Laura Houston Technology Program Administrator Evaluation Technology Center Analysis Spring 2012 FRIT 7728

Table of Contents Executive Summary Organizational Charts Methods Center Context and Goals Center Activities Evaluation Part B: Monthly Report Appendix 3 4 6 6 8 10 12 13

Executive Summary This report was completed on the technology services provided within DeKalb County's School District. DeKalb County schools continues to strive each and every year to provide students and teachers with the necessary technology and support to stay up to date with the 21st century advances in technology. DeKalb County's Technology Center, The William Bradley Bryant Center, continues to provide initiatives, support, and training opportunities to staff and students. By spending time at the technology center, interviewing one of the technology specialist, and observing day to day operations, the county has a good system in place to ensure that technology is being utilized to increase student achievement. Overall the operations and productivity of the technology center were standard and effective. However, areas that need improvement were noted. One area that needs improvement is in the field of instructional technology. Instructional technology trainers are one of the most important key components to carrying out the mission and plans for the the entire center.

Organizational Charts

Organizational Charts

Methods Information for the analysis of DeKalb County's Technology Center was collected from a variety of sources. Numerous hours were spent with one of the instructional technology specialist. This particular technology specialist answered numerous questions about the day to day operations and procedures within the technology center. Time was also spent observing and touring the technology center. DeKalb County Schools District's 3-Year Technology Plan was also used in conducting this report. DeKalb County's Management Information Systems (MIS) and their Instructional Technology Departments also have web pages with helpful information about the operation of their facilities. Center Context and Goals The Management Information Systems (MIS) of DeKalb County School Distrcit is team of professionals dedicated to the integration and implementation of technology across the school district. There philosophy is to expand classrooms by providing access to information and programs in a 21st century learning environment. The center aims to serve all stakeholders such as students, teachers, staff, parents and members of the community. The Management Information System Department collaborates with other departments, vendors, and service providers in order to provide high-quality solutions and technology to all stakeholders. The mission of the center is to establish and maintain a technology-rich teaching and learning environment where students and staff develop 21st century skills to be successful citizens in a global community. The technology center currently employees many directors and leaders to support our Chief Officer, Gary Brantley. Each department employees several staff members to carry out jobs to support the mission of DeKalb County. Currently, many changes are taking place in the center. Within this year, DeKalb County hired a new superintendent who brought in personnel from her previous school system. The director of the technology center was one of the new staff members brought from our 6

superintendents previous school. Currently each school, 153, has a certified computer technologist to troubleshoot any hardware issues to any technologies within the building including telephones. Right now, the county is piloting a new program to have all certified computer technologists located in a call center. As help desk calls are put into the system, the call center sends a computer technologist that specializes in the area of the program to solve the technical issues. Currently only 11 out of 153 schools are participating in the pilot. In speaking with many certified computer technologists, the results have been very effective. Our technology center is currently undergoing major renovations to update the infrastructure to the 21st century advances in technology. The technology center is creating an on-site data center that will house all the servers for the entire school system. The county used SPLOST-3 for this project. This is one the largest projects that has taken place at the technology center since the fiber optic wide area network was installed through the district. When the fiber optic network was installed, it was one of the first to be installed in the United States for any school system. The center also houses seven instructional technologist to assist schools with incorporating technology in classrooms. The seven instructional technologist are divided among one hundred fiftythree schools. They visit schools on an as needed basis. The mission of the instructional technology department is: The mission of the Instructional Technology Department is to assist DeKalb County School District (DCSD) personnel with strategies for integrating technology into their respective disciplines. Our goal is to improve student achievement by supporting instructional technology resources that are designed to promote optimal student success.

Center Activities DeKalb County's Technology Center offers training opportunities, a teacher showcase, professional learning opportunities, and a technology fair for students. Most of the activities and programs are carried out by the Instructional Technology Department. Each year the Instructional Technology Department organizes a system-wide Technology Fair for students kindergarten twelfth grade. Students in grades kindergarten twelfth are able to display their technology and video projects while students in grades in third twelfth are able to participate in a competition. Students in grades third -twelfth who win first place in the competition will be eligible to participate in the State Technology Fair. The fair is usually held at the technology center, but this year it was held at central high school due to the renovations at the technology center. During the annul Technology Fair, teachers are honored who display exemplary technology skills in the classroom. The chosen teachers will present at the technology fair. Instructional Technology Specialist conduct school, site based trainings as needed throughout the school year. They offer training session for new staff members so that they are aware of all required programs to use by the county. Often courses are also offered during the summer and throughout the year on various programs that can help teachers incorporate technology into curriculum. These courses are usually held in one of the many computer labs located at the technology center. The department also provides opportunities for staff to earn Board Hours and PLU's that all certified personnel in the State of Georgia need. The Instructional Technology Department trains and supports administrators, teachers and students in the use of the following: Compass Learning Odyssey NetTrekker Online Assessment System for the state of Georgia Promethean ActivBoard, ActiVotes and ActivExpressions eSIS Teacher Assistant 8

