1104_LFI 4_Attachment 2
North Carolina
State School Technology Plan
2011-2013
Division of Instructional Technology
April 2011
Table of Contents
Vision
3
Summary of Strategic Priorities and Goals
4
Strategic Priorities Overview
5
A Statewide Shared Services Model
7
Universal Access to Personal Teaching and Learning Devices
11
Statewide Access to Digital Teaching and Learning Resources, Including Digital
Textbooks
17
A Statewide Model of Technology-Enabled Professional Development
23
21st Century Leadership for All Schools and Districts
29
Appendices
34
References
37
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
2
North Carolina
Commission on School Technology
2010-2011 Membership
Member
Representative Joe P. Tolson, Chair
Vacancy
Senator Josh Stein
Mr. Reid Parrott
John Killebrew
Jerry Fralick, CIO
Derek L. McCoy
Alycia Crews
Dr. Saundra Williams
James Crowe
June St. Clair Atkinson
Appointment
Speaker of the House
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore –NC General Assembly
President Pro Tempore-NC General Assembly
President Erskine Bowles - UNC
State Information Officer (ITS)
Governor Perdue
Governor Perdue
Community College Appointee By Pres. Ralls
Supt. June Atkinson
NC DPI
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
2
The North Carolina State School Technology Plan
2011-2013
Vision Statement
Vision Statement
As mandated by North Carolina law GS115C-102.6, North Carolina has developed a State School
Technology Plan (SSTP), a comprehensive State implementation plan for using funds from the
State School Technology Fund and other sources to improve student performance in the public
schools through the use of learning and instructional management technologies. The purpose of the
plan is to provide a cost-effective foundation of flexible technology, infrastructure and expert
staffing to promote substantial gains in student achievement.
The NC State Board of Education (NCSBE) proposes the components, goals, and objectives of the
SSTP. The Commission on School Technology (NC CST) advises the State Board of Education on
the State School Technology Plan and its components.
The North Carolina SSTP has been designed to reflect North Carolina's State Board of Education’s
goal of Future-Ready Schools for the 21st Century. This is accomplished by aligning the goals and
objectives of this plan with the NC SBE goals and objectives, the goals and objectives of Governor
Beverly Perdue’s Career and College: Ready, Set, Go Race to the Top initiative, and the goals,
objectives, and ideals of the National Education Technology Plan.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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Summary of Strategic Priorities and Goals
Strategic Priority 1: A Statewide Shared Services
Model
Strategic Priority 2: Universal Access to Personal
Teaching and Learning Devices
Strategic Priority 3: Statewide Access to Digital
Teaching and Learning Resources, Including
Digital Textbooks
Strategic Priority 4: A Statewide Model of
Technology-Enabled Professional Development
Strategic Priority 5: 21st Century Leadership for
All Schools and Districts
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
Design, implement and administer the NC
Education Cloud Architectural Blueprint.
Continue to provide School Connectivity Initiative
(SCI) funding.
Maximize the use of E-rate at local and state levels
to ensure equity of access.
Provide a regional support model for LEAs and
schools as they begin one-to-one personal teaching
and learning device implementations.
Leverage existing one-to-one LEA and school
implementations to provide best practices and pilot
opportunities.
Develop a sustainable funding formula and
implementation plan for personal teacher and
learner devices to assure equity of access for all
North Carolina schools.
Continue to fund and add resources to NC
WiseOwl.
Use expertise in North Carolina to design and
curate digital teaching and learning resources.
As part of ACRE and NC Career and College
Ready, Set, GO! Race to the Top initiatives,
support and lead a digital reform effort in the
schools and classrooms of North Carolina.
Revise the standards, job description, and
evaluation tools for North Carolina's school media
coordinator and instructional technology
facilitators.
Fund innovative models that promote and further
the ideals of technology-enabled and integrated
professional development for the instructional K12
workforce in North Carolina's LEAs and Charter
Schools.
As part of ACRE and NC Career and College
Ready, Set, Go! Race to the Top initiatives; provide
embedded technology-enabled professional
development to the teachers and administrators in
the LEAs and schools of North Carolina.
Continue successful partnerships with state and
local leaders that foster 21st century teaching and
learning.
Fund innovative models that promote and further
the ideals of technology-enabled, 21st century
leadership for the administrative and instructional
workforce in North Carolina's LEAs and Charter
Schools.
Revise policies, procedures, and legislation to
support 21st century leadership.
4
State School Technology Plan
Strategic Priorities
2011 - 2013
The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.
Diogenes Laertius
While North Carolina’s LEAs and schools still lead the nation in use of technology as instructional
and administrative tools, visits across the state reveal wide variances in the amount of technology
infused in the work of administrators, teachers, and students, as supported by data in Tables 1-3 in
Appendix A which highlight technology support, student-to-computer ratio from the state Annual
Media and Technology Report, collected in July of 2010, and budgets extracted from LEA Total
Cost of Ownership documents across the state (Appendix A). It is the responsibility of LEA and
Charter School leadership to provide the best strategic plans to ensure equity is achieved using State
School Technology Funds, other state funds, federal funds, and local funds, the Constitution of the
State of North Carolina, in Article VII, mandates that“...equal opportunities shall be provided for all
students.”
Equal access to technology and 21st century opportunities are critical to ensuring the success of all
North Carolina students. The integration of 21st Century tools will prepare students to be career and
college ready. Gordon emphasizes this point in his recent article, “Return to Sender,” where he
summarizes several studies which convey that our schools continue to send graduates to the
workforce without necessary technology-based “soft skills” demanded by employers. Core content
mastery is essential but not inclusive when applying knowledge to “communicate, collaborate,
analyze, create, innovate, and solve problems”. North Carolina’s students have 24 hour access to
technology. However opportunities to implement, integrate and benefit from technology are not
supported to capacity. This disconnect between the classroom and the real world leads to
uninspired and resistant learners.
Research from the IMPACT study shows that students’ exposure to various technologies seems to
have improved their literacy and led to growing confidence in their abilities to use technology in a
meaningful way (Overbay et al., 2011). Technology is not equitably distributed across our state.
Access to teaching and learning technologies does not necessarily lead to equity for staff and
students. These technologies must be accompanied by ample professional development. Likewise,
high-quality 21st century school and district leadership must also exist across North Carolina to
fulfill the promise that all students graduate career and college ready.
The Commission on School Technology recognizes that for all students to be future ready, they
must possess equal opportunities for taking full advantage of information and technology resources
and tools, and must be taught in a way that maximizes the effective use of these technologies. For
this reason, the Commission advises the NCSBE to focus on equitable access to technology in this
State School Technology Plan. While many foci are necessary to achieve this goal, the Commission
has identified five over-arching priorities: 1) a statewide shared services model for platforms and
infrastructure; 2) universal access to individual teaching and learning devices; 3) statewide access to
digital teaching and learning resources, including digital textbooks; 4) a statewide model of 21st
century professional development; 5) and 21st century leadership for all schools and districts.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
5
Strategic Priority 1: A Statewide Shared Services Model
Essential Questions
How do the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and Charter Schools (Charter Schools)
leverage collaborative purchasing to pay substantially less for technology services and
platforms?
How can a Statewide Shared Services Model assist in shifting primary support from
infrastructure to instructional needs?
How can a Statewide Shared Services Model enable increased infrastructure and technology
efficiency and sustainability?
How can a Statewide Shared Services Model provide higher service reliability?
How can a Statewide Shared Services Model facilitate more strategic budgeting models for
LEAs and Charter Schools?
Current Status and Moving Forward
Many North Carolina districts are ill-equipped to manage production server infrastructure. Server
infrastructure is most often housed in facilities that lack sufficient space, power, and cooling.
Further, as district servers are typically located in school buildings that are frequented by thousands
of people on a daily basis, security exposure is high. Backup systems for power, cooling, storage,
etc. are essentially non-existent. Finally, districts have little leverage to use in recruiting or retaining
qualified information technology professionals trained in server administration.
