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Running head: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND BLACKBOARD

Updating the Cobb County School District Assistive Technology Website
and Transitioning to Blackboard





Sally Jackson
Capstone Proposal
Kennesaw State University

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Setting/Context
The Cobb County School District Assistive Technology website has not been updated in
over four years. The information on site is outdated; no longer providing current resources to
promote teacher education of Assistive Technology tools that students use. At this time,
information from the site is available only on the Intranet; therefore, only the school district
employees have access to information on this site. This significantly restricts how the
information on this site is viewed and shared with members of Cobb County Learning
Community.
Capstone Problem and Rationale
The present Assistive Technology website for Cobb County School District contains
outdated resources and provides limited information to its teachers regarding currently used
software, hardware, or instructional tools available as classroom resources. The site has not been
updated in over four years, has many broken links and outdated information. Consequently, the
site no longer functions as an informational resource to teachers; and this has had a negative
learning impact on student achievement of students with disabilities. This Capstone project will
be completed by revising and modernizing the website for the Assistive Technology Department
of Cobb County School District and placing it in the Learning Management System (LMS),
Blackboard. Once completed, the Assistive Technology website will provide updated video
tutorial information regarding specialized software titles frequently used with students who have
special needs throughout Cobb County. It will also contain lists of resource materials for
differentiated instruction that are available for teachers to check out around the county. Forms
needed to complete an Assistive Technology (AT) referral for consultation are found here.
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Learning resources for classroom teachers; checklists for student and classroom
accommodations, software comparisons, and online learning resources are also listed.
When teachers have learning needs, AT specialists frequently make recommendations
which involves visiting the AT website where teachers can learn information regarding software
and hardware operations, lending library options, and acquire Assistive Technology forms
needed to request a consultation. It is felt that this updated site will allow the teachers to
construct their knowledge through activities presented (on the site), allowing educators to
generate their own knowledge (Roblyer, Doering (2013), p.37).
Objectives/Deliverables
Problem Objective Timeline Deliverable
Outdated information
on Assistive
Technology site.
Update Assistive
Technology website
December 1, 2013 Updated Assistive
Technology site on
Blackboard
Broken links on
website
Replace with current
links, make screencast
videos if software
tutorials are not
available, or find
appropriate online
content
December 1, 2013 Current video
tutorials, appropriate
online content, and no
broken links will be
displayed on the site
Lending resources for
differentiated
instruction resources
not current
Make current list of
resources for
differentiated
instruction that may
be loaned to teachers
December 1, 2013 Lending library will
have a current list of
resources for check
out to teachers

Parent tab not
working in previous
website
Create informational
area where AT
specialists post
information for
parents and teachers.
This will be viewed
without having to
login to Blackboard.
December 1, 2013 Interactive area will
be created where AT
specialist will post
information for
parents and teachers;
viewing without
having to log into
Blackboard.
Assistive Technology List training December 1, 2013 Interactive calendar
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trainings are
conducted around the
county, but this
information is not
readily available to
teachers.
information on a
calendar that is
accessible for all AT
specialist to list
training sessions they
will offer in their
clusters.
where all AT
specialists will list
training sessions
offered in their
clusters.
Unable to determine
efficacy of Assistive
Technology site
Create survey
(Appendix A)
questions that
determine if website
meets the needs of
Cobb County
Learning Community
December 30, 2013 Create a survey in
Google Docs that will
give data to the
Assistive Technology
Coordinator on the
efficacy of the site in
hopes of creating
website improvement,
and help the AT team
plan how they
determine future
training sessions in
the county.

PSC Standards
PSC/ISTE STANDARD
1.1/1a Shared Vision- Facilitate the development and implementation of a shared vision
for the use of technology in teaching, learning and leadership.
1.4/1d Research, recommend and implement strategies for initiating and sustaining
technology innovations for managing the change process in schools.
3.3/3c Develop, model, and facilitate the use of online and blended learning, digital
content, and learning networks to support and extend student learning and expand
opportunities and choices for professional learning for teachers and
administrators.
2.6/2f Model and facilitate effective use of research based best practices in instructional
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design when designing and developing digital tools, resources, and technology-
enhanced learning experiences.
3.7/3g Utilizes digital communication and collaboration tools to communicate locally
and globally with students, parents, peers, and the larger community.

Project Description
The Assistive Technology Coordinator was contacted for approval on this project. She
indicated she would prefer to have the updated information transition to Blackboard since so
many departments within the county are posting their departmental information on this Learning
Management System. Since the target audiences for this project are teachers, and they are
accustomed to using this LMS, it would enhance their access to the Assistive Technology
resources if this information was converted to Blackboard. At the time of this discussion,
additional input was gathered regarding specific ideas and concepts the Assistive Technology
Coordinator would like to have included in the Assistive Technology Blackboard site. It became
vital to update the site to include: current information on staff members, update links for video
tutorials, remove broken links, list available learning resources for check out in the county, a
team-training calendar and provide forms needed to make a referral for a request for
consultation.
A discussion ensued regarding the tremendous resources the Assistive Technology team
have, yet there is no place for them to share these resources with teachers or parents. These
resources may take the form of informational articles in journals, tech tips handouts Assistive
Technology specialists create, or strategies for teachers to use in special education classrooms.
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The Assistive Technology Coordinator recalled when the original website was created, it was
hoped that the parent area would act as an interactive vehicle in the website. However, this never
came to fruition. Therefore, it was agreed that a place should be created on the current site for
AT Specialists to share their knowledge with parents, students, and teachers. The Assistive
Technology Coordinator requested the former webmaster and present Cobb County Technical
Training Specialist (TTS) be contacted for support during this process. Upon contacting the TTS,
the AT departmental needs were discussed, and she assisted with constructing the shell once the
needs of the project were outlined. To facilitate navigation in the site, tabs were created with
these headings: Announcements, AT Staff, AT Forms, AT Workshop Calendar, Free resources,
Tutorials, Whats new in AT!, and Tech Tips. The new areas AT wished to showcase and share
as public areas are Tech Tips, AT Staff, and AT Workshop Calendar tabs. The Assistive
Technology County Training Calendar will be posted so teachers in the county can choose to
attend training sessions they are interested in at a convenient location around the county. The
video tutorial page will include working links for currently used tools and software that teachers
can readily watch for quick start instructions. The Tech Tips, Tutorial, and Workshop Calendar
tabs have been made public and do not need a Blackboard login. A link to this site is provided in
the AT Specialists Cobb County email signature. Ready access to the Blackboard site will
facilitate the shared knowledge and resources that the Assistive Technology team wishes to
showcase with the Cobb County Learning Community.
Problem Timeline
Contact TTS to discuss construction of the
Assistive Technology shell
September 1, 2013
Transfer information from Assistive
Technology website to Blackboard
October, 30, 2013
Revise list of current Assistive Technology
resources available for check out in the county
October 15, 2013
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Revise video tutorial link and remove broken
links
November 15, 2013
Create shared gmail account where AT
specialist lists training sessions on a calendar
that is posted on Blackboard.
November 15, 2013
Create public area where AT specialist
places resources for parents, students, and
teachers.
November 15, 2013
Create survey linked to Google Docs to
determine efficacy of site.
December 30, 2013

To start construction of this project, A Blackboard shell was created by the TTS. The
TTS is an employee of Cobb County School District and is accessible by appointment. If
problems rose, she supports construction of the Blackboard shell, as well as troubleshooting. The
way this learning management system is structured, various tabs will be created to visually
support visitors as they navigate the site. The shell is constructed with teachers as the target
audience, focusing on student Assistive Technology tools they need to successfully use in the
classroom.
Resources
The materials needed to complete this project will include:
Computer
Internet access
Intranet access/VPN access (while working at home)
Blackboard access-through Cobb Intranet
Technology Training Specialist (TTS) support
Assistive Technology Coordinator support

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Evaluation Plan
The present Assistive Technology website does not have a way to track visitors, making
it impossible to know how often it is visited. It has been outdated for quite a while, does not have
current information, many broken links, and it no longer serves as a functional learning resource.
Instead, teachers use it solely to access forms and request an Assistive Technology consultation.
Instead, once the site has transitioned to Blackboard, it will have the ability to track the number
of visitors to this site; this will give data on which areas are being visited most frequently.
General tracking information will be helpful in knowing which areas of the site have been most
useful to the visitors. Additionally, a survey (Appendix A) is embedded in the site. This survey
requests information in the following areas: visitor demographics, desired information retrieval,
if the desired information was not found-why not, teacher plans for information implementation,
and suggestions for how the site can be improved. This survey is linked to Google Docs which
will provide the AT coordinator with data to guide future AT training sessions around the
county, determine the efficacy of the site, and lead to possible future improvements and
revisions of the site to meet the needs of the Cobb County Learning community.

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Appendix A
Blackboard Survey
1. Choose your role.
General Education Teacher
Special Education Teacher
Parent
Paraprofessional
Administrator
Other

2. Choose appropriate grade level.
Elementary School
Middle School
High School
Other

3. Did you find the information you were looking for?
Yes
No

4. If yes, will you implement this information with a
Student
Group of students
Both
Other

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Appendix A

5. If you didnt find what you were looking for, why not?
Text box

6. How can we improve your experience when visiting the AT Blackboard site?
Text box














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References
Doering, A. & Roblyer, M. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6
th

ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.