Running head: [RAISING STAKEHOLDER AWARENESS] 1

Raising Educator Awareness of Technology Literacy

Courtney Carver

Kennesaw State University

Dr. Julie Moore

August 2015
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Capstone Project Proposal

Martin Technology Academy of Math and Science is a kindergarten through fifth grade

magnet school, located forty-five minutes north of Atlanta in the small suburb of Flowery

Branch, Georgia. Martin Technology Academy is part of the rapidly growing Hall County school

district. In 2015 the school had 767 total students. The school is composed of 57% Caucasian,

6% African American, 29% Hispanic, 2% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 5% Multiracial

(Governor's Office of Student Achievement). Martin Technology Academy employs one

principal, one assistant principal, 55 certified staff, and 35 classified staff. At Martin

Technology Academy 65% of the student population is eligible for free or reduced meals. The

school currently serves 11.7% of students in the Early Intervention Program, 13.6% in the

English to Speakers of Other Languages Program, 12.3% in the Special Education Program, and

4% in the Gifted Program. In 2015, Martin Technology Academy had 33% of third through fifth

grade students proficient and distinguished on the Georgia Milestones End of Grade Test in

English Language Arts, 30% in Mathematics, 30% in Science, and 31% in Social Studies

(Georgia Department of Education).

Martin Technology Academy transitioned from a public elementary school to a charter

school in 2009. The school chose not to renew the charter plan with the state in 2015, and

transitioned to a magnet school. This now adds an application requirement for students wishing

to attend from outside the schools designated district. Students whose families live within the

school district may attend Martin Technology Academy without submitting an application, or

they may opt out and attend another local elementary school. Martin Technology Academy is

currently seeking their STEM certification from the state of Georgia, and plans to be the first

STEM certified school in their RESA district. As part of the Hall County school district, Martin
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Technology Academy is asked to incorporate blended learning into their instruction through the

use of Canvas, a learning management system. Teacher professional learning and support is

provided through the county level E-Learning department. Teachers at Martin Technology

Academy are also expected to incorporate technology literacy standards into their daily teaching

and student expectations. Technology literacy standards for each grade level were formed by a

committee when the school proposed their charter program in 2009.

Upon speaking with administration at Martin Technology Academy, the concern was

brought up that many of the classroom teachers are unaware of the technology literacy standards

that are expected to be mastered by students at each grade level. Many teachers are unware of

what students are expected to already know when they enter their classroom, and what they are

expected to master while in the current grade setting. Students that attend this course once a

week for forty-five minutes are unable to make the connection to the accountability piece of

mastering their technology literacy standards, and transference is not taking place back in the

regular classroom.

Statement of Problem, Need and Rationale

Currently Martin Technology Academy offers all students, kindergarten through fifth

grade, a course in technology literacy. The technology literacy teacher creates lesson plans each

week that she correlates with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

standards for students. Upon interviewing the principal, it was clear that because of Martin

Technology Academys focus on mathematics, science, and technology, all teachers are expected

to use the skills students learn in the technology literacy course to implement blended learning in

the classrooms. Uluyol and Sahin (2016) provide evidence that when technology is integrated

into the instruction teachers observe benefits such as increased student motivation, retention,
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participation, communication, decision making, problem solving, self-confidence,

comprehension, analysis and expression. The administration is aware of these benefits and

believes that increasing school-wide technology integration is an important goal. There is

currently no formal communication between the technology literacy teacher and the homeroom

teachers about what standards are taught at each grade level. There are also currently no county-

wide expectations for assessment or communication of technology literacy. Martin Technology

Academys administration feel that due to this lack of communication, blended learning is rarely

seen implemented efficiently in the classrooms. Wade, Rasmussen, and Fox-Turnbull (2013)

remind us that limited familiarity with the technology and potential methods for integration of

that technology into the curriculum may be of concern to educators. When classroom teachers

are unaware of the skill-set students encompass, they are many times unwilling to attempt the use

of new technology in the classroom. According to a survey of the Martin Technology Academy

staff, 92% of teachers claim they have none or minimal knowledge of the mastery of technology

literacy standards at each grade that are taught in the computer literacy course at Martin

Technology Academy. On the same survey, 89% percent of teachers claim that if they were

made aware of the mastery expectations, they would be willing to increase their implementation

of the technology standards in their classroom. These survey results confirm what Hutchinson

and Reinking (2011) found in their survey of 1,441 United States Educators. Hutchison and

Reinking (2011) found a significant gap between teachers perceptions of the importance of

integrating technology and their classroom use of these skills. On a Likert scale ranging from 0

to 3, the mean teacher perception of importance for evaluating information online was 2.08, but

the mean frequency of classroom use was only 1.03 (Hutchinson& Reinking, 2011, pg. 322). It is
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clear that teachers value technology integration and find it important, but are possibly unclear

about how to create the integrated environment in their classroom.

