TECHNOLOGY PLAN TEMPLATE

North American University

Education Department
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership & M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
EDUC 5324: INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO EDUCATION

Name: Ersoy OSANC Date: 05 August 2019

This template is adapted from

https://tpb.lacoe.edu/tpb/docs/TechPlan_v1.10.pdf
INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
The plan should guide the
Nigerian Tulip ınternational Colleges’
use of education technology
for the next three years.
List specific start and end dates (7/1/xx to 6/30/xx). Provide a brief overview of the LEA, its
location and demographics and/or share a link to the LEA’s website.

This plan refers to the educational year 2019-2023 for NTIC, and valid between
the dates 01/01/2020 – 12/31/2022.
Nigerian Tulip International Colleges (NTIC) is a non-governmental private
educational institution situated in Nigeria, founded in five different states since
1998. The institution comprises totally five boys, five girls, one co-ed secondary
schools; and additionally five primary schools including nursery sections. With the
total number of the students around 4000, NTIC is a unique color in the spectrum
of education in Nigeria. The institution website is www.ntic.edu.ng .

Describe how a variety of stakeholders from within the LEA and the community-at-large
participated in the planning process.

The educational board responsible for the educational planning consists of two
managing directors, Mr X and Mr Y; two deputy managing directors, Mr Z and
MR W; and six head-of-departments, Mr A, Mr B, MR C, Mr D, Mr E, and Mr F.
The board normally does not exhibit a very participative pattern outward, but
thanks to the intervention of NAU, I am one of the virtual members of the
committee now. After determining the basics, and developing the details of the
technology plan, it may be presented to the confirmation of the school principals,
and to the implementation of the VPs and the teachers.
Summarize the relevant research and describe how it supports the plan's curricular and
professional development goals.
● Summarize the plan’s major curricular and professional development outcomes
that are supported by research.
● Describe and cite the relevant research that supports the plan’s outcomes.
● Describe the connection between the research and the plan’s goals.
● Describe information gathered from site visits, including best practices.

The world is changing fast. We already finished a century which was called a
‘technology age’, and found ourselves in another one that will likely be called
‘data age’. When compared with the speed of innovations, it is not difficult to say
that the speed of adaptation is high. This is creating a gap among the
communities, namely Digital divide. Unfortunately, digital divide is not between
two communities. It may happen within the same community, even between
student and the tutor in the same class, as stated by the Educational Task Force
of State Board for Community & Technical Colleges in Washington in 2008:
“The gulf between what younger “digital generation” students expect and what
the community and technical college system currently provides is widening with
every passing month. A generational, structural change is taking place in how
people learn and what online services they expect” (SBCT, 2008).
As the educational board of NTIC in Nigeria, we want to develop a plan with the
following features:
• The expected major outcome of this plan is the empowerment and
equipment of the students with the requirements of contemporary
education accompanied with the means of technology. If the plan
succeeds, it may help the growing of more knowledgeable, creative and
self-confident individuals through this system.
Another expected outcome of the plan is to enable the teachers to better
present their subjects, and better assess the development of their
students.

• In the age of technology, up-bringing the pupils equipped with the

technology is a common goal worldwide:
“Increased connectivity also increases the importance of teaching learners
how to become responsible digital citizens. We need to guide the
development of competencies to use technology in ways that are
meaningful, productive, respectful, and safe.” cautions U.S. Office of
Educational Technology (OET, 2017).
“Acquiring the ability to utilize technology and information for the
betterment of humankind.” is already a major goal stated in the Secondary
School Curriculum in India (CBSE, 2018).
 • Increasing the quality of the presentation of the subjects, and the
perception level of the students by means of technology are our two
major goals in this technology plan. Definitely, these two phenomena
serve well for the achievement of the vital points mentioned above, in the
reports of the experts that we have reached during our research.

• The information is collected through the feedback of students, teachers

and parents. The awareness of the latest tech developments, the site visit
in the schools of several states, as well as the relevant complaints and
suggestions of these people mentioned above became guidelines.
Students are usually unhappy about the poor presentation of some
subjects, courses, and topics. And they seem to be satisfied with the
teachers who deliver their lessons equipped with technology, for instance
presentations, animations, videos or interactive applets. Sometimes some
teachers are unhappy about lack of materials difficult to obtain or utilize
(like a radioactive material in chemistry), but at this junction virtual labs of
equipment seem to be a remedy.

CURRICULUM COMPONENT CRITERIA.

The Plan must establish clear goals and realistic strategy for using
telecommunications and information technology to improve education services.
(Answer at least 2 questions for each subsection below)

Describe teachers' current access to instructional technology and current use of digital
tools.

What are the current available technological resources in the classrooms by the
teachers?
• School management software accessible through WWW
• Projection (in some classrooms)
• Desktop computers (in some classrooms)
• Smart boards (in some classrooms)
• Wi-Fi with broadband internet.

Additionally, almost all the teachers have smart phones. Some of the teachers
come to the class with their laptops.
What is the rate of usage of these resources by the teachers?
Some teachers use them effectively, while some others are reluctant to use. The
rate of manipulation is relatively higher among the younger teachers.
Teachers use their laptops and smartphones to access the school management
software. The software is mostly used for entering the scores. It can be
developed into a more functional form.

Describe students' current access to instructional technology and current use of digital
tools. Include a description about the LEA policy, practices, and/or replacement policy that
ensures equitable technology access for all students.

What is the current available technology by the students?

Desktop computers (in some classrooms)
Smart boards (in some classrooms)
Internet access in the computer lab.
Unfortunately all these equipment are accessible by the students upon the
consent of their instructors, and the technology at the use of students is limited
to what their instructors provide. Considering the fact that even a simple cell-
phone is not allowed in the school premises, this is a great handicap for their
adaptation to the contemporary atmosphere in the world.

What kind of amendments can be done in order to raise the rate of access to
technology by the students?
 Students can be encouraged more to use the smart boards for getting
more familiarity with and perception through technology.
 Teachers can be encouraged to give more assignments requiring web
based researches. Certainly this will require providing more access to the
internet for the students. The concerns and worries can be relieved by
taking proper safety measures.
 On the other hand, as applied in many schools around the world, Smart
PADs can be purchased with proper software installed, in order to improve
the level of technology applied by them.
Describe goals and an implementation plan, with annual activities, for using technology to
improve teaching and learning. Describe how these goals align to the LEA's curricular
goals that are supported by other plans. Describe how the LEA's budget (LCAP) supports
these goals, and whether future funding proposals or partnerships may be needed for
successful implementation.

What are the goals to improve the technology involvement for the next
educational year?

The number of the goals has to be kept limited for a natural and smooth
transformation to a technological education style. The chosen goals must
represent the most vital requirements. The goals must be attainable, and
acceptable. In this extent, the major goals appear as these:

Goals regarding the instructing staff:

1. Increased skills for the usage of smart boards.
2. More and effective usage of smart boards.
3. More and effective usage of school education software.
4. Familiarity and skill in WEB 2.0 tools.
5. Encouragement for e-Portfolio.
6. Familiarity and skill in preparing educational videos.
7. Knowledge and awareness of internet safety.

Goals regarding the administration:

8. Intensified awareness of technology in their schools.
9. Intensified leadership and supervision on staff about technology.
10. More emphatic approach to the students in regards to technology.
11. More and effective usage of school education software.
12. Sense of urgency in the resolution of technical problems.

Goals regarding the students:

13. Provision of Smart PADs.
14. More access to computers
15. More access to internet.
16. Assignments with web-based research.
17. Integration to the school education software.
18. Familiarity and skill in WEB 2.0 tools
19. Familiarity and skill in preparing educational videos.
20. An online library possibility.
21. Encouragement for e-Portfolio.
22. Guidance about the internet safety.
Sure, these goals can be achieved with a collaborative effort, and awareness.
Stimulation of this awareness is another major issue. People tend to preserve
their habits, and for an aged teacher it may not be always easy to abandon his
chalk and black board for a smart board.

Do these goals align with the policy of NTIC?

NTIC policy always emphasizes the importance and encourages the need of
involvement of technology in education. How far did it advance on this policy, is a
different dispute. But in general, all the goals itemized above go along with the
published policy of NTIC.
Furthermore, majority of the goals are the extension of the goals published in the
previous technology plans of NTIC.
On the other hand, we are aware that the digital transformation in education is
easy if the top management is a team of people highly concerned with education
and technology. If not, the desired goals can NEVER be attained. The general top-
down composure of many institutions unfortunately requires this.

Does the budget of NTIC support these goals?

The NTIC schools are demanded schools in average, in Nigeria. Allocating
resources including sufficient funding for the realization of the goals mentioned
above must not be a big deal for NTIC financial management.

Some of the required equipment are already existing.

However, for the items regarding our plan, we must prepare a proposal:
1. Providing Smart PADs for the students.
This item looks like a big deal, however there are affordable educational
Smart PADs or PDAs of high quality and durability in the market. If the
institution provides sufficient number of PADs, and a good policy will be
developed and implemented for keeping them well, they can sustain a
couple of years, being used by the students every year in turns.
2. Enhancing the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure, so that it will be accessible
everywhere in the compound.
3. Providing video-cameras for the schools, for teacher and student usage.
4. Providing a couple of more desktop computers in the library with internet
access for the purpose of an Online Library.

Further future funding proposals or partnerships may be required as the plan

advances, for successful implementation.
Describe goals and an implementation plan, with annual activities, to address Internet
Safety and the appropriate and ethical use of technology in the classroom.

What are the risks of misappropriation of technology?

There have been cases in some schools that the students turned the smart board
on, and attempted to watch the movies they brought together in their flash-
drives, not necessarily meaning that the material was inappropriate, but it is
always a risk if the students are able to use the smart boards without supervision.

Accessing an unfiltered internet may also result in improper usage of the net,
through smart pads, smart boards or desktops anywhere.

What kind of measures can be taken in order to avoid such consequences of

misappropriation of technology?
As technology developed, companies and service providers also consider this
issue. They developed adjustments, filters and software for internet and content
safety. Some steps we can take:
 Installing filtering software in the main servers.
 Installing filtering software in the computers and Smart TABS.
 Password or Authorization protection for the computers and Smart TABS.
 Password protection for the Smart Boards. Locking the classrooms if
supervision cannot be guaranteed.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT

The Plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff
understands how to use these new technologies to improve education services
(Answer at least 2 questions for each subsection below)

Summary of the teachers' and administrators' current technology proficiency and

integration skills and needs for professional development.

What is the teachers' and administrators' current technology proficiency and

integration skills?
The teachers are form different regions, different social and economic
backgrounds of the country. They are also of a wide spectrum of ages. As a result,
in terms of familiarity and skills for the technology, they are also different.
However, younger teachers are more familiar and adaptive to new tech when
compared to the relatively older ones. The fact that the teachers below 40 are
more interested and using technology is not only unique to our institution, but it
seems to be a universal fact (Tweed, 2013).
Nevertheless in overall, all the staff need an educative seminar for improving
their knowledge and proficiency.

The administrative staff also exhibits a spectrum in familiarity and manipulation

of technology. Some top management people are not that familiar with the
technology, and the connection to the education. This fact sometimes creates
interference and conflict in the application, if not in the speech.

What is the students’ current technology proficiency and integration skills?

Contrary to majority of the teachers and the administrative staff, majority of the
students are very familiar with the technology, although they cannot use it in the
school. They use technology at their houses.

Describe goals and an implementation plan, with annual activities, for providing
professional development opportunities based on your LEA needs assessment data and
the Curriculum Component of the plan.

What can be done in order to achieve the professional development for the
staff?
 Seminars must be arranged.
 Experts must be invited to these seminars.
 Features and the usage of the software must be introduced.
 The features of the programs that facilitate the hand of the teachers must
be properly presented.
 Briefing the staff about internet and content safety.

Most of the staff that is distant to the technology is distant because either they
think the technology is difficult to manipulate, or they underestimate the benefits
of the technology in education.
Both handicaps can be overcome with

What can be done in order to achieve the professional development for the
administration?
 Special briefings must be arranged.
 The software and school system must be introduced.
 The importance of the technology must be explained.
INFRASTRUCTURE, HARDWARE, TECHNICAL SUPPORT, SOFTWARE, AND
ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPONENT CRITERIA
The Plan must include an assessment of the telecommunication services,
hardware, software, asset management, and other services that will be needed to
improve education services.
(Answer at least 2 questions for each subsection below)
Describe the existing hardware, Internet access, electronic learning resources, technical
support, and asset management already in the LEA that will be used to support the
Curriculum and Professional Development Components of the plan.

