Digital Learning Environment Inventory

Tiffany Badger
The following Digital Learning Environment Inventory assesses the digital tools
available to teachers and students at El Dorado High School in the Placentia-Yorba
Linda Unified School District in Placentia, California.
1. What tools, software, operating systems, resources, Web 2.0 tools, e-learning sites,
and equipment are available in your school and classroom? (including, but not
limited to: dedicated technology personnel, tablets, smart phones, computer labs
(stationary and/or mobile), videoconferencing, streaming, photo sharing sites, video
sharing sites, document sharing sites, podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking
sites).
Each classroom at my school site is equipped with a Promethean SmartBoard and 32
Student responders. We use Google Apps for Education as a district, and ActivInspire
software to create flip charts for the board. Each teacher is also given either a desktop
computer or a laptop which run Windows 7 and are equipped with Microsoft Office. The
school has three computers labs of forty Windows desktops each, and five Chromebook
carts with forty laptops in each. In my classroom, I have five desktop computers which
were purchased for the English Learner program with the intention of using Rosetta
Stone, two Apple iPad Minis that I acquired through Donors Choose, and eighteen
Chromebooks that I purchased with money intended for the use of English Learners.
Each of these classroom computers also has an accompanying USB headset. The
school maintains a website through Edlio, and each teacher is given a page on the site.
The school also subscribes to World Book Online and Gale Student Resources for
research purposes. Finally, I use Google Classroom with each of my classes to
complete and submit selected assignments.
2. From the list of global e-learning sites and Web 2.0 tools, which are available and
which are blocked by your firewall. How does your school make use of school and/or
teacher websites, grade book technology, Google Apps for Education, one-to-one
education technology, flipped classrooms, etc.?
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Youtube are all blocked by my
districts firewall. The school provides each teacher with a webpage through the schools
Edlio website. We use the AERIES system to take attendance and maintain grade
books. This summer, our district held a Google Apps for Education Summit at my
school, and we are encouraged to use Google apps. The district will once against hold
a GAFE summit in August 2016. We are not a one-to-one district, although we did adopt
a Bring-Your-Own-Device policy this year. While some teachers use Google Classroom,
none have a fully flipped classroom. Two teachers on campus are experimenting with a
partial flipped classroom.
3. How are you currently utilizing technology for student learning, classroom
management, communication, professional development, professional networking?

I currently use AERIES to take attendance, record grades and send mass emails and
grade reports to students families. I also use Remind notifications with both students
and parents to remind of upcoming events. I use Twitter to the same effect, as well as
for my own professional development. I also use Quizlet to support student vocabulary
development, and Google Classroom to create and submit selected assignments. I
have also started using Padlet and ThingLink with my students after learning about
these platforms through IREX, and I am also experimenting with Recap as a video
recording tool.
4. How would you like to further evolve your use of technology in the classroom?
I would like for my students to utilize social networking tools such as Twitter, Pinterest
and/or Instagram to complete brief assignments. I would also like to use video
conferencing technology to support students in oral fluency development, as well as to
connect them with classrooms globally. I also think it would be interesting to use Google
+ to create class groups, but our district currently does not support Google+ through the
students district accounts, even though last summers GAFE summit promoted its use
for classroom purposes.
5. What sites and Web 2.0 tools are colleagues in your building using?
While my colleagues use of technology varies greatly, all use AERIES and GMail/
Google Drive. Many colleagues also make use of Youtube, Google Classroom, Edmodo
and Newsela.
6. Is there a system for evaluating student technology literacy in your school? If so,
how effective or helpful have you found the assessment?
There is not currently an assessment for evaluating student technology literacy at my
school to my knowledge.
7. Is there a system for evaluating educators technology literacy to identify areas of
need and match those needs to professional development programs?
Teachers are occasionally asked to complete surveys to see which types of technologyrelated professional development they would like to receive either internally or through
the district. However, other than self-identified areas of need, the district does not
currently have a system for evaluating educators technology literacy.
8. Describe the professional development opportunities available to properly introduce
you to and train you in the use of various technologies.
PYLUSDs Professional Development Academy offers occasional after-school
professional development on topics such as using Google Apps for Education or how to
create flip charts to use the SmartBoards effectively. They recently offered an

opportunity to receive technology coaching from a Teacher on Special Assignment for a

semester. The school also hosted a Google Apps for Education Summit this summer to
support the growth of teachers technology literacy, and will do so again this summer.
9. What technology tools, professional development, funding, etc. not presently
available would help to achieve your districts technology objectives and your
professional technology objectives?
It would be helpful if the districts firewalls were not so strict so that we could utilize
blocked video and social networking sites to facilitate learning and collaboration. It
would also be helpful if the student wifi was more stable, as students consistently have
trouble connecting their devices reliably.
10. How does technology help you to globalize your classroom?
Technology helps globalize my classroom by allowing me to find resources and news
through global sites. It also helps me to connect with other educators to exchange
ideas. I have been able to use Twitter to follow esteemed colleagues and to get ideas
for professional development. Additionally, since my international field experience in
Morocco, I have been able to use email and social media such as Facebook and
WhatsApp to stay in contact with my host teacher, additional English teacher colleagues
from Lyce Tighnari, and secondary students from both Rabat and Fkih Ben Salah.