Technology School Use Evaluation

Megan Storti Overview & Demographics CityHS is located in an urban area of Northern California. The school is an independent, single-sex college preparatory religious high school with approximately 200 students and 40 faculty and staff members. CityHS is part of a larger complex of schools and shares IT staff, infrastructure and buildings with these other schools. Each school has its own budget managed by a head and dean(s) who report to the director of schools. This report will focus on the high school only, and the shared IT staff where appropriate. The student population is 100% female, with many affluent students. Although no published data is available, approximately 35-50% of students receive financial aid each year. Students purchase their own textbooks and supplies including calculators, iPads and software. All students attend college. The ethnic demographics are shown in the table below: Asian 18% Black 10% Hispanic 8% White 63%

Administrative Emergent Policy behavioral resource/ infrastructure Planning behavioral resource/ infrastructure Budget behavioral resource/ infrastructure Administrative Information behavioral resource/ infrastructure Islands

Rank: Integrated Integrated X X X X X X X X Intelligent

The administrative filter received a ranking of integrated. The administration of CityHS has a comprehensive technology policy, annual planning, budget and has increased usage of technology in the past few years. Although there are a few areas where CityHS has dedicated intelligent resources to technology, there are still many ways in which technology can be better integrated with faculty and students. The administration has a comprehensive technology policy for both students and faculty. All technology users are required to sign an agreement each year indicating that the user will use school resources in appropriate ways only, and reserve bandwidth for important uses. Most students and faculty follow this agreement, but there is disagreement among faculty and staff as to what should be allowed. For example, some teachers would like to use internet tools such as Facebook or google email which the school does not support. Students are regularly taught the ethics of computer use in their computer applications course, and policy reinforced for blatant offenses such as plagarism and viewing illegal material. CityHS has a tech plan coordinated by several different departments. The computer science chair operates a budget for purchasing new hardware and decides along with several administrators what purchases will be made each year. There is some input from faculty, but no formal process. The IT staff maintains the computer network, website and schoolwide software licenses and has a separate budget and process. There is no input from teachers and staff in the budget, but room is available for small midyear software purchases. The budget and tech plan is subject to review by the director and board of trustees, and is a large expenditure. Budgets include long-term planning for replacement computers and peripherals. CityHS has several administrative systems that are used by different groups on campus. The school communicates with faculty and staff using email, and some paperless forms are used. All staff have email addresses and access to their own laptop or shared computers. In addition, the school uses Blackbaud for internal information and an internal website with contact information. The school publishes an electronic calendar, but most faculty do not use it regularly.

Begin each summary by identifying your ranking for that subsection (i.e., Behavioral: Island; Resource/Infrastructure: Emergent) Explain what was apparent in your educational environment that substantiated your decision. Provide facts and examples where it is appropriate. Curricular Emergent Electronic Information behavioral resource/ infrastructure Assessment behavioral resource/ infrastructure Curriculular Integration behavioral resource/ infrastructure Teacher Use behavioral resource/ infrastructure Student Use behavioral resource/ infrastructure X X X X X X X X Islands X X Ranking: Island Integrated Intelligent

Curriculum use of technology varies widely by individual teacher. For example, one theology teacher regularly uses videos, webcams and moodle forums as part of the course, while another theology teacher only uses a textbook and classroom discussion. Although all teachers have email, usage varies from frequent to occasional. Some assessment is completed online through forums such as moodle, but most assessment remains in paper format and data is not collected. However, both students and teachers have access to many digital resources including database subscriptions such as ArtStor, access to computer lab and printers from 8am-6pm during school days, and access to additional tools such as scanners, drawing tablets, and audio recorders. Both staff and students receive emails from the administration regarding calendar items, forms and weekly news. Students also post daily announcements to a Facebook page which most of the student body can read (some parents prefer to ban Facebook accounts). Teachers and students can access class schedules and testing calendars online. However, many teachers and students do not use email regularly, and frequently ask others for this information. Other resources are not available in electronic format including: school roster, student contact information and parent contact information.

Most courses still use standard assessments that are pen and paper based. Some classes may use scantrons scored by machine, or TurnItIn.com for detecting plagarism. Other classes use moodle for discussion forums or informal quizzes. Little data is collected or used from assessments, except with displaying the grade range for a class. Curriculum integration varies from classroom to classroom. A few classes are using iPad based textbooks which are beginning to have functions including video tips, sketching and quizzes built in to the curriculum. Many classes are using no technology beyond a webpage listing the syllabus. For classes using technology, most students have access to the required materials. Students have access to computers for classes requiring access, but may have limited access to peripherals such as headphones or scanners which are used less frequently. Teacher use also varies among the faculty. Although most faculty use laptops for documents, grades and internet access, about half the faculty use technology in their classrooms on a daily basis. One science teacher may post notes on a website for previewing before class, while another only uses the whiteboard. All full-time teachers have a laptop, and most part-time teachers have an available computer in the faculty room. Teachers that need projectors are typically assigned to classrooms with mounted projectors. Students frequently use technology, but not necessarily to assist with learning directly. All students can use the computer lab until 6pm on school days and can borrow peripherals during this time. Some students bring a laptop from home which is accessible on the school network, and all students now have iPads. Students typically use computers to write papers, create a presentation or access Moodle. However, students are not typically using the Internet to find answers to questions or look up calendar information.

