Running Head: GLOBALLY EDUCATED 1

Globally Educated and Connected

Kelly M. Hilbert
Loyola University Maryland
ET 680
GLOBALLY EDUCATED 2

Globally Educated and Connected

Current Situation
Perceived Attributes
Educators are always looking for new and exciting ways to engage their students into

their learning. One of the best ways we can do this, is by learning and discovering through each

other. The innovation I wish to bring to Wellwood International, is the concept of global

education through the use of tools such as Mystery Skype. The diffusion of this innovation in my

school community can be determined by assessing the five perceived attributes. In order for the

teachers at my school to willingly accept this innovation, they need certain information to hold

true. According to Daniel Surry, “an innovation will experience an increased rate of diffusion if

potential adopters perceive that the innovation” fits the mold of the perceived attributes.

First and foremost, we have the attribute of trialability, and this innovation can be

explored and trialed very effortlessly with the proper preparation. The concept of global

education can be done with as little or as many tools as one would like to incorporate into their

instructional time. The goal is to connect with the outside world, and extend learning beyond the

four walls of the classroom. Mystery Skype is a great tool to utilize, because it does not require

any purchasing. My faculty would be able to experience this hands-on, through a professional

development I will lead. They will engage and participate in a Mystery Skype, and then be

walked through the steps necessary to successfully integrate it into their own classroom.

Before implementing a new tool, teachers want to know that this tool will be beneficial to

their students, and increase engagement. I believe that Mystery Skype has an observable amount

of increased engagement, which can ultimately lead to an increase in participation and

communication in other aspects of instruction. Every student can participate in a Mystery Skype,
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whether their role is large or small. Either way, they are actively engaged and critically thinking

to solve the mystery, and this is something that is noticeably observable during a session.

A relative advantage to Mystery Skype is that it provides direct communication and

contact with a classroom from a different part of the world. This idea of globally connecting

correlates with the idea of creating learning experiences that are more relevant and meaningful

for our students. While our students have connected with other classrooms through Pen Pal

letters, being face to face with a classroom of students from an unknown location can help our

students become more aware of our diverse world, and allow them to open their eyes to cultural

and social differences. A Mystery Skype session also enforces strong collaboration and critical

skills, not only with their peers, but people who are unfamiliar. Another advantage of Mystery

Skype, is that you can find classrooms to connect with from all over the globe, which can be

great for schools that may provide language instruction. For example, if you taught Spanish, you

could pair up with a classroom from Spain. This would be an amazing opportunity for those

students to incorporate their speaking and listening skills in the language.

When considering the complexity of Mystery skype, it is all about proper preparation and

planning. The session is really student lead once it begins, and the teacher serves more as a

facilitator. As an educator, your role would be to connect with other educators who are looking

to skype with a classroom, and decide on a compatible day. Then you need to create and assign

what roles you want your students to have. These roles include but are not limited to: greeters,

question writers, question askers, researchers, etc. Mystery Skype is not too complex once

everything has been planned and prepared. The part of the process which may be tricky for some,

is finding and connecting with other educators, or navigating skype itself. They may find this to

be too much work at first, but once you have a successful session, it becomes a much smoother
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process. I plan to hold training sessions for these, as well as create screencasts for our school’s

shared drive that teachers will be able to access, to create asynchronous learning experiences for

my staff.

Finally, I believe the idea of global education, and utilizing Mystery Skype to instill this

idea, is compatible with existing practices and values at our school. Our school adopted an

International Baccalaureate program, which focuses on transdisciplinary and real-world learning.

Wellwood International is also a very diverse community, with over 40 different countries

represented in our student population. Due to this, we work to engage our learners through the

utilization of technology and inquiry based learning, and celebrate the different identities and

cultures of our students. Making real-world connections has been a subject that our school has

expressed an interest in strengthening, and I believe that becoming more globally connected

educators can assist with this goal. Mystery Skype can be diffused into our classrooms because it

is an innovative and engaging way for students to collaborate and learn, with and from each

other.

