I will be conducting my field experience at Andrews Elementary School from August 22 through December 4th. The on-site supervisor will be our Media Specialist who is also one of our two Technology Facilitators, Lori Harper. Georgetown County has begun a 1:1 initiative with Chromebooks for students in grade 3 and 4. Andrews Elementary School has received a School Improvement Grant which has enabled us to move to a 1:1 technology setting school-wide incorporating Chromebooks. Our school has previously been utilizing two Dell desktops and Dell laptops per classroom and two Dell laptops carts which were shared among each grade level. Our primary platform was Windows based and Microsoft Office 365. My project is to develop training modules for classroom teachers in using Google Apps for Education as well as to offer small group and one-to-one sessions with teachers.
Student Learning Outcomes and Proposal Ideas
SLO1. Develop a shared vision to lead an instructional technology innovation to improve teaching, learning and performance for a professional audience.
The shared vision of my field experience will be that of the Principal, Assistant Principals, Curriculum Coach, Media Specialist/Technology Facilitator, and Staff of Andrews Elementary School to provide teachers with training modules and training sessions to help teachers fully integrate Google Apps for Education into their planning and instruction in order to improve student engagement and learning.
SLO2: Collaborate with decision-makers to evaluate and select technology tools and strategies that improve teaching, learning and performance.
Teachers will complete a survey indicating areas of concern or need for specific tutorials on using Google Apps for Education. Together with the help of the school’s Media Specialist/Technology Facilitator, curriculum coach and administration, a prioritized list of needs will be decided upon and online, self-paced training modules will be developed.
SLO3. Conduct needs assessments to inform the design of technology enhanced learning experiences for professional audiences.
I will use SurveyMonkey to survey the teachers to find out what areas of concern or need they feel they have regarding Google applications and utilizing Google Classroom. The data collected will be reviewed and a prioritized list of needed training modules will be created. This list will inform the design of tutorials.
SLO4. Design, develop and implement technology enhanced learning experiences that demonstrate best practices for adult learners.
I will be developing Google Apps for Education training modules for teachers at Andrews Elementary School in order to meet the needs of the staff as the teachers and students have now received Chromebooks as part of the 1:1 initiative and a school improvement grant. I will also offer small group and one-on-one training sessions for teachers through a series of Technology Thursday staff development sessions.
SLO5. Evaluate the results of technology enhanced learning experiences for professional audiences to measure impact and guide future improvement.
Teacher surveys and work samples will be used to evaluate the results of the training modules. These results will be reviewed with the Principal, Assistant Principals, Curriculum Coach, Media Specialist/Technology Facilitator and myself in order to determine adjustments that may be needed.
SLO6. Apply best practices in effective project management to an instructional technology innovation initiative.
The training modules will be presented in online, self-paced modules. Teachers will complete the modules that they feel are needed or those applications that they are interested in becoming more proficient in. Each topic will be covered in its own module, allowing teachers to complete them in the order that they desire and will be self-paced so that teachers may work at the pace best suited for themselves.
SLO7. Demonstrate continuous evaluation of professional knowledge and practices to improve the design, development and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences.
The results of the training modules will be evaluated by the teachers, Administration, the Curriculum Coach, the Media Specialist, and myself. Data obtained through surveys and work samples will help determine if there are any areas of improvement needed in the design, development and implementation of the training modules.
Determining Needs of Our Teachers Teachers were given a survey developed using SurveyMonkey in order to determine exactly which areas that our teachers felt the greatest need of help. The data was reviewed with the Media Specialist/Technology Facilitator and the Curriculum Coach. Based on the data, it was determined that the greatest interest lay in the area of assessments. Teachers felt as though they needed help in creating assessments for use in their Google Classrooms, both self-grading and assessment that are not self-grading. Many teachers also expressed an interest in assessments that would offer oral administration accommodations to their students. We decided that it would be beneficial to introduce teachers to the extension Read&Write for Google Chrome for use in oral administration of websites and assignments.
Other areas that were also of interest were how to have students join a Google Classroom, sharing folder with teachers and administration and using Google Cast in the classroom. Others in my district and at my school will be working on these tutorials in addition to myself.
During our hour long planning session, a tentative schedule for helping students begin using their district issued username and passwords were discussed as well as the use of Technology Thursdays to offer teachers individual or small group help with Google Classroom.