Technology Planning
In the E-rate Priority One worksheet, what services are entailed in the section Voice, Data & Video?
In the E-rate Priority Two worksheet, what services are entailed in the section Internal Network — Hardware & Software?
Do we include all network, telecom and computing equipment on Worksheet B — Technology Assessment (Standards, Budget, Maintenance, Upgrade & Support)?
Can we access PILOT or PILOT Jr. data for our district from previous years?
What Types of Strategies Are Effective in a Building or District Technology Plan?
What Types of Goals Are Effective in a Building or District Technology Plan?
Where do I send my letter of approval from our district school board?
Where and how should I include our district’s K-20 network connection?
I won’t be applying for Priority Two E-rate services. Do I still need to fill it out?
Is the Polycom VSX 7000 video-conferencing unit we’re planning to buy eligible for E-rate?
USAC categorizes E-Rate Priority One services as telecommunication services and Internet access. Here are three guidelines to use as you complete the Priority One section:
- Think of Priority One services as the connection costs for
telephones, cell phones and your district’s Wide Area
Network.
- If you choose to provide a full budget summary, align
your telecommunications and Internet access costs with the
funding sources you plan to use to pay for these services.
- If you choose to provide a short budge summary, remember
that Priority One services are recurring costs, so don’t put
any hardware purchases or upgrade expenses in this section.
USAC’s
Eligible Services List
has more detail.
USAC categorizes E-Rate Priority Two services as internal connections and the basic maintenance you’ll need to keep those internal connections working. Here are three guidelines to use as you complete the Priority Two section:
- Refer to USAC’s
Eligible Services List for a complete list of
allowable hardware and related maintenance.
- Remember that items on the Priority Two list are subject
to the Two-in-Five Rule: within a five-year period, you are
eligible for funding in only two of those years.
- If you choose to provide a full budget summary, align
your internal connection and basic maintenance costs with
the funding sources you plan to use to pay for these
services.
Yes. List the equipment and software you plan to upgrade or replace. Make sure to explain how the strategies in your technology plan address the need for hardware/software upgrades, re-assignments and end-of-life replacement and the increasing demand for sophisticated tech support.
Yes. Contact your Educational Technology Support Center director.
Here’s a far-ranging list drawn from work done by the OSPI school improvement planning team, strategies drawn from effective Title 1 school improvement plans,
and tech planning sessions at buildings and districts. Many of these strategies map easily to the
Nine Characteristics of High-Performing Schools and align with the
Essential Conditions for Technology Integration.
| Instruction |
Curricula Assessment |
Student Support |
Assessment |
Professional Development |
Policy |
Leadership & School Culture |
Family Involvement |
| Add instructional time for struggling students |
Develop culturally responsive curriculum |
Analyze student work |
Diagnose student needs. |
Build professional learning communities |
Develop anti-harassment policies and procedures |
Develop governance documents that integrate a cycle of continuous improvement |
Assist families with educational transitions |
| Align curriculum with state academic standards |
Map district curriculum |
Formative assessments |
Early intervention strategies |
Meet regularly to collaborate |
|
Leadership team focused on student achievement |
Family coordinators |
| Create a constructivist learning environment |
Develop relevant and authentic curricula |
Summative assessments |
|
Peer coaching |
Equitable opportunity for all learners |
|
Family members on the SIP team |
| Focus on critical thinking and higher-order thinking skills |
Reading or writing across the curriculum |
Evaluate student progress on a regular basis |
Extended day opportunities for teaching and learning |
Teacher-led professional development |
|
Regular leadership team meetings |
Record family contacts |
| Flexible instructional grouping |
Integrates multiple perspectives |
Use assessments to inform instruction |
Intervention strategies |
|
|
Delegate responsibility across the leadership team |
Communicate student achievement regularly |
| Reciprocal teaching |
|
Use technology to support assessment |
Mentoring students |
|
|
Site visits to research effective strategies |
Share SIP with community |
| Research best practices |
|
|
Portfolio assessment |
|
|
Research groups |
Regular student-guardian conferences |
| Learning projects integrate technology |
|
|
Bilingual support |
|
|
System-wide access to technology |
|
| Support class for struggling students |
|
|
Many and various opportunities for learning |
|
|
Better communication through technology |
|
| Teach questioning strategies |
|
|
Student celebration |
|
|
Communicate that learning goals apply to all students |
|
| Technology integration that supports learning |
|
|
Forum where students voice concerns |
|
|
|
|
| Differentiated instruction |
|
|
Study groups |
|
|
|
|
You might find value in this rundown of goal categories and examples that other districts have used to frame their district tech plan.
Technology Goals
- Use technology to engage families and the community.
- Develop technology-based strategies that improve school climate.
- Improve the technology integration skills of teachers.
- Raise the technology literacy levels of students.
- Expand the technology proficiency of certified administrators, teachers
and teacher-librarians.
- Online research strategies that improve learning and instructional
practice.
- Make sure there is system-wide network access for teaching and learning.
Curricula-Based Learning Goals
- Career and Technical Education
- Fine arts
- Health and fitness
- Math
- Reading
- Science
- Social Studies
- World languages
- Writing
Program-Building and -Improvement Goals
- Expand community involvement.
- Develop initiatives that improve cultural competency.
- Create strategies for greater family involvement.
- Build or enhance school safety programs.
- Improve school climate.
Student Support
- Improve outreach and outcomes for counseling activities.
- Provide support for the development of student plans.
Keep a file copy, post mark and mail the original letter of board approval to OSPI
no later than Monday, April 5, 2010:
Julia Fallon, Educational Technology, OSPI
PO Box 47200
600 Washington Street SE
Olympia, WA 98504-7200
We cannot accept faxed or electronic versions of the school
board letter.
Under Priority One, this way — K-20 state/Internet connection, $xxxx annually (state applies for the E-rate discount).
Yes. Even if you don’t plan to apply for Priority Two services, we recommend that you complete the form,
list this eligible equipment and include maintenance agreements:
- Cabling.
- Web and mail server upgrades.
- Switches.
- Routers.
- Wireless access points and controllers.
- Firewalls.
The advantage here is that you’ll have the
request in place in the event that more E-rate
discount funding becomes available.
Note — if you choose not to
complete the Priority Two form, make sure you include this
equipment and its maintenance costs on worksheets A and B so
that your district technology plan is complete.
Yes. The codec unit is eligible under Priority Two; however cameras, monitors and microphones are not. Find it in the
Eligible Products Database. Look for Polycom and you’ll see that the VSX 70000e is 74 percent eligible.
|