Technology Program Administrator

Jadyn Campbell

FRIT 7739: Practicum in Instructional Technology

Georgia Southern University

Spring 2023
Part A: Program Evaluation

Executive Summary

The learning commons at Cedar Ridge Elementary currently operates as a traditional

library. Students are encouraged to visit the library to check out books. Students frequently visit

the learning commons for encore classes. When students visit the learning commons for encore

class they typically listen to a read aloud and then checkout books. Recently students have been

completing a short lesson before checking out books. There is a computer cart available for

students to use in the learning commons during encore class and visits. However, the computer

cart is not used often. The encore class lessons do not use technology often.

The media center is currently run by the media clerk. The media specialist position has

been vacant since November due to the former media specialist being promoted to assistant

principal. The media clerk has taken over a majority of the responsibilities that the media

specialist would typically have. The former media specialist still provides updates to the school

website when needed. However, much of the typical roles of the media specialist are not being

fulfilled. The vision of the learning commons becoming a technology center that collaborates

with teachers is currently not being met. I believe that this goal will be achieved once a new

media specialist is hired. Activities in the learning commons include daily encore classes, book

checkouts, and professional development workshops.

Organizational Chart

Methods

While conducting the report of the media center at Cedar Ridge Elementary, I collected

multiple forms of data. The first set of data I collected was a circulation report for the month of

February. The only report that I was able to obtain was a report that showed which books were

currently checked out by each student in the school. This report was 181 pages long. This report

would have been more beneficial if it had a total amount of books that were checked out and

organized by grade level or reading level. I also observed a lesson in the media center during a

third grade encore class. This observation allowed me to see how classes are run and what the

activities are like in the media center for encore class. The observation checklist is available in

Appendix A. The media clerk ran the lesson during the observation. In reference to the checklist,

the media clerk ran a successful lesson. One way to improve the lesson would have been to
include more technology. The last way I collected data was through informal interviews with the

current media center clerk and the former media specialist. Cedar Ridge does not currently have

a media specialist. The former media specialist was promoted to assistant principal in November

and the job has been vacant ever since.

Center Context and Goals

Cedar Ridge Elementary is the largest elementary school in Columbia County. It is one of

the top five largest schools in the county. Cedar Ridge has about 1,095 students in grades

kindergarten through fifth grade and 145 staff members. Cedar Ridge has two computer labs for

student use and computer carts are provided to each teacher. The school has a total of 1,200

Chromebooks, 38 Windows laptops, and 87 teacher laptops. The Technology Support Specialist

stated that the number of student computers changes often as laptops are broken or purchased.

This means that the school has 1:1 technology.

The school’s mission statement is as follows: “Empowering all learners to achieve and be

responsible and successful citizens in a diverse society.” The learning commons does not

currently have a mission statement or set goals. However, one of the overall goals from the

former media specialist was to weed out the resources. The learning commons has books that are

outdated and unrelated to elementary school content. Another goal that the former media

specialist mentioned was to collaborate with teachers more often. She wanted to visit teacher

collaborative planning meetings and make the learning commons an extension of the classroom.

The learning commons has the potential to become a large role in student success with the right

media specialist. The media specialist needs to collaborate with stakeholders in order to provide

the best instruction to students. The stakeholders of the learning commons are staff members,

students, and parents. The Destiny program is used to keep a record of all of the resources in the
learning commons. Students and parents can look up books available in the learning commons

using the Destiny webpage.

The school has various personnel that work to make sure that the learning commons is

successful. The first person that works with technology is the media specialist. This position is

currently vacant. It has been vacant since November. The former media specialist is now the

assistant principal and occasionally conducts media specialist duties. The media specialist role is

currently being filled by a long term substitute teacher. However, most of the role falls on the

media clerk, Mrs. Candice Peerson. She completes most of the media specialist duties as well as

helping students check out books and completing inventory on the fixed assets report for the

school. A complete job description for the media specialist role is found in Appendix B.

The next person that works with technology in the school is the technology support

specialist, Mr. Jake Shelby. The technology support specialist is typically responsible for fixing

computers, working on hardware updates, and fulfilling work order requests from staff members.

A complete job description for this position is found in Appendix B.

