essential condition one: access to...

ITEC 7410/EDL 7105 SWOT Analysis Template for Technology Planning Needs Assessment What is the current reality in our school?

Name: John Fricks Semester: Spring 2017

ESSENTIAL CONDITION ONE: Effective Instructional Uses of Technology Embedded in Standards-Based,Student-Centered Learning

ISTE Definition: Use of information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate engaging approaches to learning.Guiding Questions:

How is technology being used in our school? How frequently is it being used? By whom? For what purposes? To what extent is student technology use targeted toward student achievement of the Georgia Learning Standards (GPSs,

CCSs)? To what extent is student technology use aligned to research-based, best practices that are most likely to support student

engagement, deep understanding of content, and transfer of knowledge? Is day-to-day instruction aligned to research-based best practices?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsBased on the data from the ISTE Lead and Transform Diagnostics Tool, Rome High School is currently approaching a student-centered learning environment. Most teachers use technology to engage students in the learning process through developing and creating meaningful projects. Students develop meaningful learning experiences through their learning and teachers are given the opportunity to be facilitators, not instructors.

Several teachers have not given technology a chance and are still resisting the changes technology has made school-wide. Rome High School needs to work to develop these teachers and find ways to get them more involved with technology before having them work toward student-centered learning.

Professional learning on Project-based Learning has occurred throughout the year. Many teachers have been able to create engaging lessons from these professional learning sessions to help increase the level of learning for their students. The school has also offered several teachers a chance to go to California during the summer and experience Hi-Tech High and learn from what they are currently doing with students.

Many teachers feel that technology makes cheating easier for students. Therefore, many do not want to use technology due to the fear of cheating on assignments. The lack of hiring highly experienced teachers over the course of a couple years has caused a decline in technology use due to teachers not knowing how to use technology in their classrooms.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:Technology usage on a student-centered level at Rome High School is currently approaching the level set by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Although many of the teachers at the school are currently using Project-based Learning (PBL) as their teaching method of choice, several teachers have yet to jump on the bandwagon and start using PBL in their classrooms. As test scores continue to increase due to the implementation of student-centered learning, more teachers will start


to use new methods of teaching such as PBL and technology to keep their students involved in the learning process year-round. Recommendations from Gap Analysis: Professional learning sessions on PBL must continue to be incorporated into the school year over the next year. Rome High School also needs someone on-site who can help with the implementation of PBL with technology to ensure a smoother transition for teachers and students. Having a technology coach to observe and co-teach lessons will help improve the richness of the lessons as well as the teachers drive to continue using student-centered learning.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2016). Rome High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. Retrieved

from www.romehighwolves.netLead and Transform Diagnostic Tool on the ISTE site (results in Appendix) Responses from the Survey Instrument (in Appendix) created by J. Fricks

ESSENTIAL CONDITION TWO: Shared Vision

ISTE Definition: Proactive leadership in developing a shared vision for educational technology among school personnel, students,

http://www.romehighwolves.net/


parents, and the community. Guiding Questions:

Is there an official vision for technology use in the district/school? Is it aligned to research-best practices? Is it aligned to state and national visions? Are teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members aware of the vision?

To what extent do teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other community members have a vision for how technology can be used to enhance student learning? What do they believe about technology and what types of technology uses we should encourage in the future? Are their visions similar or different? To what extent are their beliefs about these ideal, preferred technology uses in the future aligned to research and best practice?

To what extent do educators view technology as critical for improving student achievement of the GPS/CCSs? To preparing tomorrow’s workforce? For motivating digital-age learners?

What strategies have been deployed to date to create a research-based shared vision? What needs to be done to achieve broad-scale adoption of a research-based vision for technology use that is likely to lead to

improved student achievement? Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Currently, Rome City Schools has a district-wide shared vision for technology. The shared vision is well versed and seems to be fairly well aligned with the state vision for technology. The shared vision for technology is posted on the district technology website and shares the expectations teachers need to have in mind in order to meet the needs of all students.

The shared vision for technology is difficult to find and not everyone is aware of the shared vision. Many teachers including administrators do not know about the shared vision, therefore, most of our teachers are failing to meet the technology needs of our students. Other are accidentally meeting their needs as stated by the standards or have some knowledge of the shared vision.

The technology coach for our district can be utilized more and push teachers to post the shared vision for technology in their classrooms.

