Talk:RSU1 District Technology Plan

Community and Parental Involvement

Involve a broad representation of the school community in the planning process. Include a description of how the technology will be used effectively to promote community and parental involvement and increase communication with parents, including a description of how parents will be informed about the technology and its proper use.

RSU1

Regional School Unit #1 recognizes that community involvement is vital to the development and support of technology use in education. As such, the technology plan will reflect the values and needs of the residents of Arrowsic, Bath, Phippsburg, West Bath and Woolwich.

Opportunities for community involvement in planning include the following:

• The District Technology Committee, which is composed of teachers, administrators and community members, meets regularly during the year to review computer technology issues throughout RSU#1. This committee provides guidance to the planning of technology initiatives. The District Technology Committee will review and make changes to the District Technology Plan on an annual basis. This regular review and amendment process will help to develop a plan that reflects the changing values and needs of the community; that responds to the requirements and recommendations of the State Department of Education; and that meets the needs of students and faculty.
  * Annually, the District Technology Committee will present for review the District Technology Plan, new technology initiatives, challenges to implementation, and other classroom technology related topics to the RSU #1 Board of Directors.
  * Additional efforts have been made, and will continue to be made, to engage the community and RSU#1 in dialogue around the subject of effective computer technology use in education. These efforts have included meeting with the Parent Teacher Student Associations, articles in local newspapers and school newsletters, committee work, and participation in online discussions through forums and blogs.

Opportunities for increasing parental involvement and communication:

• Classroom and school newsletters will be published and updated regularly on school websites.
  * Student work will be published on school websites.
  * The student information system Infinite Campus (IC) will serve as a portal for parents to gather information about their child's educational experience in RSU#1.
  * School websites will be linked to relevant community, local and global websites.
  * Technology staff will participate in Open House and parent nights and will offer an evening MLTI laptop program to introduce the laptops and answer parent questions.

Description of how parents will be informed about technology and its proper use: • Our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), Student Computer and Internet Policy, and Permission to Publish on the Web form will be distributed to each student to be read at home with parents and returned to school with a signature. These forms will also be available in the Student Handbook and on each school's website.

Action Steps

• Continue District Technology Committee meetings, in person and through online forums.
  * Meet with the Board of Directors concerning various technology updates.
  * Meet with PTSA organizations as needed.
  * Work with local media to obtain coverage of technology related efforts.
  * Implement Infinite Campus parent portal in the fall of 2009.