Section I - Overview

Preface

Every journey begins with a single step, and writing or updating your district technology plan is no different. Seen as a daunting task by many, assembling work teams, collecting data, and writing a consensus-driven plan could be regarded as an overwhelming job. It doesn't need to be, though. Plan writing  should be seen as a process that can be organized and accomplished one task at a time.

The California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) has staff and resources available to help the school district and the planning team develop and implement the school district education technology plan. To contact the CTAP staff that provides regional technology services to your district, please visit the California Department of Education Web site. This guide is a complete revision of the original document that was first approved by the State Board of Education in 2001. CTAP's Program Management Committee has revised this guide to provide you concise assistance in writing or updating your technology plan.This guide aligns with both Title II, Part D requirements within No Child Left Behind and California's AB 307 legislation.

The intent is to provide district planning teams with the resources to guide the development process, resulting in a plan that reflects district priorities, respects fiscal resources and engages stakeholders beyond the planning and into full implementation.

Why Plan?

"Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true," Lester R. Bittel.

The high road in writing or revising your district technology plan is to embrace the idea that a strong plan leads to improved student achievement. By linking your district's curricular goals with your vision of using technology in the teaching and learning process, your new three- to five-year plan should provide your curricular and technical leaders with the roadmap for technology integration, professional development, and infrastructure acquisition. The low road is to understand that both Federal and State regulations require an approved district technology plan in order to receive technology funding. Either way, we hope that you'll find this guide useful in your journey.

Who Should Plan?

More accurately stated, who should be in the room as you plan? Plans written by a single person but without outside input may be capable of passing the review criteria. Unfortunately, these plans are rarely implemented. Any plan calling for change over time requires input and buy-in from the people it affects. While your writing team shouldn't be large, your input group should include representatives from your schools, grades and subjects, administration, library media personnel, and community. All stakeholders, including classified staff, parents, students, and business representatives, should have an opportunity to provide input. Creating a shared vision for student learning and technology integration increases the odds that your new plan will become a working document for the next three to five years.

What are the Steps?

A brief discussion of the planning steps is listed below, although more detail is provided in the other sections and appendices.

1. Determine how technology will be used to support teaching and learning.

All educators have the goal of improving student achievement and preparing students for life and the workplace. An education technology plan outlines how technology can assist in achieving this goal.

The first step for the planning team is to examine current district efforts in meeting the academic content standards and the vision statements included in the school district and/or individual site comprehensive school improvement plans. The planning team should next examine the many uses of technology and develop a vision of how technology can support the school district’s ongoing efforts and long-range goal of helping students meet the academic content standards.

2. Determine the starting point—how technology is currently used.

The steps taken depend not only on the objective but also on the current use of technology and available resources. There are various tools for and methods of assessing the current status of the district’s infrastructure, hardware, software, technical support, and staff competencies. Specific methods or resources to assess specific needs are covered under the individual plan components in the next section.

3. Visualize what you want students to be doing

Three years from now, how do you envision technology being integrated in the content areas to improve student achievement? Framing this picture requires research of current technology trends and tools as well as data collection and analysis of student academic needs. All parts of your technology plan connect to your curricular vision for students.

4. Outline the steps to move the district from the present to the future.

Section II, “Plan Components,” and Section III, “Suggested Action Steps and Guiding Questions,” provide detailed help in developing and implementing the components of an education technology plan. Generally, implementation requires well-thought-out timelines that coordinate all the individual steps and benchmarks in each component. For example, a particular lesson plan included in the Curriculum component cannot be presented unless the requisite equipment has been purchased and installed and the necessary training has been conducted.

5. Reflect and revise.

"Planning is an ongoing process and should include set times to review progress and revise the plan. Because technology changes rapidly, an annual review process is recommended. Consider scheduling the progress reviews to coincide with the district’s budget process to ensure funding decisions are made with the latest information.

Technology holds immense promise for education. Technology helps people learn, be creative, and become players and communicators in a global village. Technology, tied to the Internet, allows students of all ages to engage in knowledge building on a worldwide stage as never before possible."  —U.S. Department of Education, Technology Connections for School Improvement: Planners’ Handbook.