Support
Emergent Stakeholder Involvemnt behavioral resource/infrastr ucture Administrative Support behavioral resource/infrastr ucture Training resource/infrastr ucture Technical/Infrast ructure Support behavioral resource/infrastr ucture X X X Islands X X

Ranking: Islands
Integrated Intelligent

X X

Support exists past the emergent stage is most areas, but training and involvement by different constituents remains in the early stages. Most faculty and staff have little involvement in technology planning and no formal involvement. If a faculty member wants new technology, a proposal is made to the head of school, which is then either pursued within the school or may be referred to the IT staff or rejected. When new technology is available, very little or no formal training is provided. Training for new hires consists of a half-day session where email and laptops are introduced. Informal training takes place regularly between faculty members, and IT staff are available for questions with an appointment or during drop-in office hours. Most faculty would like to be involved more in school decisions, including decisions regarding technology. For example, when the school decided to pilot iPads, teachers were informed of the decision at a meeting and certain teachers were designated to receive an iPad. Teachers had no input into whether the iPad was appropriate for their classroom. Students also have little input in technology decisions, except in some cases for audio-visual need. Some students in Art or Journalism may have needs for specific projects which can be filled by smaller allotments in the budget. The administration appears to have on-going discussions regarding technology and meets to discuss the technology budget. However, it is unclear if formal meetings are occurring on a regular basis; likely these discussions occur as part of other regular meetings with the director and technology groups. Formal training is very limited and voluntary. Teachers may choose to extend their understanding at conferences or online through webinars in their subject area. On campus, there has been formal training only once every few years. Informal training of teachers occurs regularly through peers and stopping by the IT office hours with questions and concerns. Several teachers act as experts as well; one teacher is a Moodle administrator and helps others with questions based on his limited expertise.

CityHS has several full-time professionals for networking, phones and general technical help. However, because the school uses all Mac computers, teachers often go to the Apple store for immediate free help and solutions. The IT staff primarily has responsibility for installing software and troubleshooting problems rather than training. Connectivity Ranking: Intelligent

Emergent Local Area Networking (LAN) behavioral

Islands

Integrated

Intelligent

X resource/infrastr ucture X

District Area Networking (WAN)

behavioral X resource/infrastr ucture X X X X X

Internet Access

behavioral resource/infrastr ucture

Communication Systems

behavioral resource/infrastr ucture

CityHS has a high degree of connectivity in most areas and is continually upgrading services. Because the high school is not in a district, this report will focus mainly on local networking and access. Staff have wireless access and Internet access in all locations, but bandwidth is not always optimal during peak times. For example, if a class attempted to stream video simultaneously, it would likely fail to load on most devices. All students have internet access through iPads and the computer lab during all hours of school. All staff and students have an email address. Most faculty and staff use the LAN for data, and occasionally for video. Few if any faculty use voice chat or messenging features for academic use. Although every teacher has voicemail, landlines are only available in common areas and administrative offices. Most classroom teachers have personal cell phones, but connectivity is not optimal in some locations. Students use the LAN for both data and video, and occasionally for voice chat. Internet access is available to students and staff at all times wirelessly and until 6pm in the computer lab. The Internet is integrated into the curriculum of some courses, mainly as a search or use of Moodle. Courses are beginning to use iPad apps for notetaking and classroom use. Students frequently use the Internet, for both school work and fun activities such as videos and games.

Email is used as a main form of communication with teachers and parents. All staff and students have a school email address, but students typically use their personal email address for online activities. Although staff are expected to check email daily, use varies between teachers. Administrators use email to communicate, but student use of email has declined as students use Facebook and messenging more between peers. Innovation
Emergent New Technologies behavioral resource/infrastr ucture Comprehensive Technologies behavioral resource/infrastr ucture Islands X X X X

Ranking: Integrated
Integrated Intelligent

CityHS has an innovative history, but innovation is largely driven by individuals rather than a systematic approach. For example, ten years ago CityHS had a Palm Pilot program. All students and teachers had Palm Pilots which were integrated into some classes with uses such as language dictionaries, graphing calculator, calendar and assignments. Beaming stations around campus allowed students to quickly update their devices. However, many teachers did not fully participate making it less and less a part of the curriculum, until they were phased out. Technologies are implemented by some staff, but administration has not wanted to force all staff to accept a model. As a result, some innovations are accepted if deemed useful, and others are never fully implemented. New technologies are often accepted cautiously by a few staff members, then introduced to others. Many staff members will ask why they need to change a procedure if the new method seems complicated or cumbersome. New technology that is a better version of current technology tends to be more widely accepted. For example, in Art History, teachers moved from slide projectors to an online subscription for images from ArtStor several years ago. Students tend to accept new technology more easily, as long as it works as intended. Students are also quick to reject technology that teachers fail to support. Although comprehensive technologies exist, the equipment has not reached full potential. Teachers often dont know about available resources, or dont know how to incorporate new methods into their classrooms. Those teachers using technology in innovative ways dont often showcase their work as there is no forum to share best practices. Final Summary Ranking: Integrated

Overall, CityHS has excellent connectivity, but needs to work on improving training and integration into the curriculum. The administration and faculty need to work together to involve teachers in decision making and generate excitement about new technologies. Although hardware and software support exists, support for teachers to create curriculum with technology is not present. Teachers using technology need to be showcased and could mentor other teachers less comfortable with new innovations. An educational technologist could also bridge the gap between teachers and technology.