Technology Environment Evaluation Summary for Towns High School

by Chris Bush Demographics

Towns High School serves a large, diverse group of students, often with high mobility. Towns is the largest of two schools in the district, and serves grades 9-12 in one building. Towns student enrollment this year was 2,480 students of whom 51.7% classify as low-income, 2.3% classify as Limited English Proficient and has a graduation rate of 81.2%. Racial/Ethnic information can be found below, as well as student performance on the state assessment.

School evaluation Summary

The following summary is based on the Maturity Model Benchmarks from the Technology Use Plan Primer by Peter H.R. Sibley and is summarized below. The Emergent Systems Stage is characterized by: Lack of formal support when using computing technology for instruction No formal plans, policies or procedures exist to ensure the efficient and appropriate acquisition or use of technology throughout the Institution Computers are used sporadically throughout the Institution Institution wide coordination to ensure grade level and program level access is absent Formal support for teacher training is minimal The Islands of Technology Stage is characterized by: Regular use of computers at one or more grade levels and program levels at each school within the Institution on a regularly scheduled basis Formal plans, policies and procedures exist to facilitate the optimal use of technology in both instructional and administrative areas throughout the Institution Institution sponsored and school sponsored training is available Technology has budgetary visibility at the Institutional level and school/program level The instructional delivery system is somewhat dependent on technology The Integrated Systems Stage is characterized by: Regular planned access for students to technology as a means of instruction and a focus of instruction Teachers' systems also support administrative functions, such as grading, attendance and electronic mail Technology has a high budgetary visibility at the Institutional and school/program level Comprehensive plans, policies and procedures for instructional and administrative use of technology are reviewed and revised regularly The Institution is an advocate of technology training for all personnel The instructional delivery system is very dependent on technology The Intelligent Systems Stage is characterized by: Student access to technology as an indispensable component of instruction Every curriculum is augmented by intelligent learning systems Administrative functions are automated, integrated and paper less Student, teachers and stake holders have access to appropriate systems from home Technology is one of the three highest expenditures of Institution funds Technology planning is an integral part of Institution planning The systematic adoption of new technologies is ongoing Technology advocates at each organizational unit assist in the introduction of the new technologies Instructional and administrative personnel are knowledgeable in the use of technology To get a comprehensive picture of the schools current state of technological maturity, it was evaluated for these levels through five filters: Administrative, Curricular, Support, Connectivity, and Innovation. The results are displayed in the table on the following pages with rationals included to explain each rating.

Administrative Filter

Category Policy: Behavioral

Rating Island

Summary While the ideas for improvement exist, no actual progress has been made towards it. Only limited policies exist. Those policies that do exist are ignored for other budget concerns. The technology in the classroom has remained untouched for 5-8 years due to budget concerns. Any plan that may exists is not useful An outline exists, but has not been used. A budget does exist for technology, however it appears to have the lowest priority possible. Only limited spending on technology can occur from other budgets. For example, science cant buy software to use in the science computer lab that is only useful to classes taught in science. That money must come from the technology budget, of which there is a limited amount. While many pen and paper administrative systems have been replaces, some still exist. Progress is

Policy: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Planning: Behavioral

Integrated

Emergent

Planning: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Budget: Behavioral

Island

Emergent

Budget: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Island

Administr ative Informatio n: Behavioral

Integrated

currently being made to replace those that remain Administr ative Informatio n: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Intelligent Depending on their role, administrators and staff have access to and utilize administrative systems

Curricular Filter
Category Electronic Informatio n: Behavioral Rating Island Summary Resources are available, however they are massively underutilized. When they are used for instruction, students use them in a haphazard manner, are not taught how to utilize them correctly, nor are they dependant on them. Resources are plentiful, but are not used. Resources include over 40 subscription based resources, online textbooks and multimedia resources. They are however rarely used. Online grade books are required to be used, and other teaching tools, such as those to check the internet to see if a paper has been plagiarised are

Electronic Informatio n: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Integrated

Assessmen t: Behavioral

Island

available, however other than online grading, technology is rarely used. Assessmen t: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Island The tools exist, and the school is willing to support them, however there is a culture of resistance to technology that means the staff rarely uses them. Several departments are heavily dependant on technology while some do not use technology beyond word processing. The technology is available, but its use varies wildly teacher to teacher. No broadview exists. Most teachers use some technology, but is often limited to the use of projectors, powerpoint, and the internet. There is a teacher computer per classroom, however in the offices it is often 2-3 computers for 1220 teachers. The technology exists but it is frequently hard to access. Student use is frequently limited to word processing and internet access. Some high

Curricular Integratio n: Behavioral

Island

Curricular Integratio n: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Teacher Use: Behavioral

Integrated

Island

Teacher Use: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Integrated

Student Use: Behavioral

Island

level use is evident in some departments. For example, the science department often utilizes online experiments. Student Use: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Emergent Students rarely use technology in the classroom more than a few times a month. Existing and planned technology often seems aimed more at teachers than students

Support Filter
Category Stakehold er Involveme nt: Behavioral Rating Emergent Summary The only attempt to involve teachers and other staff in the decision making process was to form a committee to discuss the changes. To date, the committee has only met once to be given a presentation on the current state of technology. No other opportunity exists. Almost no participation is allowed.

Stakehold er Involveme nt: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Administr ative Support: Behavioral

Emergent

Island

In general, even the administration has limited involvment with

technology planning. While some input is given, it is either turned down or ignored. Only the technology office and high levels of administration seem to make the decisions. Administr ative Support: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Training: Behavioral Island Almost no support is given, at most twenty minutes of staff development time is set aside for technology integration Staff is unwilling to give up time outside of work hours to train on new forms of technology and the administration is unwilling to use staff development time. Training is nearly non-existent. On rare occasions training is offered it is generally a quick overview and then ignored. Most technology training takes place in the form of class taught by other teachers and both taught and attended on a volunteer basis. Technical support is frequently informal on a limited basis. Formal technical support is generally limited to hardware issues and are

Emergent

Training: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Emergent

Technical/ Infrastruc ture Support: Behavioral

Emergent

usually not fixed in a time-sensitive manner. Technical/ Infrastruc ture Support: Resource/I nfrastruct ure Emergent Technical support consists three full time staff. However, of those three, one is responsible for the district as a whole, and one is responsible solely for running a group of students that serve as roaming technical support.

Connectivity Filter

Category Local Area Networkin g (LAN): Behavioral

Rating Integrated

Summary The school is fully wired to a network with at least one computer in each room having a connection. The wireless network has limited connectivity. Each staff member has their own network drive, with another serving as a public drive for the district. Limited by computer access which has been discussed previously District network is for data only.

Local Area Networkin g (LAN): Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Island

District Area Networkin g (WAN): Behavioral District

Island

Island

District network

Area Networkin g (WAN): Resource/I nfrastruct ure Internet Access: Behavioral Island

had frequent issues and limited connection speed if accessed from outside the schools network. Internet connection speed and access is limited. High regulation of content means that only the most basic of internet searches are useful. All classrooms have internet access, although even for teachers it is limited. Staff are constantly warned to limit bandwidth use, and even then the internet is frequently slow to the point of being unusable. Email is the primary method of communication between staff as well as the administration. However, the way several items are set up, including mobile access and district wide address books need to be looked at. All staff has an email address that is frequently used. Starting last year, all freshman students were giving gmail accounts. However, all personal student accounts are

Internet Access: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Integrated

Communic ation Systems: Behavioral

Intelligent

Communic ation Systems: Resource/I nfrastruct ure

Island

frequently blocked, and with no staff development time spent on google apps, staff use of google apps with students is limited.

Innovation Filter
Category New Technolog ies: Behavioral Rating Emergent Summary Some teachers frequently adopt new technologies, but they are the minority. Some departments have taken to having staff share new technology every month, but even during those meetings staff resistance to new methods is quite high. New technologies are encouraged, but rarely supported

New Technolog ies: Resource/ Infrastruc ture Comprehe nsive Technolog ies: Behavioral

Island

Island

Limited forms of new technologies and is limited primarily to basic software, projectors and scanners. Audio/Visual or the use of voice recognition is discouraged. The technology currently supported is widely used, but there are many roadblocks, both in

Comprehe nsive Technolog ies: Resource/

Island

Infrastruc ture

terms of behavior and infrastructure to support any additional forms of technology.

Conclusion
In general, the best way to categorized Towns High School would be somewhere between Emergent and Island. Numerous attempts to increase the technology use in the building have been attempted by various groups, however they have all mostly failed. The reasons for this are numerous including budget issues, current infrastructure that prevents easy adoption of new technology, and resistance not only from the administration, but including the staff and even board of education. This is what I find to be the most concerning aspect of the technology issues and Towns High School, not that they exist, but the numerous roadblocks that exist in trying to overcome it. Barring a funding bonanza or drastic change in the attitude of the administration, the best thing to focus on is ways to improve the technology that we have. Teachers need to work on changing the attitude of other staff through demonstrations in what they have accomplished in their own classrooms. In addition, with the changes coming in state standards that require the use of technology staff need to push through and find ways to incorporate technology in their classroom. Administrators need to find ways to secure funding through upcoming grants. Unfortunately, the best use of any money received should be in the technological backbone, increasing the internet and network capabilities of the school. While it is the least interesting use of money for the staff and students, as it stands and new technology, be it computers, tablets, or other mobile devices will be hampered by the overall lack of infrastructure present in the school. Overall, technology is likely the largest challenge facing Towns High School for the next several years.