Clinton Community School District Technology Plan
2018-2022
Bryan Erskine - Director of Technology
Executive Summary
In the United States, the goal of education has been to produce a literate thinking citizenry. Nevermore important than now, the goal of education has expanded to include a literate citizenry who can also use technology too creatively, compassionately, and courageously problem-solve. It is this extended application of technology into all areas of our society that will change the world in ways not even yet know.
The students of today will lead this educational and technological shift by using their foundational technology instruction from elementary, middle, and high school. Therefore, it is appropriate that the Clinton Community School District review and update its technology plan stretching its capacity to implement technological change for its staff and students.
Through its revised technology plan, this district strives to develop and deliver the needed technology and technology skills to staff and students. The technology plan has multiple goals and objectives in order to provide a safe and reliable network infrastructure as well as the appropriate tools for staff and students to be successful.
Student Goal
All students will demonstrate information technology literacy proficiency through activities, projects, assignments, and assessments. Although this is a student goal, it assumes that educators will possess the depth of technological literacy understanding that will enable them to create assignments and allow students to become technologically literate and demonstrate that proficiency in multiple ways appropriate to grade and age level.
Network, Infrastructure, and Classroom Technologies Goal
The Clinton Community School District will provide and acquire technology resources and infrastructure to implement and support the use of technology in our instructional program. With continued financial commitment to strengthening the use of technology and its infrastructure, the Clinton Community School District defines its priorities supporting and recognizing the continued need for building and improving district technology capacity.
Communication Goal
Students and staff will utilize technology to strengthen and expand communication to promote family and community involvement in the educational process. The connectedness of family, school, and student learners has never been more obvious nor more important. This goal enables the home and school to coordinate, collaborate, and cooperate in perhaps yet unforeseen ways to promote student learning.
Training and Integration Goal
The Clinton Community School District will provide training and integration strategies to ensure staff literacy and understanding of technical concepts to create a positive learning environment with technologically rich learning appropriate to grade and age level.
Vision, Mission, and Goals
Technology Vision Statement:
The Clinton Community School District will create a safe and highly available technology environment to support student learning and facilitation to best prepare students for post-secondary education and future occupations.
Technology Mission Statement:
The Clinton Community School District will work with families and the community to educate, inspire, and empower our students to succeed in the 21st century society as responsible and productive members of the community. The Clinton Community School District will utilize resources efficiently and strategically to build strong partnerships with families, businesses, and the community
Technology Goals Statement:
- The Clinton Community School District will provide a computer network that is highly reliable and efficient, in order to support our educational and operational needs.
- The Clinton Community School District will provide a wide variety of technology options to provide a more personalized learning environment for each student to enhance the learning environment.
- The Clinton Community School District will utilize administrative technologies to create a high performance data-driven system effectively and efficiently serving the digital-age needs of its students.
- The Clinton Community School District will use technology to strategically improve administrative processes and operations, including communication and collaboration.
- The Clinton Community School District will support teachers in fostering personalized learning for their students.
- The Clinton Community School District will foster equitable learning opportunities for all students.
- The Clinton Community School District will create a professional learning environment, which will provide training for both staff development as well as community learning opportunities.
District Demographics:
The Clinton Community School District encompasses 112 square miles. It includes the Village of Clinton, the Townships of Clinton and Bradford, plus portions of the Townships of Turtle, LaPrairie, Sharon, and parts of the City of Beloit. During the 2018-2022 school years, approximately 1,050 students are expected to be enrolled in four-year-old kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The Clinton Elementary School houses four-year-old kindergarten through fourth grade and presently has an enrollment of about 406 students. The Clinton Middle School contains grades five through eight and has approximately 363 students. The Clinton High School serves approximately 337 students in grades 9 through 12.
The District employs 93 instructional staff, 6 administrative staff, and 85 support staff. The instructor/student ratio for PK-8 is 1:13 and for grades, 9-12 is 1:13. A licensed library media specialist serves the District as well as specialists in art, music, health, physical education, student services, and special education. The District employs school psychologists, school nurses, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists to serve the District’s student population.
The Clinton Community School District is committed to delivering comprehensive programming for its student body to be academically competitive in post high school environments, whether for university, technical college, military, work or other settings.