Ely’s Conditions of Change

After interviewing staff members, it became evident that there are certain conditions

being met, while others have room for improvement. The overall theme in the answers I received

was that technology is a tool that teachers wish to incorporate more, however they feel the

training opportunities are either limited or lacking, or there are too many other responsibilities to

handle. A teacher from my school stated, “this year I was so concerned with management and

delivering the curriculum that technology inclusion fell by the wayside” (Chelsey Truesdell,

personal communication, May 2018). Our school has been going through a lot of transitions and

because of this, the behavior plan has fell through leaving many students with the impression that
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they can do whatever, whenever they want. I believe there is a dissatisfaction with the status quo,

because teachers want to go back to the norm our school building knew, before all the changes

that impacted the behavior of our students, and the overall dynamic of our school environment.

Two of the conditions I feel that need the highest amount of improvement, are sufficient

knowledge and skills, and availability of time. I believe these conditions have a direct correlation

for my staff, because the lack of time to learn and practice with these tools is preventing them

from developing the skills and knowledge they need. The interviewees expressed strong interest

in the utilization of technology, but shared that they do not have enough training to try new tools,

or even utilize some of the tools that we already have and are expected to be using. Interviewees

also shared the concern that there simply is no extra time to dedicate themselves to exploring the

digital world, because of everything that is on their plate in the real one. A second-grade teacher

at Wellwood stated,

I think time is the ONLY component that’s preventing me from using more technology in

the classroom. Between grading, planning, dealing with behavior, etc. I don’t ever feel

like I have “extra” time to look into and experiment with unfamiliar technology. (Kelsey

Huber, personal communication, May 2018)

Technology is always advancing, and sometimes we cannot wrap our minds around all the tools

that are available to us. In fact, teachers have expressed a feeling of being too overwhelmed,

which could cause a decrease in motivation to try new things. A fifth-grade teacher shared that

she is overwhelmed by all the tech options, and wished our staff would choose three at a time

and focus on these for a period of time, and there should be ample tech training provided (Lisa

Berkun, personal communication, May 2018). While it would be impossible to master it all, it is
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possible to become skilled at many if the proper training is provided, as Lisa shared. There are

just too many other things to worry about, and making the time to attend optional trainings gets

put on the backburner.

At Wellwood, our STAT teacher does a great job of providing professional developments

on a few digital tools, and she always makes sure to offer multiple sessions. However, I believe

that many teachers did not take advantage of these sessions for a number of reasons, which relate

to a few of Ely’s Conditions. Specifically, the conditions of time, knowledge and skill,

incentives, and participation. As mentioned previously, they all seem interested in advancing

their knowledge of technology tools, and learning more about when and how to utilize tools, but

want a more distinct plan or path to follow. I would say motivation could be stronger, if teachers

were given the proper training and guidance, however they are indicating that the lack of a

coherent plan makes it hard to keep up with all the technology available. Many teachers feel too

overwhelmed to try and delve into any technology training. Others, like Lisa, feel that there isn’t

enough of a coherent plan or use for technology – either school-wide or system-wide (Berkun,

L., personal communication, May 2018).

I feel that teachers at my school are lacking in their motivation to try new things not

because of the leadership of our school, but because of the factors I have. One teacher believes

our school definitely supports us trying new technology innovations, however [they] haven’t

often felt motivated to do so because as a school, behavior has been at the forefront (Truesdell,

C., personal communication, May 2018). Another felt she did not feel particularly inspired to try

new things, partly because she was too overwhelmed with all the curriculum writing we had to

do this year (Huber, K., personal communication, May 2018). The desire to attend trainings and

utilize technology within instruction more frequently is evident amongst my co-workers,

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however I feel that they need more buy-in. There also need to be some adjustments made school-

wide to allow more time to dedicate to this goal. Our school’s behavior committee just recently

finalized our behavior plan for next year, which should alleviate much of the pressure to handle

behaviors individually. Staff members utilize technology as best they can, but have expressed

interest in a more cohesive plan, and I plan to do just that.

There are only so many hours in a day, so to meet their needs I plan to provide multiple

sessions for trainings and professional developments on the implementation of Mystery Skype.

My staff will need to be educated on what global education and Mystery Skype are. I will meet

with my principal in order to find a day where I can provide a training to the entire faculty, and

will engage them in an actual Mystery Skype. I believe seeing it in action will help increase

buy-in and participation, because they will be able to feel and experience the excitement. I will

send out a survey to see what days and time frames work the best for teachers, so that I can

provide sessions that work with their schedules. During the original faculty training, I will

discuss in depth the necessary steps and materials needed to effectively plan for a Mystery

Skype, as well as discuss a management plan. In addition to other scheduled training days to go

more in detail about Mystery Skype, I will also make myself available for individualized

meetings for teachers, to help them with the aspects they feel they want more training on. This

can help alleviate some of the pressure of time, because they can provide me with times that

work best for them.