Currently, infrastructure in many of our LEAs and Charter Schools includes onsite storage,
management tools, and services (Figure 1, Appendix B). Much of the existing infrastructure has
been designed and implemented to support non-mobile computing devices and appliances, like
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call centers and telephones, printers, premise firewalls and
filters, and video and distance learning devices. The majority of campus networking infrastructure is
made up of traditional switching devices, with some enterprise-class management and wireless
deployment. Campus routers connect campuses with LEA data centers through Wide Area
Networks (WANs). Many of the services used in the district—firewalls and filters, wireless
controllers, file and print servers, administrative applications, and email and collaborative—reside
on servers at the LEA data center. In many cases, these data centers do not have sufficient power
structures, back-up facilities, or adequate heating and cooling. Physical security can also be a
challenge as many of the LEA data centers are located in district administrative offices which are
often open to personnel from across the LEA and sometimes the general public. In this traditional
model, the directory structure, if present, resides in the LEA data center. Connecting the LEA center
to the Internet and/or the North Carolina Research and Education Network (NCREN) connection is
a costly LEA-owned router. Some LEAs have already begun to rely upon hosted cloud services;
these services often include a variety of Learning Management Systems (LMS), web hosting, and
email services, including archiving services (often from Google or Microsoft).
Recent advances in virtualization and cloud computing have led to competitive service provider
offerings of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Amazon, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft and a number of
others have public cloud solutions that provide for both persistent (24x7x365) and on-demand
hosted infrastructure services. A comprehensive statewide migration to IaaS would provide equity
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
6
of access to highly available services. By aggregating demand from across the K12 enterprise and
taking advantage of usage-based cloud offerings the state can realize dramatic cost savings in
infrastructure support.
While this set of circumstances is not unique to North Carolina, as a state we are in a unique
position to deploy a statewide education cloud solution. However, in order to successfully deploy
infrastructure as a service, each school must enjoy reliable, high-bandwidth, low-latency network
connectivity. Fortunately, the $22M annual recurring investment by the state of North Carolina in
the School Connectivity Initiative provides exactly that.
In August of 2010, North Carolina was awarded the federal Race to the Top (RttT) grant. This grant
brings $399,465,768 to the state, LEAs, and Charter Schools, for use over four years. The RttT
funding focuses on providing new and innovative approaches to education. The scope of work
consists of state and local initiatives in four pillars: great teachers and leaders, quality standards and
assessments, turnaround of lowest achieving schools, and data systems to improve instruction.
These pillar activities and initiatives will facilitate accomplishment of high graduation rates, strong
student achievement, and career- and college-readiness for North Carolina’s students.
Of the almost $400 million awarded, $165.8 million was awarded directly to LEAs and Charter
Schools. On behalf of the LEAs and Charter Schools, $34.2 million has been pooled for planning,
administration, and implementation of the NC Education Cloud (NC Ed Cloud). The purposes of
the NC Ed Cloud are two-fold:
•
•
One portion of the funds will be used to support RttT initiatives including $18.1 million to
provide digital tools and resources that support all RttT initiatives. These tools include a
statewide K12 Learner Management System (LMS), a statewide K12 Learning Object
Repository (LOR), statewide collaborative and communication tools, and a statewide
identity management solution.
A large portion of the remaining funding, $16.1 million, will be used to provide a highly
reliable, highly available, server infrastructure supporting the statewide K12 education
enterprise. Further efforts will focus on providing policies and procedures to enable statelevel collaborative procurement for often used online resources and tools.
At its heart, the NC Ed Cloud provides a migration from LEA-hosted server infrastructure to cloudhosted infrastructure as a service. The primary objective of the NC Ed Cloud is to provide a worldclass IT infrastructure as a foundational component of the NC education enterprise. Moreover, the
NC Ed Cloud will provide for:
•
•
•
•
•
Equity of access to computing and storage resources;
Efficient scaling according to aggregate NC K12 usage requirements;
Consistently high availability, reliability and performance;
A common infrastructure platform to support emerging data systems;
Sustainable and predictable operational costs that will be significantly less than current
technology infrastructure expenditures
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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Strategic Goals: Priority 1 – A Statewide Shared Services Model
1.1 Design, implement and administer the NC Education Cloud Architectural Blueprint.
Once implemented, the NC Ed Cloud will provide opt-in services hosted by enterprise-class
vendors for LEAs and Charter Schools (Appendix B, Figure 2). The NC Ed Cloud Blueprint
will be a 21st century model and will:
• Support mobile devices for today's 21st century teachers and learners;
• Provide a model for paying for services as needed, thus reducing operating costs;
• Promote collaborative purchasing to reduce costs currently exacerbated by duplication
of services in 115 LEAs and 100 Charter Schools;
• Provide high-availability, high performance, and reliable platforms and services;
• Provide equitable access to digital resources.
The NC Ed Cloud Blueprint, being developed in the winter and spring of 2011, will be
complete and approved by July 1, 2011. Once approved, Requests For Proposals (RFPs) will
be written and posted. After, enterprise-class vendors are selected, services will begin to be
piloted in the winter of 2011/2012, with migration and wide scale implementation taking place
during the 2012-2013 academic year.
1.2 Continue to provide School Connectivity Initiative (SCI) funding.
While the NC Ed Cloud will certainly be a cost-reducing effort for LEAs and Charter Schools,
the basis for its operation is the NCREN. SCI funding provides this connection, making the
bandwidth and connectivity affordable for LEAs and Charter Schools. SCI funding also
provides services for our LEAs and Charter Schools to assist in E-rate filing and audits, and
network and technology support through both the NCDPI Connectivity Services and MCNC
Client Network Services.
1.3 Maximize the use of E-rate at local and state levels to ensure equity of access.
The schools in North Carolina benefit greatly from E-rate. Since its inception in 1998, the Erate program has provided over $473 million in funding for infrastructure and connectivity to
the schools and libraries in the state1. However, as the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) continue to modify and
update policies and procedures, it is necessary to continuously monitor these changes and
adjust the way our LEAs, Charter Schools, and NCDPI file for E-rate reimbursement.
Alignment to Other Plans and Initiatives: Strategic Priority 1: A Statewide Shared
Services Model
ACRE
Update the analysis of the technology infrastructure needed to support a 21st century curriculum and
assessment system and to move additional testing to appropriate technology formats. This analysis will allow
the transition from a paper-based assessment system to one that takes greater advantage of technology.
State Board of Education Goals
Leverage resources and tools to develop globally competitive lifelong learners.
1
E-rate funding totals calculated using the USAC Schools and Libraries Division, Funding Request
Data Retrieval Tool (Open Data Search).
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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Foster and sustain state, national and international partnerships for innovative change.
Drive infrastructure standards and improvement which promote equitable delivery of 21st century systems
necessary for maximizing student achievement.
Provide systems which support achievement standards while supporting accountability, goals and appropriate
sanctions.
Compel financial planning and budgeting which focus on priorities identified as necessary for student
achievement in 21st century classrooms.
Career and College Ready, Set, Go!
Put more technology into the hands of students and teachers to increase individualized learning options
Develop a P-20 longitudinal data system in order to provide comprehensive data and information on all
students.
Race to the Top Local and State Scopes of Work
Objective (A)(2) 1.1: Incorporate the state infrastructure blueprint into technology plans.
Objective (A)(2) 2.1: Implement the infrastructure blueprint.
Objective (A)(2) 3.1: Provide and support student, teacher, administrator access to a Learner Management
System, Learning Object Repository, and web collaboration tools at each school.
Objective D(5) 1.1: Provide access to effective, high-quality, job-embedded, data-informed professional
development and support for educators with objectives aligned to the Race to the Top Initiatives.
National Education Technology Plan 2010
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare
them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use
assessment data for continuous improvement.
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data,
content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more
effective teaching for all learners.
All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they
need it.
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of
technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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Strategic Priority 2: Universal Access to Personal Teaching and Learning
Devices
Essential Questions
What is universal access to personal teaching and learning devices?
Why do teachers and students need access to personal teaching and learning devices?
How do LEAs and Charter Schools provide ample access to individual teaching and learning
devices?
What models can be used for implementing universal access to personal teaching and learning
devices to ensure sound 21st century educations for the students of North Carolina?
Current Status and Moving Forward
Universal access to personal teaching and learning devices refers to a computing device assigned to
all members of the school, including administrators, teachers, and students. While this has most
often been referred to as "a laptop for every child" or a one-to-one laptop implementation, today's
mobile technologies mean that a laptop is only one option as a personal learning device. LEAs like
Mooresville Graded School District and Lee County Schools have implemented one-to-one
initiatives with laptops assigned to their administrators, teachers and students. Other sites like North
Rowan High School (Rowan-Salisbury School System) and Grey Culbreth Middle School (Chapel
Hill/Carrboro School System) have launched very successful web-enabled portable media player
device initiatives. Also notable, through Project K-NECT at Dixon High School (Onslow County
School System), Southwest High School (Onslow County School System), Southern School of
Engineering (Durham Public Schools), Carver High School (Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Schools) and Lakewood and Midway High Schools (Sampson County Schools) have launched
initiatives to utilize mobile phones in high school mathematics classrooms. All of these device
provide access to the Internet along with multiple means of communication and the ability to run a
variety of applications for specific purposes.
