Evaluation of Technology Use at ICSE written by Anja Junginger Introduction The Inter-Community School of Europe is located centrally in the

heart of Europe. The school currently has 747 students on roll, with numbers increasing. During the 2011/12 school year there were 277 students in the PYP (of which 67 are in the Early Years and Kindergarten), 259 in the MYP and 76 in the DP. According to the schools CIS/NEASC/IB Self-Study documentation, the school proudly celebrates a population of more than 50 nationalities with 25 mother tongues spoken. 30% of the students are German, 22% are American, 11% are Japanese and 9% are mixed German, 5% are Indian, 2% are Korean and 21% represent the other nationalities in the school. The academic faculty and staff at ICSE totalled 129.65 full-time equivalents, of whom, 116 were employed on a full-time basis and 44 part-time. The staff involved in the IB programmes are 90 representing 23 nationalities: The nationalities of staff represented in the school are American, German, British, Canadian, Austrian, French, Japanese, South African and others (ICSE Staff, 2010). The school has been recently re-accredited and evaluated by a joint visit from the Council of International Schools (CIS) the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), and the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). Data used in this evaluation largely stems from the schools own Self-Study report from 2010, as well as from the Visiting Teams (VT) report, written in December 2011. Evaluation of Technology Use according the the Maturity Model Benchmarks by Sibley and Kimball 1. Administrative a. Policy Ranking: Integrated; formalization required to be ranked as Intelligent. A Computer Policy exists and is available in Staff and Parent handbooks, however this policy is not approved by the Board of Trustees and not included in the official Board Policy Manual. The Computer Policy in the handbook includes reference to privacy, rights and responsibilities of use - including copyright, consequences for abuse, and a school waiver in case of problems with the system. The Handbook also includes reference to emails and has a list of Email Guidelines in the Appendix. Lastly there is mention of the use of mobile devices, Phones (...iPods, game consoles, and other electronic entertainment devices...) must not be used, in any manner, during Upper School classes, unless a teacher has approved use for educational purposes only (ICSE, 2011). In the Lower School, these devices should not be brought to school at all. b. Planning Ranking: Emergent; a formal plan, that is integrated with school-wide planning, needs to be developed and then reviewed, in order to move at least into the Integrated stage. At ICSE, technology has clearly been a high priority for the administration and governing body, however it has historically been treated in a more isolated fashion, with the main focus, since 2007, on systems (administrative) and hardware (educational). Curricular integration and professional development have only been discussed in more ad hoc fashions, although two members of staff were strategically put into place in 2011/12 to begin to provide guidance in this direction, and technology does now feature more

strongly in the recently developed Strategic and Action plans. However, this is still at the Leadership level, and has not been translated and implemented into daily operations. A draft of a mission and vision statement for technology, based on that of the schools mission, has been developed by the technology department in May 2012, but this has not been shared with the community at-large. There is also no formalized ICT development plan, as noted by the CIS/NEASC visiting team in 2011, who recommend that the School implement an immediate and clear ICT Development Plan (ICSE Visiting Team, 2011), as well as in the schools own Self-Study, where it was recognized that the School needs to assess its future technology needs both with regard to ICT Education and computer support for administrative purposes, and plan to meet those needs (ICSE Staff, 2010). The main focus for the future, at this stage in the schools development, should be on comprehensive planning that is integrated into the educational programs through collaboration of the technology staff and teachers.This needs to be evaluated and reviewed by gathering data from all constituencies and staying abreast of current developments in technology use. c. Budget Ranking: Islands/Integrated; in order to reach the Intelligent phase in both behavior and resources, ICSE needs to develop a comprehensive long- and short-term budget that includes both a specific technology budget that is held by the technology department, as well as line-items in other budgets, such as the Library Media Center, or those of the schools educational leaders (principals, coordinators, HoDs). This would be in addition to the