UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Classroom Technology Plan

Anna Newton
EDTC 630 Summer 2012

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton

Abstract This plan seeks to develop a classroom technology plan for personal use based on the specific needs of my school and classroom. The plan will focus particularly on integrating technology to improve critical thinking and writing skills of students and personal professional development. The following topics will be addressed: a needs assessment of current conditions, a vision statement, goals and learning objectives that are connected to technology and curriculum standards, a budget for classroom technology expenditures, justification for classroom technology choices, a professional development plan, timeline for completion of the plan, and a plan to evaluate the classroom technology plan. Keywords: classroom, technology plan, high school, critical thinking skills, writing skills

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton

Table of Contents Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................3 Inspiration Software, Inc. (2012). Inspiration 9: Single. Retrieved from .....................................19 http://store.inspiration.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=IS90-US-01 ...............................19 Logitech. (2012). Logitech HD pro webcam c920. Retrieved from .............................................19 http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/webcams/hd-pro-webcam-c920 .......19 Logitech. (2012). Logitech USB desktop microphone. Retrieved from .......................................19 http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/microphones/221 ..............................19

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton

Introduction: This document outlines my plan for integrating additional technology in my classroom in order to address areas of need in my classes and school. In this plan, I discuss my educational philosophy and how technology fits in that vision. In this plan, I also plan to continue to develop my skills as a teacher to improve my teaching and students achievement. Needs Assessment: School and Class Demographics: North Point High School, the school where I teach World History (Honors and A-Level) and AP European History, is a large and diverse community in Charles County, Maryland that services slightly over 2,200 students. World History is primarily an eleventh grade class and AP European History is primarily a twelfth grade class. North Point is the school of science, technology, and industry. As a result, our school zone is smaller compared to other high schools in the county since we admit students from the entire county. Students must apply to be admitted to one of the 17 science, technology and industry (referred to as STI) programs. An estimated half of the student body is enrolled in one of these programs, while the other half receives a normal high school education. The table below shows the schools demographics. Demographic American Indian African American Asian/Pacific Islander White Hispanic Male Female Special Education Number of Students 17 1,205 138 778 66 1,131 1,073 115 Percentage of School Population 0.8% 54.6% 6.3% 35.3% 3.0% 51.3% 48.7% 5.2% 4|Page

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Limited English Proficient Free & Reduced Meals 504 Plan Number not given 260 24 Less than 1% 11.8% 1.1%

While the above table depicts the schools demographics, however, the demographics of the classes I teach vary from class to class and year to year. All of my World History classes tend to have 22 to 30 students on average. My Honors level World History classes tend to mirror the school demographics; however, sometimes there is more of an even percentage of White and African American students. In my A-Level courses, there tends to be more African American students than White and more male than female students on average. The Hispanic and Asian population is very low in all of my classes. The AP European History class is very different. There are 9 16 students in the class on average, the gender of the students tend to be even and primarily White students. This year, I had two African American students in my European class. Out of all of my classes, I had one student that had special education services, two with 504 plans, one student with limited English skills, and about 10% of my students were in the FARMS program. Existing Technology: The existing technology of my school consists of 1,900 pieces of equipment. About 730 of that is desktop computers, 530 is laptop computers, 135 LCD projectors, 100 interactive display boards, and the rest consists of other various pieces such as CPS response clickers or interactive tablet boards. North Point also has several software programs and digital library resources that can be accessed at home, as well as, at school. In my classroom, I have a LCD projector, a SMART board that is on wheels, a desktop computer, and a wall speaker that I use on a regular basis. I consistently use the SMART board to present documents, notes, and other 5|Page

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton information needed for lessons. I try to have as many interactive features on the SMART board for the students to use as well to increase their engagement and learning. I also use the Turning Point response system, with the clickers and a laptop cart with 15 laptops inside that I can check out from the library on a periodic basis. I use the clickers to help students review before every test in my class. The students and I get immediate feedback through these review games. The laptops are typically used for research and project based learning assignments. Since there are only 15 in a cart and I cannot get two, I typically have students in groups of 4 to 6, depending on the class size. I also use the Edline class portal and management system to post assignments, important dates, announcements, and grades through the link to my IGPro grade book to help students and parents keep up to date on classroom activities and student progress. Assessment Data: My AP European students may take the national exam in May; however, it is not required to take the exam. In the 2011-2012 school year, eight out of nine students took the AP exam and seven out of the eight received a 3 or higher on the exam. This is an improvement from last years exam pass rate of 66%. My World History class does not have a county or state exam that they must pass in order pass the course or for graduation requirements. Many of my World History students take the SAT and ACT during the school year. Out of the 303 North Point students that took the SAT in 2010, there was an average composite score of 1442 out of 2400, writing was 472, reading was 486, and math was 484; each are out of 800. I use this data, along with students grades in class, to form improvement goals for my classroom. Areas of Need:

