A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Your community and schools will want to ask: What are we doing to continuously improve the use of technology in our schools?

To answer this question, you may want to look at:

• Uses for Student Learning. What technologies are our schools now using to promote student learning? Are students tapping databases and on-line libraries to help them learn at world- class levels? Are our schools using computer networks, satellite-delivered instruction, multimedia, and other technologies? Are students with disabilities able to use technology to participate in regular classrooms? Do all students, including children from low-income homes, have access to these technologies? How effectively are we using these technologies to help all children reach high academic standards? How can we expand and strengthen the use of technologies in our schools to enhance student learning and provide greater access to individualized instruction? How can we use technologies to move toward the National Education Goals and to help every child reach high standards of learning?

• Uses for Professional Development. What technologies are our teachers now using to promote their own learning? Are teachers participating in e-mail discussion groups with professors and other teachers, to deepen their knowledge of subjects they teach, develop curricula or lessons, or share ideas? Do teachers have access to on-line databases? Are schools, social service providers, and others who work with children in our community using on-line communications to coordinate their efforts?

• Decisions About Technologies. Are decisions about hardware and software purchases in our school district based on an analysis of our academic standards and on instructional approaches needed to help all students reach those standards? In other words, is our plan for technology separate from -- or integrated with -- our overall comprehensive effort to move all children toward high academic standards?

• Introducing Technologies Into Our Schools. How are we going about introducing state-of-the-art technologies into our classrooms and school libraries? How do we provide for their installation and ongoing maintenance -- the basic connection, hardware, and support materials?

• Training, Technical Assistance, and Promising Efforts. How are we providing for ongoing training and support for teachers and other school staff? Does this training and support help teachers integrate technology into the curriculum and incorporate continuing technology advances? What resources and procedures are necessary for providing ongoing technical assistance to carry out our technology plan, as part of our larger comprehensive, continuous improvement effort? How are we spreading the word throughout the school system about exemplary programs and practices related to the use of technology?

• Funding and Partners. How much will our investment in technology cost? From which funding sources will we pay for it? What is our schedule for developing and implementing our technology plan, in the context of our comprehensive effort to move all children toward high standards? How will we work in partnership with business and industry, and with public and private telecommunications entities?

• Open Systems, Interoperability, and Existing Infrastructure. How can we promote the purchase of equipment that, when placed in schools, will meet the highest possible level of interoperability and open system design? To what extent are we using the existing telecommunications infrastructure and current technology resources?

• After Hours, and Other Users. How are we encouraging the use of our technology facilities by state literacy resource centers, public libraries, and other adult and family literacy providers? Are these facilities open after school, on weekends, and during the summer?

• Evaluating Our Process, and Updating the Plan. How will we assess the impact of our plan -- as we implement it -- on student achievement, including student achievement in individual schools? What will be our process for periodically reviewing and updating our technology plan, in the context of our comprehensive plan?

[Opportunity-to-Learn...] [Governance, Management, and Accountability]