North Carolina currently has over 50 LEAs implementing initiatives to provide universal access to
personal teaching and learning devices. Funding for these initiatives has come from local sources,
state sources (primarily funds appropriated by the NC General Assembly for pilots in eight Early
College high schools and ten traditional high schools), federal sources (primarily IMPACT funds
provided through TITLE IID and ARRA) and in-kind, foundation, and additional funds provided by
SAS and the Golden Leaf Foundation.
Many of these initiatives provide both teachers and students access to these devices both at school
and at home, however, some schools choose to only allow access to students while at school. While
a digital learning device can be a powerful learning tool when not connected to the school or home
network, the true potential is realized when network/internet connectivity is consistently available.
While once considered extravagant, access to personal learning devices is commonplace in many
developing countries, including Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Haiti, and Mexico, as well as much of
Australia. In the United States, Maine leads the nation with statewide one-to-one rollouts through
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.
Much research has been commissioned and completed on the outcomes and effectiveness of one –
to-one implementations of personal teaching and learning devices. Results show that:
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•
•
•
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•
•
Students tend to be more engaged in schools that have implemented one-to-one initiatives
(Bebell & Kay).
In schools that have implemented one-to-one programs, teacher and student use of
technology increases dramatically across the curriculum (Bebell & Kay).
“Students become better researchers, have access to ‘expanded’ classroom, and benefit from
'systemic and ubiquitous use of technology, as opposed to idiosyncratic and sporadic use of
technology” (Bebell & O'Dwyer).
Students become better collaborators (Bebell & Kay).
Teaching fundamentally shifts, in particular, teaching strategies, curriculum delivery, and
classroom management (Bebell & Kay).
Student achievement is positively affected, especially in reading and math (Shapely et al).
“Technology immersion requires a comprehensive approach that transforms the school
culture, changes the nature of teaching and learning, and expands the education boundaries
of the schools and classrooms.” (Shapely et al).
Professional development is the keystone to successful implementation (Drayton et al).
Clearly, one-to-one personal teaching and learning device implementations can greatly foster the
21st century skills necessary for future-ready learners.
Another driving force that supports the critical need for one-to-one personal teaching and learning
device implementations in North Carolina is the increased prevalence of online assessments. North
Carolina is a governing member of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). In
September 2010, the SBAC was awarded a $160 million RttT grant to develop student assessments
aligned with the Common Core academic standards. The consortia members are able to work
together to develop a common, next-generation assessment system that would simply not be
economically feasible to build individually, because the SBAC is a consortium of 31 states (as of
December, 2010). These state-of-the art adaptive assessments will be built upon "open source"
technology, and will be delivered entirely online. The core components of these summative
assessments:
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•
•
•
Are mandatory comprehensive accountability measures that include computer adaptive
assessments and performance tasks and will be administered in the last 12 weeks of the
school year in grades 3–8 and high school for English Language Arts (ELA) and
mathematics;
Are designed to provide valid, reliable, and fair measures of students’ progress toward and
attainment of the knowledge and skills required to be college and career ready;
Will capitalize on the strengths of computer adaptive testing, i.e., efficient and precise
measurement across the full range of achievement and quick turnaround of results;
Will produce composite content area scores, based on the computer-adaptive items and
performance tasks;
Offer varied item types on assessments, including selected-response, constructed response,
and technology-enhanced responses.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
11
As part of the RttT state scope of work, the NCDPI is planning and implementing an Instructional
Improvement System (IIS). This IIS will "house" other state End of Course (EOC) and End of
Grade (EOG) assessments, as well as formative and benchmark assessments. It will also be a
clearinghouse for data used to make decisions in the state's schools and classrooms. Further, it will
provide tools for administrators, teachers, and learners to be successful in the 21st century schools
and classrooms of North Carolina. In North Carolina, EOC assessments will be 100% online
beginning in the 2013-2014 academic year, with EOG assessments following.
As assessment becomes technology-enabled and moves to online administration, so must teaching
and learning activities. It is nonsensical to expect a student to do well on online assessments at the
end of a course or grading period if that student has not had ongoing technology-integrated, online
learning activities throughout the course of study. Simply stated, students should learn in the way
they are assessed, and assessed in the way they have learned. Technology must be an integral
element of teaching and learning from start to finish.
As the NCDPI and state move forward with the Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort
(ACRE), it is evident that change must take place in the classrooms across the state and that much
of this change can only be accomplished through technology-enabled instruction. This statewide
digital reform effort is an integral component of ACRE. As a statewide model for change, this
effort, mirrored by the findings of the Blue Ribbon Panel (North Carolina, 2008) will provide
equitable and ubiquitous access to personal teaching and learning devices affords our schools the
following opportunities to:
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•
•
Better facilitate delivery of critical knowledge and skills that students "must have" as a 21st
century learner
Provide for more real-world applications of what students learn
Provide a new model for measuring school success that gives parents and educators more
relevant information about how well schools are preparing students for college, work and
adulthood.
Significantly upgrade infrastructure in preparation for tracking student growth over time,
providing seamless instantaneous prescriptive feedback, and supporting more on-line
testing.
As the state considers statewide adoption of universal access to personal teaching and learning
devices, models for funding and implementation must be carefully researched. The state of Maine
has led the United States with a statewide one-to-one implementation. Support and funding for this
initiative is provided from the state. However, several of North Carolina's full-scale one-to-one
implementations including Mooresville Graded School District, Greene County Schools and Lee
County Schools have primarily used existing funding and resources to implement their initiatives.
Successful implementation begins with establishing a fair and equitable funding route. However,
initial funding is the “tip of the iceberg.” As statewide implementation plans are drafted, they must
provide for sustainability, (including professional development, support, and hardware refresh), as
well as important details like home and community connectivity, internet safety, ethical use and
insurance and liabilities.
As this funding and implementation route is being determined, many LEAs and Charter Schools are
proceeding with their own innovative funding sources. The most prevalent source of funding in the
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
12
near future is afforded to LEAs and many Charter Schools through Race to the Top. In current local
scopes of work, almost $50 million in RttT funds are earmarked for infrastructure upgrades and
wireless implementations, while over $25 million is targeted for one-to-one implementations.
Research on successful one-to-one implementations, as referenced earlier, shows that success relies
heavily on the school or LEA providing "a comprehensive approach that transforms the school
culture, changes the nature of teaching and learning, and expands the education boundaries of the
schools and classrooms”. (Bebell & O'Dwyer) Moreover, as noted in the National Education
Technology Plan, “The key to this change is ongoing, sustainable professional development that
“embodies design principles from the learning sciences--including cognitive science, neuroscience,
education, and social sciences.”
While several implementation and professional development models for one-to-one
implementations exist, through the evaluation of North Carolina's own implementations, the North
Carolina Learning Technology Initiative (NCLTI) has developed a Framework for Implementation.
This NCLTI Framework includes structures and tools to facilitate planning, communicating,
implementing, providing professional development, and evaluating school- and LEA-based one-toone implementations. Funded through the state pilots, SAS, the Golden Leaf Foundation, and
IMPACT, this model is currently "housed" at the NCSU Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.
However, as more schools and LEAs begin moving toward full-scale one-to-one implementations,
the NCLTI Framework and the processes, personnel, and resources required to support it can be
deployed regionally through the NCDPI Statewide System of Support and Roundtable structure.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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Strategic Goals: Priority 2 – Universal Access to Personal Teaching and
Learning Devices
2.1 Provide a regional support model for LEAs and schools as they begin one-toone personal teaching and learning device implementations.
The NCLTI Framework is a comprehensive model for one-to-one planning and
implementation that is based upon research and best practices from schools and
LEAs in North Carolina. While the framework is currently housed at the NCSU
Friday Institute, to be effective on a large scale, it must be pushed out as a regional
model. The support, coaching, professional development, and implementation
activities that have been primarily provided by the professional development staff at
the NCSU Friday Institute should be transitioned to the NCDPI, with agency
divisions of Instructional Technology, Educator Recruitment & Development, and
District & School Transformation providing key framework roles and support.
2.2 Leverage existing one-to-one LEA and school implementations to provide best
practices and pilot opportunities.
While research on national and international one-to-one implementations abound,
North Carolina has over 100 public schools spread across 40 LEAs that are
currently implementing some form of one-to-one initiative. The success and failures
of these initiatives will teach us as we move forward with a statewide
implementation. While many of these schools are "traditional" one-to-one sites,
several are using alternative teacher and student learning devices. These schools and
LEAs provide a fertile piloting ground as new instances of digital resources, online
assessments, and platforms are tested and implemented.
