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FRIT 8132: Administration of Technology Resources
Technology Plan UpdateFall 2009
Sarah Wiggins
November 30, 2009
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Introduction
Forsyth County is located just north of Atlanta in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The county educates over 33,600 students.
There are currently 4, 159 staff members with full time employment. The county has 35 schools; 19 elementary schools, 9 middle schools, and 5
high schools. There is also 1 alternative high school and 1 alternative middle school. The county prides itself on being on the cutting edge where
technology is concerned. The educators are constantly reminded that the technology should be used facilitate enrichment opportunities and
enhance student achievement.
Strengths & Weaknesses
The Forsyth County ThreeYear Technology Plan is overall a good plan. The areas in which it is lacking are the specifics. The county
could do a better job demonstrating how the technology is actually used within the schools. Additionally, by extending the document to have a
section that shows how the technology can be used, it can help teachers to use the plan and execute quality lessons to help support the goals and
objectives of the Technology Plan as well as their own standards within the classroom. This would help the criteria of Program Integration,
Curriculum Integration, and Standards. I think this document could be so much more powerful if it was a working document. Currently, Forsyth
County Schools has a wonderful website that is user friendly and informative. Staff member, parents, and students utilize the website daily. If the
Technology Plan were an extension of the website that evolved as the technology changed, goals were met, and program integration increased, the
plan would be communicated better and function as a working document that could assist the educators in creating technology enriched learning
opportunities.
Changes & Improvements
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I. Vision for Technology Plan: This area contains the mission and the vision for a three year plan within the county. The vision and themission are clearly defined, but this area is lacking a section on broad based support, and needs assessment. The names and titles of
the individuals who played a role in creating this document should be cited, as well as the contribution they made. I think this is
important to help provide the document with credibility. I inquired with the head of the technology department who helped to create
the document and she informed me that teachers, administrators, support staff, and even a board member helped to create the plan, but
without asking, it may have been assumed that only the head of technology created it, which would not make it credible for a staff
member who doesnt see this person within the buildings.
Currently the Action Plan section is included in Communication and Marketing section. I feel it would be more valuable to the plan to
place it in this section. Additionally, it would be beneficial to place a needs assessment in this area so that the reader can see the
driving force behind the creation of the plan. The existing plan states that walk throughs were being completed to assess the current
use of technology. A summary of the findings of this data would be needed in order to improve this portion of the plan.
II. Current Reality: This section does a good job of providing an overview of the technology that is currently available to students and staffthroughout the county. This section is written as a long narrative and needs to be broken down to be more specific. Currently it has
two subtopics of Access to Technology and Technology Use. There needs to be more subtopics such as Facilities, Model Classroom
Configurations, Maintenance/Support, Program Integration, Curriculum Integration, and Standards. By adding these areas, the plan
can be more comprehensive and truly reflect the amount of technology and usage within the classrooms of Forsyth County. It would
be beneficial to the educators for this section to provide a link to additional lesson plans that can be used with the various software
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applications. Through the creation of a web based working document, the standards section could be linked to the ISTE website to
provide current technology standards.
III.Goals and Benchmarks: This section was created in the form of a table which made it easy to read. The goals and objectives are verythorough with specific tools for collecting data to be used for evaluation. Additionally, the funding needed is provided a long with the
projected time line for such funding. Although there is no need to add anything additional to this section, I feel this should be a
working document and a section (or link in a web site) should be added so that the stake holders of the county can see the progress that
is being made throughout the three year plan.
IV.Communication and Marketing: This section provides a narrative for the Multi Year plan along with the program integration. Throughrearranging the plan, the topics mentioned in this section would actually be incorporated in other sections, and there would be no need
for this area. However, the topic of communication is much needed. As an educator in this county, I was not aware that such a plan
existed; therefore it is a necessity that there is better communication about this plan. I feel in order to make this a working document, it
would be better to have this document be a website that links to various pages instead of a PDF file that is embedded in the overall
Forsyth County website.
