The document summarizes the findings from a technology needs assessment conducted at a fictitious middle school. Key findings include that teachers feel they lack adequate access to technology and desire updated equipment. While most teachers report using technology for instruction, student surveys did not support this. The assessment also found that staff desire more opportunities for collaboration and training on technology integration. Recommendations focus on reallocating funds, increasing technology access for all grades, and providing more support and training for teachers.

1. EDTC 6410-3 Assignment 4 November 8, 2008 By Kimberli Doby Rachel Curry

2. ‘Items to Note Our “school” is completely fictitious. We used the school our group created in Assignment 3 for this assignment. Angela had a familial obligation that prevented her from working with us, but is aware that we continued with this effort so that if there is another opportunity to use this “school” as a group, we will be ready to do so.

3. Task 1 - Objectives and Goals The goal for this technology plan is to assess the current state of technology equipment, staff development, and integration with the NCSCS in Group 3 Middle School to direct future decisions about implementation, staff development, and purchasing.

4. Objectives To foster collaborative relationships that will enable teachers, support staff, and administration to become more effective. To increase the use of technology as a tool to deliver curriculum and meet NCSCS objectives. All Group 3 Middle School students will pass the Computer Skills Test.

5. Administrators, certified, and non-certified personnel will model the use of technology in the administration of their responsibilities. All computer labs should operate on a flexible schedule to allow students and teachers access to resources and services as needed. Teachers, administrators, and support personnel will use technology resources to analyze student data to help individualize instruction. Objectives . . .

6. Implement an effective staff development program to foster the transition into a technologically dependent educational environment. Ensure a safe technologically dependent educational environment by utilizing strict network security measures. Participate in collaborative events to encourage the use of technology resources throughout the community. Objectives . . .

7. Task 2 - Environment Group 3 Middle School is home to 364 students in rural North Carolina. The population is generally working poor. There are several affluent families that are the backbone of the PTO and they do their best to support the school with fundraising activities and a strong volunteer base.

8. The students' population includes 29% free and reduced lunch students, ,1% ESL students, and 9% AIG students. Community support is strong as there is little mobility of the general population in this area so there is long-term loyalty. The actual facility shares the grounds with the high school. The media center is shared by both schools, as is the Media Coordinator. The Middle School computer lab is attached to the Media Center. However, no technology resources are shared with the High School. The Middle School has its own Educational Technology Specialist.

9. All of the classrooms are housed in two wings, in a T formation. An addition is in progress to build a new band room for the High School and give the Middle School its own gym and cafeteria. For now, these are shared. Every classroom has 1 PC that is for the teacher ’s use to enter NCWise data. There is one older Mac in each classroom, but they are too old to accommodate much of the software supported by the district. There is one networked printer that is shared for the faculty in the computer lab.

10. There is one ActivBoard that has been permanently mounted in a 7th grade teacher ’s classroom that is used with a projector and laptop obtained with grant funding. The computer lab has 25 EMac s networked to a laser printer. There is one older mobile lab available for flex scheduling, but it has difficulty running newer applications due to its outdated operating system. In the office, each administrator, the secretary/receptionist, and the data manager has a Dell PC at his/her desk. There is one color laser printer located in the office.

11. The cafeteria has 1 PC with a laser printer funded by the Food Services division of the district. The media center has one PC used for inventory and book check out with the Destiny system in place for both the middle and high schools. There are 5 search stations that are EMacs which can also be used for research. These are all networked to a laser printer.

12. Task 3 - Surveys

13. Staff Survey http://www.polldaddy.com/s/90EE81E2B24B72F7/ Teachers will be directed to the website to complete the faculty/staff survey during collaborative planning meetings.

14. Parent Survey http://www.polldaddy.com/s/EDD6D7B01B1A6494/ Parents will be asked to complete the online survey during Open House Parent Night, when they come to pick up their child’s report card in person

15. Student Survey http://www.davidson.k12.nc.us/education/components/form/default.php?sectiondetailid=46518 - login name is student, password is survey The student survey is linked to the school’s webpage. Teachers will be directed to have students complete the survey either in a lab environment or as part of homeroom activities. An incentive will be offered.

16. Task 3- Interviewee Description Teachers Parents Support Staff Administrators Media Coordinator Technology Facilitator Students

17. Teachers One from each grade level, a special education teacher, and computer specials teacher. Teachers are a vital part of the needs assessment because they know what directly affects the students everyday.

18. The main goal of the needs assessment is to provide the school/county/state with the information that they need in order to provide tools to assist students to grow or to assess if additional materials are needed at all. Teachers come into direct contact with what they are provided with technologically and are able to assist in determining what is needed. Teachers encounter frustration related to the lack of technology and know from what is currently provided what changes should be implemented. Teachers . . .

19. Parents – One from each grade level Even parents in a lower socioeconomic environment care about the education that their child is getting. Parents are an important part of the needs assessment because they know what would help them have better contact with their child’s teacher and they want to make sure that their child is getting the best education that can be provided.

20. Parents are relying on the school to educate students in a way that will prepare them to be productive citizens in a technological world and are able to provide insight into what technologies the average student has at home. Parents . . .

