Laramy Wells

FRIT 7739
Technology Program Administrator
Part A: Program Evaluation
Executive Summary
The media center of Indian Creek Middle School is a great example of a developing Learning
Commons. The originally traditional media center is beginning to see a major reconstruction as it is
converted into a Learning Commons. The center is located near the middle of the building and is
accessible from two different hallways. Operating hours for the center is one hour before and after
school hours. It is operated by their media specialist, Lori McGovern, who also serves as the school
Technology Teacher Leader. Mrs. McGovern has been the media specialist since 2006 and is only the
second person to hold this position. She is aided by a media assistant who mainly works with the
supervision of the students and the front desk operations. It is available to all students, faculty, and
administration. Mrs. McGovern offers informational tutorials on all technology being implemented in
the school for teachers and students. Following several interviews and an extended observation, it is
evident that the ICMS media center supports its mission and goals. The center does have its
weaknesses. Space and equipment are limited. The age of the school and the construction of the
facility will cause some unique and creative ways to improve this area as it develops into a Learning
Commons.
Organizational Chart

Methods
Multiple methods of data collection were used for this report. Data was collected from interviews
(Appendix A and B), observations (Appendix C), and from the school website (Appendix D). The media
specialist, school technical assistant, and members of the teacher tech committee were all
interviewed in a group setting. The faculty were interviewed via an online survey.
Center Context and Goals
History:
Indian Creek Middle School opened in 1997 when Newton County Schools opened several
schools including a high school, three elementary schools, and another middle school. The
center was constructed as a traditional school library with few computers and huge book
shelves. There have only been two media specialists since the school opened. Diane Donaldson
served as the media specialist from 1997 to 2006. When Lori McGovern took the position in
2006 there were only 4 computers in the media center, 3 classrooms had Activboards, and 2
classrooms had projectors. It wasnt until 2008 that technology truly began entering the
school. To date, every classroom with the exception of a few elective courses have
Activboards. Every classroom is equipped with a camera system through ViewPath and an audio
system with Audio Enhancement. Currently the media center is in the process of converting to
a Learning Commons. There are 31 computers in the media center and a projector for
presentations.
Mission:
The mission of Indian Creek Middle Schools media center is to connect literacy, learning, and
life. They accomplish this mission by providing intellectual and physical access to materials.
The Media and Tech Committee work together to design learning strategies to meet the
needs of individual students and stimulate an interest in learning.
Goals:
The goals of the center are to meet the needs of all learners, serve as a flexible and
accommodating facility in order to provide what any stakeholder needs at any specific time. In
order to meet these goals, the media center will need to continue its transition to a Learning
Commons to better assist students and teachers with collaboration needs and to teach the
proper uses of the learning tools within the center.
Stakeholders:
Stakeholders consist of the Newton County community as well as the faculty, staff, students
and parents of Indian Creek Middle School.
Key Personnel:
There are two key personnel in the media center; the media specialist and the media assistant.
The media specialist maintains the collection and materials, provides assistance to anyone in
the media center and supervises the media assistant. The media assistant, Jennifer Towns,

maintains the circulation desk, shelves returned books, provides assistance to anyone in the
media center, and monitors students visiting the center. The media specialist also serves as
the schools Technology Teacher Leader. In this position, she researches and delivers training
to help facilitate instructional technology in the classroom.
There are other important personnel who do not work within the media center but are vital to
Indian Creek Middle School functioning as a 21 st century school include the School Technical
Assistant (STA) and the School Technician. The STA, Melissa Roberson, monitors the main
computer lab and responses to basic hardware, software, network, and login issues. The
School Technician, Nicole Beaver, works with bigger technical issues and is responsible for the
imaging of all devices.
Center Activities:
The media center offers several services and activities for teachers and students. The media
center is the focal point for many of these activities, however Mrs. McGovern will gladly step
into the classroom to conduct instruction on technology and appropriate usage of technology.
Students are given the opportunity to seek one-on-one sessions regarding digital literacy and
digital citizenship. The media center also houses professional development for the faculty and
staff. Upon request, Mrs. McGovern will provide needed trainings with grade-level
professional learning communities and other groups of teachers. The center also maintains a
section of the school website complete with technology training guidelines and handouts. A
technology newsletter is distributed periodically to the faculty and staff to keep them up-todate with the newest resources and opportunities for technological growth.
Available to the teachers are several resources:
2 iPad carts with 30 iPads each
2 laptop carts with 30 laptops each
1 laptop cart with 16 laptops
2 computer labs (not including the media center) with 35 and 40 computers
respectively
A number of document cameras, digital and video cameras, Promethean ActivVotes and
ActivExpressions
Book fairs are held at numerous times throughout the school year to help promote a love for
books as well as assist with fundraising for the center.
The STA and school technician also provide assistance when it comes to hardware and
troubleshooting issues. Any request for tech assistance is submitted through the Newton
Online Workorder (NOW) system.

