Running Head: CAPSTONE REPORT

Capstone Report

Janee Glover

Kennesaw State University

ITEC 7500

Professor Tracey Borup

Spring 2020
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Capstone Report
Capstone Report – Part B

The setting for the proposed project will be in my Target math classroom at Paul D. West

Middle School. Paul D. West is located in the suburban area of East Point, Georgia with the

Fulton County School District. FCS district is a public-school district in Atlanta, Georgia, with a

total of 109 schools, serving 95,641 students. Paul D. West is a Title I school, serving 1,033 6th

through 8th grade students, in which 100% of them live in low-income housing and qualify for

free or reduced lunch. The racial demographics are as follows: 64% African American, 32%

Hispanic, 2% Multi-racial, and 2% White.

With this information, I began the process of developing the Capstone Project with the

problem that technology use at Paul D. West Middle School was not fairly distributed between

all students, and it was not being effectively utilized in the classroom by teachers. The

conversation was held with the instructional coaches about the Fulton County Schools purpose of

the devices for students and the strategic instructional plan of device usage for classroom

teachers. This conversation occurred over several weeks with data talks and pouring over the

strategic technology plan devised by Fulton County Schools and Paul D. West Middle School. A

comparison was made between the two documents, but unfortunately, neither plan included into

steps to create equity for students who do not have internet access at home. The other question

was in regard to students that were homeless and living large shelters. With these concerns and

issues, the Shared Vision and Rationale was created.

After conferring with the instructional coaches, I met with the administrator that directly

works with Fulton County Schools in the area of Instructional Technology. In this conversation,

the administrator stated that the School Governance Council discussed ways for students without

home internet access may be able to obtain access for little to no cost. Due to the school’s Title I
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status, a local home internet provider offered a low-cost internet access plan for families that are

eligible for free or reduced lunch. The cost of this plan is $10 per month. Parents were informed

of this plan with a flyer that was sent home by students, information on the school’s marquee,

and via email sent to each family. The local internet provider was invited to the school to sign

families up. Families were also given the opportunity to go to their local libraries to sign up for

the low-cost internet service.

After working the administrator on getting more students home access to the internet,

work continued on the Shared Vision and Rationale. A survey was distributed to classroom

teachers. This survey was to determine the needs of the teachers in regard to technology issues

and instructional strategies. The instructional coaches were included in this conversation after the

survey was collected. Data analysis was completed on the survey. A second survey was

distributed to students to determine what strategies they enjoyed and some of the activities that

teachers were doing that the students enjoyed. The data collected from both surveys was

analyzed to determine what applications and strategies students enjoyed and what were the needs

of teachers.

The Shared Vision and Rationale was completed with the administrator and instructional

coach stating that professional development for teachers was a step in the action plan. The

obstacles and barriers that occurred were professional. The instructional coaches felt that it was

not my professional place to question the strategic plan. The administrator only decided to

include me in the conversation was due to me obtaining a Master’s degree in Instructional

Technology.

In the coming months, I will be working with the instructional coaches to create a series

of trainings for teachers on specific applications and strategies. The follow-up process would
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Capstone Report
include interviewing teachers on their participation in the professional development

opportunities.

Facilitating technology has been difficult due to my lack of administrative experience.

However, I have learned so much in regard to a technology facilitator. I was able to demonstrate

to my administrator knowledge, skills and dispositions to inspire and lead the development and

implementation to create a shared vision. It was my goal to promote effective technology use and

support change in the process of instructional technology (PSC 1.1/ISTE 1a). I was able to

facilitate the design, development, implementation, communication and evaluation of strategic

plans. By identifying the need for students to have home access to internet, I was able to identify

a solution and help devise and implement a solution. As a part of the Shared Vision and

Rationale, I was able to research strategies that teachers will need to effectively implement

instructional technology into the classroom. The data from the teacher and student survey help

me to research, recommend and implement sustaining technology innovation and manage the

change process at Paul D. West Middle School (PSC1.3/ISTE 1d). The follow-up plan is to

create a list of professional development opportunities based on the data collected from the

student and teacher surveys. As a part of the follow-up plan, I will model and facilitate the

design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning experiences aligned with student

content standards and student technology standards (PSC 2.1/ISTE 2a). During the professional

development, I will conduct professional development sessions based on the skills and

knowledge I have obtained as a part of the Instructional Technology Master’s program and the

data collected from the student and teacher surveys.

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References

Georgia Professional Standards Commission: Instructional Technology Standards. (n.d.).

Retrieved January 19, 2020, from

https://bagwell.kennesaw.edu/departments/itec/docs/PSC-

Standards_Flyer.pdf