title: strategic planning and electronic technologies create global schoolhouses (sub-theme items 5 & 6)
by 1991, the oswego city school district had to admit it: despite well-intentioned expenditures to improve its educational technology, it was difficult to claim that the investment was paying off. our teachers had little access to computer labs, received virtually no training on using technology in the classroom, and reported little or no use of computers for instruction. our students seconded that opinion, citing a lack of technological relevance. employers and college admissions officers alike regarded our graduates as suffering from a lack of technology preparation. the aelectronic doorway,@ if it indeed existed, certainly did not open into our classrooms.
what caused our district, like so many others, to go so wrong? simply put, we had no strategic plan. our investments in technology were little more than spontaneous reactions to a fear that our schools and students were afalling behind.@ no sustained, systematic efforts provided continuity for any technology programs; the district focused more on getting computers into the classrooms than on using them effectively once they were there. in fact, despite annual technology aimprovement@ expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars, we had failed to create resource-rich classrooms.
the arrival of a new superintendent of schools in 1991 initiated a critical review of our technology efforts and pushed for a strategic plan for improving our schools from a technologic perspective. drawing upon the expertise of dr. frank betts of the association for supervision and curriculum development (ascd), the district began a process to forge a dynamic plan that looked at today's instructional needs and anticipated those of the future.
by the start of the 1994-95 school year, we had begun a process equivalent to turning the queen mary: a total restructuring of the district=s technology program. the district focused on the full integration of technology into all appropriate facets of our instructional program.
the result? today, all students in the oswego city school district learn in one of the most technologically advanced and resource-rich teaching and learning environments in the country. three initiatives led to the district=s success:
c charting a new course focused on using technology to improve teaching and learning
c building a flexible, future-oriented infrastructure
c developing technological skills among faculty and staff
charting a new course
over the course of three months of effort by more than 100 oswego parents, teachers, students, business people, community leaders and school board members, a vision statement grew. out of this vision statement, three primary objectives were developed for the first three years of the plan:
c construction of a fiber-based wide area network (wan) infrastructure that would deliver any electronic resource directly into the classroom,
c implementation of a deep program of staff development based on teachers' expressed needs.
c infusion of appropriate and relevant software and hardware following the identification of instructional needs.
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building the infrastructure
achieving the intentions of the vision statement (i.e., to create resource-rich environments for teaching and learning) required a unique network design, one that could deliver any educational resource, regardless of medium, to every classroom and desktop. we chose to assume that education will increasingly rely on access to information maintained on electronic servers and the internet and that much of this information would include video. maximizing student access to these resources was considered critical.
the selected network meets current needs and will also accommodate needs of the future by offering the following five characteristics:
c stability we determined to ado the right things right the first time@ and create the network once to avoid disruption of teaching and learning.
c flexibility we identified standards for applications, platforms, protocols, and carrier services that provide for growth.
c manageability we adhered to industry standards and committed to managing the network from a central location.
c performance we designed enough capacity for growth and implementation of new technology and applications.
c cost-effectiveness we built a single network for voice, data, and video.
using the local telephone service provider (nynex), we connect our eight schools, public library and district office to a potential 7000-node network. with 2000 nodes (computers) active, we have seen no degradation in performance as we bring more computers online.
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cost effectiveness
all school servers reside in the district office. two full-time staff members successfully manage the district's network, diagnosing and correcting problems as needed without bringing down schools, classrooms, or the network. we also use new software tools, such as microsoft systems management server, to enable the centralized, remote management of school networks and computers. such software makes more efficient use of our limited technical staff's time and saves weeks of work that would otherwise be necessary to manage upgrades and maintenance of the network.
when classroom computers fail, teachers contact the central help desk. a technician in the district help desk diagnoses and corrects the problem, in most cases making the fixes over the network, without traveling to the classroom or office to fix the problem. teachers now concentrate on integrating technology into the instructional program, not on what is wrong with the technology nor what to do while the computer is down. teaches feel more comfortable with this approach and as one teacher says, "i like not having to worry about what isinside the computer. i'm a teacher, not a computer nerd." another noted that "computers are supposed to be a tool, not a headache." centralized management of the network relieves teachers of the need to fix their own computer and software problems and frees them to concentrate on teaching.
the school network uses a combination of 100 mb and gigibit ethernet to create eight nodes in each classroom. by providing direct, high-speed connections to each workstation, the district is prepared to deliver still more sophisticated educational resources to classrooms for years to come.
every computer in the district has direct internet access to 2 high speed t-1 connections. by providing continuous, high-bandwidth access from every computer, we avoid the slow, error-prone alternative: dial-up access via modem. this fast, direct connectivity along with presentation hardware enables the classroom teacher to use the internet as a real-time classroom learning tool.
developing skilled users
providing teachers with the best possible infrastructure will do little to improve teaching and learning without effective staff development. the district had to change its staff development initiatives if it was to succeed in moving the electronic doorway into the classroom.
the oswego model
to achieve a closer fit between instructional requirements and integration of technology into classrooms, our district developed a new model of technology planning, one based on teachers' perceptions of their own instructional needs. this "oswego model" empowers teachers to make decisions about purchase, training, support, and classroom use of technology, thus providing a smoother path to technology integration.
in spring 1995, the district employed a team, led by dr. philip doughty, from syracuse university's instructional design, development and evaluation program, to interview instructional staff about their instructional needs. based on the results of these interviews, the team developed, administered, and interpreted a survey designed to help the district link instructional needs with technological resources. administered to 95 percent of the 415-member faculty, the survey explored a range of issues, including comfort with technology, technology experience, attitudes toward technology, and areas where teachers sought technology-based solutions to challenging curricular topics.
