Use the attached technology needs assessment to create a technology plan.
Your report must include the following identifiable sections:
– General information about your school/place of work. Be as detailed as possible; include
number of students, staff, location, mission, core values, etc. You can fill out this section from the
information you gathered in your needs assessment, or from the current technology plan (TP) of
your school. If you could not locate the TP, you will need to ask for help from your stakeholders
to complete this section.
– Stakeholders responsible for implementation of technology plan. (They might not the same ones
who you interviewed and surveyed for your needs assessment). These can include yourself, your
technology coordinator, the director of the media center, your principal, a dedicated parent, etc. It
is up to you. In this section, you will need to explain on detail your reasoning to select these
people, and why you think they will do a good job making sure the TP takes place.
– Current status of your school’s access to technology. This section will be easy to write, if your
school/place of work already has a technology plan (do not forget to use references if you are
copying information from another source). If this is not the case, then you can use the data you
gathered from your first assignment. This section must include detailed information about 1) labs
and classrooms’ access to technology, 2) library media center access to technology, and 3)
teachers’ access to technology.
– Technology vision of your school/place of work. You will have to investigate if this is already
stated and you might be able to find it in your current school technology plan; if not, you will
need to propose a technology vision. You can ask help from your stakeholders to develop this
section.
– Needs discovered at your school/place of work. In this section you need to list the two needs
your technology plan will be focused on, and what was the reasoning to select them for your
technology plan. Be specific and detailed, and justify your choosing by addressing what your
stakeholders shared with you during your data collection. You can use some of the information
that you developed in project 1 to complete this section.
– Proposed technology goals: This section must be based on the previous section, and must be
divided in 1) goals for student access to technology, 2) goals for teacher access to technology,
and 3) goals for school access to technology. Use the SMART principles (specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic, time-bound). For example, if one of the needs discovered was to acquire
Google Expeditions, then you have to create at least one goal so students can benefit from this
acquisition, at least one goal so teachers can benefit from this acquisition, and at least one goal so
the school can benefit from this acquisition. In addition to create those goals, you need to explain
how those goals will be achieved. Considering that you have to address at least two needs, this
section should have AT LEAST six goals, three for each need.
-Proposed plan duration. In this section you need to include a detailed schedule with the
following components: proposed timeline for securing funds, proposed timeline for acquiring
equipment, proposed timeline for professional development of stakeholders, proposed timeline
for implementing your goals; and proposed timeline to evaluate your technology plan
-Proposed budget (this section will be very useful for your 3rd assignment). You need to be very
specific. How many pieces of equipment you are proposing to acquire? What is their individual
price? What else you will use funds for? Will you consider teacher salaries, or training personnel
in your budget? How long it will take you to secure the funds and spend the money? Who will be
in charge of the budget? How will you make sure that the money is well spent?
– Internet safety. In this section you must talk about the current status of initiatives for internet
safety in your school, and proposed initiatives, once your technology plan is in place. You can
ask help from your IT people and/or Principal to complete this section.
– Proposed process to monitor and evaluate the technology plan. As a leader of the project, you
need to list specific solutions on how you will monitor and what strategies you will utilize to
evaluate the plan that you are proposing. You also need to justify why you are selecting those
strategies. This is a crucial section so please be thorough and detailed. If you are unsure about this
step please read pages 10-16 of this document (You are welcome to read the whole PDF)
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/school_tech.pdf
Checklist for the assignment (250 total points):
General information about your school or place of work (10 points).
Stakeholders (20 points).
Current status of your school’s access to technology (40 points).
Technology vision of your school/place of work (40 points).
Needs discovered at your school/place of work. (40 points will be taken if you don’t follow
include this section)
Proposed technology goals (40 points).
Proposed budget (25 points).
Proposed plan duration (25 points).
Internet safety (25 points).
Proposed process to monitor and evaluate the technology plan (25 points).
Your report follows APA style (20 points will be taken if you don’t follow these style
guidelines)
The criteria to evaluate each item on the checklist will consist of 4 brackets: Unacceptable (0% points
awarded), Developing (up to 20% of the total points), Proficient (up to 80% of the total points), and
Exemplary (from 81 to 100% of the total points). The course instructor will be the responsible to apply
these criteria.
The following resources should be used to help you to develop your technology plan:
How to create a technology plan: https://www.schooltechteam.com/steps-to-creating-a-technology-plan/
10 tips for school technology planning: https://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/859-10-steps-to-successful-educational-technology-plan
Evaluating the technology in our schools: https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/school_tech.pdf