1. WEEK #4 PART #1: Development of an organization chart integrating technology ORGANIZATIONAL FLOW CHART FOR THE INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY AT VALLEY VIEW HIGH SCHOOL School Board PEIMS AnalystNetwork SpecialistTechnology FacilitatorsInstructional Technology TechnicianTeacherCurriculum FacilitatorsTechnology CoordinatorAsst. Superintendent for Secondary SchoolsPrincipalSuperintendent of Schools ORGANIZATIONAL CHART RESPONSIBILITIES School Board- The school board has the ultimate authority to determine and interpret the policies that govern the schools as they pertain to the areas of technology. They can determine if adequate funding is provided for technology, and they control policies that effect technology throughout the district. Superintendent- Mr. Leonel B. Galaviz-The Superintendent is the CEO of the district. He manages the day-to-day operations including, but not limited to, the implementation of the Technology Plan. He implements School Board policies related to technology, and makes recommendations for the technology budget. He fulfills the duties assigned by the School. Assistant-Superintendent for Secondary Schools- Dr. Rosemarie Gomez-She makes recommendations to the Superintendent. She has the ability to perform a needs assessment and implement technology programs at the secondary level. She can also propose financial assistance for secondary campuses to use for technology purposes. Technology Coordinator- Mr. Abraham Ramirez-He makes recommendations to the assistant Superintendents based upon the technological needs of the district and individual campuses. He oversees the technology department and ensures the fulfillment of its goals set forth by the district and technology plan. He recommends professional development that will integrate technology into teaching and learning. Principal- Mr. Rolando Ramirez-He oversees the day-to-day operations of the high school. He ensures the proper allocation of resources, both financial and personnel, to directly affect student achievement. From a technological standpoint, it is his job to ensure that effective technology is available for teachers and students. Additional, he is responsible for ensuring that the technology available is being used to improve and maximize student achievement. By doing this he is the most important of all of the members in the flow chart chain. He sets himself apart from the other administrators, on the chart, by handling the responsibilities of only a single campus, where as the others handle multiple campuses. He also has the authority to act quickly upon any technological matters which separates himself from persons below him on the chart who do not have the authority to make such matters happen in a timely fashion. Curriculum Facilitators- They support teachers and students in their use of technology on the campus level. They provide for staff development for teachers in the use of technology to enhance student achievement. PEIMS Analysts- They gather and report the district data to the State governing agencies to ensure compliance. Their data helps other decision makers to properly distribute technological resources. Technology Facilitator- Mr. Larry Reger-They research educational technology advances and their applications throughout the district. They oversee the use of technology to improve student achievement and maintain compliance in technology licensing and distribute educational software throughout the district. Network Specialists- They maintain the district network, including but not limited to mainframes, hard wired, wireless networks and other technology hardware and storage devices at the district level. Teachers- They deal with the technology on a day-to-day basis. They create and present lessons that align properly with the district’s curriculum. They ensure student achievement through the use of technology in a way that positively affects their learning. Instructional Technology Technicians- They install and maintain software and hardware of the campus level includes but is not limited to troubleshooting and repair on student and teacher workstations. WEEK #4 PART #2: Professional Development Planning In the preparation for organizing a professional development session about integrating instructional technology into the classroom I found it necessary to include four main data sources: The Valley View High School STaR Chart, The Valley View ISD Technology Plan, The Valley View Campus Improvement Plan, and the Vision 20/20-Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. The area in the Valley View High School STaR Chart that reflected the greatest weakness was online learning opportunities for teachers. I hoped to incorporate some online learning for at least a portion of the staff development session. The problem with this is that most of the teachers at Valley View High have very little exposure to online training such as web conferences, so I decided that at least a small portion of the training should include helping teachers to understand the web conferencing software that our district has purchased and some of the capabilities that the software provides. The STaR Chart results also included a need for greater technology application in the implementation of the TEKS. This reflected a need to supply teachers specific ways that they can use technology as an additional tool to teach their curriculum and another way to reach their students. The Valley View ISD Technology Plan clearly outlines some primary goals that the district has set forth to proved specialized training for their teachers. I felt these goals should also be incorporated into and staff development that I was planning to provide. Two of these goals include providing staff development that instructs teachers on various methods to use software to help analyze test results and student achievement and to provide staff development that will assist teachers in integrating technology into their lesson plans. The technology goals currently included in the Valley View Campus Improvement Plan fell into two distinct categories: the acquisition of hardware and software and the implementation of that hardware and software as an instructional tool to be used within the classroom. Teachers have very little responsibility in the achieving of the first goal, this is because the acquisition of technology falls upon the principal and technology administrators, as described in the flow chart in part one of the assignment. The second goal, the implementation of the acquired technology, is the responsibility of the teachers, but in order to implement the technology, the teachers must first have some grasp of the technology that is available to them and its’ capabilities. The goals in the Campus Improvement Plan aligned very closely with the District Technology Plan, so any activities that I planned would easily fulfill the goals of both plans. The final resource I consulted in planning my staff development session was the Vision 20/20-Long Range Plan for Technology 2006-2020. This document gave me some very good suggestions on how to run my staff development sessions in a