ACOT Model

Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT), was originally a research project that dedicated

its time to analyzing the impact technology has on students and teachers, when they regularly

have access to it. With the implementation of technology into classrooms, the learning
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environment becomes a completely transformed place, and ACOTs mission is to provide

guidance and support for educators to increase their skills in this area. The ACOT model has five

stages of technology use, and teachers can fall into any of these five stages.

The first stage is known as the entry level, which describes a person who is utilizing

technology at the most basics level. Since our school has 1:1 student devices, promethean

boards, Elmos, and a variety of other technologies available, I do not feel that many of our

teachers are at this level Teachers have become very familiar with these technologies, and when

there is a new one introduced to our staff, teachers engage in the training that is provided to our

staff. When introducing Mystery Skype, teachers will begin at this stage however they will

quickly move up because they are already very familiar with using promethean boards and their

device. Teachers will have a chance to experience Mystery Skype prior to implementing it on

their own, which can also help with transitioning to the next stage.

The second stage in ACOT is known as adoption, and in this stage teachers are usually

still navigating how to use technology successfully. They also may be utilizing technology as

more of a substitution for traditional methods, such as writing on a Smartboard rather than the

chalkboard, or having students complete a worksheet digitally instead of on paper. I believe with

some tools, there are a few teachers at my school who are still in this phase. They are using

technology, but the extent of how this technology transforms the learning for their students needs

improvement. I find that teachers who having been teaching longer, feel they struggle more with

incorporating technology because they are not as tech-savvy. Lisa specifically shared this feeling

with me, and expressed technology is not her strong suit:

What would be helpful, regardless of what we are implementing, is a clear plan of how to

do so. The plan would include differentiated training, a roll-out schedule with dates of
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what and how much needs to be done, etc. (Berkun, L., personal communication, May

2018)

Their technology use is still at the basic level, but if they received more individualized training,

they could move to the next stage. For the purposes of Mystery Skype, I can offer a variety of

trainings on things such as materials, set-up, connecting with other classrooms, classroom

management, or observations to see Mystery Skype in action.

Adaptation is the third stage of ACOT, which I feel a lot of my staff members are in.

There are many teachers in the building who are starting to utilize technology more, and moving

away from the idea of only the teacher using it to teach. Students are also becoming more

efficient with their technology use, as these teachers implement it more in their instruction.

Students may start saving their work in places where teacher can access it easily, and they also

may start becoming more responsible for their work. At this level, teachers are just starting to

figure out how to add-in technology, but it does not yet have a real purpose. Teachers are using

technology simply for the sake of adding it in. Teachers at this stage could benefit from training

on making technology more purposeful for their students, and integrating it for more

collaborative purposes.

The fourth stage, know as appropriation, is when curriculum really begins to be impacted

by technology. Teachers in this stage give their students much more freedom with technology,

and plan for technology in their lessons with a clear purpose. I find that there are some teachers

in my school, including myself, who are in this phase. Different tools that teachers in my

building use, are tools such as Padlet, Voicethread, Twitter, Google Classroom, and other

collaborative tools that allow students to interact with each other. One teacher shared, “when I
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hear about how another teacher uses a different kind of technology in their classroom, it inspires

me to try to use it in my own room” (Waesche, M., personal communication, May 2018). She

explained that her grade level team is constantly sharing ideas with each other, and planning

collaboratively using tools such as Google Docs. Teachers at this level are ready to become

global educators, and ready to take on new challenges. They are using technology in purposeful

ways, but now they need ideas of how they can take that learning into the outside world. With

the Mystery Skype training, I anticipate these teachers will adopt it very quickly, and will require

trainings on other tools that they can also incorporate. They may also require trainings on how to

incorporate more curriculum into a Mystery Skype.

The last stage of ACOT is known as the invention phase. A teacher at this phase has truly

transformed their classroom with the use of technology. Students are presenting, sharing,

learning, and collaborating with technology, and they will most likely be utilizing multiple

digital tools. According to ACOT Stages of Technology Integration, “technology [is] being used

to do things that could not be done without it such as sharing information over the internet” (pg.

