In order to find out more about the School District’s Technology Plans, I asked the Principle of Technology (luckily my Boss!) to share his knowledge.
- Does SD23 have a technology plan, and if so, how and where is it accessed?
Yes. You can see the 10,000ft details of our Shared Vision and Core Strategic Drivers on our Learning Technology Department website here:
2. When was the technology plan last updated?
We update the plan annually and are currently in our “checking” phase and evolving our strategic actions going into next school year.
3. How are decisions made around technology funding and purchases?
The district has a district-wide Refresh process that involves updating all schools/sites with technology on a 4yr cycle (~1/4 of the schools each year). This process has been in place for over a decade now and is both a strategy to ensure equity of access and quality uses of technology across our system.
4. Is there a plan for professional development related to the pedagogy of using technology?
Yes! Yes! Yes! This was the most significant change we made as a department/team when I was appointed District Principal of Learning Technology. We essential brought the 2 sides of the brain together (educators alongside technicians) to ensure we were leading with a “pedagogy first, tech second” approach. For the past 3 years, we have embedded learning into the Tech Refresh process that is personalized to the learning goals of each school. This process has evolved each year as we learn what works well for the adult learners in our system. We literally just drafted up our current Theory of Action for our learning next year and our draft overview on our latest thinking on how we can best support professional learning related to the pedagogy of using technology.
5. How often is the impact of technology on learning reviewed?
On an ongoing basis. I would say annually, but it is much more often than that. We are leading through Inquiry which involves us intentionally “checking” on the impact of our learning in the field as we “do the work”. Next year we are hoping to lean into documentation as a strategy to make the learning going on around the district more visible to both ourselves and everyone in the system.
