Staff Development for Technology

Briana Dunckley
Joy McCook
Angela Clark

Georgia Southern University

Fall 2016
Dr. Charles Hodges

Abstract:
This project is for all teachers to become better efficient in Google Classroom. With the

professional development teachers will be familiar with Google Classroom and be able to

incorporate it in their lessons. As the school, Johns Creek High School, transitions to a One-to-

One initiative, teachers and students will become fluent with these technology tools. The

activities that are planned for the professional development day will be learning to add students

to Google Classroom, create and share on Google Docs, create Gmail for classroom, use Google

Calendar for communication. Teachers will also have time for independent practice and brain

storm with their own department possible ways to incorporate in their lessons. The expected

outcomes are all teachers and students using Google Classroom and confident in their abilities to

use technology in the classroom.

Proposal Text

Technological Need: At Johns Creek High School, the initiative of Personalized Learning will

be fully implemented in the spring of 2017 with the distribution of tablets to students and

teachers. At the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, teachers were surveyed asking

questions such as: what technology do you currently use in your classroom? What technology

would you like to use in your classroom? What would help you feel more confident in using

technology in the classroom? 100% of teachers responded by saying they have at some point

used technology in their classroom. However, 160 of the 175 teachers at Johns Creek High

School responded by saying they would like a uniform learning management plan that offers

collaboration and communication with their technology. Teachers will be offered training on

their tablets throughout the fall semester; however, teachers want to learn more about how to use

those tablets to create one unified digital classroom. The majority of teachers have experience

with educational apps such as Kahoot, Remind, PowToon, and Glogster; however, since the
school is transitioning to a 1-to-1 environment, teachers are in agreeance that they would like an

online platform for their individual classes. After researching programs, the JCHS SLMS and

administrative team have decided that a professional development on Google Classroom would

be the most important training in order to ensure all teachers have a common ground and

understanding for managing their new tablets and programs in the classroom.

Goals and Objectives

1. By January 13, 2017, 100% of Johns Creek HS teachers and staff will complete a Google

Classroom professional development training session, as measured by sign-in sheets,

designed to increase knowledge and understanding of the collaboration and

communication processes of the learning management system.

Objective 1: All teachers and staff will be familiar with Google Classroom to include in

their lessons.

2. By February 1, 2017, 100% of Johns Creek High School teachers will implement the use

of the various elements of Google Classroom as indicated by documentation in weekly

lesson plans.

Objective 2: All teachers and students are using Google Classroom in order to create,

collaborate, and communicate.

Plan of Operations

On January 6, 2017, teachers will return to their classroom after the winter break for a Fulton

County Teacher Workday. This day will be divided up into various sections and include time for
teachers to plan with their team and collaborate with the media specialist; however, the main

purpose of this day, which will take place the last half of the day (upon returning from lunch),

will be spent instructing teachers on how to use the classroom management tool of Google

Classroom and how to effectively implement it within the classroom. Teachers will divide up

into two groups (math, science, electives in the auditorium; history, language arts, and world

language in the media center), bring their laptops, and participate in a professional development

session on Google Classroom. Teachers will be expected to bring one unit plan (not yet taught)

to the PD so they can effectively apply the Google Classroom program to their upcoming

lessons. Books will not be provided as Google Classroom is a Web 2.0 tool; however, our

administration will have Google Classroom approved prior to the PD day. Google Classroom is a

program that that is free for educators and students; however, the school would need to hire two

Google Innovators to train teachers on Google Classroom usage. Each Google Innovator costs

approximately $2,700-$3,000 for a half day’s training session. This includes flight, hotel, and

training. Our professional development would require two Google Innovators, costing the school

approximately $6,000. The Google Innovators would be national representatives flown into the

surrounding area. Being that Google Classroom consists of so many different sub-programs, an

expert would be the most beneficial and effective for teachers. Also, based on a survey given at

the beginning of the year, teachers responded that they would be willing to use technology in the

classroom, but they do not feel confident in their skills. Having a Google Innovator deliver this

professional development would ensure all teachers concerns and confusion would be addressed.

