Before you can develop a plan to move into the future, you must first make an assessment about your present status or location. The problem in making such an assessment is that it is often difficult to see things that are right in front of you. Sometimes it is necessary to have a third person perspective for this type of activity. You could use a highly-paid consultant from another county, but the resources of that person would leave as your consultant drove away.

A more effective way to assess your present situation is to find (or create) an evaluation tool that correlates with what you want to achieve in your school or district. Using an internally approved/created evaluation tool allows you to ensure that it is truly aligned with the goals and objectives of the district. It also requires those who approve/create the tool to develop a vision for their efforts and identify the criteria that would indicate success.

Each of your schools or districts has most likely created a technology (and school improvement) plan. It is hopeful that your institution is actually following this plan to create the learning environment that was envisioned by the plan's creators. The complicating factors are that even though the planning group may have done an institutional assessment when the plan was created, things change. Goals are achieved. Personnel are reassigned. Budgets are gutted. As things change, new assessments need to be made and new plans need to be created.

This assignment will provide you with an opportunity to evaluate your institution's status in relation to technology. It will use the Technology Maturity Model published by EdMin.com. This model will further explained in class.

Begin by reading the background on the Technology Maturity Model . This is a .pdf file that will explain the following parts of the model. You can access this information most efficiently if you use the links on the first page of this 44-page Technology Maturity Model .pdf document.

Improvement Cycle	Explains Improvement Cycle. Identifies flaws in planning.
Planning Phases	Explains 4 planning phases in the Improvement Cycle. You will see references to a "workbook". Ignore these references. They involve a workshop that EdMin gives.
Spiral Refinement	A diagram describing the ongoing refinement process of evolving a technology plan over time.
Concurrent Planning and Improvement	Discusses the multiple levels that can be addressed through the Maturity Model.
Comprehensive Planning	Explains the need for a comprehensive technology plan.
Maturity Indicators	Describes the four benchmark stages of the Technology Maturity Model.
Assessment Instruments	Explains the ongoing use of Assessment Instruments.
Maturity Model Benchmarks	Rubrics for evaluating the Maturity Model Benchmarks. These are the rubrics that will be used to complete this Student Environment Evaluation assignment. You will notice that these benchmarks are also available in .pdf format.
Technology Plan Analysis Rubric	This is the rubric for analyzing an existing technology plan. It is also useful in providing direction when originally writing a technology plan.

DO NOT USE THE NAME OF THE INSTITUTION!!! IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THE PRIVACY OF THE INSTITUTION YOU ARE DESCRIBING REMAINS INTACT!! Create a false name for your institution. It would, however, be useful to include the demographics of the institution to contextualize your findings.

1. Familiarize yourself with the Maturity Model and the accompanying rubric (.pdf format)

2. Using the rubric as your guide, analyze the Technological Maturity of your educational institution.

3. Complete the Maturity Model Benchmark Survey Sheet. This is available in a(n) .xls format that can be completed. (This SHOULD download to your computer.)

4. After completing the Survey Sheet, create supporting documentation:

• Begin by describing the demographics of the institution (using the false name).
• For each section, (e.g., Planning, Electronic Information, Curricular Integration, Teacher Use, etc.) and subsection (e.g., Policy, Planning, Budget, and Administrative Information) evaluate the your institution's environment.
• Begin each subsection by identifying your ranking for that subsection (i.e., Behavioral: Island; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent) Explain what was apparent in your educational environment that substantiated your decision. Provide facts and examples where it is appropriate.
• Conclude with a final summary which describes where you would place your educational institution in the Technology Maturity Model. This needs to be a detailed explanation of what you saw and how that lead to your final placement of your institution.
• Standards Alignment Reflection. This is your opportunity to describe how this assignment aligns with the outcomes/objectives 5.1.1, 5.2.1, 5.3.1 and any of the other outcomes/objectives that you feel are connected (see Syllabus)

• Completed Maturity Model Benchmark Survey Sheet (submit in .xls format)
• Supporting documentation/explanation in a Word Document format.

School Environment Evaluation rubric (pdf format)