V. Professional Development: This section states that Forsyth Counties Professional Development Plan is an embedded plan in whichprofessional development days are committed to training so that teachers can then use the training in a realistic setting. Although this
is true, the Technology Plan needs to reflect how this is used to support the program/ curriculum integration plan. As an extension to
the plan, a table could be added that shares in what areas teachers are currently being trained. Through this data, new teachers would
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be aware of areas in which they need additional training. Also, parents would be aware of the technology that will be integrated in the
classrooms.
VI.Acceptable Use Policy: This section is included in the appendix and could be included in the overall plan. It is very specific and everyfaculty member and student is instructed on the Acceptable Use Policy. A better use of this section would be specifically for policies.
The current Technology Plan doesnt include a Copyright Plan or Gifts and Disposal Plans. These documents are provided within the
Media Center Policies, but many teachers and students are not aware of the policies as they relate to technology.
The above sections display the current Forsyth County Three Year Technology Plan. Although the plan was approved by the State of
Georgia during the recent IE2 plan, it is important to note that there are several components that are lacking. Several of these have already
been mentioned above, but additionally, the plan is lacking any information on School Pilot Projects or Educational Research and there is no
information concerning the software agreements.
Outcomes:
By making the improvements to the plan, the document can become a working document that is more specific, and able to be used by the
stake holders of the county. The county has worked very hard to provide the educators, students, and parents with a technology rich learning
environment. The current plan is vague and does not exemplify the facilities or programs that currently exist. The greatest change that could be
made in order to make this into a working document is to actually turn the document into a website that can provide the educator with updated
information and guides to follow to ensure that the technology is being used to the fullest extent.
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Updated Technology Plan
I. Action PlanA. Needs
AssessmentAll certified staff members took part in a technology survey to assess the needs of Forsyth CountySchools in relation to all aspects of technology. The survey can be seen in Appendix A (Johnson, 2004).Data collected from the survey is available as part of the plan.
The Technology Plan Team conducted surveys and walk throughs in each school within the county to
collect data to help drive the creation of the Technology Plan.
B. SupportPersonnel
The Forsyth County Technology Plan was created by a team of professionals. Jill Hobson, the Directorof Instructional Technology, along with teachers and administrators from various schools throughout thecounty, and members of the Board of Education with the supervision of the current Superintendent,Buster Evans, led the creation of the document.
C. Mission Forsyth County Schools will maximize technology to positively impact student achievement and systemlevel initiatives. Technology will be utilized by students and adults to produce quality work and to createan environment where there is excellence in student academic performance and where adults support theunderstanding that all work is related to creating a school district that is safe, caring and responsive tostakeholder needs. The school district will display a belief that technology is imperative to the work ofstudents and adults and will provide the resources necessary for an effective and efficient operation toachieve results.
D. Vision y Improve the teaching and learning processes through technology integrationy Increase student achievement even as rapid change impacts the systemy Support differentiation for all studentsy Combine technology integration with curriculum standardsy Empower teachers to use technology resources to meet student needsy Support data driven decisionsy Recruit, maintain, enhance, and nurture a highly qualified work forcey Increase community involvement to enhance educational programsy Improve internal and external communication
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district supported software includes Inspiration, Kidspiration, Pixie 2, the Macromedia web design suite,Google Earth and Sketchup, ActivStudio, Windows Movie Maker and Photostory. Fulltime teachers
have a notebook computer with email and Internet access.Teachers have access to a wide variety of software and Internet resources, which includes:
y NetTrekker, a online student friendly search engine where resources are aligned to standard;y Safari Montage and United Streaming, video streaming databases that can be searched by
standard, grade level or subject area;
y Questia, an online database of scanned in books, magazines, journals, newspapers and otherartifacts this is available at the high school level;
y BrainPOP, each concept area contains an animated movie, an interactive quiz, an experiment, acomic strip, a how-to hands on application, a timeline and a printable Activity Page this isavailable at the elementary and middle school levels
y Digital Textbooks, connected to textbook publisher resources that allow for textbooks to beaccessed via the Internet.
Appendix B provides teachers with
F. Standards In conjunction with the program integration and curriculum integration, Forsyth County Schools willutilize the National Education Technology Standardshttp://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
III.Goals & BenchmarksForsyth County Schools has a 14 year history of strategic planning in the district. This technology planreflects the current strategic plan as approved by the Board of Education.
