ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGYshovis.weebly.com/uploads/4/4/2/5/44252443/hovis_susi… · Web viewSWOT Analysis Template for Technology Planning Needs Assessment

SWOT Analysis Template for Technology Planning Needs Assessment What is the current reality in our school?

Name: Susie Hovis ITEC 7410, Semester: Summer, 2015

ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: Effective Instructional Uses of Technology Embedded in Standards-Based,Student-Centered Learning

ISTE Definition: Use of information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate engaging approaches to learning.Guiding Questions:

How is technology being used in our school? How frequently is it being used? By whom? For what purposes? To what extent is student technology use targeted toward student achievement of the Georgia Learning Standards (GPSs,

QCCs)? To what extent is student technology use aligned to research-based, best practices that are most likely to support student

engagement, deep understanding of content, and transfer of knowledge? Is day-to-day instruction aligned to research-based best practices? (See Creighton Chapters 5, 7)

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Teachers at South

Douglas Elementary use technology on a daily basis:o Infinite Campus is

used on a daily basis to track attendance and grades.

o Teachers and staff use e-mail as the primary means of communication with parents, colleagues, and Central Office.

o Use of a teacher / speech shared drive to keep paperwork, or save important documents.

Word Processing software is utilized for

Technology usage is primarily used to facilitate lower-order thinking skills.

Technology use is generally rooted in teacher – centered direct instruction

Student use of technology is mainly limited to productivity purposes or viewing websites.

The use of ActiveExpression system is generally limited to a few classes such as Program Challenge and some Reading classes.

Develop technology committee within the school to serve as technology mentors within the grade level.

Time – many staff members do not want to participate on a volunteer basis.

Difficult to secure funding.


development of printable resources and some standards based assessment.

Presentation Software (PowerPoint, Prezi, Microsoft Movie Maker) is used by staff members for standards -based presentations.

Teachers / Staff use Promethean Smart Boards to present information to the class.

Teachers use Active-Slate, Active-Expressions, and ActiveWand with the Promethean Smart Boards.

Teachers frequently integrate standards – based, on-line video clips into their lessons. (United Streaming, BrainPop, etc.)

Teachers access Promethean Planet to locate, use, and develop curriculum-based flip charts.

Most teachers have class blogs that are updated on a weekly basis.


Summary/Gap Analysis:The teachers and staff at South Douglas Elementary, without exception, use technology. Unfortunately, the technology that is used is generally being used for administrative and basic productivity purposes. Technology that is used by teachers is primarily direct, whole-group instruction. Teachers and staff are emerging in their use and comfort with technology. Teachers are becoming more comfortable with locating and using shared resources for instruction such as Promethean Planet flipcharts and online PowerPoints, but these resources continue to be geared toward the lower-levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students are not engaging in learning experience experiences that maximize the potential of technology. Teachers need to see what effective technology integration looks like in the classroom. Teachers need professional learning, support, and follow-up in order to maximize the impact of the extensive resources available through technology.

Data Sources: Douglas County Technology Plan, South Douglas School Improvement Plan

ESSENTIAL CONDITION TWO: Shared Vision

ISTE Definition: Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among school personnel, students, parents, and the community.Guiding Questions:

Is there an official vision for technology use in the district/school? Is it aligned to research-best practices? Is it aligned to state and national visions? Are teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members aware of the vision?

To what extent do teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members have a vision for how technology can be used to enhance student learning? What do they believe about technology and what types of technology uses we should encourage in the future? Are their visions similar or different? To what extent are their beliefs about these ideal, preferred technology uses in the future aligned to research and best practice?

To what extent do educators view technology as critical for improving student achievement of the GPS/QCCs? To preparing tomorrow’s workforce? For motivating digital-age learners?

What strategies have been deployed to date to create a research-based shared vision? What needs to be done to achieve broad-scale adoption of a research-based vision for technology use that is likely to lead to

improved student achievement?Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

There is a comprehensive district vision for technology.

The Douglas County

South Douglas does not have a technology vision and plan.

The district technology

Create a working group of stakeholders to create a vision / plan for South Douglas to revise the

Observed to be time consuming.

Full buy – in needed by all stakeholders,


School District’s Technology Plan is aligned with the National Technology Plan.

Technology standards are embedded in the Georgia Common Core Standards.

The administration at South Douglas Elementary encourages teacher and staff use of technology, and to maximize the impact of technology in the curriculum.

Many teachers believe there is a need for technology in the classrooms and would like to grow in their technology use.

vision is rarely, if ever, referenced to staff members.

Very few staff members know there is a district-level vision for technology.

Teachers do not have a vision for how technology needs to be implemented to include high-impact, student centered learning.

ongoing plan of technology integration based on the rapid technology changes that have taken place over the past two years.

