Technology Use Planning Overview

Technology Use Planning at a Glance

Technology use planning involves the process of outlining a district's goals for technology integration and utilization.  An effective plan takes a proactive approach in deciding how technology will advance within the term of the plan, but this is not its only intended purpose. An effective technology use plan also explicitly determines how funding for new technology will be acquired and allocated, and perhaps most importantly, how and where technology will be used and integrated.  It may also include how to more efficiently use technologies that are already in place in the system.  Without a well thought-out technology use plan, a district or school may run the risk of resources being used ineffectively, underutilized, or potentially overspending tight budgets on devices and materials that could have been purchased using more efficient methods.

National Education Technology Plan 2010 and Technology Use Planning

The National Education Technology Plan 2010 is a very effective resource for districts to utilize in technology use planning.  In this plan, a model of learning driven by technology is outlined using five essential components.  These components: teaching, learning, assessment, infrastructure, and productivity are a practical place to begin when building the framework for a technology use plan.  Each component of the NETP 2010 is outlined to explain why it is an important component and how technology aids in achievement of goals.  In using the NETP 2010 to assist with the creation of a technology use plan, committees in charge of drafting the document ensure that it is a fully comprehensive plan, and does not neglect to address any critical issues.

Length of Technology Use Plans

I agree with John See's argument that technology use plans should be short term, not long term.  He uses five years as a frame of reference for a long-term plan.  I have been teaching for six years, if I think back to my first year teaching, there are many tools that I am using presently that were not even available to mass market audiences at that time.  The iPad was only a rumored device, and tablets as we now know them were not even on the radar yet.  A plan written at that time would be completely ineffective today.
In my own district, I can think of an example of why long-term planning is ineffective.  Prior to my employment with Colstrip Public Schools, three mobile labs, each containing 30 Neo2 word processors, were purchased for our elementary school.  At the time, staff members were not entrusted with new technology without proper training.  The mobile labs were kept in storage until someone could visit the district to train staff members to use the devices.  It was not until the second year I worked in Colstrip that this training was made available.  We had never seen the devices before, and had six hours of instruction on how to use them.  Everyone was overwhelmed by the amount of information that was made available all at once.  Because of this, the three mobile labs sat unused for another three years.  Last year, I made it my personal mission to familiarize myself with the Neo2 devices.  I was able to use them with my students for basic word processing, as well as a couple of Renaissance Learning programs.  This year, with the introduction of tablets to third, fourth, and fifth grade classrooms, there is no longer a need for the Neo2 devices.  Our new tablets can do everything that a Neo2 can do, and more.  Unfortunately, because the plan for their implementation was spread out so long, they were a greatly underutilized resource that could have been much more effective if staff members had been allowed to use them immediately.

 

Focus of Effective Technology Plans

 In his article, "Developing Effective Technology Plans", See states that the focus of effective technology plans should be based on applications, not technology itself.  In other words, the focus of technology plans should be on what users should be able to do with the technology, rather than the types of technology that should be purchased.  I agree with See in this aspect.  The NETP 2010 essential component of learning outlines how technology should be used to create student-centered learning environments that are highly engaging and formatted to student abilities.  If technology plans are created only planning for the devices that will be used and implemented, it is entirely possible that the purchased equipment will not meet the needs of teachers or students in their learning environments.  As See also states, by thinking about what the desired learning outcome for students will be, it is easier to determine what devices will need to be purchased because certain devices outperform others in different operation aspects.  I also agree with his argument that technology plans should go beyond curriculum enhancement.  In a world where wikis, blogging, and social media are the norm, it seems like a waste of time to spend any amount of time teaching kids to use technology explicitly.  Special programs to teach students keyboarding skills or even word processing skills are an unnecessary use of funds.  By participating in assignments that utilize various types of multimedia as a mode of mastering educational objectives, students will also learn the technical skills that are 'taught' with such programs.

 

Personal Experience with Technology Use Planning

I do not have much experience with technology use planning.  This year, I joined my district's technology committee, hoping to gain some insight into how plans are developed and decisions are made.  We have met as a committee one time, and from what I experienced at the meeting, there is little teamwork happening at this level.  It seems that many decisions are made by a smaller group of individuals on the committee, and then their decisions are shared with everyone else during meetings.  My role on the committee was to report on how the technology that had been purchased over the summer for the elementary school was being used.  Unfortunately, I was not made aware of this before the meeting, so in some aspects I only had my own personal experience to report.  I know that there is a technology use plan of some form in existence for our district, even though I have not actually seen the document.  At the beginning of the year, our technology department reported to staff that the original plan for the district was for students to be learning in a one-to-one environment within three years time. However, because the state of Montana is piloting the Smarter Balanced assessment in the spring of 2014, the technology department expedited the process and purchased enough tablets to create a one-to-one environment for students in grades 3-8.  I am interested to learn how this modification of the district's plan will affect technology use in the future.  

References:

See, J. (1992). Developing effective technology plans. The Computing Teacher, 19(8). Retrieved from http://www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfm

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology. (2010). Executive summary. In National Education Technology Plan 2010.  Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf