Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
On page 35 of the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology we find this statement: “The infrastructure of a school is the critical element of support for all four areas of this plan . . .” In other words, without the hardware and means of connectivity, there would be no long range plan for technology. According to the plan, the infrastructure includes not only the hardware, software, and connectivity, it involves much more:
Districts must have an infrastructure that is safe and secure, flexible, scalable, and reliable. The campus infrastructure will integrate voice, video, and data and will have the capacity to host large volumes of digital content and powerful applications. (p. 35)
On a national level, in Fall 2008, 78% of districts reporting agreed while 16% disagreed with the statement “Technology infrastructure is adequate,” according to a report entitled “Educational Technology in Public School Districts: Fall 2008”, by Lucinda Gray and Laurie Lewis (December 2009). These statistics point to an infrastructure that may be adequate for the present time, but as we look forward it is likely that it will need serious upgrading to remain sufficient for educational needs.
On a state level, infrastructure numbers improved by slim margins from 07/08 to 08/09: 3% moved from “Developing” to “Advanced” and “Target” improved by .1%.
Locally, my campus improved from 11 points in 08/09 to 14 in 09/10 in its assessment of our infrastructure.
In every school, district, and state, the trend is to improve technology infrastructure. Schools are writing grants, budgeting money, and setting up long range plans of their own in order to keep up with technology.
I believe that a rotating system of hardware and software replacement should be implemented so that new technology is incorporated every year somewhere in the district. Districts should develop a plan for recycling old technology, as well. Funding new technology is always a challenge, but one that must be addressed in order to keep up with the 21st century information age.
Districts must have an infrastructure that is safe and secure, flexible, scalable, and reliable. The campus infrastructure will integrate voice, video, and data and will have the capacity to host large volumes of digital content and powerful applications. (p. 35)
On a national level, in Fall 2008, 78% of districts reporting agreed while 16% disagreed with the statement “Technology infrastructure is adequate,” according to a report entitled “Educational Technology in Public School Districts: Fall 2008”, by Lucinda Gray and Laurie Lewis (December 2009). These statistics point to an infrastructure that may be adequate for the present time, but as we look forward it is likely that it will need serious upgrading to remain sufficient for educational needs.
On a state level, infrastructure numbers improved by slim margins from 07/08 to 08/09: 3% moved from “Developing” to “Advanced” and “Target” improved by .1%.
Locally, my campus improved from 11 points in 08/09 to 14 in 09/10 in its assessment of our infrastructure.
In every school, district, and state, the trend is to improve technology infrastructure. Schools are writing grants, budgeting money, and setting up long range plans of their own in order to keep up with technology.
I believe that a rotating system of hardware and software replacement should be implemented so that new technology is incorporated every year somewhere in the district. Districts should develop a plan for recycling old technology, as well. Funding new technology is always a challenge, but one that must be addressed in order to keep up with the 21st century information age.
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