CJ Hicks Elementary Technology Center Evaluation Report Melinda Walsh FRIT Practicum

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 1

Table of Contents

Executive Summary Organizational Chart Methods Center Context and Goals Center Activities Evaluation Recommendations Monthly Report Appendix

Page 3 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 9 Page 12 Page 16 Page 17 Page 19

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 2

Executive Summary:

CJ Hicks Elementary School Technology Center is located in an elementary school in Conyers, GA. The center houses two employees: an instructional and data technology specialist (ITDS) and an Intel. The ITDS handles technology integration with the teachers and students in the classroom, handles training teachers, and data management. The Intel handles the more technical aspect of the center and fixes any problems the center may have with its technology. The stakeholders for this center are the parents, students, and staff of CJ Hicks Elementary School. The different programs offered at through the center are essential to ensuring the centers success. The ITDS offers programs such as Tech Wednesday where she offers training for teachers to inform and teach them how to use the technology they have available to them. She also offers her Fridays up to come give the teachers one on one training. This helps to ensure that all teachers know the technology available to them. The Technology Help Desk is run by the Intel. This allows technology to be fixed as soon as a problem arises. Many teachers feel this is the most successful technology program in the building. The ITDS also teaches technology classes to the students. While she is not always available to teach these classes due to other responsibilities, the students do seem to benefit and enjoy the classes when she is available to teach them.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 3

The ITDS also handles the data management system for the entire school. She ensures that all data is entered and accessible. This job is almost a full-time job and takes up most of her time. While some improvements need to be made, overall the CJ Hicks Elementary School Technology Center is a well-functioning center. There are many responsibilities for each employee but they handle them as best as they can. Overall, the stakeholders seem to be happy with how the center is being run.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 4

Organizational Chart

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 5

Methods There were several different methods of gathering information used in this evaluation of CJ Hicks Elementary School Technology Center. The main source of information was gathered through interviews. The data and information technologist and Intel, both of who are the only employees of the technology center were interviewed through a series of questions about the quality and production of the center. Several teachers that are directly impacted by the technology center were also interviewed, but with a separate interview process than the one given to the employees of the center. A few students were interviewed as well. The interview protocol and questions are included in Appendix A of this document. Another method used to gain information in this evaluation study was observations using checklists. To evaluate some of the goals of the technology center, it was necessary to view the center in action and document the findings in the checklist. The checklists are included in Appendix A of this document as well. The last method used to gain information in this evaluation study was the CJ Hicks Technology Plan and Website. The Technology Plan is a compilation of documents outlining the centers goals and mission for the year. The school website is one that was created to give parents and students information and resources to use at home.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 6

Center Context and Goals: CJ Hicks Elementary School Technology Center is located in an elementary school in Conyers, Georgia. The elementary school serves over 800 students ranging from the Ready Age 3 program all the way up to the 5th grade. It is at Title One School with 85% of students on free and reduced lunch. The Technology Center is in charge of any and all technology related issues in the entire building. The center has been open for 10 years with duties being added slowly as the years went on. The staff is made up of two employees. An Instructional Technology and Data Specialist (here on out referred to as ITDS) and an Intel. The ITDS is mainly in charge of instructional technology and ensuring that it is being implemented in the classroom, along with teaching classes to the students about technology. The Intel is in charge of the more technical aspect of the center, fixing computer and software problems and ensuring that all equipment is up and running. Both have separate duties, but some of which overlap. Please see organizational chart above for specific duties. The mission of the center is To ensure that each student is receiving a 21st century technology education and ensuring that each teacher is aware of the technology available to them in the building. The goals of the center are: a.) To ensure that each teacher is knowledgeable and aware of how to implement available technology into their classroom b.) To fix all technology issues as soon as possible

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 7

c.) To ensure that students are receiving an excellent technology education and are able to complete basic technology tasks d.) To ensure that all teachers are aware of how to import and use data including but not limited to report cards, grade entries, and progress monitoring. The stakeholders involved with the technology center are all staff of CJ Hicks Elementary school including but not limited to teachers, support staff, administration, special forces, clerical, and custodial staff. Other stakeholders include students who are enrolled in the school, along with their parents. The current status of the center is active and running as described above.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 8

