A preliminary educational technology maturity model

Abstract

The current technological revolution has necessitated a new way to view the maturity of its computing environment within a given educational system. Adapting a model from the software industry which assesses the maturity of an organization, the researcher has developed an educational technology maturity model consisting of two dimensions: technology availability and teacher fluency with that technology. The purpose of the model is to locate a particular school within a given school district on a concept grid consisting of Technology Availability on an X-axis, and Teacher Fluency on the Y-axis. The continuum for each of the axes range from a Level 1 (the lowest) to a Level 5 (the highest). One of the uses of such a model is to give a school district a means to assess individual schools against a baseline within the district. This information can assist in the development of a technology plan if none exists, or to revise an existing plan to accomplish the goals of the district. Future uses may include relating technology assessment to achievement scores in schools or districts.