Nathan Kieffer EdTech 551 Final Project One-to-one Notebook Computers in rades !

e"en and Ei#ht Needs Assessment $t Chian# %ai &nternational !chool 'C%&!() our #oal is to foster hi#h *ualit+ academic achie"ement) inspire students to lifelon# learnin#) and e*uip them for further stud+ and the pursuit of ,orth,hile "ocations around the ,orld- &nformation and Communication Technolo#+ '&CT( skills are a necessar+ component of this #oal and the &nternational !ociet+ for Technolo#+ in Education '&!TE( standards for students are our #uide to achie"in# it- Our teachers use these standards to help our students become skilled thinkers) collaborators) creators) and communicators.istoricall+) C%&! re*uired all se"enth and ei#hth #rade students to take a one semester computer course each +ear- These courses co"ered objecti"es from the &!TE standards- !tudents learned to operate ,ord-processin#) spreadsheet) and presentation soft,are/ to conduct &nternet research/ and to be safe responsible) and empo,ered di#ital citi0ens- The class ,as initiall+ offered as a one semester course ,hich half of the 12 students in each #rade took at a time- For e3ample) 41 ei#hth #rade students ,ould take the class first semester and the other 41 ,ould take it second semester- Each class ,as tau#ht in a lab ,ith 41 desktop computers- 5espite the ad"anta#eous student-to-computer ratio) this arran#ement ,as not optimal- 6ecause the students in each #rade learned material at different times of the +ear) core subject teachers could not assume that the students ,ould ha"e necessar+ skills) thus renderin# inte#ration of &CT in subject area projects impracticalThe course for ei#hth #rade ,as subse*uentl+ reconfi#ured so that all students studied the material at the same time- Each #roup of 41 students met t,o da+s a ,eek throu#hout the school +ear- This confi#uration facilitated a hi#her le"el of inte#ration across core subjects but the lo,er fre*uenc+ of meetin#s resulted in inte#rated projects re*uirin# si#nificantl+ lon#er to plan and

e3ecute- &n one case) a "ideo production project took appro3imatel+ t,o months to complete- 6+ the time the students finished the technical production in their computer class) the social studies teacher had mo"ed on to other material- $dditionall+) this did not allo, for multiple subject area teachers to collaborate ,ith the computer teacher at once- The problem ,ith both of these arran#ements ,as that the core subject teacher ,as dependent on the computer teacher to teach the necessar+ skills and pro"ide ade*uate lab time for students to complete the inte#rated projectFor the 4718-4711 academic +ear) C%&! eliminated the se"enth and ei#hth #rade computer re*uirements due to staffin# and resource limitations- This is clearl+ the least effecti"e arran#ement possible for meetin# the educational objecti"esThe &CT department tried to ameliorate this deficienc+ b+ usin# the &!TE standards as the+ ,ere desi#ned to be used- Teachers ,ere asked to find ,a+s to inte#rate &CT into their subjects despite the loss of the computer class- %an+ teachers stepped up to the challen#e) but the resource limitations remained a si#nificant obstacleC%&! has 481 students in #rades 9 throu#h 14- There is one hi#h school lab ,ith 41 desktop computers and one lab ,ith 41 computers that is shared ,ith the elementar+ school- The hi#h school lab is used durin# four out of ei#ht schedule blocks b+ hi#h school computer classes5urin# the four free blocks) it is fre*uentl+ used b+ other hi#h school classes- 5emands on the limited resources b+ hi#h school classes lea"e "er+ little a"ailable to se"enth and ei#hth #radeOne-to-one laptops in the se"enth and ei#hth #rade classes ,ould allo, teachers and students on-demand access to the de"ices that are necessar+ to meet educational #oals described in the &!TE standards- These #oals do"etail ,ith the e3pectations of hi#h school teachers ,ho re*uire students to collaborate) perform e3tensi"e research) and present findin#s in a "ariet+ of di#ital formats- C%&! uses oo#le $pps for education so soft,are accessibilit+ is not the issuei"en ade*uate de"ices) students ,ill be able to access re*uired soft,are) both at school and at home) ,ith the mail account that the school pro"ides:nless middle school students and C%&! ha"e re#ular and fre*uent opportunities to learn

and practice skills that hi#h school teachers e3pect) the teachers ,ill not be able to prepare them for ,ork and stud+ after #raduationObjectives C%&! is constantl+ e"aluatin# and updatin# its educational objecti"es- One of the objecti"es is to produce technolo#icall+ skilled lifelon# learners ,ho are able to e"aluate and use appropriate technolo#+- Pursuant to this objecti"e) students must successfull+ perform the follo,in# tasks; independentl+ perform basic operation of computers/ use computers and communications s+stems to access) consume) create) and disseminate information/ demonstrate master+ of technolo#+ literac+ accordin# to &!TE NET! standards/ and appl+ technolo#+ skills to sol"e real-life problems-

The proposed one-to-one notebook pro#ram ,ill ad"ance this educational objecti"e in t,o major ,a+s- First) it ,ill increase the capacit+ of the teachers to use technolo#+ in their classes- !econd) it ,ill create the re*uisite opportunities for students to ac*uire and practice ne, skills that ,ill be necessar+ as the+ enter hi#h school- The follo,in# is a description of the specific objecti"es of this pro#ram-

Objective 1: One-to-one notebooks will increase teachers' capacity to integrate computers in the core curriculum. Participant teachers in the one-to-one notebook pro#ram ,ill meet to share ideas) resources) best-practices) and pitfalls to a"oid- This meetin# ,ill occur on a monthl+ basis and coincide ,ith the re#ularl+ scheduled department meetin# so attendance ,ill be mandator+Teachers ,ill be e3pected to share their e3periences ,ith each other in this forum-

Objective 2: One-to-one notebooks will build teachers' ability to share and publish

documents using Google ocs. Teachers will be trained in the use of Google Docs. This set of online tools is already widely used by high school teachers and students. Successful use by seventh and eighth grade students requires teachers who are trained and prepared to use it effectively.

