email is a major point of contact between administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Professional development options, updates on educational information, and school news are all communicated via email. Students are not as dependent on this as teachers are as students are not given an email account with the school. Resource/Infrastructure - Integrated All staff members have access to resources on a county wide shared drive to assist them in setup and use of various forms of technology that are required by the county. New teachers are sent through training to learn how to properly use these tools. Most teachers are aware of where to look when needing a refresher on how to use various tools. However, there is not a wide diversity of tools available without dipping into the budget. Assessment Behavioral - Integrated All teachers are expected to record and keep track of personal professional growth on spreadsheets provided by the county. This information is kept in an electronic file/folder for the prospective teacher and administrator to view. There are a few teachers that still keep a hard copy of this information. Parents have access to their childs grade via PowerSchool. Teachers are required to update their grade book by Tuesday of each week. Every 4 weeks, teachers are required to give their students a cummultive exam in which the scores are recorded ROS works. This documentation is a way for teachers and administration to evaluate student progress using state standards. This data is not available for students and parents. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands Even though teachers are required to use a specific tool for exams every 4 weeks, majority of teachers still rely on traditional methods for everyday assessment. Other tools are available, but there is not a big push for that at the moment. ROS works is available for use for chapter and unit tests and quizzes but it is not a priority. Students do not use technology to track their learning progress. Instead they use exit tickets to communicate their learning. Curriculum Integrations Behavioral - Emergent Most classrooms use technology once in awhile for students to complete projects or play review games. All classrooms are equipped with projectors and SMARTboards in which teachers use for direct instruction and videos. SMARTboards are not being used to its fullest capabilities in majority of the classrooms. Resource/Infrastructure - Integrated

Resources are available for all teachers, in all contents. Those that use technology must research how to use it either on the internet or on the countys shared drive. Teacher Use Behavioral - Integrated Due to the fact that teachers must use email, PowerSchool, ROS works, projectors, and SMARTboards daily, technology is integrated into all classrooms. Many teachers have a backup plan that does not require the use of technology. These teachers keep a paper copy of grades and attendance in case there are issues with the computer system. Resource/Infrastructure - Intgrated All teachers are given laptops that have wireless capabilities throughout the school and teachers are able to take these computer home to complete work. Each department has a work area, but only core classes have technology in those rooms to assist in planning and collaboration. Student Use Behavioral - Islands Most students have their own device that they wish they could use regularly in class. In core classes, technology is used for projects, research papers, and review games. In non core classes, technology is used even less. Technology is not being used creatively in most classes to enhance content. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands Only students who are taking a technology based course, such as photography, Tech Foundations, Yearbook have consistent and regular access to technologies. There are only so many computers/cameras/iPods available and it is impossible to expose all classes to equal time with technology.

Support Filter - Emergent Stakeholder Involvement Behavioral - Islands All teachers are aware that administration and county officials have funds and look at technology for the future. However, teachers are not involved in this process of choosing technology and within the last five years have never been asked to be a part of this process. Once technology is purchased, the technology specialists are responsible for training teachers and relating tools to content. Resource/Infrastructure -Emergent Since teachers and other staff members are not involved in locating and purchasing technology for our school, they are not represented in the implementation process. Teachers are not held responsible for integrating technology unless they are trained or informed where to locate information. Teachers are told how to use various tools and rarely are asked how they

think it would help their students learn content, if at all. Teachers are never asked for their input on how they wish to be trained on new technologies. Administrative Support Behavioral - Emergent Administration sends emails out encouraging technology use in the classroom to improve learning, but only one administrator has any experience or expertise with technology in education to assist teachers in any way. The principal often asks who is using technology and how, but no follow up is ever conducted.