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Based on my classroom and school data, students need more skills in critical thinking and writing. My goal is to improve critical thinking and writing skills of my students to help them increase their scores on the SAT, ACT, and other exams and to help prepare them for higher education. To achieve this goal, I will add iPads, Turning Point response system, web camera, microphone, Inspiration software, class blog, and class wiki. The addition of these technologies will allow students to improve critical thinking and writing skills through an authentic, engaging, and hands-on study of history. Vision Statement: A quality education is vital in order to allow students to become competent and active members of society. My job as an educator is to prepare them for the complexities and challenges of the real world through teaching the curriculum, building skills, and collaboration. Integrating technology in my teaching allows me to further the goals of my profession and it helps prepare students for higher education and for their careers. Technology is an integral part of our society. Students must learn how to use various forms of technology in school and during their adult life. I believe technology should be used consistently in the classroom by the teacher and, more importantly, by the students to help them learn how to use technology to express their ideas, knowledge, and critical thinking skills. Students must also learn how to collaborate with others across the globe in order to broaden their knowledge of the world and to further ideas and ideals to better the lives of all people. To achieve this vision, technology in the classroom is vital because it will provide all students with an opportunity to gain the knowledge and skill to achieve these goals and skills.

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton To role of my 11th and 12th grade History classroom is to develop my students ability to analyze and interpret the world around them, collaborate to expand on their knowledge and impact on the world, and adjust to challenges they face. The use of technology within my classroom has allowed me to create a more interactive study of history that encourages inquiry, interpretation, and analysis. Students will discover history instead of being told what history is, especially through working with each other. While teaching 11th and 12th grade History at North Point High School I have used several forms of technologies to enhance learning, however, I feel that additional technology can be used to further student engagement and achievement. I feel the addition of 15 iPads, Turning Point response system, web camera, microphone (to use with the web camera), Inspiration software, class blog, and class wiki will allow me to increase engagement and allow students to have more hands on and creation in the study of history, while improving critical thinking and writing skills. Below is a chart that analyzes how each of the additional technologies will be used in my classroom for all students and for students with special needs. Technology iPads (15) Description on how it will be used in the classroom The iPads would be used for many projects and research in the classroom. This would also be a set for the classroom where students can use them to research online, create multimedia, use apps and other programs, such as inspiration (described below), to organize concepts, ideas, and organize their writing. This can be used for students who have disabilities that cause difficulty writing by hand. They could use the notebook to type notes, and email them to themselves or their facilitator to print for them. These iPads would be stored and charged in my classroom. While my school already has 3 Turning Point response systems, many are old and beaten up 8|Page

Turning Point response system (for 35)

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton because many classes use them. I would like a class set for my room, to use on a regular or daily basis. I would use this technology to poll students on their understanding of concepts, ideas, primary source analysis and more. This will give me more feedback on student progress to see what they need more help on or if they understand the concept and we can move on. This also allows students to be more engaged because they will see instant feedback based on their responses. For a student has aspergers, the response system will allow them to engage in the class activity without having to interact with other students when they are having difficulty doing so. The web camera would be used to connect and talk to historians and other classrooms while in the classroom, using the free Skype option. This will allow students to see and listen to people in the field and increase their engagement. Working with other classrooms will also increase their collaboration skills. The microphone will allow students to speak with historians and other classrooms and will be used in combination with the web camera. The class blog will be used to allow students to further their learning in and outside the classroom. The blog would be a place where students can pose questions to other students and the teacher on a difficult assignment, have discussions on assignments with the class and guests such as historians and other classes. This will be used to increase their collaborative skills. Students that have difficulty interacting with other students in person can use the blog to ask questions and discuss ideas with others. The class wiki will be a space where students can take their creations and writings in order to collaborate with others to edit and improve them. It will also allow the class to work with others outside of the classroom on projects, such as a classroom in another country. This is also a place where students with difficulty interacting with others can do so online instead of in person. The inspiration software will be used by 9|Page

Web camera

Microphone Class Blog

Class Wiki

Inspiration software

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton students to help organize class notes, ideas, and create an organized plan for their writing. This will be used to improve student writing. It can also be used to help students with special needs because it helps visualize ideas and concepts and it can help students with ADHD, autism, Asperger's, dyslexia, aphasia, and visual or auditory processing disorders because visuals help students with these disabilities process new information.

