TECHNOLOGY PLAN

Please submit your Technology Plan using the following template. You can be more creative by changing the font, adding pictures, screenshots, etc. Please do not replace or move any of the content. You will need to submit your Technology Plan via Edmodo as a PDF. I will submit your grade via Edmodo. You will have one opportunity for a redo. After I have submitted your grade, please post your PD plan on your Weebly page.

Please note that notes in blue are an EXTREMELY brief example. Please use your own ideas and be more descriptive. I have tried to provide examples to make the guidelines for the project clearer. Please remove anything that is in blue, red, or highlighted in yellow prior to submitting your technology plan. They are only there to help you. You can view this sample technology plan for guidance. Keep in mind that your requirements are slightly different and thus you should follow the template below. Merely use the sample to get a better grasp of what a technology plan entails. http://w540computersinthecurriculum.weebly.com/ Click to View the Screencast Video explaining the Technology Plan
TOTAL POINTS: 40

TECHNOLOGY PLAN TEMPLATE

Description of district/schools technology policies:

Analysis of Classroom:
o Student Populations and socio-economic status/factors
o Johnsontown Road Elementary Johnsontown Road Elementary is a K-5 school located in Louisville, Kentucky. The school was renovated in 1991. Johnsontown Road is one of 93 elementary schools that make up Jefferson County Public schools. The mission of the school is to make sure that all students are prepared to be college and career ready by the time they graduate. The slogan for our school is Learners Today, Leaders Tomorrow. Johnsontown Road has one principal and one assistant principal. There are three office staff members as well. There are 16 regular education teachers and two part time arts and humanities teachers. We are also fortunate enough to have 10 assistants that work in various situations in our school. Johnsontown Road is a school that serves for the most part students that come from low socio economic status. The has a free or reduced lunch population of 78%. Caucasion students make up 68% of the population and African American makes up 26% of the population. There is also a small percentage of the students that are Hispanic. Our school is fortunate enough to have a good amount of technology. Every classroom in the building has a Smart Board, Document Camera, Projector, four to five computers, and a wireless air liner. The school also has a computer lab with 38 computers.

o Pros and cons of technology resources

As I mentioned above, we are very fortunate at Johnsontown Road to have a lot of technology in our building. The technology in our building allows our students to work with cutting edge technology and also helps the teachers to differentiate their instruction. The list below shows all of the technology that is available in our building. -Smart Boards in every room -Smart Document Cameras in every room -Projectors in every room -Sound System in every room -Wireless Air Liners in every room -Smart Clickers (4 sets in the building) -Computer lab with 35 computers -Lap top for every teacher

-4-5 computers in each room Technology is like anything else in our lives. There are pros and cons with technology just like everything else. As you can see from my list above, there is a lot of technology that is used in our building. This is good for both the students and the teachers. First of all, it allows the teachers to differentiate their instruction. The students also love to learn with items such as the clickers because the technology is in their hands and it is cool for them. The lap tops and all of the Smart Software provide what seems to be an endless amount of resources for a teacher. This in turn results in more engaging lessons for our students. The technology also has seemed to help my classroom run smoother. I do not have to write everything on a whiteboard and always teach from the front of the room. Overall, I use most of the technology that I listed above on a daily basis in my classroom and I do not think I could go back to teaching without it.

Fortunately there is not a whole lot that I can complain about when it comes to the technology in our building. My biggest issue is when it comes to our lap top computers. We get new computers every 5 years. This means that our computers are out of date and tend to run very slowly. This makes it more difficult to run some of the technology and can cause issues in the classroom. Also, with their only being four sets of clickers in the building it means that not all teachers can use them when they want. I know they are expensive but it would be nice if all teachers had a set. Finally, it is very hard to get into our computer lab to do research and such. The computer teacher is a special area as well. So, there is not a lot of free time for classes to get into the lab.

o Adaptive/assistive hardware and software that assist students with special needs
Our school is not one that has a lot of students with special needs. So, there are not a lot of adaptive/assistive hardware available in our building. However, I feel that any type of technology can be used in this capacity. The following is a list of the resources that are available in our school building. Audio System Smart Board Smart Document Camera Smart Clickers Read and Write Gold IPADS Touchscreen laptops Head set microphones

