Informed Decision Making

Administration of Media & Technology Programs

Part of being an instructional leader is thinking globally about a district and the various needs of students. I wrote a technology grant proposal that illuminated the huge need for devices on my campus. My former school was Title I and had a significant low socio-economic population. By giving each of our students an iPad, they can explore a digital world around them! My proposal consisted of a technology proposal brief that gave more information about the specific demographics we have here at Washington Elementary. My purpose statement for the project was as follows:

"Washington Elementary School of Sherman Independent School District wishes to increase digital literacy of every student K-4 by providing an iPad to all students to use during academic learning stations for projects, internet research and video presentations because having only 4 desktop computers in each classroom limits the accessibility and equity for all students."

The next step to my project was to create a technology grant proposal using some type of visual software. I chose to use Prezi because I thought it was the best medium for highlighting what I wanted to convey to the reader. Not only was it easy to navigate but I could also put a personal video in the presentation as well. Just this past semester I was able to present this exact presentation to a technology planning committee to be considered for technology funding in the next school year. I wanted to highlight the amazing accomplishments of my students as well as placing a high importance on digital literacy. The final step was to narrate my technology grant proposal, which I chose to do with YouTube.

My Grant Proposal Presentation allowed me to go into greater detail of my campus and specific needs of my students. While working on this project I was able to gain confidence as an informed-decision maker. My research and presentation allowed me to have a voice for my campus and hopefully create change for the most vulnerable of students. I had written many grants before in my educational career but none of them to this scale. By creating a proposal for my campus to be 1:1, our students will be better equipped to implement digital tools in the classroom and achieve higher academic success beyond our school.

Web 2.0 Technologies

During the early years of my career in instructional technology, I was introduced to the term "Web 2.0." I only knew of one kind of web at the time: the world wide web. Being introduced to this term was the catalyst for changing the focus on how to approach professional development. The past four years of my educational career has been dedicated to creating cohorts of teachers within my campus that have a passion for technology and are willing to become technology leaders for their team.

Technology PLC January 26

Technology Strategic Planning

Thinking strategically is not a new concept in education. School districts have been forced to think this way due to school funding challenges and educational mandates. Thinking strategically in technology, however, is a concept that has started to catch on from the beginning of the 21st century. Technology is extremely expensive and that expense must be planned for in advance to ensure that our students are getting the best possible digital environment.

As I began to think strategically about my campus, I first looked at the data/doc analysis to see where our campus challenges might be. In comparison to the state of Texas, I was pleasantly surprised! Once I had completed the data analysis, I then looked at our mission and vision statements and re-worked them into a more technology driven focus for our campus.

I then sat down with all of our campus stakeholders to discuss our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) that impacted where we are today in technology. Once I compiled the data, I created a SWOT analysis. This allowed me to see the "big picture" for our school and come up with strategic challenges and advantages to create a strategic plan. Once all of the data had been compiled, I was able to create my technology strategic plan that created a workable time-table for any issue we deemed to be important. With the help of my technology planning committee, we were able to identify four priority goals and objectives that needed the most attention going forward into the 2019-2020 school year. My technology strategic plan website offers a glimpse into what Washington Elementary's challenges/strengths are and how we can move forward into the future.

This project was the first opportunity I had to think like an administrator. Gathering data on my campuses strengths and weaknesses were eye opening and allowed me to see through the eyes of my staff. By thinking about where we want our students to be in the next two years proved to be somewhat challenging given what limitations we have in our district. The number one factor I discovered through this project that had the most leverage was whether our district was willing to fund our technology goals for our students. By creating this strategic plan with my team I have built my capacity for informed-decision making.

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