Report of Needs Assessment for Technology

I. Overview
A. Jennifer White, Technology Director
Dafaney White, Technology Specialist

B. Telfair County Elementary School is a Title I school located in McRae

Helena, Georgia. Telfair County is a rural county located in central Georgia.
The school serves as the only elementary school in the county. According to
The Governor's Office of Student Achievement's K-12 Public Schools Report
Card for Telfair County, during the 2018-2019 school year, approximately
748 students attended Telfair County Elementary School (GOSA K-12 Public
Schools Report Card, 2019). Telfair County is very poor; therefore, 94% of
the students were eligible for free/reduced meals, although all students receive
free breakfast and lunch (GOSA K-12 Public Schools Report Card, 2019).
During the 2018-2019 school year, 50.7% of the students were female and
49.3% were male. Of the students, 45% were white, 42% were black, 8%
were Hispanic, and the remaining 5% were of other minorities (GOSA K-12
Public Schools Report Card, 2019)
According to Telfair Elementary School's Assistant Principal, Angelyn
McGhee (2019), Telfair County Elementary school employees, 52 full-time
classroom teachers. There are 50 female teachers and two male teachers.
Forty-six of the teachers are Caucasian, and six are African American. Three
teachers have been teaching for five years or less, 32 have been teaching
between six to 15 years, and 17 have been teaching 16 or more. The teachers’
ages range from 25 to 65 years old. Thirty-two teachers have Bachelor's
degrees, twenty have Masters degrees, and 12 have Specialist degrees. "All
Telfair County Elementary School teachers are highly qualified" (School
Improvement Plan, 2018).

C. All classrooms are equipped with similar technologies. All classrooms have a
desktop computer, document camera, SMART Board, and projector for
teachers to use. All desktop computers are running Windows 10 with access
to Microsoft Office 2016 and SMART Notebook. The district uses G Suite for
Education, which includes Gmail, Google Classroom, and Google Drive.
Classrooms in kindergarten through second grade have four Google
Chromebooks for students to use. All classrooms in third, fourth, and fifth
grade have a classroom set of Google Chromebooks. The school has
numerous online learning programs to supplement student learning. All
classrooms have wired internet access as well as wireless internet access. The
technology department consists of two people who are readily available to
provide technical support to teachers and students.
II. Description of Needs Assessment Process
A. Methods - The needs assessment will be conducted in numerous steps. The
first step will be to identify stakeholders. The next step will be to select the
data collection method and develop questions for stakeholders. Next, a
communication will be sent out to the stakeholders requesting participation
and completion of the data collection instrument. The communication will
consist of an email to the stakeholders. Since the stakeholders are off for
summer vacation and may not check their school email, they will also be
contacted by telephone. Once data is collected from the stakeholders, the
process of analyzing the data will start. Researchers will communicate will
stakeholders who have failed to respond to the data collection instrument. The
data will be reviewed to identify and prioritize needs. Finally, the researcher
will document the results of the needs assessment evaluation. The
documentation will include functional tasks and technical requirements of the
technology. Due to the time constraints of the summer semester, the
participants will have three days to complete the data collection instrument. If
responses have not been received by the third day, researchers will reach out
to the stakeholders to give them the fourth day to complete it. Once all
stakeholders have completed the data collection instruments, the researchers
will review the data and document the results within two days.

B. Participants - The stakeholders consist of one administrator and six third

through fifth grade science and social studies teachers. All stakeholders are
female. Of the stakeholders, 57% are Caucasian, and 43% are African
American. The participants range is age 24-63 years old. The average years
of experience for the participants is 15 years. When comparing Telfair County
Elementary fifth grade science and social studies GMAS results, it was
determined that Telfair County has more students classified as a beginning or
developing learners than the state average. There is a need to increase science
and social studies GMAS results so more students are classified as proficient
or distinguished learners. Telfair County Elementary tends to have more
resources and online tools for language arts and math classes. Therefore third,
fourth, and fifth grade science and social studies teachers were chosen as
participants to determine technology needs for those areas in hopes of
increasing student achievement.

C. Data Collection Instruments - The researchers will conduct an online survey

using Google Forms. The stakeholders will complete the online survey. The
researchers will begin analyzing the data from the online survey. The
researchers will develop face-to-face interview questions to follow-up on the
findings of the online survey. The researchers will conduct face-to-face
interviews with the stakeholders. The researchers will have a set of questions
to guide the interview and to make sure all stakeholders are asked the same
questions. The researchers will ask the participants if the interview can be
recorded so the researchers can review the responses at a later time. The
recording will consist of audio and no video. The recordings will eliminate
 the need for note taking and will help the researcher to be more engaged in the
interview. The face-to face interviews will not be as broad and will focus on
things learned from the online survey.