21. Support Staff The way that schools are run today in terms of collecting and storing data for students is almost entirely done through the use of technology. Each morning, the secretary has teachers take attendance and submit it through an NCWise program. Communication is through email as well as the elaborate phone system that the school uses.

22. All budgeting is handled with spreadsheets and electronic purchasing. These folks are directly affected by the amount of technology that is available. Support staff are able to provide insight into what works in his/her position and what he/she needs help with. Support Staff . . .

23. Administration The administration is vital to the needs assessment because he/she is able to provide balance. He/She sees the overall picture of the school and knows what is available to teachers and what technologies are being used by the staff.

24. Why would an administrator advocate for an extra mobile lab when the current one offered is only used twenty percent of the time? The needs assessment depends on what is needed by the school to be successful, but it also evaluates the effectiveness of what is already offered and helps to determine if changes are needed. Administration . . .

25. Media Coordinator The media coordinator teaches students everyday in her class. She is also responsible for the checking in and out of books and it has to be done quickly.

26. She has to have an effective strategy for filing and uses technology to do it quickly. She has direct knowledge of what is being used and can convey this information to the team. The purpose of having the media coordinator included in the needs assessment is that she can let the committee know what technology is being implemented through the library and make suggestions to what is working for her and what needs help. She also stores equipment in her workroom and is responsible for checking out technologies to staff. The media coordinator is ultimately responsible for the inventory of all fixed assets in a school, so she is an invaluable source of information.

27. Technology Facilitator Technology facilitators know what is being used all over the county. They also know what types of technologies are available and being used in other districts and are able to make recommendations to the team about what would be beneficial to this school.

28. They have knowledge of what is working for other schools and what has benefited them in their efforts of eding students and what hasn’t worked as well as was originally planned. They are the presenters of district-wide staff development, so they are aware of how the new technologies are being received by those less comfortable with these initiatives. They are able to see what is needed in the current school and can help with the needs assessment.

29. Students – One from each grade level Students often know about technology before teachers do. At this point, they have grown up with technologies available to them as part of their daily lives and don’t know a time when it wasn’t this way.

30. They want to be able to use what they use at home or with their friends in order to learn. They provide insight to what is helping them learn in the classroom as well as what doesn’t help them at all. Adults usually think that they know what best helps students when they are sometimes completely off the mark. Students are helpful in the needs assessment because they can offer suggestions about what they would like to see in the school as well as the things that are helping them to learn

31. Task 4 - Data Examination Reports will be examined for usage statistics on current software supported by district Culturegrams SAS Curriculum Pathways iWork data iLife data SchoolCenter counters

32. More data to examine Computer Competency Test scores Certified and non-certified personnel evaluations Lesson plan evaluations to ensure integration of computer skills Staff development rosters for both school-based and district level opportunities Minutes of meetings of district-level Instructional Technology Facilitators Evaluate trends of technology by using purchase order records Reports generated by Apple Remote Desktop

33. Task 5 - Focus Group Description Teachers Parents Students Support Staff Administrators Media Coordinator Technology Facilitator Students

34. Teachers What types of technology do you use in your classroom? How does the current technology that you use effect students? What technology is ineffective? Do you currently have access to technology that you aren’t using?

35. What types of technology do you think would make teaching more effective for your students? Do you feel like you are trained to use the technology that is available to you? Does the technology that you use have a direct impact on the students? Teachers . . .

36. Parents Do you know what types of technology are available to students? What type of technology does your child have access to at home? Do you receive updates and up to date information about student learning through technological media? Do you feel like your child is being properly prepared for the technology that they will encounter in the future?

37. Support Staff What types of technology do you encounter on a daily basis? Do you have access to technology that you don’t use? What type of technology do you think you need in order to benefit the school?

38. Administration Where do the funds come from that currently allow you to get new technology? Is this a cause for the amount of technology that you receive or don’t receive?

39. Do you a have access to give training to the staff for proper use of the technology that they have? What support do you have from central office to build technology in your school? What type of support do you need? How do you let staff know what technology is available to them? Administration . . .

40. Do you encourage staff to use the technology that they have? How do you make the staff accountable for using the available technology? Have you noticed any resistance from the staff about using the technology? In an ideal situation, what types of technology would you like to see to added to your school? More Administration . . .

41. Media Coordinator What type of technology do you use everyday? What type of technology would you like to see added? How often does the staff ask to check out the mobile computer lab? Is the staff using all of the technological media that they have? How do you convey your concerns, if any, to administration?

42. Technology Facilitator What types of technology are used at the schools in the county? Is there a difference in technology between schools? How is new technology funded?

43. How is faulty technology addressed? What type of growth is occurring in the county for technology? What problems are you running into in providing this technology? What can be done for you in order to provide each school with the technology that they need? In an ideal situation, what types of technology would you like to see in the schools? Technology Facilitator . . .

44. Students - One from each grade level What type of technology do you have access to at home? What do you do with the technology that you have?