Since many people do not know the district’s shared vision for technology, most teachers do not know about the shared vision and do not enforce it in their classrooms.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:The shared vision for technology at our district level is in the approaching phase according to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Teachers and students need to be aware of why technology exists in our schools. Once everyone is aware of the reasons why we have technology in our schools, we can then make sure students are getting their technology needs


met to be impactful members of society. Ensuring students understand the school’s technology expectations will help the district begin to move in a better direction with its expectations. Recommendations from Gap Analysis: Teachers need to have the district’s shared vision for technology posted in every classroom at each school. The shared vision needs to be clearly defined so students know what they are learning in regards to technology. Teachers also need to include technology standards in their lesson plans and should indicate what in the shared vision applies to their lesson for the day.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Rome City Schools: Three Year Technology Plan 2015-2018. Retrieved

from www.rcs.rome.ga.usLead and Transform Diagnostic Tool on the ISTE site (results in Appendix) Responses from the Survey Instrument (in Appendix) created by J. Fricks

ESSENTIAL CONDITION THREE: Planning for Technology

ISTE Definition: A systematic plan aligned with a shared vision for school effectiveness and student learning through the infusion

http://www.rcs.rome.ga.us/


of ICT and digital learning resources. Guiding Questions:

Is there an adequate plan to guide technology use in your school? (either at the district or school level? Integrated into SIP?)

What should be done to strengthen planning? In what ways does your school address the needs of diverse populations in the school or district to include how race,

gender, socio-economic, and geographic diversity giving consideration to how these factors commonly affect K-12 students’ access to school and beyond-school access to high-speed Internet, modern computing devices, software, knowledgeable technology mentors, culturally-relevant digital content, and other affordances critical to technology literacy acquisition.

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsRome City Schools currently has a three-year plan for technology across the district. In this plan, the district plans on implementing a 1:1 Chromebook Initiative across the entire district to improve the accessibility of technology to students. The district also plans to continue professional learning for staff to help them understand the technology being implemented in the classroom. The technology department will increase the speed of the internet at each school.

Although there are not many weakness in our current technology plan, the one thing that stands out to most is the lack of support from a technology coach on campus. Making sure there is a technology coach on every school campus at least twice a week should be a must for our school to implement technology the way the district wants us to.

The current technology plan has provided many opportunities for teachers and students including the implementation of Chromebooks. The technology plan has also increased our technology support and forced the district to provide our schools with the internet needed to be a successful district.

The lack of technology coaches in our district has proved to be a burden in our school over the past year. Making sure teachers are implementing what they are learning at technology workshops is important in moving forward and bringing our district to where it needs to be with technology.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:The plan for implementing technology into our school district seems to have been a success and appears to be in the meeting phase according to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Our district has done a great job so far with developing the technology platform across the Rome City Schools district. However, our school district cannot be satisfied with the results of our current technology plan. Our school district must continue to improve and develop the technology in our district and provide teachers with the professional learning to help make their students successful in the classroom.Recommendations from Gap Analysis:


Rome City Schools must consider hiring more technology coaches across the district to help meet the needs of both the teachers and the students at all schools. Making sure each school has at least one technology coach in their school twice a week will help make sure the technology plan is being carried out, and the implementation of technology is being done correctly.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Rome City Schools: Three Year Technology Plan 2015-2018. Retrieved


ESSENTIAL CONDITION FOUR: Equitable Access (Specifically Low SES and gender groups)



ISTE Definition: Robust and reliable access to current and emerging technologies and digital resources.Guiding Questions:

To what extent do students, teachers, administrators, and parents have access to computers and digital resources necessary to support engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning?

To what extent is technology arrange/distributed to maximize access for engaging, standards-based, student-centered learning?

What tools are needed and why? To what extent are strategies needed to address equity issues among Low SES and gender groups? What are examples of

strategies that would benefit your school/district? (required) Do students/parents/community need/have beyond school access to support the shared vision for learning?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsTeachers and students across all groups have equitable access to technology in the Rome City Schools district. Each student in the district has their own Chromebook to use in the classroom. High school students have the ability to take their Chromebooks home to help them complete homework assignments as well.

Students from low socio-economic homes typically do not have the internet which makes school work difficult since they cannot complete their work at home if the work is technology related.

The school district has recently implemented a 1:1 Chromebook initiative to help make technology more accessible for all students. Text-to-Speech and Speech-to-Text apps have made communication with students with disabilities much easier and have provided them with the opportunity to be successful in class.

Some teachers do not implement the Chromebooks to their full potential and students do not get their needs met. Many students do not have access to the internet from home and many places around them do not allow them to access the internet at their business.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:Student’s needs for accessible technology are being met due to the 1:1 Chromebook initiative being implemented our school according to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Students are getting plenty of support from the school when they are on the school campus, but once they go home most of the support they receive from school is gone causing students to have issues with homework assignments. Finding ways to make sure students have access to the internet no matter where they are is an issue many schools are currently facing. But with the advances in mobile hotspots, the internet can become more accessible to students whether at home or school.

