ISTE Standards for Education Leaders 3.2 Visionary Planner
Digital transformation is taking an existing system and infusing it with technology to elevate, improve, and add value to the current operations and outcomes. The technology plan created here addresses digital transformation by introducing new and improving upon existing hardware, software, and the training required to utilize these resources most effectively. Digital transformation in this technology plan requires a level of consistency to be successful. One shortcoming of this plan is regarding incoming students absent at the beginning of the school year. Many aspects of the technology plan rely heavily on cumulative elements, which may challenge new students to acclimate.
ISTE Standards for Educational Leaders 3.4 Systems Designer
A robust infrastructure means having sufficient resources to fulfill the technological needs and goals of the technology's desired or required output. More specifically, robust infrastructure includes having the bandwidth to support the software and hardware needed to accomplish the institution's goals. My team and I have built the infrastructure system designed with each student in mind. All classrooms and offices are networked and will be upgraded to a minimum download speed of 25 Mbps. Additionally, the internet capacity will be increased to 10GB within the 3-year plan to support the technology uses. This aspect of our infrastructure speaks to meeting the future needs of our students and how growing bandwidth was a considerable aspect of our technology planning. An element not included in the infrastructure plan that I would change for the future is the Information Technology (IT) maintenance personnel. Having an onsite IT dedicated employee will be crucial to the success of any institution's intent to incorporate and expand upon its technology utilization.
Re-evaluation of Existing School District Technology Plan
After a cursory re-evaluation of the school district's technology plan I initially evaluated, many new things are illuminated. Looking at it through a more appreciative lens, I can identify specificities and intricacies I hadn’t previously known to look for or notice. For example, integration coordinators have been identified, and multiple individuals are responsible for tasks I may have grouped together for a single person to be in charge of. The details in this technology plan are quite elaborate, and it is evident to me now that this is an extremely well-thought-out and designed plan. They have included resources for new and existing teachers, like a teacher’s tech hub and source access page. The weaknesses are that not all links work, and the site itself needs servicing. Overall, I have an increased respect for this technology plan which I initially didn’t do justice to in my evaluation since I lacked the understanding and appreciation needed to do so.