Hey, Everyone! So this week my assignment is to begin to conceptualize and plan for the Technology Integration project I'll be creating as a final requirement for this course. In keeping with the "Call to Action" I put together in EDUC 5353, my audience for this project remains the Ed Tech department leaders and district leadership. When considering exactly who the stakeholders are I'm choosing to include, I considered who will be most affected by the changes made as a result of my plan. First and foremost, I feel like it is imperative to include teachers in this process. Helping teachers make the most of the technology they have access to and make the soundest instructional decisions when integrating technology will greatly benefit the 21st-century learners our district is molding. Who better than the ones actually charged with molding 21st-century learners to communicate what they need and what works best for them? Their choices and behaviors directly impact the students with whom they work. Next, I chose to include students as stakeholders because, as 21st-century learners, they are looking to teachers to help prepare them for their next steps as life-long learners. Finally, I chose to include administrators as they affect the success of any change in their building. As leaders, their willingness to embrace or "buy in" to an idea speaks volumes to their staff and can either help them see the benefits or could send the message that it's just another thing to do. O'Hair's K20 model, described by Williams et al., (2008), begins with this in mind as they being their Phase 1 implementation with district administrators and superintendents, relying on these individuals to eventually foster whole school change through a shared vision. This shared vision (and subsequently, shared decision-making experiences) increases trust levels and risk-taking among the stakeholders (Williams et al., 2008).
Currently, our district is in a newly formed partnership with K20. Thus far, we've participated in several community surveys which included representatives from a variety of groups: administrators, community members, teachers, students, and parents. Based on the data collected, a committee was formed with representatives from each of these stakeholder groups and brainstorming sessions began. This steering committee has put together a Continuous Strategic Improvement Plan (CSIP) and identified goals and objectives for our district for the next five years. Among those objectives are two factors that I addressed in my "Call to Action" that are contributing to our current digital divide: improving student-centered use of technology and enhancing staff through training and development. For these reasons and others, I feel like it makes the most sense for me to use O'Hair's K20 model of change as the basis for my Technology Integration plan.
Williams, et al., (2008) identifies one of the primary strategies within O'Hair's K20 model as the use of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Our district has for several years required weekly PLCs within each building so that is a practice with which we are very familiar. Taking advantage of this already well-established process will signal to our teachers that this is not going to be "just another thing" but rather a sustainable commitment and an opportunity to learn and grow together as a team through collaboration. Another practice this model allows me to capitalize on is that of continuous professional development as a strategy for change. While we have fallen short of that in recent years (Covid related?), O'Hair's model will provide structured, frequent, sustainable professional development to support the integration of technology and provide networking opportunities for teachers and staff (Williams, et al., 2008).
To determine the degree of inequity occurring within our digital divide, I have created a survey (adapted from others) for members of each of the administrator, teacher, and student stakeholder groups in my building. My plan is to use the information and data garnered from that survey to identify specific areas of need and areas of strength to use in my integration plan. Hopefully, the data revealed in the survey will help me write a Technology Integration Plan that, along with my "Call to Action," will help me lay the groundwork for becoming an agent of change for our district. In addition to participating in my Needs Assessment survey, my administrator and I had an informal discussion regarding my expectations for the Tech Integration Plan. She had some valuable insight to share as she serves on the steering committee for our K20 partnership. She mentioned that factors such as scope, funding, and commitment of time will all be influenced by the shared vision created through guidance from our K20 partners. This, again, makes O'Hair's model for change an excellent fit for my plan for our district.
References:
Williams, L. A., Atkinson, L.C., Cate, J. M., O'Hair, M. J., (2008)Mutual support between learning community development and technology integration: Impact on school practices and student achievement. Theory Into Practice, 47, pp.294-302.
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