Standard 5.1 Needs Assessment
Candidates conduct needs assessments to determine school-wide, faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths and weaknesses to inform the content and delivery of technology-based professional learning programs. (PSC 5.1/ISTE 4a)
Artifact: individual teacher technology assessment
Reflection:
This artifact, an individual teacher technology assessment, was written in ITEC 7460 Professional Learning and Technology Innovation during the Fall 2018 semester. Before completing this activity, I had to survey the staff to see who would be willing to work with me and who would like a coach in the area of technology. My questions ideas came from Knight’s (2007) Instructional Coaching text. My reasoning for working with the teacher I did was because she asked me for help in creating electronic portfolios with her students.
This artifact highlights my ability to conduct a needs assessment to determine faculty members’ strengths and weaknesses and assist them in growing their technology use with their students. I used a technology needs assessment survey results to narrow my focus to a single teacher who reached out for assistance. I also assisted other teachers based on the results, but this artifact I focused on one teacher. Based on the needs assessment, I assisted this teacher in researching different electronic portfolios and informed her on three different options. We reviewed each together and discussed which ones she would like to try. Based on our research and experimenting with these different electronic portfolio apps, we decided on Class Dojos electronic portfolio simply because her parents were already signed up to receive information through Class Dojo. She did not want to wait until the next school year to start with the electronic portfolios, so Class Dojo was the best option at the time. Seesaw was the other application we both thought was great for our students as well.
This was a meaningful artifact to complete for several reasons. I never conducted a needs assessment before, and if gave me some interesting information about where my current school was with technology use. Not only did this needs assessment unlock potential technology being unused within our school, but also showed me that teachers may not know how to utilize some of the technology available to them. The one thing I would have done differently was to not work with only one teacher. Even though many had no interest in working with me, I should have brought the fourth-grade team into the electronic portfolio idea as well.
This artifact impacts faculty development because it takes a needs-based assessment and assists in developing appropriate professional learning for the staff. This gives teachers insight as to how to use their technology available to them. This artifact also impacts school improvement because it helps with establishing a model for evaluating what teachers need regarding professional learning.
This artifact, an individual teacher technology assessment, was written in ITEC 7460 Professional Learning and Technology Innovation during the Fall 2018 semester. Before completing this activity, I had to survey the staff to see who would be willing to work with me and who would like a coach in the area of technology. My questions ideas came from Knight’s (2007) Instructional Coaching text. My reasoning for working with the teacher I did was because she asked me for help in creating electronic portfolios with her students.
This artifact highlights my ability to conduct a needs assessment to determine faculty members’ strengths and weaknesses and assist them in growing their technology use with their students. I used a technology needs assessment survey results to narrow my focus to a single teacher who reached out for assistance. I also assisted other teachers based on the results, but this artifact I focused on one teacher. Based on the needs assessment, I assisted this teacher in researching different electronic portfolios and informed her on three different options. We reviewed each together and discussed which ones she would like to try. Based on our research and experimenting with these different electronic portfolio apps, we decided on Class Dojos electronic portfolio simply because her parents were already signed up to receive information through Class Dojo. She did not want to wait until the next school year to start with the electronic portfolios, so Class Dojo was the best option at the time. Seesaw was the other application we both thought was great for our students as well.
This was a meaningful artifact to complete for several reasons. I never conducted a needs assessment before, and if gave me some interesting information about where my current school was with technology use. Not only did this needs assessment unlock potential technology being unused within our school, but also showed me that teachers may not know how to utilize some of the technology available to them. The one thing I would have done differently was to not work with only one teacher. Even though many had no interest in working with me, I should have brought the fourth-grade team into the electronic portfolio idea as well.
This artifact impacts faculty development because it takes a needs-based assessment and assists in developing appropriate professional learning for the staff. This gives teachers insight as to how to use their technology available to them. This artifact also impacts school improvement because it helps with establishing a model for evaluating what teachers need regarding professional learning.