Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
was monitored or updated at least once a year and that the teachers and other staff members did not
support the technology plan that had been implemented. They also felt that the amount of money
budgeted for technology resources and for continuous updating and replacement of technology systems
was not sufficient. Finally, the participants did not agree with the statement that computer labs can be
flexibly scheduled for equitable access to resources and instruction.
In the area of Professional Development, two statements were rated in the bottom five percent of
results. The teacher participants do not feel that there is an identification, location, and evaluation of
technology resources like websites that they can use with their students. They also believe that the impact
of technology professional development is not tracked using data on classroom practice.
In the area of Teaching and Learning, two independent statements were rated low. The
participants did not fully agree with the statement that their individual lesson plans referred to both
content standards and student technology standards. They also did not overall agree that they consult
publications, online journals, and other resources to identify research-based practices in the area of
technology.
Conclusion and Recommendations
According to ISTE, or International Society for Technology in Education (2016), there are
fourteen critical elements necessary to effectively leverage technology for learning in schools. These
critical elements offer educators and school leaders a researched backed framework to guide
implementation of the ISTE Standards, tech planning, and system wide change (ISTE, 2016, par.1).
Collectively, East Broadway Elementary has positive aspects of their technology integration meeting parts
of the fourteen critical elements, but there is definitely room for improvement. Out of the fourteen critical
elements outlined by ISTE, I choose one element that I believe East Broadway is close to fulfilling and
two elements that need their immediate attention.
In the ISTE critical element of Student-Centered Learning where planning, teaching, and
assessment all center on the needs and abilities of the student (ISTE, 2016) is a strong area at East
Broadway Elementary. I concluded this because the Impact of Technology section of the survey focuses
on student learning and the average rating was a four from the participants. This section was the highest
among all areas of the survey. My recommendation to raise the impact of technology on student success
would be integration more opportunities for the students to explore and utilize productivity applications
like Word and Excel. This additional time would increase their skills with these applications, but also help
them to be independent learners with technology. This task can be completed by allowing students to type
papers and projects on the Chrome book computers that have these applications.
One of the criteria of the ISTE critical elements that East Broadway Elementary I feel needs to
immediate attention based on the survey result is technology funding. Twice in the survey, the participants
stated that the amount of money budgeted to technology and technology repairs was not sufficient. New
innovative technology must be purchased yearly to help meet student learning goals, but the current
technology must also be maintained. I would highly recommend that technology funds are allocated each
year to the purchase new technology as well as an equal amount of funds allocated to repairs and
maintenance of the current technology within the building.
The other criteria of the ISTE critical elements I feel that East Broadway Elementary needs to
address immediately is the lack of a Shared Vision within technology. Examining the survey results, I can
see that there is a moderate disconnect between the technology vision of the district and this individual
school. The teachers feel that the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education decides what technology the
schools will be using during a given school year and they are left out of the discussion. This separation
between the two entities is troubling because without a shared vision, it is harder for a district to see
academic results and propel the district further. My recommendation to improve relations between the
board of education and the Toledo Public Schools would be to place one representative from each school
on a central committee to make suggestions to the board of education concerning technology integration
and technology products. By doing so, each building would feel represented in the decisions that were
made and may be more willing to learn and implement the new technology vision from the board of
education.
Staff development
The lowest section of the survey was Professional Development with an average of a 3.4 in
agreement with the statements. One of the fourteen essential conditions for leveraging technology is
Ongoing Professional Learning. ISTE (2016) emphasizes that educators need to have ongoing access
to technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities as well as dedicated time to practice
and share ideas (par.10). I firmly believe that for any amount of successful technology integration to
happen, professional development in technology must happen for the staff. This can be in the form of
professional development speakers brought in, or an increase of access to technology publications or
online journals where teachers can improve their technology development independently.
To achieve top professional learning, I would suggest that East Broadway provide more
opportunities and training for their staff to explore the new technologies that are being implemented into
their building. Through this opportunity the staff would be more willing to support the schools
technology plan, which was rated low on the survey, and build their confidence of implementing
technology in the classroom. Additionally, because the staff at East Broadway Elementary rated
themselves high on using technology to communicate and collaborate with others, they should develop an
incentive structure for integration of new technology to encourage participation. This extra step could be a
bonding experience between the staff as well as a support system for future technology integration.
7
References