TIP Model

The Technology Integration Planning (TIP) Model helps teachers who want to integrate technology into their classroom but need guidance on deciding what and how to do so.  It provides a series of questions and prompts to help guide a teacher in choosing the right strategies and materials for their needs.  There are three phases to the TIP, each of these phases helps to ensure that the technology decision the teacher makes result in efficient, successful, and meaningful.  The phases are:

Analysis of Learning and Teaching Needs.

• Determine relative advantage: it is important that the choice of technology offer an advantage of the "old way" of doing things.  This will eliminate any hesitation there may be to use it.

• Tech-Pack Assessment (Self-Assessment for Teachers): This step refers to the knowledge the teacher needs in order to effectively integrate technology into their classroom. It is the area where content knowledge, pedagogy, and technology understanding overlap. 

Planning for Integration

• Decide on objectives and assessments: This step will help teachers to evaluate student learning of content.  As in any lesson it is important that the objectives & assessment are established before writing the lesson or choosing the appropriate technology to use.

•  Design integration strategies: Teachers need to choose instructional strategies and technology based on the needs of their students and the characteristics of the material/lesson.

• Prepare the instructional environment: As in any instruction, the environment plays a key role in how effective the technology is.  The ISTE has put together a list of "essentials" that must be present in any classroom environment when integrating technology.  These include:
• A shared vision for technology integration
• Standards and curriculum support
• Required Policies
• Access to hardware, software, and other resources
• Skilled personnel
• Technical assistance
• Appropriate teaching and assessment approaches
• Engaged community 

Post-Instruction Analysis and Revisions

• Analyze results: As with any assessment, it is critical that the outcomes be analyzed to determine if learning took place. In the case of technology integration an additional analysis of the effectiveness of the chosen technology is also necessary.  Use of technology requires the teacher to reflect on what worked, what didn't work, and what can be improved.

• Make revisions: To be truly effective, the information gathered in the analysis step must be used to direct future teaching much in the same way traditional formative assessment is used to inform what the next step is for each student.