Goals & Objectives: The goals are broad enough to cover the entire World History and AP European History curriculum. The objectives I wrote are more specific to the War of 1812 and the period of Napoleon, however, the objectives below will be altered throughout the year to include other topics and projects throughout the school year. Goal 1: Students will utilize technology to improve their critical analysis and writing skills.

Objective A: Students will utilize technology (iPads) to organize writing plans through the use of organizational software called Inspiration to create an outline for a script on the impact of the War of 1812 on the world.

Objective B: Students will utilize technology to analyze the meaning primary source documents from the War of 1812 through the use of an interactive response system called Turning Point.

Goal 2: Students will utilize technology to work collaboratively to engage in research and analyze the various interpretations of historical events through discussion. Objective C: Students will utilize technology to increase their knowledge of the War of 1812 by speaking with historians around the world and in the United States through the use of a web camera and microphone. 10 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Objective D: Students will utilize technology to analyze primary sources for interpretations and the impact of the War of 1812 through discussion on a class blog. Goal 3: Students will utilize technology to collaboratively develop a multimedia presentation to analyze the impact of historical events. Objective E: Students will utilize technology to create a script for a multimedia presentation analyzing the impact of the War of 1812 by editing each others work on a class wiki. Budget: The below table shows the price for each of the additional technologies I plan on adding to my classroom. Anything not mentioned below is currently provided by school and district. Item iPads Charging Station Inspiration Software 15 2 1 Package for the teacher 15 downloads for the iPads 35 Quantity Price per item $399.00 $699.99 $ 59.00 $14.99 $1,835.00 for 32 clickers and system $55.00 for 3 more clickers Free with Blogger Free with Wikispaces $99.99 $29.99 $1,000.00 $2,000 with 3 year maintenance package $0 $0 $99.99 $29.99 $1,000.00 Total Price $5,985.00 $1398.00 $283.85

Turning Point interactive response system

Class Blog Class Wiki Web Camera Microphone Staff Development & Training

1 1 1 1 Workshops & Training

Grand Total: $10,796.83

Expenditure Justification: iPads: The 15 iPads and two charging stations were chosen for many reasons. iPads allow students to research, access the internet, write, and create products that could be created on a 11 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton computer, but they are more mobile. This mobility will allow students to collaborate more easily in groups and use the iPad to take photographs and film. This will allow student to have a more hands on and interactive approach to the study of history. Students learn more when they are taking their knowledge and applying it, such as creating a documentary on the impact of the War of 1812. You can also add many educational apps and other programs from the Apple store to help further knowledge and allow students to have more freedom in creating multimedia products for the classroom. Students will learn how to use various programs in the process, which will help prepare them for the highly technology based real world. Inspiration: The inspiration software package for the teacher and the 15 iPad inspiration downloads was chosen to help students improve their writing through the outlining application. By outlining their ideas students will be able to create more cohesive and analytical writings. The graphic organizers, mind mapping, and concept mapping applications of the software can also be used to help students take notes, and create organizers to help them understand key concepts. This will help students see how history is interconnected and analyze cause and effect relationships. Turning Point: The Turning Point response system, or clickers, was chosen to help the students become more actively involved in their own learning. The teacher would also be able to use the immediate formative data from the response system to check for student understanding, comprehension, and application of concepts. With this data, the teacher could re-teach or change the lesson in order to address the needs of the students. Also, students who do not like to participate or students with special needs wont feel the pressure and anxiety to raise their hands and answer in front of the class, since the clickers keep responses anonymous.

