TECH PLANS

As a whole, the budget for technology is decreasing. In Georgia, the budget went from $20,179,473.00 in 2004 to $8,291,373.00 in just 3 years and nationally from $659,438,400.00 in 2004 to $262,890,721.00. Georgia’s old technology plan from 2002-2006 focused on being aligned with the QCC standards. The plan called for frequent use of technology which would be integrated into all grade levels and contents areas to support learning. The plan called for establishing technology to all students in the public school system. Georgia’s latest technology plans (2009-2010) calls for using technology both informational technology and instructional technology and media. The new plan hopes to achieve this by using the using the performance based standards, assessing and analyzing students data, creating and teaching 21st century environments and learners, differentiated instructional and using highly qualified teachers and leaders.
I was reading the post made by other individuals on the National Education Technology plan when I came across one comment that I found rather interesting. It stated:
“Anyone else find it ironic that a 100+ page paper on the use of technology in
education fails to post the paper in a reader friendly 1 page per slide pdf. Instead they have this left page right page set up so scrolling over/down is a major pain. Ahh government :P”
Submitted by Yaro on Sun, March 21, 2010 12:16 PM.
The funny thing is as I was reading the plan, I was thinking the same thing. The National plan was difficult to read. I found it hard trying scroll page to page and then I later noticed that I needed to scroll left and right.
I think that the plans are very similar in goals, however the national plans looks to achieve technology in the education but it also looks to incorporate it for the later uses of life. The plan makes it a point to educate teachers and students to be life-long learners through engagement.
When doing my tech plan, this information can serve as a resource in trying to make that I not only align my plan with the state by I can attempt to aligned it with the national.

Creighton Relfeciton 5-10

Results driven is needed to help in changing the ways of teachers. Principals or technology leaders need to provide staff with professional development programs that are meaningful to teacher and can help them. There are five types of people one may encounter when trying to implement new ideas. 1. Trailblazers are people who are willing to try new ideas without hesitation. 2. Pioneers are individuals who are willing to try new ideas however they need more information in making sure that the change is worth their time. 3. Sellers are individuals who are in the middle. They are not necessarily against of for the ideas but they can go either way. 4. Resisters are individuals who are complacent with how things are and they do not care for change or new ideas. 5. Saboteurs are individuals who are complete against and they will do what it take to go completely against the new ideas. This chapter list a number of reason why individuals may resistance change and new ideas. I can understand reasoning for all. The resisters and saboteurs can make or break the implementation of the new ideas and an individual as a tech leader who is trying to implement new ideas, must be able to deal with these types of people so that they can respond accordingly so that there is not complete resistance of everyone and change can begin to occur.

Evaluating technology in the classroom is about how the teacher is teacher it not just what she is using, The fact that a teacher is using technology does not matter if they are not implementing it in a way that is engaging the students. Evaluation of teacher is a must for principals because they helps in identifying teachers strengths and weaknesses. It also helps in determining staff development needs for improvement. One of the biggest misconceptions is that technology is simply about hardware and software but it is more than that. There are frameworks and standards that help in incorporating the technology with the subject. This helps in maximizing the engagement and the learning experiences. The teacher must serve as a facilitator, guide, co-learner and co-investigator and the students must be willing to explore, think and reproduce what they learned. Technology in the classroom must be used in a way such that there is engagement and collaboration in the activity.

While planning and implementation are needed to keep technology programs running,in order to keep a technology program running effectively there has to also be good balance of leadership and management.

As technology advances it is determined that it can both help and hurt schools The future of technology is constantly changing at rates unknown. The invention of the overhead projector was slow and teachers had time to prepare and adjust to it. With computer technology, everything is constantly changing at a quick pace. Adapting times are short and when teachers adapt to one thing, it is then being updated or added and the process starts all over again. Technology can help in engaging students but it has to be properly done In order to bridge this gap between the help and hurt stages, the teachers and leaders must get together to plan design, implement, manage, evaluate, and sustain effective technology.