2.3 Develop a sustainable funding formula and implementation plan for personal
teacher and learner devices to assure equity of access for all North Carolina
schools.
Several state and national factors are driving technology-enabled instruction and
assessments. As our state’s LEAs and Charter Schools strive to graduate futureready students, throughout every region of the state, ubiquitous access to personal
teaching and learning devices is critical. North Carolina, a long-time leader in
education and educational technology, must develop equitable funding and
implementation plans to ensure all students use technology to access resources and
acquire and demonstrate the knowledge and skills they will need as life-long
learners.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
14
Alignment to Other Plans and Initiatives: Strategic Priority 2: Universal Access to
Personal Teaching and Learning Devices
ACRE
Create a comprehensive, customized professional development system to provide teachers and administrators
with the skills and understandings needed to use data to inform instructional practice and make formative
assessments a daily practice in the classroom.
Update the analysis of the technology infrastructure needed to support a 21st century curriculum and assessment
system and to move additional testing to appropriate technology formats. This analysis will allow the transition
from a paper-based assessment system to one that takes greater advantage of technology.
State Board of Education Goals
Enable gathering of timely and relevant prescriptive feedback for improved teaching and learning.
Provide environment conducive for the development of 21st century skills set as a rigorous and relevant core
curriculum is delivered in a 21st century classroom.
Leverage resources and tools to develop globally competitive lifelong learners.
Empower educators with meaningful data while driving appropriate and differentiated instruction.
Furnish educators the means to promote and sustain skills and professional standards needed for 21st century
delivery of instruction.
Support teachers as they apply 21st century teaching and learning research which promotes high student
achievement and engagement.
Facilitate comprehensive recognition and use of appropriate and rigorous policies which encourage and nurture
student safety, character, and personal responsibility in a global community.
Contribute to a diverse culture of equity and flexibility which promotes student's success as lifelong learners.
Foster and sustain state, national and international partnerships for innovative change.
Compelling environment for shared vision and leadership as the need for change is disseminated.
Support leaders as they model and promote equitable and effective use of emerging and innovative resources and
tools for meaningful teaching and learning.
Drive infrastructure standards and improvement which promote equitable delivery of 21st century systems
necessary for maximizing student achievement.
Provide systems which support achievement standards while supporting accountability, goals and appropriate
sanctions.
Compel financial planning and budgeting which focus on priorities identified as necessary for student
achievement in 21st century classrooms.
Career and College Ready, Set, Go!
Implement Diagnostic Assessments using hand held technology that allow teachers to check where each child
is with reading, writing and math basics throughout the year so they have a solid foundation for continued
learning.
Develop more international schools and learning partnerships with other countries for global awarenessespecially with second languages - Students will need to compete, communicate, and collaborate globally.
Increase virtual learning opportunities so every child no matter where they live can reach his or her potential.
Put more technology into the hands of students and teachers to increase individualized learning options.
Increase the use of technology for providing professional development opportunities for teachers.
Race to the Top Local and State Scopes of Work
Objective (A)(2) 1.1: Incorporate the state infrastructure blueprint into technology plans.
Objective (A)(2) 2.1: Implement the infrastructure blueprint.
Objective (A)(2) 3.1: Provide and support student, teacher, administrator access to Learner Management
System, Learning Object Repository, and web collaboration tools.
Objective (C)(3) 1.2: Utilize LEA/Charter and school technology funds to enhance school and LEA/Charter
technology infrastructure to facilitate online real-time assessments at each school.
Objective D(5) 1.1: Provide access to effective, high-quality, job-embedded, data-informed professional
development and support for educators with objectives aligned to the Race to the Top Initiatives.
National Education Technology Plan 2010
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
15
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare
them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use
assessment data for continuous improvement.
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data,
content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more
effective teaching for all learners.
All students and educators will have access to a comprehensive infrastructure for learning when and where they
need it.
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of
technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
16
Strategic Priority 3: Statewide Access to Digital Teaching and Learning
Resources, Including Digital Textbooks
Essential Questions
What are digital teaching and learning resources? What are digital textbooks?
Why do teachers and students need access to digital teaching and learning devices?
What are the benefits of digital textbooks?
What are open educational resources and how can they be used?
How can access to these resources be increased in our schools and LEAs?
Current Status and Moving Forward
Providing a digital teaching or learning device is only the beginning of the educational journey.
While productivity suites, like Microsoft Office, Apple iWork, or open source OpenOffice, are key
tools to use for preparing reports, creating presentations, or developing spreadsheets, providing
these tools alone limits the power and potential of these devices. The true power of technology in
the hands of North Carolina's teachers and learners is unlocked by the adequate access and proper
use of digital resources.
The digital resources of years past relied upon CD-ROMs or applications and data loaded locally on
internal hard drives. Today's digital teaching and learning resources are delivered by the Internet,
either via the web or as an educational application on portable media devices, interactive tablets,
and smart phones. Digital resources are provided in a variety of online formats: encyclopedias,
catalogs of multimedia assets, periodicals, collaborative tools, etc.
North Carolina's digital online teaching and learning resource repository, NC WiseOwl, provides
free online resources for the public and charter schools in North Carolina. The NC WiseOwl
program ensures that all students have access to quality research tools, periodicals, and curriculum
support materials regardless of the economic status of their local school districts. All of the
reference sources on WiseOwl are available for student and parent use at home, as well as at school.
Because the WiseOwl offerings are procured and managed at the state level for the benefit of LEAs
and schools, economy of scale drives the price models lower, and saves both the state and LEAs
critical funds.
In the critical budget situation our nation, state, LEAs and schools are currently enduring,
arguments might be made that digital teaching and learning resources are not necessary. However,
in the report generated from Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up: 2009 survey, year after year, students
in the United States indicate "that the lack of sophisticated use of emerging technology tools in
school is, in fact, holding back their education—and in many ways disengages them from learning."
Students responding to this survey report that the use of high-quality, course-aligned resources not
only makes their learning experiences more engaging, but more productive. In other words, the
proper use of digital resources can maximize valuable instructional time. As mentioned earlier,
today's student body is significantly different than that of even one-half generation removed. All
students in the schools of North Carolina were born since the beginning of the information age;
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
17
none of the students remember a time that the Internet wasn't prevalent. Most of our students have
never heard music played through a tape cassette player; many haven't ever bought or listened to
music on a CD. For this generation, music and movies are delivered to their MP3 player, their
computer, or their game console through 100% online providers like NetFlix or Apple iTunes Store.
This generation of students, argues Don Tapscott in grownup digital, actually have brains wired in a
way that is completely different from anyone born prior to 1992. Using traditional resources and
models of instruction is increasingly more difficult and inherently less relevant for the learners in
North Carolina's schools. It is critical that our schools shift from traditional print and "technologydisabled" resources to digital and technology-enabled teaching and learning resources. Traditional
books and textbooks are examples of resources that can be delivered via digital mediums. Benefits
of this model include access to current information, the ability to easily customize the curriculum,
and the ability to offer quality materials at a much lower cost.
For example, consider the publishing cycle of a textbook is typically three years. While three years
may seem like a short amount of time, imagine a World History textbook that is three years old by
the time it reaches the hands of our students in North Carolina. In today's classroom, this now dated
textbook would not include the election of the first minority president in the United States, the
collapse and crumble of the world economy, the civil unrest leading to new forms of government in
Middle Eastern nations, or the untold devastation of generations due to natural disasters in Haiti,
New Zealand, and Japan. Digital resources, delivered over the Internet, can be updated
continuously, and information being used by North Carolina's learners can include the most recent,
up-to-date content.
Similarly, the traditional textbook model is fixed with little or no room for differentiation. As
students excel and need more challenging content, using a traditional textbook affords little
flexibility. Similarly, for struggling readers, a textbook might present challenges in decoding and
comprehension. Differentiation to meet the needs of individual learners using a traditional textbook,
is problematic. Conversely, appropriately selected and deployed digital resources make
differentiation a reality. Digital resources can be made modular so that level-specific content can be
used in one publication. Another benefit of the modular approach to online, digital resources is the
ease with which they can be used in cross-curricular instructional approaches. Today, many high
school teachers might struggle with teaching cross-curricular units simply because they (and their
students) may not have adequate access to the textbooks utilized in other classes and subjects. When
textbooks are moved online, this limitation is lifted. Simply stated, digital textbooks and resources
allow both teachers and learners to "re-mix" content in ways that provide differentiation for all
students and promote a cross-curricular approach to instruction and learning.
