Technology Center Analysis

Lacey Phillips Technology Center Analysis FRIT 7738 Fall 2013

Technology Center Analysis

Table of Contents Executive Summary Organizational Chart Methods Center Context and Goals Center Activities Evaluation References Part B: Monthly Report Appendices pg. 3-4 pg. 4 pg. 5 pg. 5 pg. 10 pg. 11 pg. 13 pg. 14 pg. 15-17

Technology Center Analysis

Executive Summary The Wayne County school system is comprised of nine public schools. These include five elementary schools, each housing grades Pre-k 5th; 2 middle schools, grades 6-8; one high school, grades 9-12, and an alternative school. Our technology center services approximately 5,400 students, 750 email users, and maintains approximately 3,500 computers. The technology center personnel strives to ensure that every student and teacher has necessary technology and support to be successful in the 21st century. I shadowed our technology coordinator, interviewed several technology specialists, and observed daily operations of our technology center and found that we are blessed in the Wayne County school system to have such a great support personnel especially during our current economic climate. Our rural school system is able to provide technology skills and knowledge equal to bigger systems because of our technology staff. Our staff provides our system with modern technology and they make sure it is utilized to help our students be successful in a constantly changing society. They allow our teachers to be successful professionally by participating in staff development, competing in media projects, and attending and presenting at technology conferences. The job of the technology center and staff is to support both students and staff members. Our technology personnel do a great job, however there are still areas that need to be refined. With new technology being created and updated, and new hardware and software

Technology Center Analysis

being implemented in the school system, more staff development is needed for our teachers to be beneficial in using the products. Another area of improvement is that the staff development needs to line up with the purchasing of the technology equipment. In January I had a TeamBoard installed in my classroom, and received no training on using it until September. Had I been trained earlier, I would have been able to provide more effective lessons for my students eight months earlier. I also feel that if the system purchases technology, some type of system needs to be put in place to be sure that the technology is being used effectively. There are many teachers who do not use the technology at all, or to a bare minimum. Quite simply, if it isnt going to be used, it is a waste of precious school system money. This check -up system would need to involve school media specialists, technology specialists, and the technology coordinator in order to assign staff development/training requirements before any equipment is assigned, or very shortly after it is assigned.

Technology Coordinator Supervise and assist in the selection, installation Supervisor and start-up of computer systems and equipment in schools and Supervise five departments, technology including staff Annette - OES, preparation of JEB specifications Carson for invitations MRSE, SES to bid or Martha requests for AWMS, MPMS quotes for Michael hardware/soft WCHS, WC ware Public Library purchases Earl - JES, TPJ Investigate and secure other Coordinates local, state, appropriate and federal technology guidelines grants for the Work with County School federal System. program coo Administrate the Federal Erdinators to Rate Program assure for the system coordinated technical services

Grant funding Conduct workshops, knowledgeabl seminars, Administration e of the conferences and Teachers Guidelines and training governingsessions to Board of state grantsincrease Education Provide for technology technological knowledge advice and and assistance to understanding the of computers, superintenden software and t, board and other staff technological equipment to assure their successful implementati on into the instructional process

Record Keeper Possess and maintain valid and Maintain appropriate appropriate records and license, file reports to certificate, and /or state credentials as agencies, as needed. may be required for this position

Maintain District-wide Act as the System Administer System the major Security system-wide Officer for software email, student (student information information system, DOE system, email, portal, and web pages, other and other programs programs)

Planner/ System Service as Contact primary system Develop, maintain, contact for coordinate network and maintenance and implement a configuration, current technology telecommunic plan for the ations, and school system distance learning activities

Technology Center Analysis Methods

Interviews and observations were used to gather information for my analysis of Wayne Countys technology center. Many hours were spent with the technology coordinator and technology specialists. The technology specialists shared information on the daily operations of the schools and technology center, while the technology coordinator provided information on the policy and procedures for the school system and state and the history of our technology center, and information on grants and funding for our technology program. Other information was gathered from observing activities, interviewing teachers of different grade levels, and using the Wayne County technology plan and technology website link: http://www.wayne.k12.ga.us/departments.cfm?subpage=237705

Center Context and Goals The technology planning process for Wayne County began in 1993 when a group of 24 teachers, administrators, and community members met to create a technology plan for our school system. After meeting, a three year technology plan was devised, and implementation of the countys first and only technology coordinator began. The technology coordinators position was part time and was filled with one of the countys media specialist, who managed both of those positions until her responsibilities became too great. She has been our school systems technology coordinator for over twenty years now, but is currently working as a part-time (49%) employee since retiring five

Technology Center Analysis years ago. Obviously, this job require more work than a 49% position should, and she works many hours at home on paper work for grants and funding.

