Executive summary
The use of modern technology is increasing in all sectors of the economy. The technologies are in business organizations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and the learning institutions to perform different operations. In a learning institution, the technologies can be used for communication purposes, storage of information in form of databases, retrieval of information from some online source, o performing other operations like accounting.
There is thus a necessity that the institutions of higher learning adopt the modern technology not only in their operations but also in their curriculum. They need to produce students that are conversant with the applications of these modern technologies that are essential in other fields like engineering, business, medicine, statistics, and other social sciences.
The institutions need to be updated on the latest technological applications that meet the demands in the society. They should then upgrade the system to match these new standards. The institution needs to have a technology plan that defines how the technology will be used to realize the objectives of the organization.
Introduction
W.T White High School is a public school located in Dallas City that is open to students from all races. The institution attracts a large population of students from the locality. The large population becomes a burden to the teachers who have to handle the students owing to the poor technology that is in place at the institution.
The institution still uses the manual system for registering students. This then requires that the teachers mark the registers daily to check the students’ attendance. This process is prone to mistakes by the teachers due to the large numbers. There are also naughty students who will record absent students as being present. As such, the teachers are not able to monitor the exact performance of the students and the causes of failures that may be recorded.
The school boasts of excelling in sporting activities with a number of former students being reported to earn a living through sports. It has various outstanding records in sports within the Dallas Independent School District that has numerous other schools. Other than producing sport-oriented products, the school intends to adopt modern technology in its operations and in classrooms in order to produce students that are more knowledgeable.
The effects that the modern technology has on how we work and communicate on daily basis have called for a need to learn and adopt these technologies (Garrison & Anderson, 2003, p.1). The adoption of the new technology in learning and in the operations of the school will have positive impacts on the performance of the school. The teachers will be able to manage the records of the large number of students that they manage.
The teachers will then be able to assess every students, monitor, and evaluate their progress in the learning process. Knowledge of Information and communications Technology is now a necessity for every student (NCREL, 2005, para.13). The technology will ensure that students are conversant with modern applications that are essential in the current world.
Goals and objectives (needs of technology)
The school has a number of goals and objectives that could be easily realized through the adoption of modern technology. Improving the teaching and learning process to ensure high quality education is the main aim of the institution. This can be achieved using modern technology. Firstly, the school has a need ensure the teachers deliver their services to the students as required.
This is achieved through ensuring the regular attendance of the teachers and developing lesson schedules that do not inconvenience the educators in some way. The school wishes to improve on ways of monitoring the attendance of students as a way of assessing their performance. There is need to have an electronic system of register where students cannot register on behalf of the other students who were absent.
Using manual registers is very cumbersome and the teachers are likely to make mistakes. The teachers will also use these technologies in developing lesson plan and assessing the students’ progress. The school also aims at producing students that are conversant with the applications of modern technology.
The school needs to improve its technology and acquire the latest versions of the educational software programs to produce students that are more intelligent. It intends to provide courses in business studies and computer studies with integrated computer applications.
Existing resources
The institution currently uses olden software some of which have little application in the modern society. They also have old hardware that may not be compatible with some modern application software. These outdated resources will have to be replaced with the current products. On the other hand, there are certain infrastructural facilities that are already in the school that will be helpful in the implementation of the technology plan.
The outdated software and machines are situated in various premises that would be convenient to be used in the new plan. The institution has three computer labs that will accommodate much of the newly installed computers. These shall be used for learning purposes. The present classrooms will also provide good locations for the computers for administrative tasks. Another building has just been completed that will be used as the media center. Other learning activities will be scheduled at this location.
The Initiative
New resources
In order to realize the above objectives, the school needs to purchase new hardware and software products that are compatible with each other. There are those application products that will be used by the teachers, students, the other staff members, and even the public.
The software in this category include Notepad, Microsoft Office package including Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Access, Ms Power Point, Ms Office Outlook and many others that are used often in an office setting. Ms Word is commonly used for developing various text documents that are necessary for the daily activities in the school like drafting letters, notices, internal memos, and exams.
Ms Word and Ms Outlook are necessary when producing and passing information within the institutions and provide the students with good communication skills (NCREL, 2005, para.16). The spreadsheets and databases are important in the management of the students’ records by the teachers. All the above application packages will also be used during learning as areas of study.
Other special purpose application programs will also be required for different use. These include Audacity, AVI, Video converter, DVDFlick, Movie Maker, and Roxio Creator. These are software programs that are concerned with audio and video productions and are able to aid the learning process (NCREL, 2005, para.15).
Audacity is a sound editing and recording software whereas DVD Flick, AVI, Video Converter, and Moviemaker are audiovisual application programs. ClassScape is assessment software that the teachers can use to monitor the students learning based on the Course standards established in North Carolina. iTalc is software that enables the teacher to have control over other computers in a class environment.