capital expenditures already planned for. The budget at ICSE is developed by the schools Leadership Team, with the core responsibility lying with the Director and Financial Manager. This budget plan is then presented to the Board of Trustees for approval. To date, core expenditures for technology have been budgeted as capital expenditures as part of a five-year financial plan, however this plan does not yet reflect the comprehensive future development needs of the School (ICSE Visiting Team, 2011). In addition to the capital expenditures, there is an operational budget, which includes Equipment operating leases Software upgrades Additional software licenses Professional development programs and activities Technical support Ongoing security costs. (Meeting Minutes 23 May 2012) The schools Self-Study explains that ICSE does not allocate a specific budgeted amount to ICT, however this is included in the capital expenditure of the school. This means that once the capital expenditure has been spent, purchasing of hardware or other resources is not possible, however this does not affect the operating cost such as repairing broken resources (ICSE Staff, 2010). Despite a fairly high expenditure on technology at ICSE, there is little clarity amongst staff about who is responsible for operational budgeting, decision-making and ordering of technology-related items, particularly software and low-cost equipment, such as cameras, audio equipment, or memory cards. There is considerable overlap, for example, between the Library Media Center and the Technology Departments needs and responsibilities,

however there is no clarity on who is accountable for what, particularly as it relates to educational resourcing, as opposed to administrative resourcing. Additionally, educational leaders also hold budgets, which again, are in potential conflict with any technology budget. The result has been very poor resourcing in student-appropriate software, and online information databases, for example, as no one really takes the responsibility. Even other departments, such as Student Assistance team, expressed that having a room, resources and IT would help further support and develop the programme (ICSE Visiting Team, 2011). d. Administrative Information Ranking: Integrated; in order to move to the intelligent phase of development, the school will need to advocate for a paperless use of the new systems, and ensure that the various stakeholders have seamless access to the parts of the systems that are relevant to them. Supporting administrative systems is an area that the school has spent both a significant amount of time and money on, but that still requires a large amount of focus. The staff all have access to basic communication systems within the schools intranet (through MS Exchange, Staff Shares, and Sharepoint), as well as to databases for curricular planning (Rubicon Atlas) and student information (Facility e-portal). The latter is of limited use for teachers, accessed mostly for registration and reporting. It is used more comprehensively by the office staff. The school has long recognized the need for a more robust and integrated student information system, and has recently signed a contract with Veracross. The vision is that there will be a better integration of, and access to, student data, assessment, timetabling, reporting, communication, and organization by all stakeholders, resulting in greater transparency. This system will be implemented in the Spring of 2013, and a Data Manager has been hired to specifically, amongst other things, support the rollout and administration of this new system. 2. Curricular a. Electronic Information Ranking: Islands/Integrated; in order to become Intelligent in the use of electronic resources, students and staff need to look for, and be supported in, ever-more meaningful and relevant ways to use the information available online. Additionally information databases need to be identified, subscribed to, and actively used across the school. The use of electronic information varies widely across the school. It is dependent on teacher-use as well as what is available for different age-ranges of students. Due to the issues mentioned under Budget, this area is in need of further development, guided by educational leaders and teachers in the school. Nonetheless, the school is certainly at a stage where education without the benefit of online information is unthinkable, and significant effort is also made by most, that the resources used are diverse and reflect multiple perspectives. The librarians and technology integrators are particularly active in seeking out free resources and making these known to staff. b. Curriculum Integration Ranking: Islands/integrated; in order to become fully integrated, technology resources need to be increased across more than the core curricular areas, and made more comprehensively available and used by teachers and students.

