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Collaborative Technology
Development:
A Staff Development Model for
Integrating Computers into School Curriculum
Karen
Cadiero-Kaplan
San Diego State University ~
College of Education
- Copyright 1999. Association of
the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
- Distributed via the Web by
permisson of AACE.
The following was presented at
the Society for Information Technology & Teacher
Education SITE
99 10th International Conference
in San Antonio, Texas.
February, 1999
Abstract: This paper documents the methodology,
research process, process interventions, and the resulting
quality indicators of a technology staff development
project. This project was designed to assist the
administration at an elementary school in San Diego,
California, in developing a capacity building model of staff
development which would support the effective integration of
technology into the curriculum. The aims of the project were
to develop basic computer expertise among teachers, while
providing them with immediate strategies and resources to
assist them in effectively utilizing computers with their
students their classroom environments.
Introduction
The classroom environment is changing in every school in
the United States. Today, 98% of all schools in the United
States have computers
(Educational
Testing Service [ETS],1997). According to the National
Center for Educational Statistics (cited in Vojek, 1997),
"65% of all US public schools had access to the Internet as
of the fall of 1996". During the same period 14% of all
classrooms had Internet access, and by the year 2000, it is
predicted, that all public schools in this country will have
Internet access. What these statistics suggest is that
technology access is on the rise in every American
classroom. However, more computers and greater access to the
World Wide Web in and of themselves guarantee nothing (Foa,
Johnson & Schwab, 1997). Their expanding presence does
raise questions however about the ways teachers are being
prepared to utilize such technology within their classrooms
and curriculum. Additionally, this growing presence of
technology demands that schools be prepared in providing
technological support and training in the use of such
resources to staff and teachers. This paper documents one
schools journey in meeting this challenge and as such
provides a model of a staff development program assisting
teachers in their own technological development and the
skills for integrating technology into their elementary
classrooms
This project was developed to assist the administration
at Caesar Chavez
Elementary school in San Diego, California, in
developing a program for teachers that supported effective
integration of technology into the curriculum. The aims of
the project were to develop basic computer expertise among
the teachers, while providing them with immediate strategies
and resources to enable them to utilize computers with their
students in their current curriculum and classroom
environments.
According to the report, Computers and Classrooms: The
Status of Technology in U.S. Schools (ETS, 1997) the average
student to computer ratio is ten students for every one
computer. At the time of this project (1997-98 school year)
the average student to computer ratio at Chavez Elementary,
was twelve students for every one computer. Salpeter (1997)
stated, that "interactive technology plays little more than
an incidental role in classrooms". The rationalization
postulated for this incidental role was high
student/computer ratios. Salpeter (1997) further stated that
this role is often the "result of teaching approaches and
curricula that place relatively little value on technology
as a tool". This real concern was at the forefront in the
planning and development stages of this project. The
principal of Chavez Elementary made it clear at the outset
of this project that the teaching staff should not only
value the technology they would have access to (2 computers
and a color printer in every classroom hooked to a school
site server), but have effective instruction and support
that would allow teachers to effectively utilize the school
based technology as a resource tool within their classroom
environment.
This paper documents the year long process of technology
staff development at Chavez Elementary School, an inner city
school with a student enrollment of 600. The project was
funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting through the
Ernest
Boyer Summit Next Step Grant project funds. The first
two sections of this paper document and review the research
methodology and scope of the action research process
utilized to determine needs and develop relevant training
materials and activities. This process was key to the
initial and continued support the school staff provided in
terms of the spaces created for the development of
innovative programs and working relationships. The third
section, reviews the sequence of the intervention phases and
training models developed. The paper then documents the
quality indicators that resulted from this research,
including those that led to capacity building among the
teaching staff. The final section, provides recommendations
for the continued support and development of technology use
at Chavez Elementary. It is hoped that this paper will
provide a working model for other school sites interested in
developing a site-based technology staff development
program. A copy of this report and the research tools
utilized within this project are available on the project
web site at
http://edweb.sdsu.edu./plc/cpb/.
Methodology
This project followed a collaborative action research
model, which not only accounts for, but values and requires
the experiences and perceptions of all participants with the
"fundamental aim to improve practice rather than to produce
knowledge" (Elliott, 1991) . In this manner the project was
designed to include the administrators, teachers, and staff
from Chavez Elementary along with the grant administrators
from San Diego State University in formulating goals,
materials, and activities for technology integration. This
was first addressed by creating an on-site Technology
Committee, comprised of seven teachers, one representative
for each grade level, and the Project Researcher from San
Diego State University. The committee met monthly throughout
the project year to dialogue about staff and student needs,
evaluate software, design and develop technology support
materials, and to coordinate and implement on-site training
activities. The school staff, with support from the
administration, advocated for on-site technology training
that addressed the specific needs of the school and
community.
