Technology Use Planning

Technology use planning is a complex and on-going process that

includes assessment of the needs of the learning community, focuses
on improving instructions through natural infusion of technology,
involves all stakeholders in the community, engages those affected in
a meaningful dialogue of their dreams and aspirations for the
organization. It has many dimensions and each aspect of this on-going
planning process is equally important.
How might the new National Educational Technology Plan 2010
be an effective and powerful resource for technology use
planning?
It can be used as a starting point at school or district level to engage in
technology use planning and implementation. As the NETP 2010 is a
strategic document prepared by specialists in various areas of
expertise it can serve as a framework of planning at a smaller scale
such as school district or even individual school.
The common goal and vision is clearly outlined in the NETP 2010 and it
can trickle down to districts and schools and in relation to the district
budgets aim at long-term equity of all schools in a district and districts
in a state and thus achieve the national vision of educational
standards. Basically it should be embraced and shared throughout the
nation if it is to be achieved.
Many obstacles need to be overcome in achieving the vision of
education that the plan presents. Some are financial, others can be
defined as resistance to change coming from different stakeholder
groups in society. Those obstacles need to be carefully assessed at
different levels, various stakeholder groups need to be involved in the
district, town, school level for it to be implemented successfully.

When looking at the time frame for technology use planning, it can be
medium term but the plan needs to be flexible enough to allow for
changes and updates. I disagree with some of the points that John See
makes as for example, learning video production- those type of skills
can effectively be achieved by integrating computers and suitable
software to enable learners to produce videos. But John See makes
some very important points in his article and those that caught my
eyes are that:
Technology should be integrated in the curriculum and not
taught as a separate subject. From my own experience of
teaching in international schools with good integration of
technology, technology applications were closely integrated in
our subject areas plan and this worked very well. Technology
literacy was supported either by subject teachers or by people in
charge of the technology support.
Staff needs to be involved from the start of the planning process
and technology plan should be tied with staff development
plans- This is important as they will be integrating technology
and need to be trained in the basic skills to be able to develop
those further and integrate those skills and applications in the
curriculum. As an online teacher and online course developer I
have experienced the learning curve already and at the start it
seems quite steep but the more you learn, the more curious you
are about how to apply those in an inquiry-based lessons,
lessons that help students learn 21st century skills without
compromising the content of the subject.
What do you think about his comment that "effective
technology plans focus on applications, not technology?"

To some extent See is correct but on the other hand, those who will use
the technology and integrate it in the curriculum, should be able to
support students which means they need to have some basic
technological background to be effective teachers not only of their
subject area but also in guiding their students in mastering the usage
of technology.

What experiences have you had with technology use planning

and what have you seen for outcomes (both good and bad?)
In the school I was teaching in the last four years one-on-one laptop
usage was introduced. At first it was very frustrating for teachers to
integrate usage of computers in their classes as time available for
planning was insufficient and also staff development in technology use
was not embraced from the very start. Many times school
administrators take it for granted that teacher will know how to use
computers and applications and the initial experience was not so good.
Gradually training sessions for teachers were organized and this
helped a lot, especially when some colleagues volunteered to present
the way they use technology in their lessons.
As an online course developer when I was involved in developing the IB
Economics online course I had to think carefully about applications
existing out there that could be easily integrated in the course and
would be effective and interesting for students. We are also constantly
involved in updating the needed external applications in the online
course environment.
Anderson,L.S.,&Perry,Jr.,J.F.(n.d.).NationalCenterforTechnologyPlanning.RetrievedNovember19,
2012,fromhttp://www.nctp.com/html/tp_recipe.cfm
NationalEducationTechnologyPlan2010|U.S.DepartmentofEducation.(n.d.).RetrievedNovember19,2012,
fromhttp://www.ed.gov/technology/netp2010
See,J.(n.d.).NationalCenterforTechnologyPlanning.RetrievedNovember19,2012,from
http://www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfm
StockPhotography:Familylovingtechnology.Image:25260212.(n.d.).RetrievedNovember19,2012,from
http://www.dreamstime.com/stockphotographyfamilylovingtechnologyimage25260212