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Running head: Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 1 Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology Angela D. Kennedy Georgia Southern University FRIT 7739 Dr. Clark 03/22/2014

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Running head: Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 1

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology

Angela D. Kennedy

Georgia Southern University

FRIT 7739

Dr. Clark

03/22/2014

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 2

Executive Summary

The Bradley Information Services Center houses the Muscogee County School District’s

Department of Instructional Technology in Columbus, Georgia. This department serves the

county’s fifty-four schools. The department’s primary activities are the design, development,

and implementation of instructional software training and consultation with school

administrators, faculty, staff, and members of other Information Services’ departments.

The department’s mission is to support educators by providing them with the tools

needed to effectively integrate information and communication technology into the classroom.

Similarly, the department’s goals are to support the Information Services Division’s goals by

assisting educators in developing student learning and leadership opportunities, building healthy

partnerships throughout the district, assisting with software purchasing decisions, and aiding the

division in accomplishing the district’s strategic goals.

The department has been mostly successful in accomplishing its goals. All interviewed

stakeholders agree that this department is very effective in meeting its objectives and adds value

to all services provided. However, stakeholders and members of the Department of Instructional

Technology stated that to fully accomplish their goals, each school should have a dedicated

Instructional Technology Specialist. Despite the apparent need for more Instructional

Technology Specialists, the department’s staff will be reduced from thirteen Instructional

Technology Specialists to three Technology Integration Specialists next year. In light of this

development, recommendations for improvement include shifting individual faculty training for

integration of technology into lesson plans to the Academic Coaches, software maintenance and

startup support should shift to the Department of Application Services, and Technology

Integration Specialists should be assigned grade level tasks instead of regional level tasks.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 3

Organizational Chart

The Bradley Information Services Center’s Instructional Technology Specialists (ITSs)

are members of the Information Services Division’s Department of Instructional Technology

(DoIT). They serve a number of clients, including other areas of the Division of Information

Services, teachers across the county, school administrators, and other school staff members.

Figure 1: Organizational Chart

Methods

The DoIT serves all of the Muscogee County School District’s schools, so information

was collected onsite and from the schools visited over the past two months. Several methods

were employed to assess the needs of the DoIT’s stakeholders and to determine whether these

needs are being met. A formal meeting was conducted with the district’s CIO and the Project

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 4

Management Office. Questions for this meeting are located in Appendix A. A survey located in

Appendix B was sent to all of the ITSs for feedback about their roles, and interviews were

conducted with a high school principal, two media specialists, a CTAE supervisor, a computer

lab technician, and three teachers across the county. Questions for these interviews are included

in Appendix A. In addition to the information personally gathered, the school district’s

technology plan, the Information Services Division website, and the DoIT’s web page were

reviewed. Finally, because the primary responsibility of the ITSs is the development and delivery

of technical training, the DoIT’s director provided two sets of surveys with over 1,000 faculty

responses to a district wide two-day Smart Board training course that all ITSs are required to

conduct. The survey questions are located in Appendix C and Appendix D.

Center Context and Goals

History of the Department of Instructional Technology. Two ITSs discussed the

history of ITS. One of these ITSs was one of the first two ITSs hired in Muscogee County in

1994. At that time, there was no DoIT, and ITSs were assigned schools across the district and

maintained an office at one of the locations they served. Formal training was conducted in labs

at one of two district schools. The DoIT was formed during the 2009-2010 school year;

however, ITSs were still scattered across the district, and there was no central location for this

department. In an effort to consolidate and have all Information Services’ employees located in a

central location, the Muscogee County School District renovated an old county library building,

which is now named the Bradley Information Services Center. The DoIT moved to this building

in 2011. Currently, the building houses the DoIT, the Department of Project Management and

Technical Operations, the Department of Applications Support, and the Department of Customer

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 5

Support Services. The ITSs believe this was a positive direction for the Information Services

Division and for their department. Because they are all located in the same building, they are

better able to communicate with each other and have also built camaraderie with the other

departments in Information Services. Communication is far better among the ITSs, and they have

been able to assist other departments with communications to school administration, faculty and

staff across the district.

Mission of the Department of Instructional Technology. The DoIT’s mission is to

support “teachers and other educators with deliberate and comprehensive integration of

information and communication technology and tools that affect practices of teaching, learning,

creative inquiry, literacy, and global citizenship.” (Muscogee County School District, 2013)

Goals of the Department of Instructional Technology. The goals of the Department of

Instructional Technology are to support those of the Division of Information Services at-large.

