Matthew Hall

Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

ITEC 7460
Dr. Cuby-Richardson
Fall 2014

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

Assessments
A first-grade Math teacher at Wilcox County Elementary School answered two questionnaires intended
to assess her level of technology use and her attitude towards adopting change. As described by Everett Rogers,
individuals tend to fall into one of several categories of change adoption attitudes, depending on which
innovation is being discussed. Based on her responses from the first questionnaire, Mrs. G is moving between
LoTI Level 1, Awareness, and Level 2, Exploration. At the Awareness level, she uses digital tools and resources
for classroom and curricular management and for enhancing teacher lectures. At the Exploration level, she is
beginning to have students use technology for extension or enrichment and to emphasize content understanding.
("LoTI Framework," 2011) In my opinion, I would say those two levels are very common in the primary
grades. Mrs. G is able to use the technology in her classroom in a functional way and does not need training on
the basic usage of her current tools. However, in order to continue to move up the LoTI Framework, she needs
support and guidance to design activities which allow her students to use the technology in creative ways and
demonstrate higher-level thinking skills. Through her Pre-K background, she has much experience in designing
center rotations for a class, but may need assistance in scheduling creative ways to incorporate these technology
tools into her rotations. From the responses Mrs. G gave for the adopter survey, she could be considered either
an Early or Late Adopter. (Orr, 2003) Her need to see an idea in use by another teacher may have more to do
with watching to learn than with skepticism. This also shows her lack of background knowledge and finding
the need to observe someone model usage first.

However, she does not yet have the experience to be an

opinion leader or to make informed decisions about innovations unless carefully guided by someone more
knowledgeable. With anything new, she relies on her mentors and administrators until she has the confidence to
step out as a leader herself. This timing though, is very short-term and she proves to be successful in
implementation after proper coaching and initial guidance.
Interview
Mrs. G is in her eighteenth year of teaching, fifteen of those years were spent teaching Pre-K where little
to no technology was used. Over the past three years in first grade, Mrs. G has been exposed to many new

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

forms and uses of technology for teacher as well as student use. Having taught next door to her for two years, I
identified her as someone who is eager to learn strategies that will benefit her students and improve her ability
as a teacher. Although she may not be the most proficient with technology implementation, she is always
willing to experiment with new tools and features. She teaches Math to two first grade homerooms. These
homerooms consist of 16 and 17 students. There are no students with disabilities in either of Mrs. Gs classes.
Digital tools in the classroom include an interactive white board (SmartBoard), a document camera, a writing
slate, two desktop computers, and a teacher laptop. These technology tools are constant fixtures in her
classroom and are always accessible to her needs. Other tools such as Student Response Systems (clickers) and
student laptops are also available for Mrs. G to use, but have to be reserved from the school media center.
Due to not having much background knowledge of using student centered technology in the classroom, Mrs. G
is very open to coaching. She has stated that she does prefer coaching from a known peer rather than a
professional from the different technology companies. This choice is based on her opinion that if she has a peer
in her same building that is actually using this technology and likes it well enough to share it with others, then it
must be worth trying out with her own students. Mrs. G may not have much background knowledge, but she is
a fast learner and other teachers respect her advice and opinions. By working with her, the coach will be able to
train her to become efficient in certain programs and tools and then allow her to help co-train others in the
building. This will create a faster spread of knowledge and also give the other teachers another person to go to
for occasional help.
Needs
While the coaching plan is still being finalized, the following details have been discussed: The coach
and teacher will meet once or twice a week from mid-October to mid-November, 2014. The partnership
approach as defined by Jim Knight, (2007) will give Mrs. G some very important voice and choice in the
process and maintain an equal relationship between teacher and coach. The coaching journal will be established
to help the partners track activities, plans, needs and reflections. Mrs. G is preparing for the first official

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

coaching session by deciding and choosing a technology tool, a task involving student interaction using that
tool, and a Math content-area for focus. The coach will instruct Mrs. G on the tool, provide a model lesson, and
collaboratively plan and/or teach at least one other lesson using the chosen technology. The partners will reflect
and plan together for each session. The coaching goal for the partnership is for Mrs. G to gain an increased
fluency with the tool of her choice and begin to implement it in a way that improves her students access and
use of technology for higher-level thinking and learning.