As an IB school, where real-world contexts, inquiry, and multiple perspectives are at the core of the curriculum and philosophy, the impetus is great to use technology to enhance the curriculum. Therefore the dependence of the curriculum on technology is actually high, however this is not always recognized by all staff, who may not be as aware of the power of technology in promoting the schools Mission. Therefore the level of integration is entirely dependent on the knowledge-level of the teacher, and their openness to suggestions from the IT Integrators. The two Technology Integrators are also responsible for supporting teachers in implementing ideas, and for working with the schools educational leadership on the development of a technology integration curriculum. As this curriculum document will be seen as transdisciplinary, all teachers will in future be held accountable for providing evidence of student learning in this area, but they will also be supported in this responsibility. c. Assessment Ranking: Emergent; to move to being in the islands/integrated phases, the staff and students need to begin using technology tools for self-assessment and peer evaluation, amongst other things. Assessment tools and data also need to be regularly available to all stakeholders as appropriate. The collection and use of assessment data is generally an area in need of improvement at ICSE, with or without the use of technology. As stated by the Visiting Team, the challenges in implementing their Vision will require the School to critically review their assessment processes and data collection analysis to shape further curriculum development (ICSE Visiting Team, 2011). As a first step towards fulfilling this requirement, a Dashboard Manager has been appointed to work with data that the system can, and will provide in the future, especially through the implementation of the new Veracross system. Currently there are no assessment tools being used online, other than a Kindergarten Screening called PiiPs. ACER standardized testing is done, and the data is reported electronically, making it more accessible, however the tests are taken using pencil and paper and are not adaptive. School reports are created using computers for teacher input only (into a variety of systems in different areas of the school), but they are still sent home to parents via hardcopy. Parents and students have no access to any assessment information or gradebooks online. The new Veracross system is meant to address this lack of transparency as well. On the positive side, assessment practices across the school are varied, and the use of performance assessments and rubrics is well-documented in many areas. Reflection is an important part of the IB programs, and grading is criterion-based and only begins in grade 6. However, technology is not generally used for improving the authenticity of assessment, nor for culling data to improve learning. A further emphasis on the integration of assessment in the planning and teaching process would help to move the school forward in this area. d. Teacher Use Ranking: Integrated; for continued improvement in this area, all teachers must gain easy access to the appropriate technology necessary in their area, and be supported in learning to use it.

According the ICSEs Self-Study, the school is equipped for networking and wireless internet access. Maintenance of the servers and network is contracted out. All teachers have a school laptop for their own use and most rooms have a projector. Some classrooms have interactive whiteboards. (There is...) a technology room equipped with computers in the Upper School, a Media Center (with 22 Mac Minis) in the Lower School, and there are computers in some rooms throughout the School (ICSE Staff, 2010). More specifically, according to information from the Director of Technology, the Science and Math departments are fully equipped with interactive boards as well as five homeroom classrooms in the Lower School. In the Upper School, the Humanities, Languages, EAL and English departments are equipment with projectors and white boards as of this school year. The Language department has a set of 10 mac minis as well as Humanities and English, EAL have 2 mac minis. The plan is to install more interactive projectors equipped with ActiveInspire. The total number of laptops in the hands of teachers and students is at around 210 (ICSE Technology Department, 2012). It is also stated in the Staff Handbook that new laptops are issued to teachers on a rotational basis, with new laptops being ordered every quarter to replace machines that are 3+ years old. The goal is that laptops are in use for 4 years (ICSE, 2011). Priority is given for known teacher-competency/ use and their position in the school. From this data, the situation is such that those who have the necessary hardware, such as interactive boards, are more likely to use it for educational purposes on a regular basis - although this is not guaranteed. For others, who are dependent on the labs and borrowing equipment, the integration rate is much lower. However, as all teachers have MacBooks, they are expected to use these for taking attendance, reporting, curricular planning, and communication on a daily basis. e. Student Use Ranking: Islands; in order for the students of ICSE to benefit fully from using technology, they all need to have access