Action+Plan


 * Goals and objectives/outcomes of the research investigation-The goal of this action plan is to find a way in which teachers can integrate technology in attempts to increase students learning by using the most up to date technologies available while not interfering with the safety provided by the network filtering system.
 * Activities designed to achieve the objectives- I plan to implement the use of blogs, wikis, student email, and various forms of multimedia during the second semester of the school year.
 * Resources and research tools needed for data gathering- I will be working with the technology department to allow the use of Web 2.0 tools for all users on my campus. Data will be obtained from the first semester student products and compared to the second semester student products. Quality of products, higher order thinking skills, and overall grades will be some of the factors that will be compared. Teachers are required to complete the STaR chart (School Technology and Readiness) which is a teacher tool for planning and self-assessment aligned with the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020.
 * Draft timeline for completion or implementation of activities- Fall 2010 will be taught using traditional methods such as Microsoft Word for word processing. Spring 2010 will be taught using online accounts such as Google documents for word processing. Blogs, wiki’s and multimedia projects will be student centered in the Spring once the technology department allows these sites to be accessed on student computers.
 * Persons responsible for implementation of the action research plan- I will be the teacher for both semesters and will be implementing the new resources in the Spring. The same lessons will be taught using the TEKS as the curriculum. My site mentor, Mary Terrell, has agreed to provide a second opinion while both semesters are taking place.
 * Process for monitoring the achievement of goals and objectives- Both myself and my site mentor will be communicating during the entire school year to discuss differences, if any, in the student outcomes. Teachers who bring their students to the labs will be issued a survey to answer questions about the availability of web tools and success of technology implementation.
 * Assessment instrument(s) to evaluate the effectiveness of the action research study- District Technology Director, Julie Turner, will provide the results of the STaR Chart showing any change in teacher technology integration from last year to this year. In addition, student achievement on projects will be compared by me and my site mentor, Mary Terrell.