E-rate Technology Plan: Galveston Independent School District
- 1. Divya Nagpal EDLD 5306 E-rate Technology Plan: Galveston Independent School District
- 2. Agenda About E-rate Eligibility GISD's technology plan Compliance Responsibilities Accountability Accessibility Budget Evaluation Summary
- 3. E-Rate is a discount program that schools and libraries can receive for their telecommunication services. Eligible schools and libraries can receive discounts of 20-90 percent on telecommunication services, network access and internal connections and maintenance necessary for deploying technology. E-Rate
- 4. A school must meet the statutory definition of an elementary or secondary school found in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Must not operate as a for-profit business. Must not have an endowment exceeding $50 million. Both public and non-public elementary and secondary schools that meet these criteria are eligible to receive discounts on telecommunication and networking services. Eligibility
- 5. GISD's technology plan GISD technology plan includes: Specific standards that address goals, strategies, needs, resources, and evaluation. Professional development strategies to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies. Assessment of telecommunication services, software, hardware, and network services required to improve student learning. Evaluation and monitoring of the progress toward specific goals in a timely fashion
- 6. Compliance The plan should meet the visions and recommendations provided by the Campus Technology Committee. Insights shared by administrators and teachers, reviews of available literature, meetings with district representatives. Teachers have to turn in a document showing that all students have been trained on internet safety protocols.
- 7. Responsibilities For effective use of technology in the classroom, GISD stresses the importance of ongoing and sustained staff development in the integration of technology into the curriculum for teachers, principals, administrators, and school library media personnel. To enrich curriculum, TEKS to be used as guidelines for providing instruction. Students gain technology-based knowledge and skills after integrating them in their curriculum.
- 8. Accountability A comprehensive assessment utilizing teacher and student surveys. Teacher STaR Chart evaluates the current status of technology use in the campus and determines the future needs. Items analyzed included: infrastructure, hardware, software, curriculum, student achievement, technology resources, staff development, and technical support.
- 9. Accessibility GISD's plan for 2011 can be accessed on GISD network server only. server1/GISDinfo/Technology/techplan 2005 -2008 is available for public at the following link. http://www.gisd.org/education/dept/dept.php?sectionid=2070&
- 10. Budget
- 11. Evaluation Timely assessment for measuring Teacher Technology Skills and Proficiency. Staff development courses designed to address Teacher Proficiency Skills needs. Software Standards are being developed so that there is uniformity across the district for students regardless of the campus attended. Teachers will have been granted access to the additional classroom technology depending on the needs of the students. The success of the program is measured by viewing the User Request system statistics on total requests, timeliness of response, user satisfaction, training sessions conducted, and success in using software programs.
- 12. Summary Technology is a major force in 21 st century world; accordingly, students must be prepared to utilize technological skills in education, business, and industry. It is vital that GISD continue to accept the responsibility to educate students and staff in the use of technology and provide access to the tools both for the educational process and the efficient management of the instruction.