The Division of Information Services’ strategic goals are

Goal 1: Identify, develop and provide access to technology tools and resources

supporting the instructional improvement process.

Goal 2: Develop and provide access to student learning and leadership opportunities and

resources that promote academic growth and success.

Goal 3: Work proactively to build healthy partnerships throughout the district to better

serve our customers in meeting their business objectives.

Goal 4: Architect, deliver and maintain a reliable technology infrastructure appropriate to

support the core instructional mission of the district.

Goal 5: Work proactively to create and sustain a Division of Information Services based

on best practices that can effectively accomplish the District’s and Division’s strategic

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 6

goals and objectives. (Muscogee County School District, n.d.)

Of these goals, the DoIT’s primary focus is to “identify, develop and provide access to

technology tools and resources supporting the instructional improvement process.”

Department of Instructional Technology’s Stakeholders. The DoIT’s primary

stakeholders are the district’s schools, faculty, administration, and staff. Other stakeholders

include the departments under the Division of Information Services. In addition to the training

and consultations that the DoIT provides to faculty, administration and staff, the team also

supports the division’s other departments with communications and the development and

implementation of training materials for these departments’ major initiatives that impact the

DoIt’s primary stakeholders.

Department of Instructional Technology’s Key Personnel. The DoIt’s key personnel

are the Director of Instructional Technology, the Technology Academy Supervisor, and thirteen

ITSs who serve over fifty-four schools. Below are job titles and position descriptions for each of

these roles. These descriptions were retrieved from the Muscogee County School District’s web

site.

Director of Instructional Technology. The Director of Instructional Technology

manages the district’s Department of Instructional Technology. This includes supervisory

responsibilities for staff and the development of those teams supervised, assisting in the Division

of Information Services budgeting and forecasting process, and ensuring that all assigned

projects are developed and completed with quality, timeliness, and focus appropriately on the

impact to instruction. (Muscogee County School District, 2010a)

Essential Functions

Assists in leading enterprise change to manage efforts around data driven decision-

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 7

making, standards-based instruction, 21st Century literacy, and other key knowledge

regarding educational uses of technology.

Develops and maintains a positive educational program for the purpose of meeting

the needs of instructional staff with regard to the use of technology in the classroom.

Develops the Department of Instructional Technology operational budgets and

provides forecasts for the upcoming year.

Directs department operations and ensures deployment of instructional technology in

the district is aligned with the district’s strategic vision.

Establishes, supports, and implements standards, policies, and operating procedures

for the Instructional Technology staff.

Performs personnel administrative functions to maintain necessary staffing, enhance

staff productivity, and ensure necessary department/program outcomes are achieved.

Plans, organizes, coordinates, assigns, and evaluates the activities of the Department

of Instructional Technology for the purpose of maintaining department goals and

objectives.

Serves as a liaison between Division of Information Services and Division of

Academic Services.

Works with Professional Learning to provide training that enhances the integration of

technology into curriculum and instruction. (Muscogee County School District,

2010a)

Technology Academy Manager. The Technology Academy Manager manages the

district’s technology training facilities, schedules technology training and activities, coordinates

individual and group training, prepares training and reference materials, coordinates the

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 8

Technology Academy’s hardware and software maintenance, and reviews and purchases new

training resources. (Muscogee County School District, 2011)

Essential Functions

Assists in the evaluation and/or development of software and software updates for the

purpose of meeting specific building and support needs.

Cooperates with inter-department staff and staff development to ascertain and meet

MCSD technology training goals.

Creates ongoing user input mechanisms for soliciting feedback on training programs

and resources for quality control and program refinement and expansion.

Develops instruction units and manuals for training and reference purposes.

Manages the communication processes for advertising and promoting technology

training programs and resources available to district staff, student, and parents.

Manages the district’s information technology training facilities; coordinates the

purchase, maintenance, installation of new hardware and software in those facilities

for the purpose of developing an effective work unit.

Monitors the needs of building and district technology specialists to meet ongoing

training issues; contacts appropriate outside resources to keep district technology

specialists aware of changing technologies; assists with planning of regular

technology specialists meeting agendas; performs training as needed for technology

specialist meetings; prepares training for new technology specialists for the purpose

of developing and providing access to technology tools and resources supporting the

instructional improvement process.