Recommendations from Gap Analysis: To help make the internet more accessible to students once they go home, the school district can start working with the community and find cheap affordable ways to provide internet access for a reasonable rate. Another possibility for schools is making use of


mobile hotspots and placing them in churches around the community. Students who do not have the internet would then be able to login to the school’s internet simply by going to a nearby church.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Advanced Education: Executive Summary 2015-2016. Retrieved

from www.romehighwolves.netRome City Schools. (2015). Rome City Schools: Three Year Technology Plan 2015-2018. Retrieved


ESSENTIAL CONDITION FIVE: Skilled Personnel




ISTE Definition: Educators and support staff skilled in the use of ICT appropriate for their job responsibilities. Guiding Questions:

To what extent are educators and support staff skilled in the use of technology appropriate for their job responsibilities? What do they currently know and are able to do? What are knowledge and skills do they need to acquire?

(Note: No need to discuss professional learning here. Discuss knowledge and skills. This is your needs assessment for professional learning. The essential conditions focus on “personnel,” which includes administrators, staff, technology specialists, and teachers. However, in this limited project, you may be wise to focus primarily or even solely on teachers; although you may choose to address the proficiency of other educators/staff IF the need is critical. You must include an assessment of teacher proficiencies.)

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsSeveral teachers at Rome High School are highly skilled with the use of technology. Teachers feel comfortable using new technology as well as old technology to do their job. Most teachers have opened up to technology and embraced what it has to offer. Since they have embraced technology, their knowledge of technology tools has greatly increased.

Rome High School has had a huge turnover rate in the past two years with both teachers and administrators. In conclusion, many teachers have not experienced training on technology tools and do not understand how to effectively use technology in the classroom. The direction of the school continually changes with each new administrator making it difficult to determine the expectations.

Teachers can create and join professional learning networks to help increase their knowledge of technology in the 21st century classroom. With the creation of the Rome Chrome Squad next school year, technology training will be provided to teachers who are unsure of how to implement technology into their classroom.

Teachers who are resistors and are set in their ways will continue to lower the expectations of the school’s technology skills. These teachers need to be worked with closely and co-teaching may be an option to help them grow in technology knowledge and skill.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:Due to the continual overturn at Rome High School, teachers at the school have become less skilled in technology and their understanding of technology has been put aside so they can just survive the first year of teaching. According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Rome High School is currently in the beginning phase of hiring skilled personal. Making sure our school is hiring teachers who are willing to work in a school with high technology expectations is key for building the level of technology knowledge we want our teachers to have. If teachers are not willing to adapt and open up to technology then we must help them come to that point and become successful teachers of technology. Recommendations from Gap Analysis: To help the school reach meeting phase, the administration must be willing to hire teachers who are interested in technology and


want to learn or already know a lot about technology. Teachers who are open-minded and not set in their ways can be developed into skilled users of classroom technology. Hiring teachers who are not willing to accept change will continue to yield the same results over the course of time.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Advanced Education: Executive Summary 2015-2016. Retrieved

from www.romehighwolves.net Rome City Schools. (2016). Rome High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. Retrieved


ESSENTIAL CONDITION SIX: Ongoing Professional Learning

ISTE Definition: Technology-related professional learning plans and opportunities with dedicated time to practice and share ideas.




Guiding Questions: What professional learning opportunities are available to educators? Are they well-attended? Why or why not? Are the current professional learning opportunities matched to the knowledge and skills educators need to acquire? (see

Skilled Personnel) Do professional learning opportunities reflect the national standards for professional learning (NSDC/Learning Forward)? Do educators have both formal and informal opportunities to learn? Is technology-related professional learning integrated into all professional learning opportunities or isolated as a separate

topic? How must professional learning improve/change in order to achieve the shared vision?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsRome High School does a great job providing teachers with professional learning opportunities throughout the school year. Teachers are required to attend professional learning sessions before and after school. Rome High School’s professional learning sessions reflect the Learning Forward standards as well as the NSDC standards. Technology is reflected in most professional learning session, but there are some sessions that are directly related to technology.

Although Rome City Schools does an excellent job promoting professional learning sessions for teachers, the area where they struggle is making sure these sessions are implemented in the classroom.

Rome City Schools provides teachers with professional learning days which allows teachers the chance to pick from a list of topics being presented by teachers in the district. Rome Chrome Squad will be implemented next school year at the high school. These sessions will provide teachers with opportunities to learn more about technology tools and how they can improve the classroom.

