Nadia Williams

ITEC 7500: Capstone & Portfolio

Fall 2015
Standard 1.4

Standard 1.4: Strategic Planning

Candidates research, recommend, and implement strategies for initiating and sustaining
technology innovations and for managing the change process in schools. (PSC 1.4/ISTE
1d).
Reflection
In my studies in ITEC 7410, I was the sole creator of this Action/Evaluation Plan.

The Action/Evaluation Plan presents the goals for the technology suggested to East
Cobb Middle School with regard to a school-wide implementation of Twitter as a
means for fostering community involvement as well as a conduit for showcasing student
work and the goings-on at school.
In order to create this plan, I had to first research the current technological state of the
school with regard to its general initiatives. From that point, along with some outside
research as a result of the text excerpts I read as part of my ITEC 7410 course, I was
then able to make recommendations on just how the plan could be implemented and
initiated in a manner so that it could also provide a sustainable digital environment for
showcasing student work, school events, teacher lessons, and cultivating community
conversations in support of the vision of the school. By involving the entire community
of stakeholders, this falls in line with the management and support for the change
process within the school.
I also had to take other key factors into account in outlining the ways in which the
strategies I suggested could be sustained. Given that East Cobb Middle School is a
public school, the sustenance of its programs and initiatives is dependent upon its
year-to-year budget. This budget, which is determined first, by the State of Georgia, and
then at the local level on a per-student-basis based upon need at the district level.
Individual schools can receive additional funds through its population of gifted, special
education, or economically disadvantaged students. East Cobb Middle School services
a variety of students including those of the aforementioned demographics. East Cobb

received additional school funding from the Federal Government as a result being
deemed a Title I for having a high percentage of economically disadvantaged students.
This additional funding has gone to support usual school functions in support of student
learning as well as the initiatives and vision outlined within the Action/Evaluation Plan.
I learned the importance of creating a thorough, multi-tiered approach to any new
initiative, especially a technology-based plan. Such a plan must keep in mind all
stakeholders, most importantly, the students and their teachers. Both teachers and
students are a varying levels of technology proficiency. I realized that if I were to
assume that all teachers were lacking proficiency or that all students were
proficient with the use of technological tools such as social media, I would lose
traction with gaining teacher buy-in, and could very easily alienate students and
teachers alike. Thus, should I create such a plan again, I would be sure to follow
the provided template, but would take care to research other districts that may
have implemented such a program already. If no such districts exist, I would look
to see which organizations had implemented something similar. This would provide
me with a fuller understanding of what would probably work, what might possibly
present a challenge, and ways to gain more buy-in. Furthermore, I would have
presented all stakeholders with a survey of some sort in order to gain a baseline
self-assessment of their skills, interest, proficiency, and anything they may perceive
to be a hinderance to student learning through the use of different types of digital
tools such as social media.
This artifact impacted the school environment and its impact could be assessed by
the increase of teachers communicating via Twitter. It could also be assessed in the
increase of parents receiving key school communication online, which translates to
more parental attendance to school events. Furthermore, this artifact includes staff

and student incentives to make venturing out into new technological territory appear fun
and less threatening so that the aforementioned impact can grow. It is also worth noting
that this plan outlines quantifiable goals so that its progress can be appropriately
measured and assessed for appropriate reflection and growth.