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

LoTi Questionnaire
* Required
1. How many years of experience do you have in education? *
o
0 - 4 years
o

5 - 9 years

10 - 15 years

16+ years

2. How often do students use technology for learning in your class? *

o
Daily
o

Every other day

Weekly

Bi-weekly

Occasionally

Not Applicable

3. What is the most common purpose of technology use in your

classroom? *
o
Project materials on board during lecture
o

Drill & Practice work

Research / Authentic learning activities

Higher -order thinking / Problem-solving activities

Word processing or PowerPoint

4. To what extent does technology use in your classroom support

research-based best practices (i.e. student-centered, authentic,
collaborative)? *
o
Never

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Always

For Questions 5-11, use the scale of 1-10 to rank your

proficiency with the listed technology. (1 being "Not
Comfortable at All" and 10 being "I am an Expert")
5. I am proficient in
the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Power Point (or Google Drive).
1

10
I am an
Expert

Not Comfortable at All

6. I am proficient in
Creating and publishing a podcast for my students.
1

10
I am an
Expert

Not Comfortable at All

7. I am proficient in
Creating/manipulating graphics via programs like Gimp, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
1

10
I am an
Expert

Not Comfortable at All

8. I am proficient in
Creating and publishing videos online.
1
Not Comfortable at All

10
I am an
Expert

9. I am proficient in
Creating a website for my students that contains lessons, links, videos, and
multiple pages.

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

10
I am an
Expert

Not Comfortable at All

10. I am proficient in
Collaborating through video conferencing.
1

10
I am an
Expert

Not Comfortable at All

11. I am proficient in
Troubleshooting computer malfunctions (hardware and software).
1
Not Comfortable at All

10
I am an
Expert

LoTi Framework. (2013). LoTi Framework. Retrieved October 05, 2014, from
http://loticonnection.cachefly.net/global_documents/LoTi_Framework_Sniff_Test.pdf

Orr, G. (2003, March 8). Diffusion of innovations by Everett Rogers, (1995). Diffusion of Innovations, by
Everett Rogers (1995). Retrieved October 05, 2014, from http://www.stanford.edu/class/symbsys205/Diffusion
%20of%20Innovations.htm
3. What was the topic of the most beneficial professional
development session you have attended recently?

training/session was ___________.6. Your most recent professional development

improvement?9. Is there any type of technology that you have to use in

your classroom that you feel is out-dated or needs

8. Is there a new technology you have considered using

in your classroom? If so, please describe it below.

Yes. My students love being interactive with technology

and see using these tools as a game, even when they
are learning content materials in the process.

12. Do you feel that technology should be used to teach

your subject matter? Explain your answer.

implement it in my classroomMajority - When a technology

technology,
becomes
I consider
popular,
myself
I
to be 11. When it comes to adopting and utilizing new

assistance Watching somebody then trying

preferred
it on learning
my own with
style?10. When learning about new technologies, what is your

No

No

from implementing it. Evidence of other teachers showing gainsinstructional

and successstrategy.7. Explain what would make you implement a new

Suggested

I like to hear from people in-house. It makes it more

5. If possible, would you prefer someone in-house to
useful if I hear a true peer tell me how they have actually conduct professional development rather than an outside
used something in their classroom.
source? Explain your answer.

Good, I am willing to try anything that describes

will benefityour
the feelings?4. When a new technology is being introduced to the
students.
faculty at your school, which statement most closely

Differentiated Instruction

our classrooms. For a lot of experiences, they offer lots of great ideas, but 2. Describe the reasons you chose to rate your past
don't give realistic uses of how to bring things back to
professional development experiences this way.

Timestamp

Knight, J. (2007). What is the partnership philosophy? In Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to
improving instruction (pp. 37-51). Thousand Oaks, CA: NSDC.
development experiences?1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being very poor and 5 being
excellent), how would you rate your past professional

10/1/2014 09:57:42

Teacher's Adoption Survey

HallM Individual Teacher Technology Use Assessment

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References