Evaluation
Following an extensive observation and several interviews, it is evident that the Indian Creek Middle
School media center is a well-functioning technology resource center. The conversion into a Learning
Commons is well underway and the facility is already showing its accessibility as a location for
collaboration and learning. I witnessed several students entering the media center to work with ease
and comfort. Mrs. Govern and her technology coworkers create a terrific environment that aides in
their mission to connect literacy, learning and life through the activities offers and the atmosphere
they have created with the walls of Indian Creek Middle School.
Even with the limitations of an older facility that was not built for technology, Mrs. McGovern has
done a terrific job with the media center. The ceiling did not easily lend itself to hanging a projector
and the wall space was limited to providing a projection screen; however Mrs. McGovern used some
old-fashioned engineering to rig a mount for both so that teachers can utilize this useful piece of
technology while conducting instruction in the media center. The size of the media center has
resulted in some issues as well. At 1750 square feet, this was one of the smaller facilities that I have
observed. Mrs. McGovern has done a terrific job with creating a space that promotes both
educational opportunities as well as room for relaxation and collaboration. Smaller bookshelves are
being placed on casters aiding in the centers mobility and lending itself to one of the goals of the
center which is to be flexible to all of their stakeholders.
This media center is amazing and anything I can recommend would be to facilitate what is already
being accomplished at Indian Creek Middle School. From some of my interviews I believe that that
school could benefit from creating a Digital Citizenship course. This could possibly be added as an
elective or offered during the schools Instructional Focus time. As a middle school, the students are
at a prime age to learn appropriate usage and strategies for technology. Many middle school students
are starting to use social media and are carrying their own devices. Having a course to teaching them
about their digital footprint would be very useful. Assisting this matter would be the implementation
of a student technology team. The school already has a technology committee consisting of faculty
but having a technology team with students as the members would help with the centers mission to
connect learning and life. A student team would provide the decision makers with an important insight
into what the students are interested in and the best ways to administer the information. In some
cases, the general student population would benefit more being trained and informed by their peers
than from the adults. In my observations of the classrooms, I feel that the teachers should receive
training on how to use the technology in a more interactive manner. Many of the teachers utilize the
ActivBoards as digital whiteboards and I never witnessed a student using the board. The Audio
Enhancement system features a teacher microphone but also a handheld microphone that can be used
by the students to allow for every student to hear responses and answers but also, the microphones
are the only way to hear audio through the classrooms camera system. If a teacher is utilizing the
classroom recordings for personal evaluations, they are missing the voices of the students.
As for the activities of the center, I discovered one major issue during my observations. I conducted
an observation during a benchmark testing window. I observed that classes were having to rotate in
and out of the two computer labs but no one was utilizing the 31 computers in the media center.

After inquiring about the matter, I was informed that the computers in the media center are
multipoint computers and thus risk resulting in a testing irregularity. Multipoint computers utilize one
tower to power 4-5 computers. Should there be a malfunction, multiple tests would be affected.
Although I see the usefulness in having multipoint computers within the classrooms, the school
should put resources and funds into equipping the media center with computers than can facilitate
testing. Currently standardized testing is a vital part of education and data collection so this would
be a much needed adjustment.
Appendices
Appendix A: Interview with Media Specialist
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

What is the history of the media center at Indian Creek Middle School?
Do you prefer to be called a librarian, media specialist, or something else?
How long have you been in this position?
What are the daily responsibilities of the center?
What is the goals and mission of the center?
What equipment does the center have and use?
What activities or programs does the center offer?
Who are the stakeholders?
What other positions or stakeholders are invested in the center?
How is your progression into a Learning Commons?

Appendix B: Questionnaire for Faculty

The following questions utilized a Likert scale. The choices were Strongly Disagree, Disagree,
Not Sure, Agree, and Strongly Agree.
1. The media center lends itself useful for everyday instruction.
2. The media center lends itself useful for technology training.
3. Technology offered by the media center is easy to acquire when needed.
4. Students are knowledgeable of technology use.
5. Students demonstrated the characteristics of digital citizens.
6. I am aware of all materials available to me through the media center.
7. I am comfortable using any of the technology available in the school.
8. I use my Promethean ActivBoard on a regular basis.
9. I use my Audio Enhancement system on a regular basis.
10. I use my ViewPath camera to record my classes on a regular basis.
11. I have watched recorded lessons as a means of personal reflection and evaluation.
The next section of questions were open-ended questions.
12. What are the technological strengths of Indian Creek Middle School?
13. What are the technological weaknesses of Indian Creek Middle School?
14. If you have reserved the media center or a computer lab, what are you using them for?

Appendix C: Observation Checklist

Observation
Location of Instruction

Evidence/Usage
Media Center

Computer Lab

Classroom

Technology Usage

Teacher Use

Student Use

Appropriate Usage

Evident

Not Evident

Monitoring Technology Use

Evident

Not Evident

Accessibility to Tech Guides

and Troubleshooting

Evident

Not Evident

Availability for Tech Support

Evident

Not Evident

Technology Being Used:

ActivBoard
Audio Enhancement
ViewPath/Safari Montage
iPads/Tablets
Laptops/Computers
Personal Devices (iPods, smartphones, etc.)
Student Response System (ActivVotes, ActivExpressions)
Document Camera
Other ____________________________
Additional Comments: ___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Appendix D: Website