The District commitment to technology remains strong and will continue to be a major focus in order to enhance student learning.
Delivery of Technology:
As the uses of technology continue to evolve in new and exciting ways, so does our need to provide those technologies to our students. In today’s society, technology skills are no longer a good bullet point on a resume, they are a requirement. Because of this, the Clinton Community School District uses both a 1:1 and BYOD program for its students.
BYOD or Bring Your Own Device has become the industry standard for many businesses and companies throughout the world. BYOD allows users to utilize an operating system they are familiar with (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, etc.) and learn to take care of that device as well as customize it to their preferences. These customizations and pride of ownership can greatly enhance the student’s ability to learn and open more learning opportunities. Juniors and Seniors in the district are encouraged to be a part of the BYOD program in order to better help them as they prepare to transition to post-secondary education and or careers following their K12 education.
The 1:1 program is a program where all students have a device available to them at any point of the day. This does not mean they are on the device all day; it simply means there is a device available to them (not shared) at all times throughout the day to be used at the educator’s discretion. The 1:1 program is a combination of the BYOD and district-owned devices (Chromebooks) which are to be provided to students from 1st grade through 10th grade. Chromebooks are lightweight devices utilizing Google’s Chrome OS. These devices do not allow the installation of other applications, however, are not able to get viruses due to the lack of an actual operating system. Any family may choose to have their child bring their own device and any student in 11th or 12th grade who do not have a personal device will be provided a Chromebook.
Having a device in the hand of every student will allow them to utilize Google products such as Googles search engine, Google Apps for Education, YouTube, as well as other online learning resources like IXL Math, Learning A-Z, Razz Kids, and many others.
Other technologies provided to our students are computer labs equipped with Adobe CS6, Microsoft Office, Auto Desk Inventor and Revit, Smartboards, 3D Printers, Doc Cams, and many other technologies.
All of these technologies and more will create a more efficient and effective learning environment for our students. These technologies will better engage our students and provide our teachers with more tools to meet the needs of all learners within the district. The technology will give our students access to the world of resources at their fingertips but will not replace the teacher. The technologies provided to students and staff will empower our educators and transform them into facilitators who will be able to more effectively engage our students.
Current Technologies:
Network / Infrastructure Configuration:
The district’s three buildings are connected on a Wide Area Network (WAN) through district owned fiber connections connecting each buildings Main Distribution Frame (MDF). The Middle and Elementary Schools are cabled with Cat 5 (10/100 Mbps) connections to each classroom and access point from the MDF and IDFs. The High School is cabled with Cat 5e (1 Gbps) connections to each classroom and wireless access point. The district connects to the internet via Spectrum bridging to BadgerNet as a WiscNet member utilizing a 500 Mbps connection.
We are employing Cisco 2960 switches in every IDF and MDF with the exception of the Core MDF located at the High School where we have Cisco Catalyst 3750’s and 2 3750g units. All switches are Power over Ethernet (POE) providing power and connection to our wireless and security camera infrastructure.
The district’s wireless infrastructure has three systems in total employed. The Middle and Elementary Schools have a Cisco box supporting around 70 Cisco Air P Cap access points. The High School is currently employing a Meraki system with a cloud-based controller and MR42 Access points in each classroom. Lastly, we have three HP Wireless access points on the football field and in the bus barn, controlled through an HP controller located in the High School MDF.
The district servers are running on a SAN server along with a brand new server from Bytespeed along with an HP ProLiant G6 Unit for redundancy. Both of these servers make up the core of the network running Microsoft’s Hyper-V. We are also running an HP ProLiant G5 as well as a Standalone Bytespeed Server running VMWare. The district runs three domain controllers with two on the Hyper-V servers and one running on the VMware server providing redundancy. In total, the district is running roughly 22 virtual/physical servers on a combination of Hyper-V and VMWare. The district utilizes Various Microsoft Server Operating Systems including Server 2008 up to Server 2016. The district utilizes Microsoft’s Active Directory for user authentication and Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager to manage the district PCs and servers.
The district has a Sonic Wall, firewall in place, along with an Arc Server for backups. The content filter for the district is a cloud-based solution through Securly, which operates through a Google Extension and forced DNS forwarding.
