Running head: INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT 1

Individual Teacher Technology Assessment Narrative

Jasmyne Burns

Kennesaw State University

PL & Technology Innovation

Dr. Amy Vitala

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Ms. Marissa Williams is a third-grade teacher at Feldwood Elementary School (FES).

FES is located in College Park, GA, an urban community, in South Fulton County. When

approached with the task, Ms. Williams was open, eager and willing to partake in the opportunity

to assess her Levels of Technology innovation within her lessons by way of the Levels of

Technology Integration and Change Adopter surveys. In her second year of teaching, Ms.

Williams provides instruction to the advanced population of students in all subject areas (Math,

Science, Reading/ELA and Social Studies). Ms. Williams teaching environment consist of an

Epson Projector, six desktop computers and a class set of six Fulton County 1:1 devices, and one

teacher issued laptop. Teachers have the opportunity to check out additional devices, such as

iPads, from the media center upon request and if available.

Levels of Technology Use and Change

The first assessment Ms. Williams completed focused on the Levels of Technology

Innovation (LoTi) framework (See Appendix A). The LoTi Connection (2017) states:

LoTi Framework focuses on the delicate balance between instruction, assessment,

and the effective use of digital resources to promote higher

order thinking, engaged student learning, and authentic assessment practices in

the classroom—all vital characteristics of digital age teaching and learning.

The LoTi survey is meant to assess how Ms. Williams incorporates technology into the

instruction she delivers to her students. When asked at what LoTi level does she incorporate

technology, she answered an Infusion Level. She makes a conscience effort to incorporate

technology in many of her lessons and students are exposed to higher order levels of Bloom’s

Taxonomy. Ms. Williams was not familiar with the LoTi, but explained she will make a great
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effort to incorporate technology at a higher level moving forward. She mentioned moving more

toward her class and instruction being more student-centered with task that are more applicable

to real world scenarios. In addition, Ms. Williams discussed barriers she feels that may challenge

her in moving forward in reaching her goal. Those challenges are the lack of consistent access to

technology. She explains that she often fears creating technology integrated lessons she will not

be able to implement with fidelity due to the day to day uncertainty of whether the proper

technology will be available. This barrier prevents those alternative activities, such as virtual

field trips, virtual simulations, etc. she could provide to her students. Ms. Williams states she is

very flexible when it comes to structuring her class and proving students with a fun and relaxed

learning environment. She regrets feeling and knowing she could do more if she had the

appropriate tools and resources.

Speaking to Ms. Williams about access current access to technology, she went a deeper in

explaining why access to technology is limited, even though the school is equipped with 1:1

devices (Dell Laptops) provided by the district. Ms. Williams states, “Third grade has class sets

of the 1:1 devices. Often times, we aren’t sure when we’ll have then or not. The carts are

constantly being pulled for other things, such as various assessments, schoolwide. I would hate

to create these great lessons and in the end, be unable to complete them because I don’t have the

proper tools (Burns, 2018).

The second assessment (See Appendix B) addressed how well Ms. Williams adapted to

change is it pertains to incorporating new innovative practices within her pedagogy. The results

displayed that Ms. Williams is more than motivated to take on innovative opportunities. Though

Ms. Williams face challenges with being innovative with technology due to a lack of guaranteed

access to technology, she is still open to learning more and applying what she has learned and
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implementing those tools that best benefit her students in the learning environment as the

opportunity is there. Speaking of being open to learn, Ms. Williams states that she loves sharing

what she has learned with her fellow team members and colleagues. She believes that sharing

different tools she’s been exposed to not only benefit and expand others in their practice, but

more importantly, benefit the students and their overall achievement. Because of her love for

sharing, Ms. Williams aspires to be a part of the Fulton County’s Vanguard team. Vanguard is a

group of innovative educators who work with their peers, instructional specialist, and other

school leaders to deliver the best practices and implement technology in a transformative way.