Being that it is a teacher workday, no students will be in the building; therefore, substitutes will

not be needed.
Time Activity Goal/Objective

12:30 pm Teachers will meet in designated areas

(auditorium or media center) with laptops.

Teachers will sit according to department and

sign in to ensure documentation of their

attendance at the training.

12:35 Teachers respond to a Padlet poll about how

they communicate with their students and

how their students collaborate with each

other.

12:45 Discuss Padlet results and introduce the Goal #1

common Web 2.0 tool of Google Classroom.

Teachers will pull up Google Classroom on Budget request for two PD

their own computer. Teachers will use their leaders/Google Innovators:

school email and create a password in order $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

to access account. PD leader will show

teachers how to “add students” to a “class.”

1:00 Professional Development leader will guide Goal #1

teachers through the use of Google Docs.

Teachers will learn how to create, edit, and Budget request for two PD

share documents online. This part of the PD leaders/Google Innovators:

 will focus on communication and critical $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

thinking. Teachers will follow along with the

instructor; the instructor will have a

Promethean board in front of the whole class

so fellow teachers can follow along.

1:30 Teachers will have independent work time to Goal #2

practice Google Docs and become familiar

with the program. Teachers will be expected Budget request for two PD

to add Google Docs into their upcoming leaders/Google Innovators:

lesson plans. PD leader will walk around $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

room to ensure understanding and assist

teachers.

1:45 Professional Development leader will guide Goal #1

teachers through the use of Google

Classroom and instruction on how to create Budget request for two PD

an assignment. Teachers will learn how to leaders/Google Innovators:

create and attach an assignment into a certain $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

class. Teachers will learn how to attach

worksheets, presentations, links, and audio.

Teachers will also learn how to create,

monitor, and respond to a discussion board.

This part of the PD will focus on

 collaboration and critical thinking. The group

will follow along with the instructor; the

instructor will have a Promethean board in

front of the whole class so fellow teachers

can follow along.

2:15 Teachers will have independent work time to Goal #2

practice with Google Classroom and create

an assignment within the program. Teachers Budget request for two PD

will document this assignment in their leaders/Google Innovators:

unit/lesson plans. PD leader will walk around $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

room to ensure understanding and assist

teachers.

2:30 Professional Development leader will guide Goal #1

teachers through the use of Gmail and

Google Calendar. Teachers will create a Budget request for two PD

Gmail account for their classroom (an email leaders/Google Innovators:

for direct student contact--not the school $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

email address normally used). Teachers will

also learn how a student can create a gmail

account-- all students are expected to have a

Gmail account by the end of January. After a

 teacher Gmail is created, teachers will export

their unit plan calendar into Google

Calendar. This portion of the PD focuses on

communication. The group will follow along

with the instructor; the instructor will have a

Promethean board in front of the whole class

so fellow teachers can follow along.

3:00 Teachers will have independent work time to Goal #2

practice with Gmail and Google Calendar.

Teachers will have this calendar on their Budget request for two PD

Google Calendar as well as documented in leaders/Google Innovators:

their unit/lesson plans. PD leader will walk $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

around room to ensure understanding and

assist teachers.

3:15 After working independently and following Goal #2

along with the PD leader, departments will

meet and discuss possible ways to use Budget request for two PD

Google Classroom in their unit(s). Teachers leaders/Google Innovators:

will add documents, assignments, and $3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

discussion boards to unit plans after sharing

ideas.
3:45 The department chair of each subject will Goal #2

submit a response to the Padlet (used earlier)

about how their department plans on using Budget request for two PD

Google Classroom in their subject area. leaders/Google Innovators:

$3,000 each-- $6,000 total.

PD dismisses at 4:00.

Budget

Total Budget Request: $6,000

We need two Google Innovators to completely train all of the teachers and staff at Johns Creek

High School. Each Google Innovator costs approximately $2,700-$3,000 for a half day’s training

session. So our total budget would be $6,000.

Evaluation of Professional Development

Teachers will be evaluated on three levels. The first level of Kirkpatrick (Winfrey, 1999) is a

questionnaire given to teachers and staff on their reactions to the Google Classroom training.