Needs assessment instruments, taking the form of surveys
and questionnaires were developed and utilized to help guide
the process of developing teacher training models,
identifying immediate needs and future requirements, and
setting goals to ensure quality, comprehensible technology
integration. Continual dialogue and reflection was the key
to this methodology and contributed to the project's
success. To this end the Project Researcher and Technology
Committee met with teachers, staff, and administrators
regularly to respond to technology concerns and classroom
management issues related to the training and integration of
computer software and hardware.
Needs assessment data were collected throughout the
project via six survey/questionnaire instruments. These
instruments were constructed based on the site network
server, and computer software and hardware available to
teachers at the school site. Teachers and staff were also
sent weekly electronic mail (e-mail) messages informing them
of curriculum related world wide web (WWW) sites with a
request for feedback on their use of these sites. In
addition, the Project Researcher gathered informal anecdotal
data through classroom observations and conversations with
administrators, teachers, and staff to determine
effectiveness of the process.
The research process was documented from the beginning of
this project via a project web page created utilizing Claris
Home page. This creation and maintenance of this website was
a requirement of the funding organization, the Corporation
of Public Broadcasting.
Research Process
- Scope
In order to implement not only the new technology, but
training and development it was crucial for the Project
Researcher, who was not part of the school community, to
establish a collaborative role and to gain the support
and trust of the school administration. According to
DeBevoise (1986), successful collaboration begins with
administrative support along with the ability of the
collaborator to gain trust by discovering common and
unifying interests, while not becoming involved in the
internal politics of the outside institution. At Chavez
this relationship was established by assisting in the
set-up of hardware and networking communications at the
beginning of the school year. Since this was a new school
the computers arrived in boxes and required much physical
set-up. By being available to assist in the hardware
set-up the Project Researcher established respect and a
positive rapport by sharing in the responsibilities at
the outset. In addition, relationships were developed and
maintained with other staff members through individual
coaching sessions. Such sessions, lead by the Project
Researcher and members of the Technology Committee, were
designed to assist classroom teachers in the basic set-up
and use of their classroom computers.
The collaboration process also included visits with
the Principal and Resource Teacher to review in-service
schedules and technological needs, along with two initial
in-services for the teaching staff; one detailing the use
of their e-mail software and the second on the use of
word processing and drawing software as a computer
center. These activities (set-up, coaching, in-services)
not only provided the staff with an introduction to the
role of the Project Researcher, but also allowed them to
see the commitment the Project Researcher had to their
school and program. The establishment of commitment and
trust early in the project was a key to the success. As
DeBevoise (1986) points out: "In the end, collaboration
depends on people on both sides being willing to make it
work. You can have as elaborate a mechanism as you like,
but that won't carry things through. It's the people that
matter "(p.12).
- Needs Assessment
In order to understand the difference in training
models, this project was designed to achieve, it is
important to review the training the teachers at this
school received in computer use prior to the
implementation of this project. The Project Researcher
was invited to observe and attend the required two day
(12 hours) school district computer training classes. In
this class the teachers received computer technology
instruction in several software programs and multi-media
hardware. Notes from the observation of this training can
be found in Table 1. What is
important to note here is the vast amount of
technological information covered compared to the
experience most of the teachers had with computers at
this point in time. On the initial survey completed by
the teaching staff, 70% indicated that their primary use
of computers was for completing word processing tasks
indicating that most teachers were unfamiliar with the
use of the software being covered and the regular use of
computers in general.
During these two days of training it was observed that
of the 23 teachers attending this in-service 75% had
little to no experience utilizing computers. The other
25%, in addition to myself, assisted the technology
instructor in coaching teachers through the required
tasks. The majority of teachers were frustrated and
uncomfortable with the vast amount of information and the
limited time they had to practice and absorb what they
were being presented with. This became a point of
reflection for the Project Researcher and Technology
Committee, it was determined that while this was valuable
training that all teachers needed, future training needed
to be more site-specific and focus on one software or
hardware application with instruction at a level where
teachers would feel comfortable and not overwhelmed.
To address this concern a needs assessment survey was
developed to assist in the development of on-site
training. The results from items assessing computer
experience (Table 2) revealed
that while the majority of teachers were comfortable
utilizing word processing software (96%) and basic
desktop (95%) applications they also indicated a desire
for more specific training in curriculum related software
such as Hyperstudio (68%) and Storybook Weaver (60%).
Programs that were not part of the district training and
programs that are more project oriented and student
centered.
- Process Interventions
Based on these survey results and continual contact
and dialogue with the Chavez administrators and teaching
staff, a staff development program consisting of four
phases was developed and implemented by the Project
Researcher and Technology Committee, these phases
consisted of:
Phase 1: School Wide In-Service
Training Sessions
- Trainers: Technology Committee and
the Service Coordinator
-
- Training Focus:
- -- Using Quick-Mail Pro
- -- Using ClarisWorks Drawing Software in
Classroom Computer Centers
- -- Individual Coaching on Classroom
Computer Use
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Phase 2: Weekly E-mail
Correspondence & Web Site Development
- Trainers: Service Coordinator
& Technology Committee
-
- Training Focus:
- --Working with E-Mail
- -- Introducing use of the Internet
through
Curriculum
Websites.