Wade, Rasmussen, and Fox-Turnbull (2013) noted that technology has the ability to

transform a systems culture, especially when embraced by the stakeholders in the system. After

speaking with the principal and assistant principal at Martin Technology Academy, they are

eager to transform their schools culture to one of school-wide technology integration. We

decided that the best way to make the technology integration standards visible to the classroom

teachers was to create a set of documents that could easily be distributed throughout the school

and in the future to other stakeholders. These documents would include a guide for classroom

teachers of when students are expected to reach mastery of technology literacy standards, as well

as an assessment piece that shows mastery, or lack of mastery, on grade-specific standards that

could be a piece of communication for teachers as well.

Objectives & Deliverables

In order to attempt to bridge the gap between technology integration standards being

taught in the technology literacy class, and the classroom teachers understanding and

implementing these standards in their own classrooms, a set of documents will be created. The

goal of this documentation is to provide all stakeholders with an appropriate reference document

that will increase the level of technology integration that is taking place in their classroom.

Project Objectives:

Design a curriculum guide for each grade level, kindergarten through fifth grade,

that specifically states what technology standards are being taught, and when

students are expected to mastery these standards. These curriculum guides will be

given to appropriate grade level teachers to help guide them on what level of
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technology integration is appropriate for them to integrate in their classroom

throughout the course of the school year. This will provide a big picture for the

year.

Create a Vertical Alignment of Technology Standards, kindergarten through fifth

grade. This vertical alignment will give all stakeholders at Martin Technology

Academy a clear big picture of what technology standards students will be

addressing at each level, what standards should be mastered when moving to the

next grade level, and what standards they should have already mastered when

moving into your classroom.

Design an assessment tool that addresses each technology standard for a given

grade level. This will be in the form of rubrics that are reported on a Technology

Integration Report Card for each grade level. This report card will give teachers,

as well as parents and students clear expectations of student mastery for the

school year, as well as show progress towards meeting mastery of these standards

each 9 weeks. Teachers will be able to clearly see which students have met

mastery, which students are exceeding, and which students need support. This

will also serve as a document to help guide goal setting with students in the

classroom.

PSC Standards

The PSC Standard domains that address the goal of this project are Visionary Leadership

and Professional Learning & Program Evaluation. At the onset of this project, an informal needs

assessment took place with administration, supporting Professional Learning and Program

Evaluation. While working with the teachers and administrators at Martin Technology Academy
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to create a set of standards based documents, a shared vision for the effective use of technology

to promote excellence and support transformations change will take place, supporting Visionary

Leadership (Georgia Professional Standards Commission).

While speaking with Martin Technology Academys administration, an informal needs

assessment took place. The goal of administration is to strengthen the staffs greatest area of

weakness, technology integration in the classroom, by creating a set of documents to make the

learning visible and support staff in implementation of technology. While a curriculum guide is

being designed for each grade level, strategic planning that will facilitate the design,

development, implementation, communication, and evaluation of technology at Martin

Technology Academy will be taking place. By creating a vertical alignment of the technology

expectations at Martin Technology Academy, a shared vision for the use of technology in

teaching and learning will be created as well. With the creation of an assessment tool for

technology integration, more stakeholders will be involved in sustaining the technology

innovations at Martin Technology Academy. See table 1 for a correlation of these project

objectives and the PSC Instructional Technology Standards (Georgia Professional Standards

Commission).
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Table 1

Capstone Objectives and PSC Standards Correlation

Objectives Standards
Design a curriculum guide for each grade level, 1.2 Strategic Planning - Candidates facilitate
kindergarten through fifth grade, that the design, development, implementation,
specifically states what technology communication, and evaluation of technology-
standards are being taught, and when infused strategic plans. (PSC 1.2/ISTE 1b)
students are expected to mastery these
standards. 5.1 Needs Assessment - Candidates conduct
needs assessments to determine school-wide,
faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths
and weaknesses to inform the content. (PSC
5.1/ISTE 4a)

Create a Vertical Alignment of Technology 1.1 Shared Vision - Candidates facilitate the
Standards, kindergarten through fifth grade. development and implementation of a shared
vision for the use of technology in teaching,
learning, and leadership. (PSC 1.1/ISTE 1a)

5.1 Needs Assessment - Candidates conduct

needs assessments to determine school-wide,
faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths
and weaknesses to inform the content. (PSC
5.1/ISTE 4a)

Design an assessment tool that addresses each 1.4 Diffusion of Innovations & Change -
technology standard for a given grade level. Candidates research, recommend, and
implement strategies for initiating and
sustaining technology innovations and for
managing the change process in schools. (PSC
1.4/ISTE 1d)

5.1 Needs Assessment - Candidates conduct

needs assessments to determine school-wide,
faculty, grade-level, and subject area strengths
and weaknesses to inform the content. (PSC
5.1/ISTE 4a)
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Project Description

Martin Technology Academy currently does not require or have in place a way for the

technology integration teacher to communicate what standards are being taught in her course to

the classroom teachers. According to administration, this is a gap in information that is part of a

weakness in school-wide technology integration and students transferring skills from the

technology integration course to the classroom. This capstone project will address the needs of

the school as requested by administration, and made evident by teachers in the survey conducted.