2). I believe that Mystery Skype and global education is exactly what my staff needs to reach this

stage of ACOT. Global education is completely focused on a flattened classroom, where learning

extends into the outside world. We can achieve this by utilizing digital tools that connect with

other classrooms and educators, and integrating different subject areas into the Mystery Skype

sessions. I have seen teachers, that I have connected with on Twitter, using Mystery Skype in

effective ways. I plan to reach out to them, and discover more uses for Mystery Skype, so that I

can provide more advanced trainings for teachers who may be ready for the invention phase.

These teachers can also help brainstorm with me, on how we can take this tool even further.
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I believe that to move teachers onto new stages, I would need to help teachers understand

the ACOT Model, and what the stages are. Personally, this is the first time I was introduced to

the ACOT model, so I think educating other teachers in my school on what it is would be

important. This could possibly be done through a Professional Development, or faculty meeting.

After that, having conversations with the other teachers about where I feel I fit in, could help

them to reflect on their own practices and identify where they fall. I could give them specific

examples of what I believe I do that fits into the stages, which could assist them in identifying

what teaching practices they are doing, and what stage they fit into. Our school is fortunate

enough to have 1:1 devices with all our students, as well as interactive promethean boards in

each classroom. This is extremely beneficial for our classrooms and our teaching practices. We

have had a lot of experience with integrating technology into our instruction, but most of us have

probably been around the adoption through appropriation phases. If we become more educated

on these phases, we can take more steps to grow professionally, become more confident, and

move onto the invention stage. My staff is very open to new ideas and new tools, and we learn

best from each other.

Stakeholders

To get this innovation started in our community, the stakeholder groups I would want to

include are administrators, teachers, foreign language teachers, parents, students, and other

interested faculty, community, or PTA members. According to The Guidebook for Developing

an Effective Instructional Technology Plan, “team members should be representative of all

stakeholders and should be leaders who excel in planning, relationship, and communication

skills” (pg. 8). To match this description, the key personnel I would want to be involved on a

technology committee would ideally be at least one member from each grade level, an
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administrator, our STAT teacher, our IB Coordinator, the tech liaison, and any special area

teachers and parents who would want to be a part of it. Any additional faculty members or

parents who are highly involved with the school, are also more than welcome to participate. The

members I would want in this planning process, are people who are committed and ready to

work hard to instill change.

Administration is one of the most important stakeholders, because their opinion will be

heard by all staff members. I will look to my administrators to help schedule, recruit interest, and

advertise the professional developments and trainings that I plan. They also play a key role with

connecting our school with families and community members. By contacting the community and

highlighting the new exciting innovation, interest will spark. Our administrators are very

supportive of our staff seeking out new innovations and trying them out, and encourage us to

learn from each other. They will have a huge influence in the interest level that my staff has in

Mystery Skype and global education.

My principal also has a lot of contacts with educators from around the globe, including a

man by the name of Jeff Harlan. Jeff is a middle school teacher at Agnes Irwin School in

Pennsylvania, and co-founder a project called The Dream Flags Project. This project is one of

the most globally expanded projects our school has become a part of, with about 28 countries

involved, and I feel that he could be a participant in our adoption of this innovation, with the help

of my principal. It is evident that Jeff has global education on the mind, as he has worked to

create a dynasty of connections through the dream flags. A teacher from the project stated, “what

a powerful experience of joining the self with the rest of the world” (The Dream Flag Project,

n.d., sec. About Us). This is the exact vision that I am hoping to bring about with Mystery Skype

and other tools to help our students connect on a global level. Jeff has been to our school, and I
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plan on reaching out to him to see his potential interest in planning the adoption of this

innovation. I believe he can shed a lot of insight on getting a project such as this started, given

his experience. I plan on discussing other contacts my principal may have, that we can start

partnerships with in order to facilitate more Mystery Skypes.

In my opinion, our tech liaison is one of the most hard-working staff members at our

school. She has been extremely helpful to anyone and everyone who needs help related to

technology, and I believe that she’ll play a crucial leadership role with the adoption of this

innovation, and on the committee. For our staff to be successful with the implementation of

Mystery Skype, and other tools to instill global education, they will need the technology in their

classrooms to be fully functional. Our tech liaison makes herself very available to assist, mentor,

guide, and train staff members who need it. When I start to go into classrooms to plan or help run

a session, I may need her assistance if a piece of equipment is not working, or not setup

correctly.