Review best practices for other schools (nationally and internationally) that have successfully rolled technology integration at higher levels of Blooms’ Taxonomy.

including the school board, in order to secure appropriate funding for technology implementation.

Summary/Gap Analysis:When the Douglas County Technology Plan was written, there was only a small group that conferred on its contents. While there was some input from teachers, it was not across the county at all levels in terms of including a teacher with no technology experience that could speak of how integration may work from the ground up. This has left a gap in the strategic plan that could be addressed by a more representative committee to oversee and review the original plan.



ESSENTIAL CONDITION THREE: Planning for Technology

ISTE Definition: A systematic plan aligned with a shared vision for school effectiveness and student learning through the infusion of ICT and digital learning resources.Guiding Questions:

Is there an adequate plan to guide technology use in your school? (either at the district or school level? Integrated into SIP?) What should be done to strengthen planning?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Teachers use of

technology is briefly mentioned in the School Improvement Plan, demonstrating that t is of some importance in the overall school improvement planning process.

There is a set of National Technology Standards for students, teachers, and administrators.

South Douglas Elementary lacks a school-level technology plan.

There is no school level technology committee to make local decisions or to develop a plan to implement the district vision.

There seems to be a lack of knowledge among administrators and teachers regarding how to develop a plan to guide technology use.

Develop a technology mentor committee to help teachers have a mentor to ask questions and observe technology integration in use.

Form a technology committee made up of faculty, parents, administrators, and students.

Faculty attachment to a “certain way” of doing things.

Summary/Gap Analysis:Without a plan, a vision cannot be achieved. The Douglas County School System has a technology plan to guide use, growth, and progress with technology implementation. At South Douglas Elementary there is no school technology plan. Due to this, most teachers are not aware of the district technology plan. This leaves individual teachers to decide how, or if to implement technology. This leads to inconsistency, frustration, and often confusion. Through discussion, it has been noted by several teachers at South Douglas, that a school technology plan is necessary. This would aid in consistency while guiding the planning and implementation of technology throughout the school. In order for a school level technology plan to be effective, a balanced group of stakeholders need to be actively involved.



ESSENTIAL CONDITION FOUR: Equitable Access (Specifically address low SES and gender groups)

ISTE Definition: Robust and reliable access to current and emerging technologies and digital resources.Guiding Questions:

To what extent do students, teachers, administrators, and parents have access to computers and digital resources necessary to support engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning?

To what extent is technology arrange/distributed to maximize access for engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning?

What tools are needed and why? Do students/parents/community need/have beyond school access to support the vision for learning?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats All certified staff have

county issued laptop with a variety of productivity tools and instructional software.

Classroom are all equipped with Promethean Smart Board, however, usage is traditionally for lower level thinking such as knowledge and comprehension.

Classrooms are all equipped with LadiBug document cameras.

All classrooms are equipped with one desktop computer, and at least 1 laptop with a variety of software.

All classroom teachers

The process for sign-up for the computer lab occurs on a first-come, first-serve basis. (with a few exceptions)

The laptop carts (COWs) are easy to check out, however, there is a limited amount of time that they can be used, and there is a limited number of them.

Access the media center is often limited to individual student use due to book check-outs and media center lessons.

Access to personal computers and Internet is in the homes of some

Planned year-long professional development schedule that includes opportunity for faculty to get on board, and given access to the technology they have available to them for teaching and learning.

Settlers & Saboteurs – there are faculty members who do not want to integrate technology at all.


are issued a set of ActivExpression remotes.

There is a 30-station laptop computer lab available for sign up in our school.

Laptop carts (COWs – computer on wheels) are available for classroom checkout.

The media center has 10 desktop / laptop computers for staff, student, and parent use.

Wireless access across all buildings in our county is available.

students. Access to resources is

not equitable in that teachers and administrators have far more access than students.

While access to a variety of resources is available, but school passwords and login information is limited.

Campus wireless can be unreliable and have outages from time to time.

Summary/Gap Analysis:The technology resources at South Douglas Elementary are rather extensive. Significant funding through SPLOST has been used to purchase and enhance technology within the school. In addition to students and staff, the technology resources at South Douglas Elementary are also available for parents. Parents can come in and access the media center for internet or project use. Each classroom at South Douglas is considered 21st Century classroom due to available resources. Each classroom is equipped with an interactive whiteboard and accessories, LadiBug document cameras, desktops, laptops, remote devices (ActivExpressions), and a variety of software resources. Regardless of grade level or specific subject, all teachers have classrooms with access to these resources. Each student is educated in a 21st Century Classroom. While these resources are available, usage often differs from class to class. There are many barriers to accessing available technology at South Douglas outside the classroom. Many of these barriers are intended for organizational purposes, but ultimately limit and restrict access. Streamlining the process for visiting the computer lab and using the media center would increase access to the resources available outside individual classrooms. Wireless issues will be ongoing, and the effort is ongoing to correct this issue. This is a major impact for using technology, so until this is resolved, this will continue to be a sizeable impact across the equitable access situation.Data Sources: Douglas County Technology Plan, South Douglas School Improvement Plan