 FirstClass email, webpage development and Collaborative Classroom Graphic organizers Multimedia and video production Integrated learning systems Science and math simulators Spreadsheet and graphing tools Subject specific early learning curriculum packages Safe search engines Productivity tools - Microsoft Office Video-on-demand and online teaching services A standards based, student-centered online instructional program

Evaluation Based on the center's mission statement for Management Information Systems, the department is making advancements to the infrastructure of the center so that the technology center is current with 21st century technologies. They are also finding ways to be more efficient with trouble troubling and fixing hardware problems by conducting the pilot of the help desk call center. The center is using more vendors to purchase equipment from many different companies, such as Apple and Dell. The center is also using SPLOST funds to upgrade hardware at the center, such as new servers, as well as new computers and interactive boards within the schools. The mission statement for the Instructional Technology Department's main goal is the help personnel ingrate technology into the curriculum. DeKalb County has purchased many web licensed programs for students and teachers to use within our county. These programs help integrate technology with standards based curriculum. The instructional technologists provide assistance as needed and called upon by staff and teachers. The instructional technologists do a great job with the amount of time and personnel within the department. With only seven instructional technologists in the county, visiting school frequently can be an issue. Although the center is doing a good job maintaining and meeting goals and missions, there are many areas that can be improved to be more successful at meeting the goals of the center. One area that can be improved is infrastructure in old school building. New school buildings have the latest technology and infrastructure available, but older schools are falling farther behind. Wiring is often old and out dated. The center is slowly updating older schools so that they have newer infrastructure, but time, money, and lack of personnel to complete all the older buildings is causing this process to take longer than normal. Wireless networks are slowly being added to older schools also. Another weakness of the technology center falls heavily in the Instructional Technology

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Department. Currently, there are only seven specialist to serve one hundred fifty-three schools. Mathematically, this gives each specialist over 20 schools to manage. Instructional Technologists are not able to effectively carry out responsibilities of helping all personnel incorporate technology into education. With technology changing more and more everyday, teachers and staff need constant trainings of how to incorporate new technology into every day learning. DeKalb County technology center is building a gap. The Management Information Department is making advancements with hardware and infrastructure, but their a growing gap due to the lack of trainings being held to help teachers. Trainings on new technology should be mandatory, not voluntary. There should be an instructional technologist is every school within the county conducting weekly training sessions on how to teach to the 21st century student.

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Part B: Monthly Report DeKalb County held it's annual technology fair in January. Many students were able to go to state competition. Several DeKalb County students placed in the state competition. DeKalb County's Technology Center, William Bradley Bryany Center, is currently undergoing major renovations to update the infrastructure to the 21st century advances in technology. The technology center is creating an on-site data center that will house all the servers for the entire school system. The county used SPLOST-3 funds for this project. This is one the largest projects that has taken place at the technology center since the fiber optic wide area network was installed through the district. When the fiber optic network was installed, it was one of the first to be installed in the United States for any school system. Work is slated to be complete by the 20122013 school year. Currently the county is piloting a new program to have all certified computer technologists located in a call center. As help desk calls are put into the system, the call center sends a computer technologist that specializes in the area of the program to solve the technical issues. Currently only 11 out of 153 schools are participating in the pilot. In speaking with many certified computer technologists, the results have been very effective. DeKalb County's Instructional Technologist are available to train teachers and staff on many programs and others ways to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

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Appendix A Questions for Instructional Technology Specialist. 1. How many year have you held this job? 6 years 2. Did you originally go into college wanting to be an instructional technology specialist? No, I went to school to become a teacher. As I begin teaching, I realized that I had a gift with using technology in the classroom as well as helping other teachers. 3. What was your next step? I enrolled in Instructional Technology at Georgia State and later earned my degree. After obtaining my degree, I began pursuing jobs within education in the area of instructional technology. 4. What is currently the greatest challenge in your job? There is not enough time to visit all my assigned schools everyday. We have to rely on schools to contact us when they need support. We are not able to see all our schools each week. 5. What other challenges do you face as a technology leader for DeKalb County? There are times when you may not have the answers for questions that teachers and other staff members ask. We must work with colleagues and stay informed with all new technology. 6. What is your favorite program or application to train teachers to use? I love using most any web 2.0 tools. They are accessible from home and school and there are tools out there that are suitable for the youngest grade to the oldest kids.

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