Center Activities The center is in charge of several activities each of which are listed below. Instructional Technology use- The ITDS is in charge of ensuring that each teacher not only is aware of the technology available to him or her, but also knows how to implement it in the classroom. The ITDS handles this through two different programs. One of which is Tech Wednesdays. The purpose of Tech Wednesdays is to inform teachers about new technology available at the school, or how to use the technology in different ways. The main audience of the program is the classroom teachers. For Tech Wednesday, the ITDS holds a staff development meeting after school in the computer lab on Wednesday to train the teachers. It is not a requirement but all teachers are encouraged to attend. The topics vary depending on teacher need and requests. It can range from how to implement the ActivVotes in the classroom, to how to input grades in Gradespeed, to how to use the iPad. The ITDS chooses the topic based on what most teachers seem to need. Another way the ITDS ensures teacher comprehension is through scheduling her Fridays specifically for teachers. When planning her schedule for the year, the ITDS took Fridays off from teaching classes and set it up where she was available for teachers on that day. Teachers may schedule her to come in the classroom and she will teach a technology lesson to her students, showing the teacher how to incorporate the technology one-on-one. This allows the classroom teacher to not only request what she/he specifically needs, but also allows them to get the one on one attention some teachers need in order to understand the content.
Technology Center Evaluation Page 9

Teaching Classes- This programs main purpose is to ensure that all students are able to complete basic technology tasks along with having the best technology education possible. The ITDS is in charge of implementing this program. The audience for this program is the students at CJ Hicks Elementary. The students come to the computer lab for this program. The ITDS uses the student NETS standard to teach the students in Grades 1-5. She meets with each class once a week Monday-Thursday. The classes have scheduled times. The ITDS communicates with the classroom teacher to find out any needs the students may have and then integrates the content that they are covering in class and shows the students a technology centered way to present the content. This ensures that all students are on grade level for what is expected of them technology wise. Help Desk- This programs primary purpose is to ensure that all technology in the school is up and running and that all problems are fixed quickly and efficiently. The audience of the program is any of the staff at CJ Hicks Elementary. The Help Desk is a portal where teachers can go in and put their problem and what they need done/fixed with the technology in their room. The Intel or the ITDS will then come in and fix the problem, or get someone in there who can fix it. When a teacher places a tag in the Help Desk, it then sends notifications to the Intel and ITDS who will come to fix it and then update the tag to let the teacher know what the outcome was. This keeps everyone informed. This program takes place primarily in the classroom teachers room, unless some equipment needs to be taken out. Data Management- This activity is done primarily by the ITDS. The main purpose is to ensure that all data is inputted and teachers are able to access it. The ITDS holds trainings quarterly to

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 10

ensure that all teachers know how to input grades into Gradespeed and how to correct report cards. The ITDS then prints the report cards and ensures that all teachers get what they need. The ITDS also ensures that all teachers know how to run data reports for the various programs that the students are using to ensure progress monitoring is being completed. This is all located primary on the web or in the computer lab with the ITDS.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 11

Evaluation When evaluating the CJ Hicks Elementary School Technology Center I took into account the goals of the center and evaluated whether the school was meeting these goals based on the data that I collected. Goal One: To ensure that each teacher is knowledgeable and aware of how to implement available technology into their classroom To evaluate this goal, I interviewed not only the ITDS, but also interviewed several teachers in the school. I also observed a Tech Wednesday session, and attended several Friday sessions of teacher training. When interviewing the ITDS to find out how she felt about the teachers knowledge of incorporating technology into their teaching. She stated that she felt, Teachers who come to the trainings or request the Friday trainings seem to be the ones who implement technology in a successful manner. The teachers who do not come to the training and do not ask for help for the most part tend to not implement the technology available. When interviewing several of the teachers, I found what she stated to be true. The teachers I interviewed who have come to at least two of the trainings throughout the year rated their technology use as a 5 (use technology one time daily). The teachers who have attended only one training rated their use as a 3 (try to use it once a week). The average rating for teachers who had not attended any trainings was found to be a 1 (seldom if ever try to use it). Overall I found that the teachers who participate in the program are knowledgeable and implement the technology available to them for the most part, which makes it a successful program. However,