Finally, digital resources of the past have not been within the financial reach of K12 institutions.
However, this is no longer the case. One of the driving forces behind making digital textbooks
affordable is the Open Education Resources movement. A technology-enabled initiative, the OER
movement is an effort to create and share teaching and learning content that is free and open on a
global level. Online resources, like OERs, provide a real service for traditional textbook
alternatives, and while it is free, this content still needs to be aligned with the Common Core and
North Carolina's Essential Standards to be useful as instructional tools.
One such aligned resource is the LEARN NC digital history textbook model, which is free for use
in North Carolina classrooms. This initial offering from LEARN NC utilizes "primary sources,
multimedia, readings, and lesson plans to tell the many stories of North Carolina's past". The model
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
18
is not a static textbook converted to text; as the description implies, the LEARN NC North Carolina
history digital textbook includes interactivity in the form of sound clips, video samples, online
maps, and historical news articles. The framework on which this content is delivered can now be
used for other subjects and grade levels. It can include resources to which our schools have access
at the state level (like WiseOwl), as well as OER content. Because this model is developed and
managed in North Carolina, it is possible to align offerings to state Essential Standards and
Common Core, unlike traditional textbook adoptions, which are often aligned to the standards of
other states.
Another factor that makes digital content both more affordable and accessible is the advent of lessexpensive, very-capable technologies. As described in strategic priority 2, universal access to a
personal learning device is critical. Luckily, the devices available today are more affordable to
schools and LEAs than ever. The advent and popularity of touch-enabled internet-ready devices like
MP3 players and tablets has made hand-held access truly affordable. Due to advances in the
creation of miniaturized and more affordable internal technology, small (yet full-featured)
inexpensive laptops, often referred to as netbooks, have become authentic options in our schools.
A study of the state funding in recent years indicates that on average, $639.35 was spent on
textbooks for each high school student between 2005 and 2009. An examination of current
consumer pricing for teaching and learning devices finds low-end personal digital learning devices
are available for $300 per student; mid-range personal digital learning devices can be procured for
around $500 per student. These prices can be driven down by large purchasing efforts at the state
level that leverage economy of scale.
Another option for driving down the cost of digital resources is using the NC Education Cloud
model to leverage collaborative procurement. For example: in 2009, according to Discovery
Education, over 60% of the state's schools subscribed to Discovery's curricular resources like
Discovery Education streaming Plus and Discovery Education Science Curriculum. In aggregate,
the amount spent to provide these services in 60% of our schools would certainly pay for a
statewide license for Discovery Education streaming, with options to increase the level of resources
given to LEAs and school. Discovery Education streaming is only one option; it is reasonable to
presume that any digital resource can be more affordably procured when bargaining strength is
aggregated at the state level.
As the NC Education Cloud is deployed, it will include a platform to enhance access to digital
resources and content, commonly referred to as a Learning Object Repository (LOR) which is
simply an online repository for learning objects or "a collection of content items, practice items, and
assessment items that are combined based on a single learning objective". The structure of the LOR
allows objects to be tagged and catalogued by users, and easily shared across groups of users. For
example, a teacher in Hyde County could create a science lesson on shoreline habitats which
includes videos she has taken using her Smart Phone, digital photographs students have taken and
submitted, online articles found on WiseOwl, and formative assessments residing in the NC
Instructional Improvement System. Once these items are tagged by this teacher, she can share them
statewide using the LOR. When a science teacher in Alleghany County is teaching his unit on
coastal biomes, a quick search of the NC LOR allows him to reuse this content. The flexibility and
modularity of the digital content allows others to teach in the same manner as the teacher in Hyde
County who created this content.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
19
Digital resources are not limited to OER and "for pay" services. North Carolina Virtual Public
School (NCVPS) provides opportunities for students and parents to connect with opportunities for
expanding their knowledge of virtual and blended learning. Currently funded in aggregate by LEA
use, NCVPS provides online and blended instruction to students across our state. Using an
enterprise-hosted Learner Management System (LMS) and several collaborative web tools, teachers
from NCVPS are able to reach students in rural LEAs and Charter Schools who might not otherwise
have access to these offerings. Students needing to recover coursework can turn to NCVPS for
credit recovery. Online learning has other benefits, as well. A recent US Department of Education
evaluation found that "students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on
average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction”. In many
states, once the infrastructure (like that being provided by the NC Education Cloud) is provided,
virtual instruction also tends to be less costly per student ((Florida Virtual).
The benefits of digital resources, digital textbooks, and virtual instruction are many. For this reason,
many groups in the state are interested in making sure our schools and classrooms can take full
advantage of these benefits.
•
•
•
Members of the legislature have taken an interest in providing online resources and
textbooks because of cost savings and possible health benefits for students;
The NCDPI and NCVPS see digital-enabled instruction as a critical part of 21st century
skills to ensure future-ready graduates;
The US Department of Education, in the National Education Plan 2010 advocates for using
technology and digital resources to build a new educational model that "puts students at the
center and empowers them to take control of their own learning by providing flexibility on
several dimensions."
Much of this research is being aggregated in a "Report on eTextbook and Interactive Digital
Resources for Learning" by the NC eLearning Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Walter
Dalton. When complete, this report will explore the feasibility, cost-effectiveness and academic
value of moving to the statewide use of digital resources in place of hard copy textbooks.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
20
Strategic Goals: Priority 3 - Statewide Access to Digital Teaching and Learning
Resources, Including Digital Textbooks
3.1 As part of ACRE and NC Career and College Ready, Set, GO! Race to the Top
initiatives, support and lead a digital reform effort in the schools and classrooms of
North Carolina.
Both ACRE and Race to the Top call for reforms of the instructional models used in the
classrooms across North Carolina. Innovative reform cannot be fostered using the resources
of yesteryear. To provide equal access to educational opportunities across the state, to
produce globally-competitive students, and to build affordable and sustainable educational
technology practices, North Carolina must shift from traditional print and paper based
resources to affordable, current online resources.
.
3.2 Use expertise in North Carolina to design and curate digital teaching and learning
resources.
The digital textbook model at LEARN NC provides a flexible, cost-effective framework to
build additional online resources, including digital textbooks. This framework, or one similar
in design and functionality, should be utilized to take advantage of procured resources, like
those in NC WiseOwl, and open education resources prevalent on the Internet. In this
manner, the teachers and learners of North Carolina can use digital content aligned
specifically to Common Core and NC Essential Standards.
3.3 Continue to fund and add resources to NC WiseOwl.
Digital resources provide limitless opportunities for innovative instruction. Currently, the
NCDPI provides high-quality digital resources through NC WiseOwl. Yearly state costs for
WiseOwl deployment and support total $820,000. However, these resources are just "the tip
of the digital iceberg." As teachers and students rely more heavily upon digital resources,
additional services, procured at the state level, will benefit all students, and ensure equity
from school to school and LEA to LEA. These additional services can be attained by
additional state and federal funding, and/or through collaborative procurement.
Alignment to Other Plans and Initiatives: Strategic Priority 3: Statewide Access to Digital
Teaching and Learning Resources, Including Digital Textbooks
ACRE
Update the analysis of the technology infrastructure needed to support a 21st century curriculum and assessment
system and to move additional testing to appropriate technology formats. This analysis will allow the transition
from a paper-based assessment system to one that takes greater advantage of technology.
Develop a next generation assessment system which includes formative, benchmark and summative assessments
based on the new standards.
State Board of Education Goals
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
21
Enable gathering of timely and relevant prescriptive feedback for improved teaching and learning.
Provide environment conducive for the development of 21st century skills set as a rigorous and relevant core
curriculum is delivered in a 21st century classroom.
Leverage resources and tools to develop globally competitive lifelong learners.
Furnish educators the means to promote and sustain skills and professional standards needed for 21st century
delivery of instruction.
Contribute to a diverse culture of equity and flexibility which promotes student's success as lifelong learners.
Foster and sustain state, national and international partnerships for innovative change.
Support leaders as they model and promote equitable and effective use of emerging and innovative resources and
tools for meaningful teaching and learning.
Provide systems which support achievement standards while supporting accountability, goals and appropriate
sanctions.
Career and College Ready, Set, Go!
Increase virtual learning opportunities so every child no matter where they live can reach his or her potential.
Put more technology into the hands of students and teachers to increase individualized learning options.
Race to the Top Local and State Scopes of Work
Objective (A)(2) 3.1: Provide and support student, teacher, administrator access to Learner Management
System, Learning Object Repository, and web collaboration tools.
