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8/13/2019 Harrelson, Eval Report
1/10
Evaluation of Professional Development Training
Submitted to:
The Administration of Northwoods
Magnet School of Technology and Innovation
Submitted by:Sherri Harrelson
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Summary
The program under evaluation is a one-day intensive training professional development
seminar provided to all teachers at a newly created magnet school for technology. The
school is currently implementing a one-to-one device per student ratio, and
administrators are interested in finding ways to cut costs and decrease consumption ofpaper and ink. The portion of the training that is being evaluated covered the use of
SMART boards in the classroom and a specific method of flipping lessons. The goal is
to evaluate how well prepared teachers feel with both technologies, as well as how
likely they are to actually use them. Additionally, the administration would like to
determine whether the program should be expanded, so that teachers at other schools
within the district could participate.
The purpose of this evaluation, and subsequently this report, is to demonstrate how
effective the training was at meeting the teachers specific needs at adopting the new
technologies. Since the training had never before been offered, and over half the staff atthis school consisted of new hires, the administration is exceedingly interested in the
outcomes of the training. In addition, the desire within the district to develop strategies
for teachers to adopt more effective measures of implementing the technology available
to them is highlighted by the consideration of expanding the program to other schools.
Following the seminar, teachers spent some time setting up their classrooms and
establishing their lessons for the current school year. Since this is a year-round school,
the students returned much earlier than those in a more traditional setting. In order to
truly evaluate teachers attitudes with regards to the implementation of the new
technologies, it was decided that they should be given opportunities to actually use thestrategies provided to them before asking them to evaluate the efficacy of the training.
Therefore, a survey, designed to determine teachers attitudes and ongoing needs, as
well as comfort levels with the technologies, was developed and distributed
approximately 10 days after the start of the new school year.
Through the evaluation, it was discovered that teachers changed the ways in which they
would use their SMART boards within their classrooms based on the training they
received. Results showed that teachers felt comfortable using basic functions, the
SMART notebook feature, pre-made lessons, and Socrative through their SMART
board. One area of concern was that many respondents admitted that they still did notfeel comfortable designing their own activities to use on their SMART boards. In
addition, many respondents either remained neutral or agreed that they did not feel
comfortable recording flipped lessons in the style displayed during training, that they did
not feel prepared to put videos online for students, that they were unsure of what to do
for those students lacking internet access at home, and that they did not fully
understand the reasoning behind flipping lessons.
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Program Description
This training program, which is offered by The Friday Institute and is designed to assist
teachers in developing more effective teaching strategies, consists of a one-day
intensive seminar designed to address the use of SMART boards within the classroom,
as well as a specified strategy for flipping class lessons, or recording them as videosand asking students to watch them as homework. Due to the limited time required for
the training, the instructors frequently travel to various schools within a large radius in
order to provide training and support for teachers. However, due to the lack of follow-up
sessions available, there was some concern among those in attendance that the
program would not satisfy the needs within this particular community.
The program consists of several interactive components, whereby teachers are offered
opportunities to discuss concepts, participate in small groups, and engage with the
tool(s) being presented. Although the instructors dont provide necessary equipment, to
include laptops, SMART boards, and video cameras, it is expected that the school andpersonnel receiving the training will be equipped with necessary technological
components.
Program Objectives: As the school transitions to a magnet program for
technology and innovation, it is imperative that the teachers gain the necessary
skills of using the technology components effectively within their classrooms. In
addition, it has been expressed by administration that the school should look very
different than a more traditional school, including both in-class activities and
assignments that students are completing for homework. These objectives were
designed with those considerations in mind.o Teachers will have the ability to effectively utilize SMART boards to
present lessons (e.g. adequately able to use tools, features, pens, etc.).o Teachers will have the ability to design lessons using the SMART
notebook system
o Teachers will have the ability to use the assessment program, Socrative,
to conduct assessments with their students on the SMART board
o Teachers will have the ability to record themselves providing short lecturesin the manner demonstrated during the training in order to "flip" theirlessons by having students view the lesson lecture for homework
Program Components
The training consisted of splitting the whole group of personnel present for the
training into two teams and having them attend two separate sessions, with one
being available in the morning and the other being available in the afternoon.
One training session focused exclusively on the use of the SMART board and
included highly interactive elements. Many individuals brought their computers to
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the training, and although each individual in attendance did not have access to a
computer, at least one computer was available at each table of 3-4 personnel
members. All activities were conducted using the SMART board in the meeting
room, and no manuals or other printed materials were provided.
The second session focused exclusively on the flip training. It consisted of
several video pieces that were displayed using the projector in the meeting room,
with several interactive discussion components. While there were no printed
materials provided, each group did participate in making a very short flip video
using the paper-slide method, and several participants were also able to create a
flip video introducing themselves to their new students families.
Evaluation Method
Participants
o The evaluation participants were selected because they were inattendance at the training, and they are also the teachers that will be using
the technology component in their classrooms and with their students.
Although several other members of the staff were in attendance at the
training, they were not asked to participate in the evaluation by completing
the survey because they are not directly using the technology with
students.
o Several stakeholders were present at the training, including the IT
facilitator for the school, the director of the IT department for all schools
within the county, several other county representatives, and both the
principal and the assistant principal for the school. In addition, many of the
new IT facilitators for the county were there to observe, but not to
participate, in the training. Finally, two instructors from The Friday
Institute, which offered the training, were there to provide the training.
Procedures
The training was the sole focus of this evaluation. Both the instructors have
advanced degrees and have worked at The Friday Institute offering training for
teachers for over a year. One instructor was a teacher for several years prior tojoining The Friday Institute to act as a teacher trainer. The other instructor served
as a teacher for one year before returning to school to obtain an advanced
degree, and subsequently joining The Friday Institute. This was the first offering
of this particular training program in the county, and although the SMART board
training has been offered extensively in the past, the flip training is a relatively
new offering.
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The evaluation began with the evaluator acting as a participant in the training.
The evaluator observed activities, took notes, asked questions, and participated
in all aspects of the training. In addition, the evaluator sought to define the
objectives for the training, while also determining participants viewpoints on the
quality and necessity of the training. Finally, the evaluator developed an online
survey for participants to respond to questions, both scaled and open-ended,
about how well the training met their needs.
Data Sources
For the purposes of this evaluation, the sole component of interest was
participant attitudes, as the teachers must feel comfortable and prepared to use
the technologies, and they must also recognize the need for the technology in
order for it to be properly and effectively implemented within the classroom. In
order to determine participant attitudes and any ongoing issues and/or needs
they felt they had, an online survey was developed and administered within the
school. The results of this survey were then compiled in order to evaluate how
well the training program met specified objectives, as well as any additional
training requirements that needed to be addressed with regards to the specified
technologies.
Results
Out of the twenty participants surveyed, eleven responded by completing the online
survey. Graphics are provided below that highlights survey results.
Out of the 91% of participants that had used SMART boards in the past, 70% agreed
that the training had changed the ways in which they would use their SMART boards in
the future.
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Out of the participants surveyed, 63% indicated that they were comfortable using the
SMART notebook feature and 63% also indicated that they were comfortable using pre-
made lessons on the SMART board. Finally, 72% indicated that they were comfortable
using Socrative on the SMART board as a means of assessment.
Less than half of the respondents indicated that they were comfortable designing theirown activities to use with the SMART board.
With regard to flipping lessons, only 36% of respondents agreed that they felt capable of
recording their lessons in the style displayed during the training.
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Less than half of the respondents agreed that they understood the reasoning behind
flipping lessons.
Only 27% of participants feel comfortably prepared to put videos online for students toaccess.
Finally, 36% of participants admitted that they were unsure of what they should to help
students who do not have internet at home to access the flipped videos, while another
45% remained neutral on the topic.
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Discussion
The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the training programs abilities to meet
objectives associated with improving teachers use of technologies in their classrooms
and for their students. As indicated in the results, many teachers now feel comfortable
utilizing some of the newly introduced SMART board features, to include the SMARTnotebook and pre-made lessons that could save time in terms of planning and preparing
materials. Furthermore, teachers agreed that they felt comfortable using Socrative on
their SMART boards as a means of assessing students which assists the school in
cutting back on paper and ink use from printing assessment materials, and also serves
to save teachers time in grading and providing feedback to students.
The training designed to instruct teachers on techniques of flipping lessons and
reaching students outside of school by having them watch lessons at home and then
complete related activities in class is a great area of concern, as evidenced in the
results. Many teachers do not yet feel comfortable recording their videos and uploadingthem to the internet, and they are concerned about providing access for students who
lack internet access at home. In addition, many teachers admitted that they are unsure
of the reasoning behind flipping lessons. This is especially important because if the
teachers do not see value in the strategy or understand the reasoning behind it, they
are less likely to devote the upfront time necessary to record videos, upload them for
students, and develop ways to include those students without internet access.
Based on the results of this evaluation, I would recommend additional training for all
personnel on methods of flipping lessons, to include providing them with opportunities to
flip short lessons of their own and receive feedback from their peers. In addition,teachers need to be instructed on various methods that they can employ in order to
assist students without internet access to be able to view the videos. This could include
providing teachers with instruction and practice opportunities using USB connected
storage devices and directly uploading videos to students computers. Furthermore, I
would encourage regularly scheduled surveys of teacher needs pertaining to flipping
lessons and other technologies in order to insure that they feel capable using the tools
available to them effectively. This will become increasingly important over the next
several years as the county continues to roll out new devices, strategies, and web
based programs that teachers will be required to use.
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Project Cost
Evaluator: 15 days X 500/per day 7,500.00
This is the cost associated with having the evaluator attend the training and develop the
associated survey. In addition, this covers the time spent analyzing and compiling
results, and writing the evaluation report.
Travel: 1 day X 50/per day 50.00
Supplemental: 200 200.00
This covers phone costs and related expenses.
7,750.00 Total Project Cost
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Appendix:
Link to online survey provided through Google:http://bit.ly/139Mmgz
http://bit.ly/139Mmgzhttp://bit.ly/139Mmgzhttp://bit.ly/139Mmgzhttp://bit.ly/139Mmgz