Esser is over. The electronic rate is in doubt. The future of The United States Ministry of Education is not clear. For all budgetary disorders of pandemic spending and the evolution of presidential administrations in recent years, some educators believe that long -term planning of technology in kindergarten in the 12th year will only become more difficult. In the midst of so much uncertainty, the panelists in Future of Education Technology conference In Orlando, this month said that the trick is to develop technology plans with the hypothesis of a change integrated.
At the head of a two -hour session on best practices for technological plans, Donna Williamson, the retired CTO of Mountain Brook mountain schools in Alabama, said that the essential functions of these documents include identification From what must happen, the identification of all data sources and the supply of an action plan. For this, she recommended three sections: one for applications, one for user devices and one for class technologies. Finally, she said, the technological plans should include a section on budgetary, funded and not funded requirements.
Another speaker and former CTO, Sheryl Abshire of public schools in the parish parish of Calcasieu in Louisiana, recalled an era when a technological plan was a document to print and somewhat fixed in stone. Now, she said, it should be a work in progress that is continuous.
“Today, the power of a technological plan is that it evolves. It’s not static, “she said. “It is a living document which continues to evolve according to a ton of problems – financing, politics, politics, inherited planning.”
Politics and equity
ABSHIRE said that the moment when schools could “simply experiment” have passed. She pointed out that heads of schools must make complete decisions according to mandates, strict budgetary requirements and other external and internal factors. For example, she declared a decision last year by the fifth Circuit Court of Apouals in the United States which threatens the future of the electronic rate, a program that covers wide-band expenses for schools and libraries, made more difficult long -term technological plans. “We ”. I will see what the Supreme Court says, and if they say that it is (unconstitutional), then (the Federal Communications Commission) will go back and try to understand how they will finance it. I Suspens that it will not be the number of billions that we are now. electronic rate) goes south on us, you will count on more local funding, and you will count on certain parents to intensify and help school. Earlier when I was director of the school.
ABSHIRE has referred to the United States Ministry of Education Update of the National Education Technology plan In 2024 as an action, citing three aspects of the digital fracture which must be sent: digital use, digital design and digital access. She said that a sustainable technological plan should be equitable and inclusive insofar as it narrows these three divisions, should serve as a guide for computer leaders and teams, should be useful for budgeting purposes and once implemented , should have an impact on learning students.
A coherent vision
Speaking as director of mountain school technology, Suzan Brandt advised participants to ensure that the objectives declared in their technological plans align with the vision, mission and values of their district. Williamson concluded, adding that the technological service should write a “vision declaration” to use as a brand tool. She said that if the ministry had a slogan that actually says “it is who we are and what we aspire to be”, when financing needs occur, IT managers can report this declaration and ask: “How can We are that without the resources? “She also recommended to use a generative AI to save time writing part of the language and create tables.
Brandt said that a technological plan should also establish standards or standards for equipment, services, bandwidth and other areas it supports. She said that it involved defining what all classrooms should have, what students will have and what the educational staff will have all year round. To do this, she recommended to divide the plan into sections to make it manageable: class technologies, 1 to 1 devices, infrastructure, security and security, applications (verification, configuration, deployment, governance / confidentiality of data), administration and administration and administration and administration and administration operations, and professional development.
Williamson added that it is better not to be too specific to describe these standards.
“I strongly suggest that you are a little wide, in this, we do not say” 100% of classrooms will have a flat interactive panel “. We say “display device”. The reason is that it gives us the flexibility to have either / or, ”she said. “The other thing is that if you are a secondary mathematics course in our district … chances are you don’t just have a single display device.”
It starts with leadership
Since a technological plan should be a living document that looks like several years to come, said Williamson, his team did not have to write a new one each year but which would simply come back during budgeting, speaking at each Head of Department of Changes they wish to see.
ABSHIRE has declared that the creation of a technological plan requires a committee and that its own included a primary director, a director of the college, various heads of department, a financial director, two teachers of elementary, intermediaries and secondary schools, someone A federal programs and a facilitating study program, among others.
“It was a huge committee, and we separated into groups and worked,” she said. “But having a main chair, your technological planning committee is the best advice I can give you, because they are linked to the practice in schools, and all you do is support schools and students and teachers . I will tell you that when the director of the school presented the technological plan to the board of directors – I was there, we were there – but that made all the difference in the world. »»