Dimitrios Karagiorgas

 

TIP 1: Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies

TIP 2: Needs Assessment

TIP 3: The Planning Process

State Goals and Objectives with Local Strategies and Measures 

                Environment 

                Engagement 

Application Tools

                Results 

TIP 4: Implementation:  Timetable and Budget for Goals, Objectives and Strategies

Professional Development (PD)

                Lesson Plan 

TIP 5: Executive Summary

                Crosswalk of Goals 

TIP 6: References                                                                                    

 

Mission

DBDConnect Online Learning’s mission is to provide every student—regardless of socioeconomic background, race / ethnicity, ability / capability, and sex / gender— the same opportunity to learn through very carefully selected and implemented technology and specific subject matter, so that students will use their newly acquired knowledge and skills to help anyone in need and become role models in their community.

Vision

DBDConnect Online Learning’s vision is to motivate students to be accountable, respectful, and help their global community by becoming experts in their field utilizing current, real-world knowledge and skills through lifelong learning.  

Goals and Strategies

In order to accomplish its vision, DBDConnect Online Learning will utilize the following:

• Goal 1:    Teach students to master the technology required to create video content
  • Strategy:  All students will learn how to use all the features in the latest version of Sony’s professional nonlinear video editor, Sony Vegas Pro (SVP).
    
    
• Goal 2:    Train students to engage in high level thinking by creating accountable video content that is standards based, understood by all, and provides a powerful message.
  • Strategy: Students will partner with a charitable or religious organization in their community and create a public service announcement (PSA). The PSA will raise awareness, and include captions for the hearing impaired and ESL students while adhering to Sony’s standards (Vegas Pro 13 manual, 2014).
• Goal 3:    Teach students in an online environment that is up-to-date, reliable and usable by any student.
  • Strategy: Students will be provided with an online learning portal, Moodle, that is easy to use, compatible with assistive devices, and provide rich, robust educational content that will stimulate creativity and inspire students to learn (Inside Moodle, n.d.).    
     

Strengths – What are the current strengths?

The strength of DBDConnect Online Learning is twofold: The technology (servers), and the portal itself, Moodle. First, the technology. The entire portal, Moodle, will be hosted on redundant, managed servers hosted by 1&1, it is worth noting that DBDConnect has been using 1&1 for over a decade and 1&1’s services are very reliable.  1&1’s cloud servers provide, among other features, load balancing, redundant failure protection, and on the fly upgrades (1&1 Cloud server, n.d.). It is absolutely essential to have a constantly running, smooth operating environment regardless of the stress on the system i.e. number of simultaneous users, types of activities performed by users, hardware failure, etc. By incorporating 1&1 cloud servers, students will not be in danger of encountering showstoppers such as, for example, being locked out, or having the site crash during a test.

Moodle is a robust, open source, online learning platform that offers incredible flexibility to educators and a robust learning environment to students (Community driven, globally supported, n.d.). Students will have access to rich study material that will be provided as part of the class. For example, guides, video and written tutorials, as well as a special “What if?” section. This special section will include alternatives to the regular lesson that are meant to challenge students to go beyond the normal lesson. For example, it will include advanced methods such as using special filters, editing techniques, rendering using customized format settings, and more. Also, there will be a “Guest” feature which will allow students to show their in-progress work to the charitable or religious organization with which they have partnered.  The learning environment will be fully Section 508 compliant for students with disabilities (Section 508 standards for electronic and information technology, 2000; Web accessibility initiative (WAI), n.d.). As for English language learners (ELL), all video tutorials will have captions.

Weaknesses – What are the current weaknesses?

Video/film production and editing is a cooperative activity. While it is possible to have students collaborate, say by sharing experiences while working on their PSAs, it is not the same.  According to Concept to classroom (n.d.), cooperative learning involves teams working together face-to-face. It is this experience that the online learning method leaves out. Even though students will be working face-to-face with their chosen  charitable or religious organization, it is not on the same level as working with other students because they will not be able to help each other with the more technical aspects present in the industry.                                             

Another weakness is how students will obtain the proper equipment. First time entry into this type of industry requires some highly priced equipment such as microphones, lights, tripods, and of course the camera itself. It is possible to start with some modestly priced equipment, however, it is still an upfront cost that must be considered very carefully. While students can choose to rent instead of buying, which can save them thousands of dollars, at some point they will still have to invest the thousands of dollars required to enter the industry.

 Opportunities – What are the future opportunities?

Opportunities will present themselves organically based on student surveys, replies to forums, and of course the actual projects themselves. Based on the forums and the overall coursework, more than likely a particular video tutorial will have to be redone or more video tutorials will have to be added to clear up any confusion. Also, after carefully examining student work, it may be necessary to tweak the course itself in order to help students improve their projects. Then, there is the all-important surveys. This is where an entire upgrade may be needed to the servers in order to support some new app or capability that the majority of students want. One that comes to mind is better video protection, so students will not have to worry about having their videos downloaded when showing samples to the public.

Threats – What threatens those future opportunities?

            Unfortunately, some of the wonderful opportunities that will arise from the course itself, can in turn become threats. Specifically, protected video streaming can cost thousands of dollars and as such this is the biggest threat. Another budget buster, though not as severe as video streaming, is server upgrades. While upgrading it is a matter of a few clicks, the cost can be quite high.  For example, simply doubling the random access memory (RAM) from 8GB to 16GB drives up the cost to double the price (1&1 Cloud server, n.d.). Of course, the ideal situation would be for the course to finance itself but until this can be achieved, the budget will remain a main concern. 

State Goals and Objectives with Local Strategies and Measures

Environment
Because Moodle is strictly an online environment, it is only natural that the entire class will be strictly online. Students will be encouraged to participate in the provided forums because it will be part of their grade. As it has been mentioned before, video production is a cooperative activity and as such this is not possible when learning online (Concept to classroom, n.d.). However, as a way to encourage community among students, the forums will be heavily utilized by posting questions on various video topics that students will be required to answer and offer additional input. As for students who do not have an Internet connection at home and rely on other resources for access, such as the library, they will receive additional time to complete their assignments. The same will apply to special needs students. 

Students will be presented with several SVP edited videos featuring before/after segments, animated 3d titles, animated transitions and various audio effects. This will be done in order to demonstrate the power and versatility of SVP. They will also be presented with PSAs from various organizations including PSAs from DBDConnect in order to help them draw ideas and inspiration for when it comes time for them to do their own PSAs. According to Slavin (2015), explaining or modeling concepts, skills, etc. helps students gain valuable insight so they are better prepared to perform a particular task. And this is what the videos are meant to do; they will provide examples so students may use the demonstrated concepts to create their own videos as well as to learn how to use SVP. In addition to all the videos, there will be instructions on the forums as well as in the course guide, and of course plenty of online interaction with their classmates and instructor.   

 

Students will be able to use SVP to edit and render their video files and create their own PSA. They will do so by using higher level thinking acquired by their work in the course and they will be confident in using SVP. In addition to simply knowing how to use SVP, they will be able to make intelligent, real world decisions as to how edit and render a video based on where it will be posted and streamed. Because students will have created a real world PSA under real world conditions e.g. actual organization, discovery meetings, etc., they will be more confident in their abilities and as a result be more encouraged to continue their learning.  

 

Budget

Technology services that must be purchased

• 1&1 Cloud Server XXL
  • 4 core, 8GB Ram, 160GB SSD, unlimited traffic ($49.99 per month)
  • Internet Service Provider
    • Wind (local ISP) ($27.00 per month)
    • Google Drive
      • 100GB online storage ($1.99 per month)
      • Streaming Video Provider
        • Protected video streaming ($804.00 per year)

Software that must be purchased

• Sony Vegas Pro  13 build 453 ($599.99)

Open source software that does not require purchasing

• PHP v. 5.6.11 OS in order to run Moodle
• Moodle v. 2.9 online learning environment
• CamStudio v. 2.7.2 for screen capture videos

Free services & technology

• Google Hangouts for web conferencing with staff/students
• Open source Jitsi  for web conferencing with staff (backup if Hangouts fails)
• YouTube & Vimeo for uploading and viewing videos
• Various accessibility apps for Android, Windows and iPad
• The latest versions of open source Google Chrome and Firefox.
• Windows Media Player 12.0.1
• QuickTime Player 7.7.6

Professional development & miscellaneous costs not covered above

• All presentations/LMS configuration, etc. will be done in-house by the owner with available tools ($15,000.00). This is not an actual expense but rather an estimate of what it would cost if it were outsourced so the actual cost is ($0.00).
• Restaurant gift certificate incentive award for the instructor who earns the most electronic badges ($200.00).   

Grand Total

Technology	Monthly Cost	Yearly Total**
Cloud server	$49.99	$599.98
Sony Vegas Pro  13		$599.99*
Internet Service Provider	$25.00	$300.00
Google Drive	$1.99	$23.88
Streaming video provider	$67.00	$804.00
Instructor incentive award		$200.00***
Grand Total: $2,527.85

*Lifecycle of each version usually goes beyond 12 months
**These are only estimates and subject to change based on future demands and upgrades
***One time cost

Professional Development (PD)

Timetable for Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Measures: Training will consist of Hangouts video conferences lasting around two hours each going over the material for the tutorials for the particular session. However, video conferences may be longer or shorter depending on need, participant input and feedback, and will consist of going over the previous session and then discussing the current, new session. If the situation arises, the presenter will extend or add Hangouts sessions to those instructors who require additional help.

The sessions will last three weeks and there will be a total of four sessions. Each session will focus exclusively on the learning management system (LMS), navigating it and managing students and their work. Specifically, the instructors will learn how to navigate the LMS environment, interact with students, grade projects, and perform the day to day tasks required to make certain students are grasping the material and their questions are being answered. Naturally, it is understood that the focus of the PD seminars will be the LMS and not SVP because all of the instructors have been hired because of their vast SVP experience.           

Week 1, Session 1 – Day 1-3. Logging in and navigating the LMS 

Tapping into prior knowledge (TIPK): This three day session will begin with a Hangouts

discussion of  content management systems (CMS) and LMSs. Particularly, the instructors will discuss their involvement with any other CMSs/LMSs, and describe their experience with it. The focus of the discussion will be the similarities between CMSs and LMSs. This will be a great opportunity to gauge what everyone already knows and to help any instructors who may not be familiar with CMSs/LMSs to learn from their peers.

Supporting plan: As a requirement to teaching this course, all instructors must have had some previous CMS experience. However, if that experience is weak for some instructors, additional Hangouts sessions will be scheduled. Also, if Hangouts is unavailable, Jitsi will be used.

Instructor materials:

• Protected video link to a guide covering the material presented in the first session once the session has finished.
• A list of objectives to be carried out as part of the tutorial 
  
  

Into the lesson: The instructors will login to the LMS and each of them will be assigned a mock student—the course, students, and the related course material, including forum posts will already have been created. During the Hangouts discussion, the presenter will go over the main parts of the LMS in order to help the instructors learn the main areas. Specifically, the main areas will include the following:

• Forums
• Books (announcements / policies, etc.)
• Class chat
• Student management including grades, feedback, evaluation, and plagiarism checks where applicable
• Accessibility features
• Student progress and activity
  
  

Before the Hangouts session ends, there will be a Q&A session and then a link to the Hangouts video session will be provided to the instructors to help them as they explore the main areas. The instructors will have to complete a series of tasks concerning navigation in order to practice and learn what was covered in the Hangouts session.  Finally, the instructors will be evaluated based on their successful completion of tasks. 

Extra credit and reward: Extra credit will be given to those instructors who perform a task that was not covered in the tutorial but relates to it.  Their reward will be an electronic badge in recognition of their accomplishment (s).

Week 1/Week 2, Session 2 – Day 4-10. Student and assignment management

TIPK: This seven day session will begin with a Hangouts session by discussing what the instructors learned during their first three days navigating the LMS, including any insights/discoveries, etc.

Supporting plan: Because this one of the most important sessions, any instructors who are not confident with using the LMS will have to inform the presenter. The presenter will then either extend the video conference for those in need or schedule additional meetings. Also, if Hangouts is unavailable, Jitsi will be used. 

Instructor materials:

• Protected video link to a guide covering the material presented in the current session once the session has been completed.
• A list of objectives to be carried out as part of the tutorial. 
• Additional list of objectives to be used as a test of their knowledge.

Into the lesson: There will be a total of three activities: A presenter based demonstration, a tutorial with a list of objectives to be carried out by the instructors, and finally another list of more challenging objectives as a way to test the instructors to make certain they have grasped the material.  The presentation will start with the instructors and the presenter logging in to the LMS and the presenter going through a typical scenario of managing students and various aspects of the course. The presentation will cover the following:

• Managing forums: Knowing which student wrote which post, viewing the replies and replying to the student, and finally deleting any entries if necessary.
• Managing books. Creating announcements, policies, offering tips, creating external links to upload/download big files, and linking to external resources in order to access extra help or for edification.
• Class chat. Learning how to manage chat, including single or group chat utilization.
• Managing students: Evaluating, grading, and providing feedback on submitted work. Tracking the academic progress of students and their activity on the LMS if needed. Also, automatically checking work for plagiarism/originality if applicable.
• Accessibility features: How to make any added images accessible and understanding the accessibility features automatically present in the LMS.

The presenter will demonstrate all of the above by sharing his screen and having the instructors follow along. There will be ample opportunities for Q&A while the demonstration is progressing. At the end of the demonstration—the session, which will have been recorded—will be made available via a protected link to any instructor who needs it as a reference. Once an instructor has completed the tutorial, he/she will contact the presenter who will reset the particular instructor’s assigned mock student and configure it for the next set of objectives. This will also serve as a time to answer any questions the instructor may have.  Then, the second list of objectives will be carried out to prove the instructor has mastered the objectives.  In essence, the instructor will have three separate opportunities to master the LMS, including extra help from the presenter, but not for the final set of objectives as this will serve as a test.

Extra credit and reward: Extra credit will be given to those instructors who collaborate with one other instructor and grade each other’s students. Each instructor will be allowed to grade only one assignment. For example instructor A, grades and submits a grade for instructor B and instructor B grades and submits a grade for instructor A. However, collaboration cannot occur during the last set of objectives.  Their reward

will be an electronic badge in recognition of their accomplishment (s).

Week 3, Session 3 – Day 11-12. Understanding accessibility

TIPK: This two day session will begin with a Hangouts session by briefly discussing session 2 and then will proceed to discuss the accessibility compliance of the LMS and accessibility in general. The instructors will discuss their experience with and knowledge of accessibility standards including the tools, devices, etc. Specifically, they will discuss their involvement with handhelds, websites, computers, etc. and the various accessibility features and apps they have used/enabled in the particular devices.

Supporting plan: Accessibility is very important and as such instructors who do not have any experience at all with accessibility standards and/or how to enable them in devices, etc., will inform the presenter. The presenter will then schedule a special, supplementary presentation. Also, if Hangouts is unavailable, Jitsi will be used.

Instructor materials:

• Protected video link to a guide covering the material presented in session three once the session is complete.
• YouTube videos demonstrating how to enable accessibility features in Android, Apple, and Windows products—this will include both handheld and regular computers.
• YouTube videos demonstrating the LMS’s compliance to accessibility standards.

Into the lesson: The presenter will present brief YouTube videos about accessibility to the instructors during the presentation. Next, there will be a discussion about how to find, download, install, and configure accessibility apps as well as how to enable accessibility features already present in various handheld devices and computers. Then, there will be a presentation about the accessibility standards the LMS supports and a discussion will follow about how the LMS complies with these standards. There will be a slight overlap from the previous session concerning the LMS’s compliance to accessibility standards. For example, adding alternative text (Alt Text) to images so screen readers can read them.  The instructors will then review the videos and all the information, and when ready will shoot a short video or screen capture demonstrating how to find/enable/use/ accessibility features in devices and computers.  

Extra credit and reward: Extra credit will be given to those instructors who collaborate with other instructors, and figure out how to enable at least three uncommon, but useful accessibility features/apps in a device/computer. Their reward will be an electronic badge in recognition of their accomplishment (s). 

Week 3, Session 4 – Day 13-15. Putting it altogether

TIPK: This three day session will begin with a Hangouts session by discussing everything covered in the entire three week PD seminar. Any particular areas of difficulty that have been encountered will be addressed, and all the instructors will contribute to the discussion what they have learned and offer any useful tips.

Supporting plan: An emphasis will be given to any instructor who even though may have passed all the requirements still has a few gaps. The presenter will schedule extra sessions to take care of any such gaps. Also, if Hangouts is unavailable, Jitsi will be used.

Instructor materials:

1. All the materials included so far including links, videos etc. will be available and presented on an as needed basis.

Into the lesson: Once the TIPK session is over, the instructors will choose a fellow instructor and together they will put together a PowerPoint presentation of what they have learned overall, what they plan to do with the tools at their disposal, and specifically how these tools will benefit students. The presentations will be presented on the last day of the seminar.

Extra credit and reward: Extra credit will be given to those instructors who have the most substantial, and informative presentation. Their reward will be an electronic badge in recognition of their accomplishment (s). The instructor with the most points earned will receive a gift certificate to his/her favorite restaurant.

Lesson Plan

            Subject: Editing and rendering with Sony Vegas Pro

            Applied goal from Goals and Strategies, TIP Part 1: Goal 1

            Applied standards:  Sony Vegas Pro Standards 4, 24, 30

            Objectives, Standards and Learning Outcomes:

Objective 1-Standard 24: Students will be able to add closed captioning (CC) as a last step prior to rendering.   

Learning Outcome: Students will be able to use the Insert >> Command menu to manually insert CC in their entire video. In addition, students will take a written script and will be able to convert the script to a text file, format it, and import it in to their timeline and then synchronize it to match the dialog in the video.
Objective 2-Standard 4: Students will be able to set the project properties for final rendering.

Learning Outcome: Students will adjust the project properties once they have completed all their edits and CC in order to ensure their files are rendered in maximum quality. 

Objective 3- Standard 30: Students will be able to render their projects in various formats based on intended use.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able to initially create a master, uncompressed .avi video file which they will then use to create .mp4, mp2, and .mov video file formats. They will be able to adjust the settings for each of the three formats based on where the video will be viewed. 

Objective 1-Learning Outcome 1: Students will be able to add closed captioning (CC) as a last step prior to rendering.

Adding CC without a script (manual method).
Students will open the Insert >> Command menu in order to open the Command Properties window and type the dialog into the Comment section (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1 

Once they have inserted the CC, they will then be able to synchronize the dialog with the video by dragging the blue region markers (Figure 2). Students will then continue adding CC to their entire video using this process and synchronize it.

Figure 2

Inserting CC using a script.

Students will be able to create a script file by taking the original script, and format it by adding  line breaks where the dialog changes and then saving it as a .txt file. Then they will use the File >> Import >> Closed Captioning file menu to select and import their captions. Finally, they will synchronize their CC using the same method as the manual method.    (Note: hearing impaired students will be given the text files and the timecode so they can insert the CC.)
 

Objective 2-Learning Outcome 2:  Students will be able to set the project properties for editing and final rendering.

Figure 3

Based on Figure 3, students will be able to do the following below:

 

1. Template: Students will be able to choose the appropriate template based on where they intend show the video. For example YouTube, Blu-ray, etc. However, regardless of where it will be viewed, the size will be HD. If a student shoots in 4k, the video will be automatically converted using this setting.
   
   
2. Field Order, Pixel Aspect Ratio, and Output Rotation: Students will be able to set the field order based on what the video will be played on e.g. online, TV, etc. The pixel aspect ratio will remain at the default of 1.0 and the output rotation will only be changed if the footage was shot upside down or will be shown in kiosks, various presentations, etc.
   
   
3. Frame Rate: Students will be able to set the frame rate based on their original video file.
   
   
4. Pixel Format: Students will be able to set the pixel format to 32 bit for final rendering and 8 bits for editing. 
   
   
5. Full-resolution rendering quality: Students will be able to set the quality to best when rendering and draft when editing.
   
   
6. Motion Blur Type: Students will be able to properly configure this setting based on the final output format and intended use.
   
   
7. Deinterlace method: Students will be able to choose the appropriate blur type based on the amount of motion and detail in their video.

Before students choose their final settings, they will create two before and after :05 second screen captures from the SVP preview window. The after screen capture video must show the improvement, clearer video, etc., over the before screen capture based on optimized settings. Then, along with a brief report explaining what they did, they will upload their videos to Google Drive for evaluation.

Objective 3-Learning Outcome 3: Students will be able to render their projects in various formats based on intended use.

The Render As dialog box

Students will go to File >> Render As and open the Render As dialog box (Figure 4). They will then create an uncompressed .avi file to use for archival purposes and as a master in order to create .mp4, .mp2, and .mov files.

 

Figure 4

Social video networking sites 

Students will go to YouTube, Vimeo, and one other social video networking site of their choice and read the video rendering requirements for each site. They will then be able to create .mp4 and .mov files in SVP that match the requirements of each social video networking site. Extra credit will be given to those who achieve superior size/quality results using the universal .mp4 format.

Storage medium based formatting using the .mp2 format

Students will be able to create a Blu-ray compatible file for use in any disc authoring software. Students will initially use one of the SVP built in Blu-ray templates (Figure 5) to create the file, and then will explore different settings in order to achieve the best size to quality ratio. (Note: students will not have to actually author a Blu-ray disc, they will just have to know how to create and optimize the .mp2 format.)

 

Figure 5

Learning environment

Naturally, this is strictly online because it is taught using an LMS.

Diversity / Differentiation

• According to Parker (n.d.), there are three modalities of learning: Auditory, kinesthetic, and visual. Nonetheless, teaching online can present challenges when trying to address all three modalities. However, every earnest effort will be made so as not to exclude any student’s learning modality. In order to satisfy the auditory learner, Hangouts will be used as needed based on posts in the forums in order to discuss a particular part of the project, and to engage the class in group discussion. This will satisfy, as much as possible, the auditory learner who thrives on hearing the instructor and enjoying class discussion. As for the visual learners, they will benefit by watching any demonstrations / tutorials given by the instructor. Finally, the kinesthetic learner will benefit by doing the project and participating in class activities (Parker, n.d.).
  
  
• As stated previously, the LMS is accessibility compliant, and the instructors will be able to assist any student who requires help finding/using accessibility apps for their handheld devices and/or computers. All video tutorials/presentations will have CC.
  
  
• Typically, these types of classes attract adults between the ages of 18 – 50+. Both males and females are included.  Students are usually beginners who want to learn how to improve their family and action videos—action videos are those that are created using action cameras such as GoPro. However, there will be some students who are considering getting into the business so they take this class to “get their feet wet” in order to see if this occupation is right for them. 

Technology integration

Please see list above.

Procedures:

Introduction to the lesson

• The lessons will always begin with a TIPK session.
• Vigorous discussion and participation will ensue and include input from all students concerning prior experience and the lesson at hand.
• Plenty of examples such as from YouTube and presentations will be shown.

How students will interact with the content and the lesson

• Students will participate in discussion.
• Students will use step by step video tutorials and examples from social video networking sites and the instructor.
• Students will critique each other’s work on the forums.
  

Closure

• After every Hangouts chat, there will be Q&A and a review session to clear up any confusion.
• A post-assessment of how students plan to incorporate what they have just learned into their project.
• A protected video link to every Hangout chat archive (s) will be provided for extra help.

Formative assessment

• The quality and quantity of the critiquing and the comments/remarks on the forums.
• The quality of the work done on the projects.
• The quality of input and answers from students during Hangouts chats concerning the projects and the instructor’s questions.
• Feedback from students’ chosen charitable/religious organization.
• The results of periodic mini quizzes.
  

Summative assessment

At the end of every project, students will upload all their files, video and any reports, to Google Drive. The instructor will examine all the files to make certain they comply with Sony’s standards, as well as how closely they comply with the project requirements. Special consideration will be taken concerning extra credit work, if it exists, and how well that complies with the requirements e.g. file size, quality of video image, absence of video artifacts, etc. 

DBDConnect’s Technology Plan for 2016 – 2019 are aligned to Sony’s Creative Software Standards, California’s state standards and the International Society for Technology in Education. The reason DBDConnect specifically chose California’s state standards is that California has a tradition in multimedia with its movie studios and lavish productions and as such it is only natural that DBDConnect adopts the standards of such a rich multimedia state.By creating this technology plan, DBDConnect’s goal is to help educate and train all types of students. Regardless of age, cultural/economic background, learning modality, and special needs, students will receive high level training that will result in professional level, industry standard knowledge and skills. Moreover, this technology plan allows for creative freedom, research from various sources, partnering with charitable/religious organizations, collaboration with peers, and state of the art course work involving technology. An additional advantage is that it is very easily adaptable to future upgrade versions of SVP as they are released by its vendor. The only thing that would have to be done to accomplish this would be to include the new features of SVP and it will be ready to go. Naturally, other types of courses may be added as needed because of the easily adaptable and expandable nature of this technology plan.

While skills and knowledge are an important end result of the training students will receive, it is equally important for DBDConnect to inspire students to use their training to serve the community.  This is one of the main reasons this technology plan specifically incorporates community service into the curriculum. Students will be able to increase their knowledge by using higher level thinking skills in order to create a video that will inspire, motivate, educate, and has a strong call to action. Students will also benefit by considering the viewpoint (s) of others, as when they partner with a charitable/religious organization of their choice, further helping the students to expand their thinking by considering ideas and concepts they may never have thought of before. As a matter of fact, the three goals DBDConnect has set will be met not only by what is listed above but also through instructor/community evaluation, peer critiquing, and forums/Hangouts discussions. It is this well rounded, diverse way of educating and evaluation that will help students to grasp the material, and be all they can be in order to be good global citizens and experts in their field.   

Finally, the method of educating is changing in a big way. No longer are students as restricted as they were at one time concerning how they acquire their education. Now, they have access to multiple resources, virtual locations and different viewpoints all thanks to technology. As a matter of fact, this technology plan has this new way of educating built right into it.  It allows a lot of freedom as to not only how students will acquire their knowledge but also where they will do so. Perhaps on a tablet, a laptop, or even while vacationing, students will have the freedom to learn in a way that best suits them while being assured that what they are learning is standards based, state of the art, and industry standard.  

Crosswalk of Goals

National Educational Technology Plan / ISTE-NETS	Educational Technology Plan for California	DBDConnect’s Strategic Plan
Learning: 2. Communication and collaboration. Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others (ISTE standards. Students, n.d.).	A7.1 Know common industry-standard software and its applications (Standards & framework, n.d.).	DBDConnect Online Learning’s vision is to motivate students to be accountable, respectful, and help their global community by becoming experts in their field utilizing current, real-world knowledge and skills through lifelong learning.
Assessment: IV. Assessment and evaluation. Apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students’ appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communication, and productivity (ISTE, 2000).	C7.0 Know the types and important elements of student assessments (Standards & framework, n.d.).	Assessment will be based on a multimodal approach including peer critiquing, adhering to standards, quizzes, and discussion.
Teaching: III. Teaching, learning and the curriculum. Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning (ISTE, 2000).	C7.3 Use teaching strategies that promote student learning, critical thinking, and problem solving (Standards & framework, n.d.).	Teachers will use technology to instruct and teach students of all backgrounds while catering to their multimodal learning styles.  Teachers will be proficient in using technology and will be updating their own skills as necessary.
Infrastructure: II. Planning and designing learning environments and experiences. Teachers will plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment (ISTE, 2000).	4.0 Technology will be used to produce information, and services (Standards & framework, n.d.)	Moodle will be used to teach online classes, provide links to external resources, provide various forms of communication for students and staff, and will be used with various apps, devices and computers while being accessibility compliant.
Productivity: V. Productivity and professional practice. Teachers will use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning (ISTE, 2000).	California’s standards are based on industry standard knowledge and skills and with the use of technology will help to prepare students for real world careers and/or entrance into postsecondary education (Standards & framework, n.d.).	DBDConnect will utilize state of the art LMS technology, Moodle, in order to provide students with state of the art learning, so they may continue learning throughout their lifetime and be contributing global citizens.

 

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