2013-2016 Technology Plan - Osceola County School District

Administrative and Instructional Technology
Additional benefits of implementing the professional development application include the automatic
processing of training requests, an increased demand for email and the increased use of technology by
district employees, and a significant reduction in paperwork.
Technology training
More than 700 workshops were available and advertised on the intranet for employees as of October 15,
2001, for the school year 2001-2002. The district provides a variety of training opportunities in
technology. The items below represent sample workshop titles for each category of technology training.
• BASIC COMPUTING – Computer Basics, MAC Basics, Computer Keyboarding, Computer
Awareness, Introduction to Computers, etc.
• MAINFRAME COMPUTING – Hands on TERMS, TERMS Student Data, ESOL on TERMS, ESE
on TERMS, EDULOG, Novell, etc.
• MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY – Cisco, Connectivity, First Class Set-up, BISCI, A+
Certification, Built for Speed, Porta System, Managing Teacher Homework Web Pages, Lightning
Protection for Technology, Administrative Use of Palm Pilots, Dial ISP, Windows Server, M/S NT,
Soldering, C.N.A., Advanced Networking, Pinnacle Management, Cabling, System Configuration,
etc.
• APPLICATIONS – Word, Works, Pinnacle, Powerpoint, Access, Magellen, STAR A/R, Imovie,
Dynavox, Lionworks, Transact Library, Sunlink, First Class E-mail, Compass, Lightspan, GIS,
Siggraph, Front Page, Big Chalk, Intellilibrary, Office, Windows, Pagemaker, Dreammaker,
Macromedia, Digiworld, Hyperstudio, Avid, Tech Train, Excel, CCC, Boss, Flash, etc.
• MISCELLANEOUS – Assistive Technology, Picture Exchange, Digital Cameras, Digital Video,
Integration Technology in the Classroom, Using Multimedia, Surfing the Net, Internet Applications,
Web Pages, Homework Pages, Virtual Education, Clay Animation, Digitize Your World, TV
Production, Media Tools, Quick Cam, Cable in the Classroom, IMAC Antics, Using CCC in
Classroom, Editing, etc.
Exhibit 6-14 summarizes the district’s technology training effort in 2000-01. In all, there were 3,890
participants who successfully completed 513 technology workshops.
Exhibit 6-14
Technology Training Workshops – Participation 2000-2001
Category
Number of
Workshops
Number of
Participants
Number of
Hours
Basic Computing 24 120 245
Mainframe Computing 29 301 183
Management of Technology 62 247 677
Computer Applications 247 2,110 1,717
Miscellaneous Technology 151 1,112 1,203
Source: Osceola District Professional Development Department, March 2002.
Challenges in Meeting Demand for Professional Development Services
The challenges faced by the Professional Development Department in meeting the demand for services
are often a function of time. The instructional day provides little release time for instructional personnel
and no substitute program for non-instructional personnel to attend training; additionally, the calendar has
only one in-service day. This requires that the majority of training occur outside the instructional day.
With the demands of ESOL training and other mandatory training, it creates scheduling concerns for
many employees. The department has begun to add on-line training programs to provide more access;
6-24 OPPAGA
2013 Educational Technology Plan 24/40 School District of Osceola County Florida