Three years ago, the GRPS district applied for an MDE School Improvement Grant. The grant provided funds to hire supplemental staff, purchase materials, and make technological improvements within the school. In the Spring of 2012, Union High School began the journey of purchasing technology to the tune of $1.8 million.
In conjunction with the purchase, the school community (teachers, administrators, and district) had to put a plan together to ensure the proper use of the tools and how training would be implemented throughout the school year. Several documents were created to assist in the implementation of the new technology purchases. The links to the documents below created policies and procedures to create the environment conducive to learning and maintaining the substantial investment.
Professional Development
Student Guidelines
Teacher Expectations
In each of the plans, it was important to make certain that procedures were in place and were consistent across the board. Including, documenting ongoing professional development of the teaching staff that was clear and planned. We used a portion of the funds to hire a staff person in charge of the maintenance, professional development, and classroom implementation. Even with a staff person overseeing this endeavor, there are still many obstacles to overcome in implementing technology in the classroom on a daily basis.
One of the agreements, with the teachers and administration prior to the purchase, was that technology would be used as often as possible and the teaching staff would attend ongoing professional development. It has now been a month into the 2012-13 school year, and many of the initial maintenance issues are behind us. Now, the main focus will be how technology is being used in the classroom. It took us a month to get things settled and we are still not quite there yet, but it's time to get into the classroom to see how the students are adapting to the technology.
Classroom and technology walk throughs will begin along with observations. Walk throughs are much less time consuming and focus on a specific part of the lesson or teaching tool. Observations will allow us to see if the technology is embedded or just being used at a presentations level or somewhere in between.
Evaluating the success of the technology depends on the outcome and expectations of the specific unit, lesson, or period of time students utilize the tools. Especially in the infant stages of our technology journey, teachers will need to have an "experience" time. The teachers will have the opportunity to start slowly and get used to the equipment or web tool or program. The priority and the process is the content, the delivery, how students react and retain, and the results.
There is an art and science to teaching, and how the teacher maintains this balance will be a key factor in the success. If technology is embedded and implemented on a daily basis, I have to assume that the teacher is comfortable and has the knowledge/experience to make this a part of the process. The sooner the teacher feels comfortable implementing technology, the better for the students. It all depends on the comfort level of the teacher. The expectation is that this becomes common practice and embedded in the "normal" instructional delivery and student work.
Currently, the Union High School Facebook page shows many successes in technology.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Union-Red-Hawks-GR/187032714709560?fref=ts
Throughout the course of the year, we will be documenting our strengths as well as our challenges. Unfortunately, we will lose our technology director next year and will have to rely on the growth and learning of our teaching staff throughout the year, as well as a transition plan to spread the work and responsibility across to all staff.
To summarize, documents have been submitted and conversation has been ongoing to prepare our school with a technology plan for the year. Including, teacher and student expectations along with ongoing planned PD. A technology director is in place to maintain and ensure proper process for implementing technology in the classroom. We have documented successes through Facebook with clips from students using iPads, Edmodo, and other technology. Technology walk throughs will occur throughout the year documenting challenges and positives moving the school forward. Finally, we will have a sustainability and transition plan as we move to a new school year.
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