Objective (B)(3) 1.1: Ensure teachers and staff understand the new Standard Course of Study, including the
Common Core and Essential Standards, and related assessments.
National Education Technology Plan 2010
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare
them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data,
content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more
effective teaching for all learners.
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of
technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
22
Strategic Priority 4: A Statewide Model of Technology-Enabled Professional
Development
Essential Questions
What skills are needed to transition to digital teaching and learning resources?
How can these skills be delivered and sustained in North Carolina's K12 instructional
workforce?
How do teachers, administrators, and staff work with colleagues to guide their school system
toward more effective uses of 21st Century tools for teaching, learning, and managing
instruction?
How are teachers, administrators, and staff prepared to understand, implement, and assess
the span of skills and processes that students need to succeed in the 21st Century?
How are teachers, administrators, and staff prepared to apply 21st Century assessment
systems to inform instruction and measure 21st Century knowledge, skills, performance, and
dispositions?
Current Status and Moving Forward
Compelling research indicates that the quality of teachers has an impact on student learning and
achievement. In a longitudinal analysis of student achievement in the Tennessee school system,
Wright, Horn, and Sanders (1997) found that the more effective teachers had the most significant
impact on student achievement as determined by standardized tests. Furthermore, the states that
continue to have the highest student test scores in mathematics and reading are states that have
made the most substantial investment in creating and retaining a highly qualified teacher workforce
(Darling-Hammond, 1999). Clearly, a shift toward technology-enabled instruction using ubiquitous
technology and digital resources requires retooling many NC teachers with new approaches to
instruction.
Teachers are recognized as change agents who have the power to make a difference in classroom
practices (Hurst, 1999). Research on classroom use of technology has determined that teacher skills
are fundamental for effective use of instructional technology and that professional development is
the catalyst to transform teaching practices that successfully use technology (Grove, Strudler, and
Odell, 2004). As more technology becomes part of the K12 environment, the need for
knowledgeable teachers to use these tools appropriately and effectively becomes paramount.
Technology professional development no longer means learning technology “skills” in isolation. A
more integrated approach must be used in order for teachers to better understand the application of
technology skills in the delivery of instruction. Education personnel currently receive professional
development through a variety of resources including state and national conferences, on-line
courses, IHE/graduate-level courses, one-on-one instruction, and system-level training
opportunities. Evaluation of IMPACT Model Schools indicates that teachers in schools with
technology facilitators who model technology use for teachers and provide follow up support to
training use technology for instruction more effectively. Further research and evaluation of the
federal grant-funded IMPACT Model School initiative concludes the following:
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
23
•
•
•
•
In 26 of the 31 IMPACT Continuation schools, teacher turnover rates have decreased
since 2007. In many cases, these were substantial decreases.
90% of teachers and 74% of students in IMPACT middle and high schools agreed the
use of technology increased students’ engagement in their learning.
IMPACT II teachers reported significant increases in the frequency of student-centered
learning activities and classroom technology use from 2008 to 2010.
Principals reported that the new teacher evaluation system has given them leverage in
counseling teachers about the requirement of technology integration.
Clearly, ideals and lessons learned from the IMPACT Model schools are important guidelines for
designing and implementing technology-enabled professional development that prepare teachers for
utilizing digital tools and resources.
As a component of ACRE, professional development opportunities are essential and are planned to
assist LEAs and Charter Schools in the transition to new Common Core and Essential Standards.
These face-to-face and blended sessions begin the summer of 2011. It is critical that what has been
learned about effective professional development on integrating information and technology skills
be woven seamlessly into all of the professional development being delivered to support ACRE and
RttT initiatives. This cannot be a stand-alone effort; research on IMPACT Model initiatives informs
us that this integrated approach to professional development must be applied at every opportunity.
As this NCDPI-delivered professional development continues through RttT scope of work
implementation, it will include training on the effective use of technology to assess and evaluate
student and teacher performance. The IIS will include modules for formative, benchmark, and
summative assessments. This professional development must continue to utilize strategies that
integrate technology; to ensure sustainability, technology must also be used as a delivery
mechanism for this training. Efforts like the North Carolina's Formative Assessment Learning
Community's Online Network (NC FALCON) are an important precursor to the types of
professional development that can be delivered both more effectively and more efficiently in virtual
and blended fashion.
Although the IMPACT Model has proven successful, as with all models, it must update and change.
The current model is based upon full-time technology facilitators and media coordinators in each
school. Few would argue that when properly trained, these two roles are critical success factors in
helping prepare and sustain 21st century teachers. However, due to the budget crisis affecting the
nation and North Carolina often these positions are cut as local decisions are made to protect
classrooms. The IMPACT Model must take into account these difficult decisions and still find ways
to provide the professional development needed for classroom instruction to be effective.
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards were updated and subsequently approved by
the State Board of Education in June, 2007. This update has facilitated the creation of the North
Carolina Educator Evaluator System (NCEES). Further effort has produced an entirely-online
evaluation system, based upon the NCEES standards. Delving into the standards and evaluation
system uncovers many technology-related standards, listed below:
•
Teach existing core content that is revised to include skills like critical thinking, problem
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
24
•
•
•
•
solving, and information and communications technology (ICT) literacy.
Use data to organize, plan, and set goals.
Know appropriate use of technology.
Help students use technology to learn content, think critically, solve problems, discern
reliability, use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate.
Use assessment systems to inform instruction and demonstrate evidence of students’ 21st
Century knowledge, skills, performance, and disposition.
There currently exists, however, a dichotomy between how classroom teachers are evaluated and
how the instructional support personnel (media coordinators and instructional technology
facilitators) are evaluated. New standards, job descriptions and evaluative tools must be
implemented to ensure alignment between what our instructional support personnel are trained to do
and what our classroom teachers need to be successful. This includes feedback and alignment effort
from the higher education community, practitioners in the field, the NCDPI Division of
Instructional Technology, and the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission.
This alignment starts by reframing the focus and responsibilities of media coordinators and
instructional technology facilitators. In the recent past, many of the individuals filling these roles
have not been utilized effectively to provide instructional support for teachers. Rather, these
positions are often used to facilitate providing release time for the teaching staff in the school.
Merely cycling students through the media centers and computer labs of the schools of North
Carolina provides little support to the goal of graduating all students future-ready, prepared to
succeed in the 21st century world. Also, technical support for the school has often relied too heavily
upon the media coordinators and instructional technology facilitators. It is true that technology must
work in order for instruction to be digitally-enabled. However, if these instructional specialists
spend their time serving as technicians, the change in instructional methodology will not occur.
Instead, the media coordinators in our schools should be considered first and foremost facilitators of
information skills. While assuring the school has suitable and appropriately managed collections of
resources is important, the major role of the media coordinator should be that of information and
curriculum expert, to assist teachers with designing, co-teaching, and co-assessing lessons and units
of study that promote literacy across multiple formats, the use of informational text, higher order
and critical thinking, and research-based, problem-solving activities in classrooms across North
Carolina. Similarly, instructional technology facilitators should be concerned, first and foremost,
with assisting teachers in seamlessly integrating technology into curriculum-based lessons and
instructional units. Additionally, because collaboration inside and outside of the building, campus,
LEA, region and state ultimately relies upon technology-enabled means, media coordinators and
instructional technology facilitators should be assisting with efforts to provide these critical 21st
century learning experiences.
As experts in information and instructional technology, the media coordinators and instructional
technology facilitators in schools must provide the first level of professional development in
integrating these skills into all curricular areas. Because the individuals in these roles cannot be in
every classroom on a campus at once, classroom teachers, through both planned and just-in-time
professional development opportunities, must be trained to support the integration of information
and technology standards into their own instruction. Media coordinators and instructional
technology facilitators can provide this critical professional development role.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
25
Finally as one-to-one personal teaching and learning devices are introduced into the classroom and
school, professional development becomes even more critical to the success of technology-enabled
teaching and learning efforts. As evidenced in both the IMPACT Model schools initiative and the
NCLTI Framework, the media coordinator and instructional technology facilitators are keys to the
success of one-to-one implementations.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
26
Strategic Goals: Priority 4 – A Statewide Model of Technology-Enabled
Professional Development
4.1 As part of ACRE and NC Career and College Ready, Set, Go! Race to the Top
initiatives; provide embedded technology-enabled professional development to the
teachers and administrators in the LEAs and schools of North Carolina.
Both ACRE and Race to the Top call for reforms of the instructional models used in the
classrooms across North Carolina. Innovative reform cannot be fostered unless the educators
of North Carolina are proficient in technology-enabled instruction. Technology integration
strategies must be addressed at all levels and stages of ACRE/RttT professional development.