Provides training in a variety of software applications and training for district trainers.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 9

Trains individuals and groups in the integration of technology. (Muscogee County

School District, 2011)

Instructional Technology Specialist. The Instructional Technology Specialist supports

staff members in the integration of technology and curriculum and provides instructional

technology leadership at the school and district level.

Essential Functions

Attends district instructional technology specialist meetings; serves as a

communications liaison with staff members regarding district policies, goals,

programs, and initiatives; promotes district student and staff technology standards and

the programs for achieving them.

Collaborates with IT department, district personnel, and vendors for meeting end-user

needs.

Coordinates and/or teaches technology-related building and district level staff

development sessions; creates a wide variety of professional development resources

designed to meet the unique professional development needs of district learners; and

work collaboratively with the Department of Professional Learning.

Develops instructional ideas, suggestions, and programs that will help teachers

integrate technology in a meaningful way.

Facilitates alignment and implementation of student and staff technology standards

with school practices and curriculum; creates resources to assure the attainment of the

competencies and coordinates the assessment strategies to measure attainment.

Keeps abreast of district processes, programs, standard and building-selected software

applications in order to assist teachers and students in using software effectively to

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 10

promote academic growth and success.

Participates as a district resource in large-scale project implementations to provide

instructional support.

Provides model teaching, co-teaches lessons with classroom teachers, supports

classroom teacher while s/he teaches a technology-enhanced lesson, peer coaches

classroom teachers and assists classroom teachers in planning technology-enhanced

lessons and projects.

Researches resources and methods for the purpose of evaluating and maintaining

current working knowledge of new and emerging technologies. (Muscogee County

School District, 2010b)

Department of Instructional Technology’s Current Status. There will be changes to

the structure of the DoIT in the upcoming school year. The school district recently hired a new

superintendent, who is making a number of changes, including a reduction in staff for the DoIT.

Currently, there are thirteen ITSs who each serve three to five schools, depending on whether

they are elementary, middle school, or secondary ITSs. Beginning next year, the school district

will be divided into three regions. With this change, the number of ITSs will be reduced from

thirteen to three Technology Integration Specialists, one per region. These specialists will serve

all schools in the district. The responsibilities will also be adjusted to include coordinating and

delivering staff development for the regional academic coaches, collaborating with content and

professional learning specialists to integrate technology into the curriculum, providing

suggestions to assist teachers in integrating technology, and providing input about school and

district level software selection. (Muscogee County School District, 2014)

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 11

Center Activities

Figure 2 was retrieved from the DoIT’s web page and depicts how the team’s time is

divided. The two primary activities are training and consulting with administrators, faculty, and

other members of the Information Services Division. To a lesser extent, ITSs also participate in

professional development opportunities, software support, and exhibition support.

Figure 2: Department of Instructional Technology’s Time Allocation

The department develops and delivers professional development training for hardware

and software used across the school district. The target audience for this training includes

district wide faculty, staff and administration. Recent training classes include SmartBoard

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 12

technology, cyber safety, Digital Citizenship, and Windows 8.1. SmartBoard training is

conducted at the Bradley Center, and other training, such as Windows 8.1 is conducted at the

schools. Furthermore, ITSs maintain online documentation for the Bring Your Own Device

initiative and Digital Citizenship, which are accessed by faculty members across the district.

ITSs regularly consult with the district’s administrators in the development of customized

technology plans at the school level. These consultations generally take place at the time the ITS

is visiting the school. ITSs also consult with teachers in the development of technology

integrated lesson plans. These consultations take place at the school during the ITS’ visit.

Finally, the ITSs assist other Information Services departments with decisions about software

and hardware purchases and their delivery throughout the district. Initially, these meetings

generally take place onsite at the Bradley; however, during the development and implementation

phases, meetings may continue to occur at the Bradley but might also take place online or at

schools throughout the district.

Because the ITSs are responsible for training district wide, they dedicate approximately

10% of their schedules to participating in professional development opportunities. These are

crucial for ensuring that ITSs remain current on best practices and innovative technologies.

Some of these classes are scheduled onsite at the Bradley. For instance, the most recent

professional development training in which all ITSs participated was the two-day Office 365

training held at the Bradley in February. This training is vital, because teachers across the

district were upgraded to Office 365 during Spring Break. ITSs needed to be familiar with

Office 365 and the differences between it and Office 2010, so they could develop and implement

training for the district’s administrators and faculty. In addition to onsite professional

development, the ITSs participate in both online webinars and offsite conferences.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 13

ITSs assist district employees with software and hardware procurement and support. This

includes aiding both Information Services personnel and school administration in the software

approval process. ITSs also support district wide software, including eWalk, Infinite Campus,

Destiny, Classworks, and RenPlace. (Muscogee County School District, 2013) Faculty and

administrators across the school district use these applications.

