On Site Technology Training for the 1:1 Initiative - iPad

On Site Technology Training for the 1:1 iPad Initiative

Bragdon, Richardson, Ryal, Ryal

Teachers – Gordon County Schools

 Abstract

Gordon County Schools began a 1:1 initiative in 2016. Every K-12 student and teacher was

issued an Apple iPad device to be used for class instruction employing the Apple Classroom

(AC) suite of software. The intent was to employ relevant technology use in the classroom, to

better engage the students, and manage classes. Research indicates that: 2 years later, the iPads

are not being used with AC. Most teachers have received no AC training on employing AC for

their curriculum, have no time to attend district trainings. We propose onsite mini-trainings to

address this need.

 On Site Technology Training for the 1:1 iPad Initiative

Summary:

As K-12 teachers at Gordon County Schools (GCS), as well as Instructional Design

students, each of us pondered why our district issued instituted a 1:1 initiative with what seemed

like insufficient planning or instructor buy-in. We have found, since its inception, that the same

questions and confusion are encountered repeatedly by many of our colleagues in each of the

county’s schools. This repetition of questioning, both from individuals and from groups of

individuals, serves to identify common concerns that should be addressed. Most of the

respondents we have contacted agreed that the best method of true employment of the

technology is to offer on-site mini trainings.

Often, it is taken for granted that all instructors can attend trainings offered at one

particular campus on any given day at any time convenient to the instructors. Since the inception

of the initiative, many of these trainings have been too broad in their scope and have not

addressed instruction on how best to incorporate the technology to any individual instructor’s

particular area or coursework.

Teachers and instructors are duty bound to their own classes, covering daily school duties,

grading papers, and relating to parents and students outside of normal class time. Attending

training that is not specific to their needs is simply not an option they can afford to take time for.

This results in non-use of the devices for their intended purpose, better potential student

involvement, and a waste of taxpayer investment.

Therefore, if relevant training is offered, teachers are often reluctant to attend due to the

constraints of their jobs. Some common concerns are:

• using lunch breaks for work-related activities (e.g., brown bag lunches);
 • lack of available staff to cover for absences caused by training activities;

• inability to take sufficient time away from regular work to attend sessions that last for

extended periods of time; and,

• the need to allot extra time for travel and parking when sessions occur at locations other

than the home library of the staff member.

(https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/nbl/nbisg/archive/PC_coord_ComputerTrainingCom

monTasks.pdf)

We would like to recommend more flexible and personalized training that can happen at a

time and place that is more convenient to Gordon County School teachers and librarians; on their

campus, in their classroom/library. Instruction should begin with, and incorporate, Apple Class

Room, managing lesson folders, and tailoring the platform for their curriculum. Such training has

definite benefits for teaching and administrative staff throughout the schools. The basis of our

proposal is the development of a series of “mini” training sessions for the professional

development of the Library staff and faculty of our county schools. These sessions should

address many of the initiative use issues that affect teachers and librarians by offering smaller

sessions than those generally used. Through the formalization of this program, we hope to begin

a series of training sessions that will address the concerns of all parties concerned while

alleviating some of the issues that prevent staff from taking advantage of current training

opportunities. As the program progresses, we also propose the trainings be recorded and archived

for training refreshers as well as on boarding of personnel. Such recorded sessions can also be

used to evaluate the training processes and results.

Program:
 In an effort to address the deficiencies of administrative, teaching, and library staff on the

use and implementation of Apple Class Room and the 1:1 initiative, we would like to provide

more comprehensive, yet less formal, training in the use of the Apple Class Room and iPad

functionality as it applies to each instructors curriculum. Our team hereby extends the following

proposal:

Short, on-site sessions, coordinated with any/all affected staff availability:

It is our belief that users will be more likely to attend shorter, more pointed sessions that

focus on a particular topic. These shorter, more focused, sessions will allow greater

flexibility of scheduling, indicate individual needs assessments, and simply be more

convenient.