Planning and implementation of training efforts must include technology and technology
integration as integral components. As referenced in Strategic Goal 2.1, the NCLTI
Framework should also be used as a method of professional development that supports largescale technology integration in districts providing personal teaching and learning devices to
teachers and students.
4.2 Fund innovative models that promote and further the ideals of technology-enabled and
integrated professional development for the instructional K12 workforce in North
Carolina's LEAs and Charter Schools.
The IMPACT Model Schools initiative, funded by the federal TITLE II/D Enhancing
Education Through Technology program, has provided fertile testing ground for the design
and implementation of technology-enabled instruction. However, as teachers and technology
change, so must the instructional models. The NCDPI must update the standards and ideals
founded in the IMPACT Model Schools initiative by attempting new variations of the
IMPACT model. As federal budgets constrict, the NCDPI should seek to fund IMPACT
Model implementation and research with other funding sources.
4.3 Revise the standards, job description, and evaluation tools for North Carolina's school
media coordinator and instructional technology facilitators.
As the IMPACT Model School initiative is revised, so must the IMPACT Guidelines for
North Carolina's media coordinator and instructional technology facilitators. Complete digital
reformation includes the restructuring and retooling of school support personnel. Media
coordinator and instructional technology facilitators should be prepared to support digital
reform by facilitating innovative information and technology skill use in NC classrooms.
Individuals in these critical positions must also play a crucial role in providing technologyenabled professional development for classroom teachers as new Common Core and Essential
Standards are adopted and assessed. The IMPACT V model will serve as a valuable source of
information as these changes and recommendations are crafted.
Alignment to Other Plans and Initiatives: Strategic Priority 4: A Statewide Model of
Technology-enabled Professional Development
ACRE
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
27
Create a comprehensive, customized professional development system to provide teachers and administrators
with the skills and understandings needed to use data to inform instructional practice and make formative
assessments a daily practice in the classroom.
Update the analysis of the technology infrastructure needed to support a 21st century curriculum and assessment
system and to move additional testing to appropriate technology formats. This analysis will allow the transition
from a paper-based assessment system to one that takes greater advantage of technology.
State Board of Education Goals
Enable gathering of timely and relevant prescriptive feedback for improved teaching and learning.
Provide environment conducive for the development of 21st century skills set as a rigorous and relevant core
curriculum is delivered in a 21st century classroom.
Leverage resources and tools to develop globally competitive lifelong learners.
Empower educators with meaningful data while driving appropriate and differentiated instruction.
Furnish educators the means to promote and sustain skills and professional standards needed for 21st century
delivery of instruction.
Support teachers as they apply 21st century teaching and learning research which promotes high student
achievement and engagement.
Facilitate comprehensive recognition and use of appropriate and rigorous policies which encourage and nurture
student safety, character, and personal responsibility in a global community.
Contribute to a diverse culture of equity and flexibility which promotes student's success as lifelong learners.
Foster and sustain state, national and international partnerships for innovative change.
Compelling environment for shared vision and leadership as the need for change is disseminated.
Support leaders as they model and promote equitable and effective use of emerging and innovative resources and
tools for meaningful teaching and learning.
Provide systems which support achievement standards while supporting accountability, goals and appropriate
sanctions.
Compel financial planning and budgeting which focus on priorities identified as necessary for student
achievement in 21st century classrooms.
Provide accountability systems that foster 21st century teaching and learning and strategically guided operations.
Career and College Ready, Set, Go!
Put more technology into the hands of students and teachers to increase individualized learning options.
Increase the use of technology for providing professional development opportunities for teachers.
Develop a P-20 longitudinal data system in order to provide comprehensive data and information on all
students.
Race to the Top Local and State Scopes of Work
Objective (A)(2) 3.1: Provide and support student, teacher, administrator access to Learner Management
System, Learning Object Repository, and web collaboration tools.
Objective (A)(2) EVAL 1.1: Participate in the evaluation of the RttT initiatives and use the resulting evaluation
data and conclusions to improve effectiveness.
Objective (B)(3) 1.1: Ensure teachers and staff understand the new Standard Course of Study, including the
Common Core and Essential Standards, and related assessments.
Objective (C)(2) 1.1: Complete a unified strategic plan for the LEA/Charter that utilizes data to determine
priority goals and activities, and set targets for performance.
Objective (C)(3) 1.1: Create a transition plan for schools and LEAs to begin using the online IIS for the 20122013 school year.
Objective D(5) 1.1: Provide access to effective, high-quality, job-embedded, data-informed professional
development and support for educators with objectives aligned to the Race to the Top Initiatives.
Objective D(5) 1.2: Measure, evaluate and improve professional development and support.
National Education Technology Plan 2010
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
28
All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences both in and out of school that prepare
them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally networked society.
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use
assessment data for continuous improvement.
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data,
content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more
effective teaching for all learners.
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of
technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
29
Strategic Priority 5: 21st Century Leadership for All Schools and Districts
Essential Questions
Are North Carolina school leaders at the state-, district- and local- levels prepared to lead and
create a vision for 21st century education?
Are mechanisms in place for school leaders to create 21st century learning cultures?
Are professional growth programs/opportunities available to prepare teachers and
administrators to lead in a 21st century learning environment?
Current Status/Moving Forward
Over a decade into the 21st century, many educators still wonder, "What is a 21st century
education?" Although it is clear from reports and resources published by educational groups like the
CEO Forum on Education & Technology and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, that 21st
century classrooms staffed with 21st century teachers are required to produce 21st century students,
much work is yet to be done to define and realize these classrooms. It is the responsibility of
leadership at all levels in North Carolina's public school system to define, implement, and evaluate
21st century learning.
Creating 21st century learning environments is not about investing only in technology but also
investing in people and creating a culture appropriate for 21st century learning. As Michael Fullan
(2001) points out, leading in a culture of change does not mean placing new individuals into
unchanged environments. Rather, change leaders work on changing the context, helping create new
settings conducive to learning, and creating that setting with those already invested in the
community. As Fullan states, "change is a process, not an event."
“Schools will be most effective in educating students if the design [of public schools] — or
redesigns — are based explicitly on specific student outcomes and attributes that are valued in the
world today.” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006) Although every school and school district
superintendent, principal, and media and technology director have laid the foundation for 21st
century learning by establishing and maintaining technology programs in local school districts, the
North Carolina Public School System still has more to accomplish. Planning and implementing a
successful statewide education program grounded in the elements of 21st century skills education
requires leadership and collaboration among many constituencies from the state, district, and school
levels to engage all people in creating a learning environment that aligns with a 21st century hightech work environment and global economy.
Clearly these planning efforts must begin at the state level. In order to assure that schools create a
culture that embraces change as dynamic continuous improvement, the NCDPI must:
•
•
•
Continue to promote the ISTE NETS for all educators.
Create avenues for developing the skills of North Carolina administrators to facilitate
teaching, learning, and working in a 21st century education environment.
Understand and establish policies and procedures that support 21st century work and
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
30
•
•
•
•
•
learning environments.
Develop appropriate accountability tools and assessment measures for 21st century learning
environments.
Develop performance management processes and tools from hiring to retirement that reward
and maximize the productivity and continuous improvement appropriate for 21st work
environments.
Establish processes and management techniques (i.e., scheduling, meeting facilitation, and
shared decision-making) that allow educators to collaborate and work as a team in a
technology-enabled environment.
Learn the tools for planning and implementing change in a manner that minimizes resistance
and increases participation of the education workforce in the move to a 21st century learning
environment.
Determine and promote techniques and practice for transforming the interpersonal skills
necessary to nurture and grow productive and balanced workplace relationships in virtual,
high-technology environments.
Collaboration with outside agencies that provide 21st century leadership is also critical. The NCDPI
must continue to work with private and public colleges and universities to ensure administrators and
educators can provide critical technology leadership in LEAs and Charter Schools. To facilitate
these opportunities, NCDPI must:
•
•
•
•
•
Work with higher education institutions to maintain standards and criteria for media and
technology certifications.
Work with higher education institutes to foster innovative approaches to preparing school
and district leaders for 21st century leadership opportunities.
Identify and promote opportunities for educators to upgrade professional skills and
certifications.
Identify and promote opportunities for educators to develop skills needed for participation in
the online learning community.
Promote the ISTE NETS for teachers and administrators with higher education institutions.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
31
Strategic Goals: Priority 5 – 21st Century Leadership for All Schools and
Districts
5.1 Continue successful partnerships with state and local leaders that foster 21st century
teaching and learning, while expanding opportunities for new partnerships.
