Technology Improvement Plan

Morgan Carnley

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I have recently completed an evaluation of the NETS-A standards and how they are

effectively implemented at Maryville. After collecting and evaluating this data I have established

four overarching issues that I believe can be improved upon at our school.

1. Better communication of the shared technology vision for our school.

2. Using new technologies when communicating and collaborating with stakeholders.

3. Incorporating global communication tools within classrooms.

4. Developing partnerships with the community.

Improving upon these four issues can really provide our school with an enhanced technology-

rich atmosphere. It is crucial, now more than ever, to create and withstand a digital learning

environment in schools. We need to have a shared vison that is open and continually

communicated to staff and students. Students need to know that our school is innovative and

providing the best opportunities for technological growth, not only in school but in the daily lives

of our students. Students need to become an active participate in their learning, which is what is

being pushed in this one-to-one educational classroom era. It is the role of teachers and

administration to guide these new integrations and build a more blended classroom experience.

Improving the above issues is a step towards a more innovative school.

The first area of concern is better communication of the shared technology vision for our

school. It is important that Mrs. Stuckey shares her school vision with school staff, students, and

also stakeholders. Not continually sharing this vision can hinder technological growth in our

school year. To improve this issue, we need this technology vision to become a more prominent

topic within the school. The main concern is that the vision is not continually shared and

discussed throughout the school year. It is only discussed at the beginning of the year meetings.

To improve this I discussed with Mrs. Stuckey a way in which we can share her vision
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throughout the school year. The vison of our school is very important and that it is something

that should be consistently brought to teachers and students attention. Mrs. Stuckey agreed that

some form of communication needs to take place, whether that be through an email or through

faculty meetings. I would suggest, that to best improve this issue, would be to have a brief video

presented to faculty during our monthly faculty meetings. This video would share her vision for

how technology should be forefront in our school and within our classrooms. This video can also

feature quick tutorials and reminders of the importance of integrating technology in our lessons.

This video can be as brief or in depth as needed, but would not take up much time in the

meetings and wouldnt cost the school any funds. I dont believe this video would have to fall

solely in Mrs. Stuckeys hands but be shared by all technology leaders at our school.

The second issue is the use of new technologies when communicating and collaborating

with stakeholders. Stakeholders support of our school is critical for its future and growth. Mrs.

Stuckey understands the importance of using new technologies when communicating and

collaborating with stakeholders, but this is not used as adequately as needed. If the view of the

stakeholders is that our school is not continually growing in this new digital-age, than it will

present a negative overall view. Technology leadership needs to be better presented and made

more prominent during PTO conferences and other meetings. Our PTO meetings are presented in

a very traditional way with little to no technology being used. Luckily, this can be an easy issue

to address. Our PTO meetings take place in our cafeteria that is equipped with two 42 inch

televisions as well as a projector screen, which is connected to the school broadcast system. By

using an unused school laptop to connect to the projector, we will not be costing the school any

additional funds. We can use these devices to make a more appropriate digital presentation
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during school meetings. This will better display our vision and expectations of our schools. It

would also be easily evaluated by asking stakeholders for feedback on our PTO improvements.

The third area of concern is the lack of incorporating global communication tools within

classrooms. Incorporating global communication tools within classroom curriculum can be

hugely beneficial and need to become a more present tool within our school. Unfortunately some

global communication programs have become blocked at certain schools, but luckily

Georgetown County has continued to allow these in our schools. Even though administration and

teachers are not comfortable using global communication in the classrooms, it has too much

potential for great learning to not be considered. We only need to branch out of our teaching

comfort zones to understand its potential. Programs such as Skype and Google Classroom are not

taken advantage of at our school, but are also not pushed or required by Mrs. Stuckey. To

improve upon this issue and began experimenting with these tools, I believe a little trust and

experience is required. Each classroom is already equipped with a teacher laptop and interactive

white board which sets this up for an even easier integration. Students do not need to miss out on

these free technologies that provide innovative classroom experiences. What would be need for

this issue to fully resolve is training for those teachers that are not familiar using these programs.

This would be left to one of the technology leaders at the school to implement professional

development. Also, since I have used Skype within my classroom (without any additional

resources needed) I can reiterate the learning benefits.

The fourth area of concern is when it comes to developing partnerships with the

community. Administration believes that partnering with our community is an idea that our

school consistently tries to improve upon. Our school is currently in partnership with

Brookgreen Gardens and also with Mrs. Rubys Kids. These programs offer our school and
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students educational resources, mentoring opportunities, and ultimately overall school support.

These are both beneficial programs to be in partnered with, but there are also many other

opportunities waiting within our community. We need to look at other businesses and

opportunities for students to have guest speakers, job shadowing, student conferences,

mentorships, and more. We have many parents that are business owners and that would love to

support our school and its students. We need only to communicate what is needed and many

partnerships can be built. One way to reach out to those in the community and business owners is

through our school website or through our PTO Facebook page that has recently been created.

This would not cost the school any money, but would take an initiative by some form of staff.

It was stimulating to better understand the NETS-A standards and really observe how

they are applied at our school. Resolving these minor issues would not be a big cost to Maryville,

but would require time and effort from technology leaders and teachers. I believe this technology

improvement plan would ultimately be beneficial to our school, its staff and students.