K-12 Technology Directors' Perspective

K-12 Technology Directors Perspective
Nan Wodarz
Hank Stabler
January 16, 1996

The purpose of this plan is to assist school districts in the development of technology plans and to establish consistent standards for technology adoption and infrastructure development across the state of Arizona. Therefore, Technology Directors statewide developed a list of areas that composed the critical components in technological strategic planning. These areas were assigned to those Directors with the greatest level of expertise in those areas. The Directors gathered researchi-based information that was relevant to their topic and compiled it in a standardized format. The following document is the culmination of the work of many Technology Directors throughout Arizona who possess both current technical knowledge as well as a working knowledge of the learning and teaching processes. It is this combination of background and experience that makes the recommendations they put forth so compelling.

Curriculum

Technology is believed to support better learning and teaching practices. Technology can be used as a vehicle to support goals related to student involvement, authentic tasks and alternative forms of assessment. If technology is to be effective, it must be seen as a tool to impact learning and teaching and not as an independent subject area;

For technology to be used as a tool for students, the procurement of hardware and software must be done in concert with the adoption of curriculum outcomes. Such outcomes must be reviewed frequently to be certain they are meeting the needs of students as they exit the system;

Curriculum standards vary widely by district and there needs to be a more cohesive set of standards developed statewide;

There exists a great discrepancy between the amount, quality and types of technology to which Arizona students have access;

Leadership and funding from the state level is needed to create a more equitable environment for instructional technology.

Staff Development

Staff development for technology needs to be focused on how it impacts the learning and teaching process;

Faculty, staff and administration need to have on-going training on systems, software and the integration of these into the learning and teaching process;

All training must be provided on times that are available for use by teachers;

Participants must understand change and the change process as it relates to technology skill acquisition;

Budget money needs to be allocated for training and staff development;

Some sources indicate that approximately 30% of the entire technology plan needs to be allocated for this training.

Instructional Management Strategies

In a technology-rich environment, teachers roles must expand from knowledge sharers to learning facilitators;

In an environment that uses technology, students can be encouraged to take more control over their own learning;

When technology is used, the relationship between students and teachers will change;

Electronic learning can offer alternative learning environments;

Alternative scheduling and methods of curriculum delivery occur differently in technology-rich classrooms;

The materials a teacher needs for instruction may vary greatly from those used in a traditional classroom;

Management systems to maintain accurate records of student achievement are a necessary component to such classrooms;

Pre-service teachers must be prepared to work with technology as an integral part of the learning and teaching process and not use it as a means to deliver instruction in a traditional format.

K-16 Communications

It is important that articulation between and among the educational institutions in Arizona increase to facilitate a more cohesive, comprehensive education for the students in the state;

Systems for communication need to be put into place to facilitate interactions between and among groups;

In terms of technology development, consistent expectations and standards need to be adopted throughout all educational settings in Arizona. Technology stake holders need to develop a more collaborative and less competitive communication process;

Personnel needs to be devoted to supporting connections between the different stake holders.

Staffing for Technology Support

Technology support staff includes personnel to work with the hardware and infrastructure systems and personnel to work with faculty, staff and administration;

One formula used to determine total human resources (HR) required for technical support uses the following formula:

HR = Workstations/500 + Users/1000 + Applications/50 +

Licenses/125 + Vendor operating systems;

The number of support staff can be diminished by manipulating any one of the variables in the aforementioned formula. Standardization of hardware and software issues provides the district with fewer support issues and will, therefore, decrease the number of staff necessary to handle the daily issues that may arise;

Locating staff members that are qualified to perform the myriad of technical duties school districts require is virtually impossible given today's market. Yet school districts seek personnel who have a broad-based diverse skill set and are able to move between systems, platform and locations with ease;

Once staff members are hired, school districts seldom allocate money to keep them trained and current on the systems used. It is critical to the entire functionality of the district that these team members receive extensive, ongoing training on the system being used in the district;

The compensation school districts offer needs to be competitive with that of industry. One option a school district may select is to place all technical staff members on a separate salary schedule where their compensation is not compared with a regular classified employee. In this way, team members can be reimbursed more adequately In terms of their level of training and technical expertise.

Infrastructure

Any physical infrastructure development should be general and flexible enough to adapt as technology advances;

Existing computer systems should be integrated as much as possible into the communication system of the district;

Network servers should be located where they can be easily and remotely managed and supported;

School networks must be both cost effective and manageable by the staff of the district;

A star topology is recommended for connecting individual or clusters of computers to the local area network;

Standardization of hardware, software, operating systems and protocols used in the local area network is desirable;

It is critical that networking standards be followed. These include IEEE, ICCC, EIAITIA 568;

When choosing the wide area connections, it is important to consider the cost of the connections as well as the bandwidth required by the applications, anticipating future growth;

A single Internet connection with adequate bandwidth to support sites will provide for Internet e-mail and web access;

Predicting the cost of developing an infrastructure is dependent upon the existing systems, the type of bandwidth and new systems to be installed.

Telecommunications

The idea of telecommunications refers to the connection of one location to global voice, video and data resources;

The purpose of telecommunications in an educational environment is to provide curriculum, staff development, delivery of instruction, research, distance learning via satellite links and communication methods that are not available in traditional settings;

The cost of telecommunication systems is dependent upon the number and types of connections being made, the number of clients being served and the speed at and format in which the information is being transmitted The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has called for the deregulation of the conglomerates who controlled the industry. The full impact of this legislationi has yet to be felt. However, over the next year to eighteen months it is expected that rates and services will be affected favorably for educational organizations.

Funding

The State of Arizona allocates funding for schools districts based upon per pupil funding. This funding is limited and must provide for all capital and maintenance expenditures;

School districts can sell bonds in order to raise capital funds. In order to sell these bonds, voters within the district must approve their sale. Districts throughout the state have had varying degrees of success in the sale of bonds;

Other sources of funding include budget overrides, grants, donations and partnerships;

Usually money spent in schools districts for technology is used to develop an infrastructure or to purchase new equipment. Adequate monies are rarely allocated to software purchases, curriculum development and staff development;

The purchase of technology usually is seen as a one-time eventi instead of an on-going budgetary commitment;

Budget money needs to be increased and/or there needs to be reallocation of existing money.

Summary By:
Hank Stabler, Director of Information Management and Technology
Peoria School District
PO Box 39, Peoria, AZ 85380-0039
602-486-6071

Nan Wodarz, Technology Coordinator
Paradise Valley School District
15232 N. 32^nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85032
602-867-5188
nwodarz@pvusd.k12.az.us