Running Head: INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOFY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

Individual Teacher Assessment Narrative

Megan Ryall
Kennesaw State University

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The art teacher at Gwinnett Intervention Education Center East (GIVE East)
responded to two questionnaires that were constructed to evaluate her use of
instructional technology and her current attitude towards incorporating technology
in to the classroom. A part of my role as the Blended Learning Department Chair is
to facilitate teachers through the transition of traditional teaching styles to more of
a flipped classroom environment. Mrs. G. has demonstrated a lot of interest in
embracing this new movement by seeking me out for assistance, attending Yall
Come Help Sessions, and reading the tech tip of the week that is emailed to the
staff each week. The size and demographics of her classroom changes constantly as
new students can arrive daily. The majority of the students she teaches come from
low income families and the majority of her special education students are served
for emotional behavior disorders. Mrs. G. is fortunate in that the principal supports
our flipped classroom imitative and as a result she has a teacher laptop, overhead
projector, eClass desire 2 learn course shell to host digital course materials and
each student arrives with a laptop.
Mrs. G answered questions on the Level of Technology Integration Survey
which was created based on the LoTi framework. The questions were designed to
get a feel for how Mrs. G uses technology in the classroom as well as her schools
attitude towards incorporating technology. When asked if there is effective
utilization of technology for increasing student performance Mrs. G said she agrees.
However when it came down to questions about using technology in the classroom
with her peers she answered disagree. Based on these results I would say that Mrs.
G is not against technology, she sees some effectiveness toward increasing student
performance but she is not using technology in the classroom. This leaves Mrs. G at
a LoTi level 1 because teacher uses technology only for productivity tools
(Learning Quest, Inc. , 2007) and although students are creating art projects the
majority of classroom instruction is teacher-centered. Although Mrs. G is fairly

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confident with using her computer for word processing, internet research and email
she has not experienced a lot of the educational web 2.0 tools that are at her
disposal. Additionally, our principal is pushing all teachers to use eClass to host our
daily lessons. Since Mrs. G. teaches art it will be challenging to find examples of
other flipped art classes. However, I hope to move Mrs. G. from a level 1 to at
least a level 3 by the end of the school year. I am hoping that through training her
on eClass that she will begin to incorporate technology aspects in to her art
classroom.
Fortunately Mrs. G. sees that eClass is the way our school is headed and she
is on board. I have developed a very positive relationship with Mrs. G. over the past
several years which will make incorporating the Partnership Approach (Knight,
2007) feel natural and not forced. She identifies me as someone who loves to help
others and who is well versed in the technology that is being incorporated. That
being said, despite being completely overwhelmed by this new shift in instructional
methodology she trusts that I will be there to provide her the support she needs to
make this transition. According to Mrs. G.s adopter survey results you can see it is
important to have people she knows getting on board and providing her with real
life examples. Since she said she typically embraces new ideas and seeks out
training I will not have to fight her to use technology. My challenge is going to be
finding real life examples for her to see in order to aid her through figuring out how
to use eClass in art class. However, she agreed that part of a teachers job is to
experiment and even fail. This means Mrs. G comes to me with some resilience that
will hopefully get her through trouble shooting when things do not go as planned.
Ultimately the plus side to all of this is that Mrs. G. is the department chair of
electives and if I can get her up and running with eClass she can then turn around
and support the other electives teachers in her department.

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I have scheduled to provide Mrs. G. with eClass training on a weekly and as
needed basis. This is a huge paradigm shift for the nature of her course so there will
be difficulties. To make our time effective I know it will be beneficial to locate
examples of flipped art classes. In working with Mrs. G., I know that it is extremely
important for her voice to be heard and for her to have time to reflect on what she
has been given. As a result what has worked best is she reads the blended learning
weekly newsletter and watches the tech tip of the week. This tech tip of the week
consists of how to videos on topics requested by the staff as we work towards
training them all on eClass. Then Mrs. G. will come to me with any questions she
may have over that weeks lesson. The goal is to increase Mrs. G.s LoTi level and
boost her confidence in navigating and using eClass.

Mrs. G.s LoTi Survey Results

Question 1: There is effective utilization of technology for increasing student
performance.

Agree

Question 2: There is effective utilization of technology for increasing teacher

performance.

Neutral

Question 3: There is effective utilization of technology that aides in meeting the

school/district standards.

Agree

Question 4: There is a focus on development of computer literary for students

throug out the school.

Neutral

Question 5: There is a focus on development of computer literarcy skills for staff

throughout the school.

Agree

Question 6: My students and I use digital tools and resources (e.g., interactive
white board, digital student response system, online tutorials) primary to
supplement the curriculum and reinforce specific content standards.
Neutral
Question 7: My students use the classroom digital tools and resources to engage in
relevant, challenging, and self-directed learning experiences that address the
content standards.

Neutral

Question 8: I assign web-based projects (e.g., web collaborations, WebQuests) to

my students that emphasize complex thinking strategies (e.g., problem-solving,
decision-making, experimental inquiry) aligned to the content standards.
Disagree
Question 9: Students in my classroom use the digital tools and resources to create
web-based (e.g., we posters, student blogs or wikis, basic webpages) or multimedia
presentations (e.g., PowerPoint) that showcase digitally their research (i.e.,
information gathering) on topics that I assign.
Disagree
Question 10: The school ensures that students and staff have regular and ready
access to utilize instructional technology, and a comprehensive collection of
materials that supports the instructional program.
Disagree
Question 11: The school provides clear rules and regulations regarding internet
safety and usage.

Agree

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Question 12: I promote, monitor, and model the ethical use of digital information
and technology in my classroom (e.g., appropriate citing or resources, respecting
copyright permissions)

Agree

Question 13: There is a focus on rigor and its relation to technology usage.
Neutral
Question 14: Technology lessons are assessed regularly to determine the level of
thinking components.
Question 15: I use different digital media and formats (e.g, blogs, online
newsletters, online lesson plans, podcasting, digital documents) to communicate
information effectively to students, parents, and peers.
Agree
Mrs. G.'S Adopter Survey Results
10/12/2014 21:28
1. Which Best Describes you:
2. When I am exposed to new innovation I usually lack the
information to use it and I am not inspired to find out more
information about the innovation.
3. I am interested in new innovation and I usually actively seek
related information/details.
4. I usually take the concept of the change and weigh the
advantages/disadvantages of using the innovation and decide
whether to adopt or reject the innovation.
5. I usually use new innovations to a varying degree depending
on the situation.
6. I usually use new innovations and continue to use the
innovation for every situation.
7. After implementing change, I keep abreast of any outcomes
that are a result of its implementation.
8. When new learning and training is offered I pursue those
opportunities that are of benefit to me.
9. Real life examples of innovations that have been successful
under similar circumstances motivate me to attempt them.
10. Support from administration is necessary for newly
implemented innovations to be carried out consistently.
11. As a teacher, part of your job is to experiment and even fail.
12. Having new technology tools in the classroom, increases
learning.

I usually use new

technologies when most
people I know do.
Agree
Neutral
Agree
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Agree
Agree
Strongly Agree

References
Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching a partnership approach to improving
instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: NSDC :.
LoTi Sniff Test. (2007, January 1). Retrieved October 12, 2014.