| Funding Your Technology Plan |  |
| This chapter includes recommendations and resources for you to use in the funding process: 1) Funding Your Technology Plan--Presented in graphical form, Funding Your Technology Plan shows how your strategic technology plan acts as an organizing engine for taking funds from a variety of different sources and applying them to the goals and activities that comprise your technology implementation effort. Consider this before determining where you will seek technology funding; 2) Strategies for Finding Financial Resources--Strategies for Finding Financial Resources is a discussion of the various themes we have discovered when examining how districts around our region have acquired technology funding; 3) Ten Tips for Educational Technology Proposal Writers--The list of tips covers key concepts and strategies to consider when creating technology proposals; and 4) Resources for Proposal Writers. The resources listed will help you locate funding sources, develop proposal ideas, and fine-tune your technology funding proposal. |  |
| Unkindest Cut Of All | |
| Article about technology budgets with eight questions that will help to determine where to start cutting back. | |
| Using Technology To Raise The Achievement Of All Students | |
| The goal of this initiative is increased achievement and success for all students through the unlimited and effective use of accessible technologies. It is our core belief that accessible technologies and the close collaboration of assistive technology (AT) and instructional technology (IT) services at the school district level will enhance and facilitate learning for all students -- those with disabilities and those without disabilities. | |
| Digital Leadership Divide: Without Visionary Leadership, Disparities In School Technology Budgets Increase (PDF) | |
| A new survey of key decision makers in K-12 public schools reveals large and growing disparities in funding for school technology. These disturbing disparities signal a widening digital divide between the technology haves and have-nots in 21st century. Stagnant or declining technology budgets in many school districts threaten the real progress that schools have made over the past decade to improve their technology infrastructure, access and effectiveness for administrators, teachers and students. | |
| The Model Of A Modern Technology Classroom | |
| Article about a Model Technology Classroom that teachers would be able to implement | |
| Power Strategy Toolkit For Tech Leaders, Part 3: Managing The Operations | |
| Third and final part of a series on educational leadership for CIOs focusing on operations. | |
| Smart Budgeting (PDF) | |
| "We have to get smarter with our technology purchases," says Sally Bair, a district technology facilitator. "We aren’t going to keep seeing those huge increases in funding that we saw in the 1990s." | |
| Smart Budgeting With Total Cost Of Ownership (PDF) | |
| At the advent of the 21st century, schools are devoting more and more financial and staff resources to incorporating technology into the classroom to support teaching, learning and the management of school business. But as schools purchase computers and link them together in local and wide-area networks, totaling the dollars spent on hardware is merely the beginning of the total dollars needed for the effective use of the technology purchases. And it is but one small part of the expenses schools can expect in subsequent years if they are going to effectively use those technology-based resources. | |
| Seven Steps To A Highly Effective Mobile Strategy | |
| This article cites research which indicates that a relatively small number of enterprises (less than 25 percent) have a specific mobile strategy in place. Most struggle with individual mobile projects or try to link mobility to a broader IT strategy. This article is written for a corporate audience; however, its message can apply to education administrators. | |
| The Total Cost Of Ownership (A CoSN-Gartner Resource) | |
| The website includes a toolset for determining technology costs and a year set of case studies (2004-2007) to illustrate how the tools can help in technology employment. The 2007 case study results from CoSN's Value of Investment Initiative developed to help district level technology decision makers assess the costs and evaluate the benefits of proposed technology investments before making costly, time intensive decisions and commitments. The case studies are intended to provide school technology administrators and other educators with insight on best practices for making sound choices about education technology projects, and to better articulate the costs and benefits of these proposed projects. The site includes a document (pdf): A Report and Estimating Tool for K-12 School Districts called Why Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Matters, April 2003 | |
| EduTools Course Management System Comparisons-Reborn | |
| EduTools is a place to find and share information about Course Management Systems and emerging products that support instruction and learning. The offer feature-by-feature product comparisons and decision-making supports. | |
| Planning And Conducting Professional Development That Makes A Difference (PDF) | |
| This document outlines a step-by-step approach to planning and conducting effective professional development. The guidelines cover planning, coordination, implementation, and follow-up of professional development. | |
| Successful Online Professional Development | |
| An article that shares the key lessons learned from developing EdTech Leaders Online - an online PD program that helps schools incorporate technology into their educational programs. The article also gives examples of school districts that have built successful local online PD models. | |
| Vision To Know And Do: The Power Of Data As a Tool In Educational Decision Making | |
| This new paper focuses on the successful practice of school districts that have transformed their organizations to respond to the needs of all students and provide community accountability. It highlights those school districts using data analysis systems to improve student outcomes; identifies factors for successfully integrating data into decision making processes, and; calls for more emphasis on data-driven decision making as a way to prepare students for the 21st century. There is a cost for these resources that varies depending on your membership to COSN. | |
