The Technology Plan
Alvord ISD 2009-2010
Kimberly Gaskins EDLD 5362
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The Alvord Independent School District vision is to
use technology throughout the educational system to
increase the academic achievement of all students.
The goal is for teachers to use technology in aiding in
the development and management of their
instruction, for administrators and support staff to
use technology in achieving their mission to support
instruction, and for all students and parents to use
technology as a natural component of the learning
process. We envision that technology will be used to
foster lifelong learning, facilitate the acquisition of
knowledge, and develop the skills needed to be
competitive in the 21st century.
(Alvord isd technology, 2010)
Where are we today?
An Overview…
We have a District Education Improvement Committee (DEIC)
that, along with our Instructional Technology Leader, acts as
a Technology Planning Team because “To realize the benefits
of technology, schools must develop a plan for integrating
technology into the curriculum. An effective technology plan
is based on the shared vision of educators, parents,
community members, and business leaders who have
technological expertise. It ensures that technology
strengthens existing curricula and supports meaningful,
engaged learning for all students” and that is our overall
goal.
(National education technology, 2009
Staudt, November, Costello, &
Huske, 1998)
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Bill Branum-Superintendent
Joel Waldo-Asst. Superintendant
Keith Crutsinger-Elementary
Principal
Kimberly Sledge-Middle School
Principal
Steve Henry- High School Principal
Simon Bettis-Instructional
Technology Leader
Benn Holly- Business Owner
Gaye Houston-Business Owner
Teresa Mader-Business Owner
Gwen Hardee-Parent
Katy Sherman-Parent
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Eleanor Randall-Student
Tanner Bowen-Student
Kim Gaskins-Teacher
Courtney Yates-Teacher
Cheryl Hale-Teacher
Jessica Bull-Teacher
Scheana Smith-Teacher
Donnette Hicks-Teacher
Linda Johnson-Teacher
Lisa Watkins-Teacher
Deann Nivens-Teacher
Chrystal Holson-Counselor
Bonnie Foreman-Counselor
* This committee is made up of educators, parents, students, and community members to
support the school's initiatives in the use of technology, as recommended under the National
Technology Plan, 2009.
This Technology Plan is driven by the state curriculum
standards and supports the educational mission and
instructional goals of Alvord ISD and by the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001. Specific attention is given to addressing
student standards for technology as defined by the
Technology Applications Texas Essential Knowledge and
Skills (TEKS), required in the Texas Education Code, Section
28.002. The Technology Applications TEKS found in 19 TAC
Chapter 126 describe what students should know and be
able to do using technology. As a part of the enrichment
curriculum, these TEKS are to be used as guidelines for
providing instruction. The goal of the Technology
Applications TEKS is for students to gain technology-based
knowledge and skills and to apply them to all curriculum
areas at all grade levels.
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Technology Expenditures: $1,243,972.00
Teaching and Learning Budget: $430,000.00
Educator Preparation and Development Budget: $29,700.00
Leadership, Administration and Support Budget: $398,172.00
Infrastructure for Technology Budget: $386,100.00
Technology Expenditure Per Pupil: $836.00
Number of Campuses with Direct Connection to Internet: 3
Percentage of Classrooms with Direct Connection to Internet:
100.00%
Computer/Student Ratio: 2 student(s) for every computer
Computer/Teacher Ratio: 1 teacher(s) for every computer
Number of campuses that need to complete the Texas Campus
STaR Chart: 3
Percentage of campuses that have completed the Texas Campus
STaR Chart: 100.00 %
Each classroom in the district has internet access and
each teacher has a computer at his/her desk. The
district has a connection to the Internet via TENET
network through the Region XI ESC.
Located in the high school are: (1.) A district server
with Microsoft Server 2007 software which houses all
the business software, controls logons for teachers
and students, provides storage for teachers and
students, houses various student applications, and
filters email (2.) A N2H2 proxy server which filters all
internet content (3. )A Symantec virus protection
server (4.) A server for RSCCC Reporting Software
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Located in the high school library are four distance
learning computers. Students in the high school and
community members may use these for college classes or
other distance objectives. There are three computer labs in
the high school, with the newest being an LAX lab
equipped with a document camera and an interactive
whiteboard.
The high school has a 100 mps switched network. Each
classroom has at least 4 connections. Technology classes
include BCIS, computer science, video technology, digital
graphics, desktop publishing, computer science, web
mastering, and multimedia.
Teachers use Gradebook software for classroom grades
and attendance. There are SMART brand interactive
whiteboards and document cameras in every classrooms at
the high school campus.
The middle school has one computer lab, and
at least two student computers with internet
access in each classroom.
 There are 2 administrative PCs and 12
teacher PCs. The library has 8 computers
used for internet access and Accelerated
Reader. Students in grades 6-8 are provided
with classes in keyboarding.
 All classrooms have an video projector,
interactive whiteboard and a document
camera.
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The elementary school has one computer lab in
which students take weekly technology classes.