Goal #1:Increase all student achievement while expanding educational opportunities
Benchmarks Evaluation MethodEnsure a high performing culture Data on Professional learning for all employees, Perception survey data (internal and external
Foster innovative practice Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) data, ACT data, SAT data, Criterion referenced test (CRCT)scores, HSGT scores, EOCT scores, Writing scores, ACCESS scores, GAA scores, APenrollment and exams data
Develop core competencies # of extracurricular activities (GA411) and student involvement, Student health surveyDiscipline data, HS graduation follow up, Assessment of 21st century skills, Usage of digitalresources, Level of technology use (Engage Me), Student advisement data
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Design opportunities for success Career credentialing data, Dropout rate, Completion rate, Retention rate, Graduation rate,Career pathway participation, Participation in dual enrollment, Enrollment in virtual classes,Forsyth Academy data
Strategies Funding Source/Amount Person Responsible
Maintain the learning managementsystem(ANGEL) to provide an infrastructurefor theinstructional framework of our schoolsystem.
Pending availability of funds, $240,000 annually fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology and AssociateSuperintendent for Academicsand Accountability
Provide digital content (AtomicLearning,
BrainPOP, ExploreLearning,netTrekker, Safari Montage andSoundzAbound) tosupport the instructional framework ofour school system.
Pending availability of funds, $275,000 from generaloperating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. for Academics &
Accountability
Maintain the benchmark assessmentsystem(Edusoft) to support the balancedassessment program.
Pending availability of funds, $230,000 from generaloperating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. for Academics &Accountability
Teachers will successfully completetheonline learning endorsement offeredwithin the school district.
Pending availability of funds, $5000 from Title IIAannually
Director of InstructionalTechnology and Director ofProfessional Learning
Receive a 42% discount through Eratefunding on Telecommunicationsservices
Pending availability of funds, $140,000 annually fromgeneral operating funds
Chief Technology andInformation Officer
Receive a 42% discount through Eratefunding on Internet Access.
Pending availability of funds, $540,000 annually fromgeneral operating funds
Chief Technology andInformation Officer
Receive Internet connectivity via theGaDOE STATE Network
State e-Rate Funding Chief Technology andInformation Officer
Focus on professional learning tosupport a1:1 learning environment.
Pending availability of funds, regular budget -$1,001,330 for classroom computer lease annually (3year lease) Pending availability of funds, regular budget- $1,000,000 for lease of teacher notebooks annually (3year lease) Pending availability of funds, regular budget- $446,148 for lease of Tech & Career prep, computerlab, and administrative desktop computers annually (3year lease)
Chief Technology andInformation Officer and Director ofEducational Technology andDirector of InstructionalTechnology
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delivery models and programs
Continue to build upon leadership
development and support
% of leaders provided induction support; # of participants enrolled in multi-tier Leadership
Academy; # of staff completing training for next level of responsibility
Strategies Funding Source/Amount Person Responsible
Teachers will successfully completethe online learning endorsementoffered within the school district.
Pending availability of funds, $5000 fromTitle IIA annually
Director of InstructionalTechnology andDirector of Professional Learning
Maintain public web site through easyto use content management system
(Schoolwires).
Pending availability of funds, $53,000 annually fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology
Maintain the learning managementsystem (ANGEL) to provide aninfrastructure for the instructionalframework of our school system.
Pending availability of funds, $240,000 annually fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology andAssociate Superintendent forAcademics andAccountability
Maintain the benchmark assessmentsystem (Edusoft) to support the
balanced assessment program.
Pending availability of funds, $230,000 fromgeneral operating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. forAcademics & Accountability
Maintain high quality technicalmaintenance of school system's publicweb site
Pending availability of funds, $17,000 fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology
Recruit and retain the highest qualityinstructional technology specialiststhrough systemic mentoring (over 70%of current ITS have less than 5 yearsexperience in the role)
Pending availability of funds, $20,300 fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology
Provide ongoing professional learningin order to build capacity fortransformational uses of instructionaltechnology (ANGEL, InteractiveWhiteboards, STARS)
Pending availability of funds, $60,000 fromgeneral operating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology
Goal #3: Enhance educational programs through increased community involvement.
