Evaluating the Institutionalization of Technology in Schools and Classrooms

Abstract

This checklist, based on both field experience and relevant literature, provides a conceptual framework to help evaluators assess the extent to which technology is institutionalized in schools. The term “technology” in this checklist refers to computer hardware, software, and connectivity. Institutionalization of technology is defined as the extent to which technology is integrated into the culture and classroom practice of a school, rather than being viewed as an add-on program, and the extent to which school personnel take ownership of the technology and its use. The checklist is grounded in the principle that in order for technology to become institutionalized in a school, the school must develop the appropriate human capital to use and manage it effectively in pursuit of the school’s core goals. The checklist is organized around three sequential learning curves that school personnel climb as they develop the capacity to use technology effectively: (1) Maintaining the technology infrastructure, (2) Building teacher technology application skills, and (3) Integrating technology into teaching and learning. The three learning curves overlap temporally but are sequential in the sense that progress on one facilitates growth on the next. We anticipate that this checklist will be useful to both school personnel and evaluators conducting needs assessments, program planning, and evaluation of school-based technology programs, especially where the emphasis is on the capacity of the school to use technology in educationally effective ways