Technology Plan
Metropolitan Education District is a regional provider of Career Technical Education and Adult Education. It is the largest career-oriented educational organization in Santa Clara County, comprising high school and adult career-technical academic programs. Metropolitan Education District annually provides 3,000 students with skills to help them be productive, income-earning, and contributors to Silicon Valley.
Metropolitan Education District has two distinct and separate programs:
- Silicon Valley Career Technical Education mission is to educate eligible high school and adult students for success in careers and college in a professional, hands-on environment;
- Silicon Valley Adult Education mission is to provide a supportive learning environment that prepares students to achieve their fullest potential by developing skills to succeed in a global society;
Silicon Valley Career Technical Education and Silicon Valley Adult Education programs are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The accreditation affirms the quality of instruction at Metropolitan Education District and assures coursework taken for credit will be accepted by other institutions, including colleges and universities.
Technology has been a significant contributor to Metropolitan Education District’s success. Technology integration has occurred throughout the district, and technology will continue to be a necessary component in Metropolitan Education District’s future.
Demand for Internet services and bandwidth has grown exponentially, and the trend is showing continued growth. Metropolitan Education District’s teachers have integrated video streaming, Internet-based applications, and other services into their curriculum. Students and staff have learned how to communicate better. Applications and services such as email, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Google have changed how many of us connect and communicate with each other. This trend will likely continue.
The threat of hackers, malicious viruses, spyware, malware, identity theft, phishing, and similar attacks like ransomware continue to be a concern. More sophisticated distributed denial of service attacks have made it difficult for technical support staff to defend against. Even though we have excellent firewall protection against these threats, the battle is ongoing. Metropolitan Education District filters inappropriate content to its students and complies with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, a federal law enacted by Congress.
Cyberethics material has been provided to students, faculty, and staff, stressing the importance of adhering to copyright laws. Examples of cyber-bullying have been provided so teachers and staff can quickly identify and stop it as it occurs.
Metropolitan Education District cabinet members, administrators, and technology committees representing both Silicon Valley Career Technical Education and Silicon Valley Adult Education have agreed to use the International Society for Teachers in Education published standards for students, teachers, administrators, and staff as a guideline to adhere to for technology standards.
A technology survey taken by district employees in March 2015 shows students and staff are using more technology than ever before. District employees use email, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, wireless mobile devices, and information retrieval services like Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, and Instagram. District teachers are taking electronic attendance, and students utilize cloud-based applications and other 21st Century technologies in the classroom.
The district must keep pace with the advancement of technologies if it intends to advance its methods of classroom instruction and maintain its relevance in the career technical education arena. The district needs to have a replacement plan with committed funding for upgrading its technology equipment, and the process needs to be in a regularly scheduled timeframe.
The Metropolitan Education District needs to continue defining, setting goals, and planning classroom instructional technology through regularly scheduled technology meetings. The district’s technology committee comprises members from a wide range of disciplines (administrators, teachers, support staff, etc.). This diversity brings together multiple viewpoints that strengthen the district’s technology plans. Regular meetings ensure all stakeholders have a part in the planning process for the direction of classroom technology.
