1. Cobb County School Districts Assistive Technology Center Analysis
Lisa Witteman: K-2 ABA Teacher
Lori Edwards: Technology Specialist
A voluntary assistive technology needs survey; employing Blackboard was conducted through
the Cobb County Assistive Technology Department (ATD) Website during the 2013-2014 year.
Fifty Special Needs Teachers (grades K-5) took part in the multiple choice question survey. The
questions related to: school site (1), technology that they have access to (2), and various
trainings pertaining to teaching, tools, and collaboration (3).
The teacher’s responses were collected and entered into a Word Document by the ATD.
These data produced strengths and weaknesses while confirming the theory that experienced
teachers have a positive response to exploring web tools and learning how to implement them
and have a negative response to increased collaborative meetings and a decreased lesson
planning time.
Strength: A positive correlation between Web 2.0 meeting tools and teachers eagerness for
training on these tools.
Weakness: A negative correlation between an increase in team collaboration and a decrease in
teachers’ available time for “team collaborative” meetings
The professional development need revealed through the data analysis was that;
A – The renewed SCERTS program would yield positive outcomes if; team members could be
able to access collaborative communications online to reduce time out of classroom and schedule
conflicts.
B - Teachers training should be based on prior knowledge of technology, software familiarity,
and tool familiarity.
In deciding action steps, Lori Edwards and I looked at the following guiding questions
1. Why is the staff development being held? To address weakness in Assistive
Technology Department’s Plan
2. Who will be affected by the staff development; that is, who is the target audience? All
stakeholders should benefit and be affected by a stronger SCERTS program
3. What is the background knowledge of the participant group? (Pre-requisite knowledge or
skills). That will be determined in May Target Survey.

2. 4. Will pre-work or other assignments be required? Pre and Post Survey. Each training
will include assignments for next meeting
5. Will there be intervals of time between sessions allowing for time to practice skills on the
job and follow up? Yes
6. How will the staff development event be conducted? Face to Face
7. How will the staff developer know the specific objectives were met? (Participant
Evaluation) Post Survey
8. What change is expected from participants? Increased technical knowledge and team
collaboration.
We proceeded to create the following Action Steps (figure 1) based on our collaboration
of data and Mrs. Edwards ATD’s multiple professional development experiences with
group technology training to promote positive, technology enhanced, collaborative
communication.
Action Steps to Address Areas of Weakness
Figure 1
Time Frame Activities
May 2014
Targeted Survey
SCERTS team wiki survey
To primarily establish those who need basic or
advanced training
August 2014
90 minutes
Introduction to creating and implementing Wiki
on Blackboard.
Establish training basic and advanced groups.
Assignments for October:
Basic: create a wiki blog on Blackboard
Advanced: Incorporate blog tools to enhance ease
of operation
October 2014
90 minutes
Basic – Review and present blog
Advanced: Review and present with details on
tool selection.
Assignment for November:
Advanced: create custom features to share with
the group
November 2014
90 minutes
Advanced Group will present team wiki with tools
and features.

3. December Assignment: All SCERTS teams will
create their individual school team wiki
December 2014
90 minutes
Teams will present their wiki with a brief
narrative that includes how they collaborated, aha
moments experienced, positive and negative
aspects.
March Assignment: Advanced Group -
February 2015
90 minutes
Basic Group: adding a tool to wiki
April Assignment: submit Post Needs Assessment
Survey
March 2015
90 minutes
Advanced Group: What did your research and
blogging on peer wikis sites assist or enhance
your wiki design and format?
April 2015
90 minutes
Whole Group Training Wrap Up
Post Needs Assessment Survey Results
“What is working…What is not”
BLOG BOASTS AND ROASTS
In conclusion, Mrs. Edwards and I discussed the necessity of multiple training sessions that are
based on a skill set from the Target Survey. We discussed who will be providing support for the
teachers throughout the year to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for employing these
new technologies to improve collaborative efforts. We agreed the Assistive Technology
Department, along with various school staff, will follow up with teachers throughout the year to
assess their usage and comfort levels with their new tools. We discussed and agreed that the
success of this initiative will be based on the implementation of digital SCERTS recording sheets
and the cohesiveness of individual SCERTS team collaboration skills.