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This document pinpoints how to realize the benefits of technology, schools must develop a plan for integrating technology into the curriculum. It explains that an effective technology plan is based on the shared vision of educators, parents, community members, and business leaders who have technological expertise. And how it strengthens existing curricula and supports meaningful, engaged learning for all students. There are many enriching links to go deeper into the several aspects that the article mentions.

Contrasting and comparing school/district/state/natiomnal technology plans requires standardized "Best Practices."

Great supporting documentation and access to further information in the form of imbedded hyperlinks

This isn't directly related to this week but I thought it would be interesting to post. This was the headlining article on CNN today. The Penn State report is obviously big news because of how big of a deal the scandal at Penn State was. The fact that CNN decided that the aspect of this report that was most important was the reaction on social media is what I find interesting. It really says something about the importance of social media in our culture. I think anyone expecting to be a leader within a school district is going to have to pay attention to and put resources into social media. I wonder if we'll see positions being created in school districts just to deal with social media in the future.

This website provides a sequence of planning steps for school districts to apply when developing a technology plan and vision. This was published by the National School Boards Foundation. I thought these steps were clearly stated and easy to follow. Navigating through the website specifically this page, http://www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/atp.html also provided information for school leaders to consider when evaluating and assessing their districts plan which should be conducted periodically.

Our NC folks will be particularly interested in this....

I just posted a comment in our blog about us not being certain of the real impact in the students' learning process as a result of the use of technological resources... This article has started to answer this question...

Two recent studies of schoolwide one-to-one computing initiatives--one in the United States and one in Canada--suggest that using laptops in the classroom can help improve students' writing skills and bolster overall academic success. The studies come as an increasing number of states and school districts are rolling out laptop programs of their own.

A compilation of four new studies of one-to-one computing projects in K-12 schools identifies several factors that are key to the projects' success, including adequate planning, stakeholder buy-in, and strong school or district leadership. Not surprisingly, the researchers say the most important factor of all is the teaching practices of instructors.

A brief article detailing what s necessary for an effective 1:1 computing program.

A Guide for School Districts Information and communications technologies (ICT) policies in schools have two dimensions.

I decided to share this plan because it has a comprehensive approach to developing a district level technology plan. I also noticed that they have been working on a technology plan since 2004. They include all stakeholders in thier plan, which is relevant to our topic.

This is the technology plan for Virginia. One can use this to compare their own district's technology plan.

Glad you shared this. And, yes, it'd be great to hold up your school or district tech plan to both the national and state plans.

Find whatever you're looking forwith Totally Local Yellow Pages West Prairie School District's three-year technology plan, approved by the district's board of education Thursday night, includes steps to move the district towards implementing a one-to-one digital learning program that would provide students with their own device, such as a laptop computer or iPad.

Another technology plan-from new hampshire-for comparison. A planning guide for district technolgy planning committees.

Created a little while ago, and written by a company to encourage schools and libraries to join their services, but has some good suggestions that could apply to county and district levels.

Alittle piece of the summer!! A blog entry exploring how Henrico County Schools System has adopted the TPACK model for staff development and 21st century learning. Provides examples of how to integrate technology and provides resource examples.

I found this too and thought it was interesting to see Henrico's take on TPACK in action. Good examples of integration and resource examples

Interesting information about Henrico County's integration of TPACK

The Web offers a trove of just-in-time resources that administrators may find helpful, such as podcasts, online classes, and social networks that can match up administrators across the country, he said. Read the whole series on Virtual PD!

Some good pros and cons raised in the article and I agree that face-face and online courses have a place for both teachers and administrators. Attitudes towards webinars need to be addressed too - numerous times the webinar is on in the background whilst the teacher works... how much is being absorbed during this? Yes it can cut down travel times etc. but participants need to focus without distraction - is that always possible in school?

In reading this article I thought about the same Viv... I have the feeling that on trying to be more effective and save time, the school districts are actually making PD sessions unreachable for many teachers... There can be wonderful opportunities out there but if enough time is not provided to take advantage of them or to have enriching discussions afterwards, teachers are not going to internalize and process how to apply the new knowledge to the classroom.