Technology Plan

School Name: Salem High School by Todd Alexander

Vision Statement: Salem High School would like to increase and enhance access
to technology across the curriculum as a means to facilitate meaningful work for
students and build their 21st century skills and attitudes.

Mission Statement: Salem High School graduates will be prepared for future work
and college experiences in the 21st century.

Executive Summary:
The Salem High School technology plan lays out the following:

Goals for the increased incorporation and access of technology in the

classroom.
Strategies to achieve these goals, including funding plans and professional
development plans.
Financial dynamics for incorporating this plan.

We believe this plan will be effective through its implementation by our technology
coordinator, the technology staff, and the schools technology committee.
Technology has become a a part of daily activities at Salem High School. It is used
specifically to enhance both learning and opportunities for increased collaboration
between teachers, students, businesses, and the community.

Needs Assessment

Link to the SHS Needs Assessment

EVALUATION & RECOMMENDATION FOR ADAPTIVE/ASSISTIVE

TECHNOLOGY
Salem High School students have access to 1-1 computers in seven English classrooms.
There are other computer labs (with a 1-1 per class level of access) in our media center,
business classroom, mathematics lab, and the alternative school. Science classrooms
are also equipped with at least 10 computer stations. Agriculture, journalism, and
remediation classrooms also have such access.
High school special needs students struggling with basic math and reading skills work on
improvement during the day as well as before and after school using Academy of
Reading and Math. NovaNET digital curriculum for credit recovery or remediation is
available at the high school before, during, and after school. Students have access to
this in the school, at the alternative school building, and at home.

Assistive technology is purchased and provided on an as-needed basis. Special

textbooks, enhanced screens, or specialized keyboard are purchased through a
special stipend provided for such special needs cases. Special education department
teachers are to report the needs as needed or school counselors in conjunction with
the technology administrator will make the provisions necessary as new students enter
the school. The school district does have a subscription with Dragon software for
students who need text-to-speech assistance. Assistive technology needs can also be
addressed through the South Central Area Special Education Cooperative.

Diversity, Culture, Language

There are very few students at Salem High School who speak English as a second
language. For those students that speak English as a second language, support is
provided on an as needed basis. For example, there are students who attend our
school who come from Vietnam. These students, when needed, use Googles translate
software to translate English text into their home language. We do not have a specific
ESL coordinator or specialist as there are few cases where such an individual is needed.
Currently needs are handled on an as needed basis through the counseling
department and administration.

Equitable Access
Each staff member has one computer. We have 26 laptops used by 26 staff members
(administrators and/or teachers). We have two computer labs open to all teachers. In
addition to these computer labs, all seven English teachers have their own computer
lab in their classroom. There are also three business teachers with computer labs of their
own.
Currently, the school corporation is looking into implementing a 1:1 tablet initiative for
the three schools in the district. The 1:1 tablet initiative has been set forth with a three
year time table for implementation. Within the next few years, we will be piloting the
program with a specific tablet in a few classrooms in every building. Once piloted and
proven successful, we will work towards a full-fledged 1:1 rollout. This initiative hopes to
increase student engagement in the curriculum as well as increase access to
technology and prepare students with necessary 21st century skills.
NETWORKS

WIRELESS: Currently 50% of the schools in the district have access to wifi.
WAN: Access is limited as bandwidth is not strong enough to support the traffic
within the schools of the district. Additional funding is needed, preferably
through grants, to increase access to wireless across the district.
Students use the Y drive to save their materials and share them with their
teachers. We are looking at using Google Docs as a mechanism to save and
share work digitally as students do not currently have access to their Y drive at
home.
Teachers have access to a shared file on the Y drive, which is accessible only
to staff members. All staff members have access to materials in the shared drive.

Goal #1: Use Technology to help teachers facilitate meaningful work for students
that builds 21st century skills and attitudes.

Strategies:

Follow Phillip Schlechtys 10 Design Qualities when planning lessons involving

technology.
Take advantage of students current technology capabilities to make content
more accessible and engaging.
Build lessons that promote important technology skills along with content
knowledge and personal attributes.

