FRIT 7739 Practicum in Instructional Technology

Staff Development Workshop

Design Document

April Davis

Dr. Downs
Spring 2021
Identification of Learning Problem

The 2020-2021 school year has presented many changes and challenges with the COVID

pandemic occurring. Many teachers at my school who are not technology savvy have had to

move out of their comfort zone to learn new technology skills to meet the needs of their students

because of students in person and students online. A needs assessment was given to the staff

(Appendix A). Participants responded with 69.7% of them indicating that they would like to

learn more about game-based instruction. The district purchased licenses of SMART Learning

Suite which includes game-based instruction. The SMART Learning Suite web-based software

program allows teachers to create engaging lessons students can interact with in class, remotely

or on their own time all on their own devices. Teachers can use lessons they already use or

choose to make a new lesson and incorporate components including games, collaborative

workspaces and more. Teachers will like SMART Learning Suite because they can use in their

Google Classrooms. My goal at the end of the workshop is for participants to implement

SMART Learning Suite into their lessons to engage their students no matter where they are.

Learner Analysis

My target learners are middle school teachers, 6th and 7th grades who are all certified

teachers and are full-time employees of Colquitt County Public Schools. Teachers are women

and men who have varied degrees. All the teachers have a bachelor’s degree. Most of the

teachers have a Bachelors in Middle Grades Education with concentrations in one or more

content areas. About half of the teachers have completed or are currently working towards a

Masters’ degree in the education field. About 33% are currently working towards or have

completed their Specialists degree. Most of the teachers feel more comfortable with technology

because of the training the technology department held during the summer to get teachers
familiar with online teaching and learning but would like more training. SMART Learning Suite

has an online community that lets teachers connect with other teachers to share lessons, ideas,

insights, and classroom success stories. There is a plethora of topics created by other educators

on the Smart Exchange online community of educators. They also provide professional learning

tutorial opportunities and anytime support online.

Task Analysis

I will be performing a procedural analysis. The participants will need to follow specific

steps to learn how to create an engaging lesson with SMART Learning Suite and then implement

the lesson in their in-person or online classroom. I am serving as the subject matter expert for

using SMART Learning Suite.

Task Analysis: Learning how to use “SMART Learning Suite”

1. Demonstrate how students will log into SMART Learning Suite by using a video to show
teachers.
1.1. Open SLS Online: Go to hellosmart.com.
1.2. Sign in as a Guest.
1.3 Enter the class ID.
1.4 You will join the lesson.
2. Show a video of making a SMART Learning Suite lesson that will include a video,
handout/notes, and game.
2.1. Demonstrate how to begin creating a lesson by clicking on green plus sign to name the
lesson and add an activity.
2.2. Demonstrate how to add a YouTube video to the lesson.
2.3. Demonstrate how to add a handout to the lesson.
2.4. Demonstrate how to add a game-based activity to the lesson.
2.5. Demonstrate the lesson.
3. Teachers will create a SMART Learning Suite Lesson
3.1. Click on the green plus sign to add activities to start a new lesson and give your lesson a
name.
3.2. Click on the blue plus sign to start adding activities to your lesson.
3.3. Add a YouTube video to your lesson.
3.4. Add an Activating Prior Knowledge activity.
3.5. Add a Game Based activity.
4. Teachers will enter their lesson link codes in a spreadsheet.
4.1. Click on the link to the spreadsheet.
4.2. Enter first and last name, then lesson link to the SMART Learning Suite lesson created.
5. Teachers will complete Professional Development Survey
5.1. Click on the Professional Development Survey.
5.2. Complete the survey and submit.

Instructional Objectives

After teachers have completed this online learning module for the SMART Learning

Suite web-based software program to create engaging lessons, the teachers will be able to:

● Experience a SMART Learning Suite online lesson from a student’s perspective.

● Build a SMART Learning Suite online lesson that incorporates YouTube videos,

handouts, and game-based activities

Assessments

A variety of assessments were used with the online professional learning workshop. A

needs assessment was used (Appendix A) during the early planning stages of the online

professional learning workshop. The data gathered from the needs’ assessment guided the

planning of the workshop with the SMART Learning Suite being the choice because of the

game-based learning activities within the web-based online software program.

        During the online workshop, teachers will create a lesson and share by entering the lesson

link in a spreadsheet (Appendix B). There will be observations conducted through monitoring the

professional development online module. Data collected through the monitoring and

communication with teacher participates will indicate if there is a need for additional instruction

or support. Teachers needing additional support will receive one-on-one instruction.

        When the teachers have completed the online training module, an evaluation survey will be

given to measure the effectiveness of the workshop (Appendix C). Participants will reflect on
what they have learned through the workshop and the overall delivery of instruction. A couple of

questions from the evaluation will allow participants to indicate what was most useful of the

course and how it might be improved.

Review and Evaluation of the Design, Development, and Delivery of the Training

The technology specialist that is my field supervisor talked to me about the SMART

Learning Suite web-based software program that the district had purchased for the teachers as we

were discussing different technology programs and teacher needs. As we were discussing the

needs assessment we talked about the game-based activities that are included in the SMART

Learning Suite. Of the teachers that responded to the needs’ assessment, 69.7% indicated that

they were interest in game-based learning programs. With this data we decided that this web-

based program that the district had purchased would be great to create the professional learning

module to encourage teachers to use for student engagement.

Even though we have been in person throughout this school year, we have had our share

of teachers and students being quarantined due to COVID. We decided that the best format

would be a completely online professional learning for teachers to participate when and where

they could. I thought that providing the teachers with an online professional learning module

would encourage teachers to participate since they could access at their convenience but even

some of the teachers that responded they would participate did not. The teachers that did

participate were very encouraging about the learning module and commented how they were

happy they participated, were going to create lessons, and felt the students would be engaged

with the activities.

 Participants completed a survey after they completed the online professional learning

module. I welcomed their comments so I would know what needed possible modification and

how the training might need to be changed. Going through the training myself and helping some

that called upon me to help when they had questions, made me realize some things that I had left

out of the training. Overall, the feedback was positive, and they enjoyed participating. I enjoyed

working with the teachers and being able to help them learn something new that they can use to

engage their students.

Appendix A – Needs Assessment Survey
Appendix B – Lesson Link Spreadsheet
Appendix C – Evaluation Survey