Objective !: One-to-one notebooks will increase seventh and eighth grade student computer access time. %eetin# the stated educational objecti"es re*uires pro"ision of ade*uate time for students to learn the re*uisite skills- This pro#ram ,ill impro"e access time b+ reducin# the student-to-computer ratio amon# middle school students- &t ,ill also ha"e the added effect of reducin# demand for limited computer lab resources) thus increasin# access amon# hi#h school students- The 91 middle school students participatin# in the pro#ram should e3perience fe, access problems-

Objective ": One-to-one notebooks will increase opportunities #or students to use computers in multiple areas o# the curriculum. $ccess time alone is clearl+ not sufficient for students to ac*uire re*uisite skills- The+ must also be #i"en opportunities to use their notebook in inte#rated assi#nments in multiple curricular areas-

Objective $: One-to-on notebooks will improve students' research skills. !tron# research skills are a necessit+ in hi#h school and the proposed one-to-one pro#ram ,ill result in si#nificant #ains- Teachers ,ill be e3pected to include a major research component in at least one project per semester-

Objective %: One-to-one notebooks will increase students' ability to present the results o# research and investigation using appropriate technology.

$fter performin# research) students must be able to effecti"el+ communicate the resultsThe+ must be able to select the appropriate medium for the task and competentl+ create a presentation- 6+ the end of the school +ear) the 91 participatin# se"enth and ei#hth #rade students must be able to use 8 of the follo,in# 1 di#ital media; te3t) audio) #raphic) and "ideo-

Objective &: 'mprove students' ability to organi(e) share) and publish their work. 6ecause the oo#le $pps platform and oo#le 5ocs are the standard used b+ hi#h school teachers and students at C%&!) participants in the one-to-one pro#ram ,ill be e3pected to demonstrate proficienc+Budget
&tem Notebook Computers Teacher Trainer &T !upport Personnel :nit T+pe :nits :nit Cost Total >emarks de"ice 91 ?4@@-77 ?44)14A-77 B hour of trainin# 17 ?87-77 ?877-77 C semester stipend 4 ?457-77 ?577-77 = Total ?44)@4A-77

* Samsung Chromebook This estimate is based on pa+in# <877 Thai 6aht per hour- Three-hundred 6aht is appro3imatel+ the dail+ minimum ,a#e= 6ased on salaries at an international school in Thailand*valuation

Objective 1: One-to-one notebooks will increase teachers' capacity to integrate computers in the core curriculum. Teachers will sign in to the meetings and minutes of the discussion will be recorded. Attendance of 90% of the meetings is considered adequate.

Objective 2: One-to-one notebooks will build teachers' ability to share and publish documents using Google ocs. Participant teachers will be given a pretest and posttest that covers the following: creatin# te3t documents) presentations) spreadsheets) and ima#es/

creatin# folders/ or#ani0in# folders into a rational hierarch+/ and sharin# folders and files ,ith #roups and indi"iduals-

$n a"era#e impro"ement of 47D on the posttest amon# the 15 participatin# teachers ,ill be e3pected-

Objective !: One-to-one notebooks will increase seventh and eighth grade student computer access time. !tudent participants in the pro#ram ,ill be directed to notif+ the &T department directl+ "ia email outside of school or notif+ their teacher in school in the e"ent of internet access problems or de"ice do,ntime- This data ,ill be lo##ed and compiled b+ the &T departmentTeachers ,ill also be asked to lo# the amount of class time spent usin# the de"ices-

Objective ": One-to-one notebooks will increase opportunities #or students to use computers in multiple areas o# the curriculum. $ll teachers ,ill be re*uired to report ho, the+ are usin# the de"ices in their classes on a monthl+ basis- $dditionall+) students ,ill be sur"e+ed on ho, their teachers are usin# the de"ices- The e3pectation is that students ,ill use the de"ices e3tensi"el+ in at least t,o classes per month and each class the+ take should use them at least t,ice per semester as a major component of course ,ork-

Objective $: One-to-on notebooks will improve students' research skills. The teachers ,ill be re*uired to compare the results of their first semester and second semester research projects and report the results- $"era#e impro"ement of 17D in assessed scores of these projects is e3pected amon# the se"ent+-four participatin# se"enth and ei#hth #rade students b+ the end of the school +ear-

Objective %: One-to-one notebooks will increase students' ability to present the results o# research and investigation using appropriate technology. Teachers ,ill submit samples of student ,ork to the school administration- !amples must be comprehensi"e and demonstrate clearl+ student master+ of the media-

Objective &: 'mprove students' ability to organi(e) share) and publish their work. !tudents ,ill be #i"en a pretest at the be#innin# of the pro#ram implementation and a posttest at the end of the school +ear- The follo,in# skills ,ill be co"ered in the tests; create te3t documents) presentations) spreadsheets) and ima#es/ create folders/ or#ani0e folders into a rational hierarch+/ and share folders and files ,ith #roups and indi"iduals-

$n a"era#e impro"ement of 47D on the posttest is e3pected amon# the 91 participatin# students-