After researching and developing the technology plan, it is essential to assess its function and workability. In this critical step, you will evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the design and the impact it will have to the district. The questions included in this section are also helpful in conducting periodic evaluations of your progress in bringing technology to your district and for revisiting the plan as your implementation progresses to make sure that it is still current.

When conducting the assessment you will need to answer many pertinent questions that will guide you in subsequent steps, some examples include:

• Who are our internal and external evaluators?
• What assumptions did we have? Do we need to clear any misunderstood intentions?
• What expectations did we have? Will we meet our expectations?
• What results have we achieved?
• Do we want to change the project or plan goals?

In addition to being linked with your schools' and districts' instructional goals, the technology plan must address the following key issues:

• Flexibility - Can your network be adapted to new curriculum focus areas, growth in class size, demands for different kinds of applications and activities, and the incorporation of new technologies?
• Longevity - Will your equipment physically last for a long period of time? Will the selected technology be appropriate in the future? If so, for how long?
• Upgradability - Can you add new features and equipment to your network to keep up with ever-increasing speeds and performance standards that will arise in the next several years? Can the network you install keep pace with technology - with reasonable equipment and software additions - or will you have to discard some of today’s purchases to make way for tomorrow’s technological developments?
• Scalability - Can the equipment you are acquiring now be efficiently used if you expand your network? Will you be able to incorporate all its elements into a larger future network?

In this Module:

In the Toolkit: