Technology Action Plan

Professional Development Planning
Technology is an important aspect of the future of education so it is important that we continue to make advances. Within our district it is not as much about the needs, but it is about improving what we have in place right now. The three areas that I talked about in the week 3 report were the C-Scope curriculum, promethian boards, and INOVA.

These areas are great tools to use if they are done right. We have to continue with professional development in order to reach our full potential. It is important to send our lead teachers and administrators to training so that they can come back to the campuses to deliver professional development training. As we all know, it is impossible to attend the number of workshops that we need in a school year. It is important that we are in the classroom as much as possible. This is why it is important that the lead teachers and administrators are able to provide teachers with the information they need before school, during conference periods, or after school. They can receive the training they need and not miss critical teaching time.

In order to see what teachers are having trouble with, I would send out surveys to staff and see what needs and concerns they have. After reviewing the surveys, you could decide what types of staff development the teachers would need. I guess before I could plan a particular activity I would have to know exactly what areas we are having trouble in. Obviously not all teachers are going to need help in the same areas, so it would be important to meet all teachers concerns.



Evaluation Planning for Action Plan
The evaluation process for the areas of C-Scope, Promethian boards, and INOVA would have to be after the test results in the spring. C-Scope is a curriculum that is being used within the district. The best way to evaluate this is to review the unit assessments, benchmark assessments, and the actual TAKS test themselves to see if the curriculum is working. These assessments will not lie. They will tell if the curriculum is working or not.

The promethian boards can be evaluated by the students themselves. Survey the students to get their views on the promethian boards to see if they are making a difference to them with their learning. The students are the ones that are using these tools on a daily basis and would be able to tell you if they are effective. The main way to make sure they are being used properly is to provide as much training as possible on the different tools that can be used.

INOVA is a great tool that allows teachers to see all assessments a student has ever taken and shows the students weak areas. It will also project the probability of passing future assessments. You can monitor to see how teachers are utilizing the individualized plans from INOVA and see if it is helping student performance. The information provided by INOVA is hard to match and when used properly will help teachers to see what areas students need help in.

These three tools are very important for our district as we try to improve our TAKS scores. That is why it is so important that we evaluate each area and make sure the tools are being used correctly. All these areas will not be developed fully in one year, but if everyone will work together we can use these areas to be a very successful district.