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Technology Plans: An Elementary School Review

Samantha Hasting
Lander University








Education 636
Dr. Murphy
October 7, 2014
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Technology has not only had an impact on the way people communicate and interact with others, but
has become important enough for Americas public school systems to take steps to ensure that our
future citizens are tech-savvy. Students are surrounded by technology in and out of school and teachers
have been able to use computers, tablets, and Smart Boards to create more meaningful lessons for their
students. Viewing technology as an important tool to be used in the world of education, schools have
implemented technology plans to set goals for themselves in the directions they are taking with
technology as a part of their curriculum. In the following paper, two elementary schools, Bates
Elementary and Blake Elementary, and their technology plans are evaluated for effectiveness.
Bates Elementary breaks down their technology goals into four specific areas: curriculum and
instructional integration, student technology literacy, professional development, and utilization of
administrative systems. The plan proposes meeting these objectives by ensuring that teachers have
appropriate training through the use of pdCentral, a professional development website, and that
students are engaged in technology literacy. Teachers are expected to implement technology into day-
to-day instruction, through activities and projects, as well as creating their classroom websites.
According to their technology plan, Bates Elementary classrooms have three-to-four computers with
Microsoft Office 2007 software. By the previous school year, each classroom was proposed to have a
SMART Board, and they planned to buy each classroom document cameras.
The funding for Bates Elementarys technology implementation stems from school grants, district
initiatives, fundraisers, PTA sponsorships, and funds from the Kentucky Education Technology Services
(KETS). Their proposal for evaluation and monitoring of the technology plan includes acquiring scores
from fifth graders 21
st
Century Skills assessment, evaluations and surveys completed by teachers and
students, and CSIP monitoring. The team members responsible for implementation and evaluation of
the technology plan are the technology instructor, principal, and assistant principal.
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Blake Elementarys goals described in their technology plan include increasing student engagement
through the use of technology, providing teachers professional development opportunities in
technology integration, and for students to demonstrate technology literacy, aligning with 21
st
Century
Skills. According to their current resources, Blake Elementary has 153 computers, 39 iPads, SMART
boards, digital cameras, earphone splitters, and a telecast room for students. Funding comes from the
schools general funds, and evaluation and monitoring will come from the use of observations, teachers
and students websites, and student productions.
Comparing these two elementary schools, Bates Elementary has broken down the technology plan
into more formal steps, explaining what software and programs teachers will be trained to use, listing
the various sources of funding, and providing the team members responsible for implementing the plan.
Blake Elementary, on the other hand, gives detailed insight into what and how students are expected to
accomplish through the use of technology in the classroom. The technology resource teacher is the only
team member listed in Blake Elementarys technology plan. Blake Elementary goes into more detail
about their technological resources than Bates technology plan, listing projectors, audio enhancement
systems, and SMART Response and Slate systems. Overall, both plans included their goals, current
technology and resources, funding and budget, and monitoring and evaluation plans.
To start with the creation of a technology plan, the team members must have goals in mind of what
the teachers and students want while keeping in mind what the right plan is for that particular school
(Overbay, Mollette, & Vasu, 2011). During the development of the technology plans, the team members
must ensure that teachers are on board with the new initiatives and are receiving training in how,
where, and when to use the next equipment being implemented. Training should be scheduled after
school and on in-service days to make certain that all teachers are able to use the technology in the
classroom environment. Allowing collaboration with teachers working together to implement
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technology will also build repertoire as teachers share lessons and activities that worked in their
classrooms and are able to help when other teachers are having problems with technology (Overbay,
Mollette, & Vasu, 2011).
Students are surrounded by technology on a daily basis. When creating the National Technology
Plan, the United States Department of Education took this important fact and geared it towards the
creation of the plan. Recommendations given for creating initiatives for technology in schools include
strengthening leadership and offering more preparation programs to assist teachers with new software
and programs (Donlevy, 2005). The National Technology Plan encourages schools to seek out innovative
budgeting to redistribute funds available to purchase resources. Schools are also pushed to provide
broadband access and add data systems that will help with making decisions and update instruction
(Donlevy, 2005).
Having a technology plan in place is an effective starting point for schools to start out on their quest
for a more technologically advanced curriculum. Technology has a way of encouraging learning through
hands-on approaches and meeting the needs of visual and auditory learners. Students can demonstrate
their learning through Prezis, Powerpoints, movies, and podcasts. Teachers can use email and
classroom websites to communicate with parents, students, and fellow teachers, and most public school
systems already use data entry systems in which students personal information is stored. With
technology advancing, schools must take the steps needed to foster learning for the 21
st
century.




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References
Donlevy, J. (2005). Envisioning the Future: The U.S. Department of Education's National Technology
Plan. International Journal Of Instructional Media, 32(2), 107.
LES School Technology Plan. Retrieved on October 7, 2014 from
http://lanesboroughschool.org/les-technology-plan/ .
Overbay, A., Mollette, M., & Vasu, E. S. (2011). A Technology Plan That Works. Educational
Leadership, 68(5), 56-59.
School Technology Plans. Retrieved on October 7, 2014, from
http://www.jefferson.k12.ky.us/Departments/DigitalTechnology/School_Technology_Plans
.pdf.