The major features of our plan are as follows:

A: 30 to 45 minute sessions.

By restricting the time commitment, we can attract potential attendees who would not

otherwise have the opportunity to spend time in professional training. There are 10

county schools in our system. This would potentially provide one training at each

location every other week. Also, this could allow flexibility for scheduling during

planning periods eliminating or minimizing substitute needs as each school visit.

B. On-site sessions. By bringing training to the trainee’s, employees will not be required

to travel

c. Staff scheduled sessions. By coordinating session times with interested staff at

individual locations, it is possible to optimize class size, attendance, and topic. Sessions

will be scheduled with as much input from the interested parties as possible. Main

contacts within each school will be utilized to assist with scheduling and planning.
Sessions will initially be taught by Apple experts and Gordon County Schools own

Instructional Designers, and coordinated through a main office:

The proposed elements of the proposal will ensure that the sessions are time efficient for

users, will facilitate “training of the trainers” with the attendance of the school systems’

Instructional Designers, and will add a library of video training sessions for refresher

trainings and onboarding.

Proposed Session Topics:

By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, implement a bite size, per school, professional

development schedule to insure that staff has adequate in house access to Apple training

to better implement the 1:1 initiative.

By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, implement a standing library of video recorded

training sessions for: a) refreshers and onboarding of members, and b) to be used for

evaluation, and effectiveness of training.

 Proposed Session Topics: All sessions cover both SMART GOALS.

 Adding and managing students in Classroom (controlling and viewing student

screens)

 Troubleshooting issues (Network, Bluetooth, and VPN - Virtual Private

Networks)

 Accessibility tools (color overlays, iPad reading pages, etc.)

 iPad connecting to Apple TV

 Airdrop

 Apple Applications
 Budget

The cost of training per day for the instructor is $1600. Cost for the 10-month school year

Item Cost Total Cost

Instructor $1600 per day $320,000 for 10-months
Camtasia & Snagit $169.23 per license $1,692.30
Maintenance per licenses $37.80 $378
Server with 10Tb hard drive $2770 $2,770
Total cost $324,840.30
is $320,000.

Recording software from Techsmith software includes programs called Camtasia and

Snagit. For a bundle of the two programs it costs $169.23 per license. The county would

need 10 licenses at a cost of $1,692.30. For each license there is a charge of $37.80 for

maintenance for the two software programs. The maintenance cost for all ten licenses will

cost $378.

The recordings will be housed on a server for the county employees to access when

needed. The cost of a server with a 10Tb hard drive will cost $2770.

The total budget is $324,840.30.

Timeline

As stated above, By the end of the 2019-2020 school year, implement a bite size, per

school, professional development schedule to insure that staff has adequate in house

access to Apple training to better implement the 1:1 initiative. An example

Timeline/Schedule for one rotation of ongoing Professional Development is included.

 August 2019
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fairmount Sonoravill Red Bud W.L. Swain Tolbert
Elementar e Elementar Elementar Elementary
y Elementar y y 7:15-3:15
7:15-3:15 y 7:15-3:15 7:15-3:15
7:15-3:15
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Ashworth Red Bud Sonoravill Gordon College &
Middle Middle e Central Career
8:00-4:00 8:00-4:00 High High Academy
8:00-4:00 8:00-4:00 8:00-4:00

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Proposal Evaluation:

To evaluate the effectiveness of our training plan, we developed a standard survey to send to

participants. The last question invites participants to comment on the mini-sessions. These

comments can be used to influence future trainings, and to gain insight into what the users

perceive as strengths and weaknesses of the trainings.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9P953C3
References

Joachim, Anthony, and Bartz, Stephanie – New Brunswick PC Coordination Team, 2003
https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/staff/nbl/nbisg/archive/PC_coord_ComputerTrainingCommonTasks.pdf

Calendarlabs.com

Surveymonkey.com