45. Does the school teach to your learning style with the technology that they have? Do you know how to use the technology in the classroom better than the teacher? What types of technology would you like to see in the classrooms? How could this benefit your learning? Do you think that school is preparing you for the technology you will use in the future after you graduate? Students . . .

46. Task 6 - Findings Findings will be reported in a prepared document via the School’s webpage. The formal findings document will be housed in the document manager in pdf format so all interested parties will have access. The document will be reviewed by the MTAC committee before it is shared with the whole staff. The findings will also be presented at a staff meeting.

47. Findings continued . . . The data collected through this process will be used in formulating next year’s school improvement plan. The local newspaper will be asked to cover the findings in their educational section so the information might be shared with the community more effectively. A summary of the findings will be shared with the parents at a PTO meeting.

48. Report These findings are the result of a review and analysis of the data collected via surveys, interviews, existing records and reports to determine the technology needs of Group 3 Middle School.

49. Finding #1 Sixty-two percent of teachers indicate that they are incorporating technology into their daily lesson presentation. However, the student surveys and focus group responses don ’t seem to support this data.

50. Finding #2 Teachers and administrators are using computers for increased productivity. Routine tasks such as attendance and weekly newsletters are seemingly expedited by computer support.

51. Finding #3 Eighty-seven percent of teachers and administrators report using technology to find resources to enrich curricula presentation.

52. Finding #4 Teachers feel that they do not have adequate access to computers. This was especially true for sixth and seventh grade teachers who do not have the opportunity to use any computer lab until the eighth grade has completed Computer Skills testing.

53. Finding #5 All employees indicated a desire for updated equipment, citing outdated equipment as a deterrent from use of computers.

54. Finding #6 Seventy-six percent of teachers and administrators indicated insufficient access to most forms of technology. For example, there is only one document camera for check-out for the whole school, so this data is not surprising.

55. Finding #7 The data indicates that only twenty-two percent of teachers are implementing the district-supported software, even though there have been opportunities for staff development available to all personnel in the district.

56. Finding #8 Eighty-eight percent of teachers indicated a desire to collaborate with stronger technology teachers to improve their own methods.

57. Finding #9 Seventy-two percent of parents indicated a willingness to try new methods of communication from the school as long as they would still feel informed about their child ’s progress. Staff revealed in their reports that there is little ongoing staff development on the creation of web pages for their parent websites. Once they are trained, they aren’t responsible for the updating of the websites, so they are often unchanged all year.

58. Finding #10 Ninety-six percent of students indicate access to a computer either at home or at a friend or relative ’s house.

59. Finding #11 Ninety-three percent of parents expressed a level of satisfaction how the school is preparing their child technologically. However, this finding in not supported by the comments of the focus group.

60. Finding #12 Reports indicate that more common assessments that can be taken on the computer or run through a scanner are needed in order to create common data that can be compared and analyzed for staff growth through the sharing of ideas.

61. Finding #13 The reports indicated that staff members are sometimes resistant to technology because they are unsure of how to use it in their classrooms. Some teachers are uncomfortable using the equipment because fear they may break it or because they don’t want to appear foolish using it incorrectly in front of the students.

62. Recommendations As a result of these findings, the following are recommendations for change to the current technology practices at Group 3 Middle School:

63. Recommendations . . . Funds that are currently spent on outdated technologies such as overhead projectors will be redirected to purchase document cameras and data projectors.

64. Recommendations . . . Teachers will be required to submit lessons that integrate technology (either by formal plan or simply by summary) to the school’s webpage document manager. A separate page that is password protected will be created for this purpose.

65. Recommendations . . . Administrators will create blogs for all staff to use to aid one another in incorporating technology into more lessons.

66. Recommendations . . . The MTAC committee will focus on finding and trying to secure grants for new technology purchases for the next two years. To accommodate the increased time demands of this effort, the teachers who serve on this committee will be released from all assigned duties such as bus duty, etc. Administrators will work with district level Instructional Technology Facilitators to obtain usage data for software products. This data will become part of a teacher’s observation process. Common types of assessments will be used by all staff to allow for more uniform analysis of data.

67. Recommendations The eighth grade will continue to have complete access to the computer lab in the two months immediately preceding the Computer Skills test. The mobile lab will become available for the sixth and seventh grade to use. Once the test is completed, all computer labs will move to flexible scheduling.

68. Recommendations Efforts will be made to communicate more effectively with parents, especially about new forms of technology. One method that will be employed is using data projectors, document cameras, and Keynote presentations for Parent Nights. Another method to be employed is to have the local newspaper invited to cover technology-rich presentations by students, especially PBL ’s. Administrators will set minimum requirements for maintaining teacher webpages as a means of communication to parents.

69. Recommendations Staff development will be supplemented by having district level Technology Facilitators come to teach model technology lessons when new technologies or applications are introduced.

70. Conclusion These recommendations will be reviewed by the Director for Media Services and Instructional Technology for Davidson County Schools, the assigned Instructional Technology Facilitator for our school, the members of the MTAC committee, and the administration of Group 3 Middle School and will then be submitted to the DCS Board of Education for approval.