The teacher is able to control the students in the process of learning various applications, especially in the laboratory environment. The other software that will be required is Study Island. This is online software for assessing the standards and providing instructions to K-12 students based on the standards established in a given state.
There are hardware products that will be needed that are compatible with the above programs. The above programs will need modern operating systems like UNIX and later versions of Windows. Other than the laptops and PCs that are necessary, other products like scanner, printers, copiers, internet modems, and network cables will be needed.
Teachers will be provided will laptops whereas the desktop computers will be installed in the computer labs and classrooms. Other products like televisions will be useful in classrooms and in the media center for learning purposes (NCREL, 2005, para.17).
Timeline
The plan is be implemented in the next academic year. This will be the first phase of a series of initiatives that will take three years. The changes in the fee structure caused by these initiatives had been communicated to the students. These changes will be effective as from the beginning of the next academic year. The other donor agencies that are to fund the programs have also been contacted. They have assured the institution of consideration in the next financial year.
Training
The adoption and use of these technologies in the learning process and other operations in the institution will require that the students, teachers, and other staffs be trained thoroughly. The department of Information Technology will provide the students with the basic knowledge and skills that are to be used to access computerized services like the electronic register and searching for a book online.
E-learning is very essential in the current learning environment and has to be greatly considered (Garrison & Anderson, 2003, p.2). They will also be trained on Ms Office applications so that they can prepare and submit their assignments through soft copy. The teachers and other staff will be trained by the professionals from institutions of higher learning.
Arrangements have been made and the management is assured of their availability once the facilities have been put in place. The professionals have attended various programs in technology but it is interesting to note that they can just do the same things (Lowenthal & Wilson, 2010, p.3). The other directives will be provided by the technicians on a regular basis.
Management and Maintenance
The computer facilities to be reinstituted at the institution will be open to the students at all the times. This will include vacations, lunch hours, in the study halls, morning hours before class, and during the evening classes. The continuous availability of the facilities will call for care and protection against careless use by students. In this regard, the institution has purposed to have two laboratory technicians for each of the computer labs.
They will be in charge of the computers and will provide the necessary software and hardware maintenance. They will provide the necessary assistance to the students during the learning sessions in the labs. The class representatives and respective teachers will be in charge of the few computers installed in the classrooms for keeping student records.
Representatives from the department of communication and media technology will be in charge of the media center. The overall management and maintenance of the facilities will be the responsibility of the head of the department of Information Technology.
Costs and funding
In order to facilitate the learning process and taking into consideration the large number of students, the school has purposed to purchase 200 desktop computers and 50 laptops. There will be 10 photocopiers, 20 printers/scanners, and 30 digital cameras. Most of the software are available online and will be downloaded either freely or at subsidized costs. The other software will be bought and the overall budget is summarized as follows.
Budget for the first Phase of Technology Plan
Total 110400
This is one of the development initiatives in the institution and a part of the cost will be incurred by the students. The remaining amount shall be provided by various donor agencies that have already been contacted.
Some challenges that are likely to be encountered
There are obstacles that would impede the implementation of the technology plan at the institution. Fortunately, most of the obstacles had been identified and the corrective measures taken. The institution had some outdated software that could not provide the current applications. Such programs have been discarded and not included in the new plan.
The other problem to be faced is the ability to adopt the modern technology and apply it for other advanced applications to come up with new creative ideas. This will not be possible in the initial phase. However, the training and continuous directives by the professionals will set the institution in a pace of using technology in more advanced applications.
It is also important to acknowledge the fact that, in as much as the institution would want to computerize its services, not all the operations within the institution could be computerized.
Assessment/Evaluation
Having developed and adopted the modern technology in the operations of the institutions, there is a need to consider ways of evaluating how effective the technologies are in helping the institutions meet the objectives. The quality of the outcomes will provide a good measure of the effectiveness of the technology (Bullen & Janes, 2007, p.105).
The teachers will be in the forefront in determining and reporting the effectiveness of the new programs. A comparison between the old method of maintaining class register and the modern electronic register will provide an insight on the objectives met. The teachers in the computer classes will provide reports on the progress of the students in learning the new concepts.
The technology will also be used in the preparation of the examination materials and in scheduling of the exams in the institution. The outcomes of these activities will be compared with those that were registered before the adoption of the technology. Lack of delay or clashes during this period will show the effectiveness of the new technology. Besides, the overall performance of the students will also indicate the effectiveness of the technology.
References
Bullen, M. and Janes, D.P. (2007). Making the transition to E-learning: strategies and issues. Hershey: Idea Group Inc (IGI).
Garrison, D. R. and Anderson, T. (2003). E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. New York: Routledge.
Lowenthal, P. R. (2010). Labels do matter! A critique of AECT’s redefinition of the field. TechTrends, 54(1), 38-46.
NCREL. (2005). Critical Issue: Using Technology to Improve Student Achievement. Web.