Evaluation GeorgievaL.

School Evaluation Summary
Georgieva Lydia
EDTECH 501
For this assignment I chose to evaluate the level of technology maturity of the organization I
work for: Alternative School. Alternative school is a different type of school providing online
courses for other schools in relation to an international curriculum. Alternative School fills in
a niche in the market for international education by allowing schools following the specific
international curriculum to expand their subject offers and meet the needs of their international
students. Alternative school has a total of 1072 students enrolled for various online courses and
more than 50 teachers involved in teaching different subject courses. Technology has been at
the core of the organization from the very beginning, thus the level of technology maturity is
naturally high. Alternative school has students from 37 countries around the world.
ADMINISTRATIVE
The Administrative filter is at the Intelligent stage of the Maturity Model as appropriate
planning of technology, as well as appropriate budgeting made it possible to offer this
innovative model of teaching and learning.
Policy
Behavioral: Intelligent
Resource/Infrastructure: Intelligent
The organization depends entirely on technology for the provision of online courses, so
technology use is embraced at all levels of the organization. Technology use is at the core of
the organizations existence and the delivery of the online courses has been approved by the
governing body.
Planning
Resource/infrastructure: Intelligent
Comprehensive technology planning has been done at the very start of the founding of the
organization and at this moment any technology plans/changes are formally evaluated and
connected to other plans in the school
Budget
As far as my knowledge goes, technology budget has probably been in the center of the
budgeting process at the start of the organization as there is a heavy on technology for its
existence. My observations are that technology and related expenses are considered first
before any other additional budgets.
Administrative Information
Paper systems are totally replaced and my experience is that only contracts come on printed
paper and has to be returned as a hard copy. All other administrative information and
procedures utilize technology all across the school.
CURRICULAR
The Curricular filter is at the Intelligent stage of the Maturity Model as the main role of
Alternative School is to allow expansion of subject offers to other schools following the
international curriculum. Thus Alternative School fulfills its mission to provide further
educational opportunities to international students all over the world.
Electronic Information
Students and staff will not be able to do their work without usage of technology as courses are
delivered entirely in an online environment. The courses are pre-built on the VLE and students
and staff have regular access to all resources needed on a daily basis.
Assessment
Assessment design uses technology to a varying extent in the different subject courses as some
subjects allow fuller integration of technology assessment tools (Maths) than others(Social
Sciences such as Economics). But assessment in social sciences is delivered in the form of
test papers that can be downloaded and completed and then submitted to a designated folder.
Formative assessment is based on various activities that require students to interact with each
others via discussions, social bookmarking and blogging through the use of technology due to
the geographical dispersion of the students. Reporting to students, schools and parents is done
entirely via online reporting system integration.
Curriculum Integration
Behavioral: Integrated
Resource/infrastructure: Integrated
Not all subject areas of a normal school curriculum exist in the organization due to the
complementary role that the organization plays in the curriculum delivery of other schools. The
courses offered integrate technology to a great extent in delivering the course curriculum.
Teacher Use
Good skills in technology use are a prerequisite for employment of teachers as teachers
work will not be possible without technology. Teachers themselves need to have the required
technology as the organization does not take responsibility for provision with technology.
Student Use
Appropriate technology is a prerequisite for enrollment in the courses, also school support in
providing appropriate technology is considered essential for enrolling students from a particular
school in an online course.
SUPPORT
The Support Filter of the Alternative school is in the Integrated Stage of the Maturity
Model as the very essence of the teaching and learning environment requires
administrative and technical support and extensive training opportunities for staff and
students.
Stakeholder Involvement
Teachers, administrative and development team are the main stakeholders involved in
the planning and implementation of technology. Engagement of teachers is mainly in the
implementation stage of technology. The planning process is mainly done by administration and
development team.
Administrative Support
The technology planning process is done mainly administratively and there is good
supportive system in place by Faculty and Curriculum advisors and development team in the
implementation stage.
Training
Each new staff member undergoes comprehensive training prior to the start of the courses
and such is also provided for students and school coordinators. Faculty advisors are available
for support and also provide various training opportunities related to technology applications
during various times of the school year. Individual support in technology implementation is also
provided by Heads of departments when requested by teachers in the department.
Technical/Infrastructure Support
Formal and informal support is available. Formal technical support is provided by the
development team, informal technical support is provided by the Faculty advisors and the Head
of department. There is full-time personnel to provide technical support.
CONNECTIVITY
The Connectivity Filter is in the Intelligent Stage of the Maturity Model as this is the
natural stage determined by the specific nature of Alternative School and its model of
teaching and learning.
Local Area Networking (LAN): n/a
District Area Networking (WAN): n/a
Teachers working for the organization are located all over the world and not in one specifically
designated building, thus those subsections are not applicable.
Internet Access
All staff and students need to have Internet access as a prerequisite for employment and
enrollment in the courses. Internet access is extensively used for audio and video conferencing,
for overview of weekly content, for some subjects such as languages. Internet access is also
extensively used by students for access to data needed for the inquiry-based assignments
integrated in the courses.
Communication Systems
Communication systems include internal email, pager, specially designed discussion forum and
formal emails through the integrated administrative system.
INNOVATION
The Innovation filter seems to be between Integrated and Intelligent stages of
the Maturity Model Benchmarks, mainly due to the not so fast integration of new
technologies, which is understandable as Alternative School is ahead of many traditional
schools in terms of technology integration.
New Technologies
New technologies are readily accepted by most staff, e.g. lately I used Google hangout for
a department meeting online and some teachers also use it for synchronous sessions with
students. The organization is looking at integrating Adobe Connect to the course environment.
Staff suggests new applications all the time but those are so many that implementation of all is
impossible but some are moderately implemented.
Comprehensive Technologies
Technology is quite comprehensive and readily available. Video, audio, email, pager are used
on a regular basis by staff and students. Regular use of synchronous video conferencing,
asynchronous video presentations, or incorporating video in news is a normal practice in the
courses.
Conclusion:
The organization I work for can easily be placed in the Intelligent Stage of the Technology
Maturity Model. The very essence of the organization is based on technology as it provides
specialized online courses related to a specific international curriculum. Virtual learning
environment with pre-built course content, allowing for minor additions and adjustments
from teachers to personalize their course replaces the traditional classroom environment.
Prerequisites for employment and student enrollment are reasonable Internet access and basic
technology knowledge. Comprehensive training is provided to teachers and students and also
to school-based coordinators which ensures appropriate use of technology in the teaching
and learning process. Various technology tools are integrated to provide for a comprehensive
learning environment, such as Elluminate for live lesson delivery and synchronous meetings
with students. Assessment and reporting are also heavily reliant on technology usage and there
is a full-time support for everybody involved.

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School Evaluation Summary

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