Benchmarks Evaluation MethodProvide and increase opportunities for Community service participation data
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for theinstructional framework of our schoolsystem.
Accountability
Provide digital content (AtomicLearning, BrainPOP,ExploreLearning, netTrekker, SafariMontage and SoundzAbound) tosupport the instructional framework ofour school system.
Pending availability of funds, $275,000 from generaloperating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. For Academics &Accountability
Maintain the benchmark assessmentsystem
(Edusoft) to support the balancedassessment program.
Pending availability of funds, $230,000 fromgeneral operating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. for
Academics & Accountability
Use TRIM to digitally store all studentrecords.
Pending availability of funds, regular budget -$25,000
Director of Information Systems
Goal #5: Pursue and secure alternate funding and resources while maximizing operational efficiency.
Benchmarks Evaluation Method
Pursue additional fundingfrom all applicable sources. # of applications submitted; % of grant resources compared to total budget; # of additional fundingsources obtained; # of partnership with local municipalities
Increase receipt of resourcesthrough private partnershipswith the business communityand other stakeholders.
# of business partnerships; % of overall growth of business and private partnerships
Pursue and successfullyimplement district flexibilitythrough the IE2 academiccontract with the GeorgiaDepartment of Education.
Contract approved by state BOE; % of flexibility options exercised
Maximize operationalefficiency in all areas of thesystem.
KW hrs consumed by school; % of facility inspection reports meeting standards; % of work orders whichtook over 10 days to complete; construction cost per square foot; % of projects completed within budget;% of projects completed on time; Average life cycle of fleet
Strategies Funding Source/Amount Person ResponsibleHire additional TechnicalSupport Specialists
Pending Budget Approval, Regular Budget$864,000
Chief Technology and InformationOfficer and
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to free up ITS for moredirect instructional support.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Maintain public web site
through easy to use contentmanagement system(Schoolwires).
Pending availability of funds, $53,000 annually from general
operating funds
Director of Instructional
Technology
Maintain the learningmanagement system(ANGEL) to provide aninfrastructure for theinstructional framework ofour school system.
Pending availability of funds, $240,000 annually from generaloperating funds
Director of InstructionalTechnology and AssociateSuperintendent for Academics andAccountability
Provide digital content
(Atomic Learning,BrainPOP, ExploreLearning,netTrekker, Safari Montageand SoundzAbound) tosupport the instructionalframework of our schoolsystem.
Pending availability of funds, $275,000 from
general operating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.
Super. forAcademics & Accountability
Maintain the benchmarkassessment system(Edusoft) to support the
balanced assessment
program.
Pending availability of funds, $230,000 fromgeneral operating funds
Dir. of Instr. Tech. & Assoc.Super. forAcademics & Accountability
IV.Professional DevelopmentForsyth County Schools adheres to a job-embedded approach for high quality professional learning,implemented on district-wide Early Release Days, to help standards-based practices become a reality inall Forsyth County classrooms.
The Forsyth County Schools Board of Education has adopted the National Staff Development Council's
standards for Professional Learning.Schools submit a professional learning plan each year aligned to their school improvement goals andthese plans are reviewed by Curriculum, Title 1, Professional Learning, Technology, Special Educationand ESOL personnel to ensure fit with district as well as school goals. View the 2007-2008 plans athttp://tinyurl.com/fcss-pl.
Additionally, Technology based staff development is offered throughout the year.y 2008 2009 school year offered ACTIV studio training through webinars
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Safety Issues:1. Any on-line communication should always be at the direction and with the supervision of a teacher.
2. Never provide last name, address, telephone number, or school name online.3. Never respond to, and always report to the teacher or parent, any messages that make you feeluncomfortable or that are from an unknown origin.4. Never send a photo of yourself or anyone else.5. Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you met on-line.6. Never open attachments or files from unknown senders.7. Always report to a teacher any inappropriate sites that you observe being accessed by another user orthat you browse to accidentally.