My project will include the following goals: design a curriculum guide for each grade level,

create a vertical alignment of technology standards, and design an assessment tool that addresses

each technology standards for a given grade level.

Curriculum Guides.

The first goal of this capstone project is to create a technology integration curriculum

guide for each grade level. This guide will clearly show what standards are being addressed,

when they are being addressed, and examples of how the standards could be implemented

through technology tools. These guides would be strategically created using the Martin

Technology Academy agreed upon standards and the ISTE standards. The technology

integration teacher will be an integral part of the creation of these curriculum guides, as the

guides will be built upon her year-long lesson layouts. This will part of the project will occur

over the course of a few face-to-face meetings with the technology integration teacher, as well as

research to include or verify the use of ISTE standards. The projected timeline for completion of

this part of the project is 6 weeks.

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Vertical Alignment.

The second goal of this capstone project is to create a school-wide vertical alignment of

the technology integration standards. This vertical alignment will show what standards are being

addressed at each grade level, what mastery is expected, and how the standards build upon each

other. This vertical alignment will help the teachers at Martin Technology Academy have a

shared vision for the technology integration at their school. They will be able to more efficiently

collaborate with teachers from varied grade-levels to discuss and implement technology

integration in their classrooms. This vertical alignment will be created using the curriculum

guides in part one of this capstone project. The projected timeline for completion for this part of

the project is 4 weeks.

Assessment Tool.

The third goal of this capstone project is to create an assessment tool for the technology

integration standards. This assessment tool will show what standards are being addressed at each

grade level, what mastery is expected, if students are meeting mastery, and how to assess

students with a provided rubric for each standard. This assessment tool, like the vertical

alignment, will help the teachers at Martin Technology Academy have a shared vision for the

technology integration at their school. This tool will also be valuable for other stakeholders such

as parents, students, and administrators for evaluating the effectiveness of technology integration

in the classroom. This assessment tool for each grade level will be created using the curriculum

guides in part one of this capstone project, and the vertical alignment in part two of this capstone

project. The projected timeline for completion for this part of the project is 12 weeks.
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Table 2

Project Activities Alignment

Project Item/Activity Project Objectives Deliverable Hours

Curriculum Guides Implementation A technology 36
and integration
communication of curriculum guide
technology infused for each grade
strategic plans level

Vertical Alignment Shared vision for A vertical 14

the use of alignment of
technology in technology
teaching standards taught
kindergarten
through fifth
grade

Assessment Tool Initiating and A rubric based 50

sustaining assessment tool
technology that assesses each
innovations standard taught at
each grade level
kindergarten
through fifth
grade

Evaluation Plan

The impact of this project holds great value in the eyes of administration at Martin

Technology Academy. It is important to follow through with an evaluation of this plan to see if

the deliverables were effective in producing a change in the amount of technology integration

taking place in the classrooms at Martin Technology Academy.

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Curriculum Guides.

The goal of creating technology integration curriculum guides is to help bridge the gap

between what is being taught in the technology literacy course and what is being taught in the

classroom in regards to technology integration. The curriculum guides would be followed by the

technology integration teacher, and used as a resource for the classroom teacher to see what

students have already been expected to master and what could easily be transferred into the

blended learning environment in their classroom. This would be evaluated using a survey for

both teachers and students, as well as a walk-through instrument used by administration. The

surveys and walk-through instrument would be used for pre-data and post-data. If the use of the

curriculum guides is effective a noticeable increase in the amount of integration taking place in

the classrooms will show on both the surveys and walk-throughs. Walk-throughs will take place

every six weeks, and surveys will be administered at the beginning and end of the school year.

Sample Teacher Survey Questions:

Are you aware of the specific technology literacy standards that are taught in the

technology literacy course at Martin?

How much time do you spend planning purposeful technology integration, based

on the technology integration standards, weekly? (0 time, less than 1 hour, 1 2

hours, more than 2 hours)

How much of your daily instruction in your classroom is integrated with the

technology literacy standards? (less than 10%, 10 20%, 20 50%, more than

50%)
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Sample Student Survey Questions:

Do you know what your mastery is for the technology integration class?

Do you use any of the skills from your technology class while you are in class

with your homeroom teacher?

How many times a day do you use technology in your homeroom teachers class?

(0 times, 1 2 times, 3 5 times, more than 5 times a day)

Sample Walkthrough Instrument Items:

Teacher has current technology integration standard posted.

