Introduction
The educational institution considered is King Khaled School that is a public school in the city of Al-Baha. It is a large and old district school that provides primary education throughout 1-9 grades, all united in a single establishment. The school has an educational capacity of 2000 students, equally distributed across all grades. The school provides 35 qualified teachers and representatives of the administration, including the director and two assistants. The school has three floors and 20 classrooms equipped with modern digital equipment. Sufficient attention is paid to the safety of students, and the whole school has special protection elements in the form of fingerprint scanners. The introduction of modern technologies is encouraged, and students have an opportunity to use the latest developments in computer technology. The main goal of the educational institution is to organize an educational process that will contribute to improving the educational base of students, achieving high learning outcomes, and training valuable skills necessary for further education, so the strategic planning would be benefits the school district to achieve their goal. According to Bryston and Alston (2011), “A good strategic plan will clarify organizational purpose, direction, goals, and ways to achieve them.”
The identified stakeholders for the proposed technological upgrade program are as follows (Quinones, Kirshstein, & Loy, 1998): Ministry of Education. The purpose of the ministry is to improve the state of education in the country and handle all affairs related to it, making the Ministry of Education and interested party. Superintendent. As the senior executive officer of the school district, he would be interested in relative efficiency when compared to costs. His interests lie in knowing the minimal amount of resources required to be spent to succeed. Principal and Assistant Principal. As the primary officers to be put in charge of the planned technological renovation programs, they are interested in the success of the venture as well as in the technical and financial sides of the matter. Teachers and Staff. They are some of the primary beneficiaries of the proposed intervention. Their immediate areas of interest lie in the effectiveness of computers in the current curriculum and the training required to facilitate operations. Parents, Students, and the Local Community. Another group of primary beneficiaries. Their primary interests lie in the effectiveness of education compared to the national standard.
The last stakeholder would include a technological expert, who would serve as an intermediary between other groups of stakeholders. Their job would include researching the available technological market to ensure that the latest and most useful solutions are implemented in the project. After that is done, they would ensure that the teachers and students are capable of utilizing said technology to improve their capacity to learn and engage with new material. Lastly, the technical expert would be required to correct and fix any issues related to the misapplication of technology. Thus, this stakeholder would have an interest in creating and maintaining a functional technological environment.
Strategic Plan Process
King Khaled School is planning a gradual renovation of its electronic facilities. The school is expecting to receive support from the Ministry of Education to improve the situation and is supposed to provide accurate and reliable information in order to do so. The purposes of the evaluation include the following (Taylor-Powell, Steele, & Douglah, 1996):
Evaluate the technology currently available in the school. Evaluate the issues encountered due to a lack of technology. Evaluate the objective needs for technology (what classes should have access to computers and the internet during lessons). Evaluate the resources required to transform the conventional library into an electronic library. Evaluate the available infrastructure and the additions required to support the technological school transformation. Identify the type of equipment required by the King Khaled School. Identify the training needs of the teachers and support personnel. Determine the potential impact of the proposed changes on all stakeholders.
Analysis
Quantitative data will be analyzed using basic statistical methods, such as the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), in order to calculate the average means and statistically significant results (Boisgontier & Cheval, 2016). It would be used not only to identify the mean averages for the entire teacher body but also the differences between right/wrong answers to each question in the IT literacy test. It would help understand which knowledge areas the teachers lack in, allowing the training program to focus on those parts.
Qualitative data will be analyzed using the narrative analysis method. It is exceptionally useful when dealing with open-ended interviews. Different kinds of answers would be analyzed independently by two researchers and grouped based on the general messages behind the answers. Common subjects, themes, and ideas would be written down and synthesized in order to create an accurate picture.
Results and Goals
The results of the report will be exchanged between different parties in a variety of measures. Preliminary analyses will be circulated between the evaluators using electronic and paper means, containing relevant bits and pieces of information without producing the entirety of the report. At this stage, the conclusions of the report are prone to revision.
Once the report is completed, it will be delivered to all interested stakeholder groups that take part in the decision-making process, including the principals, the superintendent, and the Ministry of Education. Copies in electronic and paper formats would be produced in order to simplify the use of the materials for additional analysis and reference.
Conducting workshops and meetings is an efficient way of sharing the information between members of the project group and various interested parted. That way, the stakeholders can provide valuable input and take part in the decision-making process. The technology could also be implemented to improve the quality and frequency of the process. Videoconferences can be held with one or more stakeholders who are unavailable or cannot show up in time. Transcriptions of all-important conversations and decisions will also be made to keep track of the progress as the process continues. That way, no important input will be lost, and the process would continue smoothly and without interruptions.
