educational technology plan 2016-2021 - school district 69 ... and directions... · educational...

Educational Technology Plan 2016-2021

School District 69 (Qualicum) 100 East Jensen Avenue

PO Box 430 Parksville, BC

V9P 2G5 www.sd69.bc.ca

1 School District 69 (Qualicum)

Educational Technology Plan

© 2016 School District 69 (Qualicum) All rights reserved. School District 69 IT Plan Steering Committee Members:

• Maureen LaFleche • Laura Bonner • Terry Graff • Jessica Martens • Gary Savage • Robert Adamson • Julie Lim • Carl Savage • Janet Richards • Tim Daniel • Lesley Rowan • Jennifer Pickard • Jennifer Lunny • Matt Woods • Sarah Hung • Joe Snyder • Gillian Wilson • Cody Henschel



Our Plan at a Glance……

The “Introduction” section briefly outlines our District Strategic Plan as well as the planning structures that were created to support the development of the Educational Technology Plan (ETP).

The “Our Current Status – Where We are Now” section provides a brief history of our planning in the ETP. Also contained here are lists of specific ETP needs and recommendations for future planning.

The “Our Desired Future – Where We Want to Go” section outlines our vision and core beliefs. The goals are defined to guide our direction as we seek to support and improve student learning by creating professional learning opportunities for staff, improved communications supported by IT, and to maintain and improve our ETP infrastructure.

The “Our Plan for Action – Achieving Our Goals” section outlines the district’s plan for action as referenced by stated goals.

The “Attachments” section includes attachments that support the Educational Technology Plan.



Contents Our Plan at a Glance…… ................................................. 2

Contents ......................................................................... 3

Introduction .................................................................... 4

Current Status – Where We are Now ............................. 6

Our Desired Future – Where We Want To Go ............... 7



Introduction The School District 69 Educational Technology Plan (ETP) provides a guide for the planning and implementation of Educational Technology in district educational settings. Educational Technology refers to classroom integration of technology in place throughout our school district, and supported by the technology infrastructure the software content and other digital resources that operate on our systems. This plan represents the fifth technology plan developed by the School District, and it focuses on the integration and application of the Educational Technology Plan throughout curriculum and our school district workplaces. This plan addresses a five-year period spanning 2016 to 2021, and will be reviewed and adjusted annually. At the end of year four, the District Technology Advisory Committee will begin the process of the creation of a new plan. School District Strategic Plan The Board of Education for School District 69 (Qualicum) recognizes that the face of education in our province is changing and that we must continue to ensure that past educational successes are enhanced and built upon. We have been challenged to be part of a transformation agenda that will create new learning environments for our students that will feed their curiosity, engage their interest and prepare them for success in a world that challenges the boundaries of our imagination. The Board further believes preparing today’s learners for tomorrow’s world is critical; therefore, the Board is working to increase the engagement of our learners by providing more personalized educational experiences, including the integration of technology in order to broaden and deepen learning for all students.



District Educational Technology Committee (DETC) The DETC is a standing district committee whose ongoing role is to serve as an advisory body for technology implementation in the district (See Figure 1.1 – Structuring Input and Support for Information Technology in SD69). The specific ongoing mandate of the DETC is to serve as an advisory role in regards to:

1. The use of educational technology to support student learning and staff work processes;

2. Appropriate software and adequate technical support; and 3. Program monitoring and evaluation.

The DETC includes representation from all schools (teachers and administrators). DETC members play a central role in the creation, implementation and monitoring of the Educational Technology Plan. Figure 1.1 – Structuring Input and Support for Educational Technology in SD69

School District Educational Technology Survey The District Educational Technology Plan survey was administered in the spring of 2016. The survey received input from 154 Elementary, Secondary and Specialized Services (CEAP, Learning Services) teachers. Results were compiled and processed by members of the District Technology Committee into recommendations in the fall of 2016. A survey will be repeated in Year Three and Year Five of the Educational Technology Plan to review alignment with the District Strategic Plan. The complete survey results, including all individual survey comments, are available in the report “Integrated Technology Education Plan Survey” - Results, June 2016.

District Administration

District Educational Technology Committee

Principals/Vice-Principals

Teachers

Students



Current Status – Where We are Now

SD69 and Educational Technology Plan The District values using technology to deliver choice and personalization in educational programming and structures for our students.

As part of the Strategic Plan process undertaken in 2013, identification of technology to support student learning was recognized as a priority. The use of technology in the District not only empowers teaching and learning, but it also broadens the scope from which teachers can reach students.

Education Capital Funding Framework The Educational Technology Plan funding framework is based on two premises:

• Infrastructure • Classroom

This framework applies for all educational technology implemented from district budget. District Infrastructure Profile – Educational Technology in Use Several actions have been combined to produce information relevant to the “current state of affairs” of educational technology in our school district. The collective snapshots provided from these sources have been used by the Committee to help in the creation of the road map that will lead us into our educational technology future. To create a detailed description of our current status the following sources of information were used:

• Technology Department provided a district-owned technology resources count • Educational staff conducted a survey of all district staff

School/Program/Access to Technology Count The Technology Department did a preliminary count of functioning district-owned technology resources in place in schools or other district educational programs. This count was completed through the combined work of the Technology Department and School Administrators.



Our Desired Future – Where We Want To Go The District Strategic Plan includes the expansion of the use of educational technology to achieve better learning. The accomplishment of this goal requires attention of not only the placement and maintenance of technology itself, but also the enhancement of pedagogical skills of teachers and technological skills of all members of our learning community. Through analysis of the infrastructure report and the Educational Technology Survey, the DETC has established the following prioritized list of needs that should be addressed in the new Educational Technology Plan:

1. Professional learning opportunities for staff 2. Communication of student learning supported by educational technology 3. Infrastructure maintenance and development

Vision Our district learning community will support all its members in becoming technologically literate, life-long learners who are able to interact successfully in a technological environment to achieve their personal, educational, and workplace goals. We will create an environment where students and staff are able to access, retrieve, and use technology to support their learning or work-related activities.

Our vision extends into six areas that are aligned with recommendations based on the infrastructure review and survey results. Vision and six focus areas illustrated by the following diagram, Figure 3.1 – District Vision and Components:

Students as technologically

literate, life-long learners

Students using educational

technology to support their

learning

Teachers integrating educational

technology into curriculum

Staff using educational

technology to effectively support

job functions

Educational technology

infrastructure development and

maintenance

Effective use of educational

technology to support district communication

District and school structures that

support educational technology planning

cycles



Beliefs about Integrated Educational Technology The following core beliefs about educational technology have a basis in research and the experience gathered from successful implementation of technology. They provide a foundation for the goals of our plan:

• Student learning and achievement can be enhanced with the use of educational technologies and learning resources.

• Educational technology has added new kinds of issues related to safety and social responsibility. We need to be aware of the potential impact new technologies have on issues related to privacy, property, copyright and safety. – set district digital citizenship program eg: social media

• Instead of teaching technology for its own sake, technology should be integrated

into all areas of the curriculum to make content more challenging and engaging for the student. We need to work on implementing it to best attain educational objectives.

• Educational technology has the potential to fundamentally change how

curriculum is delivered and to improve students’ achievement by giving them access to hands-on or real-life projects to expand their learning. Research suggests that students learn more deeply through project-based learning, where they are actively engaged in projects that make sense to them and involve them in seeking information, solving problems and building knowledge.

• Educational technology has the potential for improving access to learning

opportunities. There are many effective ways for students and staff to supplement face-to-face instruction with individualized or collaborative online learning opportunities.



Our Plan for Action – Achieving Our Goals Our Plan for Action is referenced on our three goals. The Committee recognizes the need for a multi-year planning process, based on the budgetary allotments and the other resources available. Accordingly, the Committee used an exercise to identify dependencies between planned strategies, and the resulting matrix, found in Appendix 1, enabled the establishment of priorities for year one of the new Educational Technology Plan. The Committee also proposes that the unit of the “Working Group” is the best model to use in the implementation phase of the plan. Working groups would consist of district staff from all areas, interested in participating and working together to develop and implement the strategies of the plan. Working groups will be supported through the roles of the Technology Services Manager and other district personnel, and the resources allocated in the district technology budget. It is important to note:

• Educational Technology is a teaching & learning tool, educational technology can improve teachers’ teaching and students’ learning.

• Educational technology is integrated throughout the classroom experience. • Applications of educational technology have radically transformed the job tasks

of all district employees. • Educational technology has penetrated deeply into all district operations. It is

vitally important that the school district adequately provide for and support the functions of planning and program review relevant to all departments and operations.



District Educational Technology Goals at a Glance Achievement of the following goals, aligned with our vision of ET, will enable us to create an environment where students and staff are able to access, retrieve, and use information to support their learning or work-related activities: Goal 1: Professional Learning

• The District will continue supporting tools that support authentic evidence, descriptive feedback and student voice.

• The District will continue to support tools to communicate student learning • The District will provide learning opportunities to increase teachers’ abilities to

communicate student learning • The District will purchase the Read&Write annual subscription • The District will provide support for teachers to implement Read&Write as a

universal access tool. • The District will adopt AirWatch as the mobile device management system to

support teacher and schools in iPad implementation • The District will support a formal mentorship program to provide support in

implementing best practices for educational technology • The District will continue to support teachers in building capacity to communicate

what’s happening in the classroom via MyPublicSite (Scholantis) • The District will move towards a Know-Do-Understand framework for professional

learning • The District will develop strategies for utilizing in-service and professional

development to increase the technology capacity and confidence of educators

Goal 2: Student Learning • The district will continue to facilitate increased access to digital resources for

students • The District will set standards and develop approaches for teaching Digital

Citizenship skills for students • The District will set standards and develop approaches for teaching Digital

Literacy, including coding skills for students Goal 3: Maintain and Further Improve Educational Technology Infrastructure

• We will continue to inventory and review system architecture including hardware, software and network structure to prepare the way for an implementation of improved architecture providing ideal security and manageability practices.

• We will continue to develop strategies that enable the efficient provision of tech services, effective purchasing practices, and the development of Technology partnerships.



Our Implementation Strategy The committee will implement and monitor strategies defined under the goals of this Educational Technology Plan. Conducting a survey will help determine success of the plan.



Levels:

School-based Educational Technology Plan Template It is recommended that schools use a process that involves representation of appropriate school-based partners in the completion of a school plan. It is suggested that the Administration facilitate a process where:

• School needs are assessed and articulated; • School goals for the educational technology are integrated into curriculum and

learning supports are developed with reference to the Strategic Plan and the Educational Technology Plan.

Change Process

InfrastructureAutonomy

Survey

ExternalInfluences

DETC



[Your school logo here]

[NAME OF SCHOOL HERE]

School District 69

(Qualicum)


DATE RANGE HERE



School Integrated Educational Technology Goals

Goal One:

SD Plan Ref:

G: __ O: __ S: __

Growth Plan Ref:

G: __ O: __ S: __

[Copy and repeat as required]

Rationale:

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[PASTE ALL GOALS ABOVE THIS POINT]

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