Implementation:

Use technology to help teachers facilitate meaningful work for students that
builds 21st century skills and attitudes.
Specific building representatives (one from each department) in conjunction
with the technology staff will offer training and support.
Build a building level technology committee to assess and monitor technology
needs.

Progress:

Progress will be monitored by the technology facilitator, the buildings

technology specialist, and the schools technology committee.
Technology committee members will attend professional development
workshops as they are offered throughout the year.
Every teacher will have technology enriched lessons throughout the school year.
A technology survey for teachers, students, parents, and community members
will need to be conducted.

Goal #2: To seek out opportunities to maintain and acquire innovative technologies
for students and staff as well as to provide proper upkeep and improvement of
infrastructure.

Strategies:

Refine plans at each building to inventory, repair and maintain existing

technology.
Use current plan to select and purchase of technology based on staff input to
Technology Committee.
Seek out grants and other funding sources for technology acquisition.

Implementation:

Technology committee will meet regularly to assess technology needs and plans.
A survey will be conducted with the staff to assess technology needs.

Professional development stipends are provided throughout the school year for
teachers to attend workshops on technology implementation and improvement.
Building level representatives will monitor and repair technology resources as
issues arise.

Progress:

Progress will be monitored by the technology facilitator, the buildings

technology specialist, and the schools technology committee.
Technology committee members will attend professional development
workshops as they are offered throughout the year.
The districts curriculum director will write and seek grants in conjunction with the
corporations technology committee.

Goal #3: Provide professional development and opportunities to allow educators,

students, and parents to share information, communicate across the network, develop
presentations and become trusted colleagues peer evaluating each others work.

Strategies:

Employ the teachers model for implementation and training on new programs,
equipment and technology approaches.
Take advantage of professional development opportunities provided by the
Wilson Education Service Center, IDOE and online workshops and webinars
Use the Learning Connection and other programs to connect staff membes with
peers in the district and across the state.
Provide parents and students with digital means of communicating with
teachers.

Implementation:

Technology committee will meet regularly to assess technology needs and plans.
Teachers, administrators, and staff will continue to communicate with each
other, parents, and the community through email via Outlook Express.
The technology committee will look into using Google Docs as a way to
communicate and share materials with one another in addition to the already
implemented shared files on the Y-drive.
As opportunities arise with the Wilson Education Center, professional
development seminars will be afforded to members of the technology
committee as well as other interested educators.

Progress:

Progress will be monitored by the technology facilitator, the buildings

technology specialist, and the schools technology committee.
Technology committee members will attend professional development
workshops as they are offered throughout the year.

Professional Development:
Building technology representatives will provide instruction on the use of the schools
technology on an as needed basis.
The technology committee will also look at offering the following:

After school training sessions on using multimedia tools for instruction.

Presentations on technology use during monthly staff meetings.
A technology survey for staff asking what they would like to see happen with the
proposed 1-1 initiative.

Our overall goal is to make sure that all educators in our school have access to
information about technology resources they can use in their lessons and in student
projects. We hope to provide more information and training on such resources as the
school year passes.

Finances:
Technology Budget:
Technology Devices:

Hardware: $240,000 (corporation wide)

o An additional $30,000 from textbook funds
o An additional $5,000 from grants
Software: $15,000 (corporation wide)
o An additional $3,000 from grants
Telecommunications $18,000 (corporation wide)

Training:

Salary: $175,800
Professional Development: $7,000
Staff Hourly wages for webinar series & 6 E-Learning workshops:
o 30 staff at about 30 hours $27,000
Additional E-Learning Workshops:
o Mileage - $2,000
o Workshop cost $3,000

Appendices
Linked here is the official Salem Community Schools Technology Plan for 2011-2014.

Within this document you will find the following:

Corporation Technology Trends Survey

Goals and Strategies for the Corporation
Technology Budget
Specific plans for each of the three schools in the district