IT/OIT Advisory Council
Guiding the Development of the 2015-2018 Technology Plan
Council Members Won't Want to Miss Thursday's Meeting
January 15 Meeting at Camp Creek Middle School
Thursday, Jan 15, 2015, 01:00 PM
43 45 Welcome All Road, College Park, GA 30349
January 15, 2015 - Meeting Agenda
Meeting Agenda:
1:00 – 1:20 Introductions
1:20 - 1:45 Review of prior work & Setting the stage for today's work
1:50 – 2:10 TTO visit and observation
2:20 – 2:40 Student panel
2:45 – 3:30 Continue work on the goal statements
3:30 – 4:00 Teacher panel
Teach to One - A technology supported mathematics program for personalized learning.
Revised Mission and Vision Statements
Mission: Our mission is to provide, support and promote technologies that enable transformative learning and operational activities.
Vision: Our vision is to transform learning to equip and empower 21st Century responsible and productive citizens.
Flickr Photo by John Liu
Defining Our Goals
When we think about our future goals, we want to think about the issues that surround our school system. What is working well, and what can we improve upon.
Your leadership team has identified 5 areas around which they would like to shape goals.
- Instruction (Learning and Teaching)
- Professional Learning (Teachers, Administrators, Staff)
- Infrastructure (Network, Hardware, Software)
- Safety and Security Goals (Digital Citizenship)
- Process Automation & Data Utilization (Teacher, Administrator, Staff)
Your task at this meeting is to take a look at the the National Technology Plan goals, the 2012 Tech Plan Goals, and the Broward County goals that posted on a table in a Google Doc entitled Thinking About Our Goals - Reference Document.
Participants on the day of the face-to-face meeting were asked to take a few minutes to digest how the goals in the "Thinking About our Goals" were stated, and then to pair up with a partner, and go to the Technology Advisory Council canvas on Linoit, and add their thoughts to five topics under consideration as goals.
The Linoit has now expired. However, the items from the Linoit have been transferred into a Google shared Spreadsheet so they may be used by the IT/OIT staff as they think through the stategies, benefits, dependencies, risks, costs, funding sources, person's responsible and evaluation measures that are necessary to make the goal statement actionable.
If you would like to add your ideas to the goal statements, please add your thoughts to the appropriate spreadsheet. These Spreadsheets will be closed on January 31, 2015.
* Instructional Goals (Learning and Teaching Goals)
Reminder: Correction
Please make a correction to your February calendar
The February meeting date was incorrectly stated below as February 2, 2015. It should have read:
February 5, 2015 - 1:00 - 3:00 - Webinar
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
December 18th Meeting Follow Up Notes
Thank you for attending the first IT/OIT Advisory Council meeting, and for the great feedback you provided the IT leaders! Here is some follow-up information and links to videos that were mentioned during the meeting.
Please make a correction to your February calendar
The February meeting date was incorrectly stated below as February 2, 2015. It should have read:
February 5, 2015 - 1:00 - 3:00 - Webinar
Get Inspired!
During the meeting, Ms. Sacks told us a little bit about Mawi Asgedom, and his work to build student Leadership skills.
Mawi is an Ethiopian refuge whose book Of Beetles and Angels: A Boys Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard, has inspired many! Recently, he published a book called The 5 Powers of an Educator. This book provides educators with the tools to create an inspired school culture.
Both books sound like a great holiday reading project!
Or, if you don't have time to read the book, take the time to watch one or more of Mawi's inspiring videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MhCXl_IBQo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTfTcp0g-9o
https://www.youtube.com/user/youthpower17
Also inspiring is Dr. Avossa's State of the Schools Presentation.
This slide deck contains many key data points upon which we will be building our vision.
IT/OIT Advisory Council Meeting
Thank you for agreeing to serve on the Instructional Technology (IT)/Office of Information Technology (OIT) Advisory Council. Over the coming months, this council will act as a sounding board for IT/OIT in order to ensure the 2015-2018 Technology Plan reflects the best hopes for Fulton County students, teachers, administrators, staff, and parents.
When you come to the meeting on Thursday, if you are a guest in the Administration Building, please come in through the front entrance and let the Security Guard know you are here for the meeting. The guard will notify us, and we'll come to the front entrance to escort you through the building to the conference room.
If you find you cannot join us for this important meeting, please reply to this email and let me know. If you will join us on Thursday, be sure to come with your thinking caps on as we will define the Mission, Vision, Values and Beliefs for the 2015-18 Fulton County Schools Technology Plan!
Thursday, Dec 18, 2014, 10:00 AM
Administration Building (Board Conference Room) located at 786 Cleveland Avenue Southwest, Atlanta, GA, United States
Technology at the Advisory Council Meeting
If you are a Fulton County employee, please bring your laptop or iPad to the meeting. We'll be using this webpage, as well as some other web-based resources throughout the meeting, as we collect your input to the plan.
If you are not employed in FC, then we will have some devices available for you to use when we meet so you can access the web with our team!
Before we meet, you have one task! Please think about how would you answer this multiple choice question?
