Webster County School System
Preston, Georgia
Three-Year Technology Plan
July1, 2012 – June 30, 2015
Submitted to ETTC and the State DOE for approval-June, 2012
Superintendent
Mrs. Janie Downer
Computer Technicians
Lesley L. Hill
229-828-3365
Michael Baker
229-828-3365
I. Vision for Technology Use
The mission of the Webster County Schools Technology Department is to provide the students of Webster County with a technology-rich educational experience. They will have access to 21st century technology and will be taught by a technologically literate faculty. The result will be students who are capable of being successful and contributing citizens of the 21st century.
Webster County Schools will use technology to provide a dynamic way for teachers to teach our students. The Technology Department will ensure that all technologies are effectively integrated into our curriculum and our classrooms. All stakeholders will realize the potential of technology and become more invested in this vision.
We envision:
· Access to a wide variety of technology tools for students and teachers in every classroom
· Frequent training will be offered to faculty and staff to ensure that the technology literacy standards are fully integrated into the curriculum at all levels.
· Teachers will assume the role of facilitator, encouraging students to become more responsible for their own learning experience.
· CCPS standards will be fully supported through technology resources.
· Student achievement will increase yearly due to the effective use of technology tools.
· Students will be prepared to be 21st century citizens.
· Technology will be used to maintain communication with parents, community, and business and industry.
As Webster County works toward this vision over the next three years, one can expect to see a small, rural school district using its limited available resources to provide the most highly technical learning experience possible. One will see more computers in the classrooms, better technical training for our classroom teachers, and increased student achievement through the use of technology. We are excited about the possibilities in Webster County.
Students will be able to complete courses via Georgia Virtual School. NovaNet, a private vendor program, is another online instructional method used by Webster County Schools to help students stay on target academically. Teachers use material from Georgia Public Broadcasting Education Streaming, United Streaming, and Discovery Education Streaming to help students connect the classroom content with areas outside the classroom. Videos from the Georgia Public Broadcasting Education Video Streaming site can be used to help students from our small, rural, and isolated town understand their world in a broader scheme. Teachers may also use these online resources as a method of presenting material for reinforcement of learning. Many academic topics can be presented to the students to help them understand the academic content being presented by the teacher.
II. Current Reality
Webster County Elementary/Middle School and Webster County High School are housed at one facility. The shared networking system is connected internally with Gigabit fiber through Cisco 3500 switches. There are eight wireless access points located within the facility, two per hallway, one in the media center, and one in the gymnasium. Each classroom has 8 network drops and this wiring is connected to five wiring closets (IDF’s). The network is protected by a MicroTik firewall.
According to the technology inventory survey performed in May of 2012, there are 61 modern desktop computers in regular classrooms, less than 5 years old, serving the students of Webster County Elementary/Middle School and Webster County High School. The ratio of students to computers in full-time classrooms at Webster County Elementary/Middle School and Webster County High School is 7 to 1. All of the file servers in the district are Windows 2003 with a windows client that runs in a pure TCP/IP environment.
The Technology Committee has identified Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 as the standard operating system for classroom computers. Microsoft Office Professional is the standard productivity suite for all computers in the district.
A teacher survey was conducted to receive feedback from teachers about the types of instructional activities that computers in the classroom are presently used for and to identify technology equipment and training needs of classroom teachers. Most teachers are using classroom computers, if available, for productivity tools only. Most teachers are using classroom computers for instructional purposes. The computers are used in conjunction with Smart Technologies, software and hardware. Each classroom has a projector and interactive whiteboard.
Instructional Uses of Technology
Goal / To improve student academic performance through the integration of curriculum and technology.Strategies / Benchmark / Evaluation Method/Timeline / Funding Source / Person Responsible
Utilize software programs and accompanying materials that support research-based instructional strategies in each curriculum area. / Increase the percentage of students passing the CRCT 5% annually. / Evaluation of end of year CRCT scores annually / Title VI $24,000 / Testing Coordinator, Curriculum Director, Superintendent
Grade level curriculums will promote teaching technology literacy standards and learning of technology skills along with content area skills. / Students will exhibit grade appropriate technology skills.
