WEEK #4 PART #1: Development of an organization chart integrating technology

ORGANIZATIONAL FLOW CHARTFOR THE INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY

AT VALLEY VIEW HIGH SCHOOL

Superintendent of Schools

Technology CoordinatorAsst. Superintendent for Secondary Schools

Curriculum Facilitators

Principal

Teacher Instructional Technology Technician

PEIMS Analyst

Technology Facilitators

Network Specialist

School Board

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART RESPONSIBILITIES

School Board-The school board has the ultimate authority to determine and interpret the policies that govern the schools as they pertain to the areas of technology. They can determine if adequate funding is provided for technology, and they control policies that effect technology throughout the district.

Superintendent-Mr. Leonel B. Galaviz-The Superintendent is the CEO of the district. He manages the day-to-day operations including, but not limited to, the implementation of the Technology Plan. He implements School Board policies related to technology, and makes recommendations for the technology budget. He fulfills the duties assigned by the School.

Assistant-Superintendent for Secondary Schools-Dr. Rosemarie Gomez-She makes recommendations to the Superintendent. She has the ability to perform a needs assessment and implement technology programs at the secondary level. She can also propose financial assistance for secondary campuses to use for technology purposes.

Technology Coordinator-Mr. Abraham Ramirez-He makes recommendations to the assistant Superintendents based upon the technological needs of the district and individual campuses. He oversees the technology department and ensures the fulfillment of its goals set forth by the district and technology plan. He recommends professional development that will integrate technology into teaching and learning.

Principal-Mr. Rolando Ramirez-He oversees the day-to-day operations of the high school. He ensures the proper allocation of resources, both financial and personnel, to directly affect student achievement. From a technological standpoint, it is his job to ensure that effective technology is available for teachers and students. Additional, he is responsible for ensuring that the technology available is being used to improve and maximize student achievement. By doing this he is the most important of all of the members in the flow chart chain. He sets himself apart from the other administrators, on the chart, by handling the responsibilities of only a single campus, where as the others handle multiple campuses. He also has the authority to act quickly upon any technological matters which separates himself from persons below him on the chart who do not have the authority to make such matters happen in a timely fashion.

Curriculum Facilitators-They support teachers and students in their use of technology on the campus level. They provide for staff development for teachers in the use of technology to enhance student achievement.

PEIMS Analysts-They gather and report the district data to the State governing agencies to ensure compliance. Their data helps other decision makers to properly distribute technological resources.

Technology Facilitator-Mr. Larry Reger-They research educational technology advances and their applications throughout the district. They oversee the use of technology to improve student achievement and maintain compliance in technology licensing and distribute educational software throughout the district.

Network Specialists-They maintain the district network, including but not limited to mainframes, hard wired, wireless networks and other technology hardware and storage devices at the district level.

Teachers-They deal with the technology on a day-to-day basis. They create and present lessons that align properly with the district’s curriculum. They ensure student achievement through the use of technology in a way that positively affects their learning.

Instructional Technology Technicians-They install and maintain software and hardware of the campus level includes but is not limited to troubleshooting and repair on student and teacher workstations.

WEEK #4 PART #2: Professional Development Planning

In the preparation for organizing a professional development session about integrating instructional technology into the classroom I found it necessary to include four main data sources: The Valley View High School STaR Chart, The Valley View ISD Technology Plan, The Valley View Campus Improvement Plan, and the Vision 20/20-Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020.

The area in the Valley View High School STaR Chart that reflected the greatest weakness was online learning opportunities for teachers. I hoped to incorporate some online learning for at least a portion of the staff development session. The problem with this is that most of the teachers at Valley View High have very little exposure to online training such as web conferences, so I decided that at least a small portion of the training should include helping teachers to understand the web conferencing software that our district has purchased and some of the capabilities that the software provides. The STaR Chart results also included a need for greater technology application in the implementation of the TEKS. This reflected a need to supply teachers specific ways that they can use technology as an additional tool to teach their curriculum and another way to reach their students.

The Valley View ISD Technology Plan clearly outlines some primary goals that the district has set forth to proved specialized training for their teachers. I felt these goals should also be incorporated into and staff development that I was planning to provide. Two of these goals include providing staff development that instructs teachers on various methods to use software to help analyze test results and student achievement and to provide staff development that will assist teachers in integrating technology into their lesson plans.

The technology goals currently included in the Valley View Campus Improvement Plan fell into two distinct categories: the acquisition of hardware and software and the implementation of that hardware and software as an instructional tool to be used within the classroom. Teachers have very little responsibility in the achieving of the first goal, this is because the acquisition of technology falls upon the principal and technology administrators, as described in the flow chart in part one of the assignment. The second goal, the implementation of the acquired technology, is the responsibility of the teachers, but in order to implement the technology, the teachers must first have some grasp of the technology that is available to them and its’ capabilities. The goals in the Campus Improvement Plan aligned very closely with the District Technology Plan, so any activities that I planned would easily fulfill the goals of both plans.

The final resource I consulted in planning my staff development session was the Vision 20/20-Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. This document gave me some very good suggestions on how to run my staff development sessions

in a way that would be the most beneficial to all of the participants. I wanted to model, for teachers, how to appropriately integrate technology into their specific courses, not just to use as a random example that may not apply to all teachers. I wanted the activities to be engaging for the participants, and let them have some real kinesthetic experience. I found that many times technology intimidates teachers, by providing a hands-on session I could remove much of this issue. I hope that my activities will stimulate teachers to use a new more technologically appealing style of teaching. All of these suggestions were taken into consideration as I planned the following professional development activities.

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES FOR STAFF DEVELOPMENTTime

ScheduleDescription of

ActivityFacilitator Participants Location Comments

7:30-8:20am

Welcome:

Initial greeting, Breakfast, &

Introduction to the Web Conferencing Staff

Development

Technology Specialist

All Core Area Teachers

Cafeteria Teachers will enjoy breakfast while the

Technology Specialist gives a

brief explanation of the web conference

process and capabilities for it

within the classroom. Teachers will be notified of a web conference that

they will be required to attend at the end of the day to

discuss the implications of the day’s professional

development. Teachers will also

be divided into groups for the

upcoming sessions.

8:25-9:00am

Teachers will be divided by department, with each department

going to a different pre-assigned computer lab

on the campus. Teachers will be asked to log on to a computer

and attend a web conference that the

technology specialist will be hosting from the

cafeteria. The presentation will

include some interactive activities for the

teachers as the presenter explains and models the

use of the new web conference software that the district has

purchased. Since each department will be in a

different location, a facilitator will be needed to assist

Technology Specialist - Presenter with the

assistance of 4 Technology Technicians

All Core Area Teachers

Library Computer Lab-Social

Studies Teachers,Rm. #30

Lab-Science

Teachers,

Rm. #31 Lab-Math Teachers,

Rm. #24-ELA

Teachers

Teachers will be exploring the

possibilities of distance learning

from various locations on campus as they are exposed to distance learning.

This allows for teacher interaction

as part of the learning experience.

teachers as they log on to the web conference.

One computer technician will be available at each

computer lab to assist teachers as they attend the web conference and

explore the new software.

9:15-10:00am,

10:15-11:00am, LUNCH (11:00-

12:30pm), 12:30-

1:15pm, & 1:30-

2:15pm

Teachers will be attending 4 sessions to

explore new technology options, each with an emphasis on how to

integrate a specific form of technology into their specific teaching field. Each session will last 45 minutes. (Session

will be further described below.)

Technology Specialist - Presenter with the

assistance of 4 Technology Technicians

All Core Area Teachers

Library Computer Lab-Social

Studies Teachers,

Rm. #30 Lab-

Science Teachers,

Rm. #31 Lab-Math Teachers,

Rm. #24-ELA

Teachers

See below for explanation of

itinerary.

Session #1 9:15-10:00amMath - IntelliPadsHistory - SmartBoardsScience - Blogs & WikisEnglish - Testing Evaluation Software

Session #2 10:15-11:00amMath - SmartBoardsHistory - Blogs & WikisScience - Testing Evaluation SoftwareEnglish - IntelliPads

LUNCH 11:00-12:30pm

Session #3 12:30-1:15pmMath - Blogs & WikisHistory - Testing Evaluation SoftwareScience - IntelliPadsEnglish - SmartBoards

Session #4 1:30-2:15pmMath - Testing Evaluation SoftwareHistory - IntelliPadsScience - SmartBoardsEnglish - Blogs & Wikis

Each session will provide a brief explanation of the technology and its’ possible uses in the classroom. In addition, each session will provide subject specific examples of lessons that incorporate the technology and an opportunity for teachers to explore the technology themselves.

**The evaluation of the staff development session and its’ impact on student achievement will be outlined and explained in the Week 4, Part 3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan section.

WEEK #4 PART #3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan

EVALUATION PLAN

Time Schedule

Description of Activity Facilitator Participants Location Comments

2:30-3:00pm

Evaluation of Web Conference Staff

Development

Technology Specialist

All Core Area Teachers

Classroom Teacher

Computer Work

Stations.

Teachers will be asked to attend a web

conference from their classroom as a way to

conclude the day's staff development. During

the conference, teachers will be asked to share their experiences and

how they plan to apply the technology in their classroom. Because not all teachers will be able

to share their experiences during the limited time frame, a

blog site will be set up for any teacher(s) who would like to post their

responses to the professional

development session online.

Post Session

Wiki Interaction Technology Specialist

All Core Area Teachers

Anywhere with web

access

A wiki will be made available to all teachers as a way to promote and

discuss their varying experiences as they incorporate the new

technologies into their classroom.

ONGOING EVALUATIONI wanted to do something new, normally we would use the standard Valley

View ISD staff development evaluation form, but I did not think that a typical objective form would meet the needs of this in-service. I had a more hands-on evaluation planned; a more subjective evaluation will better meet the needs of the teachers.

As discussions of the day’s activities are taking place via the web conference, the principal will take notes of teachers who are particularly interested in the application of the technology. He will also take note of specific activities that teachers plan to incorporate in the classroom activities. Over the next six week period, the principal will monitor the Wiki site to see how teachers are actually applying their new found knowledge of the various types of technology available on the campus. He will consider which teachers are using the technology the most and to its’ fullest potential. In addition, he will gather data on the use of technology as he performs campus walk-through. He will then use this to guide his research into the impact that the use of technology has on student achievement.

After the teacher have had at least six weeks to implement the new technology into their classroom, the principal will compile data that reflects the academic achievement levels of students whose teachers do not regularly apply the use of technology as a teaching tool. This will serve as an ongoing evaluation process to monitor the appropriate use of technology to improve student achievement over an extended period of time.

A higher level of academic achievement is expected in the students who participated in the technology based classroom. To achieve the goals set forth in the Campus Improvement Plan, a 30% increase in student achievement should be reflected. This staff development session will also help in achieving the district and campus goal of providing 100% of the teachers in effective technology training.