Executive+Summary

American education is at a crossroads. As educators work to transform schools into places that effectively prepare students to live, learn and work in a global, knowledge-based environment, they are faced with the incompatibility of an industrial age model attempting to meet the educational requirements of today’s information based society. The digital age requires high academic standards, technological fluency, communication skills, interpersonal skills, information literacy, and independence in learning and critical thinking abilities. These requirements reflect the need for educators to rethink current practices and acknowledge that technology is both a tool and a catalyst for creating pedagogical change.
 * EXECUTIVE SUMMARY **

Technology has been shown to accelerate, enrich and deepen basic skills, but it also has the ability to enhance the development of basic skills and apply them in today’s digital age through problem solving, collaboration, analysis, evaluation and design.

A strategic plan is therefore essential for successfully maximizing the potential of technology and integrating it into the educational environment to coincide with the requirements, challenges and demands of the 21st century. Additionally, educators need to define what it means to be educated in the context of a digital, knowledge-based society, as well as establish new measures for assessing progress toward success in today’s world. The following technology plan is a proactive visionary tool for the development of a planned integration of technology into new and existing curricula. This document will lay out a plan for assessing existing facilities, integrating current technology effectively and developing new facilities and programs throughout the_ __District.__

The development of an adequate instructional technology program depends upon the infrastructure support provided to schools and classrooms. To that end, the district has developed a comprehensive, standard local area network plan for schools.

Access to the Internet is one example of the applications that will be available to teachers in the future as this infrastructure is provided. Other applications will be: · Two-way video teleconferencing · AP classes taught from one location while students “attend” the class from another school. · · Extended learning – the “home bound” student would be able to log into the classroom in “real time” – as the class is being taught. · Professional Development on demand. The teacher will be able to log onto the system and take specific course at times convenient to the teacher. · Courses can be developed and stored on net servers. · The teacher will take an “on line” course by signing on to the District’s web site. · The system will have the capability to “stream” video. A video presentation of a course would be available for downloading onto the school server and, then, would be available to the teacher “on demand.”

It is critical to acknowledge that the infrastructure and the use of the resulting technology in classrooms will have a direct impact on the instructional program in schools.

New and different modalities for professional development will enable the District to provide opportunities for teachers to enhance their skills without removing them from their classrooms. Teachers will take what they have learned back to a technology enriched classroom; integrate the technology into their curriculum, directly and indirectly affect student achievement.

The Instructional Technology Plan was developed with the active participation of many in the school community. The Instructional Technology Application Facilitators (ITAFs) and other educators participated in focus groups led by representatives from the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology (CELT). Additionally, interviews were held with key stakeholders and school administrators.



NETS Technology Foundation Standards for Students. These standards are divided into six broad categories:

· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Basic operations and concepts <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Social, ethical, and human issues <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Technology productivity tools <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Technology communications tools <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Technology research tools <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; msofareastfontfamily: Arial; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools



<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Secondly, the District believes that technology usage within the school needs to become ubiquitous, that is, transparent and routine. According to Workforce 2000 and the National Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, until very recently no society has needed more than 25 percent of its labor pool to possess formalized information-handling skills. But, by the year 2000, 75 percent of all U.S. jobs will require notonly the three "R's," but also the four "C's": communications, computation and computer competency (Edwards & Snyder, 1992). The use of technology can no longer be thought of as an extension of the curriculum, rather it must be viewed as a tool for vital learning experiences.
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Ubiquitous Technology **

The District believes that students’ guided use of technology can foster information literacy, Engaged Learning and improved higher-level thinking skills. There is significant research to support this claim. In a 1994 study, an experiment was developed to determine if technology had any effect on higher order thinking skills. According to Pogrow (1994)__, a learning strategy based on the Higher Order Thinking Skills Project (HOTS), involves three principles:

1. creating an intriguing learning environment, 2. combining visual and interactive learning experiences that help students to form mental representations, and 3. developing cognitive architecture that unifies their learning

Chappaqua Central School District: [|Cappaqua Central School District] Los Angeles School District: [|Los Angeles School District]
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