1.2: Strategic Planning:
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Artifact
SWOT Analysis Reflection To determine the current reality in my school, I completed the SWOT Analysis for Technology Planning Needs Assessment. The SWOT analysis discusses the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the ISTE Essential Conditions (ISTE, 2015). The SWOT analysis is applied to each condition individually, a gap analysis summarized the findings, and data sources are included. Created with the direct intention to facilitate the design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of a technology-infused strategic plan, this artifact uses teacher survey data and analysis of one high school’s strategic plan (SSP) to present the problems impeding technology integration and the strengths and opportunities we have for overcoming those problems and creating an environment truly conducive to all technology has to offer students and educators. To facilitate design and development of the technology-infused plan, specific information about what learning tools are available to teachers. These include MOOCs, free trainings through the county, free online training for teachers wanting to use Google Drive, online graduate degree programs, and in-house technology training sessions. Teachers can attend these trainings, whether virtually or physically, and use the knowledge gleaned therefrom to design and develop a plan specific to their curricular needs. To facilitate implementation of a technology-infused strategic plan, I include specific strategies for teachers to employ as a springboard into full infusion of technology. For example, one opportunity that teachers will have this year is the new roll-out of OneDrive access to all county staff and students. I discuss this roll-out as an opportunity to meet five of the nine Essential Conditions. To facilitate communication and evaluation of a technology-infused strategic plan, my SWOT analysis incorporates discussion of the usefulness of digital surveys to communicate information and evaluate teacher knowledge and dispositions. The use of digital surveys, for example, could help the school to meet ISTE Essential Condition Two: Shared Vision (ISTE, 2015) by asking teachers closed-ended and open-ended questions about their pedagogical insight and implementation results. Through the SWOT analysis process, I learned that systematic analysis of the current reality of a school is a critical part of the change process. With the important job of educating our nation’s future in our hands, we do not have time to work through misaligned initiatives. Without depth of exploration in the current functioning of a school, misalignment of initiative recommendations with actual need is probable and costly. This artifact does not provide the initiative recommendations; they are part of a subsequent assignment, the Action & Evaluation plan. Inclusion of the recommendations in the artifact, however, would increase its usefulness to teachers. SWOT analysis provides the information necessary to implement change that is necessary and sustainable. Implementation of SWOT-based reform delineated on on the Action & Evaluation plan has the potential to promote intentional and relevant school improvement. The analysis of faculty and student skill and need provides evidence that focused improvement is necessary and sets the stage for specific areas of faculty development and student learning. References ISTE. (2015). Essential conditions. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/essential- conditions. |