I plan to work very closely with the STAT teacher at my school, who already plans and

holds professional development sessions on digital tools. Together, we can help develop and

implement a plan that works more efficiently, and will adhere to the requests of our staff. Since

she has more experience with holding professional developments and recruiting interest, I will

also depend on her to help with that process. Since there is only one of me, she will also be a

strong asset when Mystery Skype starts being implemented in classrooms, because she can help

with the logistics of running a session. She can also attend planning sessions I have with

teachers, to discuss personalized lesson planning in each classroom, or be in classrooms to help a

session run smoothly. I also plan to work with our IB Coordinator, who is in charge with our

schools’ transition to the international baccalaureate program. She has a number of great contacts
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who have a lot of experience and knowledge with international and global studies, which can

help with our project.

The reason I would want a participant from each grade level, is because the primary

teachers have shared some concerns about effectively utilizing technology with the younger

students. One second grade teacher shared that, “teaching students how to use a new technology

is not my forte, and can be particularly difficult with younger kids” (Huber, K., personal

communication, May 2018). A wonderful aspect about Mystery Skype, is the main usage of

technology during the session is the teacher device and promethean board. Students will be able

to use their devices; however, it would be for research or clue searching purposes. Having a

member from each grade level present, can help promote ideas and perspectives that will cater to

the varying needs of students at different grade levels. These representatives from each grade

level will also play a crucial role, because they will help increase the interest and participation

levels of the rest of their grade level team. If teachers have an input in the planning process of an

innovation, they are more likely to adopt it because their voice was heard.

Wellwood International has an international studies program, where students in the

magnet receive all instruction in French, and every other student gets an hour of French a week. I

believe that these teachers could have great insight on how to utilize Mystery Skype to connect

with other French speaking countries and classrooms. It could be a great opportunity for students

to practice speaking the language, as well as listening and comprehending the language. They

may also have contacts from other countries, and I could plan with them to incorporate Mystery

Skype into the students’ French instruction.

Parents and community members will also play an important role in this process, because

ultimately it is their children that we are educating. They deserve to have their voices heard when
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it comes to the education of their children, and could provide valuable opinions and ideas when

we are planning. They may also know people in other schools who may be interested, which

could help us to create a large network. The more parents who are involved, the larger our idea

will become, which could increase participation and buy-in that we need from our community.

Students are one of the stakeholder groups because their voices need to be heard when we are

planning their learning experiences. To create a more learner centered environment, student input

is needed so that they feel more of a partner in their instructional experiences. This helps

increase engagement, and create a learning environment that is collaborative and communicative.

We will also need the opinions, reflections, and thoughts of our students, to assess how their

learning is impacted through Mystery Skype. Through conversations and reflection discussions

with our classes, we will be able to alter areas that need improvement.

This group of stakeholders is different from the “ideal” list in the Guidebook, because it

has incorporated our foreign language and international studies teachers. These teachers will be

of great use, because the goal of Mystery Skype is to help students connect with the world, to

become more globally and culturally aware. It can help open their eyes to more differences

between individuals, and allow them to work towards creating a world that is more peaceful and

sustainable. Our school is unique from a normal list of stakeholders, because it is so focused on

international and cultural studies, and transdisciplinary learning through our international

baccalaureate program. We focus on creating learning that can be more focused on helping our

students make the world a better place, and deepening their appreciation of the diverse world

around us.

The people that I would like to be involved in this process, will need reason to involve

themselves. To get them interested in the innovation, they will need to experience it firsthand. I
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plan to hold an additional demo of a Mystery Skype, for those who may not be faculty members

at the staff meeting. I also plan to record the Mystery Skype sessions I hold, so that stakeholders

may access it at a later time. I will make sure to hold a question and answer session, so that any

questions or concerns stakeholders may have with this innovation may be addressed and

discussed. After the Mystery Skype trial at my school, a survey will go out to my staff to gauge

potential interest in being on the planning committee. From there, I will hold initial meetings to

go more in depth about the vision I have for this innovation, and how it can help our school focus

more on our international baccalaureate goals by incorporating more experiences that relate to

global education.