Lastly, after the final version of the report was received and the decision about granting the financial resources to the school was made, the results could be published in a relevant journal or newspaper. This measure would allow the general public to learn of the current and future efforts surrounding King Khaled School. In addition, the results published in the journal could be used to further future evaluations and research.
Evaluation
Questions to be Answered
The questions to be answered by this evaluation are as follows (Rossi, Lipsey, & Freeman, 2003):
- What is the current state of technology in King Khaled School?
- What improvements are needed to facilitate technologically-driven education?
- What resources are required to make the change happen?
- Will the proposed solution be cost-effective?
- What is the timeframe for the implementation of the program?
Data Collection
The proposed data collection process will involve a physical inspection of the available hardware and software in order to assess its presence and capabilities. The same should be done with the available infrastructure (electrical supply systems, sockets, Internet cables, Wi-Fi routers, etc.). This type of assessment could be conducted by qualified IT specialists. There is no need for de-identification, anonymization, and consent requirements for this step.
Qualitative data regarding the need for technology and the perceived effectiveness of the proposed technological rearmament could be collected by using semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions (Brannen, 2017). The two subgroups will include teachers and students, which would be required to answer questions about how technology could improve their perceptions of the lessons. For teachers, the opportunity sampling method will be used to ensure the representation of all subjects. For students, it would be possible to use a randomized sampling technique.
Lastly, all teachers and supporting personnel will be required to pass an IT literacy quiz in order to determine the general level of knowledge of technology use among teachers. Based on quantitative data, it would be possible to create a comprehensive training program for all teachers, using the lowest common denominator (Brannen, 2017). It would ensure that everyone knows how to utilize the new technology without requiring outside instruction and assistance.
The ethical side of the issue revolves around ensuring anonymity and obtaining consent. The option should be provided to those who do not wish to disclose their levels of technological prowess. In the case of the IT literacy quiz, the participants would not be required to sign their tests or provide any personal information about themselves. In the case of semi-structured interviews, the only personal data required of the participants would be the subject of their class. Data will be stored in digital form, and the information will be physically destroyed after the research is complete.
Evaluation Timeline
It is estimated that the proposed evaluation will take between 2 to 3 months to complete. This time will be spent interviewing teachers and students, conducting tests, evaluating the state of hardware, and analyzing the results. While the statistical analysis of quantitative data would not take long, as there are many statistical programs available, qualitative data analysis will take longer due to the nature of the research.
Conclusions
In the course of this strategic plan, the applicability of technology for King Khaled School has been thoroughly examined. It was discovered that the school pays sufficient attention to developing information technology for the purposes of learning and security. Most of the study halls are well-equipped with computers to conduct online lessons, and the local security systems allow people inside the facility based on fingerprints. Some of the classrooms have large projectors in order to watch educational videos and other instructional material. However, there is still plenty of room for improvement in order to completely digitalize the working process. The paper identified the primary stakeholders for the operation, namely the principals/superintendents, school staff, parents, students, and IT professionals. Their areas of interest and their specific tasks and prerogatives have also been outlined.
The process of facilitating change will seek to answer the questions necessary for the correct identification and implementation of the proposed solutions. The questions to be answered include the current state of technology, the necessary changes to be made, proposed solutions, resources, and cost-effectiveness. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention will be estimated by collecting quantitative data and analyzing it using statistical methods, such as ANOVA. The entire process is estimated to be completed in 2-3 months. The results of the evaluation will be shared with interested parties through various means, such as online messages, e-mails, and publications. Stakeholder opinions and input will be weighted in through workshops and web conversations. Once this work is completed, it would be possible to evaluate the long-term effects of the intervention on the learning process. The follow-up period would probably take from 6 to 12 months, after which it would be possible to collect and evaluate the data, cross-comparing it to what the situation was before the intervention.
References
Boisgontier, M. P., & Cheval, B. (2016). The ANOVA to mixed model transition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 68, 1004-1005.
Brannen, J. (2017). Mixing methods: Qualitative and quantitative research. New York, NY: Routledge.
Passey, D., & Samways, B. (Eds.). (1997). Information Technology: Supporting change through teacher education. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Quinones, S., Kirshstein, R., & Loy, N. (1998). An educator’s guide to evaluating the use of technology in schools and classrooms. Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research.
Rossi, P. H., Lipsey, M. W., & Freeman, H. E. (2003). Evaluation: A systematic approach. New York, NY: Sage Publications.
Taylor-Powell, E., Steele, S., & Douglah, M. (1996). Planning a program evaluation. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension.