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Essential Elements of a Technology Plan

When schools begin to actually draft a plan, you must be aware that a technology plan is meeting several needs: assisting in the school's over-all strategic planning, giving the school's teachers, administration, students and faculty a clear sense of direction AND fulfilling the requirements of the E-Rate program.

There are 5 core elements that all plans MUST include.

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To qualify as an approved Technology Plan for a Universal Service discount, the plan must meet the following five criteria that are core elements of successful school and library technology initiatives:

1. the plan must establish clear goals and a realistic strategy for using telecommunications and information technology to improve education or library services;

The first requirement is the broadest and must set, in part, a framework for the four other more targeted requirements. One recommendation to meeting this requirement is to start with a general mission or vision statement. 

2. the plan must have a professional development strategy to ensure that staff know how to use these new technologies to improve education or library services;

Staff development is an important portion of the technology plan. Key components of the development strategy might include:

  • An assessment of current staff computer and networking skills and usage.
  • An ongoing training program involving:
    • In-Service training
    • Mentoring
    • Off-site workshops
    • Tuition support for professional courses
    • Recognition and encouragement of professional technology certifications

3. the plan must include an assessment of the telecommunication services, hardware, software, and other services that will be needed to improve education or library services;

In addition to an assessment of current staff development skills, addressed above, the plan should include an assessment (or inventory) of technology services and products that are currently being used and that are scheduled to be acquired within the planning timeframe. 

4. the plan must provide for a sufficient budget to acquire and maintain the hardware, software, professional development, and other services that will be needed to implement the strategy;  It is critical to remember that all Federal and State funded programs (NYSSL, Title IIa, etc.) presume that public monies are to be use to supplement your own school budget.  Public money is NOT designed to replace your school's budget.

At a minimum, projected expenditures for each year of the technology plan should be shown, broken down by major expense categories. Projected funding for the plan should also be shown, indicating what portions are to be funded out of the annual operating budget, from a bond issue, or from other sources. Portions of the funding plan dependent on the approval of E-Rate discounts should be clearly identified.

E-Rate applicants should note that an adequate budget is a requirement not only of the technology plan, but is central to separate certifications in the Form 470 (Item 25) and Form 471 (Item 22) that each applicant must submit. During the past year, the SLD has undertaken "Item 22 Reviews" on random Form 471 applications requiring the submission of detailed budgetary information to assure that the applicant has indeed:

  • secured access to all of the resources, including computers, training, software, maintenance, and electrical
  • connections necessary to make effective use of the services purchased as well as to pay the discounted charges for eligible services.

5. the plan must include an evaluation process that enables the school or library to monitor progress toward the specified goals and make mid-course corrections in response to new developments and opportunities as they arise.

The final requirement that should be addressed within the plan is how the plan itself will be evaluated and modified over its life. 

Successful plans align these five criteria with the overall education service improvement objectives of states, districts, and local schools. It is critical that technology planning not be viewed or treated as a separate exercise dealing primarily with hardware and telecommunications infrastructure. 

There must be strong connections between the proposed physical infrastructure of the information technology and the plan for professional development, curriculum reform, and library service improvements.