Evaluation_ColemanH

7/31/2019 Evaluation_ColemanH

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EDTECH 501: School Environment Evaluation

School (Pseudonym): Ramsey Online High School

School Demographics:

The school is located in a community that contains a larger schooldistrict of 3,500 students. The student body population of RamseyOnline High School is around 150 students and serves grades 9-12,with a total staff of 15. Any student, within the state, can enroll in theschool as it is an online public charter school. However, the majorityof the student population is within 300 square miles of the school.The predominant race of the students is white. 21% of the studentsare eligible for free or reduced lunch. 12% of the students requirespecial education services. 75% of the students are considered at-risk.

ADMINISTRATIVE:

Policy Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure: IslandsThe school and all staff use appropriate technology for theonline setting including computers, video, voice conferencingtools, simulations, and mobile devices. Although technology useis embraced by the staff and students, there is not an extensivetechnology use plan or policy that is followed by the school. Theschool does have an acceptable use policy for students, but it isloosely addressed.

Planning Behavioral: Emergent; Resource/Infrastructure:

EmergentThe school plan for technology use is very informal. It does nothave a written technology plan for use. The school does have atechnology committee that meets to assess needs, but it is veryinformal and inconsistent. For example, there had been somediscussion about how iPads could be used for student learningand staff professional development in a staff meeting. Sincethere was some money left over from last years technologybudget, the admin purchased a few iPads to experiment with.

There has not been any discussion about the direction theschool may go with iPads or a plan for review/experimentation.

Budget Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:IntegratedThe technology budget is a high priority and is reviewed eachyear. During the review of the budget, other budgets related toor dependent on technology, such as the curriculum budget, areassessed. There is not a long-range plan for technologybudgeting or long-term planning for future technologies which isan area that still needs improvement.


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AdministrativeInformation

Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:IntelligentAs a result of the small staff, all of the staff are able to accessadministrative systems using technology. The daily supportactivities are mostly carried out using electronic administrative

systems including attendance, grading, student profiles, andcontacting students and parents. However, there are still a fewpaper systems which hold the school back from beingcompletely paperless. For example, student and parent contactlogs are completed by hand.

CURRICULAR:

ElectronicInformation

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:IntegratedAs an online school, most information and curriculum is inelectronic format. Students access their classes and necessary

resources using the internet and other technologies on a dailybasis. Staff carry out teaching duties and day to day tasks usingelectronic resources as well. The school does have somestudents that may not have consistent accessibility. There are awide variety of resources and technologies used; however,maintaining consistency and utilizing best practices couldimprove.

Assessment Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

Teachers utilize Moodle for collecting student products andproviding assessment and feedback. In addition, the school has

various supplemental learning platforms that provide immediateassessment. Some student outcomes are completed andassessed without the use of technology. Students, parents, andstaff are able to review student progress in Moodle on a dailybasis. Students struggle with utilizing feedback given usingtechnology. For example, many staff provide feedback forspecific assignments in Moodle, but students do not check orrespond to prompts for improving grade or discussing in depth.

CurricularIntegration

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:IntelligentAll curriculum is accessed online in Moodle and utilizes varioustechnologies and resources. Teachers build curriculum inMoodle and supplement curriculum with other learningplatforms such as NovaNET, Aleks, and Gizmos. Some activitiesdo not require technology, but the instructions and expectationsare accessed in Moodle first.

Teacher Use Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:IntelligentAll teachers and staff rely on technology in order carry out daily


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expectations. Teachers monitor student progress in theirclasses using online resources and tools. Teachers contactstudents and parents using email or Google Voice. Teacherscollaborate with each other using synchronous online tools,such as Go-To Meeting. Staff are provided with a laptop and a

stipend to use towards internet in their homes. Staff areexpected to have access to appropriate technologies at alltimes during work hours.

Student Use Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

The students cannot complete the majority of the curriculumwithout using technology as it is an online school. Most of thestudents have regular and consistent access to necessarytechnologies; however, a handful of students do not haveinternet access in their homes and need to use the library orwireless hotspots.

SUPPORT:

StakeholderInvolvement

Behavioral: Islands; Resource/Infrastructure: IslandsThe stakeholders involved in the planning and implementationprocess are primarily the teachers and administration. Theschool board is loosely involved. Other stakeholders, includingthe students, parents, and community are not engaged in theplanning or implementation process.

AdministrativeSupport

Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

The administration and school staff work closely together, sotechnology use and implementation is routinely discussed. Theadministration provides and time and support on professionaldevelopment days throughout the school year, usually 1-2 timesper term. Additional discussion and planning takes placethrough technology and curriculum committee meetings at thestart and end of the school year. Specific days are designated inAugust for technology training and implementation of newplans.

Training Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

Training is provided as needed for staff throughout the year.Some staff have specific roles based on technologies that arebeing used: Moodle Coordinator, Data Lead, NovaNETCoordinator, Curriculum Lead, etc. These roles are expected toprovide on-going training for staff in order to ensurecompetency. Most staff participate and attend trainings. If astaff is unable to attend, many trainings are recorded andstored online for later viewing. The charter school authorizeralso provides training as needed for district technologies.


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Technical/InfrastructureSupport

Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure: IslandsMost of the staff attend formal and informal trainings whenavailable. Technology training usually occurs on campus and isdone by a teacher who has more experience or who hasinvested more time into investigating how to use a technology.

Support is provided throughout the year on an informal basiswhen staff needing assistance contact another knowledgeablestaff member. We do not have a technical assistant on campus,but contact the district authorizer technology specialist withlarger needs.

CONNECTIVITY:

Local AreaNetworking(LAN)

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

The local area network on campus is extensive and providesaccess for all staff and students in the building. Staff use the

LAN for video, voice, and data needs. High speed wireless isalso available for staff and students on campus. Staff are only inthe building 2-3 days a week, so depend on home networksduring the other days.

District AreaNetworking(WAN)

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:Integrated

The school is part of the authorizers district area network. Staffare able to access this network on campus and in their homesusing virtual private networks. The staff use this network for alldata storage and additional technology needs.

Internet Access Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:Intelligent

The school has two computer labs that are open for students touse when on campus. The campus is open two days a week, andstudents utilize the internet and computers while they are oncampus to access curriculum. All staff and teachers use theinternet on a daily basis. The campus has direct LAN access,along with wireless so that students can bring laptops or mobiledevices to campus and still be able to work on coursework.

CommunicationSystems

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure:IntelligentStaff communicates with each other and with students andparents on a daily basis in email. Staff is expected to be onemail during the workday and to respond to emails promptly,especially since 2-3 days of the week staff are workingindependently and virtually. The staff are provided with districtemail accounts. The students are expected to have a workingemail account that they check and use on a regular basis. Thedistrict provides student gmail accounts; however, the studentsare not utilizing them, yet.


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INNOVATION:

NewTechnologies

Behavioral: Intelligent; Resource/Infrastructure: IslandsThe staff are motivated and inspired by new technologies. Manystaff seek out best practices and new methods of creating

curriculum with the purpose of sharing with the rest of theschool. Opportunities are provided for staff to attendprofessional development conferences and sessions with thepurpose of learning new technologies. Theresource/infrastructure is rated as Islands due the lack ofimplementation. Staff initially are energized by a newtechnology, but it eventually wears off which results in a lack ofimplementation or a one time use in a class. There is not a planor policy for consistent implementation or even for additionalbackground research to determine whether or not toimplement. Instead, it falls on the individual teacher to decidewhether or not to put in the time to use. It is also difficult to

teach students how to use new technologies, as it needs to bedone virtually.

ComprehensiveTechnologies

Behavioral: Integrated; Resource/Infrastructure:IntegratedMany different forms of technology are available and used bystaff. More advanced techniques such as video conferencing areavailable, but only used during staff collaboration and not staff-student collaboration. Other technologies such as mobiledevices and tablets are not utilized. The school has video,digital, and screen tablets that are rarely used.

Conclusion:

After reviewing the benchmarks and filters, Ramsey Online High School would beconsidered to be in the integrated stage of technology use. The rationale for therating is primarily based on curriculum, student, teacher, and district use,connectivity, and current support systems.

All curriculum and instruction is located on Moodle, an online coursemanagement system. Students can complete classes and expectations virtually 100%of the time. Teachers access student products online and provide feedback throughMoodle. Curriculum not provided through Moodle can be found in other paid for onlineproviders including, but not limited to, Pearson NovaNET and Aleks.

All students and staff are expected to use technology throughout the day to

complete tasks, collaborate, and communicate. Although there is some face to faceinteraction, it is by student choice and not a school requirement. Email is the mainform of communication between students and staff. Connectivity to the internet is inplace for all staff and students on campus via the LAN and WAN, and all staff offcampus. Computers and the internet are available for students on campus at alltimes; however, students need to have their own technologies and internet offcampus.


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The school does have room for improvement in order to achieve a higher levelof maturity. The school does have a technology budget, but should improve andprovide more technology policies and an overall usage plan. All administrative taskscould be completed using technologies enabling the school to go paperless. Deeperand more collaborative assessment tools and techniques could be investigated andapplied. Although regular training takes place for technologies, the school needs to

improve on its methods for review and implementation as there is a often a lack offollow through or full commitment. Finally, the school could provide formal training formore advanced technologies and formal planning for consistent use.

Documents

Evaluation_ColemanH