Plan of Action

Vision and Mission

According to The Guidebook, “a vision statement expresses your thoughts about what

you want to happen in the future and should be written in broad terms” (pg. 16). In other words,

we want to be thinking about our goals for the innovation we hope to bring into the school, and

how this innovation will bring about beneficial changes. The vision should be focused on

instruction, and how we hope the innovation will drive our instruction and our learners. The

Guidebook also states that, “a mission statement describes your purpose and your plans for

fulfilling your vision for technology in education” (pg. 16). The mission is much more in depth,

and describes how we plan to bring our vision to reality at our school.

A vision statement for my school could be, “Wellwood engages learners through the

utilization of technology and inquiry based learning, to connect globally and become responsible

for shaping our own identities and futures.” This vision focuses on the idea of global education,
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through the utilization of technology. It connects to the idea of students becoming more globally

aware, and taking control of their futures. This vision can be carried out through the use of

Mystery Skype, and other tools that I can demonstrate for my staff members once Mystery

Skype has been successfully adopted. Students will also be strengthening their inquiry, critical

thinking, and collaboration skills in order to work together to solve the mystery.

The mission statement for my school, would go more in depth about the goals and means

by which we will meet the goals. It would explain that the main purpose of the innovation is to

create globally educated students who engage, collaborate, and communicate with the world

around them. Our mission is to empower students to become inquiring, knowledgeable, and

compassionate, who understand and respect diverse environments. We will engage them in

rigorous and collaborative instruction, that will instill in them the values of passion,

perseverance, and hard work. We will train our educators through professional developments and

hands-on planning sessions, to ensure that they are fully prepared before adopting the innovation.

Issues

Two of the biggest issues that my school faces, are the Ely’s conditions of availability of

time, and sufficient knowledge and resources. The implementation of my plan will alleviate the

struggle my staff faces, and provide support that will allow them to develop the skills they need

in order to adopt the new innovation.

By providing multiple training sessions and creating roll-out schedules, I am catering to

the issue of time. I also am providing asynchronous learning opportunities for my staff, which

would allow for them to do the trainings at their own pace, and on their own time. They can also

access the trainings that they need, rather than sitting through ones that they do not need, which
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creates differentiation. My staff will become better educated on the skills needed to implement

this innovation, which helps with the condition of knowledge and skill.

Two other issues that my plan can help with, are the issues of participation and

leadership. By creating a more coherent plan, teachers should be more likely to have an interest.

They will feel as though they are receiving proper training, with organized leadership. Teachers

are more likely to attend a training that they feel can be meaningful and beneficial to them. They

also want to know that that training will be applicable to their classroom.

Timeline, Action Steps, & Assessment Steps

The first step that will need to take place, is meeting with my administration to discuss

the vision I have with this innovation. I will need them to approve my idea, so that I can begin

recruiting interest for the professional development I will hold in August. Once approved, I can

start sending information to my staff to get them interested in the idea, so that they will sign up

to attend the initial professional development. I can also contact the stakeholders I wish to

become a part of the team, and begin planning with them how we can carry out my vision.

The initial professional development I will hold will be to engage my staff in a Mystery

Skype session, so they can experience first hand how exciting it is. We will then have a reflective

discussion about the possible benefits this innovation could bring to our classrooms. I will then

continue explaining the purpose of Mystery Skype, and the ideals of global education and how it

can connect with the ideals we have through our IB program. Last, during this professional

development I will explain the planning process and the steps needed in order to successfully

implement Mystery Skype into classrooms. There is no funding required since Skype is a free
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network, and our school is fortunate enough to already contain all the necessary equipment to

carry it out.

After this initial professional development, I will need to figure out the interest level from

my staff. This will be done through the use of surveys or questionnaires. Teachers will be able to

express their interest level, and what support they desire. The supports that will be available will

be trainings on materials, setup, connecting online, and implementation, observations or learning

walks, planning and reflecting sessions, and co-teaching. From there, I will be able to work with

my team in order to discuss what roles everyone will play. My STAT teacher and IB Coordinator

will be very helpful because they will assist me with trainings, observations, and planning

sessions. This will alleviate the scheduling for me, since I cannot be everywhere at once or fit the

whole staff into my schedule. In order to start providing trainings, I will need buy-in from my

staff with rewards and incentives. I want to work with my administration to allow incentives

such as stipends for participating in trainings after school, as well as provided food. Another

incentive would be a Twitter Shout Out, to showcase the Mystery Skype in their classrooms.

Once teachers feel ready to implement Mystery Skype into their classroom, they can

either request for me to be present, or meet with me after to discuss and reflect on how it went.

