Whether you're creating a technology plan from scratch or you're updating a previous plan, laying the groundwork for the writing journey is as important as the final destination. Technology plan writing, like grant writing, is a process that is needs based. Where the journey ends is mainly a function of the priorities you've identified based on the data you've collected. In this section, we'll help you prepare for the writing journey by first collecting a variety of data elements and then crafting goals, objectives, and activities to address your curricular, technology, and professional development needs. The primary question answered within your plan will be, "How will the plan guide your vision about how students, staff, and your district will utilize technology to enhance teaching and learning over the next three to five years?"
Summary of the Nine Component Areas
California state technology plans are composed of nine component areas. Each must be aligned with the technology plan criteria before submitting your plan for review. Below is a summary of the nine sections. More detailed information is provided in Section III.
Section 1: Plan Duration
Technology plans are written for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years. All plans begin on July 1 of the first year and end on June 30 of the final year.
Section 2: Stakeholders
A variety of stakeholders should be invited to participate in the planning process. The planning team may include teachers, students, parents, library media personnel, curriculum experts, technology experts, and community members.
Section 3: Curriculum
The entire technology plan revolves around the specific goals, objectives, benchmarks, and implementation plans to improve student academic achievement.
Section 4: Professional Development
Focusing on the goals and activities outlined in Section 3, outline how and when you'll train educators and administrators to accomplish those goals.
Section 5: Infrastructure
Determine the current state of your hardware, software, infrastructure, and technical support, and outline your needs in order to implement the curricular and professional development goals.
Section 6: Budget
Looking at your professional development and infrastructure needs, create a budget of your estimated costs for each year of the plan.
Section 7: Monitoring and Evaluation
Describe the process for evaluating the impact your plan has had on teaching learning as well as how you'll share evaluation results with stakeholders.
Section 8: Adult Literacy
The district must identify adult literacy providers and describe potential outreach or collaboration with them.
Section 9: Relevant Research
Whether included in this section separately or woven into the plan, you'll summarize research that supports your curricular and professional development goals.
Building an Effective Team
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Stakeholders: Assemble your stakeholder group with wide-spread representation.Include district leads for curriculum, professional development, Information Technology (IT), business, categorical programs, as well as, business, community members, higher education, county offices of education, etc, as it reflects your district's size and community. Communicate to the stakeholders the group's expectations and purpose, e.g., provide multiple perspectives, collect data and artifacts, etc.
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“One Voice”: While stakeholders often involve a large group, it is important to identify a smaller core group of committed individuals (2-3) who will actually write the plan. In the process of writing, the task of this smaller group will be to manage and integrate collected artifacts and data from larger group; develop the format of the plan, have one authoring voice; and ensure that key goals are supported throughout the elements of the plan, e.g., curriculum, professional development, monitoring & evaluation, consistently supported throughout document.
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Team Input: Successful plans require an ongoing dialogue with a variety of stakeholders in order to insure buy-in. Collaborate with the team to gather input, create a shared vision, and outline the plan's key elements.
Identifying curricular needs
The primary purpose of creating a technology plan is to coordinate the vision of using technology to improve academic achievement with the district’s core curricular goals.
Refer to the district’s overall guiding education goals, initiatives, and/or mission for student achievement. The educational technology integration plan should support the district's goals, vision, and mission. For example, consider the curriculum guidance from the Consolidated Application, District Master Plan, Strategic Plan, WASC Report, Program Improvement Plan, etc.
Consider
1. The academic needs of the district’s student population as a whole.
2. The special needs of the ELL population, students with disabilities, and identified subgroups.
3. The instructional needs of classroom teachers.
4. Educators' administrative needs.
Research
It is critical to educate the planning team on what is possible in a technology-rich learning environment. To accomplish this objective, the planning team is encouraged to consider the types of technology that are appropriate and useful for the present and the future. Therefore, it is highly recommended that before writing the Curriculum component, the planning team should investigate technology trends, integration models, and effective practices that are supported by research.
Data Collection
What data should be collected before you begin to write?
When traveling down the arduous road of data collection, it is important to know what types of data are essential to best reflect your district’s overall vision for technology. The following table provides you with an example of the types of data you may want to locate and analyze when preparing to write your district technology plan. For more information, consult Section IV, the Planning Toolkit.
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