Institutional Technology Plan


Embarking on an institutional technology plan can be a long and tedious process. However, with the right planning, tools, resources, and preparation the task can be accomplished in a timely fashion.  It is something that should be done to support student learning and school management of technology in schools. 

As I began the process with two of my colleagues, an overwhelming feeling began to set in - WOW, there is so much to do! The biggest factor to keep in mind is TIME...Rome was not built in a day, nor was a technology plan. This helped calm all of us as did the divide and conquer technique. Because the plan was quite detailed and lengthy, breaking it down into smaller units made completing the plan much more feasible. Lastly, having a vision of the plan was key. We needed to know what we wanted as our end result and always had to keep that in mind as we worked through things.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES):
Technology planning and policies should address three major areas, "vision, access, and integration. Vision pertains to what is expected from the technology overall. Access refers to the acquisition, deployment, and availability of technology to the target audiences. Integration of technology is the development and implementation of strategies that make technology useful and capable of accomplishing the vision.
Considering these three major areas in mind among others, we created our plan. The plan is a two year instructional technology plan for Cicero District 99, with an enrollment of 13,000 students and 900 employees. It provides a framework for the implementation of digital citizenship training for parents.  There are several components to the plan: 
  • Software, Information, Maintenance, and Security,
  • Network Infrastructure,
  • Professional development
  • Hardware Maintenance
  • Technology Procedures and Disposal
  • Budgeting and Auditing
  • Communication Plan

Program Information - Parents will be invited to a weekly digital citizenship training.  The training will be held at three school sites throughout the district from 3-7.  Each training will be led by a certified teacher in the district.  The trainings will be an hour and a half, with a repeated session from 5-6:30.  This allows parents to come at whichever time works best for their schedule.  Each session will end with a half an hour for parents to meet with the trainer and ask specific questions.  The sessions will loop throughout the year, allowing parents to attend a session they may have previously missed. 

Stakeholder - All stakeholders were considered during creation of this plan.  This plan further enhances the parents understanding of digital citizenship, which will allow them to understand and work with their student at home on their digital assignments.  This plan will allow the teachers and the parents to create a partnership when assigning digital work.  

Budget - The plan will add $32,956 to the annual budget, which will cover the cost of presenters and leasing additional devices.  The leased items procured at a reasonable price due to the large quantity that will be leased in the district.  The disposal cost of the devices will be zero, because we will be returning them to the company at the end of the lease.  There is estimated to be very little if any financial losses for the district with this plan.  The devices will only be used within the building, they will not be allowed to be taken home, and the other necessary services will already be paid in the annual school budget. 

Program Auditing - The program will undergo a monthly audit to ensure the program has an adequate budget, no mismanagement of funds, and overall effectiveness of the program.  Possible adjustments that could be made to the program include: shorter hours, additional/less trainers, additional/less training sites, and different meeting days.

Here is our technology plan.

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