We will increase the 75% passing rate of 8th graders on the technology literacy assessment to 80% by FY13
85% by FY14
90% by FY15 / Yearly review of curriculum documents after FY12
Lesson plan review and classroom observation / N/A / Technology Director, Curriculum Director, Administrators, Classroom teachers
Provide opportunities for students to create, edit, and publish technology related assignments. / Increase the number of student assignments to 30% in FY13
Increase the number of student assignments to 40% in FY14
Increase the number of student assignments to 50% in FY15 / Lesson plan review
Quarterly review of student work / N/A / Technology Director
Administrators
Classroom Teachers
Increase the use of video streaming in classroom instruction to support CCPS. / By school year FY13, integrate 3 video presentations to support each CCPS unit
By school year FY14, integrate 4 video presentations to support each CCPS unit
By school year FY15, integrate 5 video presentations to support each CCPS unit / Quarterly review of lesson plans / N/A / Curriculum Director
Administrators
Classroom Teachers
Professional Development: Classroom teachers will have training provided for the software programs the system is using for proficiency and assessment. All teachers will attend quarterly technology training for hardware and software in their classrooms. The Technology Department, selected teachers, or vendors will provide the training where appropriate.
Administrative Uses of Technology
Goal / Increase administrative uses of technology.Strategies / Benchmark / Evaluation Method/Timeline / Funding Source/Amount / Person Responsible
Training and support for administrators in the use of USA Testprep and OAS. / All administrators will use technology to track student achievement / Data analysis reports completed by administrators / Title II $3000
State $3000 / Administrators
Testing Coordinator
Train administrators in student information system to access data for individual students, teachers, and schools / All administrators will use technology to access available data. / Data analysis reports completed by administrators / Local $4000 annually / Technology Director
Administrators
Professional Development: Administrators will be trained to access data in the student information system by the Technology Department.
Parent/Community Uses of Technology
Goal / Utilize technology as a medium to create an interactive partnership between the Webster County School System and parents, community, industry, and business partners.Strategies / Benchmark / Evaluation Method/Timeline / Funding Source/Amount / Person Responsible
Maintain system and school websites to include access to the CCPS resources and links to community agencies that support the curriculum. / Increase the number of parents who use the website to gain information about school activities / Survey Parents Annually
Access Usage Reports Quarterly / N/A / Technology Director
Parent Resource Coordinator
SchoolinSites
Maintain class websites / Maintain 100% participation in class websites by teachers / Access Reports Quarterly / N/A / Technology Director
Administrators
Classroom Teachers
Provide parents and community with training using SchoolinSites and
PowerSchool. / Increase the number of technology workshops offered to parents and the community / Sign in sheets
Evaluations / N/A / Technology Department
Media Specialist
Continue to provide parents and community with up-to-date school news via local media sources. / Increase the number of articles sent to local media / Review of published information / N/A / Parent Resource Coordinator
Administrators
Professional Development: Parents and community will be trained by school personnel on SchoolinSites
and PowerSchool.
GOALS, BENCHMARKS, & ACTION PLAN
Access to Technology
Goal / Continue to establish, maintain, and support the network infrastructure to assure access for all employees and students.Strategies / Benchmark / Evaluation Method/Timeline / Funding Source/Amount / Person Responsible
Decrease the student to
in-classroom computer ratio to 3:1. / Purchase and install computers
FY13—30 computers
FY 14—15 computers
FY 15—15 computers / Semi-annual school-wide inventory—August & May
DOE annual system-wide inventory / Local Funds $10,000
Title I $8,000
Title II $20,000
Title V $6,000
Title VI $16,000 / Technology Director
Continue to repair and install additional drops in classrooms / Assess school technology needs annually / Technology request forms—as needed
Annual Hardware Survey, annually / E-Rate $8500
Local Funds $1500 / Technology Department
Install additional wireless signal boosters to increase Wi-Fi signal strength throughout the facility. / Wi-Fi will be installed the first quarter of FY12 / Monthly review of performance of servers, routers, boosters, and overall internet connectivity. / E-Rate $11,900
Local Funds $2100 / Technology Department, Vendor
Professional Development: Technology Department is provided with training as needed to maintain network infrastructure. The training will be provided by ETTC’s, technology department, or vendors where appropriate.
COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING PLAN
Webster County Schools uses several methods to share our technology integration progress with our community. Presentations are made by the Technology Department to the Board of Education highlighting new technologies when introduced into the system. Articles are published in our weekly community newspaper to highlight new technology. Our website is updated daily and hosts information for parents and community members. Information is maintained for all departments of the school, including classroom calendars and assignments, school board minutes, agendas, and policies, daily school-wide announcements, and sports team information. The system three-year technology plan will be uploaded to our website and available for review by the community.
The Technology Department and School Council will analyze test results. They will then be disseminated through the local community newspaper and the Webster County Schools’ website. Further review of the results will be provided at parent meetings and Parent Involvement. Information regarding the role technology is playing in student achievement based on test scores will be published on the system website. Technology surveys will also be posted on the system website.
Through media coverage, presentations to parent community members, postings to system website, and e-mail, all stakeholders involved in the success of our system technology plan will remain aware of the progress. These stakeholders include students, parents, teachers, administrators, community members, business partners, local media, RESA, ETTC, vendors and GADOE.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
· Classroom teachers will have training provided for the software programs the system is using for proficiency and assessment. All teachers will attend quarterly technology training for hardware and software in their classrooms. The Technology Department, selected teachers, or vendors will provide the training where appropriate.
· The Technology Department will train Administrators to access data in the student information system. The district testing coordinator will train administrators and teachers on the use of the Online Assessment System. Teachers will receive training from the technology director or testing coordinator on the STAR Math and STAR Reading programs.
· The districts Parent Resource Coordinator will schedule information sessions for parents and other community members to enable them to learn about the benefits of SchoolinSites and PowerSchool. The Parent Resource Coordinator will work with the Technology Director, administrators and teachers to conduct the information sessions.
· Technology Director will attend training at the ETTC on the effective use of technology in the 21st century classroom. Training will be conducted by the Technology Department, Media Specialist, and selected teachers for the use of multimedia technologies for the 21st century classroom.
· Technology Department is provided with training as needed to maintain network infrastructure. The ETTC, technology department, or vendors will provide the training where appropriate.
8th GRADE TECHNOLOGY LITERACY
Students, through grade 2, practice using various sources of electronic equipment to learn basic technological skills. Students use the computer mouse to make selections. They use the keyboard to type their names and other information on Word documents. The students learn to turn on computers, DVDs, and monitors. They practice inserting and ejecting discs from a DVD and CD players. Students practice sending documents to the printer and retrieving the printed document. Students use the technological name of the devices they are using. The devices are identified by the proper name when a student has a question or a problem.
Students in grades 3 through 5 use the keyboard, monitors, printers and other technological equipment to produce projects and reports. These students use programs such as PowerPoint. They learn to import digital images build a better understanding of copyright laws and plagiarism. During these grades the students work with multimedia projectors to present information to their class. Students continue to build their keyboarding skills by expanding their knowledge from the home row keys.
In grades 6 through 8, the students build upon and apply their knowledge of technology to complete projects. Students use the Internet to help them do their research. Students store their research and projects on devices ranging from compact discs to jump drives.
APPENDICES
BOARD POLICY Descriptor Code: IFBG
Internet Acceptable Use
It is the belief of the Webster County School System that the use of telecommunications, including the Internet, in instructional programs is an educational strategy, which facilitates communication, innovation, resource sharing, and access to information. Use of the Internet must be in support of education and research and consistent with the educational mission, goals, and objectives of the school system.