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Web Camera & Microphone: The web camera and microphone were chosen to allow the class to interact with historians and other classrooms across the United States and the globe through the free version of Skype. This interaction would allow students to discuss and work with experts in the history field to expand their knowledge and become more engaged. The historians could even take them on a virtual field trip if they are Skyping with a portable device. Interaction with other classes would allow students to expand their world view and work collaboratively on global topics. Professional Development Plan: In order to implement the technology discussed in my classroom technology plan, I will need to further my knowledge and experience through professional development in the following ways: Complete my Masters degree in Instructional Technology at the University of Maryland University College. Attend the iPad Boot Camp course offered by my districts Office of Program support in order to learn how to use an iPad, create lessons that will improve student use and engagement with the iPad. Sign up for an online self-paced training course on Turning Point offered by Turning Technologies to further my knowledge on how to use the Turning Point software. Attend webinars to increase student achievement offered online by Inspiration and Turning Technologies. Discuss with the technology coordinator and computer analyst how to use and set-up a web camera and microphone. 13 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Timeline: The time frame of my classroom technology plan is two to three years. The timeline to implement my classroom technology plan is detailed in the outline below. Month One & Two (September/October 2012) o I will propose my technology plan to my principal, and Board of Education, if necessary, in order to receive funding. o I will apply to grants to acquire other sources of funding for my classroom technology plan. o Once I get enough funds, I will purchase the required technologies listed above. o I will attend the iPad boot camp professional development course offered by my district. o I will attend webinars, per my professional development plan, to prepare to use Inspiration and Turning Point. o Continue my Masters at UMUC by taking two classes during the Fall 2012 semester. Month Three & Four (November/December 2012) o I will set-up the class wiki and blog and begin teaching students how to use the blog and wiki in class. I will assign blogs and wiki assignments on a weekly or biweekly basis. o I will install the web camera and microphone with the help of lessons and hints from the technology coordinator and computer analyst. o I will create a free Skype account in order to test the web camera and microphone. o I will make contact with historians and classrooms across the globe to collaborate with in my classrooms. o I will set up any technology that has arrived. o I will attend the iPad boot camp to prepare to use the iPads in the classroom. Month Five & Six (January/February 2013) o I will set-up the class set of iPads, the charging station, and download the Inspiration app onto each. o I will instruct students how to use the iPads in the classroom. o I will introduce my students to the Inspiration program that is now available on our classroom computers. I will create a mock lesson and complete it using Inspiration as a model for the students. o This month the students will get a chance to explore the functions of Inspiration in order to prepare for the upcoming lessons. 14 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton o Complete my Masters at UMUC by taking the last course of the program during the Spring 2013 semester. Month Seven & Eight (March/April 2013) o I will have at least one Skype session with my classes in order to test the technology. o Use inspiration to create a short skit and a research paper to practice it before the next school year. Month Nine & Ten (May/June 2013) o Skits will be recorded using a camcorder that the school already owns and will be posted to the class blog. o Students will reflect on the technology they used in class. o I will evaluate all of the new technologies and techniques I used during the school year, in order to prepare for next year. The plan above will carry us until summer break. The plan will then begin again in the fall, but in the first three months the students will be introduced to all of the technologies. Unfortunately, the students will change because they will be moving to the next grade. I may have a one or two students in my AP European class during their senior year, however, most students do not sign up for it or have schedule conflicts that prevent them from taking the course. I plan on have a few students come in to show students how to use the technology and tricks they learned throughout the year. Year Two (2013-2014) o Over the summer, I will attend more professional development courses to continue adding to my knowledge of the technologies in my plan. o Over the summer, I will have stayed in contact with collaborating historians and classrooms to create a schedule for the next school year and creating a project to work together on. o I will introduce iPads, blogs, wikis, Inspiration, and Skype during the first three months. o The collaborative project will begin in the fourth month and the schedule will continue as agreed upon during the summer. o I will evaluate all of the new technologies and techniques I used during the school year, in order to prepare for next year. Year Three (2014-2015) o Over the summer, I will attend more professional development courses to continue adding to my knowledge of the technologies in my plan. 15 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton o Over the summer, I will have stayed in contact with collaborating historians and classrooms to create a schedule for the next school year and creating a project to work together on. o I will introduce iPads, blogs, wikis, Inspiration, and Skype during the first three months to the new students. o The collaborative project will begin in the fourth month and the schedule will continue as agreed upon during the summer. o I will evaluate all of the new technologies and techniques I used during the school year, in order to prepare for next year. o I will begin researching a second Masters or Doctorate program to further my education. Evaluation Plan: The classroom technology plan will be evaluated in order to determine if the goals and objectives have been met and if the technologies purchased have met the needs of the teacher and students. The forms of evaluation will consist of observation of technology use, personal reflection on the goals and objectives and the technologies being used, and assessments to measure student learning. Evaluations will happen during the school year and at the end of projects. I will make observe students using the technology and make notes with a summary of my observations at the end of classes when we use the technology. I will then reflect upon these notes once a week to make changes to lesson plans and activities for future lessons if needed. See the below table to see the details of the evaluation plan. Evaluation of Goals and Objectives Goal Goal 1: Students will utilize technology to improve their critical analysis and writing skills. Objective Objective A: Students will utilize technology (iPads) to organize writing plans through the use of organizational software called Inspiration to create an outline for a script on the impact of the War of Evaluation & Assessment Evaluation of the technology will include a personal reflection of the ease of set-up, use by the teacher and students. The teacher will also compare writing samples from previous years to years where the iPads and Inspiration were used to determine if the technologies impacted student achievement. To assess the objective, the teacher will have 16 | P a g e

