Task+1-+Needs+Assessment

Task 1: Needs Assessment After looking at the three needs assessment surveys that I administered, it seems like the three teachers that I am working with for this project are relatively comfortable with technology. The questions that I asked focused on how often they use different aspects of technology in their classrooms and how comfortable they feel with technology.

Among the three surveys, there were some similarities in teacher response and some differences in their response. On a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the most comfortable), these teachers responded with either a 4 or a 5 expressing their comfort level of teaching in a computer lab setting. However later in the survey when I asked how often they use the computer lab the response was 1 day a week or a few times a month. I know from working in their school that each teacher is assigned to one time slot a week in the computer lab, so that response to how often they use the computer lab tells me that some of them do not utilize the time they are given. Another similarity among the three teachers was there comfort level using Microsoft Office programs (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Publisher). When specifying their comfort level with the different programs, they are all comfortable with Word and two out of the three responded with Excel being the program they are least comfortable with. Overall, all three teachers are comfortable with using United Streaming and a projector and document camera in their classrooms.

The answers that varied the most on the survey dealt with familiarity of the Maryland Technology Curriculum Objectives for 4th and 5th grade and the amount of time that is provided/used for collaboration to plan projects that include technology using the Media Coordinator or Technology Facilitator. One teacher responded that she is very familiar with the Technology Curriculum Objective, while the other two were not unfamiliar with the objectives but did not know a lot about them. From the answers that were given about using the Media Coordinator or Technology Facilitator to develop lessons, it seems like these resources are barely used to create engaging technology lessons.

I also asked the teachers to tell me how often they use different aspects of technology with their students, such as United Streaming, projector and document camera, and the different Microsoft office programs. Their responses were based on 5 days a week, 3 days a week, 1 day a week, a few times a month or never. It was interesting to see how often the different Microsoft programs are used. Overall, Word is used the most among the three teachers, while PowerPoint and Publisher are used occasionally and Excel is never used. One teacher responded that she is afraid to use Publisher or Excel that is why she never uses them.

Based on all of the information that I gathered in the surveys it seems that these teachers are comfortable with using technology when they have a proper understanding of it. However, they are skeptical to use the tools that they do not have a base knowledge for.

Survey that was administered: