1.2 Strategic Planning
Candidates facilitate the design, development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology-infused strategic plans. (PSC 1.2/ISTE 1b)
Artifact: SWOT Analysis
Reflection: The artifact
I chose for standard 1.2 is a SWOT Analysis that I conducted regarding my
school for ITEC 7410, Instructional Technology Leadership. The SWOT analysis
was an individual assignment in which I examined the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats facing my particular school in regards to our use of
technology and the state of our school-wide technology vision. In the SWOT
analysis, I focused on the International Society for Technology in Education’s
essential conditions for the use of technology in schools and examined the use
of technology in my school.
In the creation of the SWOT analysis, I interviewed several teachers in my school to find out about their use of technology in their classrooms and their feelings about their own use of technology as well as their students’ use of technology. In choosing the teaschers to interview, I took care to include at least one teacher from each grade level – sixth, seventh, and eighth. Following the interviews, I synthesized the information that I gained in order to include it as fully as possible into the SWOT analysis. Finally, the SWOT analysis was designed as a tool to aid me in my development of the school-wide technology vision and the technology action/evaluation plan.
Following my creation of the SWOT analysis for my school, I shared my results with the administration team at the school. They agreed with many of my points in the analysis, and the overall artifact provided a springboard for a conversation among the school strategic plan (SSP) team about the strengths and weaknesses of our school in terms of the use of technology in the classroom. That same conversation continued into grade level meetings which are held weekly in the school and subject-area vertical alignment meetings held twice monthly. Additionally, the findings of the SWOT analysis were discussed in meetings of the data team and the professional learning team and used to develop data and professional learning strategies for the current school year.
With the inclusion of the SWOT analysis in the data and professional learning plans, professional development exercises and trainings were created to educate teachers about the Levels of Technology integration and the indicators of student engagement as well as meaningful ways to implement technology into their lessons and their classrooms. The final evaluation of the SWOT analysis will take place at the end of the professional development cycle when teachers and administrators re-examine their levels of technology integration and their levels of meaningful use of technology.
My main takeaway from creating the SWOT analysis was that examining the negatives can sometimes be uncomfortable, but in order to improve discomfort is often, if not always, required. In my conversations with teachers about their use of technology and their students’ use of technology, I was required to probe significantly at times in order to reach the heart of their feelings. In completing a future SWOT analysis, I would include more teachers in the interview process in order to build a more complete picture of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our school. Additionally, I believe that it would be beneficial to complete more than one interview with each teacher in order to gain additional insight, and to complete one or more classroom observation in order to see the use of technology for myself.
The major impact of this artifact so far has been in faculty development. I have been in the fortunate position of assisting in the planning for the professional learning offerings at our school for the year, and the issues identified in this SWOT analysis have taken a prominent position in our plans. Most professional learning this school year has centered on student engagement, meaningful use of technology and levels of technology integration. To that end, as teachers have embraced those new concepts included in the professional learning, their classroom practices have improved. Evaluation of this method is mostly self-reported from teachers, but those reports reveal that they believe that students are more engaged in classes and that the rigor of their classes has increased. The final evaluation of the overall improvement of the school will come as the new Georgia Pathways tests are administered and a benchmark for the growth of our school is created.
In the creation of the SWOT analysis, I interviewed several teachers in my school to find out about their use of technology in their classrooms and their feelings about their own use of technology as well as their students’ use of technology. In choosing the teaschers to interview, I took care to include at least one teacher from each grade level – sixth, seventh, and eighth. Following the interviews, I synthesized the information that I gained in order to include it as fully as possible into the SWOT analysis. Finally, the SWOT analysis was designed as a tool to aid me in my development of the school-wide technology vision and the technology action/evaluation plan.
Following my creation of the SWOT analysis for my school, I shared my results with the administration team at the school. They agreed with many of my points in the analysis, and the overall artifact provided a springboard for a conversation among the school strategic plan (SSP) team about the strengths and weaknesses of our school in terms of the use of technology in the classroom. That same conversation continued into grade level meetings which are held weekly in the school and subject-area vertical alignment meetings held twice monthly. Additionally, the findings of the SWOT analysis were discussed in meetings of the data team and the professional learning team and used to develop data and professional learning strategies for the current school year.
With the inclusion of the SWOT analysis in the data and professional learning plans, professional development exercises and trainings were created to educate teachers about the Levels of Technology integration and the indicators of student engagement as well as meaningful ways to implement technology into their lessons and their classrooms. The final evaluation of the SWOT analysis will take place at the end of the professional development cycle when teachers and administrators re-examine their levels of technology integration and their levels of meaningful use of technology.
My main takeaway from creating the SWOT analysis was that examining the negatives can sometimes be uncomfortable, but in order to improve discomfort is often, if not always, required. In my conversations with teachers about their use of technology and their students’ use of technology, I was required to probe significantly at times in order to reach the heart of their feelings. In completing a future SWOT analysis, I would include more teachers in the interview process in order to build a more complete picture of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our school. Additionally, I believe that it would be beneficial to complete more than one interview with each teacher in order to gain additional insight, and to complete one or more classroom observation in order to see the use of technology for myself.
The major impact of this artifact so far has been in faculty development. I have been in the fortunate position of assisting in the planning for the professional learning offerings at our school for the year, and the issues identified in this SWOT analysis have taken a prominent position in our plans. Most professional learning this school year has centered on student engagement, meaningful use of technology and levels of technology integration. To that end, as teachers have embraced those new concepts included in the professional learning, their classroom practices have improved. Evaluation of this method is mostly self-reported from teachers, but those reports reveal that they believe that students are more engaged in classes and that the rigor of their classes has increased. The final evaluation of the overall improvement of the school will come as the new Georgia Pathways tests are administered and a benchmark for the growth of our school is created.