!

To whom it may concern,

This proposal is advanced by the social studies department concerning the purchasing of
the following program for the entire school: InsertLearning Technology. InsertLearning is a
subscription based online service that allows the individual teacher to highlight, annotate, and
interact with the text of any internet page available through the school web filters. This includes,
but is not limited to, the ability to add in short answer and multiple choice questions in and
amongst the page text, as well as providing the teacher with the ability to offer hidden definitions
of words for the students’ benefit.

There are a variety of payment options available, but for the sake of full utilization (the
chosen option includes training) and the population bracket of our school (approx. 3,250
students), we suggest the 1,001-4,000 student, school-wide option. This is priced at $4000 per
yearly subscription.

This technology would prove an immense aide to teachers in the following ways:

1.) It would allow teachers to engage students through increased educational

interaction with relevant and current source material. This technology allows the
teacher to more effectively utilize new stories, online art exhibits, museum web pages,
ancient primary source documents, etc., in an educational setting. Where previously a
teacher might have projected the source in class and then interacted with it via a pen or
smartboard, now the teacher has the ability to assign such tasks as homework and store
them via Google Drive until the next year. Combined with the school’s 1:1 ChromeBook/
Student ratio, this could revolutionize homework and discussion in every subject area.

2.) It would allow teachers to more ably and directly assist students with language
support needs. This technology, with the option for teacher annotations and embedded
definitions, would facilitate the scaffolding in of students with lower language abilities
and enable them to interact with sources above their reading ability, while keeping pace
with the class and expanding their vocabulary. The administration continually asks what
can be done to better help the ESL, ELL, and Spec. Ed. populations in our school achieve
more, and here is a perfect technological opportunity to make a positive advance toward
that goal.
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3.) It would save teachers time and resources. This technology would allow teachers to
forego the hassle and effort inherent in the creation of printed internet source copies and
cumbersome worksheets by allowing them to directly provide students with digital access
to the sources via the medium for which they were created: the internet. Furthermore, the
question and answer feature of the program allows teachers to assess learner
comprehension directly on the source material through the embedded question box
feature. These answers could then either be auto-graded or easily accessed in order to
gain and provide feedback.

4.) Every content area and student would be a beneficiary. Unlike so many educational
technologies, this one is not specialized in such a way that it is only usable by the
teachers of one content area. On the contrary, its very nature means that it is as versatile
in its application as the internet. A Physical Education teacher could use it on a fitness
regimen article, while an Art teacher might apply it to a museum exhibit web page; a
Social Studies teacher use it to examine current events and primary sources, while
perhaps a math teacher could use it to annotate online curriculum texts. Wherever a
subject uses the internet, a teacher would be able to apply this technology.

While it is recognized that there is the potential for problems in the implementation of
this technology—such as the cost of the technology, the potential for some teachers to ignore it,
and the limited wifi access of some students while at home—the benefits vastly outweigh these
minor complications. The potential for elevating literacy, critical thinking, and source interaction
skills (such as annotating) is enormous—perhaps this is a technology that will truly result in no
child left behind.

As for data collection, there are systems ready to be put into place for the collection of
teacher and student opinion (e.g. surveys and test score analysis graphs). However, the difficulty
in isolating a single variable in the educational process and linking it to any one result when so
much of the curriculum is already in flux is great. Nevertheless, as the largest technology and
curriculum initiative proposed for the coming year, other variables may prove easier to isolate
than normal. The predictions of increased reading and analysis test scores will be perhaps the
great indicator of successful innovation. Mandatory training and usage of the technology will be
necessary to achieve good results.

The appropriate budgetary information can be found in Appendix A.

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Appendix A

(Budgetary and Pricing Option Analysis)

Available Lesson Plans Student Count Features Training Cost Analysis

Options (Annual)

Free Plan 5 Unlimited All None Free

Individual Unlimited Unlimited All None $40 per/

Teacher Plan teacher

School-Wide Unlimited Unlimited All Included $600

Plan A (up to 500
students)

School-Wide Unlimited Unlimited All Included $1200

Plan B (up to 1000
students)

School-Wide Unlimited Unlimited All Included $4000

Plan C (up to 4000
students)

The above graph displays the five potential payment options. The implementation purposes of
each would be the following:

1.) Free Plan. In the event that the project is not deemed worth the funding, classes might
still be offer the program as a recommended resource.

2.) Individual Teacher Plan. In the event that the project is only deemed worth funding on a
class by class, skill, or subject area basis, this could pose a viable option.

3.) School-Wide Plan A. In the event that the project is deemed worthy of only a trial run,
this option would be economical for the use of such an experiment.

4.) School-Wide Plan B. In the event that the project is deemed in need of a larger-scale trial
run than Plan A (e.g. in order to test every subject area simultaneously), this would be an
excellent option.

5.) School-Wide Plan C. In the event of full implementation, this is the most economical
option, and would allow for school-wide access to proper training. This option is highly
recommended since the subscription is yearly and our school has several tech grants.