Embedded Files
Evidence: VT Personalized Learning Plan (PLP) Platform Fair
As stated previously, I have been a part of our school's PLP implementation as the Lead Grade Level Advisor for the 10th grade advisory program. In 2017, along with our vice principal and ITE Coach I attended the PLP Platform fair in Fairlee, VT. Previously our students had been using a template that I created in the older version of Google Sites to house their digital PLP's. With the rollout of New Google Sites, which (at first) didn't have as many capabilities as the previous version, our team started looking for new avenues for students to create their PLP's.
At the conference, we spent a lot of time talking to the creators of various platforms represented. We talked about the strengths and drawbacks of each. Ultimately our decision was swayed by taking a look at the situation from the viewpoint of our students. We recognized that our students are asked to log in to a slew of platforms:
- Naviance for college searches
- Google Drive for file storage
- NEO for school work
- Outlook for email
- the school website for information
- an online portal for quarter grade information
The list goes on. We have decided to stay with the New Google Sites for our PLP's, and as hoped, the platform continues to improve.
Evidence: Selection committee for new Student Information System (SIS)
Up until last year our school was using a very old version of Schoolmaster for our SIS. The program looked like it hadn't been updated since the early 90's and was accessible via our network (not the internet). It was time for a change and I wanted to help. Along with other teachers from the district, I helped evaluate about a half a dozen new SIS platforms, each of us recognizing the need for various elements because of our role as teacher, special educator, administrator, etc. We narrowed the list down to two and then all attended a presentation from the sales reps for the company.
Having left the presentations a bit disappointed in each (neither of the companies had integrated proficiency grading in a systematic way) I voiced my concerns and suggested we go back to the drawing board. That did not happen, and IT ended up choosing one of the SIS's that were presented. Fast forward a little over a year, and everyone was disappointed with that choice. This year IT and the school administrators decided that they had had enough and were going to migrate all of our data to a new platform.
One of the frustrating things about working in a large school and helping to make decisions is that logic doesn't always prevail. I think this will be one of the most challenging aspects of a role in ITE for me.
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