Nadia Williams

ITEC 7500: Capstone & Portfolio

Fall 2015
Standard 1.3
Standard 1.3: Strategic Planning
Candidates research, recommend, and implement policies, procedures, programs and
funding strategies to support implementation of the shared vision represented in the
school, district, state, and federal technology plans and guidelines. Funding strategies
may include the development, submission, and evaluation of formal grant proposals.
(PSC 1.3/ISTE 1c)
Reflection
An artifact illustrating what I learned in alignment with Standard 1.3, the IT Mini Grant
Application, was created in the Summer of 2015 as part of my time in ITEC/EDL 7305. I
was the sole creator of this artifact.
The artifact of the IT Mini Grant Application showcases examples of research and
recommendations for the implementation of policies for a specific program and
funding strategy to implement the shared vision. This grant application focuses on
the implementation of a school-wide social media strategy which would engage all
stakeholders by showcasing student learning. This would take place through the
medium of Twitter and potentially Instagram as well. The focus on Twitter, specifically
comes from a desire to use social media that does not encroach upon the tools
secondary students are using more actively (Finley, 2011). By creating a safe digital
environment, students would learn by doing and through the modeling of best digital
citizenship practices in order to appropriately execute their new skills (McLeod, 2007).
The focus and goal of the project outlined within this application was to fund the
facilitation of a program where at least 50% of teachers would participate in the
broadcasting of their students work as well as their own instruction through Twitter.
This would also serve as evidence of East Cobb Middle Schools work toward becoming
a leader in the use of social media for educational purposes, but also as support of
school, district, state, and federal technology plans and guidelines. Within this
plan, teachers would be afforded autonomy as there is a scientific link between
autonomy and productivity as was stated in Harvard Business Review (2014), Forbes
Magazine (2011), and Psych Central (2015). This autonomy would come with support
and guidance so that there are shared and common goals in accordance with the
school-wide shared vision plan. Such a structured plan that would be stakeholderdriven would seek to cultivate the maximum of buy-in with the fully cognizant use of
social media to create a safe and intelligent environment for all. In fact, upon
implementation, this initiative would also serve as a forum for teacher and staff
professional learning where discussions would take pace to provide regular reflection

upon the development of the program and how its effectiveness should be
evaluated in order to create goals for subsequent years.
Prior to the creation of this artifact, the prospect of submitting a proposal in hopes of
receiving grant award funds seemed quite daunting. This artifact illustrated that it did
not have to be a daunting experience and, should it be awarded, would provide me with
more resources in order to promote the appropriate use of technology within my
classroom and school without having to rely upon school funds. Furthermore, it also
showed me how I could experience more autonomy in that the approval for funds would
not come from my principal and thus, from her general school funds for the year. That
said, this artifact is not perfect. I would certainly would have included more researchbased examples of what I wished to implement to show the prospective grant readers
existing examples of this initiative in practice elsewhere beyond research supporting it.
I would have also taken this a step further by looking for and creating a proposal for an
actual grant outside of this assignment.
Writing and submitting grant proposals provides educators with more autonomy as
mentioned above. I have been in many situations where I have presented my principal
with an idea that he or she was in support of, but funding such a plan or initiative was
what stifled its continued development. When submitted, grant proposals must receive
principal support and approval. Should it be awarded, it would instantly instigate school
improvement. Furthermore, by reframing projects to see how they can be made
possible financially versus if they can be made possible, educators can work together to
develop and subsequently fund plans that they see would best support their students.
The impact of this could be seen in teacher and staff morale resulting from the
perception shift and teamwork opportunities. Beyond this point, students achievement
will be impacted by such a plan meeting their needs which would immediately become
evident through their standardized test scores, morale, and engagement in class. This
will be able to be assessed in their daily, formative, and summative informal and formal
assessments.
References
Finley, T. (2011, April 7). Siphoning the Fumes of Teen Culture: How to Co-opt Students'
Favorite Social Media Tools. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
Grant Holverson, H. (2011, September 15). How To Give Employees A Sense of
Autonomy (When You Are Really Calling The Shots). Retrieved July 10, 2015.
Hoskins, D. (2014, January 16). Employees Perform Better When They Can Control
Their Space. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
McLeod, S. (2007). Vygotsky | Simply Psychology. Retrieved July 10, 2015.

Nauert, PhD, R. (n.d.). Worker Autonomy Can Lead to Greater Productivity, Satisfaction.
Retrieved July 10, 2015.