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the survey revealed differences in instructional needs at the district's three instructional levels and alternative program. simply putting more computers into our classrooms wasn't going to work. our teachers and students at various levels had unique needs that required specific technological solutions. in addition, survey data led the district to redirect its staff development program.
staff development
from the first course offering in may 1996 through august 2000, teachers have filled over 8000 seats of in-service from 55 courses, validating data suggesting that teachers sought opportunities to learn about and to use technology in their classrooms. teachers have referred to the effort as "the best and most relevant staff development" that they've participated in and as such, our average teacher now has over 160 hours of staff development in instructional technology alone.
while participation in these courses is not mandatory, the district established certain courses as benchmarks. upon achievement of those benchmarks, teachers receive individual workstations, a complement of classroom stations, and internet account privileges. the reasoning behind these benchmarks is simple: the district will not repeat its past mistake of adumping@ hardware into classrooms where teachers have little or no sense of how to use it to enrich the instructional program. in the words of one teacher, "the fact that we receive training before equipment is installed helps us to make immediate use of the technology. in the past, computers were placed in our classrooms and just sat there unused; we didn't know how to use them."
to avoid creating an aexpert@ class among faculty members, the district has, in most instances, employed trained instructors from third-party sources to conduct the in-service courses. before using internal staff for this purpose, we have provided them with appropriate training from outside sources leading to their designation as certified technical trainers. thus, in every instance, our teachers learn from instructors thoroughly grounded in the content of the software they are using and demonstrating.
in addition to the benchmark courses, teachers participate in a wide array of enrichment courses. some of these focus upon the refinement of skills using cai software; others focus upon the use of particular software applications (such as microsoft office 2000 and adobe products). in every instance, however, instruction comes back to the central question: how do we use the resources effectively to support teaching and learning, to create resource-rich classrooms? we require in-service participants to produce relevant results from their completion of a particular course.
four results have come from this rich staff-development effort:
· creation of a corps of teachers who feel very comfortable using technology to enhance the teaching and learning environment. teachers' comments include the following: "the training helped me to become comfortable. before taking the training, i was afraid that the kids knew more than i did y.""as a result of the training, i can do more for all of my kids. technology addresses a broader range of learning styles."
· empowerment of a greater number of teachers. the district no longer relies on a few "experts." today, most of our teachers are expert at some aspect of instructional technology and its use. there is a willingness to share and an openness of communication that result in a rapid dissemination of new ideas and discoveries.
· continuous improvement of in-service opportunities. teachers have progressed beyond the knowledge level through application and on to evaluation and synthesis. it is no longer enough to offer the abasic computer@ course offered a year ago; current courses must meet specific needs of teachers as they continue to seek new and innovative ways to integrate technology into their day-to-day instruction.
· creation of new staff development centers to handle the unforeseen volume of demand for classes. starting with one multimedia instruction center, we have added five more staff-development centers at the high school. these centers enable the high school principal and teachers to develop innovative technology-based opportunities (such as a writing laboratory in the english department, a state of the art cad-cam laboratory and tv production in the technology department and a graphic design laboratory in the art department) for students.
· opening the electronic doorway and creating global schools
· after all of this, how do teachers and students benefit? teachers have clearly reported that they feel more comfortable using technology in the classroom and students are more engaged in their work when its connected with technology. anow that the students don=t have to run around the building to gather information, they are more focused and produce better reports with a variety of facts@ reports one middle school teacher. a high school social studies teacher states that ai used to get twenty- five papers that were very similar in content and resources. now i get twenty-five papers with fresh and current information and each, for the most part, citing different sources@.
· a variety of rich resources available in each classroom and at every desktop was a primary goal. we wanted to enrich teaching and learning. as a result, at every desktop, students have access to:
· full t-1 internet access - faster, clearer transmission ensures reliable resource delivery thus creating global schoolhouses and classrooms.
· cbetter library access and resources to the classroom - teachers and staff have access to a district-wide virtual library (school and public) as opposed to a library limited by four walls in a school. this union catalog system, combined with two significant periodical databases (umi and sirs discoverer), provide students and teachers with resources whose cost in traditional print form would place them beyond reach. multiple online encyclopedias (microsoft encarta and grolier's internet encyclopedia) further enrich reference sources.
cvideo-intensive instructional learning system - a resource that cuts across curriculum and grades to provide a resource-rich tool for students (ccc - computer curriculum corporation).
cintegrated productivity tools students and teachers use word processing, spreadsheet, data base and presentation capabilities within one package (microsoft office 2000). powerful desktop publishing and multimedia applications (adobe photoshop, pagemaker, and illustrator) promote and enhance teaching and learning by allowing greater use of graphics and increased visual appeal.
cindividual electronic portfolios students create and store work in an electronic format that facilitates revision and storage.
cweb site instructional resources using current web-based information provides currency and relevancy in the instructional program
cspecialized cd's students and teachers enjoy greater access to resources used to enhance portfolios and strengthen the teaching and learning process.
ccareer opportunities by developing expertise in commonly used software applications (microsoft office 2000, autodesk's mechanical desktop, inventor and 3d max, polaris), high school graduates are better prepared for entry into the job market or higher education
ccommunications e-mail and the internet promote greater communication both within the school and with others in the world (microsoft outlook, microsoft internet explorer)
the district=s plans for further enhancing its use of technology include the following:
caccess to our curriculum servers from home and remote locations, either by cable television or modem dial-up,
ca video distribution system
cvideo-on-demand to support instruction
celectronic lesson plan files, and
ca windows-based student accounting and record keeping system
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