School Survey

School Technology Survey

Please call ahead to the school of your choice explain that you are a pre-service teacher at Westminster College and that you would like to visit the school to see how they use technology for teaching. See if you can actually observe teaching with technology in a classroom. If you have difficulty getting into a school please call me and we will visit a school together. I am comfortable doing this for individuals or teams. My office is 801 8323417, cell 801 8031787.

Survey

School name: Monroe Elementary

Name of Principal: JoAnn Crawley

Names of teachers talked with whose classrooms you visited and grade level:

I spoke with the School Technology Specialist:  Stephanie Evans

I also spoke with the Principal:  JoAnn Crawley

I observed a 5^th grade class: Mr. Darin Banks

As well as a 5^th grade class:  Ms. Laura Orsinger

Ask the teachers/principal their perspective on current and future use of technology in the classroom:

After speaking with the school technology specialist and principal, they expressed that what they hope will happen in the future is wireless throughout the entire school.

They also would like to initiate the same program that is occurring at Kearns High School,

It’s called Ischool. Where all students are given an itouch, the students can then access all their textbooks and assignments on the device. If the student excels at the end of their 6^th grade year they may keep the itouch. However, if their behavior or grades decrease, the itouch will be taken away. Those students would then have to hand write everything or use their own personal computers instead. They like the idea of giving the students something cool, that in a Title I school- most cannot afford the devices. This would also be an opportunity to move the school to whole other level, having technology for books and assignments everywhere a student goes on one device.

Does the school have its own website? If so who maintains the site what is the URL?

Yes, the URL is http://www.graniteschools.org/el/monroe/index.html .

Do teachers at the school have class blogs? If so who has access to them?

All of the teachers in the granite school district have to have their own websites. They don’t necessarily have to have a blog though. The students and parents have access to them.

Is there a school technology supervisor? Name?

Yes, her official position name is school technology specialist. Her name is Stephanie Evans.

Do all the classrooms have computers in them?         Explain what you find:

Yes all of the classrooms have at least 3 or 4 computers.

All of the 5^th and 6^th grade classes have computers at their desks. 2 students share one computer. There are 4 computers on one group of desks. This allows the students to work in groups and to have a partner on the same computer. This set up of computers is part of the Emits classroom program. The teachers also have their own computer, which has some interesting programs. One program in particular used in the 5^th and 6^th grade classes, allows the teacher to remote into each students computer. The LAN program, allows the teacher the ability to remote programs onto students pc’s such as; power point slides that are being displayed on the overhead , display messages on the students screen, and they can just look at what the student is doing.

Is there a computer lab/s?                If so how is it used and by whom?

Yes there are 2 computer labs. Every grade uses the computer labs- Kindergarten to 6^th grade.

What kinds of computers are in the school – PC’s, Laptops, Mac’s etc.? Overhead projection equipment etc.:

There are many different types of computer systems at Monroe Elementary. They have PC’s for students and the computer lab, Laptops for teachers; each classroom has overhead projection equipment. Also what I found to be interesting- the school recently was able to order 30 itouch ipod’s and will be ordering 60 more. The ipods will be available for all grades and classes- the devices include programs such as Read Naturally. Another interesting computer device being used are ipads- all the office administrators have one, the technology specialists, and 7 additional ipads that can be used by any teacher for class purposes.

What software programs are regularly used by teachers?

Microsoft Office programs are regularly used- power point, word, and excel.

Teachers use the internet often. As well as a software program called Blanking or LAN school, this is where the teacher can remote into students computers.

Can/do teachers use the Internet in their instruction?          Detail findings.

Yes they can use the internet for instructional purposes.  They also encourage their students to use the internet. The students use a search engine often- www.boolify.com . This search engine allows students to narrow their search results-it is user friendly and blocks all the advertisements or unneeded search finds. It is a search engine used for educational purposes.

How does a teacher get further training to use technology?

The school provides many workshops for training use in technology. One workshop that will occur next week will be to train the teachers how to use the new itouch’s. They will learn how to use the device as well as how to use the programs that were installed for educational purposes. They main program on the itouch is called Read Naturally- which has many lessons on reading, language, and math.

See if you can get a sense of the % of students who might have a computer in their home:

After speaking with the principal and school technology specialist- they assume that maybe 50% of students have computers at home and 30% have internet access.

Did you observe students using computer based technology?        Is so detail what you observed:

Yes, I observed two 5^th grade classes. One 5^th grade class with teacher Ms. Orsinger, was in the computer lab where the students were working with 2 programs- Success maker; an animated program that takes students through lessons at their own pace, focusing on math, reading, and literacy skills. This program was initiated after the title I school did not pass.

I also observed a 5^th grade class with teacher Mr. Banks. The class was working on their vocabulary, using power point. The program allows them to write the vocabulary word, write the definition under the word; finally they add a picture that matches the word.  When they begin a new vocabulary word, they add a new slide.  At the end they save their work on the m drive- this drive is following the students throughout their entire elementary career. At the end of their 6^th grade year their m drive will be made into a portfolio that will be passed along to their Jr. High.

Other:  

The principal at this school has been assigned to this school for 2 years. She has a lot on her plate- with being a title I school who failed last year. Despite the negativity that goes with that status, she is working hard to improve the school. One item she has focused on is technology.  She wants to be ahead of the game with technology; incorporating as much of the funds to technology she has been able to acquire abouot 90 itouch’s for the school and there is wireless internet available for all teachers and administrators. She encourages the use of technology and use of the internet in the classroom. The principal also has researched to find ways of bringing technology to the students’ homes- finding a deal from Comcast where parents of low income can have high speed internet for $9. Comcast also helps families acquire a used computer if they do not have one.

After visiting the school I appreciated the time the principal, technology specialist, teachers, and students spent with me on this survey. It was a great experience investigating the technology side of Monroe Elementary.