What is the quality and sufficiency of current system?

 The number of the smart boards is not sufficient.
 The quality of the smart boards is adequate. They are not the latest tech
but still performing well, due to the freshness of the equipment.
 The internet access is fast and accessible in most of the places.

Describe the technology hardware, electronic learning resources, networking and

telecommunications infrastructure, physical plant modifications, technical support, and
asset management needed by the LEA's teachers, students, and administrators to support
the activities in the Curriculum and Professional Development components of the plan.

The equipment and the operating systems are liable to spoil for any reason. Even
after provision, maintenance is also important.

What must be done physically to achieve the goals of prof. development?

 The institution must buy more smart boards, for each classroom.
 Educational software must be purchased.
 Video-cameras must be purchased. (At least 1 per school).
 Members for the technical support must be provided, or trained.
 People must be assigned in charge of equipment.
 Seminar dates must be fixed.

What programs and workshops must be done in order to achieve the goals of
professional development?

There are already some workshops before the beginning of each term. They can
be elaborated and emphasized. For a Technology master Plan such this one, extra
time intervals must be arranged in order to attain the goals.

 The WWW must be re-introduced with all its fresh features

 WEB 2.0 tools must be introduced.
 The technical equipment must be introduced.
 The smart board must be introduced with all its features.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION COMPONENT
The plan must include an evaluation process that enables the school to monitor
progress toward the specific goals and make mid-course corrections in response
to new developments and opportunities as they arise.

(Answer at least 2 questions for each subsection below)

Describe the process for evaluating the plan's overall progress and impact on teaching
and learning.

What can be done to evaluate the plan's overall progress?

A teachers’ test can be implemented as a pre-test to understand their skill and
knowledge level before the implementation of the plan.
Then, at different stages of the plan, we may apply again some assessment tests
to check whether there is any progress.
And at the end, a post-test, maybe a demonstration by the teacher will certainly
reveal the progress level of the people.

What can be done to evaluate the plan’s impact on teaching and learning?
This can be achieved by three ways:
 The progress in the academic performance of the students must be
certainly observed. This will directly reflect their improvement in their
perception of courses, due to technological appliances.
 The application of a survey for the teachers. At the end of the next
academic year, after the plan is implemented, a carefully designed survey
with delicate questions will reveal what impact it had on the conception of
the teachers.
 The same survey can be applied to the students, as they are the direct
witnesses for any progress, if there is any.
Describe the schedule for evaluating the effect of plan implementation, including a
description of the process and frequency of communicating evaluation results to tech plan
stakeholders.

What is the schedule for the implementation of the plan?

The scheduling for the plan is basically as follows:
How can we make sure that the plan will be maintained well for an effective
result?
This is the most difficult part of the task.
In the traditional culture of NTIC, there is a top-down culture of implementation
where the individuals do not tend to act on their own. In this extent, motivation
and mobilization of the administrative people plays a crucial role.
On the other hand, from students to the principals, from parents to the teachers,
persuasion is also vital. People are reluctant to do the things they do not know or
they do not believe in their benefits.
Wishing the best, to the better futures.

REFERENCES:

• SBCT (State Board for Community & Technical Colleges) (2008). Strategic
Technology Plan. Retrieved from:
https://www.sbctc.edu/resources/documents/about/.../strategic-technology-plan.pdf

• OET (Office of Educational Technology) (2017). Reimagining the Role of Technology

in Education: 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update. Retrieved from:
https://tech.ed.gov/netp/

• CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) (2018). Secondary School Curriculum

2018-19. Retrieved from:
http://cbseacademic.nic.in/web_material/Curriculum19/InitialPages/Secondary_School_Curriculum.pdf

• Tweed, S.R. (2013). Technology Implementation: Teacher Age, Experience, Self-

Efficacy, and Professional Development as Related to Classroom Technology
Integration. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1109.
Retrieved from: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1109