12/6/2019 SLuna SWOT Discussion 3 - Fall 2019 - Strategic Planning for Tech (ETEC-593-01W)

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SLuna SWOT Discussion 3

Sherry Luna posted Nov 13, 2019 6:21 PM Subscribed

First of all, WOW! That was a pretty amazing read and a lot of information in a really great
summary!

I noticed first of all, that the strengths and weaknesses were somewhat repetitive, as in many
teachers had the same strengths as the others, and the same weaknesses. The main strengths,
as especially visible by the word cloud, was SUPPORT, TRY, WILLINGNESS, and ADMIN. This
leads to me to believe that many of the staff felt that they were supported in their technology,
that many of them were willing to try new things, and that admin was on board and supported
what they were doing, and TRYING to do. This would be a great place to start because as I
have mentioned before, you have to have the TOP on board, or tech integration is just another
"whatever" that may be tried, or is a passing fancy. Administration must believe in and
support the necessity of technology integration in the classroom. And they have to support
teachers in every possible way, providing opportunities and training for tech. And from the
BOTTOM, teachers (and students) have to be willing to try, even if it fails miserably, they have
to try, and it seems this staff had a lot of people willing to do so.

The two biggest weaknesses were TIME and TRAINING. No matter how willing teachers are
to try new things, they need time to work out how to integrate technology, time to
collaborate, and time to actually implement the usage of tech in the classroom. They also
must have training. With so many levels of "techiness" in any given district or campus, basic
training in the use of devices is necessary, but training in integration is also imperative. Some
teachers want to, but don't know what to use or what to use it for. "How do I integrate the
use of X tech into Y subject?" This is where an Instructional Technology coach/specialist really
comes in handy (I will refrain from jumping on my soapbox and just let the statement stand.
LOL)

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The opportunities list was all over the place, but COLLABORATION and RESOURCES stood
out. There are so many digital resources available and without knowledge of them or access
to them, they go to waste, so to speak. So many textbooks come with online access, and
teachers, students and parents are completely unaware! There are also FREE TEXTBOOKS
available on OpenStax and others that schools should consider when textbook adoption time
comes around. Free texts means monies are available for other curriculum materials (including
technology), and not being spent on $100-$200 texts at the high school level (ridiculous, I
know!!) Collaboration is a concept that people know exists and sort of know what it means
(group work?) but also need guidance and training when it comes to digital collaboration. You
don't have to just do a project with a kid in the class... collaborate with a kid in another school,
state, country!

The threats that stuck out for me were BULLYING, CYBER, FUNDING, SOCIAL and
FAMILIES. Digital citizenship is a TEK at every grade level, and cyber-bullying and social
media are two areas that need to be addressed constantly and consistently, at home and at
school. Having been in education as long as I have, funds come and go, so I understand where
that concern comes from. When a district puts in a huge chunk of money to get new devices,
the tech money is slim for a few years, and what happens when things break, are out of date,
are obsolete? What then?

Truthfully I am unsure of what the responses will be like from my district. Because I am new, I
have little contact with just a few people, and I don't know their expertise, experience, or
desire to integrate technology, but I am working on it. Because the computer lab gets used, I
know that they like having that available, so that is a plus, but do they want more? Do they
want to use tech more in the classrooms for lessons? Do they want students to collaborate
digitally and create more? I believe they do, but are somewhat comfortable in their old school
ways because they have worked for so many years, and our kids are passing STAAR. Since
that is a large part of the accountability that is presented for a district's rating, people are
satisfied with that. When the state says "you need to fill in the blank yet offers no extra
funding for it NOR an accountability rating for it, it doesn't get as much attention.

I will hazard a guess that our district will say our infrastructure is a strength, and that we do
have a great technology director, and very supportive administration. Our weaknesses will
include (and these may be just from me...lol) NO training, lack of devices, inability to have a
class on computers on demand (have to sign up for computer lab time and blocks of time
unavailable), lack of wi-fi in classroom, lack of student accounts, lack of consistent
requirements (IE Google), everything is blocked. (I will be the first to admit, 95% of the issues
I encounter and discuss with tech director, he works on remedying for me.)