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 12

the teachers who do not participate in the program do not use the technology available to them. Goal Two: To fix all technology issues as soon as possible To evaluate this goal, I interviewed the centers Intel, along with several teachers. I also observed the Intel while she handled the centers Help Desk. The Intel explained her process of as soon as the teacher puts in the ticket; she tries to respond right away. If it requires further help, she then puts it in to the county helpdesk. When observing the Intel, I found that what she said was correct. As soon as the ticket is received, she dropped what she was doing and headed to that teachers classroom to fix the problem. This ensured that the problem was fixed immediately if possible. When interviewing teachers, the average rating the Help Desk program got was an 8. One teacher stated that, If it is able to be fixed, it will be fixed right away. Overall, teachers were happy with the help desk program, it seems to be working the way the center would like. Goal Three: To ensure that students are receiving an excellent technology education and are able to complete basic technology tasks To evaluate this goal, I did several things. First, I interviewed teachers and students that are involved in the classes. I also used observational checklists on several occasions while observing the classes that were being taught. In my interviews with teachers, it was found that several teachers were happy with the classes being taught, while a few were not happy. The common factors that most teachers were happy about were the content being taught, the integration of standards with technology, and the students engagement in the lessons. The
Technology Center Evaluation Page 13

main problem that the teachers had was with the availability of the ITDS. Many teachers complained that when it was their assigned time, the ITDS was not available and the teacher had to put the students on a different computer program instead of participating in the lesson. While interviewing the students, they seemed to be overall happy with the lessons. Many stated that they liked the things they were learning and the technology that they were learning to use. One student stated, I like learning how to use the computer and see the cool things you can do with pictures and Power points. Most of the negative comments from the students were irrelevant and did not apply to this evaluation. When observing the classes, my main focus was to determine whether students were able to complete basic technology tasks. I observed the students on four different occasions and different grade levels. While there the ITDS presented the NETS standards that the students were working on. This allowed me to see whether the students were able to not only perform basic tasks, but the tasks that were expected of their grade level. On average, in each class of about 20 kids, 18 kids were able to perform basic technology functions. When observing the grade level lessons all students were able to perform the functions with help, and about 80% of students were able to do it without help, just guidance beforehand. Overall, this goal is being met with some room for improvement. Students do have access to an overall good technology education and for the most part are able to perform basic technology functions. The only issue with this goal seems to be that the ITDS is not always available to teach the classes due to other responsibilities within the building.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 14

Goal Four: To ensure that all teachers are aware of how to import and use data including but not limited to report cards, grade entries, and progress monitoring. To evaluate this goal, I used teacher interviews and an interview with the ITDS. When interviewing the ITDS, she stated, I feel as if this job should be a separate job from the Instructional Technologist. Because I have so many duties, I am sometimes unable to complete one or more aspect of the job because I am too busy. On one of the days the ITDS was observed, was a day that she was completing report card printing for the teachers. This does seem to be a full time job handling data management and report card printing. The teachers seem to feel the same way stating, Whenever it is time for report cards or any other type of data management, we know that we will not see our ITDS because she is too busy handling that. However, the ITDS does handle the data management first and efficiently. This evaluator sees no evidence that this goal is not being met.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 15

Recommendations: After evaluating the center and seeing the amount of work that the two employees are undertaking, this evaluator would recommend hiring a third employee to be in charge of data management. The main complaint found among teachers was that the ITDS was not always available to teach their students the technology standards and this almost always coincides with report card/progress report time. In an effort to relieve some of the work of the ITDS and to ensure that students are receiving a proper technology education, a third employee would help lessen the work load and ensure that all of the technology centers goals are being met. Another recommendation that this evaluator would suggest is to offer an incentive for attending Tech Wednesday trainings. Teachers time is valuable and many do not realize the value of attending sessions such as these. If the ITDS were to offer an incentive to get teachers to attend, they may begin to realize the value of the trainings and begin attending regularly. Overall, this is a well-run center that functions as its mission and goal wish for it too. There is some room for improvement and this evaluator suggests that the recommendations above be put into place for the well-being of the center.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 16