Workstation Access:
The district has deployed approximately 250 desktop and laptop computers along with approximately 800 Chromebooks. Approximately 95% of the districts desktop and laptop computers are running Windows 7 or 10 with approximately 5% running Mac OS X. The district has five computer labs, three at the high school and one each at the middle and elementary schools. All labs are running Windows 7 or 10 and utilize specialized software for instruction at each location. Netop Vision is deployed to each lab allowing staff the ability to monitor the screens of students as well as to project the teacher machine to the student machines for a more rich learning experience.
Each classroom has been equipped with a Windows based desktop connected to a projector. The district has predominately NEC projectors with a few Epson 98h projectors used to replace the NEC projectors as they begin to fail. The desktops in the classrooms will be phased out by laptops, which have been supplied to each teacher. Educators and Administrators were given the choice between a Bytespeed windows device and a Mac book pro with equivalent specs. The Windows based devices store all data on the staff server through a folder redirection set by Group Policy allowing all data to be backed up on a regular basis. The Macs do not have any type of backup systems in place at this time.
Phone System:
The current Phone System is a Cisco 5500 series box utilizing Cisco 7910, 7920, and 7940 phones. The systems support expired in August of 2017 but continues to function as needed. Frontier Communications is the district’s current phone service provider. The district has a T1 connection with multiple DID phone lines as well as approximately 16 analog lines used for fax machines, security systems, and more.
Cloud-based Systems:
The Clinton Community School District utilizes Google as its platform for email, online documents, and student management system (Google Classroom). Office 365 is available for all staff as well as High School students who are registered for the business courses. This medium is provided for students who need access to Microsoft Office, Excel, Word, etc. for specific courses. Skyward is employed as the district’s financial database and student information system and can be utilized as a student management system for educators who wish to use it. The district employs many other could based systems for staff and students to include but are not limited to.
Student Systems
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Staff Systems
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IXL Math
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Blackboard Connect
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Learning A-Z
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GroupLink Helpdesk
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Type 2 Learn
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Asset Tiger
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Career Cruising
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Raptor
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Think Central
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SiteImprove
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Reflex Math
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Educlimber
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Method Test Prep
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Board Docs
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Khan Academy
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My Learning Plan
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Pear Deck
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Analysis of Previous Plan
The previous technology plan covered the years of 2009-2012. That plan was determined to be relevant for the years of 2013-2017 and an update was not warranted.
An analysis of the previous plan indicates success in several areas such as the development of web-based communication with home and community. We have succeeded in bringing Google email accounts to all of our students and staff and activated the email abilities for appropriate grade levels. We have also successfully implemented skywards communication abilities for both email notifications as well as family access messages and alerts. We have implemented an emergency communication tool, which sends out both emails and automated phone calls in emergencies as well as other notifications. One of the focuses of the previous technology plan was to set multiple goals to enhance student research and digital citizenship. We have become a 1:1 district placing a device in the hands of every student grades 1-12 allowing students to research not only for projects but also research most topics they are interested in learning more about. With a device at the student’s disposal and access to a world of information, they are able to look up more of their questions before having to ask them enhancing the learning process. The 1:1 devices have enabled self-based learning, student-centered learning, flipped classrooms, and many other learning platforms to provide a better learning environment for all learners.
Another major focus of the technology plan was an emphasis on hardware. We have met and exceeded this goal by providing the staff with a choice of a MacBook Pro or an equivalent Bytespeed Windows based laptop. Both devices are of high quality to provide fast and effective speeds to enhance the teacher’s ability to educate. The district’s servers have been upgraded and redundancy has been put in place for higher availability. A backup system has been implemented as well as a state of the art management system for the windows based devices and servers.
The Director of Technology of the Clinton Community School District has conducted a thorough needs assessment for the development of the 2018-2022 Plan. During this examination, the district’s infrastructure including servers, network equipment, wireless access points, and other areas were examined as well as the hardware and software available to students and staff. Lastly, educator effectiveness and training regarding technology was also examined. It was concluded that the following areas would be looked at over the next four years to better support the learning environment for both staff and students.