D. Sources of Data - Researchers used Telfair County Schools existing School

Improvement Plan. Telfair Elementary School conducted a Needs Assessment
within its school improvement plan. They stated there was a need to "Increase
the usage of instructional technology as a tool to enhance student learning and
collaboration" (School Improvement Plan, 2018). The researchers studied
existing 2017-2018 End of Grade Georgia Milestones Assessment System
(GMAS) scores for both Telfair County Elementary School and the state of
Georgia. The participants who completed the data instruments are internal
stakeholders.

E. Data Analysis - The surveys and interviews used to collect data will be
constructed response. Therefore, the data will be analyzed using the
qualitative method. To begin the data analysis, the researchers will organize
the data. Gilbert, Jackson, and Di Gregorio (2014) recommend grouping the
data in “meaningful ways” (p.224). Organizing the data helps to get it into a
more structured format so researchers can begin to explore the data. The
researchers will begin to look for common and similar words and phrases
among the data. Once the similarities are found, the researchers will begin to
interpret the data to identify relationships and connections among the data.
The researchers will then take their findings and compare them with past
literature and reflect on their findings. The reflection could lead to
reorganization of the data and a repeat of the process mentioned above.

III. Desired and Current State

A. Desired State - The data analysis revealed a need for more resources and
online tools for science and social studies. The analysis also revealed a need
for more field trips to help students better understand science and social
studies standards. Telfair County is a very rural and poor community. Many
students do not have the money to leave the county and experience such
things as museums, aquariums, and other attractions that are considered
educational. Through the data analysis process, the researchers explored
current and past literature and discovered virtual reality as a possibility to not
only fulfill the need of additional online tools for science and social studies,
but also eliminate the need for physical field trips. Virtual reality can be used
to turn the classroom into a virtual field trip. To provide virtual reality to all
students, the school will need personal handheld devices along with virtual
reality goggles for each student. There will also be a need for virtual reality
software. After researching virtual reality, the researchers decided Google
Expeditions should be the software used for virtual reality. It is a free app
offered by Google. It would be easy for teachers to use and access because
Telfair County Schools currently uses G Suites for Education. Google
Expeditions is part of G Suites for Education. Professional development for
 virtual reality should not be an issue due to the technical expertise of the
technology staff of Telfair County Elementary School. They are familiar with
virtual reality and should have no problem teaching teachers how to
implement it into their curriculum.

B. Current State - The school does not currently have access to personal
handheld devices for students. The school does not have access to virtual
reality goggles. The school does not currently use Google Expeditions but can
access the software at any time because it is free and part of G Suites for
Education. The school currently has a technology department that is capable
of conducting technology professional development.

C. Rationale for Desired State - The stakeholders desire more online tools and
field trips in hopes of increasing GMAS scores. They want fifth grade
assessment results to be more in line with Georgia’s assessment results.
Virtual reality will allow students to have more real-life experiences that make
learning more relevant to them and easier to understand.

IV. Priority Needs

A. Statements of Need - There are several needs that must be met for Telfair
County Elementary to successfully implement and integrate the use of virtual
reality and Google Expeditions into third, fourth, and fifth-grade classrooms.
The first and most important need is funding to purchase handheld student
devices and virtual reality goggles. If funding is not provided then the
implementation of virtual reality will not be possible. Once funding has been
established, then the need for purchasing handheld devices and virtual reality
goggles can be fulfilled.
Another important need is support from district level administration, school
level administration, technology personnel, and lead teachers. A key
component to successful adoption is for teachers to see excitement and
approval from administration. According to Kotter (2007), “It is often said
that major change is impossible unless the head of the organization is an
active supporter” (p. 98). Leadership support will be instrumental in the
implementation of virtual reality.
Professional development is also an important need. The teachers who will
adopt virtual reality will attend several professional development sessions.
The Needs Assessment Survey revealed that a majority would prefer
professional development in a small group setting. The technology
department will conduct separate professional development sessions for each
subject and grade. This will allow for more individualized training since there
will only be 2-3 adopters in each session. The adopters will attend multiple
professional development session, and they will be ongoing.

B. Causes of Deficiencies - The main cause of deficiencies with the current state
in lack of funding. Telfair County is a very poor county, and the school
system does not have a large budget. Most of the technology in the system
 was purchased with grant funds. When the school system does have extra
money to devote to technology, then the funds are typically used to replace
essential equipment such as teacher desktop computers or projectors.
Students in grades third through fifth do have access to Chromebooks. The
purchase of the Chromebooks was only possible due to a state grant.

C. Consequences of Deficiencies - There are several consequences of

deficiencies if Telfair County Elementary continues to maintain its current
state. The major goal of implementing virtual reality into the classroom is to
engage students in their learning and to provide more real-life experiences for
them. Virtual reality will allow students to experience things they probably
will not be able to experience in their lifetime. For example, students can take
a virtual tour/field trip to Mount Everest or explore various systems of human
anatomy. Virtual reality can also allow students to conduct science
experiments. The supplies to conduct science experiments can be costly, but
virtual science experiments are free. Some science experiments can have
potential risks, but with virtual reality, one does not have to worry about those
risks. The visuals provided by virtual reality can give students a better
understanding of concepts. According to Mayer’s (2014) cognitive theory of
multimedia learning, “people learn more deeply from words and pictures than
from words alone” (p. 43). Virtual reality should create excitement among
students, which should increase student engagement. Increased understanding
and engagement can help students perform better on the GMAS.