Examples of prohibited conduct include but are not limited to the following:A. Accessing, sending, creating or posting materials or communications that are:1. Damaging to another persons reputation,2. Abusive,3. Obscene,4. Sexually oriented,5. Threatening or demeaning to another person,6. Contrary to the schools policy on harassment,
7. Harassing, or8. IllegalB. Using the network for financial gain or advertising.C. Posting or plagiarizing work created by another person without their consent.D. Posting anonymous or forging electronic mail messages.E. Attempting to read, alter, delete, or copy the electronic mail messages of other system users.F. Giving out personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, drivers license or social securitynumbers, bankcard or checking account information.
G. Using the schools computer hardware or network for any illegal activity such as copying ordownloading copyrighted software, music or images, or violation of copyright laws.H. Downloading, installing, or using games, music files, public domain, shareware or any otherunauthorized program on any schools computer or computer system.I. Purposely bringing on premises or infecting any school computer or network with a Virus, Trojan, orprogram designed to damage, alter, destroy or provide access to unauthorized data or information.J. Gaining access or attempting to access unauthorized or restricted network resources or the data and
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Nettrekker (http://school.nettrekker.com) and must be done with teacher supervision.Middle:
Students in grades 6-8 may only perform unsupervised Internet searches using Nettrekker(http://school.nettrekker.com). A search using any other search engine must be conducted with teachersupervision.High:If students in grades 9-12 use any search engines other than a child-friendly search engine, they must usethe advanced search page of internet search engines in order to develop more reliable, useful, andrelevant search results.
Employee
AcceptableUse
Guidelines:Please read the following carefully. Violations of the Acceptable Use Guidelines may cause anemployee's access privileges to be revoked, School Board disciplinary action and/or appropriate legal
action may be taken, up to and including employment termination.Additional items that employees need to be aware of:A. Staff must be aware that students have access to the Internet from all of the school system'scomputers. Teachers must use good judgment and closely supervise their student's use of the Internet.The School System uses filtering software to help prevent student access to inappropriate web sites.However, it is impossible to block access to all objectionable material. If a student decides to behave in
an irresponsible manner, they may be able to access sites that contain materials that are inappropriate forchildren or are not commensurate with community standards of decency. They should not be permitted toaccess sites unrelated to their assignment and should not be allowed to access game or other sites thatcould infect the computer with Spyware.B. Teachers should follow the guidelines below when allowing or directing students to do Internetsearches.Elementary:Students in grades K-5 may visit sites pre-selected by a teacher. Searches may only be done with child-
friendly Internet search engines (see for examples) and must be done with teacher supervision.Middle:Students in grades 6-8 may only perform unsupervised Internet searches using child-friendly searchengines (see for examples). A search using any other search engine must be conducted with teachersupervision.High:If students in grades 9-12 use any search engines other than a child-friendly search engine, they must usethe advanced search page of internet search engines in order to develop more reliable, useful, and
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Tracking information on the use of a schools web site and individual sections can be obtained fromCoordinator of Online Learning.
IV. Compliance with FCS Acceptable Use GuidelinesAll material posted to the Forsyth County Schools website must adhere to all provisions set forth in theAcceptable Use Guidelines. Items from these documents, which are relevant to information posted on theweb, are:No information/materials may be posted that is: Damaging to another persons reputation, Abusive, Obscene, Sexually oriented,
Threatening or demeaning to another persons gender or race, Contrary to the schools policy on harassment Harassing IllegalPages created/information posted on Forsyth County Schools web sites: MUST NOT use the network for financial gain or advertising. MUST NOT contain plagiarized work created by another person without his/her consent MUST NOT contain personal information such as phone numbers, addresses, drivers license or social
security numbers, bank card or checking account information about any student or staff member. MUST NOT provide any user account information or passwords. If students participate in the creationand/or maintenance of web pages, they MUST be logged onto the network with their own USER IDs andPASSWORDS. Under NO circumstances are students to be given another students or employees logininformation.V. Educational Appropriate PostingsMaterial posted to the schools web site and associated teacher web pages must be educationally soundand appropriate as determined by the school or district administrators.
* Parent permission is granted on the enrollment data form and is cross-referenced in the studentinformation system.
