EdTech 505 Final Project

505ashleyfinalevalreport from Ashley Hungerford

EdTech 503 Final ID Project

Final id project hungerford from Ashley Hungerford

EdTech 501 Technology Use Planning

Technology Use Planning

What is technology use planning? In my estimation, technology use planning is best described as a journey with no end. The act of creating a plan is an ongoing process, all aspects of future goals must be weighed carefully and implementation tools set up in advance. Many people, like me, have been asked to take part in creating a technology use plan with no clearly defined goals or objectives. In my experience technology plans are often created only because accreditation requires them to be. They want the physical sheet of paper “the plan” to put into a filing cabinet, any real discussion of the process and implementation of technology is often discarded as being too costly or time consuming. According to a group of graduate students at Mississippi State University, “The plan (noun) is a clear, written description of the plan (verb) that is put into action by member of the community” (Al-Weshail et al., 1996). I think all too often we forget that a plan is a verb, an action to be to be taken. A truly great plan is under constant revision, being revisited and revised as technology resources, school populations, and financial resources change.

Upon reading the National Educational Technology Plan for 2010, I realized what a great tool this would have been when I was trying to help write our school’s technology plan. The NET plan provides clear recommendations that would allow for a real discussion of the needs of a particular school. This plan encourages schools to look at a new way of thinking about education, to look beyond seat time and look at the quality of student work, and the processes that led them there.  The education system has become stuck in past thinking, and the NET plan encourages educators to look at technology, not as another thing you have to teach, but as a tool to help you engage students in the learning process while increasing productivity.  If all school districts were to use this plan as a guideline when creating their own technology plans the face of education would change drastically. Teachers would become facilitators to learning, students would take ownership of their education, and schools would be able to adapt every program in every classroom to the needs of the students. Pull out programs would no longer be needed; students would be able to progress at their own rates. Computer programs would assess and differentiate for each child at an individual level.  Growing up my parents always used the adages “you have to spend money to make money” and “you get what you pay for” in this particular case I believe that we need to invest in educational technology, and in doing so, we are investing in our country’s future through our children.

All of the articles that I read this week have a running theme; technology planning is an ongoing process that requires action. Anyone that owns a piece of technology can tell you that it is obsolete almost as quickly as you leave the store with your purchase. Technology is advancing at exponential rates, and our technology plans have to account for that. In his article about technology plans, See says, “Perhaps tech plans should be divided into phases, not years” (See, 1992). I agree with this statement because paper plans have a tendency to become concrete and stagnant, something technology may never be. To create a five year technology plan, I would need to know that the Mac book Pro I am recommending for every teacher will still exist, and will still cost around the same amount I projected when we get the budget for them, possibly five years down the road. This is an unreasonable expectation. If we think more in terms of phases than time; we can begin to work within the framework that See recommended. Create actionable goals for transformation and then consider what technology will be necessary to attain those goals.

If we consider application above technology then we begin to plan for what we really need, not what we think we need, or what might look most impressive. Purchasing technology without consideration to application can backfire on a school, draining their resources and seeing little change in student or teacher productivity. As an example, prior to my hiring, my school purchased two Mac computer labs and a portable Macbook lab for the school. They also purchased SMART boards for every classroom. The school’s intent was three-fold: to appease parents who were clamoring for more technology, to comply with the accreditation team’s recommendation for more technology, and to have a selling point for prospective students and their parents. The downfall in this plan came when the administration began attempting to implement this new technology. No one knew how to use a Mac computer; no one knew how to use a SMART board; there was no wireless infrastructure in place, and no one knew how to begin to solve these issues. Upon being hired, I was tasked with “fixing” the problem.  After having read these articles, I now understand that what I did was a reversal of the process of creating a technology plan. I looked at what we had and what we wanted to accomplish and was faced with the daunting task of slowing us down. We needed a mission, a set of clearly defined expectations, and meaningful and regular faculty trainings to prepare our educators to implement this technology in their everyday activities. I needed to convince teachers, some of the most stubborn learners, to change the way they view technology from foe to friend.  I discovered through this process that creating a technology plan is much easier if you have a vision first, and you are willing to step out of your comfort zone and think about learning in a whole new way.

I believe one essential aspect of technology planning that was left out of these articles is support. You must have the support of all of the community members. The teachers need to know that the administration is behind them as they experiment with technology. The administration needs to know that the tech people are there to support them with parents and teachers, as they pioneer a new way of learning. Parents and kids need to know that school community is behind them as they attempt to support the new infrastructure at home. We need to educate our community about the new technology plan, explain why these changes are being made and rally support and encouragement from the entire community. They say it takes a village to raise a child, educating a child is no different.

(Cator, K. and Duncan, A. (2010, November) National Education Technology Plan. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/netp2010.pdf.

See, John. (1992). Developing effective technology plans. National Center for Technology Planning. (19)8.

Al-Weshail, A. S., Baxter, A.B., Cherry, W., Hill, E.W., Jones, C.R., Love, L.T., … Montgomery, F.H. (1996, May 7). Guidebook for developing an effective instructional technology plan. Retrieved from http://www.nctp.com/downloads/guidebook.pdf.

EdTech 501 Digital Inequality

My Reflection

This activity caused me to reflect on the fact that I have multiple computers, fast internet service, the ability or autonomy to use those things at my leisure, education to fully maximize my technology use, and the ability to communicate via social networks. Hargittai identified all the above as being necessary for digital equality. I had never considered access to social networks or internet autonomy as being something unusual, until reading this article. I really began to consider all of the advantages that come with digital availabilty and education. I can go online and learn a new skill, apply for a job, communicate with future employers, keep up with trends in my line of work, and all of those things give me an advantage over people who do not have equal opportunities to do so.

The digital divide, or inequality amongst groups in terms of access to or knowledge of information and communication technology, is an issue that has been around as long as the internet itself (Hargittai, 2003). This digital divide is everywhere and it affects so many people. Digital divide does not just cause a gap in lower socioeconomic situations, but across a multitude of demographics including age, race, and level of education. The divide seems to be growing faster than we can calculate, because information availabilty and technology capability is growing exponentially.

Digital inequality differs from digital divide in that it refers to a difference in formal access to the internet amongst a population. It has more to do with how people use technology.

In this assignment we had to work as a group to complete the following task:

1. Research digital inequality and digital divide
2. Address and rank 7 options for bridging the gap
3. Identify other possible options
4. Determine the most effective way to allocate money to bridge the digital gap

The seven options provided:

1. Install computers in public libraries and expand the hours of operation
2. Expand staffing and resources in public schools
3. Provide computers to individuals in disadvantaged communities
4. Provide high-speed Internet and mobile access to all residents
5. Provide subsidized low-cost Internet access to all residents
6. Provide information literacy courses to enhance computer skills and knowledgable use of digital technologies.
7. Develop free online educational content to the public giving first priority to those with low socioeconomic status.

Our alternative ideas were:

1. Provide “loaner” computers through public schools
2. Combine several options to provide both service and education
3. Provide refurbished computers
4. Create a donation program for local businesses

Hargittai, E. (2003). The digital divide and what to do about it. New Economy Handbook,821-839. Retrieved from http ://www .eszter .com /research /pubs /hargittai-digitaldivide .pdf

Group outline –

View this document on Scribd

My JOB- My job on the project was:

1. rank the options/ and provide reasoning
2. write my own option
3. add to or adjust pros and cons
4. review and comment on the outline
5. do the narration
6. upload the narration to authorstream
7. create the embed code and send it out to group members
8. create a reflection and post reflection and authorstream video to wordpress

I feel as though we worked well together. We stayed in contact via moodle and gmail. We each took an area of the assignment, and worked together to communicate our thoughts. We commented on the work via google docs and shared our ideas for improvement. It was a difficult task to accomplish in a short period of time, but I feel as though we did it together as a team.

AECT Standards

STANDARD 1: DESIGN

Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to design conditions for learning by applying principles of instructional systems design, message design, instructional strategies, and learner characteristics.

1.1  Instructional Systems Design

Instructional Systems Design (ISD) is an organized procedure that includes the steps of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating instruction

1.2  Message Design

Message design involves planning for the manipulation of the physical form of the message.

STANDARD 2: DEVELOPMENT

Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop instructional materials and experiences using print, audiovisual, computer-based, and integrated technologies.

2.2 Audiovisual Technologies

Audiovisual technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials by using mechanical devices or electronic machines to present auditory and visual messages.

2.3 Computer-Based Technologies

Computer-based technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials using microprocessor-based resources.

2.4 Integrated Technologies

Integrated technologies are ways to produce and deliver materials which encompass several forms of media under the control of a computer.

STANDARD 3: UTILIZATION

Candidates demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to use processes and resources for learning by applying principles and theories of media utilization, diffusion, implementation, and policy-making.

3.1 Media Utilization

Media utilization is the systematic use of resources for learning.

3.2 Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of innovations is the process of communicating through planned strategies for the purpose of gaining adoption.

3.4 Policies and Regulations

Policies and regulations are the rules and actions of society (or its surrogates) that affect the diffusion and use of Instructional Technology.

STANDARD 4: MANAGEMENT

Candidates demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions to plan, organize, coordinate, and supervise instructional technology by applying principles of project, resource, delivery system, and information management.

4.1 Project Management

Project management involves planning, monitoring, and controlling instructional design and development projects.

4.4 Information Management

Information management involves planning, monitoring, and controlling the storage, transfer, or processing of information in order to provide resources for learning.

STANDARD 5: EVALUATION

Candidates demonstrate knowledge, skills, and dispositions to evaluate the adequacy of instruction and learning by applying principles of problem analysis, criterion-referenced measurement, formative and summative evaluation, and long-range planning.

5.1 Problem Analysis

Problem analysis involves determining the nature and parameters of the problem by using information-gathering and decision-making strategies.

5.4 Long-Range Planning

Long-range planning that focuses on the organization as a whole is strategic planning….Long-range is usually defined as a future period of about three to five years or longer. During strategic planning, managers are trying to decide in the present what must be done to ensure organizational success in the future.