Teachers need more time during professional learning sessions in order to be able to fully understand how to use the technology tools.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Rome High School is currently in the approaching phase of ongoing professional learning. Rome City Schools does a great job making sure their teachers are provided with information to help them continually learn about new teaching styles and methods. However, most of the professional learning that is done at the schools is not translated over to the classroom because the schools do not have someone at each school specializing in technology. Teachers are not observed on their uses of technology which can also make implementation of these professional learning sessions more difficult. Recommendations from Gap Analysis:


To ensure that Rome City Schools is improving professional learning for technology at all schools, the district needs to look to hire more technology coaches to help teachers at individual schools. With the hiring of more coaches, all schools could then make sure teachers have someone to help guide them in implementing technology into their classrooms. Teachers who reject technology could use the coaches to help them co-teach on lessons to help get them where they need to be in the implementation process. Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2016). Rome High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. Retrieved


ESSENTIAL CONDITION SEVEN: Technical Support

ISTE Definition: Consistent and reliable assistance for maintaining, renewing, and using ICT and digital resources.



Guiding Questions: To what extent is available equipment operable and reliable for instruction? Is there tech assistance available for technical issues when they arise? How responsive is tech support? Are current “down

time” averages acceptable? Is tech support knowledgeable? What training might they need? In addition to break/fix issues, are support staff available to help with instructional issues when teachers try to use

technology in the classroom? Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Rome City Schools does a great job making sure all teachers have operable and reliable equipment on and off campus to meet the needs of their students. When technology issues arise, Rome City Schools has a responsive technology support team that can quickly fix the issue and have the teacher moving forward in his or her lesson. The technology team is very knowledgeable and usually take care of technology issues in a timely manner.

Rome City Schools does not have an instructional technologist available at every school to help with instructional issues. The media center is readily available to help teachers with Chromebook issues, but website issues and instruction on technology is limited due to having one person trying to cover the entire system.

The technology team at Rome High School is always looking to advance the technology being used. Teachers and students will continue to see improvements in the types of technology being used as well as the speed of the internet at all schools.

Failure to provide teachers with an on-campus resource for instructional issues can prove to be difficult for teachers who are not efficient users of technology. Not having someone available on campus has caused many teachers to reject or become tired of using technology.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Rome High School is currently in the meeting phase of technical support. Rome City School’s technology team does a great job of making sure all technology is up-to-date in our system. The technology team also makes sure all teachers are prepared for using technology from the first day of class. Continual updates to technologies are done throughout the school year, and all improvements are done in a timely manner. The internet service in Rome City Schools is second to none and contain the best speeds possible to help ensure student success. Overall, Rome City Schools seems to be doing a great job in making sure the schools are provided for. Recommendations from Gap Analysis: Each school needs someone to work in the school to help provide teachers with instructional support on technology throughout the school day. Many time teachers become hesitant of using technology because they do not understand how to use it or they become frustrated with small technical issues which lead to them giving up. To prevent this from happening, Rome City Schools needs to


provide each school with a technology coach that sees each school at least once a week. The more our schools see a technology coach in the schools the fewer teachers will see issues in technology meaning they can grow to love technology.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Rome City Schools: Three Year Technology Plan 2015-2018. Retrieved


ESSENTIAL CONDITION EIGHT: Curriculum Framework



ISTE Definition: Content standards and related digital curriculum resources.Guiding Questions:

To what extent are educators, students, and parents aware of student technology standards? (ISTE Standards for Students) Are technology standards aligned to content standards to help teachers integrate technology skills into day-to-day

instruction and not teach technology as a separate subject? To what extent are there digital curriculum resources available to teachers so that they can integrate technology into the

GPS/CCS as appropriate? How is student technology literacy assessed?

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsRome City Schools has made sure students are aware of digital citizenship and know how to use their Chromebooks as instructional tools. Our district makes sure students made aware of digital citizenship early in the year through assemblies. During these assemblies, students learn why their devices are important and how they can use their device to be successful in the classroom.

Rome City Schools does not encourage teachers to list the ISTE Standards for students or teachers in their lesson plans. Almost every teacher at Rome High School is clueless about these standards and do not know how to use them in the classroom. Students are also not assessed on technology literacy throughout the year. Students are not “taught” technology throughout the year and many of the skills learned earlier in the year are forgotten.

Teachers at Rome City Schools need to take the opportunity to increase their use of digital curriculum resources provided to us by the state. Using these resources to guide our teaching can help our students gain a better understanding of what is being taught. This will help increase test scores and improve the learning environment of the system as a whole.