| Perceived Educational Technology Needs Survey | |
| This is a survey that a CTO could distribute to teachers to solicit feedback from them about "their own perceptions of technological needs with respect to specific responsibilities and working situations." Their answers could provide the data/feedback that a CTO could refer to when making leadership decisions. | |
| Fact Sheet On Technology Attitudes | |
| This guide speaks directly to the needs of Executive Directors but will be helpful to anyone involved in nonprofit organizations. Use it to guide you as you think about working with technology within your organization. It will be particularly helpful as you design, implement, and analyze research about staff and other stakeholder attitudes about technology. | |
| 1 To 1 Learning | |
| How do we take our classrooms into the future, empower teachers and students with the tools and functions for the challenges ahead, and enable deep, sustained learning? Providing every student and teacher with his or her own laptop computer is one important step we can take to achieve those goals. However, this end result cannot be achieved overnight. | |
| Visions, Views, And IT Plans (PDF) | |
| An article discussing the quick-changing and multi-faceted nature of IT planning on higher ed campuses. Topics include catching up on network infrastructures to strategic planning. | |
| You Are Not Alone (PDF) | |
| With data an increasingly integral part of K-12 instruction and operations, a school district's technology infrastructure has become mission critical. Easy access to quality data gives teachers tools to monitor and shape student progress, helps administrators identify what's working and where more resources are needed, and allows the district to comply with NCLB requirements to report disaggregated student achievement and show yearly progress. | |
| Maximizing The Impact (PDF) | |
| In a new report, Maximizing the Impact: "The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System", the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills urged renewed emphasis on technology in education. | |
| A Good Teaching Technique: WebQuests | |
| In this article, the author first introduces and describes a new teaching tool called WebQuests to practicing teachers. He then provides detailed information about the structure of a good WebQuest. Third, the author shows the strengths and weaknesses of using WebQuests in teaching and learning. Last, he points out the challenges for practicing teachers and administrators. Keywords: Internet, mathematics, teachers, WebQuests | |
| One-To-One In Ohio | |
| An article describing the success of a one to one initiative in a private school in Cincinnati. The school has now transitioned from laptops to tablet PCs. | |
| A Commentary On The Future Of Education | |
| A commentary on the future of education in an increasingly flat world. | |
| GIS And Geographic Inquiry | |
| This is a collection of news stories, best practices, and other resources--all designed to help you integrate GIS and other geospatial technologies into your classrooms and district offices. | |
| Home: Part Two (PDF) | |
| The rapid evolution of mobile technologies, such as smartphones and other handheld or laptop devices, provides unique ways for schools to expand learning opportunities beyond the time and spatial boundaries of school. Mobile devices that connect to networks or the Internet enable students to access learning material anytime and almost anywhere. By leveraging these tools, teachers can provide core, enrichment, and/or remedial information and experiences that students can access as needed from home, in the community, or even on the bus ride to and from school. Supported by technology, we can work collaboratively to construct a learning ecosystem that links home, school, and community. | |
| More Students Getting Laptops Instead Of Textbooks | |
| This article highlights a Louisiana high school which is switching to an all-digital curriculum. Along with the new curriculum, students will receive their own laptops for use in school, which will replace traditional textbooks. | |
| Reviewing For A Test Could Be Just A Click Away On Your iPod | |
| Students who space out at a critical moment in their college chemistry class can now recapture that instruction on their iPods. | |
| Technology Planning Linked To Educational Goals (PDF) | |
| The vision for learning should be the driving force behind all decisions made regarding what technology to purchase and how it should then be used. Careful planning is required in order to make the best decisions regarding purchasing, implementing, supporting and maintaining a small district's technology program. | |
| Videogames That Teach | |
| Schools are struggling to teach in a high-tech world. Daniel Sieberg speaks with Hannah Storm about his visit to a school in rural Indiana, where fun and learning is just a mouse-click away. | |
| The Impact Of Cognitive Organizers And Technology-Based Practices On Student Success In Secondary Social Studies Classrooms | |
| This is a study which investigated the impact of cognitive organizers and integrated software on student performance. Researchers examined a sample of students in an inclusive high school social studies class to determine if the user of a cognitive organizer had any impact on content-area learning. They found that students in the cognivite organizer sub-group significantly outperformed those students receiveing traditional textbook instruction. | |
| Survey: Schools Fail To Teach Innovation | |
| U.S. teens say they aren't being prepared well for technology, engineering careers | |
| Cutting The Cord (PDF) | |
| This article discusses how we move into the future without encumbering tremendous costs and which technologies are worth adopting even if they do involve new investment through wireless technology for districts | |
| From TCO To TVO (PDF) | |