- -- Development of
Chavez
Elementary Web Site
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Phase 3: Technology
Training
Trees
- Trainers: Technology Committee
& Classroom Teachers
-
- Training Focus:
- --Quick Mail Basics
- -- Mac Basics
- -- Using Storybook Weaver
- - -Netscape Basics
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Phase 4:
On-Site Workshop Series
- Trainers: Technology Committee
& Service Coordinator
-
- Training Focus:
- -- Basics ofHyperStudio
- -- Lesson Ideas forStory Book
Weaver
- -- Utilizing Multi-Media Equipment for
Classroom Projects
- -- Utilizing the Internet and Classroom
TV for Class Instruction
- -- Classroom Management and Curriculum
based Software
- -- Utilizing the School Network and CD
ROM Tower
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- Quality Indicators
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of these
programs teachers completed evaluation summaries after
completing each of the two workshop series. Upon
completion of the project the staff completed a post
assessment survey to evaluate the program. The results of
the Evaluation Summaries, Table
3, indicated that after the first workshop 89% of the
teachers believed that the workshops provided them with
new methods and strategies that they could use in the
classroom, after the second workshop 94% of the teachers
agreed with this statement. In addition after the first
workshop 89% of the teachers believed that the on-site
workshops were a productive use of staff-development
hours, and after the second workshop series 100% of the
teachers agreed with this item. Overall, the workshop
series was a great success partly due to the fact that
the sessions were lead by teachers on-site and that
participants were able to choose which areas they wanted
training in. The comments received
(Table 4) from the teachers
revealed that most felt that the workshops were
beneficial because of the "hands-on" opportunities and
the ideas they were able to put to use "right away".
The comparison of the pre and post assessment data and
classroom observations, revealed trends of increased
knowledge and use of computers in the classroom by both
teachers and students, more classrooms utilizing word
processing software to complete projects and an increase
in the use of HyperStudio, graphics, encyclopedia and CD
ROM software within the K-6 curriculum.
In addition, during Phase 4 the Technology Committee
wrote and received funding for a district grant project
that will support professional development and the
integration of new technologies into local education
reform efforts. This grant will be funded until the year
2001 by the Patterns Project which is part of Triton, a
multi-partner educational collaborative that integrates
technology with the standards-based education reform
efforts of the San Diego City Schools to create new
learning opportunities for students and teachers. It is
towards this end that this project assisted in capacity
building above and beyond expectations.
The teachers on the Technology Committee began the
school year with a vision of assisting teachers in
utilizing the computers in their classrooms and by the
end of the project were coaching their peers, leading
staff development workshops, and finally being the first
school in the district to receive a set of Oracle
Computers for grade 3-6 teachers based on the amount of
technology expertise and classroom technology integration
at the school site.
Recommendations
Upon completion of the project it was noted that the
Technology Training Trees, although not as successful as
anticipated, would be implemented again next year with
more structure and support. It should be noted that this
was a brand new school and in addition to setting up and
utilizing technology teachers and staff were also
involved in designing and implementing school wide
procedures, establishing school policy and teaching at a
new school site with a variety of technical and physical
interruptions. Thus, establishing the role of technology
was part of a multi-faceted school year with many goals
and challenges.
The workshop series will continue into the next school
year; however in order to allow for more teachers to
attend workshops the series will be held more often and
with less sessions. The intent is to provide staff and
presenters with the opportunity to attend the range of
sessions offered over the schools year. The plan is to
offer the six workshops from Workshop Series II in groups
of three sessions over four staff development days.
Finally, the school site will have, starting with the
1998-99 school year, a computer lab and a full time
technology teacher. This project proved successful in
laying the groundwork for site-based staff development
and has become a model for the further development of
technology at Chavez Elementary.
References
DeBvoise, W. (1986). Collaboration: Some principles of
bridgework. Educational Leadership, February, 1986, p
9-12.
Elliott, J. (1991). Action Research for Educational
Change. Philadelphia, PA: Open University Press.
Educational Testing Service (1997). Computers and
classrooms: The status of technology in U.S. schools. ETS
Research, Princeton NJ: Policy Information Center
[On-Line]. Available URL:
http://www.ets.org/research/pic/cc-sum.html.
Foa, L. Johnson, M.J., & Schwab R.L. (1997).
Connecting schools is only a start. In Education Week on
the Web [On-Line]. Available URL: http://www.edweek.org.
Salpeter, J. (1997). Bits, bytes, and a new
millennium. Technology & Learning, 17 (7) 6.
Vojtek, B. & Vojtek, R. (1997). Using technology
to emancipate time. Journal of Staff Development, 18 (3),
58-60.
To Contact Author - Write to:
kcadiero@mail.gcccd.cc.ca.us
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