There are 2-4 computers with internet access in
each classroom and each teacher has a desktop
computer.
The main focus of computer usage is for
students to use reading and math games and
learn typing and access the Accelerated Reading
Program.
There is one full time technology aide who also
helps with IT on the campus.
Where do we want to go?
“A ‘Best Practice’ in technology education is a human-created
and directed activity whose purpose is to bring about purposeful
change in student learning, teaching effectiveness, and program
effectiveness in an exemplary way.” (Martin, 2009)
At Alvord ISD, we want to incorporate as many
of the ‘Best Practices’ recommended by the
new proposed national technology plan.
These include such things as:
 Improved professional development
 Fiscal sustainability
 Balancing security with flexibility
Teaching concepts, not just skills
Incorporating technology across all grades
and subjects
Breaking away from PC-Based Software
applications
(Patterson, 2007 and
Martin & Martin, 2006)
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One area of our future focus will be in the area of
staff development in technology. Technology
courses for teachers should be relevant, practical
and “just in time” in order to be most useful. We
plan to incorporate these elements into the
surveys that we send out periodically so that
training can be delivered that will meet the needs
of our professional staff.
(Preis,2009)
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When planning for and implementing the use of
technology tools, it is suggested that the total cost of
ownership be considered, not just the original budget
outlay. This is a good practice to keep in mind,
especially in the current economic situation. With
budgets being cut and systems looking for ways to
save money, the use of free Web 2.0 tools will be
incorporated into our long-term plan. We are
currently using government stimulus funding to
purchase new hardware and software while it is
available, and we plan to keep overall operating and
maintenance costs to a minimum after these funds
are gone through the use of Web 2.0 resources.
(Preis, 2009)
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This issue is a pretty big one for our school system. A
great deal of emphasis has been put on security,
blocking, and ‘locking down’ for the protection of
students and of the network infrastructure. Our
current filtering system sometimes squelches
“teachable moments” by making many valuable
resources unavailable when they’re needed. We will
continue to search for alternative strategies that will
allow greater access while still meeting CIPA
standards and safeguarding our network.
(Patterson, 2009)
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While instructing students on how to use specific
software applications, we will also be teaching
them the concepts of how to use technology
tools in general. With the rapid pace of change in
the world of technology, learning to use a certain
program will be mostly irrelevant five years from
now, but the concept of how to apply a program
is something that should remain useful. We will
base our training more on the ISTE standards
(which focus on concepts) rather than on specific
applications.
(Patterson, 2009)
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The National Standards say that now eighth
graders should be fully computer literate,
we must not wait until eighth grade (or stop
there) when addressing technology literacy.
The key to this, we believe, is making
teachers comfortable enough with technology
tools that they will naturally incorporate them
into their lessons, starting with our youngest
students. When teachers model the use of
technology, their students will naturally learn
to use it too.
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The concept of “cloud computing” was a fairly
new one, but it makes a great deal of sense.
Instead of focusing on proprietary Microsoft
programs as we have done in the past, we plan to
explore the idea of using Web 2.0 applications
such as Google Docs and Open Office. If
teachers can incorporate tools that students
actually enjoy using (wikis, blogs, etc.), they will
likely elicit much more enthusiasm and interest
from their students. We plan to offer training to
teachers on the use of these Web 2.0 tools so
that they can become comfortable using them in
their classrooms.
(Preis, 2009)
The latest Horizon Report from a collaboration
of the New Media Consortium and Educause
describes the progress that schools should be
making in technology over the next five years.
In order to accomplish these goals, we will need
to diligently work on the specific concepts of
‘cloud computing’, smart objects, and personal
web applications that have been mentioned in
this presentation, as well as others. We will
need to continue to integrate as much mobile
technology as possible into our curriculum at
all grade levels.
“Increasing globalization continues to affect
the way we work, collaborate, and
communicate.”
Horizon Report, 2009
US Department of
Education, 2004
Alvord isd technology plan. (2010). Retrieved from
http://alvordisd.net
Horizon report. (2009). Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizonk12-2009/chapters/online-communication-tools/
Martin, G, & Martin, C. (2006). Best Practices in technology
education. Retrieved from teched.vt.edu/CTTE/Images
PDFs/BestPracticesInTE.pdf
National education technology plan. (2009). . Retrieved from
https://edtechfuture.org/
Patterson, K. (2009). Utilizing best practices in instructional
technology. Retrieved from http://gaetcejournal.org/instruction/best/bestpractices.htm
Preis, A. (2008). A Survey of instructional technology in
international and ib schools. Retrieved from
http://www.alanpreis.com/research/ITResearch.pdf
Staudt, C, November, A, Costello, M, & Huske, L. (1998).
Critical issue: developing a school or district technology
plan: . Retrieved from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technl
gy/te300.htm
*Background Music from Highway Blues (New Stories) by Marc
Seales, 1999
*All images included in this presentation are used with
permission.