Technology Integration Survey

http://goo.gl/forms/jNn3xEt3GS

The survey results did not surprise me, yet when I dug deeper into the details of the responses, there were teacher needs to be discovered. My colleagues at Washington South Supervisory Union, in Northfield, Vermont, were experienced educators. Two of them were known by me to be “tech savvy” and the third also embraces technology. The survey they were given was very close to the example given in Step by step professional development in technology, but my version had a few minor tweaks (Meltzer, .

The results from the top section, or hardware specific questions were 66 % “very comfortable”, and 33% “comfortable” on computer, projector and digital camera use. Then the results slipped to a 33% spread on uncomfortable, comfortable, and very comfortable with an interactive whiteboard or Ipad.

 

 In terms of the questions around improving technology integration skills with software and hardware, the training method most preferred would be to have authentic, ongoing training, as well as observing an expert using the technology. This is exactly what Meltzer recommends (Meltzer, 2012). What the results of the survey also show is that receiving print training manuals or going to a website for training or information is not desirable.  

Washington South Supervisory Union is a Microsoft campus, so there are many Microsoft products, such as Office 365, that are available to teachers and students (Microsoft, 2016). There was one specific request for a “substitution” level software integration with OneNote (Microsoft, 2016). My general sense of the campus is that the software available is quite under-utilized.

All of the respondents were looking for training that could give them technology integration skills and tools that would be relevant to them, with every day, authentic use in the classroom. It was enlightening to hear that from the teachers in my district. In the eight years since I was hired, 90% of the technology training has been with national experts, such as Alan November, using large group, lecture style presentations. Usually these were presenting futuristic, pie in the sky technologies, things the teaching staff could not really put to use on a day to day basis. There has been some change in this training approach, but nowhere near what my survey respondents are asking for. Ironically, the district now has the infrastructure in place to provide some of the technologies suggested 4-5 years ago.  

Meltzer, Sarah T. Step-by-step Professional Development in Technology. Larchmont, NY: Eye                 On Education, 2012. Print.

Office.com, 2015. Microsoft Office Online - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the web. Retrieved from https://www.office.com/

Technology Integration Survey