According to the technology coordinator, her job entails anything that is remotely related in any way to a telephone or computer she is responsible. This includes but is not limited to system maintenance, upgrades, and software. She can often be found meeting with other employees just to stay ahead of any trouble and to keep everything running smoothly. She also is required to keep up to date on the latest technology and reports all new information and upgrades to faculty and staff members. Basically, she plans, creates, and implements the technology for the entire school system, and then is the primary contact when it comes to maintaining it all. There are five technology specialists who assist her. They are each assigned to specific schools to handle computer issues that occur at that facility. Their major job is to perform maintenance and repairs on network, hardware, software, and whenever possible, assist teachers with implementing technology into their instruction. Employees may log any problems through our countys helpdesk online. These problems are sent to the schools media specialist and technology specialist so that they may be seen about in a timely manner. Specialists strive to provide assistance within a 24 hour time period. If a problem requires more time or knowledge, another technology specialist or the technology coordinator may be called in. The helpdesk is an excellent system for handling technology issues, but these problems demand most of the specialists time. Each classroom in our school system has at least one teacher computer and student computer(s) with high speed internet access. The Wayne County school system is fortunate to offer access to projectors, TeamBoards, document cameras, ipads,

Technology Center Analysis ipods, classroom performance systems, and Mobi interactive tablets to each teacher. Each school also has at least one computer lab for student use. Each middle school is

equipped with two computer labs and three mobile laptop computer carts, and 3 mobile ipad carts. The high school has five small computer labs. All of this technology mentioned is in addition to the classes specifically designed to incorporate technology. Technology is also integrated through connections and elective courses. The middle schools offer two connections classes which are technology based. One focuses on business education with keyboarding instruction and basic Microsoft office skills. The other is module-focused and studies mechanical, computer control systems, robotics, and animation. At the high school level, many of the elective classes incorporate technology to promote career readiness. All of the technology being implemented in our schools created a major time restraint for our specialists, so a center was developed to house the school systems technology department in 2004. This technology center provides a place for our systems servers to be housed and our specialists to be able to remotely update computers and software. This center also houses a computer lab for staff development on specific software and equipment. There is a large room in our technology center that is used for presentations, and allows for other forms of staff development and group meetings to be held. Wayne Countys mission is to empower all students to reach their highest levels of achievement. The vision for the Wayne County school system is that we will be a progressive system, in partnership with the community, where all students acquire the

Technology Center Analysis knowledge and skills to be productive, responsible, and successful citizens in a rapidly changing world. In order to meet the school systems mission, a vision for technology use in the system and specific technology goals to carry them out were developed. The vision for technology use includes: Our schools will be learning centers where students and teachers will frequently utilize a wide range of technology in their classrooms, media centers, and labs. Teachers, administrators, and students will be knowledgeable and confident using new technologies. Our staff will be provided with the professional

development opportunities to master the technologies and tools that add value to their professional work. Our classrooms will reflect the teaching techniques necessary to integrate technology into all curricular areas and give students and teachers assess to effective and engaging software and online resources that become central to the learning process. Our students will become actively involved in what they are learning and will approach learning with enthusiasm. They will connect to learning activities that are meaningful, interesting, relevant, and challenging to them. Our students will be able to use technology to find, synethsize, analyze, represent, apply, and share information in new ways. They will be able to collaborate and communicate with others for the purpose of learning.

Technology Center Analysis Our technology initiatives will be focused on state and national goals and standards, will have a positive impact on student achievement, and will create life-long learners. Parents and community members will be involved in school activities and programs through electronic means of communication such as email, websites, and phone communication. Our initiatives in curriculum and in technology will emphasize access for all students including students with disabilities.

Technology Goals For Next 3 Years Increase effective instructional use of technology to address the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards and to support student-centered learning. increase educators ability to effectively use technology to enhance student learning and daily business operations. Provide high quality system and school support in regards to student centered learning. Increase equitable access to high-quality educational technology resources. Provide high quality system and school support necessary to realize effective technology use. Provide students and parents access to school information. Increase effective administrative uses of technology.

Technology Center Analysis Tech Center Activities The Wayne County Technology Center is a place for meetings, staff developments, and student recognition that often keep one or many of the technology personnel at the center, even into the evening hours.

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The Wayne County school board holds meetings at the technology center on the second Tuesday of each month. This usually brings a crowd of people, especially for special student recognition, concerns of the community, or requests from teachers or special interest groups. Other groups, such as Relay for Life, also hold their evening meeting at the technology center when it is available. The technology center is scheduled nearly every day with training on particular programs or equipment in the computer lab, or staff development for school personnel in the large lecture area. Each Thursday, principals meets with the superintendent at our technology center as well. In addition to meetings, the center is a work area for all technology specialists. The tech center is the place there they go to update software and equipment whenever possible. They also are able to work on more strenuous technology issues or repair technology without interruptions that may be often encountered at their assigned school locations. The Wayne County technology center is also used for special events such as the county-wide Social Science and Science fair competition. Another popular event held here is the displaying of the Georgia Media Festival projects. The technology center is used nearly every day. It has become so valuable to our system (and community!) that a technology specialist has now been assigned the job of

Technology Center Analysis maintaining the use and scheduling the technology center calendar. The technology center calendar can be viewed at this link: http://www1.wayne.k12.ga.us/cgi-

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bin/calendar/calendar.pl?Year=2013&Month=11&dept=tc&style=none&weekends=1&ta ble_format=0&keyword=&search_option=1

Evaluation I give the Wayne County technology center an A on meeting its mission and goals. A few years ago, our county focused its funding on providing more technology, before budgets were cut. Our system now has more technology readily available for teachers. We also have more technology staff, and support than many larger school systems. Students and teachers alike are enhancing instruction with technology like never before. All students have access to computer labs, iPads, iPods, Mobi interactive devices, smart boards, and Neos. Through observations, I have even seen students will physical and mental handicaps using mobile devices in their learning. All of the technology has been beneficial to both teachers and students, but sometimes too much of a good thing can also lead to a problem. As I previously mentioned, we now have the technology, but many teachers and administrators are not using it, or are not using is correctly because of lack of proper training. Unfortunately, most staff development is now being held after school or during teachers planning time due to budget cuts. This has created discouragement for teachers who are less technology savvy, because they do not feel comfortable using something after only one hour of training. Now, much of the technology that has been

Technology Center Analysis purchased is being used by untrained teachers, or those that are self-taught. The problem with this is that now our technology specialists are dealing with issues of

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software and equipment problems that may not have occurred if the teachers had been trained properly. One other area of improvement is the evaluation of needed technology to reduce unnecessary spending on technology that are not beneficial to education. Our current budget cuts, especially with employees receiving eight furlough days, proves this need. Our countys millage rate is higher than most counties in the state, and we also have a 1% E-SPLOST in place as well. By using a combined effort including the media specialist at each school, the technology coordinator, and curriculum director in order to coordinate equipment and software purchases, along with assigning staff development requirements to the employees using equipment easily solves this problem. I believe that more thought will go into purchasing technology when staff development becomes part of the budget in addition to purchasing the technology itself. Only certified and trained personnel should access new equipment and software. At first, this might require more time, but I believe it will save the technology specialists time when there are less trouble shooting issues to deal with.

Technology Center Analysis References

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Wayne County School System. (2012). Three-year technology plan July 1, 2010 June 30, 2012. Jesup, Georgia. Wayne County Schools. Wayne county school system tech center calendar. (2013, November). Retrieved from http://www1.wayne.k12.ga.us/cgibin/calendar/calendar.pl?Year=2013&Month=11&dept=tc&style=none&weekends =1&table_format=0&keyword=&search_option=1 Wayne County Schools. Wayne county school system technology department. (2013, November). Retrieved from http://www.wayne.k12.ga.us/departments.cfm?subpage=237705

Technology Center Analysis Part B Monthly Report The Wayne County technology center has made gains in meeting their goals. New updatese were incorporated to our bandwidth last month. The technology coordinator sent an email to all teachers instructing them on how to reduce the use of

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bandwidth. For example, Renaissance Place, which is used by Language Arts and Math teachers, play a big part in the daily operations at many schools. However, they take up a large amount of our systems bandwidth when they are running. Something as simple as an email can be effective. Other training sessions were held during half of teac hers planning time on two programs Classworks and Thinkgate. Teachers learned how to take advantage of the many reports and data that are available for them within each program that may held provide differentiation in their classrooms. In addition, new student response systems were purchased so that each teacher in our school has access to these systems. There were also document cameras purchased for teachers to use in their classrooms. Teachers teaching teachers was implemented in several schools in our county where teachers who were more knowledgeable with a particular program or piece of equipment instructed fellow teachers in grade level meetings on the basics of that technology. These teachers gained confidence using the technology in the classroom, and now promote a more student-centered classroom. Technology is so very important when it comes to encouraging our students and meeting the challenges of an ever-changing world.

Technology Center Analysis Appendices Appendix A Interview Questions for Technology Personnel 1. What is your job description and the description of those working at the Technology Center? 2. What activities are held at the center? 3. What is our countys mission and vision for technology? 4. How do you think the technology center is helping our country achieve its mission and goals? 5. In your opinion, what improvements need to be made to ensure that our technology center and department provides both students and teachers the knowledge to utilize technology in the real world?

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Technology Center Analysis Appendix B Interview Questions for Teachers 1. How do you incorporate technology in your classroom? 2. What is your greatest challenge with using technology in the classroom? 3. How does the technology department provide assistance to you? 4. If you could make any changes to promote technology in our county, what would you make and why?

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Technology Center Analysis Appendix C Observation Checklist Weeks Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Staff Development School meetings Special Technology event/community emphasized Teacher centered

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Student center