Technology use planning refers to creating a plan that you wish to implement to get the tools for teaching technology. For example: If you wish to get a computer lab, you would have to create a plan for implementing the computer lab. What would the lab be used for? What would be the use of the computers and what types of computers do you need? How can you best implement the plan and use of technology? These are all things you need to consider when creating a technology plan so that your technology will be used effectively. It also includes how much money and time it will take to implement the plan.
I believe that the National Educational Technology Plan 2010 will be effective and powerful when it comes to technology use planning because it lays out five goals for technology planning: Learning, Assessment, Teaching, Infrastructure, and Productivity. These five goals will help focus the needs of technology and help create effective goals for schools.
I have to say that I partially agree with See that a technology plan must be short term. I believe it also takes time to implement a plan. I agree that technology is constantly changing and that by the time you implement a long term plan, the technology has already changed. However, since I am a teacher, I realize that it takes time to teach the teachers a new thing. Many times teachers are not willing to learn new things, ironic isn’t it? I think that one year is doable when it comes to teaching about a new technology. It takes about 1 year to work out the bugs in my school. The problem is that by the time we work out the bugs, we’ve already switched to something new. Also, many times we meet a lot of resistance when trying to implement a new technology. For example: last year, we tried to implement Edmodo into our classes. Some teachers took to it right away; others didn’t take to it at all. Part of that problem was the fact that we lacked the technology to support the use of Edmodo (we don’t have computers in every classroom). We are always looking for different ways to implement technology into our classrooms and to keep current you have to have short term goals.
When See says “effective technology plans focus on applications, not technology” I think he is referring to technology being applied in our daily lives rather than the actual technology that you use. I think he is trying to say that the actual computer is the technology and the application is how the technology is used. I think he is stressing the importance of knowing how to use and apply technology. That is the long term plan for technology, is that you know how to apply what you have and know.
Do you agree/disagree?
I agree with See’s above statement because you can have the best technology in the world, but if you don’t know how to use it, then it is pointless. You need to know how to use what you have and learn how to use new technology so you can promote it for your business or school. I can buy millions of dollars’ worth of technology, but if I no one knows how to use it, then why invest in the actual technology? We need to invest in training teachers how to apply what we have.
What experiences have you had with technology use planning and what have you seen for outcomes (both good and bad?)
I personally do not have any technology use planning experience. I have seen people try to get computers in our building, I for one voted for a computer lab for our 6th grade hallway, but it never was even thought about. Also, we had a grant for technology at our school and they allowed the teachers to vote on what we wanted to see the extra money go to. They voted in our school to use the extra money to buy a 3rd laptop cart that would be used in the 6th grade hallway. However, I didn’t directly have any influence on the plan that was put into place.
Bibliography:
See, J. (1992, May). Developing Effective Technology Plans. NCTP. Retrieved from http://www.nctp.com/html/john_see.cfm
Jessica Rouse 