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Effective technology plans focus on applications, not technology. In other words, make your technology plan output based, not input based. Develop a plan that specifies what you want your students, staff, and administration to be able to do with technology and let those outcomes determine the types and amount of technology you will need. Many technology plans are based on numbers of machines - input. Typically, technology committees go before school boards asking for a computer lab, or computers for classrooms. Of course the first question board members will ask is, "Why do you need them"? Why not answer that question in your plan. It may be better to go to your school board saying this is what we want our students to be able to do - output. Then, tell them what technology you need in order to accomplish your goals and what cost options there are. By taking this approach, you can also answer the debate over which brand names to purchase. This argument over whether to use Apples or IBMs in schools is really not important. If you can drive a Ford you can drive a Chevy... and if you can drive an Apple you can drive an IBM. It is the technical applications that the machines can help us perform that is the important issue. The real question always must be, "what applications of technology are available that will help our students, staff, and administration work smarter, not harder?" For example, if your outcome is to use technology to help restructure the role of teachers, then there seems to be one brand of computer on the market that offers the most personal productivity power. Buy it. If your outcome is to automate the media center, or use CD-ROM data for instruction, then another brand of computer is more powerful. Buy it. Trying to standardize your district's purchases on one brand or model of computer and make it perform all present and future applications of technology is impossible.