technology plan narrative-final

8/3/2019 Technology Plan Narrative-Final

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Jones County Technology Plan Narrative

By

Bryan Boone

Kevin Kerr

Richard Morris



Introduction:

The Three-Year Technology Plan for the Jones County School System of Gray, GA was

submitted to MSC ETTC and the State DOE for approval on August 25, 2008. The plan is for July1,

2009, through June 30, 2012. The plan is due to be updated in the coming months. Since that plan was

submitted, approved, and its implementation begun, there have been many changes within the school

system. The changes that have had the most potential for impacting the technology plan are those, which

have occurred on a system-wide administrative level, through reorganization, those that result from

changes in technology resources, and those that have resulted from an economic downturn since the plan’s inception.

Demographics:

Jones County has a population of roughly 28,000 and is a central Georgia rural community.

According to Jones County’s FTE count for the 2008-2009 school year, there were 5,460 studentsenrolled in the county’s school system. The Jones County School system is comprised of ten school

campuses; six are elementary schools, two are middle schools, and the single high schools is split

between a ninth grade campus and a 10-12 grade campus. Of the total number of students 70% were

white, 28% black, 1% Hispanic, and 2% multiracial. Those statistics varied by no more than one

percentage point per year between the 2006 -2007 school tear and the 2008-2009 school year. Special

needs student made up 11% of the county’s school population, and students listed as English language

learners made up less than 1 % of the population. Students qualifying for free or reduced lunches made

up 40% of the system’s student population. Jones County School System’s Three-Year Technology Planis designed with all of those students at its core.

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This technology plan has some notable strengths as well as some weaknesses that need to be

addressed. The strengths include a strong mission/vision statement that was clearly stated to maximize

academic performance for all students and well established goals lined out for instruction followed by

benchmarks and strategies for each goal. Also, the staff development strategies are more comprehensive

than originally thought. In the technology plan table, the staff development is given specific details as to

who, what, and when it will be implemented. Major areas of deficiency included objectives, budget

resources, and technical support; often deficits in one area resulted in insufficiencies in others, as became

obvious when the plan was viewed holistically.

The main changes that needed the most focus were objectives, budget resources, and technical

support.

A. Objectives:

While most goals are realistic, all too often objectives are listed as 100%. The system’s

technological maturity as exhibited by students, teachers, and administration makes many of the

100% objectives unrealistic and unattainable. Some objectives feature well-planned, graduated

timeframes, but others rely too heavily on the vague evaluation method of stakeholder surveys.

Stakeholder surveys may be viable, but are overused in this plan. Too often objectives target

specific software or technology. This approach ignores the rapid nature of technology

obsolescence.

B. Budget Resources

The lack of budget information in some areas of the plan was described as “Local Funds”

with no mention as to how much of the local funds would be needed. It was very unclear how

much money would be distributed to certain projects or goals that needed to be achieved.

Furthermore, there were vague timelines surrounded the funding. There was no mention as to

when a project would be completed or how often the money would need to be replenished. To fix



this problem, there should be a section in the Technology plan that has a line-item budget

explaining the projects, cost of each project, and the projected time of completion for projects. If

the project is on-going it needs to be stated so “local funds” can be accounted for each year.

Having these items stated in the Technology plan will give all stake holders a clear understanding

of where “local funds” are being distributed. Also, these changes will make it clear which

projects are effective and need to continue versus projects that need to be eliminated or revised.

The changes to the budget items will be implemented in the table portion of the Technology Plan

listed under “Funding source and amount”.

C. Technical Support

The technology plan explains that there are “five Technology Specialists at the district level that

are assigned to schools and maintain all computers at their respective sites.” This was found on page 8 of

the plan and it is the only place that explains what tech support each school obtains. The problem is that it

is not very detailed. There should be details explaining when the specialists work on the computers each

week, how often they are keeping computers current with relevant technology, and how they can support

the faculty and staff at their respective sites when problems arise. There needs to be a section that

explains procedures behind getting support when it is needed due to computer malfunction or any other

technical issues.

In summary, the changes being made to the Technology plan should create a better understanding

of how technology will be implemented in Jones County. The objectives of the plan were designed to

accommodate the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and did not take into account the newly adopted,

and soon-to-be –implemented Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS). Further, those

objectives did not adequately reflect the growing trends of increasing parental and community

involvement and increasing staff development that were engendered by the No Child Left Behind Act or

the impact new state-wide anti-bullying legislation. In addition, the authors did not fully take into

account the rapidity of innovation and growth in the availability of technologies that continue to broaden

choices of software, including student information software, and to increase options for staff development

through distance learning options. As professional development availability is increased, so is the level of

technological competence among educators.



The other pressing issue with this technology plan involved the lack of detail explaining when

and where technology staff work and the procedures to receive support. By providing details of the tech

staff’s schedule, each school can make arrangements for staff development and updates to computers

without interfering with the teaching schedule. By placing a section that explains tech support procedures

in the plan, teachers and staff will be able to cut down on the number of unnecessary referrals sent to the

tech staff. This process will cut down on the amount of time the five tech specialists have to run the

systems and install updates to computers. The implementation of these changes to the technology plan

will increase efficiency of technology staff, allow for extra budget resources, and provide clear objectives

that will create transparency for stake holders of the county.

Finally, the plan’s authors could not have foreseen the reclassification of the county’s sole high

school to that of a Title I school, which has afforded the system an opportunity and vehicle whereby more

technology could be purchased at that level. The changes to clarity of the budget resources will help

board members and staff members make cuts and changes to areas that need attention. For instance, if

there are some programs that are not being used anymore because they are obsolete, the board members

can see how much money that is taking and use it in a project that needs more money. Clarifying these

budget monies will also alleviate budget short falls and concerns that the county is experiencing at the

moment due to the economy.

technology plan narrative-final

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