Our school is in the early phase of integrating technology into the curriculum. We have a limited number of computers on campus (laptop carts, computer lab, and iPad carts) for students to use in the classroom. We are beginning to allow ninth through twelfth grade students to bring their own devices to school. We have no digital citizenship training in place. In observing our teachers and students, a need for instruction in digital citizenship has become apparent. As we move toward the possiblity of becoming a BYOD school, the goal of our strategic plan is: Grow a community of digital citizens. This community will include all stakeholders, parents, students, and teachers.
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Support for the new strategic plan will come from several different sources:
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Short-Term Goals: Fall 2016
Intermediate Goals: 2017 - 2018
Long Term Goals: Future
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Staffing: The school educational technologist will take the lead in planning each aspect of the change effort. The library/media specialists on both campuses will work with the educational technologist to plan lessons that will provide instruction for students. The special events and communication department will work to plan and execute parent seminars. A school parent who is also a national speaker on digital citizenship from a parental and student view has agreed to lead the parent seminars. The director of curriculum will assist and provide guidance in planning professional development for teachers. Following professional development, the educational technologist will work one-on-one with teachers to incorporate digital citizenship into their classroom curriculum.
Materials: Materials necessary for the parent seminar will be provided by the presentor. The educational technologist, assisted by the library/media specialists will work to develop material for student instruction. It is expected that much of the information needed for student curriculum will be found at Common Sense Media's website. Time: Time may prove to be the biggest obstacle to this change effort. On our upper school campus (fifth through twelfth grades), our school is changing to a cascading schedule in the fall which provides a late start on Thursday mornings for students. Teachers will have about one to one and a half hours for professional development before students arrive. This will provide time for teachers to receive instruction on integrating digital citizenship into their classroom curriculum. Time is also being set aside on a Saturday soon after school starts to host a parent seminar. It is expected that parents who attend will find this useful and word will spread to other parents making it necessary to schedule several more sessions of this seminar throughout the school year. Our new schedule for the upper school campus also provides a time called advisory for students to receive guidance, meet for club activities, and tutoring help. This advisory time will include some direct instruction (provided by the educational technologist) on digital citizenship. This instruction will be broken down by grade so that the instruction will be appropriate for each age. Students on the lower school campus will receive instruction during their weekly computer time. |
Parents: Families are very busy with school and sports activities, it will be a challenge to get parents to commit to 3-4 hours on Saturday morning. We will follow the first seminar with a survey to determine if any improvements should be made.
Teachers: Some teachers will be concerned about integrating digital citizenship in their lessons because they are not comfortable with technology themselves. Some teachers have not yet seen the value of technology in the classroom. Teachers also struggle with a lack of time both in planning and in the classroom. Teachers must realize this is not a one time lesson but a training process to teach students correct digital citizenship behavior. Teachers must commit to being consistent and monitoring students as they use technology. Students: Students are excited about the opportunity to use technology in the classroom but have not received any instruction in appropriate usage and digital citizenship. Students need consistency in requirements through all classes. |
Areas we have identified that may need special attention:
1. Getting parents to the seminar. Due to the time commitment involved (3 hours), specific plans must be made to draw parents to the seminar. The consensus is, once the first group of parents have attended and see the value, more parents will want to attend future sessions. The special events and communication department will advertise to parents using short clips from the speaker. The first seminar will also be offered to church youth leaders in the area. As a Christian school, these leaders will carry the information back to their youth groups and students who attend the school. A follow-up survey will help determine areas of improvement. 2. Getting teachers on board. Some teachers will view this as "one more thing" we are asking them to do. The early adopters on the technology committee will provide input from a teacher's perspective. A follow-up survey will be conducted after the July PD to determine teacher concerns that should be addressed in futurer PD sessions. Professional development sessions throughout the year during the late start Thursdays will reinforce the concepts and assist teachers in integrating the digital citizenship concepts in a way that will be seamless. The educational technologist will work one-on-one with teachers to integrate technology and embed digitial citizenship. Administrators conduct walk-through observations each semester. Teacher evaluations include components related to the use of educational technology. 3. Consistency. Posters and infographics will be posted around the upper school campus to remind both teachers and students of the digital citizenship concepts being taught. The educational technologist will visit classrooms to ensure that teachers are remaining consistent as they monitor student computer usage. 4. Time. The addition of late start Thursday with teacher professional development in the morning will provide time for teacher trainings. The addition of advisory for students will provide a time when specific digital citizenship instruction can take place. |
The educational technologist will lead the implementation of this change project but there are many who will assist. The head of curriculum development will work closely with the educational technologist in planning curriculum for students and professional development for teachers. The special events and communication team will work to plan, market, and implement the parent seminars. The seminar is being led by a national speaker. The upper and lower school library/media specialists will assist with instruction of students. The technology committee will meet to evaluate the project on a bi-annual basis. The teachers who are part of the technology committee are also early adopters and will assist in working with the other faculty members.
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Teachers must see educational technology modeled. The educational technologist will model a lesson with embeded educational technology and digital citizenship during the July PD. The educaitonal technologist will team teach with each teacher at least one class period during the fall semester. The administration will perform walk-through observations and receive feedback from the educational technologist to ensure that each teacher prepares at least one lesson integrating technology. Posters will be placed in the hallways and classrooms to remind students and teachers of digital citizenship traits. The educational technologist and possibly the student tech aids will lead students in short workshops during the student advisory time. Exemplary teacher lessons will be highlighted in the weekly technolgy newsletter.
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The goal of growing a community of digital citizens is to provide appropriate digital citizenship skills for all members of the school community including parents, students and staff. The education of both parents and teachers will help to provide consistent expectations about appropriate digital citizenship throughout the school community. Professional; development will ensure that teachers model good digital citizenship when using technology. Representatives of all groups of stakeholders within the school on the technology committee will provide input as future plans are made. The technology committee will be responsible for assessing the plan on an annual basis and making modifications as needed. Digital Citizenship instruction will begin with our youngest students, allowing our community of digital citizens to grow stronger with each year.
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