to regular and consistent opportunities for using technology in a meaningful and guided manner. The use of technology must be linked to assessment outcomes, as previously discussed. Currently, the students have access to two computer labs, each with 22 Mac Minis, as well as having Macbooks available on loan from the libraries. The labs are regularly scheduled for CT classes, which take priority. The time left available can be scheduled by teachers for taking their classes. Teachers, on occasion, will also manage to round-up a few MacBooks for temporary use for projects. In the Upper School, by chance, not by design, most students have their own personal MacBook by Grade 8 or 9. Therefore the school is moving towards a bring-your-own-device program, with a scaffolded implementation over 3 years. Recommended student owned laptops for grades 9-10 (2012/13) Require student-owned laptops for grades 11-12 (recommend macbooks) 2012/13 Required student-owned laptops (recommend macbooks) for 9-10 (201314) In grades 3-8, the plan for 2012/13 is to acquire 1-2 MacBook trolleys with a student/laptop ratio of 1:2. In the younger grades, tablet devices are being piloted and considered for wider implementation (ICSE Technology Department, 2012). According to

the policies in the handbook, Upper School students are allowed to bring and use mobile devices if approved by teachers for educational purposes. 3. Support a. Stake-holder Involvement Ranking: Islands; once a wider range of stakeholders actually become more involved in the planning and implementation process, the school will move into the Integration phase. As described previously, there is not yet a specific technology use plan beyond that which has been defined in the schools strategic and action plans. The next step is for the role of technology to be further embedded in all areas of teaching and learning, and for all staff to play a role in defining the future of technology at ICSE. At the moment, few people outside of the technology department and leadership are involved in technology use planning, although attempts at technology committees have been made in the past. This shows the schools awareness of the importance of wider involvement, however it has not yet actually been put into effective action. Nonetheless, all stakeholders are aware that technology is a high priority at ICSE and that much planning and budgeting is being done in an attempt to move the school further into the 21st century. b. Administrative Support Ranking: Intelligent; for further improvement a balance needs to be found between the engagement of the administration and that of all stakeholders in technology planning. Technology planning is generally done at the level of school leadership, in collaboration with the technology team. While this shows a high commitment by the administration to technology in the school, it can also be to the detriment of Stakeholder Involvement. The entire technology department is directly accountable to the school Director, rather than to individual principals, which demonstrates the commitment of the administration to the development of a comprehensive whole-school approach to technology in the school. c. Training Ranking: Emergent; the school needs to set a priority on moving into the Islands phase. In order to do so, a systematic approach needs to be taken to PD in technology, and the learning outcomes need to be directly linked to appraisal criteria and the schools curriculum. In a school that values, and invests as much in, professional development as much as ICSE, the level of technology training is relatively low. Most of the PD budget for technology goes to the technology staff themselves, and there does not appear to be a wide-spread interest amongst staff to participate in technology-related PD. For the 2012/13 school year 4.1% of the total PD budget is going towards Veracross training of the technology staff, 1.5% is being used for an IB Technology course (1), and 2.1% are being used for online courses (2) in content areas. The rest (92.3%) is not technology related. If something is offered on-site, often the daily routines and responsibilities outweigh availing of what is on offer, as it is usually voluntary. Therefore, the offerings decrease, and it becomes a vicious circle. In the past, the technology team has tried using help desks in the staff room at lunch, tutorials online, which are introduced at staff

meetings, as well as a lot of 1:1 training. While all these strategies are all important and should be continued, it seems that further work needs to be done. Part of the problem is that many teachers still see technology as an extra and not linked to outcomes, which is why the value on the priority list is not so high. Even the opportunity to take an online IB course, for example, in a teachers subject area will generally be ranked as less enticing and beneficial than attending a two-day face-to-face workshop, although through this opportunity the teacher could learn subject-content as well as new technology skills. New attempts are being made to integrate online learning into the culture of ICSE, for example, by creating a Moodle course for teachers new to the school as part of their Induction program. The outcomes remain to be seen. d. Technical and Infrastructure Support Ranking: Integrated; to be fully in the Intelligent phase, the staff need