Monthly Report (written as the ITDS) -Weve just received news from the county that they have purchased ten iPads for each school in the district. These iPads should be on their way and in our school within the next month. They will be split up and placed in the grade levels stock of iPads for teachers to check out and use. -10 of the computers in the Blue computer lab have now been upgraded and replaced. These computers are now available for student and teacher use. -The county has now given access for all of our employees to have a SkyDrive account. Training for this will be held on the next Tech Wednesday. -Computer reimaging was done the week of October 29-Nov 2nd. This was done on student computers only. This can only be done in the early morning (until 730) and late afternoon (after 3pm) Our plan is to now continue with the other computers in the building and have them finished by the end of the semester. -We were awarded the Snapping Shoals Grant! The grant will allow us to purchase flip cameras and video recorders for every grade level in the building. We hope to be receiving these in the next month. -7 of our students work was submitted for the county Arts & Technology festival. The students created a Photo Story on different idioms and their true meaning. They created these during technology class in the last three months. The work is on display at the county office. Please stop by and check out!
Technology Center Evaluation Page 17

-The next Tech Wednesday will be held on 11/14. The topic of interest will be how to create assignments for multiple classes in Gradespeed. -We are in the process of filing for a grant that will give us funds to purchase more apps for our iPads. Stay tuned to find out if the grant is fulfilled or not.

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 18

Appendix A Teacher interview protocol-Teachers were interviewed one-on-one. One teacher from each grade level was randomly selected to be interviewed. The teacher was asked the questions and the interviewer transcribed the answers. 1.) How would you rate your technology use in your own classroom? 1-do not use it in the classroom 2-tried it once 3-seldom use it in the classroom 4-use it once a week 5-use it once a day 2.) How often have you attended Tech Wednesdays?

3.) How do you feel about the HelpDesk program? How quickly do your issues get solved?

4.) Do you believe your students a receiving a good technology education? Why or why not?

5.) How could your technology experience at this school be improved?

6.) How could your students technology experience at this school be improved?

7.) How well does your ITDS meet your Data Management needs?

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 19

Student Interview Protocol- Students were interviewed one-on-one. The students were randomly selected across the grade level. At least one student per grade level 1 st-5th was interviewed. 1.) How often does the ITDS teach you a technology class? 2.) What do you like best about learning technology? 3.) What types of things do you learn about in technology class? 4.) If you could change something about technology class, what would you change?

Intel Interview-The Intel interview took place in her office with just the interviewer and the Intel present. The Interviewer asked the questions and took notes of the answers. 1.) What are your primary responsibilities? 2.) How does the Tech Help Desk program work? 3.) What do you do if you cannot fix the problem? 4.) How often do you receive tickets on the program and how soon do you try to respond? 5.) If you could change one thing about your job what would it be and why? 6.) How effective do you believe you are at fulfilling all of your responsibilities and why? 7.) Thinking of the technology center overall, what improvements do you think need to be made?

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 20

ITDS Interview-This interview was done one-on-one with just the ITDS and interviewer present. The interviewer asked the questions and transcribed the answers. 1.) What are your primary job responsibilities? 2.) How effective do you believe you are at meeting all of your responsibilities? What helps or hinders this? 3.) How do you run Tech Wednesdays? How do you decide the topic? 4.) How many teachers on average attend tech Wednesdays? 5.) How often do teachers ask for help with technology? 6.) How do you assist the teachers who ask for help? 7.) How much do you help with the Tech Help Desk? 8.) How often do you get to teach classes? 9.) When teaching classes, how do you pick the topics? 10.) 11.) 12.) 13.) 14.) How do you keep the students engaged? How satisfied are you with the classes that you teach? How often do you have to handle data management issues? How effective do you think the center is at meeting its mission and goals? If you could change one thing what would you change?

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 21

Tech Classes Observational Checklist (used several times across several different grade levels)

Introduction to lesson- # of students engaged ______________ During the work period-# of students engaged _____________ During the closing-# of students engaged_______________ Activity students were working on___________________ # of students able to do this without help ______________ # of students able to do this with help _____________________ # of students unable to do activity at all ___________________

Technology Center Evaluation

Page 22