way that would be the most beneficial to all of the participants. I wanted to model, for teachers, how to appropriately integrate technology into their specific courses, not just to use as a random example that may not apply to all teachers. I wanted the activities to be engaging for the participants, and let them have some real kinesthetic experience. I found that many times technology intimidates teachers, by providing a hands-on session I could remove much of this issue. I hope that my activities will stimulate teachers to use a new more technologically appealing style of teaching. All of these suggestions were taken into consideration as I planned the following professional development activities. SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES FOR STAFF DEVELOPMENT Time ScheduleDescription of ActivityFacilitatorParticipantsLocationComments7:30-8:20amWelcome:Initial greeting, Breakfast, & Introduction to the Web Conferencing Staff DevelopmentTechnology SpecialistAll Core Area TeachersCafeteriaTeachers will enjoy breakfast while the Technology Specialist gives a brief explanation of the web conference process and capabilities for it within the classroom. Teachers will be notified of a web conference that they will be required to attend at the end of the day to discuss the implications of the day’s professional development. Teachers will also be divided into groups for the upcoming sessions.8:25-9:00amTeachers will be divided by department, with each department going to a different pre-assigned computer lab on the campus. Teachers will be asked to log on to a computer and attend a web conference that the technology specialist will be hosting from the cafeteria. The presentation will include some interactive activities for the teachers as the presenter explains and models the use of the new web conference software that the district has purchased. Since each department will be in a different location, a facilitator will be needed to assist teachers as they log on to the web conference. One computer technician will be available at each computer lab to assist teachers as they attend the web conference and explore the new software.Technology Specialist - Presenter with the assistance of 4 Technology TechniciansAll Core Area TeachersLibrary Computer Lab-Social Studies Teachers,Rm. #30 Lab-Science Teachers,Rm. #31 Lab-Math Teachers,Rm. #24-ELA TeachersTeachers will be exploring the possibilities of distance learning from various locations on campus as they are exposed to distance learning. This allows for teacher interaction as part of the learning experience.9:15-10:00am, 10:15-11:00am, LUNCH (11:00-12:30pm), 12:30-1:15pm, & 1:30-2:15pmTeachers will be attending 4 sessions to explore new technology options, each with an emphasis on how to integrate a specific form of technology into their specific teaching field. Each session will last 45 minutes. (Session will be further described below.)Technology Specialist - Presenter with the assistance of 4 Technology TechniciansAll Core Area TeachersLibrary Computer Lab-Social Studies Teachers,Rm. #30 Lab-Science Teachers,Rm. #31 Lab-Math Teachers,Rm. #24-ELA TeachersSee below for explanation of itinerary. Session #19:15-10:00am Math-IntelliPads History-SmartBoards Science-Blogs & Wikis English-Testing Evaluation Software Session #210:15-11:00am Math-SmartBoards History-Blogs & Wikis Science-Testing Evaluation Software English-IntelliPads LUNCH11:00-12:30pm Session #312:30-1:15pm Math-Blogs & Wikis History-Testing Evaluation Software Science-IntelliPads English-SmartBoards Session #41:30-2:15pm Math-Testing Evaluation Software History-IntelliPads Science-SmartBoards English-Blogs & Wikis Each session will provide a brief explanation of the technology and its’ possible uses in the classroom. In addition, each session will provide subject specific examples of lessons that incorporate the technology and an opportunity for teachers to explore the technology themselves. **The evaluation of the staff development session and its’ impact on student achievement will be outlined and explained in the Week 4, Part 3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan section. WEEK #4 PART #3: Evaluation Planning for Action Plan EVALUATION PLAN Time ScheduleDescription of ActivityFacilitatorParticipantsLocationComments2:30-3:00pmEvaluation of Web Conference Staff DevelopmentTechnology SpecialistAll Core Area TeachersClassroom Teacher Computer Work Stations.Teachers will be asked to attend a web conference from their classroom as a way to conclude the day's staff development. During the conference, teachers will be asked to share their experiences and how they plan to apply the technology in their classroom. Because not all teachers will be able to share their experiences during the limited time frame, a blog site will be set up for any teacher(s) who would like to post their responses to the professional development session online.Post SessionWiki InteractionTechnology SpecialistAll Core Area TeachersAnywhere with web accessA wiki will be made available to all teachers as a way to promote and discuss their varying experiences as they incorporate the new technologies into their classroom. ONGOING EVALUATION I wanted to do something new, normally we would use the standard Valley View ISD staff development evaluation form, but I did not think that a typical objective form would meet the needs of this in-service. I had a more hands-on evaluation planned; a more subjective evaluation will better meet the needs of the teachers. As discussions of the day’s activities are taking place via the web conference, the principal will take notes of teachers who are particularly interested in the application of the technology. He will also take note of specific activities that teachers plan to incorporate in the classroom activities. Over the next six week period, the principal will monitor the Wiki site to see how teachers are actually applying their new found knowledge of the various types of technology available on the campus. He will consider which teachers are using the technology the most and to its’ fullest potential. In addition, he will gather data on the use of technology as he performs campus walk-through. He will then use this to guide his research into the impact that the use of technology has on student achievement. After the teacher have had at least six weeks to implement the new technology into their classroom, the principal will compile data that reflects the academic achievement levels of students whose teachers do not regularly apply the use of technology as a teaching tool. This will serve as an ongoing evaluation process to monitor the appropriate use of technology to improve student achievement over an extended period of time. A higher level of academic achievement is expected in the students who participated in the technology based classroom. To achieve the goals set forth in the Campus Improvement Plan, a 30% increase in student achievement should be reflected. This staff development session will also help in achieving the district and campus goal of providing 100% of the teachers in effective technology training.