Technology Professional Development Plan

Per the analysis and lessons learned about the technology needs from the Week 3 report, the single major deficit in our district and campus technology planning and implementation is in regards to using technology in a meaningful way alongside curriculum content. Our district and campuses, using state and national standards, measure their success in terms of making technology available to teachers, but use little time or resources in developing technology rich lessons for students. Further, there is little to no data collection that takes place, at any level, regarding the technology knowledge of teachers, or in how the curriculum is being enhanced with meaningful use of technology. Thus, my professional development planning will cover two topics: meaningful integration of technology and data collection regarding teacher training needs and use of technology in the classroom.



At the campus level, I believe it is important to understand and agree that the district and campus plans have some deficits in terms of teacher training, data collection and meaningful implementation. Once this is established, I will take the following actions with the appropriate personnel, in designing professional:



Data Collection:

1. Survey teachers in regards to their knowledge of district technology, such as, groupwise, eduphoria, moodle, teacher websites, Microsoft power point, LCD, document camera and white boards. This survey (survey monkey, etc.) will act as a survey of what equipment and software is in place and also the depth of their knowledge regarding these items.

2. Survey teachers in regards to their use/knowledge of wiki’s, hand held devices, blogs, use of email to turn in documents, on-line assessment, on-line group collaboration sites, internet and data storage.

3. Survey students in every class, with their subject and teacher noted, in regards to how they are allowed and/or asked to use technology in the classroom.

4. Survey students, on one survey, as to what type of technology they would like to use at school each day and what barriers they face repeatedly in using technology.

5. Collect budget and training data in regards to how much money is allocated for technology training and planning each year.

6. Make a chart that shows the intersection of all of this data.

7. Make a list of teachers who scored the highest according to students, in their use of technology in a meaningful and diverse way, in the classroom.



Disaggregate data and decision making team:



Lead by the principal, a professional learning committee will be formed with the following members: Lead principal, campus technology coordinator, one IT specialist, Department Chairs, any curriculum specialists on campus and the top three teachers, per the student survey, who are effectively utilizing technology. After looking at the chart of data collected above, this PLC will begin to make a list of priorities, to redefine campus goals that are specific to curriculum and instruction. This will be done first as a campus plan and then broken down further into curriculum content teams. The campus technology coordinator, IT specialist and lead principal will develop an on-line training and assessment tool for all teachers to meet basic standards.



Whole Campus training:



The entire campus will be shown the results of the data collection and then a plan of action that includes the number of days, hours, and end goals to be achieved will be outlined with the whole campus. Each teacher will have similar measurable goals where basic technologies are concerned. Using the on-line training and assessment tool designed above, each teacher will either show mastery of the basic functions or will have to take an on-line tutorial regarding each topic and then repeat the assessment. Any teacher failing to meet a minimum standard will be noted and professional development will be required during the school year, during conference periods and hosted by the campus technology coordinator. These goals will be met within one school year.



Departmentalized curriculum planning with measurable goals:

Beginning in year two, after the entire campus, including any new personnel, is meeting minimum technology standards, department meetings, lead by the department chair, will become professional learning committees. Within each department, technology goals will be discussed, researched and then decided. These goals will be in line with District and campus goals but more importantly, in line with the goals that were determined per the data collection listed above. After creating these content specific technology goals, each department chair will submit a department specific report back to the Disaggregated data and Decision Making team for discussion. After this PLC looks at all reports and discusses, modifies and approves each department plan, this team will then begin the process for professional development.



Technology Integration Professional Development Action Plan:



Considering all steps above, in sequence, the plan for choosing or developing meaningful professional development will be implemented. The principal will discuss the amount of funding per teacher, with the Disaggregated data and Decision Making team. Each person will discuss which trainings can be provided by department chairs and then create a timeline for these. A budget report will also be provided for each of these, including sub coverage for the department chair, if necessary. With remaining funds, the principal will allocate a training budget to each department chair and then allow them to find meaningful content/curriculum training for their whole department or individual teachers within a department, depending on needs. Working with their supervising assistant principal, a budget report for each training will be submitted for approval before initiating the training. The timeline for these trainings will be one year. The total time from data collection, whole campus training and department specific training will be two years and then will continue to cycle annually from the end of the second year.

Post Assessment:


At the end of year two of this technology integration professional development action plan, all data collection listed above will be repeated and a comparison chart between the first data collection and the second will be made. This data will enable the Disaggregated data and Decision Making team to evaluate what part of the professional development plan has worked and what needs to be changed. The results of this post assessment will be shared campus-wide.



In addition to the post assessment, students and teachers will perform a survey/assessment each semester as part of the final exam process. This technology survey (the successful completion of it) will be a small part of the final exam grade for students and part of the evaluation and end of the year check out process for teachers. This will enable the technology decision making PLC to keep up with mid and end year results to make adjustments as needed.