Overview

This chapter focuses on key questions and indicators to assess the presence and utilization of instructional and administrative technology applications. The subject matter of this chapter is primarily software, but also includes other applications that have come to be considered important to a school's mission: electronic mail and other communications technologies, Internet and web access including web pages, access to online content, and the capacity to securely transmit data, as well as security-related applications.

Assessing the presence and utilization of equipment is a necessary part of evaluating the impact of technology in schools, but it is hardly sufficient. A further step in assessment involves the extent to which applications important to schools' function are being run on this equipment.

As with hardware, enterprises (including schools and districts) have a number of important reasons for tracking the installed base of software and applications; making sure software is properly licensed and unlicensed software is not running on school system machines is just one of them. An inventory database of installed and permitted software and applications is a natural requirement for a school or district. If such an inventory system is properly maintained and can produce useful reports, responding to many questions can be straightforward. The information that should be included in a database system in order to support this capacity is the topic of this chapter.

No attempt has been made to cover all of the possible types of software and applications that might be included. As with other chapters, enough indicators are given to provide examples; users can adapt these examples to their own school or district's situation, or develop new ones.

Defining Technology Applications

The term technology applications refers to software and systems, run on school equipment, that support important administrative and instructional functions. The following functions represent the major categories of technology applications for schools and districts:

• Administrative management software and systems: Financial accounting; staff attendance and payroll; budgeting; operations and planning, including transportation and food systems; facilities management; inventory control; and decision support;
• Instructional support software and systems: Instructional planning and management, including grading, testing, and individualized educational program (IEP) management; instructional support, including student attendance; access to remote educational resources; and distance education. Also included are assistive and adaptive systems, discussed in Chapter 7, Technology Integration;
• Communications support: Electronic mail; local- and wide-area networks; access to the Internet and remote educational and administrative sites; satellite uplinks and downlinks; and Internet-based telephony ("voice over IP," or voIP);
• Operating systems; and
• Security systems, such as firewall technology, secure transmission systems, and antivirus software.

Indicators related to staff and student use of software, and training in the use of software, may be found in Chapter 6, Professional Development, and Chapter 7, Technology Integration. Indicators and data elements related to software budgeting, funding, and expenditures may be found in Chapter 2, Finance.