Opportunities - access to online textbooks, access to Google (now everyone), some programs
available, Skype for global collaboration (you have to ask for it and there is one camera)

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Threats - funds, viruses, inappropriate material, sites not working, beliefs, lack of support

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Amanda Key
November 13 at 6:53 PM

I agree with you! I also got some really great/valuable information.

Time and training seem to be the two most needed things i've noticed. On my
campus today we had this discussion that there are so many valuable resources in
yet not enough time or training to prepare to use or to know how to use them.

I also like that you mentioned funding. While free textbooks are a plus, theres also
a downfall to the cost of the devices. So does it balance out?

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Sherry Luna
November 15 at 4:38 PM

If I heard correctly, if the device is being used for instructional materials, IE

textbooks, it can be paid for out of those funds. So I guess the real question
is this: is the $250 for a managed Chromebook (which can be used for more
than just the textbook) worth the trade off of a $100-$200 textbook? I say
yes.

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America Rainey
November 15 at 7:24 PM

Sherry,

You mentioned Digital textbooks and then elaborated on the fact that it saves the
district money by getting it this way. I guess I had not thought of it that way. Get
the chromebooks and go 1:1 instead of buying more consumable textbooks is a

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great trade-off. Chromebooks have much more accessibility to that textbook and
others. That would be a great opportunity for my campus as well.

It is sad that STAAR test being passed is enough for most districts. Students need
so much more exposure to content than to know how to test for it. Creating with
technology would be a great way for students to apply what they are learning.
Looks like you are in a great position to cause some change. Go for it! Thanks for
your analysis.

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Norma Anderson
November 15 at 10:01 PM

Time and training will always be a hurdle for teachers. Whether it be time to attend
the training or time to implement the training. I completely understand your
frustrations with not having 1:1 technology in the room. Prior to being hired on at
my current campus, that was my reality. I often thought of all the great activities
and lessons that I could conduct if only. I have to admit, that did become a reality.
1:1 technology is so important and does allow for so many opportunities and it
prepares our students to be competitive in the workforce!

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Jami Wilkinson
November 16 at 9:57 PM

I agree about the funding, especially when devices need to be replaced. The
Chromebooks that I use in my classroom are near replacement age and I honestly
don't know if the money will be there to replace them. I am concerned about this.

Thank you for telling us about OpenStax! I had no idea. I will be looking into this!

The lack of time for teachers is probably true for every school district, there are not
enough hours in the day to get it all done. Regarding training, I follow a classmate
through this program on Twitter who works in the Mesquite ISD and I saw where
they offer training for their teachers on a regular basis. I have attended their
summer Tech Conferences and it is so worth attending. Their educational
technology program is amazing.

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Sherry Luna
November 17 at 6:13 PM

My last district had 2 weeks of PD offered the last 2 summers, but they were
not specifically tech. The sessions I taught were, and they had some decent
attendance, depending on when it was. This was offered the 2nd week after
we let out for the summer so while we had had many teachers there to really
learn, so many teachers just went to whatever was earliest and closest to
their content to "get it over with" and meet the 12 hour requirement.

I am hoping next summer in my new district, we will be able to offer

something in the way of a tech conference. :)

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Sherry Luna
just now

I received some feedback on my SWOT since this original posting:

Strengths: addition of Chromebooks at HS recently, addition of GAFE, Office 365

for students and teachers. Ratio 1:1 at HS and 2:1 at Elem/JH, Smartboards,
relevant online computer, introduction of Skype in the Classroom. (not to toot my
own horn, but toot toot! That was me!)

Weaknesses: Lack of training, PD, Google suite apps are "clunky", time, no effor to
share programs/apps that can be used in the class, tech decisions made without
input from stakeholders, funding. Aging equipment, need more devices in school
with labs.

Opportunities: Google classroom, eliminate textbooks, tech apps courses (we need
them) Google suite for PD, partnership with DOD to procure computers at no cost.

Threats: Behind in preparing students to use online interactive resources, lack of

vision for programming courses. Filter is too tight to allow practical internet usage,
internet lag, low tax base community = low funding. Increasing workload for 1 IT
person. Limited resources means we are falling behind.

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