From your perspective, do students in Fulton County Schools have too little, too much, or just enough access to technology in order to maximize their personal learning potential?
Be thinking about your answer... remember it's multiple choice question ....
PLEASE STOP HERE!
Stop here!
December 18 Meeting Agenda
- Introductions
- Our task - Create a 2015-2018 Technology Plan
- Snapshot of our Current Reality
- Envision our Future
- Define the 2015-18 Mission Statement
- Define the 2015-18 Vision Statement
- Identify our Beliefs and Values for the Technology Plan
- Evaluate how well we did on the 2012-15 Goals and Strategies
Advisory Council Meeting Dates
December 18, 2014 - 10:00 - 1:00 - TBD
January 15, 2015 - 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. - TBD
February 5, 2015 - 1:00 - 3:00 - Webinar
April 22, 2015 - 10:00 - 12:00 - TBD
Snapshot of Our Current Reality
Visioning Activity
Now that you have an idea of what our current reality looks like. What would be your best hope for our future? With your group talk about what a "Day in the Life ..." looks and feels like in Fulton County in the year 2018. How will it be different from what is happening now?
Have one member of your group put your ideas into the appropriate Google Doc.
Identify a member of your group who will share your ideas and what that day would like like in a final group discussion.
Group 1 - A Day in the Life of a Student
Group 2 - A Day in the Life of a Teacher
Group 3 - A Day in the Life of an Administrator
This following cartoon was created by Vaunn Raymond (http://vaunraymondblog.blogspot.com/) who is in the Master of Communication in Digital Media program at the University of Washington. Do you think this company has a mission statement? Do they perform based on their mission?
Develop a Mission Statement
"If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which way you go."
— Cheshire Cat, Alice in Wonderland
The Business Dictionary defines a Mission Statement as:
"A written declaration of an organization's core purpose and focus that normally remains unchanged over time."
The Mission Statement from the 2012 - 2017 Strategic Plan - Building Our Future reads:
Our Mission is to educate every student to be a responsible, productive citizen.
The Information Technology Mission Statement from the 2012-15 Technology Plan reads:
The Fulton County Schools (FCS) Information Technology mission is to support and improve student achievement by integrating technology into daily instruction and administrative processes. Information Technology:
a. Promotes the seamless and effective use of technology to improve student learning environments including the FCS virtual campus, video conferencing, video streaming and web-based instruction;
b. Provides efficient administrative practices, student information solutions, planning and research, and partnerships between home, school and community.
The Mission Statement on the Fulton County website reads:
Our mission is to support and promote student achievement by integrating technology into instruction and administrative process in order to engage students and accelerate learning and operatonal activities.
Develop a Vision Statement
In Professional Learning Communities at Work (1998), Rick DuFour and Bob Eaker argued that effective vision statements in a PLC articulate, “a vivid picture of the organization’s future that is so compelling that a school’s members will be motivated to work together to make it a reality.”
The Vision Statement from the 2012 - 2017 Strategic Plan - Building Our Future reads:
Our Vision is for all students to learn to their full potential.
The Vision Statement from the 2013-2016 Broward County Schools Technology Plan reads:
Vision: Equipping today's learners with 21st Century competencies to flourish in a global society.
The Information Technology Vision Statement from the 2012-15 Technology Plan reads:
The Fulton County Information Technology vision is to provide innovative technologies, contemporary training models, and superior support that:
- promotes high achievement for all students,
- promotes highly effective faculty and staff use of technologies to enhance curriculum, assessment and instruction
- promotes community access to technologies that support and improve the learning environment, and
- provides timely, high-quality support, and improves systemic communication and offers diverse, flexible, professional learning opportunities.
Suggested Vision Statement:
Our Vision is for all students to learn to their full potential with provided and supported technology.
Identify the Beliefs and Values for the 2015-2018 Technology Plan
Fulton County Schools - Building Our Future
The following Beliefs and Value statements are taken from the FC 2012 - 2017 Strategic Plan - Building Our Future.
We Believe In
· Excellence
· Trust and Honest Communication
· Common Understanding
· Personal Responsibility
· Commitment
· Academic Achievement
· Measured Results
· Continuous Improvement
· Safe and Nurturing Environment
· Involved Family, Community and Staff
· Transparency and Accountability
Value Statements
· Each Fulton County school will educate every student to his/her fullest potential.
· Fulton County will engage parents as key partners in the educational process.
· Each Fulton County school will be the preferred school for its students and parents.
· Each Fulton County school will provide greater value for each child’s educational experience when compared
to top-performing public and private schools in the nation.
· Fulton County schools will prepare each student to excel in a rapidly changing global society.
What other Belief and Value statements would you like to see added that might better define the beliefs and values of the Technology Plan. Post your ideas on Padlet by creating a note for each statement you think might better define our beliefs and values. Do not worry about how long your statement is, as we might incorporate these into the narrative that defines our Guiding Tenets.
For more information on how we are doing on the 2012-2017 Strategic Plan you may want to view Dr. Avossa's 2013 State of the Schools Update.