to be able to easily avail of formal and informal support, and this should be efficient and timely. Despite the fact that many teachers at ICSE will complain about the lack of support in technology, as stated in the schools Self-Study, the ICT support personnel are spread too thinly to provide the appropriate ICT support required to maintain the resources for learning and administration, the school has actually invested significantly in staffing the department (ICSE Staff, 2010). After some re-organization the school currently has a Director Technology, responsible for the systems and infrastructure. He is supported by a Systems Technician and a Data Manager. Additionally, there are two Technology Integrators, responsible for educational leadership and staff training. To support the move towards a wider support-base and integration amongst the staff, there are also several teachers with a stipend to support the technology department and other teachers. Nonetheless, there is a history of things not working - printers, the wireless, MacBooks, interactive whiteboards, etc. and not being fixed in a timely manner or without continuous follow-up. The school has also suffered from broken-down servers and fires in the Server Room, which significantly affected the functioning of the system early in the 2011/12 school year. This is why there is a perception of staff being spread too thin - the technology staff have had to deal with major systems issues, and therefore not always been able to address the more minor issues in a timely manner. It has also not been clear who is responsible for what. Hopefully things will improve in the coming school year in this regard. New servers have been installed and old servers migrated, new systems are being put into place such as Veracross, and the staffing has been reorganized and strengthened. 5. Connectivity a. Local Area Networking Ranking: Intelligent; stability of the system, in all areas of the school, needs to be continuously evaluated According to the Director of Technology, the school has recently reconfigured the network infrastructure to separate the administration from the main intranet for teachers and students; we have introduced Virtual Local Area Networks within our Local Area Network to increase security within our network. We used to have two Wireless LANs which were not very secure at all. Now we have introduced separate ones for

administration, guests such as parents and other visitors, for Staff, for the Library Computers, and lastly for the Computer Labs (ICSE Technology Department, 2012). The hardware and networks allow for broadband access and the mostly effective use of video, voice, and other data needs. At times, the system is unstable, however this is not a large percentage of time. b. District Area Networking Not applicable - ICSE is a private school, not part of a district. c. Internet Access Ranking: Integrated/Intelligent; as other areas in Curriculum improve, so should the meaningful use of the internet for collaboration using voice and video. As the LAN is relatively reliable and efficient, most staff and students frequently use the internet for surfing for information and for some collaboration. The integration into the curriculum is still lacking and not always purposefully planned for in a systematic manner. It is more teacher-dependent, as discussed earlier, however, in the Lower School for example, the IT Integrator regularly attended planning meetings, offered ideas, and supported their implementation. Attempts have been made to introduce the use of google apps, for example, as a way of using the internet more effectively. The use of google.docs is becoming more common-place amongst staff, and the students in the Upper School use google.sites for CT projects. Some use of skype is prevalent as necessary, but not generally linked to the curriculum. d. Communication Systems Ranking: Intelligent; though other communication tools should be explored. According to the Staff Handbook, all teachers are required to check emails daily and to adhere to professional guidelines when using it (ICSE, 2011). Additionally the school has increased server storage, as network accounts were introduced for all students to allow them to share work amongst themselves and the teachers. However, according to some of the students, they do not regularly use these email accounts. Other tools for student/teacher communication are being implemented such as Managebac or Edmodo, thereby making these email accounts less useful. 6. Innovation a. New Technologies Ranking: Islands; in order to move forward more staff need to be open and willing to experiment with new technologies and a systematic focus, including in curriculum, PD, and policy development, needs to be given in this area. At ICSE, there are a number of teachers across the school who do willingly experiment and seek out new technologies. These members of staff are seen as role-models for others and their innovations are encouraged and occasionally highlighted by the administration. Attempts have been made in the past such as setting up an Inspire ICSE website where teachers could post their innovative uses of technology. This was not successful however, and fizzled out. Instead, principals and the Director will occasionally mention and describe effective projects in their regular communications with staff and parents.

