Critical+Issues

In order for ISH to be successful in meeting the goals of this plan, the following critical issues will need to be addressed:

1. Communicating the Plan
It is critical that the school clearly articulate goals, progress and initiatives of the technology plan to the ISH staff and community. Particular attention will need to be given to not separating the impact of the investment proposed in this plan from the rest of the curriculum. With full integration of technology as a goal, it is important for staff to feel this is an investment student learning.

2. Professional Development
To fulfill the expectations of the technology plan, continued access to professional development opportunities needs to be afforded to the teaching staff. These resources will include sponsoring teachers for summer and spring break learning opportunities. Future workshops and in‐service programs will be developed on an on‐going basis to fulfill specific requirements identified by subsequent technology proficiency surveys. Teachers and staff will be given ample release time from their working day to attend full day ongoing professional development opportunities. Specific areas of focus will include digital liter‐acy, technology infused learning (i.e Communication and collaboration with web tools, designing technology infused units and lessons, designing 21st century curricula, lan‐ guage acquisition using portable audio devices and project based learning with technology.

3. Curriculum
The school will use its existing curriculum development process to ensure the incorporation of age‐appropriate technology into all planned courses and to articulate the scope and sequence, K‐12. ISH will provide an integrated technology curriculum that will prepare students for the digital connected world of the 21st century.

4. Facilities and Equipment
The school will made significant technology purchases to provide students and staff with computers and Internet access. ISH has, however, lagged behind in recognizing and correcting technological needs. This has created an organizational gap between what teachers are expected to do and the resources available to them. As computers, networking equipment and facilities are acquired, the ICT team with support from the administration will review and modify minimum standards of equipment as necessary. All equipment standards developed will ensure the compatibility and inter‐operability, whenever possible and practical, with existing components and technologies. This would include a revision of our current technology infrastructure systems.

5. Software
ISH will endeavor to incorporate applicable software into the educational process. Software that furthers educational goals and objectives of the plan will be introduced via in‐service workshops. The ISH teaching staff will be encouraged to utilize supplemental teaching material in digital format such as E‐books and software that offers an alternative approach to teaching. An annual review of the software used in the school, both educational and system‐wide, will be conducted by the ICT team and administrators. When specific technology is requested by the teaching staff, it will be the responsibility of individual teachers to demonstrate that proposed technology purchases support the curricular goals of the school with the process monitored by the ICT teachers, Network Manager, and administration. Every endeavor will be made to assure that specific purchases are equitably distributed throughout departments.

6. The Standard Classroom
In order to promote equality, a standard set of tools for each classroom is being proposed. Those tools should include:
 * One school owed laptop supplied to the teacher.
 * Software for word processing, graphic editing, communication, multi‐media (both audio and video) creating and browsing the Internet.
 * An LCD projector or smartboard
 * A set of classroom speakers.
 * Document Camera in the Lower School classrooms

7. Security
ISH appreciates issues related to security for the campus and the networked communication system. The IT Manager will endeavor to maintain the security of its networked system through periodic reviews of the security protocols in use and outlined in a site security plan. Numerous threats exist including viruses, spyware, worms, phishing email fraud, network sniffing and denial of service attacks. There will be ongoing research into new network security threats as they arise. The primary protection employed will remain a hardware firewall configured with strict access rules.

8. Networking
Ideally, implementation of this technology plan would create a community‐wide network to allow each member of the ISH community to share information anytime, anywhere on an equitable basis. To that end, the school would need to further develop its communication infrastructure by providing students with school assigned email accounts on a school based email system. This would facilitate and promote communication not only with ISH students but also the entire ISH community.

9. New and Emerging Technologies
The rapid rate of change in technology and how it can facilitate education remains a challenge for all schools. This technology plan recognizes that standards assumed while developing this document will need to be reviewed on a yearly basis. As technology changes, it is important that the technology plan has the flexibility to adjust to those changes. The annual evaluation suggested in the Evaluation and Standards section of this plan outlines this process. With the pace of technological change, keeping equipment in use after most of the rest of the world has moved to a new standard will be counterproductive to the goals and objectives of this plan. A transparent plan for technology replacement needs to be identified that will replace obsolete technological equipment on a continuing basis as needed.

10. Legal and Ethical Issues
The Internet, as an open medium, permits access to vast amounts of information, some of which is inappropriate in an educational setting. It is the expectation that individuals gaining access to the Internet through school owned technology will use it appropriately. Guidelines for and definitions of inappropriate use of school technology are outlined in the Acceptable Use Procedure. Student handbooks outline guiding principles for plagiarism and cheating with attention to electronic copying of digital information.

11. Evaluation and Standards
Continuing an ongoing evaluation of this technology plan will be an important step in ensuring its implementation.

IT Coordinators and Network Manager will: School Principals will:
 * Establish measurable standards and goals to insure that progress is being made toward full implementation of the plan (e.g., Number of students utilizing online resources, the use of school Internet and school paid online resources as demonstrated by the number of visits to resources through the Search Page links is 1,345, a 7% increase over the previous semester. etc.)
 * Meet periodically each year with subject leaders and team leaders to evaluate and develop an ongoing process of curricula revision in light of technology integration progress.
 * Regularly survey technology use of both staff and students. In addition, annual surveys of technology use among parents and other adult members of the community will be analyzed to determine if the primary goal of this plan is being attained. Data from all surveys will be collected and used in future reporting, analysis, planning and evaluation.
 * Produce periodic reports for awareness and input for the administration, school board, parents, teachers and staff that describe progress made toward attaining the goal and objectives of this plan. With the assumption that the Technology Plan will remain dynamic, it is critical for the Technology Integration Specialists to meet regularly during the school year to determine if the goals and objectives of the plan are being met in light of current technologies. They will make recommendations to add or modify the strategies established in this plan, in coordination with the school administration, to enhance the learning process of students and staff.
 * Evaluate staff for technology integration as part of a teacher’s standard evaluation process. Individual teacher technology integration goals as well as the teacher’s technology standards will be used as benchmarks for this process.
 * Meet regularly with subject leaders and other school leaders to both formally and informally asses the school’s adherence to the Technology Plan.
 * Strive to meet the technology standards for administrators as outlined by the National Education Technology Standards for Administrators.