Your+Vision+Concepts

Some Thoughts on Vision

 * 1) Technology chosen for instruction should focus on student achievement.
 * 2) Our vision needs to include a message of how we support staff with professional development.
 * 3) A vision is only the beginning. This is followed by an action plan extending into the future a minimum of 3 years.
 * 4) With budgets being unsure in the future, I believe our vision should also include how we continue to innovate with funds that are external to the district. Our district budget will most likely be consumed with maintaining existing services with some modest upgrades.

** Possible WASD Technology Vision ** (From: National Education Technology Plan 2010)

// 1. All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society. // // 2. Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use assessment data for continuous improvement. // // 3. Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that enable and inspire more effective teaching for all learners. // // 4. All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they need it. // //5. Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.//

=Your Vision Concepts:= Please list your ideas for the Williamsport Technology Vision in this location:

1) Explore the classroom use of digital textbooks (e-readers) and develop protocols for their use. 2) Project the technological backbone of the district for the next 5 years.

3) Continue using the latest programs for student projects at all levels. Glogster, Google Earth, PowerPoint, Keynote, and a selected grouping of word processing programs should be used on a regular basis to allow students to become familiar with the programs as well as become ever increasingly proficient in the use of each.

4) Research should be researched/displayed/organized using a variety of technological platforms.

5) Explore professional development opportunities for administrators regarding future initiatives in technology as it relates to implementation and improvement in classroom instruction.

6) Probably the largest area is balancing the use of available technology with District server protection and safety of students while using technology/internet. As we've witnessed, this balancing act can deter technological advancements. How do we balance these two so the Technology Department has their bases covered while still allowing full use of available stuff on the internet?

7) It would be wonderful for the district to hire a technology teacher for each building and provide that teacher with classtime with each class. In other words, add another "special" to art, music, and gym.

WASD Technology Integration Plan

Stages/Categories
 * 1) Administrative
 * 2) Classroom Integration
 * 3) Communication Plan
 * 4) Resources

//**1. Administrative goals:**// **Short term:**
 * Get a district google doc site asap and issue user names for teachers and students
 * Batch process all students and teachers into the moodle server, which is nearly completed
 * Assure the security of the moodle server, and publish that security plan. How is it backed-up, how often and who manages it, etc.
 * Invite community IT professionals and students to participate/advise ETAC

**Long Term:**
 * Schedule 1 teacher per period, per building, per day to serve as a technology coach (alternative to lunch or hall duty)
 * Hire a technology integrator, whose job it is to find or develop technology plans and solutions to the communication and administrative problems faced by teachers in our schools. This person would find the programs and develop implementation plans for those programs. They would schedule training sessions, find trainers, specify equipment, communicate with teachers, administrators and IT personnel.
 * Do everything humanly possible to boost bandwidth and double whatever twe think we will need in 5 years.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Create an active tech club in every building, manned by kids in each building to train teachers- have it overseen by the tech coaches.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//Examine// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the organizational structure of the IT department for efficiency and effectiveness. Increasing the effectiveness of our teachers and administrators should be the goal of an IT department (for a school), not network security and hardware maintenance alone. Too often we seem to react to technological changes or policies, rather than proactively anticipating the changes and using them to our advantage. The IT staff are all good, hardworking people- but the teachers don’t seem to be able to effectively cooperate/coordinate with this department to meet their instructional requirements. There must be a way to fix this where everybody wins- we should make a real effort to do that without finger-pointing and name calling. Lets determine what the problems are and find the solutions to them.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Develop an advisory committee of industry IT professionals to oversee our technical commitments and needs, and recommend action according to the data.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Access to all programs from home, single sign-in for users
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We need a copy/printing center. If all of our teaching documents and handouts were digitized, teachers can email the document to the print center and 3 shifts of workers can complete the requests in the most cost-efficient way possible.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//**2. Classroom Integration:**// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Short Term:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Stop using Schoolwires for instructional purposes. We have to discourage teachers from using multiple platforms to launch instructional tasks. It shouldn’t be necessary for teachers to purchase web space from 3rd party providers.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Get GoogleDocs or Gagle or other web-based Apps, plan for student email accounts
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">look into hiring a full time Technology Integrator
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">encourage and train faculty to use technology in classroom
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">move beyond PowerPoint as technology integration
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">use teachers who are tech-savvy to train other teachers, explore new ways to improve student engagement by implementing more technology-based learning

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Long Term**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">barcode scanner to resolve daily attendance issues with program linked to moodle and powerschool. Link powerschool and moodle... this can be done.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Develop a list of needs for communication tasks within the process of education, communication needs between faculty members, faculty to student, etc.- then decide how to use Google and Moodle together in order to meet those needs.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Provide better training to teachers in things that will move students to 21st century skills
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Additional computers/devices to allow student access the internet in classrooms (iPad, iPod touch, netbooks, student phones, etc.)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Utilize libraries as a technology lab, and provide funding for the district to purchase all of the latest gadgets, just one or two of each, so that we stay up-to-date with current trends, in order to make more informed decisions on technology integration.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//**3. Communication Plan:**// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Short Term:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Set a goal to reduce our known paperwork load by a certain percentage- to get closer and closer to a true paperless environment. It is arguably silly to have so many different types of forms, disciplinary forms, etc. Figure out how to allow digital record keeping to suffice for the “official” records.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Utilize Parent Portal, Parent Link to communicate with homes directly (for more than just emergencies)
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Collect parent/student emails upon student registration and include this in PowerSchool
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Faculty survey
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students who leave for sporting events are currently identified through separate emails (by sport) in a simple list. This should simply be taken care of in powerschool.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Substitutes should be given laptops with temporary password access to the attendance only for each teacher absent. They would pick up a laptop in the main office and turn it in at the end of the day. The sub instructions would be standardized, similar to a mini “red book,” and available within the laptop. A program, maybe not even powerschool would be used (like googledocs) to account for each period’s attendance, and recorded by Mrs. Miller.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Any and all grade reporting and student tracking data should be available to any teacher who has access to it, and available to customize so that teachers can create or analyze instruction practices, etc to the group of students they have. So when the certain teachers want to reward kids for attendance, good behavior and grades on a weekly basis, they just run a report in powerschool that draws data from certain fields every Sunday night at 12am, or whatever.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Find a way to utilize social media to engage the community at large in the school community. Create official pages for district and individual schools in Facebook, twitter feeds, YouTube channel, etc. Consider videotaping and uploading student activities and board meetings to YouTube

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Long Term:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Reprogram Powerschool to add tardies, lates, cuts, etc. Highlight attendees and darken the names of kids that are absent- to aid teachers in looking for lates (to class) or cuts.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Initiate an automated phone system and link it to powerschool to contact parents for absences, lates (to class), tardies, detentions, etc.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">//**4. Resources**// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Short Term:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Utilize library/librarians as a technology resource
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Utilize tech savvy faculty/staff to initiate more technology integration
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Expand Matt DeWire’s wiki for tech integration to a learning space for teachers and students
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Ensure that students have access via the web to resources that support their instructional learning. (Modify settings on filter to something other than the out of the box settings.) Teachers need ability to override filter at the local level--they are professionals, treat them like it.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Long Term:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hire a moodle certified trainer to work with faculty
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: circle; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Adopt ICT standards to ensure that students are prepared to meet the expectations of the universities and employers they are going to see after they leave WASD