Teacher lesson plans show evidence of specific technology integration standards

being implemented.

Student work on the walls shows evidence of specific technology integration

standards being implemented.

Vertical Alignment.

The goal of creating a technology integration vertical alignment is to help teachers have

clear expectations, a big picture, and clear goals for a year-long technology integration plan. The

vertical alignment would be followed by the technology integration teacher, and used as a

resource for the classroom teacher to see what students have already been expected to master in

the previous grade level, what skills they should be coming with, and what should be mastered

before leaving their classroom at the end of the school year. This would be evaluated using a

survey for teachers. The surveys would be used for pre-data and post-data. If the use of the
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vertical alignment is effective a noticeable increase in the amount of integration taking place in

the classrooms will show on surveys. Surveys will be administered at the beginning and end of

the school year.

Sample Teacher Survey Questions:

Are you able to set year long goals for technology integration that are directly

related to the technology integration standards?

Do you have an understanding of the skills students should have mastered when

coming to your class at the beginning of the school year?

Do you use long-term planning to integrate technology in your classroom?

Assessment Tool.

The goal of creating a technology integration assessment tool is to help teachers have

clear expectations of student mastery of the technology standards. The assessment tool would be

completed by the technology integration teacher, and used as a resource for the classroom

teacher to see what technology skills students have already mastered and should be able to

transfer into their classroom. This would be evaluated using a survey for teachers. The surveys

would be used for pre-data and post-data. If the use of the assessment tool is effective a

noticeable increase in the amount of integration taking place in the classrooms will show on

surveys. Surveys will be administered at the beginning and end of the school year.

Sample Teacher Survey Questions:

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Do you have a clear understanding of what technology skills your students are

able to complete independently at any given time during the school year?

Are you able to set goals with you students in relation to their technology

integration standards?

Project timeline.

This capstone project will take a considerable amount of time to implement. Surveys and

walkthroughs would take place at the beginning of the school year, document creation would

begin in the summer and be finalized and distributed at the beginning of the school year,

implementation, use of documents, and administrator walk-throughs would take place throughout

the course of the school year, and post surveys would take place at the end of the school year.

Table 1.
Project Timeline
Month Project Item/Activity, or Evaluation Item Hours
June/July Creating Surveys, creating walk-through instrument, 125
2016 beginning curriculum guides, vertical alignment, and
assessment tools.
August Pre surveys administered for teachers and students, 50
2016 initial walk-throughs for pre-data, finalizing
documents
September Implementation and document use by teachers, 50
April evaluation of walkthroughs each six weeks
2016/2017
May 2017 Post surveys conducted for teachers and students. All 30
data results analyzed.
Note: Month = the month during which activity or item will take place. Project Item/Activity, or
Evaluation Item = statement to describe what learners or evaluation plan will do to meet the
objective. Hours = hours necessary to create and implement, or evaluate content.
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Resources

Access to Hall County Google Drive used for collaboration and distribution of

curriculum guides, vertical alignment, assessment tools, and surveys

Martin Technology Academy Administration Commitment to Walk-throughs

administrators will need to conduct a walk-through once per teacher per six weeks.

These can be conducted in unison with TKES walkthroughs.

Technology Integration Teacher Commitment teacher will be needed to share current

lesson plans, and to meet to discuss current content teaching timelines.

Teacher Surveys will need ten minutes in the fall and ten minutes in the spring of

teacher time to complete surveys

Student Surveys will need ten minutes in the fall and ten minutes in the spring of

student time to complete surveys

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References

Georgia Department of Education. (n.d.). Statewide test results. Retrieved February 16, 2016,

from Statewide longitudinal data system: https://slds.gadoe.org/sldsweb/Dashboard.aspx

Georgia Professional Standards Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from

Instructional Technology Standards:

http://bagwell.kennesaw.edu/files/7613/9540/6913/PSC_Standards-Flyer.pdf

Governor's Office of Student Achievement. (n.d.). K-12 Public Schools Report Card. Retrieved

February 16, 2016, from Indicators & Demographics: Student and School Demographics:

https://gaawards.gosa.ga.gov/analytics/saw.dll?PortalPages

Hutchison, A., & Reinking, D. (2011). Teachers' Perceptions of Integrating Information and

Communication Technologies Into Literacy Instruction: A National Survey in the United

States. Reading Research Quarterly, (4). 312-333.

Uluyol, ., & Sahin, S. (2016). Elementary School Teachers' ICT Use in the Classroom and

Their Motivators for Using ICT. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 47(1), 65-

75.

Wade, W. Y., Rasmussen, K. L., & Fox-Turnbull, W. (2013). Can Technology Be a

Transformative Force in Education?. Preventing School Failure, 57(3), 162.

doi:10.1080/1045988X.2013.795790