| In the business world, there is a temptation to judge value by only examining profit and loss. However, such attempts do not take into account the multiple facets of any technical solution to a business challenge -- for example, failure to set the proper goals for the technology intervention or judging the value based on inflated expectations. Similarly, educators often fall into the trap of trying to draw a direct causal link between IT and student achievement, without taking into account such variables as teacher skill or preparation, adequacy of technology support, or the unique characteristics of a particular group of students/learners. | |
| Improving Achievement Through Student Data Management | |
| On average, there is little aggregation of student data in today's school systems. Information is siloed, redundant and difficult to share. The technologies used -- if any -- are aging and frequently incompatible. An ideal state has complete aggregation and alignment. It is easier to ensure that students meet challenging standards, teachers target instruction, parents know teachers are helping their children, school districts know how to allocate resources effectively and the government knows how schools are doing. | |
| Steps For Ensuring Data Quality | |
| Data quality is more than accuracy and reliability. High levels of data quality are achieved when information is valid for the use to which it is applied and when decision makers have confidence in and rely upon the data. Implement these steps organization-wide to increase and maintain data quality. | |
| Planning Into Practice, Resources For Planning, Implementing, And Integrating Instructional Technology | |
| The intent of this publication is to support schools as they connect the vision they have for technology and student learning with the tasks they need to accomplish in order to achieve their vision. | |
| Transforming Education: Strengthening District Technology Leadership | |
| Technology can play a decisive role in enabling systemic educational reform and transforming the educational process. | |
| Capturing Learning Moments Digitally | |
| This article discusses how teachers should be more aware of the capabilities of technology and the benefits to the learning process that these tools offer. | |
| Elementary School: Part Four (PDF) | |
| Advances in technology have dramatically changed how and where students access information. Technology has also transformed how they participate in the learning process. Mobile technologies enable students to access the Internet and other online resources from home, school, or in the community. They can also contribute to online information sources from those places. In addition, online simulations enable students to experience and experiment in ways never before possible. | |
| High School Library: Part Two (PDF) | |
| E-books are electronic versions of books. They can often be highlighted and annotated while being read and even provide audio to be "read" aloud. The size of the text can be expanded or reduced, and e-books can also be extensively cross-indexed and linked directly to resources such as definitions or other explanations outside the text itself. In addition, an electronic book can include animated graphics, audio clips, and movies that are not possible in traditional books. E-books can be more flexible for many readers and can provide significant adaptation for students with special needs. Similarly, audio books can provide opportunities for students who are struggling readers to read along with the text or to cover material in keeping with their peers. | |
| Interactive Whiteboards | |
| Technologists and administrators share their views on interactive whiteboards. Each explains how their school or district uses the technology, why they like interactive whiteboards, and what they wish that it could do. | |
| Middle School: Part Two (PDF) | |
| Digital media can give students the opportunity to apply a broad set of skills. Digital media creation often entails reading, writing, research, storyboarding, sequencing, project management, editing, and revision. As with the creation of a professional media production, not all the elements that go into the final version are visible to the viewer, but that work is vital in ensuring the production's successful completion. Working on projects with multimedia engages students and helps them develop and demonstrate "traditional" skills. In addition, digital media projects tend to require more than one person, so they also provide students the occasion to demonstrate collaboration, teamwork, and group problem solving. | |
| 'Probeware' On Increase In Schools' Science Labs | |
| Turning students into apprentice scientists has long been a goal of K-12 science educators. But it's been many years since real scientists used the paper logs, alcohol thermometers, balances, stopwatches, meter sticks, and other gear that remain staples of many high school science labs. | |
| SIIA Software Implementation Toolkit Guidelines For K-12 Educators | |
| This Implementation Toolkit was created with the following purposes in mind: 1. Help K-12 educational institutions make better use of software products through the use of effective implementation practices. 2. Highlight the importance and impact of implementation practices on obtaining results from software use. 3. Provide K-12 educators and administrators with practical tools to use in the implementation process. | |
| Technology Cooperation Vital In Specical Education | |
| New software, advanced technology, and computerized devices can help special education students talk to their teachers, write out their thoughts and feelings, and understand a printed page. But schools are finding that many of the high-tech devices can't open those doors for students without direct and ongoing assistance from information-technology specialists. | |
| Technology In Schools: What The Research Says (PDF) | |
| The report summarizes general trends and representative studies in areas such as television and video use, calculators, engagement devices such as interactive whiteboards, portable or handheld devices, virtual learning, in-school computing, and one-to-one computing. | |
| Whiteboards At Your Service | |
| Interactive whiteboards can assist teachers, students, trainers, and distric office personnel. Some ideas for integrating this technology into the classroom are discussed in this article. | |