Components of a Technology Plan

Resource: http://www.nctp.com/tc.recipe.html - Technology Planning: Recipe for Success; National Center for Technology Planning, Mississippi State University

Definition of Technology Planning

Local school boards and planning committees must recognize that a technology plan is an essential part of budgeting and planning processes. This plan must serve as more than a document for it should capture and play out the design of technology implementation at all levels.

Committee Representation

The technology planning committee should consist of members from all affected constituencies including teachers, administrators, students, business leaders, civic leaders and others. These stakeholders are all eventually impacted by the outcome of the committee so they should all be well represented.

Progress Report

The committee must be presented with a report of the current state of technology and any prior technology plan before their work can commence.

Subdivide Responsibilities

As with many committees charged with a large task, this committee should be divided into smaller working groups or subcommittees. The tasks appointed to each should correspond to major segments of the final technology plan

Establish Time Frames

A timeline must be established for research, plan writing, and implementation. A logical sequence of events must transpire that consists of committee assignments, assessments of current technology needs, assessment of future technology needs, preparation of financial documents, evaluation of the plan, and plan presentation to all constituencies.

Set Target Dates

Without pre-established target dates the committee may loose sight of the relative urgency of their task. Goal setting is an important part of this process.

Build Consensus

The committee must poll all affected constituencies and draw a consensus of needs as they progress. The plan must encompass all needs and be able to be read by all affected.

Formulate Plan

Once the groundwork has been laid, this crucial step may begin. All decisions made must be brought before the committee for inclusion into the plan.

Implement Plan

Educators know best that their planning always has a subsequent implementation. This requires the support of all constituencies once again. Administrators must make their full resources available to the committee in order for the plan's success.

Evaluate Plan

The planning process should receive evaluation to determine the most and least efficient actions taken by the committee. This evaluation should be documented for the sake of any future committee whose task it is to revise this technology plan.

Second, the plan should be reviewed and updated on an annual basis in order to make adjustments in terms of financial resources and technology needs. The world of technology is a fast-paced and highly evolving area that demands constant re-evaluation.

Role of Teacher Education Programs

Teachers must be trained to use the equipment in order to gain the full potential of the huge investment that was made. This is a challenging task that must be undertaken and overseen by the committee.