EdTech 501

Scott Chapman

Technology Maturity Evaluation

Institution: International School Demographics:
There is a limited amount of information publicly available for the International School. What is available, is provided below: Student Population: There are currently 822 students from over 50 different nationalities represented in the student body. The top five most important nationalities in terms of representation are: Saudi Arabian 30% American 16% Canadian 7% United Kingdom 6% Indian 6% Students range in age from 3 to 19, corresponding to K1 to Grade 12. Academic Staff: There are 20 different nationalities represented in the academic staff. The countries with the highest representation in academic staff are: USA 39% Canada 15% Australia 8% Saudi Arabia 7% United Kingdom 6% List of Academic Programs: The International School is an IB World School having received authorization in the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programs. The school offers both the IB Diploma upon graduation and The International School Diploma for all students who satisfactorily meet the respective requirements of each program. Description of the Schools Physical Facilities: The International School is situated on two campuses consisting of four separate purpose-built buildings. The Elementary School consists of three buildings: Early Childhood Center for K1-2, East for K3 to Grade 2 and West for Grades 3 to 5. The newly occupied Secondary School campus is for Grades 6 to 12. The Elementary and Secondary campuses each have a pool, outdoor basketball and tennis

courts, soccer pitches, playgrounds, indoor gymnasium, fully equipped library media centers (one per building), technology labs, music and performing arts rooms, science labs and well-resourced classrooms.

Administrative
Policy
Behavioral: Integrated There exists a high usage of technology within the school and it is embraced by most staff members, but there is nothing formalized nor is technology use evaluated by administration. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated There is a policy, but its location and implementation are not clear.

Planning
Behavioral: Integrated The Technology Initiative Committee is charged with planning for tech needs, but there is little direction or oversight. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated As the cycle of the year winds down the Tech Initiative Team presents the findings to the greater school community and receives a bit of feedback. It is informal without consequences for objectives met or unmet.

Budget
Behavioral: Integrated There is a budgeting process, but long-term budgeting for tech needs is not clear. Additionally, where, when, and how the funds will be made available is far from transparent as it comes from a corporate structured source. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Again, in theory, there are funds being allocated, but it's uncertain as to the procedure for their procurement.

Administrative Information
Behavioral: Intelligent The school utilizes a variety of electronic management systems for day-to-day operations including Power School for attendance, demographics, enrollment, etc. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent Staff has limited training and access to Power School, but its improving.

Curricular
Electronic Information
Behavioral: Intelligent Electronic information is regularly used and the bulk of school work for staff and students is dependent upon it. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent All teachers and students are provided up-to-date computers. Each classroom has a smartboard, document camera, speakers, high speed internet, wireless connectivity.

Assessment
Behavioral: Integrated Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) testing twice a year, e-portfolios of student work and reflections. Resource/Infrastructure: Islands Most assessment is done without electronic tools.

Curriculum Integration
Behavioral: Integrated Students regularly use technology as part of their daily learning. Teachers plan lessons built around tech usage. Most work is related to research, educational games, word document work. Resource/Infrastructure Intelligent

Available throughout the school.

Teacher Use
Behavioral: Intelligent Teachers plan lessons and content delivery based with the knowledge technology is to be used. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent All teachers are issued a personal MacBook Pro loaded with applications.

Student Use
Behavioral: Integrated Academic outcomes are dependent on students having access to technology. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent Aside from minor tech difficulties (usually resolved within a short time), all students have their own laptops loaded with applications, along with smartboard access.

Support
Stakeholder Involvement
Behavioral: Islands Surveys are beginning to be implemented, but most technology is selected by a limited group of people with little input from most stakeholders. Resource/Infrastructure: Islands As previously stated, most decisions are made by a limited number of people with little input from stakeholders.

Administrative Support
Behavioral: Integrated

Current administration shows verbal support for tech planning, but strong day-to-day logistical support is not evident. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Weekly planning time and occasional professional development with tech support is built into the schedule, but it is severely limited and insufficient.

Training
Behavioral: Integrated Occasional tech professional development through the year, usually as need arises. Most training is front loaded at the beginning of the year before school begins. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The tech staff is severely understaffed and stretched across many buildings separated by a good distance.

Technical & Infrastructure Support

Behavioral: Integrated Tech specialist are available, but not regularly. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Tech staff are understaffed and stretched thin.

Connectivity
Local Area Networking
Behavioral: Integrated Generally, staff and students gather information via the Internet. Occasionally, video or conferencing are used to further an inquiry. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The network is high speed and normally functioning, but there are occasional slowdowns or computers have difficulties accessing the network.

District Area Networking (WAN)

Behavioral: Integrated The staff uses the network to gather information or ideas with occasional video or conferencing. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The network is available and has a high capacity workload.

Internet Access
Behavioral: Integrated The staff and students generally use the Internet each day, but I do not believe it is fully integrated into the curriculum. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent There are WiFi connections throughout the school and more hotspots are planned for the near future.

Communication Systems
Behavioral: Intelligent E-mail is the main source of communication at the school. This comes at a price with email overload upon occasion. Protocol has been put into place and attention to the need of communicating relevant information to the relevant people has helped alleviate some of the burden. Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent There is a lot of available technology at the school. People are sorting through hardware and software to find relevant technology to support student learning. The technology is not systematically adapted. Teachers take on the implementation as they see a need or when they have a desire to try something new.

Innovation
New Technologies
Behavioral: Integrated

As said before, the technology is available, but it is not uniformly implemented. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated The technology is very comprehensive, but there are installation issues and it does not regularly function dependably, though this is improving.

Comprehensive Technologies
Behavioral: Integrated The technology is very comprehensive but there are installation issues and it does not regularly function dependably. Resource/Infrastructure: Integrated Most staff members stick to smartboard lessons and known websites for student instruction.

Summary
The International School is a unique case study in the integration of technology in education. It has only existed for three years. It exists in an environment found in few places in the world as it was founded in support of a graduate level university for science and technology. Along with an inquiry based approach based on the International Baccalaureate program, technology was a part of the foundation building of the school. Additionally, during the beginning stages of the school, money was not an issue. The school is outfitted with smartboards, document cameras, video cameras, digital cameras, 1:1 MacBook Pros for all students G2-G12, iPads for classrooms G1 and below, high speed internet, additional computer labs with Mac desktops, a broadcasting studio. The list could be continued. Needless-to-say, there is a lot of technology available to the schools stakeholders. Due to a number of logistical reasons and the context of the school, the International School remains in startup mode. This entails a heavy workload filled with extra duties for all staff members as systems are identified, constructed, implemented, evaluated, and restructured on the fly. Furthermore, technology often does not arrive in a timely manner or, at times, in working condition. Or technology that was ordered goes missing. All of these extraneous factors have led to an overall rating of integrated for the International School. There are many highly qualified people working to integrate technology in such a way as to make it indispensable to the curriculum, but there have been and continue to be unforeseen roadblocks not allowing for a rating of intelligent. I fully expect this to change in the near future. There are many intelligent people working diligently for the integration of the technology along with access to many powerful tools. With time, the school will move to the intelligent ranking. Overall, the International School is highly integrated and moving toward an intelligent designation.