V. Action Plan
A. Goals
1. The school will obtain funds to implement virtual reality equipment in
third through fifth grade science and social studies classrooms.
2. The school will purchase handheld devices for science and social studies
classrooms in grades third through fifth.
3. The school will purchase virtual reality goggles for science and social
studies classrooms in grades third through fifth.
4. The technology staff will host initial professional development to provide
teachers with the initial knowledge and skills needed to implement virtual
reality and Google Expeditions in their classroom.
5. The technology staff will provide ongoing professional development in
order to help with the successful integration of virtual reality in the
curriculum.

B. Strategies
1. The technology department will apply for grants through Google and other
grant sources to obtain the funds needed to procure virtual reality
equipment. Additionally, the technology director will present the
information collected through the needs assessment to the local board of
education to persuade them to provide the funds needed to purchase
handheld devices and virtual reality goggles. If grants funds are awarded it
 may still be necessary for the local board of education to supplement the
purchase with local funds.
2. The technology director will communicate with vendors to obtain the best
purchase price for handheld devices. Once the best price has been
obtained, the technology director will work with the purchasing
department to complete the purchase.
3. The technology director will communicate with vendors to obtain the best
purchase price for virtual reality goggles. Once the best price has been
obtained, the technology director will work with the purchasing
department to complete the purchase.
4. The technology department will receive the handheld devices and virtual
reality goggles. They will unbox the equipment and complete the initial
step-up. They will also install Google Expeditions on the handheld
devices. The equipment will be distributed to teachers after the initial
professional development.
5. The technology department will host an initial professional development
on how to use the virtual reality equipment and software. The
professional development will also explain ways to implement virtual
reality into lessons.
6. Two to four weeks after the initial professional development the
technology department will survey teachers to determine needs. Ongoing
professional development will be provided based on the results of the
surveys. As a result of the needs assessment survey, the ongoing
professional development will be small group.

C. Timeline - These will not be consecutive weeks due to the timing of

notification of grant decisions and board of education meeting dates.
 Week 1 - The technology department will look for grant opportunities and
decide which grants(s)to apply for. The technology department will meet
with the local board of education to explain the initiative and request
funds.
 Week 2 - After awarding of the grant and/or spending approval from the
local board of education, the technology department will request quotes
from numerous vendors for the handheld devices and virtual goggles.
 Week 3 - The technology department will complete the purchasing process
to have equipment ordered and delivered to the school.
 Week 4 - The technology department will unbox the equipment and
complete the initial setup. They will also install Google Expeditions on
each device.
 Week 5- The technology department will develop professional
development.
 Week 6 - The technology department will host professional development
to all stakeholders. The technology department will deliver equipment to
teachers at the conclusion of the professional development.
 Week 7-8 - The teachers will complete a survey to help the technology
department develop additional professional development.
  Week 9 - Ongoing - The technology department will host professional
development based on teacher needs that were determined by survey
results.

VI. Appendix
A. Interview Protocol
1. What Google Suite of Applications are you currently using with your
students in your classroom at least once per week?
2. What were some of the benefits and challenges you have encountered
implementing Google applications in your classroom?
3. If money or time was not a concern, what field trip or classroom activity
to support instruction would you like to have with your students to support
learning?
4. How have you seen the student’s learning and engagement benefit from
field trips? And science experiments?
5. Have you had any experience with Virtual Reality or Google Expedition?
If so, could you elaborate on that experience?
6. If all equipment was provided and working, what do you think would be
some of your concerns with implementing Google Expedition in your
classroom?
7. What types of training and support do you think classroom teachers would
need if virtual reality were implemented in the classroom?
8. How do you think school administrators and parents would react to seeing
students in headsets on virtual field trips?
9. How often do you think they would find this an acceptable worthwhile
learning activity?
10. What do you see as the main reason that teachers would not use Google
Expedition in the classroom?

B. Summary of Interview Data

Common Characteristics
 All respondents use G Suites for Education at least once per week.
 Common apps used are Gmail, Google Docs, Google Forms, Google
Classroom, and Google Drive.
 All teachers began using Google Classroom for the first time in the
2018-2019 school year.
 Most seemed nervous when they started using Google Classroom, but
are comfortable with it now.
 All believe students and parents would be receptive to the idea of
virtual reality.
Common Problems
 Telfair County is high poverty area.
 Not many opportunities for students to experience things such as
museums or play.
  Not many respondents are familiar with virtual reality or how it works.
 Students need more hands-on experiences.
 Some may be scared to implement new technology.

Common Solutions
 Professional development is necessary for teachers to feel comfortable
with new technology.
 Virtua reality can provide real-world experience to students

C. Survey Instrument - Science and Social Studies Needs Assessments Survey

D. Summary of Survey Data

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