Lake Park Audubon Schools has spent a large amount of time investigating various needs throughout its schools. Most of the tools used in this process was discussions with teachers, staff, students, and community members about how they see technology impacting the classroom. There has also been a large amount of data collection on the technical limitations of our current technology environment, done by our Technology Coordinator, to graph how potential growth could affect these tools. Bandwidth allocations through NWLinks has been a concern, as well as limited access to Telephone lines through our area providers. We also have concerns about converting to PRI connections compared to analog, as well as expanding our networks to link both sites together via a fiber-optic link.

Computer access for students has been a concern for a while, and the need to increase this has been noticed more drastically in the last few years. We also require more access to school technology outside of the building, and on various hardware platforms. Students are asking for a more diverse and personalized learning environment, which technology must be provided to back up.

Lake Park Audubon Schools Hopes to meet the following goals:

-Deploy laptops to students in grades 10-12, allowing for higher technology access
-Keep computers futher updated with current technology, i.e. MS Office, etc
-Monitor bandwidth usage on both sites, updating as needed. This is critical to diverse technology usage.
-Deploy, monitor, and implement a wider variety of tools in classrooms. These may be projectors, document cameras, interactive instruction devices, etc. This would help reach our student populace in different ways than we currently do, allowing for a more diverse way of learning.
-Investigate connection of site networks via leased fiber
-Implement a new, updated web presence for the district.
-Increase staff professional development in regards to technology on all fronts. This must be done before students can be expected to use technology.
-Maintain a higher computer-to-student ratio, allowing increased access for students.

Lake Park Audubon Schools believes that without professional development, all technology in the classroom would be useless. As such, in-house technology training has been slated to be developed for staff to access via the web, as well as an increase to technology training sessions on available workshop days. We are also investigating the option of providing access to a vendor-provided selection of staff development tools which would be available both on and offsite via the internet.

Lake Park Audubon schools has a technology advisory committee which meets at least twice a school year. At these meetings, the Technology Coordinator presents an overview of the current network, addressing how it is affected by the Technology Plan in place. Staff and student usage of technology is also monitored numerous times a year by the Technology Coordinator, by a combination of in-person interviews, surveys, and observations. Timelines for various goals are set based upon availability of funding, staff time, and how they may coincide with different student activities. Roles and responsibilities are assigned based upon availability, however default to the Technology Coordinator. Information gathering will increase throughout the technology plans life, as more data will be required to verify the success or failure of goals listed above than previous goals.

 (Expands as needed)