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton 1812 on the world. a rubric to grade the final product (script). The teacher will also compare previously written scripts before the Inspirations software to see if there was an improvement. Objective B: Students Evaluation of the technology will include a will utilize technology personal reflection of the ease of use by the to analyze the meaning teacher and students. The teacher will also primary source compare primary source analysis activities documents from the War done by students before Turning Point from of 1812 through the use previous years to years where Turning Point of an interactive was used to determine if the technology response system called impacted student achievement. Turning Point. To assess the objective, the teacher will use the student data from the Turning Point sessions. If the number of correct responses students make goes up, then the students are improving their critical thinking skills. Objective C: Students Evaluation of the technology will include a personal reflection of the ease of set-up and will utilize technology ease of use by the teacher and students. The to increase their teacher will also observe how students knowledge of the War interact with others during Skype sessions. of 1812 by speaking with historians around To assess the objective, the teacher will have the world and in the activities and quizzes to see if students United States through the use of a web camera knowledge of the War of 1812 has improved through the addition of Skype sessions with and microphone. experts. Objective D: Students will utilize technology to analyze primary sources for interpretations and the impact of the War of 1812 through discussion on a class blog. Goal 3: Students will utilize technology to collaboratively develop a multimedia presentation to analyze the impact of the historical events. Objective E: Students will utilize technology to create a script for a multimedia presentation analyzing the impact of the War of 1812 by Evaluation of the technology will include a personal reflection of the ease of use of the blog by the teacher and students. The blog will allow the teacher to engage in discussions with students on a more consistent basis and observe students skills. To assess the objective, the teacher will use a rubric to assess the quality of analysis students are making in the blog discussion. Evaluation of the technology will include a personal reflection of the ease of use of the wiki by the teacher and students. By using the wiki, the teacher can observe how the students worked collaboratively by examining their revisions. 17 | P a g e

Goal 2: Students will utilize technology to work collaboratively to engage in research and analyze the various interpretations of historical events through discussion.

Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton editing each others work on a class wiki. To assess the objective, the teacher will have a rubric to grade the final product (multimedia presentation). The teacher will also compare previously multimedia presentations before the wikis were used to see if there was an improvement.

Evaluation of Professional Development Plan: Goal Complete my Masters degree in Instructional Technology at the University of Maryland University College. Increase my knowledge of iPads by attending the iPad Boot Camp course offered by my districts Office of Program. Complete online self-paced training courses on Turning Point offered by Turning Technologies to further my knowledge on how to use the Turning Point software. Attend webinars offered online by Inspiration and Turning Technologies. Work with the technology coordinator and computer analyst how to use and set-up a web camera and microphone. Evaluation A successful completion of my Masters degree will be at least a 3.500 GPA and attendance to the graduation ceremony. I will be able to successfully use the iPad and be able to create lessons that will improve student use and engagement with the iPad. I will be able to use Turning Point for various purposes in my classroom, instead of just reviewing. I will also use the feedback from Turning Point activities to increase student achievement. I will be able to use Inspiration and Turning Point to increase student engagement and improve students critical thinking and writing skills. I will be able to successfully set-up and use the web camera and microphone in my all of my classes without assistance.

References: Apple. (2012). Inspiration maps. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inspiration-maps/id510173686?ls=1&mt=8

Apple. (2012). iPad 2. Retrieved from http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipad/family/ipad

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Classroom Technology Plan A. Newton Griffin Technology. (2012). Multidock. Retrieved from http://www.griffintechnology.com/business/multidock Inspiration Software, Inc. (2012). Inspiration 9: Single. Retrieved from http://store.inspiration.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=IS90-US-01

Logitech. (2012). Logitech HD pro webcam c920. Retrieved from http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/webcams/hd-pro-webcamc920

Logitech. (2012). Logitech USB desktop microphone. Retrieved from http://www.logitech.com/en-us/webcam-communications/microphones/221 Maryland Department of Education. (2010). 2010 Maryland report card: Assessments: North Point high school. Retrieved from http://msp2010.msde.state.md.us/Assessments.aspx?K=080623&WDATA=School

Maryland Department of Education. (2010). 2010 Maryland report card: Demographics: North Point high school. Retrieved from http://msp2010.msde.state.md.us/Demographics.aspx? K=080623&WDATA=School#ENROLLMENTgrade3all

Turning Technologies. (2012). Audience response products. Retrieved from http://www.turningtechnologies.com/audienceresponseproducts/

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