Failure to use the ISTE standards in the school’s lesson plans will continue to cause the school to not develop the technology skills of each student in day-to-day instruction. Rome City Schools must begin using technology standards throughout the year so students are gaining a deeper understanding of technology and its uses.

Summary of Results/Conclusions:According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Rome High School is currently in the beginning phase of Curriculum Framework. Out of the eight essential conditions, Rome City Schools needs to look to improve this standard across the entire district. Making sure teachers are preparing lessons that are technology-rich will help improve student learning and increase the level of engagement by all students. Using technology standards in addition to the curriculum will help students understand the importance of technology and how technology should be used in and out of the classroom. Continually building the students understanding of technology should be done throughout the school year to help ensure growth in our students.Recommendations from Gap Analysis: To increase the amount of technology being tied in with our curriculum standards, teachers must be encouraged to use the ISTE standards in their daily lesson plans. Teachers also need to be aware of the student’s standards to make sure students are using


technology to its fullest potential. Teachers need to continue including resources from the state’s digital curriculum to help guide them in how they plan their lessons. Including some of the activities included in the digital frameworks will help students be better prepared for the Georgia Milestone as well as other tests they may have throughout the school year.Data Sources:Rome City Schools. (2015). Advanced Education: Executive Summary 2015-2016. Retrieved

from www.romehighwolves.net Rome City Schools. (2016). Rome High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. Retrieved


ReferencesRome City Schools. (2015). Advanced Education: Executive Summary 2015-2016. Retrieved

from www.romehighwolves.net





Rome City Schools. (2015). Rome City Schools: Three Year Technology Plan 2015-2018. Retrieved from www.rcs.rome.ga.us

Rome City Schools. (2016). Rome High School: School Improvement Plan 2016-2017. Retrieved from www.romehighwolves.net

Appendices

Appendix A: ISTE Lead and Transform Diagnostics Tool




Appendix B: Responses from the Survey Instrument


Interview Questions for Shared Vision Paper

1. Do you currently feel like technology integration is occurring at our school? Explain. (2 responses)Yes. I feel like is was occurring more when Chromebooks first rolled-out but not as much now.Not completely, some teachers have embraced it but others are still resistant.

2. How do you envision technology integration in our school using current technology or future technology? (2 responses)My hope is that more teachers use technology as a learning tool and not a substitution for worksheets and notes.We have to be willing to stay on the cutting edge because tech changes. We need to continue to employ people in the areas of integration or we will not use it at all.

3. Who in our school would be responsible for ensuring change occurs if new technology is implemented? (2 responses)Currently, we do not have a person in charge of technology implementation. We need someone on campus available all day to help teachers.AP in charge of Curriculum? Teachers, ???

4. How would their role effect the implementation of the future technology at our school? (2 responses)I think more teachers would be willing to try new technology if we had someone to model and help them with plans.For most teachers, they need to see "it" in action. We need more opportunities for teachers to see others using/integrating different types of tech into the classroom.

5. In what ways can we include students with diverse learning needs so that the technology we choose affects their learning outcomes? (2 responses)We can use text-to-speech apps for English Language Learners and below grade level readers. We can also differentiate our teaching by offering assignments that relate to the students' needs.Translation of materials, it may not be exact but it is better than our knowledge of that language.

6. How can we guarantee successful learning outcomes to students who may not have a way to access the internet from home? (2 responses)We have to do everything we can while we have them at school.


Provide opportunities in the classroom, remind them of places where they can go and pick up free wi-fi, extension "work" that might be on paper as opposed to the chromebook.

7. How will the implementation of a future technology support the learning needs of our diverse population? (2 responses)Not sureAgain, multi language classrooms will benefit from technology. It is hard to know what "future" events could happen. It is always possible to go back to textbooks.

8. Does our school partner with other community groups for support and resources? If so, how do we obtain these resources? (2 responses)I am not aware of anything.We say yes but I am not sure we utilize them to their fullest.

9. In terms of support policies, how does we provide ongoing support for technology-related materials, supplies, repairs, and replacements? (2 responses)I believe technology has a budget for instruction and typically the central office would survey the needs of schools and work according to the data.We have check out within the classroom for students missing chromebooks, the MC takes in damaged chromebooks and gets them to the tech department to repair or retire.

10. How does the school assess the effective use of technology for student learning? (2 responses)I wish I had a great answer for this but after losing our technology specialist at the school level, I don't think this is happening. I hope that it is assessed when administrators look at lesson plans and visit classrooms.I do not know if we do this at all.

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