Reflection is going to be a huge part of the process, because it helps us decide where we need

improvement, and what steps to take to take the innovation to the next level. I am hoping that by

the end of the second quarter, most teachers will have tried utilizing Mystery Skype in their

classrooms. If this is not the case, I hope to spread the successes of the staff members who did

participate via social media, so that other staff members will want to be a part of the excitement.

Any teachers who express late interest can set up meetings with me to receive individual

training.
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After many staff members utilize Mystery Skype, I plan to hold a reflection meeting so

that we can share and discuss our successes or realizations. Teachers will be able to share stories

or ideas, and discuss what next steps might be taken. We will also discuss the possibilities of

taking Mystery Skype, and using it in other areas of curriculum besides geography. This

conversation will be important, because I will be able to gauge whether the staff feels that

Mystery Skype is something they see as beneficial and something they wish to continue.

Example Plans

When reading the Honey Creek Community School Technology Plan, I found many

aspects of their plan that I found helpful. To begin, I thought it was a great idea to place their

belief statements at the forefront of the document. This lets the readers know the values held by

the school, and gives some insight into what their goals are as a community. They also put a

table of contents and a list of the planning team members, which I think is beneficial. I would

want to utilize both aspects in my technology plan. The mission statement aligns almost perfectly

with the goals I have for my technology plan. They discuss being focused on community,

project-based learning, and developing an appreciation of diversity, which overlap with the

ideals my school holds. A part of this plan that stood out to me the most, was the section on

curriculum integration. They went through each grade level, and discussed specific ways that the

technology would be incorporated into their curriculum. I thought it was well organized,

detailed, concise, and simple to follow.

While this plan had many areas of strength, I thought there were areas that could also be

improved. First, I believe their vision statement was not succinct, and was also too broad. I felt

that their plan focused on incorporating technology, but did not focus in on specifics. It seems

incorporating technology is the main goal, but I believe they should decide on maybe 3-5 tools or
GLOBALLY EDUCATED 21

ways to focus on and train staff in, and let those be known in the document. While they did a

good job of discussing curriculum integration, I felt they could have done a better job with

discussing assessment and reflection. It seems that having time to reflect or discuss on student

achievement, or how things are going in the classrooms was not incorporated.

The second plan I looked at, was Gorzycki Middle School Instructional Technology

Implementation Plan. I was very impressed by their goals, because each goal was broken down

into three of four specific objectives that they have in mind for the educators and staff. Then for

each objective, they break it down further into three or four strategies that they will implement to

meet the objectives, with the person(s) responsible for each task and what resources will be used.

I believe this chart was very thorough, and I would consider implementing it into my technology

plan. This plan also includes documents of technology plans that are similar to theirs, which is a

good feature because it gives people additional resources to use when writing a plan.

There were two features that I felt could use improvement with this plan. First, they did

not include a mission statement. They did have a vision statement, with their goals, however I

believe it is important to include a mission statement as well. Second, while their chart was laid

out and planned thoroughly, they finished the plan after the chart and did not go into detail about

what their steps would look like. It was more in a bulleted form, rather than a paragraph form.

This plan mentioned that their ultimate goal is to have teachers learn to utilize the new

equipment their school received, however it was not specific about what these new technologies

were exactly.
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References

ACOT States of Technology Integration (n.d.) Retrieved from

http://onlinetools.pbworks.com/f/ACOTStagesofTechnology.doc.pdf

Dwyer, D., Ringstaff, C., Sandholtz, J. (n.d.) The Evolution of Teachers’ Instructional Beliefs

and Practices in High-Access-to-Technology Classrooms First-Fourth Year Findings.

Retrieved from https://www.apple.com/euro/pdfs/acotlibrary/rpt8.pdf

The Dream Flags Project (2004) Our Story: About Us. Retrieved from

http://dreamflags.org/about-us

Ely, Donald P. (n.d.) Conditions That Facilitate the Implementation of Educational Technology

Innovations. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oFkMl-

s85RRWhwTGQ0VFdnVzg/view

Mississippi State University Graduate Students (1996) Guidebook for Developing an Effective

Instructional Technology Plan. Retrieved from

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oFkMl-s85RbUFDdUhGZ0NFNDA/view

Surry, D. (February of 1997) Diffusion Theory and Instructional Technology Retrieved from

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oFkMl-s85RLVp5RDRLS0wwQ2M/view