Running Head: Individual Teacher Technology Assessment 1

Individual Teacher Technology Assessment

Aimee Mancil
PL & Technology Innovation (ITEC 7460)
Kennesaw State University
Ed.S. Instructional Technology, Spring 2014
Individual Teacher Technology Assessment 2
I am coaching a coworker at Center. She has agreed to let me coach her in technology
throughout the rest of the semester. Ms. H is an Art teacher in Ware County. She has been
teaching for 10 years now at multiple schools. Right now she is working at another Elementary
School in Ware County on Monday and Tuesday. She is at Center Elementary Wednesday
through Friday. We work only a few doors down from each other and are on the same schedule.
We bounce ideas off of each other and really get along well. The only thing that concerns me
about coaching her is that she is only at Center 3 days a week so it limits our time together.
I interviewed Ms. H using the LoTi Questionnaire that my Professional Learning
Community developed. When asked, How often do you use digital tools during the instructional
day? she answered multiple times a day. She stated that she uses the SmartBoard and
PowerPoint presentations for her each lesson that she teaches. Mrs. H. answered once a week to
the question, How often do your students use digital tools during the day? When asked if
students are using digital tools to collaborate with others outside of the classroom she stated
never. She said she would like to incorporate virtual field trips to art museums but the time
constraints do not allow her to do so. She has only 30 minutes a week with each class.
Mrs. H answered that she uses digital tools to communicate with parents multiple
times a week. She especially likes the technology application Reminder 101 to remind parents
about Art Club each week. She uses digital tools multiple times a day that are aligned with
Blooms Taxonomy in the assignments that she assigns to her students. When introducing art
lesson, Ms. H models the use of digital tools to her students. She also gives the students a choice
of digital tools to use but is limited to what she can use due to the time limit and limited
computer access. She does not have many computers in her class, which also restricts the use of
digital tools during instructional time. This past year has been a little tricky with professional
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learning. We have not focused much on technology. Less than 4 hours of training have been
implemented this year with professional learning. The Center Elementary Staff has focused on
differentiation and getting ready for the TKES observation instrument for next year in our
professional learning community.
Ms. H responded that the technology in her classroom during instruction is Mixed
Student and Teacher Focused. She asked me how to make it more Student Focused. This is
something we will be working on during our coaching sessions. The students are allowed to self-
direct themselves using technology to complete an assignment multiple times a day. She
implements this by allowing students to look up drawing sites and images to draw.
Using the Adopter Level Survey, Ms. H stated that she strongly agrees that she loves new
technology and is usually the first one to use them. Therefore, she disagrees the statement that
she is skeptical of new technologies and uses them only when she has to. Ms. H is usually the
first one to share new technology with her coworkers. Due to time constraints and the limited
technology in her room, she feels neutral about trying new technology in the classroom on a
regular basis. If more time was available and she had more technology in her classroom, she
would definitely try out new technology with her students in the classroom.
Ms. H disagrees that it would be very challenging for her to teach a lesson when
technology is unavailable. She has a whiteboard and drawing books that would supplement the
lack of technology if technology were unavailable in her classroom. She stated that she uses
technology 70% percent of the time. The other 30% of the time is used for the students to draw
or complete a project. Ms. H feels neutral about the statement that students and teachers are too
dependent on technology. She stated that it depends on the subject, teacher and situation. She
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strongly agrees that it is important to her to adequately plan for the use of technology in her
classroom.
Ms. H feels agrees that she allows her students to experiment with technology that she
does not feel adequate with. She stated she loves for students to show her new things that she
does not feel comfortable with. She stated this happens at least once a week. Ms. H strongly
agrees that she likes using technology alongside her students. She stated that they teach her more
than she teaches them about technology. Ms. H calls the students mini technology mentors for
not only other students but the teachers as well.
When Ms. H was asked what she was most interested in learning about when
implementing technology in her classroom she stated that she would like to use the SmartBoard
Senteo Software and Clickers to build test and gather data using the Georgia Performance
Standards for Art. This data will help guide her instruction more. She will know the instructional
needs of her students and how to make them proficient in the multiple Georgia Performance
Standards for Art. We will be working on this together for the rest of the semester. We are
hoping to have all test completed by the end of school so she can implement the test for next
year. The data from the test will be an invaluable resource for her and the students she teaches.
We are also going to collaborate and work on having a virtual field trip towards the end
of this year. We will co-teach a lesson and will use the virtual field trip to build the students prior
knowledge in the lesson that we are going to teach together. This is in the planning stages. More
information will be available at a later time. Ms. H and I are also going to look into writing and
applying for grants that could possibly fund more technology in her classroom. We are hoping to
get more computers and art software for her students to use in the classroom.
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Ms. H and I are meeting on Thursday from 10:15-11:10 and also after school if the time
is needed. I am very excited to work with such an awesome educator and hope to be a great
technology coach for her. I am hoping these coaching sessions will provide her with test and data
that she can use to drive instruction. My hopes are for her to collaborate more with professionals
outside the classroom. Ms. H and I are also going to work diligently to get her more technology
in the classroom. I envision this being a successful collaboration between two co-workers that
will benefit the students and allow them to be the best they can be academically and personally!












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References
Higgs, S. (2014, February 13). Interview by A Mancil