The following websites are ones that I have also used in my classroom http://www.brainpopesl.com/

http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0 http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/50_essential_resou...

o Technology resources that affirm diversity and address cultural and language differences
I have been teaching at Johnsontown Road for 5 years now. In my five years we have not had a single ESL student. In JCPS there are certain schools that have ESL programs. This is where they try and send these students so that they can get the help that they need. Saying that, the following resources are ones that I might use if I had an ESL student in my classroom. -http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/ -http://bogglesworldesl.com/ -http://www.everythingesl.net/ -http://www.brainpopesl.com/

o School or classroom management strategies

In our school the students have a computer class that is taught by our STC twice a week for 50 minutes apiece. As a homeroom teacher you take your students to his class and they enter the lab and follow the directions that he gives them. However, as I mentioned above there is not a lot of free time to actually go down to the lab as a homeroom teacher and use it for research and such. There is a signup sheet on his door that has the times that the lab is open. During these times it is the homeroom teachers responsibility to monitor the students to ensure they are following the rules that are set forth for the lab. These rules and regulations are all a part of the Acceptable User Agreement that I posted a screen shot of above. All students at the beginning of the year go over this agreement and sign it along with their parents. In my classroom I use the Smart Clickers on almost a daily basis. In my experience it works better for me to pass out the clickers and then collect them when we are done using them. In my four years of having the clickers I have luckily not had any that have been broken and I attribute this to my process of passing out and collecting. It may be a little more time but in my opinion it is worth it. Also, the students know that as soon as they get the clicker they are to turn it on and log into my class. When we are done with the activity I end the class and the clickers automatically turn off. As far as students not using the technology appropriately, I have only had one instance where I had to discipline a student. The discipline comes from what is called for in the handbook that is screen shot above. In this case the student was suspended from IPAD use for two weeks and we are monitoring his activity more closely. As with anything, the

students are going to try and push the boundaries. However, I feel that most problems with the technology can be avoided by closely monitoring what our students are doing.

o Wide area networks (WAN) for school districts

The following information is what is provided by JCPS to explain how our Digital Technology department works.

Digital Technologys Mission is to provide world class communications and technology support services to insure safe, resourced, supported, and equipped schools:

Ensure the community has telephone access to all JCPS facilities. Ensure 24x7 access to voice and data networks (internet). Ensure networks are safe, reliable and protected from intrusion. Provide technical service for hardware, phone systems, software and network devices (printers, servers, routers, switches, etc.). Install, maintain and update PC software, network software, server software, phone software and virus protection software. Manage and disburse KETs and e-Rate funds. Manage Wireless Access implementation and support. Research emerging technology that assist educational needs. Coordinate vendors on network installation and repair.

Currently, there are over 44,000 workstations, 6,500 printers, over 6,000 pieces of network equipment, and more than 14,000 telephone handsets being supported and maintained by the Digital Technology Unit. There are approximately 125 miles of fiber optic infrastructure constructed, owned and maintained by the District which link schools, and approximately 40,000 network drops operating at 10/100 megabit speed in classrooms and offices. All conventional schools have a 1 gigabit WAN connection, and the District has a 1 gigabit connection to the Internet. There are also over 4000 wireless access points in use at schools. The Digital Technology Unit makes approximately 22,000 service calls annually servicing all JCPS locations. In our school building the STC takes care of any problems that he can. If he can not fix the problem, he will put in a work order to have the district come out and fix the problem.

o Analysis of Needs
I do not feel that there are many needs for technology in my school building. Our principal has done everything that she can with our budget to ensure that our students and teachers have all of the technology that we need. However, I do not think that there are enough student computers that are available. There is a lab with 35 computers but it is in use most of the time. Each classroom has 4-5 computers but there are 24-29 kids in each class. In a perfect world each student would have their own computer or lap top. I think it would be great if the school could get at least 2 sets of lap tops that teachers could check out and use in their classrooms. This

would allow students more access and give the teachers more flexibility when they are planning units where computers are required. I would also like to see our state department of education improve our network. Our district took steps this past year to improve our wireless internet. However, there will be times when our network will crash and be down for the rest of the day. When this happens it not only messes up the computer teachers plans but also the homeroom teachers that are using the network for lessons. I understand that issues arise, but there has to be a way to prevent it from happening frequently and the severity to which it occurs.