Moving the State Plan forward... again!

After a hiatus of sorts, the State Plan is again moving forward.  On Wed, May 7th, I convened a group of individuals from various regions of the state to begin writing the State Technology Plan.   Collaboration is at times a "messy" affair, but we persevered and came to a good consensus for some direction on the plan.  Our goal for the day was to derive a purpose and some framework or structure for the plan.  We did accomplish much towards that end.  

Basically, the group agreed to structure the plan according to the direction established by the Vermont Education Transformation discussion now occurring in the State Board of Education.  We were able to bring the 5 key points of the transformation into our conversation and make them the underlying framework.  Those 5 key points are:

• Student Centered Education
• Leadership in a Student Centered education Environment
• Flexible Learning Environments
• Engaged Community Partners
• Results and Indicators of Success

I chose to replace the last component here with a piece about Assessment of the Plan, because the other categories will have goals and indicators that will get to assessment.  I may rethink that as I move forward with crafting our next steps, but we made good strides and are on our way.  Tying the technology to the transformation provides us with a solid way to embrace technology within other content areas.  The state plan also serves to give some structure to the ways in which Title IID competitive funds are prioritized and how I can begin to craft the grant opportunities for 2008-09.  

I am appreciative of the group that has been involved and looking forward to our next set of meetings here in June.  

The group involved include:
Bill Romond, Dept. of Ed.
Arlyn Bruccoli, Technology Integrationist, DOE
Mike Lambert, Vita-Learn President
Paul Irish, Vita-Learn Treasurer
Heather Chirtea, Vita-Learn Board Member
Charlie Wilson, Vita-Learn Board Member
Robert Sargent, Vita-Learn Board Member
Ed Barry, Milton Technology Director
Sue Monmaney, Technology Integrationist, Montpelier
Paul Smith, Technology Coordinator/Curriculum Coord Windham SE (Brattleboro)
Lauren Baker, Technology Coordinator,
John Minelli, Technology Integrationist, Hartford
Jeff Everett, Wild Branch Solutions, NEK Tech Coordinator (multiple districts)

A thank you to all of them for their commitment and for a well rounded discussion about technology, education and the continued challenges we face in an ever evolving field.

Peter Drescher
Education Technology Coordinator
Vermont Department of Education