Gifts and Disposal The Board of Education may accept any bequest, gift of money or property on behalf of the schooldistrict. Gifts must be deemed suitable for a purpose by the Board of Education and be used in anappropriate manner. However, it is the policy of the Board of Education to discourage all gifts whichmay directly or indirectly impair the Board of Educations commitment to providing equal educational
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opportunities to the students of the District.
Organizations desiring to raise money in support of school programs or services must first obtainapproval by the school principal or designee, or in the case of district-wide efforts, the approval of theSuperintendent or designee, prior to scheduling any activity.
To be acceptable, a gift must satisfy the following criteria:
1. have a purpose consistent with those of the school district2. be offered by a donor acceptable to the Board of Education3. will not add to staff load4. will not begin a program which the Board of Education would be unwilling to take over when the
gift or grant funds are exhausted5. would not bring undesirable or hidden costs to the school district6. will place no restrictions on the school program7. will not be inappropriate or harmful to the best education of students8. will not imply endorsement of any business or product9. will not be in conflict with any provision of the school code or public law.
All gifts, grants and bequests shall become school district property. (IUSD, 2005)
Schools within the Forsyth County School District, as well as the Forsyth County School District itself,may choose to accept gifts and unsolicited donations of software only if all of the following requirementsare met:
1. the software is received in its original packaging;2. the software is unopened;3. the software is accompanied by its original licensing agreement;4. the software has been recommended and approved for use in the instructional program of the
Forsyth County School District as provided in these administrative procedures.
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VI.School Pilot Projects and Educational ResearchPromethean ACTIV
Board, Software,
and ACTIV votesForsyth County was one of the first large counties to install Promethean ACTIV boards in everyclassroom grades Pre K 12 (including special area, and support curriculum classrooms). During thefirst years of piloting the program, Forsyth County participated with Dr. Robert Marzano to research theimpact that the boards, software, and hand held votes had on learning within our Title I schools. Theresearch is available through the following link.http://www.prometheanworld.com/server.php?show=nav.17627
Forsyth County school chose to get involved with this form of technology after much research and hands
on experiences at technology conferences. Higgins, Beauchamp, and Miller (2007) collected evidencefrom the research that had been conducted to write an article in Learning, Media and Technology. Theirfindings provide consistent research that demonstrates that interactive whiteboards are able to produceattractive and creative lessons that capture and hold the students attention. Additionally, the findingsthroughout research support that there is a connection between the interactive boards and motivationwhich helps to improve academic and social behaviors.
CINCH
MathematicsAs of October 2009, various teachers throughout the county are piloting a product created by McGrawHill called CINCH Mathematics. This curriculum ranges from kindergarten to 6th grade instructional
level. The program provides teachers with immediate data that can be used to form further instructionallessons. McGraw Hill sees that this product is a digital solution that enhancesinstruction.(PRNewswire, 2009). With the recent implementation of Standards Based grading andReporting, this particular program will allow teachers to teach the standards through hands on approachwhile providing a data driven formative assessment.
Hotchalk Math states that CINCH mathematics harnesses the power of the digital interactivewhiteboard to engage students and make math instruction easier (CINCH Mathematics, 2009).
VII. Software AgreementsThe software agreements can be seen on the Forsyth County Website.
http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/129410616215017890/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=109249&129410616215017890Nav=|&NodeID=5920
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Appendix A: Evaluation Tool
Location: Schools name Primary job function:Primary level of instructionalresponsibility:
Gender: Age:
Established InfrastructureCurrent level ofsatisfaction
Priority to be given in 2009-11 long range plan
4-High to 1 -Low 4-High to 1 -Low
1. Adequate and reliable Internet access to the district2. Adequate and reliable Internet access to all buildings3. Adequate and reliable Internet access to all classrooms, media
centers and labs
4. Adequate wireless network access5. Firewall security for networks6. User verification through log-in and activity logging7. District-wide spam (junk e-mail) filtering software8. District-wide Internet filtering software9. Adequate workstations for staff and student use10. Adequate peripheral technologies (printers, scanners, projectors,
cameras) for staff and student use
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11. Efficient maintenance, repair and replacement procedures
12.
