Technology Integration Planning Checklist

Phase 1: Determining Relative Advantage--Why Use Technology?

• Do I have topics, curriculum objectives, or insights I have difficulty teaching? Many!
  
• Are any of the above a good match for a technology-based solution? Most of them can be enhanced and further improved from the view of differentiation and universal design.
  
• What is the relative advantage of the technology-based solution? See individual activities for relative advantages
  
• Is the relative advantage sufficient to justify the effort and expense of using these solutions? The effort is significant, but due to the ease of sharing on the Internet can be made communally available in a supportive online community.  The majority of technology tools used will be free and netbook computers are a minimal cost.
  

Phase 2: Deciding on Objectives and Assessments--How Will I Know Students Have Learned?

• What outcomes do I expect of students after the instruction to show me they have learned? To encourage and test a variety of learning strengths (Gardner's multiple intelligences) and higher-order as well as lower-order cognitive processes, students will need to prove both low-level basic knowledge and concepts as well as higher-order application through analysis, synthesis, product creation, problem-solving, and open-ended inquiry-based reflection.
  
• What is the best way for me to assess students' learning (e.g., written tests, products)? A variety of products and assessments spanning Bloom's taxonomy will be used.  Creative technology products and collaborations will be assessed using rubrics; basic knowledge and concepts will be assessed using online quizzes.
• Do the assessment instruments (e.g., tests, rubrics) exist or do I have to develop them? Several exist, most will have to be developed.  Technology can improve and expedite the process by using templates and tools such as RubiStar (rubrics), QuizStar (quizzes) and others available at 4teachers.org and other sites.
  

Phase 3: Designing Integration Strategies--What Teaching Strategies Will Work Best?

• Will the instruction be single subject or interdisciplinary? The instruction will be interdisciplinary and lessons designed such that they could be taught in a multiple-subject self-contained class or across multiple single-subject classrooms.
  
• Will students work as individuals, pairs, small or large groups, whole class, a combination? Much of the work will be independent, but there will also be opportunities for interpersonal/social students and special-needs students to gain advantages from paired work, small groups, and large collaborative groups via online communication and social networks.
  
• Should activities be directed, constructivist, or a combination of these? Due to the open-ended, "no right answer" nature of many of the essential questions and processes, much of the work will be constructivist.  However, plenty of direct instruction will be provided to teach the essential core concepts, knowledge, and technology skills  required.
  
• What strategies should I use to encourage female and minority student involvement? Universal design will be used to ensure differentiation, high interest for multiple groups, and a variety of concepts and activities.  Plentiful use of student-choice in topic selections and choices for groups/interpersonal interaction will also be helpful.
  
• What sequence of activities should I teach? Most activities will build upon and overlap with previous activities to review and extend existing knowledge.
  
• Will students have enough time to learn the technologies before I begin grading? This remains to be seen, but demonstration/tutorial time as well as recorded reference tutorials/screencasts are included for review and remediation when necessary.
  
• Do I have demonstrations of equipment and the software skills student will need? Yes, readily available to students online.
  

Phase 4: Preparing the Instructional Environment--Are the Essential Conditions in Place to Support
Technology Integration?

• How many computers and copies of software do I need to carry out the activities? Most of the applications are online and do not need to be installed; other than operating systems, all installed programs can be free to download.  According to research, any student-computer ration worse than 2:1 results in losses of performance.  There should be either one computer per pair of students or (preferably) one per student.
  
• How many computers and copies of software are available? One computer for each student is available in our current lab.
  
• Over what time period and for how long will technology resources be needed? Technology resources will be needed for two full weeks or for each day of the week for an hour per day, for approximately one month.
  
• Do I need to schedule time in a lab or media center? Either the computer lab or mobile laptop/netbook cart may be reserved.
  
• Do I need to schedule projection devices or large-screen monitors for demos? No, a projector and document camera is permanently available.
  
• What other equipment, software, media, and resources will I need? Various free online videos, simulations, and applications (see lesson plans)
  
• Are the uses I am planning legal according to copyright laws? Yes, and student products are encouraged to use public domain and Creative Commons materials available on Wikimedia Commons
  
• Have I provided for students' privacy and safety? Filtering software is in place, links are provided to all necessary online materials (semi-walled garden approach), and only COPPA-compliant and education-appropriate social and collaborative tools (ePals, EdModo, etc) will be used.
  
• Have I made all necessary access provisions for students with physical disabilities? Mouse alternative devices and voice recognition software are not currently available -- these will need to be acquired on an as-needed basis.
  
• Am I familiar with troubleshooting procedures specific to the hardware or software? Thoroughly.
  
• Have I built in time to test-run an equipment setup before the students arrive? This is recommended and guided in teacher-setup recommendations for each lesson.
  
• Have I built in time to back up important files? Have I trained students to back up theirs? This area was not included and a protocol will need to be in place to ensure regular, consistent, and effective backup procedures.
  
• Do I have a backup plan if I cannot use the resources as I had planned?  Some materials are printable and available in offline format, but loss of Internet accessibility would seriously cripple the lessons as planned; contingency plans including print resources (such as specifically-selected books, magazines, or article handouts) will need to be included.