Student Needs
Student literacy and proficiency in regards to technology and digital citizenship will be continually assessed by the building Principals to ensure students are adequately meeting the technology literacy goals set forth by the district. The Director of Technology will support the building Principals to ensure staff have the resources and training to provide technology literacy and proficiency for students. Student Chromebooks will be replaced on a replacement schedule with a built in recurring cost to keep all devices up to date. Computer labs will get regular software updates and be placed on a replacement schedule with a built in recurring cost ensuring all labs are equipped with adequate equipment for the required coursework.
Network / Infrastructure
The network and infrastructure goal will be to address the aging systems such as the cabling at the middle and elementary school buildings, wireless infrastructure at the middle and elementary schools, and switches throughout all three buildings. The Director of Technology will address the hardware and software needs and formulate a plan to look into upgrades and or changes to ensure a safe and reliable network infrastructure is in place. The Director of Technology will also plan for recurring costs and a scheduled rotation of the network infrastructure to ensure the district’s infrastructure is continually up to date and operating at its full potential.
Classroom Technology
The classroom technology goal will be to address both the aging equipment as well as plan for future needs. The Director of Technology will address the hardware and software needs such as the aging projectors and document cameras, as well as applications such as Vision, Type to Learn, and others. The Director of Technology will create a scheduled rotation will recurring costs of classroom technology as well as utilize conferences and forecasting to bring in new technologies, as they are needed in the classroom. The Director of Technology will work closely with the Library Media Specialist to continue increase the amount of technology available in the Maker Spaces of both the High School and Middle School, as well as the development of collaboration type spaces to be available to students in the Libraries.
Communication
The communication goal will be to address the aging phone system infrastructure and look into a new solution to meet the growing needs of the district. The communication goal will be to evaluate the districts online presence and optimize that presence to better communicate with the community, students, and families as well as potential families looking to move to the area. The Director of Technology will address the hardware and software needs of the phone system and look at potential replacement systems building in a recurring cost along with a scheduled replacement plan. The Director of Technology will further evaluate the districts online presence and look for ways to optimize and broaden that presence.
Training and Integration
The training and integration goals will be to address the continual need for training for staff in regards to technology. The Director of Technology will work with the district Media Specialist and building Principals to create a training program that will continually educate staff members on the various technologies available to them as well as new ways those technologies can be utilized. The Director of Technology and district Media Specialist will post videos online for staff to learn when convenient for them allowing more flexibility in their schedules. Building Principals and the Director of Curriculum will look into sending staff to training and conferences as budget provides to allow staff to learn about the latest classroom technologies and how they can be integrated into the classroom. The Director of Technology will create integration plans for new equipment that will create a positive acceptance of new technologies and not disrupt the learning process.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The key purpose of monitoring and evaluation is to continually assess whether or not the district is meeting the technology goals set forth by this document. The following will be used as a metric to monitor and properly evaluate the district’s technology goals.
- To raise student achievement.
- Observation of current student achievement versus the prior school year.
- Student projects and presentations.
- Parent and community feedback.
- To raise student information technology literacy and proficiency.
- Student projects and presentations.
- Parent and community feedback.
- Principal and staff feedback and recommendations.
- To improve network and infrastructure.
- Observation of equipment replacements.
- Observation of the creation of replacement schedules.
- Reduction in network, internet, and phone system down time.
- Observation of the creation of a recurring cost plan.
- Feedback from staff, students, and community.
- To Improve and maintain Classroom Technology
- Observation of equipment being replaced per the replacement schedule.
- Staff and student feedback.
- Observation of a recurring cost plan.
- Increased equipment speeds.
- Decreased downtime.
- To Improve Phone System
- Decreased downtime.
- Implementation of new phone system.
- Observation of built in recurring cost created.
- Staff and community feedback.
- To Improve Web Presence
- Increased traffic to website and social media accounts.
- Feedback from staff, students, and community.
- Increased awareness from community regard district on goings.
- To Improve Staff Training and understanding of Technology
- Raise in student achievement.
- Staff feedback.
- Observations by admins during classroom observations.
- Successful Technology Integration
- Increase in positive outlook of technology by staff.
- Increased use of technology by staff.
- Increase in positive outlook of district technology by students.
- Increased use of technology by staff.
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