The NCDPI must work collaboratively to answer the questions: "What is a 21st century
education?" and "What prerequisites must be in place to promote a 21st century education?"
A wealth of knowledge and experience in addressing these critical questions exist with both
current and possibly new partners. The NCDPI should continue to work collaboratively with
universities and colleges, and their Schools of Education, to address filling leadership gaps
in public schools of North Carolina. Important groundwork is in place to address 21st
century leadership with partners like the NCSU Friday Institute of Educational Innovation
and LEARN NC. Both provide models and opportunities for professional development to
ensure that LEA, school, and classroom leadership make decisions that lead to sound 21st
century instructional practices. Partnerships with the SAS Institute and the Golden Leaf
Foundation have been fruitful in developing and implementing leadership institutes as part
of the NCLTI Framework. While in its infancy, a partnership with the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro and other public universities' Schools of Education is leveraging
TITLE IID funds to further the IMPACT Model with IMPACT V: School and Classroom
Leadership for the 21st Century. This model supports the IMPACT Model School format
with school administrators and classroom teachers playing critical roles in the design and
implementation of school-wide technology-enabled learning opportunities.
5.2 Fund innovative models that promote and further the ideals of technology-enabled,
21st century leadership for the administrative and instructional workforce in North
Carolina's LEAs and Charter Schools.
Clearly, leadership plays an integral role in digital reform. Superintendents and educational
technology directors are facing increasing challenges and responsibilities in our schools. As
the lines between traditional services, innovative initiatives, and even departmental duties
begin to blur, senior leadership must be able to manage the constantly expanding role of IT
within their LEA, protect their LEA from ever-increasing security threats, and keep up with
this new technology. Until recently, unless an LEA Superintendent or Charter School
Director had served as a Technology Director or Chief Technology Officer (CTO), the
ultimate leadership in the LEA or Charter may not have fully understood the work of the
CTO. Similarly, many LEA and Charter CTOs may approach their roles from an unbalanced
point-of-view: either purely instructional or purely technical. The Certified Educational
Chief Technology Officer program co-developed and implemented by the UNC School of
Government, MCNC, and the NCDPI Instructional Technology Division and Connectivity
Services seeks to resolve these problems. North Carolina is leading the nation through this
CeCTO certification program that gives school leaders the necessary knowledge, skills, and
confidence to effectively use technology in our school districts.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
32
5.3 Revise policies, procedures, and legislation to support 21st century leadership.
The need for technology-enabled teaching and learning is very real. To stay competitive and
create future-ready students, leadership in North Carolina's public schools must rely on 21st
century policies, procedures and legislation to capably lead 21st century LEAs and schools.
With leadership and feedback from local leaders, the NCDPI must work with the State Board
of Education, the North Carolina Governor, the North Carolina Legislature, and other
governing boards and commissions to ensure policies, procedures, and articles of legislation
are in place to allow 21st century education to flourish.
Alignment to Other Plans and Initiatives: Strategic Priority 5: 21st Century Leadership for
All Schools and Districts
ACRE
Create a comprehensive, customized professional development system to provide teachers and administrators
with the skills and understandings needed to use data to inform instructional practice and make formative
assessments a daily practice in the classroom.
State Board of Education Goals
Leverage resources and tools to develop globally competitive lifelong learners.
Empower educators with meaningful data while driving appropriate and differentiated instruction.
Furnish educators the means to promote and sustain skills and professional standards needed for 21st century
delivery of instruction.
Support teachers as they apply 21st century teaching and learning research which promotes high student
achievement and engagement.
Facilitate comprehensive recognition and use of appropriate and rigorous policies which encourage and nurture
student safety, character, and personal responsibility in a global community.
Foster and sustain state, national and international partnerships for innovative change.
Compelling environment for shared vision and leadership as the need for change is disseminated.
Support leaders as they model and promote equitable and effective use of emerging and innovative resources and
tools for meaningful teaching and learning.
Provide systems which support achievement standards while supporting accountability, goals and appropriate
sanctions.
Provide accountability systems that foster 21st century teaching and learning and strategically guided operations.
Career and College Ready, Set, Go!
Implement a Leadership Academy -schools need good leaders who know how to motivate teachers and students
and data to make good decision.
Implement the Student learning Conditions survey to find out how we need to change our classrooms and
schools so kids learn and stay in school.
Expand the transformation model to partner with low performing schools.
Provide incentives to ensure there are Great teachers in every classroom especially in hard to staff schools and/or
hard to staff content areas (Science and Math).
Increase the use of technology for providing professional development opportunities for teachers.
Develop a P-20 longitudinal data system in order to provide comprehensive data and information on all
students.
Race to the Top Local and State Scopes of Work
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
33
Objective (A)(2) 3.1: Provide and support student, teacher, administrator access to Learner Management
System, Learning Object Repository, and web collaboration tools.
Objective (A)(2) EVAL 1.1: Participate in the evaluation of the RttT initiatives and use the resulting
evaluation data and conclusions to improve effectiveness.
Objective (D)(1) 1.1: Recruit individuals to teach in high-need schools in rural and urban areas utilizing
school/university partnerships.
Objective (D)(1) 1.2: Use alternative routes to administrator and teacher certification with fidelity.
Objective (D)(1) 2.1: Address areas of teacher shortage.
Objective (D)(2) 1.1: Utilize the evaluation tool and process as a primary factor in teacher and principal
development plans and decisions related to promotion, retention and removal.
Objective (D)(2) 1.2: Provide evaluation results to the State by submitting summary ratings.
Objective (D)(2) 2.1: Integrate student growth data into teacher and principal evaluations.
Objective (D)(3) 1.1: Identify and select highly-qualified candidates to participate in regional leadership
academies.
Objective (D)(3) 2.1: Recruit and increase the concentration of highly-effective teachers and leaders in high
need schools.
Objective (D)(3) 2.2: Forecast hiring needs and use succession planning to identify candidates for school
leadership positions.
Objective D(4) 2.1: Provide feedback for preparation, certification and alternative licensure programs.
Objective D(4) 2.2 : Establish communication process with regional preparation programs to strengthen
programs and increase success of first-year educators.
Objective D(4).2.3: Establish or extend existing partnerships with North Carolina colleges and universities.
Objective D(5) 1.1: Provide access to effective, high-quality, job-embedded, data-informed professional
development and support for educators with objectives aligned to the Race to the Top Initiatives.
Objective D(5) 1.2: Measure, evaluate and improve professional development and support.
Objective (E)(2) 1.1: Implement one of the U.S. Department of Education's four models in each of their
lowest-achieving schools: turnaround, restart, closure, or transformation.
Objective (E)(2) 1.2: Engage in NC Comprehensive Needs Assessment, Leadership and Instructional
Coaching, Professional Development, change plan and implementation map.
Objective (E)(2) 2.1: Implement one of the U.S. Department of Education's four models in each of their
lowest-achieving schools: turnaround, restart, closure, or transformation.
Objective (D)(1) 1.2: Use alternative routes to administrator and teacher certification with fidelity.
Objective (D)(1) 2.1: Address areas of teacher shortage.
Objective (D)(2) 1.1: Utilize the evaluation tool and process as a primary factor in teacher and principal
development plans and decisions related to promotion, retention and removal.
National Education Technology Plan 2010
Our education system at all levels will leverage the power of technology to measure what matters and use
assessment data for continuous improvement.
Professional educators will be supported individually and in teams by technology that connects them to data,
content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more
effective teaching for all learners.
Our education system at all levels will redesign processes and structures to take advantage of the power of
technology to improve learning outcomes while making more efficient use of time, money, and staff.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
34
Appendices.
Appendix A. Overall LEA Data for Hardware and Personnel
Table 1.
Total Cost of Ownership
Table 2.
State Average
2.37 computers
per student
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
35
Appendix A (cont.)
Table 3.
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
36
Appendix B. Diagrams and Drawings
Figure 1. Traditional District Model
Figure 2. Cloud-Enabled Model
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
37
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In compliance with federal law, NC Public Schools administers all state-operated educational
programs, employment activities and admissions without discrimination because of race, religion,
national or ethnic origin, color, age, military service, disability,
or gender, except where exemption is appropriate and allowed by law.
Inquiries or complaints regarding discrimination issues should be directed to:
Dr. Rebecca Garland, Chief Academic Officer: Academic Services and Instructional Support
6368 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-6368
Telephone: (919) 807-3200 Fax: (919) 807-4065
Visit us on the Web: www.ncpublicschools.org
NC State School Technology Plan, 2011-2013
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