Case Study: District-wide Implementation for a "Techspert" Initiative

Technology Idea Plan:

Introduction: Due to the implementation of a 1:1 iPad initiative in our school district, teachers have been tasked with integrating additional technology into their daily lessons and instructional strategies. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “technology infuses classrooms with digital learning tools, increases student engagement and motivation, and accelerates learning” (“Use of technology”, n.d., para. 1). Therefore, teachers must be advised of the most effective ways to incorporate hardware and software, as well as the various educational technology applications that are available. Most importantly, teachers must be shown how best to use them in their specific content area. Since technology is constantly changing, it’s extremely important to keep abreast of its advancements and how it affects their instruction.

Rationale and benefits: By purposely searching for technology experts within my school (I’ll refer to them as techsperts), I have identified techsperts in each department who will be willing to offer their technology expertise and conduct professional development based on their content area. I’ve decided to implement this plan because it has been found that “many teachers within schools have experience and expertise not only using technology, but also incorporating it into their classrooms and curricula” (Kelly, 2015, p. 40). According to the survey that I recently sent to the faculty (data review can be found here), there are a handful of teachers who are willing to teach their colleagues and demonstrate how they are currently using certain technologies to improve their lessons and assessments. Departmental techsperts can offer their colleagues concrete examples and “ideas about incorporating technology into instructional activities and how they would work in an actual classroom” (Pittman & Gaines, 2015, p. 541). Armed with this knowledge, I can designate these techsperts to field any technology questions as they arise throughout the year, which will help to troubleshoot issues and get questions answered quickly. This is critical because “despite digital technology becoming ever more ubiquitous, many teachers struggle to incorporate technology into their classrooms” (Kelly 2015, p. 40). By sharing their knowledge and experience through collaboration, the integration of technology will be more effective and meaningful, which will ultimately benefit the students’ participation and outcomes.

A focused professional development plan is essential because “the majority of programs are too broad and not subject specific, they compress too much information into short trainings, and they often teach about technology that is not available to the teachers” (Pittman & Gaines, 2015, p. 540). By developing a plan to discover faculty members who have expert knowledge and outstanding technical skills, we will be able to reduce “the time required to develop and implement lesson plans that incorporate technology” (pg. 539), which is one of the barriers that impedes technology integration.

Participating in ongoing professional development is necessary, but it’s most effective when it is “school-based and job-embedded rather than a one-day workshop: (Odden et al., p. 55). This will be accomplished through our monthly PD sessions with our faculty cohort participants. By establishing this cohort group, our PD sessions will have positive outcomes because according to Odden, “effective professional development should be organized around groups of teachers from a school” (p. 55).

Estimated Budget for Apps and Professional Development: After examining the data from the survey, I have selected the apps that teachers have requested, analyzed their rationale for using them, and have identified techsperts to conduct professional development sessions during the next academic school year. These apps are: Padlet, Kahoot, Gimkit, Socrative, and Quizizz.

During the first year, the school will be piloting these apps, which will be monitored for their usage and effectiveness. At the end of the ‘21-’22 academic year, the technology committee will take necessary measures to determine which subscriptions will be continued and if additional accounts are needed.

Professional Development Cost: Every month (10 months in total), a 2-hour PD session will be given for each app (total of 5 apps). The hourly rate for PD is $90. Sessions will limit the participants to 30 teachers per session and will be established as a cohort program. Teachers must attend every session in order to earn CTLE or credit hours - a total of 20 hours.

Total app cost: Some EdTech companies offer a site license, which provides a better value. Others only offer a per teacher rate based on a monthly basis. This Google Sheet Budget file shows the complete breakdown for both PD and the individual app rates, including the total cost of this project.

How this project will be funded: In order to pay for this project, grants must be awarded by the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. Grants must either have a submission deadline by mid July, or conferred on an ongoing basis. If the remainder of the balance is not covered by the current software budget line, PD hours or the number of apps will be reduced to cover the discrepancy.

More grants will be searched for by exploring the following websites:

• DonorsChoose.org - A nonprofit organization that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects

• Sony Grants for Education - Within the U.S., Sony focuses the majority of its charitable giving on art, culture, technology and the environment, with a particular emphasis on education in each of those areas.

• Grants.gov - Official U.S. government site for finding grants for non-profits

• K-12 Grants - Upcoming funding opportunities for K–12 school, teachers and groups

• Funding Educational Technology - There are many mechanisms available to obtain funding for educational technology devices, infrastructure, and related services.

• State Aid for Technology Purposes - District leaders can use State Aid to fund technology-related purchases. The NYSED State Aid Program Office offers guidance to help districts maximize the proper use of such resources.

My Trello Board and Timeline:

Techsperts will develop their instructional plan during the summer months and will present their first Professional Development session during the Superintendent’s Conference Day in September. The conference day agenda will be emailed to all faculty members in August and teachers will sign up for the individual Techspert App sessions (Padlet, Kahoot, Gimkit, Socrative, and Quizizz) through the My Learning Plan portal. Attendants will be notified of the upcoming PD sessions throughout the year. All teachers are welcome to attend, even if the techspert is not a faculty member of their department because throughout the year, the Techsperts will be expected to learn about the apps’ latest updates and investigate new ways to integrate the app across content areas.

Individual Techspert PD sessions will be grouped in MLP as 2 meetings (example: Gimkit Techspert PD Session 1: August and September). Techsperts must submit faculty member attendance records and authorization to compensate forms for their PD sessions in order to be paid.

During the last meeting of each completed session, participants will show how they have used the app in their content area. The most creative and effective examples will be presented to the monthly faculty meetings in order to share how they are using the apps, and encourage other faculty members to supplement their instruction with these digital tools.

Anticipated issues and how they may be avoided:

• Timing of Grants - If grants aren’t awarded by the end of August, it’s possible that money can be sourced from another budget line, or a decision to eliminate some of the apps may be made. Another option includes reducing the monthly PD sessions. Fundraising is another option to cover the shortfall.

• COVID - Remote learning can be offered via Zoom or Google Meet.

• Unable to attend PD (sickness, etc.) - All sessions will be recorded and a Google Classroom will be created to post the recordings, as well as providing other helpful tips and links to related websites.

• Forgot iPad at home or low battery/uncharged iPad - Reminder emails will be sent before each session, however, teachers can borrow iPads and/or charging cables from the library.

References

Kelly, D. (2015). Overcoming Barriers to Classroom Technology Integration. Educational Technology, 55(2), 40-43. Retrieved June 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430356

Odden, A., Archibald, S., Fermanich, M., & Gallagher, H. (2002). A Cost Framework for Professional Development. Journal of Education Finance, 28(1), 51-74. Retrieved June 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40704157

Pittman, T., & Gaines, T. (2015). Technology integration in third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms in a Florida school district. Educational Technology Research and Development, 63(4), 539-554. Retrieved June 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24546635

Use of technology in teaching and learning. (n.d.). U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved June 16, 2021, from https://www.ed.gov/oii-news/use-technology-teaching-and-learning