Email to Teachers

Today I sent out the following email to teachers. As predicted in our tech meetings, teachers were appreciative and interested in their colleagues' opinions. The email is below. If you receive any other feedback from those who said they were unable to take the survey, or just other feedback, please post to the blog.

Dear Teachers:

The Technology Committee requested that I share the results from the recent Technology Plan Survey that went out to all teachers. Out of the 430 teachers, 162 teachers filled out the anonymous online survey. As you will see, the comments section shows a diversity among teachers in deciding where to place laptops in addition to other areas such as spending plans.

The Technology Planning Team has concluded discussions and will present the updated Technology Plan to the Technology Committee March 16th. More feedback will be provided to the planning team, and then a final copy should be sent to you all by the end of the year.

I also invite you to visit the blog the committee used to communicate and collaborate.
http://edtechintegration.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html


Thank you,
Laurel

I wanted to thank the planning team for their time and valuable feedback.
Technology Planning Team: Amy Fiorito, Dave Hart, Lynda Poole, Cynthia O’Connor, Jeff Gordon, Matt Six, Tim Teelin, Heather Bouck

Working Plan / Last Meeting

Action plan for tech committee
Review tech plan each year, have bullets to focus on
Create action plan for an area that is not...
Focus on few

Student Survey - email

Additions to Tech Plan?

In looking at other Technology Plans, I have a list of items that were included.  Would we like to also include possibly at the end?

1. Student Survey of tech needs
2. Teacher Survey
3. Replacement Schedule/ Cycle
4. Software Preview Form
5. Equipment Assessment
6. Infrastructure Summary

Technology Plan Survey Results/ Next Meeting, February 10th, 8 AM, Fay El Library

162 Responses

Form Aggregates
Technology Plan 2011
Click on any answer below to drill the results down to just those people if necessary.
Select the top three reasons you use technology in your instruction.
Multiple Select Option
Efficiency	88 selected
Motivating to students	126 selected
Prepare students for graduation	12 selected
Prepare students for a global community	56 selected
Improve instruction	147 selected
Meet instructional goals	54 selected
How often do you use a mobile lab or laptops?
Less than once a month	88 (54.32%)
Daily	34 (20.99%)
Once a week	14 (8.64%)
Once a month	12 (7.41%)
Once every three weeks	7 (4.32%)
Once every two weeks	7 (4.32%)
How often do you use the computer lab?
Less than once a month	51 (31.48%)
Once a week	49 (30.25%)
Once a month	29 (17.90%)
Once every two weeks	12 (7.41%)
Once every three weeks	11 (6.79%)
Daily	10 (6.17%)
Select the three top priorities you feel the District should designate funds.
Multiple Select Option
Mobile Labs	39 selected
Laptops for teachers	82 selected
Small groups of laptops stationed in the classroom	107 selected
Bandwidth	81 selected
Computer Labs	67 selected
Global Communication	27 selected
Web 2.0 Tools	51 selected
Select the top three ways you prefer to learn and practice new technology.
Multiple Select Option
FM Inservice	106 selected
Staff Days	118 selected
BOCES Workshops	25 selected
Conferences	20 selected
Curriculum maps	3 selected
Online courses	29 selected
Blogs,wikis and learning communities	10 selected
Emails from Computer Resource Teachers and Coordinator of Technology	21 selected
Curriculum/ department meetings	54 selected
Individual development time	95 selected

Alll Comments

you are doing a great job!

not sure

Not sure what this is asking

Please spend wisely. (Comment required to exit survey.)

Professional Development is key. Rock on Amy Fiorito! But we need more of her.

See above comment on mobile labs...

Seem to be well spent.

Should also purchase tablets

Should be allocated to allow for computer/online subscriptions for more students. ie. reading programs

Small group of laptops would be useful if set up properly with bandwidth and the connection was quick.

Small groups of laptops are very difficult to incorporate into classroom instruction

So thankful for the support!

Teachers do not need laptops - put the students first!

Teachers should not be sitting under the old TVs as they work on their computers - this could be a dangerous situation.

Technology has changed the nature of my job immensely over the last 3-5 years. The vast majority of the schoolwork I do at home now needs to be done on the computer. I do not own a lap top and have to share the one family computer with my spouse and 2 hs

Thanks!

The computers in the computer lab seem to be more reliable than the computers on the mobile cart. The notebooks are slower when using the internet. The question said laptops in the classroom and I do prefer those over notebooks.

The D.O. is doing a great job in general with funding considering the current chaos at the state level.

The district is very supportive in the technology area

The mobile labs are a definite priority from my instructional perspective.

The more regular labs the better

The small netbooks are often difficult to use because of the size of the keyboard.

There is a growing need for laptops to use closer to smartboards, to take to meetings, to use at different buildings, etc.

These items would make it easier for us to use the technology.

Training for teachers/staff and tech support for staff to make sure the tools we use work daily and seamlessly.

use money for laptops

We are already very spoiled in this district.

We are fortunate at FM with the technology support we have in place - thank you!

We have recently acquired several technology devices and I feel the current technology is adequate. Money can be spent on training teachers to use it.

we waste lots of money on printing colored copies and one-sided documents

What we have already needs to work, ie mobile labs, and we need enough bandwidth for everything we are being encouraged to use will function when we need it.

While I believe that it is vital to prepare our students for the 21st century, I feel that funding must be a priority to maintain class size and provide staffing to meet student needs.

Who makes the decisions? It would be nice if the soldiers in the trenches had some input.

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A laptop for every teacher would be very helpful!

A personal labtop would be great to bring to and from school.

Additonal laptops in the classroom

All of these are important investments.

Allocate without a focus on trends

Anything that will increase overall secure access, the better

asdfasdf

Bandwidth is an long ongoing problem

Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth!!!

Better Servers/Tech Support is much needed

Class sets of laptops for students (30).

Classroom laptops would be a priority.

Computer Teacher

Computers are worth the academic investment.

Continue to use funds to supply classroom teachers with laptops.

District funds should support students, we already have working computers for all of the teachers. That would be a waste of money.

Don't buy me a laptop I have my own and I won't use it!! Keep my desktop for high processing speed for my smartboard

elementary always seems the last to get technology

Every classroom should have a few laptops available for students.

fdgsdfg

funds couild be used to provide more inclass laptops to make laptop use more efficient

Funds dedicated toward 21th century learning

Funds should be allocated appropriately amongst elementary, middle schools and high school

Funds should be designated based on both student teacher needs.

gbv

Has the long term costs of PC vs Mac been thought of? It seems to me that the front end costs of Macs are much more, but with the included software, lack of viruses and ease of use between extremely useful programs (imovie, garage band, photo-booth...)

have none

Having computers at hand in the classroom allows for short activities to enhance my lesson. I feel guilty signing out a computer lab for a quick 10 minute activity.

Having laptops in the classroom is wonderful, but it would be great if a similar suppport system to the staffing in the computer labs was available in the classroom when a major use of computers is part of the classroom instruction.

How about a computer teacher at the elementary schools? Someone whose whole job was to plan lessons using the computer?

huh?

I am happy with the amount of technology and professional development available to us.

I am happy with what we have to work with overall.

I am not a classroom teacher, but would love to have some laptops in my room.

I am not clear on what you want me to comment in this box.

I don't feel strongly about any of the above, but we could use new types or new versions of various Technology specific Software

I don't feel the district should buy laptops for teachers.

I don't have any comments

I don't know

I don't know too much about this.

I don't think we should just purchase technology without specific stated requests by teachers. We should be conservative in spending in this area and let curriculum drive technology, not technology drive curriculum.

I don't understand the question.

I feel as though we have so much already. Let's designate funds for further teacher training and time to share best practices.

I feel it is very important for the district to continue to support technology to meet it's 21st century goals and appropriately educate students to be ready for the global workplace.

I feel money should be divided differently for students based on their age.

I have no comment here

I like the idea of teacher laptops!

I really believe that we should be working to have one computer per student.

I think another computer lab would be helpful.

I think district funding has been supportive of technology

I think having small groups of laptops stationed in each classroom would enhance instruction

I think it is also important to have enough books and teachers! When I think about every classroom having a document camera when I am not allowed to buy enough textbooks for my students, I get somewhat annoyed!

I think the district should focus on the mobile labs. They are a great tool in the classroom but with the state most of the laptops are in, I lose instructional time waiting for them to load, dealing with broken laptops, issues with shockwave, etc.

I think the idea of either providing teachers with notebooks or ipads is excellent.

I would like to see a certified teacher in the computer lab instead of a TA

I would love to see adequate computer access with trouble free (!) network access and printer use.

I would love to see teachers provided with laptops.

If we had a small set of laptops/computers in the room that didn't take forever to startup & logon, I could have students use them much more to gather information in the class spontaneously as appropriate for our needs.

Increased mobility and efficiency of teachers that travel to different classrooms is important

Information Technology costs money, budget for it

Infrastructure and Mantenance

iPads with applications!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be ideal for district funds to be spent on getting enouch computers that each student has one available to them during any class of the day.

It would be wonderful to have laptop computers in the classroom.

It's fine to spend money on technlogy but make sure we have the teachers to use the technology. I'd rather have less technology if it means saving jobs.

Keeping updated on technology is integral, therefore funds for this technology is important.

lap tops make home time useful

Lap tops would give me more flexibility when teaching in different rooms.

laptops for teachers

Laptops for teachers would mean more time to use technology!

laptops for teachers, small group laptops in classroom, global communication

Laptops in the classroom is the BEST way to reach all kids!

Laptops only if they would work consistently with the wireless internet.

Listening to Heidi Hayes Jacobs has really inspired many of us to use technology and be innovative with our assessments. However, with limited access to the computers on a regular basis, it's often hard to carry out these types of assessments.

Make mobile labs more convenient (smaller, faster, etc)

mobile labs - full lap tops not netbooks

More computers need to be purchased.

More needed for technology if we are to keep up with the global communtiy

My thinking is to maximize the amount of computers available to teachers and students.