ESSENTIAL CONDITION FIVE: Skilled Personnel

ISTE Definition: Educators and support staff skilled in the use of ICT appropriate for their job responsibilities.Guiding Questions:

To what extent are educators and support staff skilled in the use of technology appropriate for their job responsibilities? What do they currently know and are able to do? What are knowledge and skills do they need to acquire?

(Note: No need to discuss professional learning here. Discuss knowledge and skills. This is your needs assessment for professional learning. The essential conditions focus on “personnel,” which includes administrators, staff, technology specialists, and teachers. However, in this limited project, you may be wise to focus primarily or even solely on teachers; although you may choose to address the proficiency of other educators/staff IF the need is critical. You must include an assessment of teacher proficiencies.

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Teachers are proficient

in using technology for communication, administration, and management purposes. (attendance through Infinite Campus, grades through Infinite Campus, e-mail) and use these on a daily basis.

IT support services – each school has a dedicated IT specialist to help with any problems that may arise.

Most teachers have a basic knowledge in the use of productivity tools, (Microsoft Word,

Teachers lack confidence in using resources available, even when they have an understanding of how it works.

Most teachers don’t know how to implement student – centered, performance – based learning with technology.

Teachers struggle to take technology beyond the levels of knowledge and comprehension.

Teachers lack proficiency in creating and using resources that engage students in technology usage, and

Use teachers who are more proficient with technology use as mentors for those who are less proficient.

Funding – IT / Technology Coaching positions continues to include substantial faculty directed teaching time, limiting support in the classroom.


Microsoft Power Point) and use these tools multiple times during the week.

All teachers have a basic knowledge of the ActivExpression tools.

All teachers have a basic understanding of ActivInspire, and have some level of experience in writing flipcharts to be used with the Promethean Board.

show the interactive component of technology.

Summary/Gap Analysis:Teachers at South Douglas have become more proficient users of a variety of technology tools. Email is the primary form of communication among the staff, daily submission of attendance online, and access to student record / grades through the internet occur on a daily basis. Teachers have emerged with their use of technology beyond basic management to creation of documents in Word, Power Point, and EXCEL; maximizing the efficiency of technology and increasing their comfort level. Teachers are becoming more comfortable with using their interactive whiteboards more frequently for shared flipcharts. Some teachers have even begun creating their own flipcharts. This indicates an increase in knowledge, skill, and comfort level. Many teachers, however, do not know how to take their technology implementation to the next level. Engaging students in an active learning experience remains a weakness. Many teachers feel skilled in using technology in the presentation format, but most continue to struggle with the integration of interactive components.


ESSENTIAL CONDITION SIX: Ongoing Professional Learning

ISTE Definition: Technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities with dedicated time to practice and share ideas.Guiding Questions:


What professional learning opportunities are available to educators? Are they well-attended? Why or why not? Are the current professional learning opportunities matched to the knowledge and skills educators need to acquire? (see

Skilled Personnel) Do professional learning opportunities reflect the national standards for professional learning (NSDC)? Do educators have both formal and informal opportunities to learn? Is technology-related professional learning integrated into all professional learning opportunities or isolated as a separate

topic? How must professional learning improve/change in order to achieve the shared vision?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Several teachers within

the building provide basic technology training and support to staff members.

Generally, there is at least an initial training on new devices or software prior to integration.

Professional Development opportunities in technology are available for staff members (voluntarily) at leas once a year. (often including stipends)

There is an Information Technology specialist in the county.

Teachers share new learning with other teachers (when they learn something new, they share the information)

Most teachers only attend technology professional development opportunities (not at their school) when incentives / stipends are involved.

Professional development opportunities frequently tell about how to do or work things. Teachers do not have experiences with observing models of student – centered, performance based learning with technology.

Technology professional development is usually isolated and not taught within the context of the curriculum.

There is a general lack of “follow-up” and support after

Plan a well-communicated and well thought out professional development schedule that allows time for training and monitoring.

Encourage walk-throughs for teachers to see the technology in action with identified faculty members that are implementing good technology integration in teaching and learning.

Poor communication by leadership.

Personal agendasNo time on busy schedules to devote to walk-throughs or professional development.


Administration capitalizes on the strengths of staff members for a variety of professional learning arenas, including technology.

attending technology training or in-services. This often keeps teachers from thinking that they need to implement the technology they have learned.

Summary/Gap Analysis:Providing ongoing professional development opportunities is the only way to appropriately implement technology into the classroom. The teachers must be knowledgeable and comfortable with the tools and resources to experiment with and integrate technology in the classroom. Implementing a professional development schedule that integrates learning, monitoring, as well as time for walkthroughs is a necessity. Teachers also have worked in small groups to disseminate information they have learned. The goal to provide professional learning related to technology seems to be working toward proficiency. It is the “on-going” part that is needed. A majority of the trainings lack support, follow-up, and feedback that is vital for essential for true learning. Teachers often attend the training, but fail to implement what they have learned because they encounter a road – block, or they simply forget what they have learned. Teaching technology within the context of the curriculum would increase the relevance. When teachers see how it looks in reality, they are far more likely to apply it. They also are able to observe how to maximize their use for increased student engagement and interaction.


ESSENTIAL CONDITION SEVEN: Technical Support

ISTE Definition: Consistent and reliable assistance for maintaining, renewing, and using ICT and digital resources.Guiding Questions:

To what extent is available equipment operable and reliable for instruction? Is there tech assistance available for technical issues when they arise? How responsive is tech support? Are current “down

time” averages acceptable? Is tech support knowledgeable? What training might they need? In addition to break/fix issues, are support staff available to help with instructional issues when teachers try to use technology

in the classroom?Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats


There is technology support available through the county for hardware and software issues.

New laptops were issued to all teachers this year, minimizing technology issues related to those computers.

Submitting a help-ticket is relative quick and easy, available through phone or e-mail.

Technology support occurs within the school. Teachers do not have to travel to a different location for support or repairs.

Depending on the problem, the amount of time to have a problem or issue resolved can exceed a week.

The number of technical support representatives is too low for the amount of issues that arise. (Technicians are responsible for several schools.)

There are different departments in technical support. If you have more than one issue, it may take more than one technician to resolve the issue.

When a technician assigned to a school is out (short or long term), technicians from other schools take turns servicing the school. This can make the wait time even longer.

Professional development including technology support – showing teachers technology, and teachers can show what they can do when technology works.

Not seen to be mutually beneficial to understand each other’s jobs with their own busy schedule.

Summary/Gap Analysis: Technology throughout Douglas County is available. After submitting a help-ticket, a technician will come to the school to

resolve the problem. It is convenient for the teacher because all issues are addressed at the school. The wait time, however, can be lengthy at times. When you are dependent on some form of technology, any amount “down time” is excessive. When a technical support representative is out, the amount of time required to have a help ticket resolved can be lengthy. There are different departments in technical support. If you have more than one issue, it may take more than one technician to resolve the issue thus prolonging the wait time. It can be difficult to integrate technology when the resources are not available or are


not working properly.


ESSENTIAL CONDITION EIGHT: Curriculum Framework

ISTE Definition: Content standards and related digital curriculum resources.Guiding Questions:

To what extent are educators, students, and parents aware of student technology standards? (QCCs/NET-S) Are technology standards aligned to content standards to help teachers integrate technology skills into day-to-day instruction

and not teach technology as a separate subject? To what extent are there digital curriculum resources available to teachers so that they can integrate technology into the

GPS/QCCs as appropriate? How is student technology literacy assessed?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Technology literacy is

assessed in our district at the eighth grade level.

Technology standards are listed on report cards for appropriate grade levels for each of the four grading periods.

Teachers have access to digital curriculum resources.

While many teachers know that national technology standards exist, very few teachers know these standards specifically.

Very few parents are aware of the technology standards.

Alignment between the Georgia standards and NETS-S can be difficult to understand.

Most teachers assess technology literacy by the students ability to utilize basic productivity software.

Post technology standards in classrooms, and make sure students know what is expected of them.

Time given to the technology leads. There are ideas out there, but there is rarely time allotted to devote to researching new and upcoming trends in technology.


The importance of technology standards is not expressed or emphasized.

Summary/Gap Analysis:Teachers at South Douglas were aware that national technology standards exist, but the teachers were not clear on the specifics of those standards. They were also not sure how the standards were assessed. The technology standards are not viewed as vital to student success. Parents also have very limited knowledge of the technology standards. Technology literacy is a component of the primary grades’ report card. Many teachers judge this by assessing the student’s ability to use word processing or presentation software. In eighth grade, technology literacy is assessed through a more standardized measure. Very few teachers at South Douglas were aware of the eighth grade technology assessment, despite the fact that elementary school provides a foundation for understanding technology prior to middle school. Having technology standards establishes importance. Getting stakeholders to buy into this importance is a challenge.


Documents

ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGYshovis.weebly.com/uploads/4/4/2/5/44252443/hovis_susi… · Web viewSWOT Analysis Template for Technology Planning Needs Assessment