This will be given to teachers at the end of their training day. The second level of Kirkpatrick

(Winfrey, 1999) is a pretest given to the staff and teachers the day before the training day and

then a posttest is given directly after the training. These evaluations are specifically from the

Google Training (2016). We are evaluating the information that teachers and staff learned from

the training. Our third level of Kirkpatrick (Winfrey, 1999) is used to measure the transfer of
knowledge. We want to know how teachers are using their training as well as to see if there are

any other areas of training that need to be addressed in further detail.

References

Google Training Center (2016). Google for Education. Retrieved from

https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/training

Winfrey, E.C. (1999). Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation. In B. Hoffman (Ed.),

Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved March 24, 2005, from

http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/k4levels/start.htm
 Appendix A

Evaluation Reactions Form to Be Used After Google Classroom Training

Directions: Please rate the following questions based on your experience at today’s professional
development. Then answer questions 12 and 13 with your own personal reviews.

1. The material presented was………..

Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
2. The value of the information was….
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
3. The value of the time spent was……
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
4. The instructor(s) knowledge of the subject was….
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
5. The ability of the instructor(s) to make the subject interesting was……
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
6. The ease of understanding the material and the organization of the material was…..
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
7. Were there adequate opportunities for class participation and collaboration….
Poor 1 2 3 4 5 Excellent
8. The professional learning supports the vision, mission, and beliefs of the Johns Creek HS.
Yes No
9. The professional learning objectives were practical.
Yes No
10. The professional learning was well adapted to my needs.
Yes No
11. The professional learning will help me in my current role.
Yes No
12. What would you suggest to improve this professional development course?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

13. What did you like best about this course?

 ______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Appendix B

PreTest and PostTest Evaluation of Learning to be given to Staff and Teachers Before and

After the Training:

1. Your learning objective is to get students to understand the concept of projection when

speaking. Where can you find video resources from professional speakers who record and

share their own public performances?

A. Google Drive
B. Google Maps
C. YouTube
D. Google Drawings
Mrs. Jones is a seventh-grade teacher who is focused on making sure her students are doing

everything they can to be safe and secure online. They go to the computer lab each week and do a

lot of web browsing on sites that she’s gathered links for on a shared Google Doc. Students add

their own notes and comments below each link as they do their research. They can also add new

resources as they find them on the Internet.

Answer the following three questions based on this scenario.

2. Which of the following contemporary skills is Mrs. Jones developing in her students? (Select
all that apply.)

A. Creativity
B. Communication
C. Collaboration
D. Community
3. Which mode can students use to ensure that their information is not saved in their Chrome
browser when they are done in the computer lab each day? (One word)

_________________________________________________________
4. What URL should Mrs. Jones give her students if she wanted them to be able to search for
more resources? Please include "www." in your answer.

___________________________________________________________

5. When trying to select the right tool to integrate into your class, you should always start
with:

A. The learning goal

B. The functionality of the tool
C. A help site
D. An idea from a trusted colleague
6. Parents are looking for guidance on what to tell their children about being safe online. If
you could give two simple tips that underlie everything, what would they be?

A. Don’t download illegally

B. Respect yourself and others
C. Avoid the first site in the search results
D. Do everything you can to protect yourself
7. To analyze the data gathered in a Google Form, you should use Google ___.

________________________________________________________

8. Rather than just reading about a location in a textbook, a great tool to help visualize a
location and consider its impact on history would be:

A. Google Docs
B. YouTube
C. Google Search
D. Google Maps

Appendix C

Evaluation Transform Form to be given to Staff and Teachers on February 1, 2017:

1. How many times in the past month have you assigned your students an assignment in

Google Classroom?
2. What parts of Google Classroom are you using in your classroom? (Ex: Gmail, Google

Calendar, Google Docs, Google Forms, etc…)

3. Which component of Google Classroom do you and your students find the most useful?

4. Which component of Google Classroom do you feel you need more extensive training on

to better serve your students?

5. Which component of Google Classroom do you have plans for using in the next school

year?