The last person that works with technology in the school is the instructional specialist

Mrs. Brooke Mailey. She does not work directly with the learning commons, but she does have a

role that works with technology. One of the roles of the instructional specialist is to support

teachers with software and technology integration in the classroom. She focuses on using

software purchased by the school and county to support student learning.

Center Activities

The learning commons is open to students from 8:40 - 3:40. Students are allowed to come

check out books throughout the day. Teachers can sign up to use the conference rooms in the

learning commons or bring their class in. The conference rooms are used often for 504 meetings,
IEP meetings, and parent conferences. To sign up for the conference rooms or to use the learning

commons, teachers must schedule a date and time on the Google Calendar provided. However,

teachers can only use the learning commons at certain times in the day due to encore classes.

During the first portion of the encore rotation, classes are held in the learning commons in the

morning. During the second portion of the encore rotation, classes are held in the learning

commons in the afternoon. The encore rotation is on a nine day schedule. Students only visit the

learning commons every 18 days due to the rotation. The learning commons and guidance switch

out every nine days. During encore classes, students complete a lesson related to grade level

standards, digital citizenship, or media lessons and check out books. The media specialist

typically runs the lessons while the media clerk checks out books. Due to the media specialist

vacancy, the media clerk has had to make the lessons shorter in order for students to have time to

check out books. An example of the lesson plans for each grade level can be found under

Appendix C.

The learning commons houses the school book fair twice a year. During the book fair, the

learning commons is closed to students and staff. The classes that go to the learning commons at

this time will often relocate to the computer labs. The book fair is the largest fundraiser for the

learning commons. With money earned from the book fair, the media specialist can order new

books, purchase materials for the library, and purchase any technology needed to keep in the

learning commons. This money is not used towards school-wide technology like computer carts.

The learning commons is also used to host staff meetings and professional development

workshops. All faculty meetings are held in the learning commons in order to use the projector,

tables, and chairs. Staff professional development workshops are also held in the learning

commons. When professional development workshops are held during the school day, the
learning commons is closed to all students and staff. Students are not allowed to visit the

learning commons to check out books or work during this time. The learning commons is a

convenient place to hold meetings, but this hinders students from using the learning commons to

work.

Evaluation

The Cedar Ridge learning commons is a welcoming and inviting environment. Students

often visit the learning commons to check out books and for regular encore classes. Staff

members visit the learning commons for meetings and professional development.

After reviewing all data in the report, it is clear that a media specialist is necessary to lead

the learning commons. According to the organizational chart, the media specialist is a key

connection between county officials and staff members. The media clerk is doing a great job

with all of the responsibilities that she is able to take on. She manages book check out, fixed

asset reports, and running classes. However, without a media specialist there is no collaboration

between teachers and the learning commons. The media specialist plays a key role in

implementing digital learning in the classroom. For example, the countywide Digital Learning

Day was March 10th. The principal had no one to send out the reminders for Digital Learning

Day or support teachers with creating assignments using technology. The learning commons

should be an extension of the classroom in order to support student success. A media specialist

would be able to support teachers by bringing in grade level content to the learning commons,

providing instructional technology support, and training in various areas. Currently, teachers do

not have any support in instructional technology other than the instructional specialist. The

instructional specialist focuses on helping teachers integrate new strategies. The media specialist
could work with the instructional specialist to integrate effective uses of technology into the

classroom.

It is hard to evaluate if the learning commons is meeting goals for the year, because the

learning commons has not created any official goals for the year. The former media specialist

briefly mentioned that her personal goals for the learning commons were to weed out old

resources and collaborate more often with teachers. Before she left to become assistant principal,

she did begin meeting those goals by weeding out old and outdated resources. She also visited

grade level collaborative planning meetings. The future media specialist should make goals for

the learning commons and create a plan to achieve the goals. It would also be important for the

media specialist to create a vision for the learning commons that aligns with the school vision.

Overall, the learning commons has many changes that need to be made before it can become a

true technology center.

Part B: Monthly Brag Report
Appendix A - Learning Commons Observation Checklist
Appendix B: Job Descriptions

Media Specialist Job Description (retrieved from Columbia County BOE Website)
Technology Support Specialist Job Description (retrieved from Columbia County BOE

Website)
Appendix C: Lesson Plans