She would be a great asset to the team once a spot becomes available. In the meantime, Ms.

Williams does not let a position or title stop her from doing what comes natural for her to do.

To conclude our conversation, Ms. Williams identifies herself as an Innovator. At

Feldwood Elementary, she has certainly proven that to be true. She believes that one does not

always have to use technology to be innovative, but believes that it enhances the ability to do so

when used properly. As Ms. Williams continues to thrive in the classroom, she will definitely

continue to hold true to the level of Innovator!

Technology Perspective

As I interviewed Ms. Williams, I asked that she share some of her innovative lessons. She

shared with me how she structures her classroom and stations, so that she can effectively utilize

station rotations and leverage technology she does have access to. She spoke on the different

tools she uses, such as Seesaw, an electric portfolio for learning. She states how students have

either completed practice/remediation and enrichment work in Math and Science using the

platform. She uses Seesaw for writing prompts and to implement and assess writing strategies. In

addition, the 3rd grade team uses Seesaw to implement the WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle,
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Plan) strategy for their students. This allows students to give voice to their instruction and take

ownership of their learning. Along with that, it gives students the choice of how they will address

their obstacles, create their desired outcome and make their wish a reality through planning. She

speaks of a number of other tools such as Class Notebook, Prodigy, Nearpod, and Blendspace

that she uses as much as possible. She speaks of how these technology tools have allowed her to

differentiate and personalize lessons for her students. In doing so, she states that she has created

a more engaging and student centered learning environment for her class.

Though Ms. Williams admits there is a challenge as it pertains to proper and consistent

access to technology, she acknowledges that she does have access to a higher number of devices

than last year when devices are available. She explains how this change has provided a space for

her to be more effective and intentional in her instruction. Ms. Williams appreciates her students

and their ability to learn new tools quickly and their eagerness to use different tools in their

learning. Another barrier she speaks of is the disconnect between what administration states they

would like to happen in the classroom and what they actually allow proper time to take place

with all the demands that teachers face in the building. She feels expectations are unrealistic and

are not holistically student-centered. As Ms. Williams continues to create great learning

experiences for her students, she will definitely create a platform that she can continue to share

with her colleagues.

Technology Training Needs and Coaching

As the Instructional Technology Specialist for Feldwood Elementary, I have worked with

Ms. Williams on many occasions. In that time, she has expressed an interest in flipping her

classroom, making her learning environment more personalized and using Office 365 (O365)
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tools to help her in that effort. Together, we developed a scheduled where would meet bi-weekly

on Tuesdays (during her planning) and Thursdays (after school). The training will cover O365

tools that will allow her to flip her classroom and make personalizing her classroom more

feasible. We also agreed to cover the 7 Principles of Personalized Learning for Fulton County.

Ms. Williams also thought it would be great for me to come in on days aside from those she will

be receiving the one-to-one job-embedded coaching, to work with her students and model

lessons that we plan together. It is my hopes that modeling will give Ms. Williams insight to how

proper implementation of the tools and strategies will benefit her and her students in the

classroom and harness their learning and interest in more innovative practices in the future.

Ms. Williams is well aware of the 7 Principles of Personalized Learning, however, there

is a disconnect of what those principles look like in action and how they can be accomplished

using the O365 tools. For this reason, our session will be centered around the principles and

enhanced with the proper knowledge and implementation of the most effective tool from the

suite. In addition to the tools assisting with proper personalization of lessons, we will also focus

on how to use the same tools in the O365 suite to start flipping lessons, move our way to flipping

units, with the end goal being the flipped classroom. The ultimate goal is to coach and support

Ms. Williams consistently and effectively where she can go, share her experience and transform

her role to teaching and coaching her colleagues at Feldwood Elementary.

References

Burns, J., (2018 March 5). Personal Interview.

LoTi Connection. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.loticonnection.com/loti-

framework.
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Appendix A

Level of Technology Integration Assessment

Appendix B

Change Adopter Survey