Resource/Infrastructure - Islands As stated above, the administration has little knowledge in how to use technology in the classroom to enhance learning. Meetings are held with select teachers to discuss basic technology use and how to increase its use, but nothing is established. They want everyone to use technology and the school board is pushing administration to push technology use, but other issues take a precedent. Training Behavioral - Emergent Very few formal technology trainings are offered within our building and those that are offered are not widely attended. Nothing is made mandatory or even stressed with any sense of urgency. Resource/Infrastructure - Emergent Formal training is offered for essential pieces of technology for new teachers only. As new technology is acquired by the school, emails are sent to teachers informing them on what is available. Teachers must explore how to use it and ways to incorporate it in their classes. Technical Support Behavioral - Emergent The few staff members that utilize technology on a regular basis are able to fix minor issues on their own or know someone who can help. Formal support is not something that is easily accessible. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands Resources are limited when it comes to assistance for everyday issues. When problems arise, teacher must fill out a form and wait for the problem to be fixed. There is no one on site that is able to fix an issue on the spot. Teachers know of various co-workers who can assist them if something goes wrong in the middle of class. Connectivity Filter - Integrated Local Area Networking Behavioral - Islands

All teachers use email or phone to communicate daily. Each teacher is given a folder in which they are capable of sharing work with co-workers in order to collaborate. This folder is found on a shared drive, which all teachers are granted access. Some folders can be viewed by all but only modified by certain individuals in which the work would pertain to. Most teachers use this shared drive to store materials, but still rely on email to send documents. Resource/Infrastructure - Integrated All areas within our building are equipped with high speed wireless internet. The laptops that are issued wireless passwords and this information is not given out to students for network security reasons. Due to the fact that we have so many staff members using the network simultaneously, our network is built so the system hardly ever slows down due to usage. It is only affected when update are being done on the system or a series of computers. District Area Networking Behavioral - Intelleigent All teachers and administrators take advantage of the services provided by our network. Majority of the teachers in my building use the video capabilities. Resource/Infrastructure - Intelligent Our WAN is quite impressive as it controls 10 schools and the government center. Staff members are able to access their information at home if using the shared network.

Internet Access Behavioral - Integrated As stated before, attendance and grades require the internet to be recorded. Teachers often rely on the internet to stream videos, show animations, and use current research. All core teachers use the internet in their curriculum to have students practice using software that they must be familiar with when taking their state exam. Resource/Infrastructure - Intelligent All computers in the building have internet access and all laptops have wireless internet access. Communication Systems Behavioral - Inteligent As already stated email is the main source of communication between teachers and administrators. Any assistance that is needed is first done via email. Resource/Infrastructure - Integrated Email is available for all teachers and staff members. Students are not given access to email. Currently, I am on a small committee that is working to give students an email through Google that can be monitored by the school.

Innovation Filter - Islands New Technologies Behavioral - Islands It is encourage that any and all teachers try and experiment with new technologies, however nothing formal is organized and trainings are not offered. Resource/Infrastructure - Islands Most teachers are aware of new technologies that may enhance their curriculum. Again, little to no training is available and there is no formal push to actually use anything new. At the moment, teachers are dealing with new state standards, new evaluation plans, and other new tasks that seem to take over. Many teachers feel there are other priorities and new technology gets pushed to the side. Comprehensive Technologies Behavioral - Integrated Many teachers have their own personal accounts that are sometimes used in their classroom. Technology teachers are more likely to use advanced forms of technology in their classes. Most of what is being used is fairly simple.

Resource/Infrastructure - Integrated Since many teachers use their own accounts for technology, they are able or more apt to use it in their classrooms. The school has access to large amounts of software that can be used by teachers. Currently, collaboration is a big push and using various forms of technology can and will assist in collaboration.

Riverton High School Technology Maturity - Islands Overall, administrators and teachers are aware that technology is crucial in engaging and meeting the needs of various students. However, there is a huge gap in knowing something needs to be done and actually getting the job done. Of course, it is not one person or parties fault. Several factors play a role in our lack of integrating technology to the fullest extent. I feel that we all are aware of the impact technology can have on our education system and student achievement, but we, as a school, have not committed to fully integrating technology. Therefore, Riverton High School should be categorized as an Islands school. Teachers seem to know about technology to some degree and want to use it in their classrooms. We lack in support for our teachers in how to integrate technology effectively and support in technical issues that may and will arise. Everyone wants to make technology more of a priority, but funds, everyday support, and other educational issues seem to prevent that at the moment. If teachers had resources, time, and accessibility to various forms of technology it may be used as an instructional strategy more often instead of just using it for grades, attendance, and videos. There is potential here for an increase technology integration, but several parties will have to come together to create a plan that is feasible, both short term and long term.