Some of the innovative uses of technology include digital storytelling, use of presentation tools such as Prezi, Glogster, and Animoto, ipad piloting in the kindergarten, a Moodle Induction course, use of google.docs for conference sign-ups, teacher-created websites and blogs for parent and student communication, or the use of google docs and apps for surveys and document development. In terms of mobile technologies, gaming, and other really new technologies however, there has not been much experimentation. b. Comprehensive Technologies Ranking: Islands/integrated; the available technology at ICSE needs to be used more comprehensively and effectively by all staff. As the school as very good resources, particularly the Mac-based infrastructure and tools, as well as seamless and efficient internet access that allows for audio and video use, it seems that more could be done to fully harness what is available. Unfortunately it is often the printer that isnt working that gets more attention from teachers, than how they could be using skype to connect to other classrooms around the world. As a result, the tools that staff and students use regularly are still quite limited and the system has not been pushed to its limits in most classrooms. Most teachers still feel most comfortable using the Microsoft Office products, and the internet for finding information. Mostly the school is still at the substitution and augmentation stage of the SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, to illustrate how teachers can utilize technology to transform learning. Summary The challenges in a private international school such as ICSE are that often teachers dont have the same opportunities or impetus to be aware of changes in technology, and there is no district or government that requires this awareness, at this time not even the accrediting organizations to the full extent. Policies, expectations and procedures are always directly linked to the people locally trying to implement them, and this can sometimes become an internal battle of wills. This autonomy from the State obviously also has its positive sides, which the school would not want to lose, however the challenge within the school is that it is only their own staff that can help other staff to move in new directions. This is where effective leadership and strategic planning come into play as the primary tools for effecting change. The main focus of ICSEs administration over the coming years will be to address the conclusion of the CIS/NEASC/IB Visiting Team, that the school does not meet the standard: The School's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) shall appropriately support the School's operations. (ICSE Visiting Team, 2011). While ICSE is certainly well down the road in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, and staffing, it seems that more attention needs to now be given to curricular integration and professional development. On the Benchmarks Maturity Model, the school falls into the Islands/Integrated categories in the majority of areas, with a few outliers into Emergent and Intelligent. In analyzing the data, it seems that the areas most in need of focus are those that pertain to the teachers and students. Curriculum and Innovation are the places that further development is required for the school to become truly part of the 21st century. It is clear from the minutes of the IT Staff Retreat in 2012, that much thought is being put into making improvements in these areas over the coming school year. It is understandable systems and support had to be the primary focus initially, but it seems the school is now ready to live up to its mission, part of which includes innovation as a core principle. It is evident that much of the budgeting, administration, and support is in-place or under current development. These areas will provide a solid foundation for moving forward. The historical lack of focused and differentiated professional development, as well as the fact that technology has not yet

been infused into the curriculum, are two factors that are still holding the school back. On the other hand, it is an exciting time for the school, as so much is possible, and the administration is supportive of creative and forward-thinking contributions and solutions. In order to support the school, the Visiting Team made some recommendations that would also support the schools development along the Maturity Benchmarks. These are: continuing to improve the resources used to support learning; communicating financial and educational plans to stakeholders on a more regular basis; reviewing the ICT resources available to support the academic and administrative needs of the School; ensuring that the School develops effective internal and external communication channels; Additionally, the use of technology can also support the school in addressing many other areas of its development, including assessment, differentiation, and inquiry-based learning to name a few. Two further recommendations are examples of this: considering ways that the School can best meet the needs of Gifted and Talented students; continuing to improve the support for students with Special Educational Needs. This illustrates the main goal the school should now have- to look at ways to infuse the entire curriculum with technology and use this infusion to actually change practice. A curricular model that is inquirybased, and set in real-world contexts can only benefit from the effective, systematic, and meaningful use of technology to promote student learning. *Sources: ICSE Visiting Team. (2011). CIS/NEASC Accreditation and IBO Evaluation Visiting Team Report. ICSE Staff. (2010). CIS/NEASC Accreditation and IBO Evaluation Self-Study. ICSE Technology Department. (2012, May 23). IT Retreat Meeting Agenda. [Technology Staff Retreat]. (File X ). ICSE google.docs. ICSE. (2011). Staff Handbook. *Sources have been altered to preserve anonymity.