Adequate and reliable telephone access to all classrooms andoffices
13. Adequate and reliable ACTIV board access14. Written and thorough technology use policies15. Adequate technical support for networks, computer equipment
and applications
16. Adequate leadership and management related to technologyplanning, budgeting, and policy-making
Effective Administration(administrators and office staff) Current level of satisfactionPriority to be given in 2009-11long range plan
4-High to 1 -Low 4-High to 1 -Low
17. Student information system that can be accessed by administration that includesattendance, grading, discipline, health, and scheduling modules that shares dataefficiently with other systems.
18. Student information system that can be accessed by teaching staff19. Student information system that can be accessed by parents
20. Systems specific to the management of finance, transportation, personnel/payroll, lunchprograms, special education, building systems, security, etc.21. Portable communication devices for administrative uses (Cell phones, PDAs, etc.)22. On-line (web-based) district information
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23. On-line (web-based) building information
24.
On-line (web-based) department and classroom information
25. Interactive communications tools for administration (IM, electronic mailing lists,groupware, share calendars and email directories)
26. Electronic means of communication with school staff by parents, students, and thecommunity
27. Established technology competencies and training opportunities for schooladministration and office staff
28. Adopted policies and written guidelines on Internet use, safety, plagiarism,selection/reconsideration, copyright, etc.
29. Understanding of policy and ethical practices regarding technology use byadministration and office staff
Extensive Resources Current level of satisfactionPriority to be given in 2009-11long range plan
4-High to 1 -Low 4-High to 1 -Low
30. Sufficient access to workstations for students to complete assigned work31. Internet access
32. Access to adequate on-line reference materials including encyclopedias33. Access to adequate digital image, sound and video resources34. Access to curriculum and teacher support materials35. Access to a wide variety of computerized productivity programs appropriate to student
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ability level such as Open Office, Inspiration, Kidspiration, Pixie 2, the Macromediaweb design suite, Google Earth and Sketchup, ActivStudio, Windows Movie Maker andPhotostory.
Enhanced Teaching Current level of satisfactionPriority to be given in 2009-11long range plan
4-High to 1 -Low 4-High to 1 -Low
36. Formal training opportunities for developing technology skills37. On-going mentoring, trouble-shooting and assistance for staff when developing
technology skills
38. Technology skill evaluation as a part of teacher evaluations39. Training in electronic gradebook use40. Training in student information system use for grade reporting and attendance41. Training in creating on-line information for parents, students and the community
Appendix B: Software Integration
Lesson Plans to be used with PIXIE
http://www.tech4learning.com/userfiles/file/pdfs/Pixie/Pixie_Makes_It_Possible.pdf
Lesson Plans to be used with Inspiration
http://www.inspiration.com/Examples/Inspiration
Lesson Plans to be used with Kidspiration
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http://www.inspiration.com/Examples/kidspiration
Lesson Plans to be used with Google Earth
http://gelessons.com/lessons
Lesson Plans to be used with Sketchup
http://www.sd53.bc.ca/gifted/strategies/sketchup/sketchuplesson%20plans.pdf
Lesson Plans to be used with ACTIVStudio
http://www.prometheanplanet.com
Lesson Plans to be used with Windows Movie Maker
http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=movie+maker&rating=3
References:
CINCH mathematics. (2009) HOTChalk Math. Retreived November 30, 2009 from http://www.hotchalkmath.com/tool?et=72
Higgins, S., Beauchamp, G., Miller, D. (2007, September). Reviewing the literature on interactive whiteboards.Learning, Media and
Technologies, 32 (3) 213-223. Retrieved November 30, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.
Irvine Unified School District. (2005) Board policy: Gifts, grants and bequests. Retrieved November 17, 2009 from
http://www.iusd.org/board_of_education/board_policy/policies/3290.htm .
Johnson, Doug (2004, April 13). Staff survey for long range technology planning. Webjunction, Retrieved November 19, 2009, from
http://www.webjunction.org/techplan-evaluation/_/articles/content/432794?_OCLC_ARTICLES_getContentFromWJ=true .
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McGraw Hill education announces two new cutting-edge digital-based supported by five technology partnerships. (2009, June).PRNewswire.
Retrieved November 30, 2009 from http://sev.prnewswire.com/education/20090629/NY3791029062009-1.html .