Exhibition support comprises a small amount of the DoIT’s time. This has been

dramatically reduced from prior years, where the department supported several district student

technology exhibits, including the media festival, science fair, and technology exhibit. A couple

of the ITSs noted that although this was an insignificant portion of the entire department’s time,

it was a substantial time commitment for those who were assigned to these events each year,

particularly since they continued to maintain a full workload. This year, the ITSs only

supported the district’s media festival, where students across the district submit digital projects.

The ITS’ role for this event included assisting with planning, organizing, facilitating, and judging

the media festival’s submissions. (Muscogee County School District, 2013) This year’s media

festival took place at Hannon Elementary School.

Evaluation

The Department of Instructional Technology’s Mission. The department’s mission is

to support “teachers and other educators with deliberate and comprehensive integration of

information and communication technology and tools that affect practices of teaching, learning,

creative inquiry, literacy, and global citizenship.” (Muscogee County School District, 2013)

Based on the research conducted, the department has been successful in completing its mission.

During interviews with a high school principal, two media specialists, a CTAE

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 14

supervisor, a computer lab technician, and three teachers, all agreed that ITSs were instrumental

in better enabling faculty and staff to more fully utilize technology available at their schools.

This was accomplished through training and one-on-one assistance in the development of lesson

plans and curriculum development. In some instances, ITSs also engaged in troubleshooting

technology issues prior to contacting the Help Desk. One elementary teacher and the high school

CTAE supervisor noted that in addition to working with faculty and staff, their ITSs conducted

training in the classroom for students, as well. Based on the ITS survey and informal discussions

with the ITSs, elementary ITSs are far more likely to conduct training with students in the

classroom, either through lesson delivery or customized software training for students.

Elementary ITSs believe this is important, because elementary teachers do not have a planning

period like middle school and high school teachers have.

During a meeting with Information Services’ Project Management Office (PMO) and

Muscogee County School District’s CIO, the role and effectiveness of the DoIT was discussed.

The ITSs are involved in the design and development of training materials for district wide

software and hardware upgrades, as well as communicating these upgrades to administrators and

faculty throughout the school district. The PMO members noted that ITSs are instrumental in

serving as liaisons between technical departments and the school’s faculty and staff. The CIO

mentioned that members of the technical team are often unaware of faculty’s needs, and without

ITSs’ involvement, communications are not well designed for distribution to this audience.

Because the ITSs have technical backgrounds and are former teachers, they are better able to

recognize what the technical team is delivering and how best to communicate this in a manner

that is easily understood by schools’ faculty and staff.

Overall, all stakeholders interviewed, and those involved in the meeting agreed that the

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 15

DoIT is critical in assisting them with integrating technology into the curriculum and across the

district at large. The ITS survey also indicated that all of the participants believe that their

primary function is to develop and conduct technology training that enables faculty and staff to

successfully integrate technology in a meaningful way by advancing student learning and the

understanding of technology and its utility.

The Department of Instructional Technology’s Goals. The DoIT’s goals are to

support the Information Services Division’s goals described in the Center Context and Goals

section of this document. The DoIT team supports each of these division goals. However,

support varies greatly from goal to goal. For instance, the DoIT only indirectly supports goals 2

and 4.

Goal 1. Identifying, developing, and providing access to technology tools and resources

is the Information Services’ goal that the DoIT most fully meets. A recent example of this is the

21st Century SmartBoard training classes that all ITSs conduct. Over the past year, the

Muscogee County School District has added SmartBoards to every classroom. Without

appropriate training, teachers generally use the SmartBoard as nothing more than an overhead

projector, which greatly reduces the efficacy of this technology. The DoIT has dedicated a

significant amount of time to the design, development, and delivery of training classes for

administrators, faculty, and staff. Classes currently offered by DoIT to school district employees

are 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 1, 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 2,

Smartboard for Parapros and Substitute Teachers, Smart Docucam, SMART Exchange and

Harvest, and Smart Response Model.

Feedback for these training classes from administrators, faculty, and staff has been

overwhelmingly positive. The Director of Instructional Technology provided the results of 21st

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 16

Century SmartBoard Training Day 1 and 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 2 surveys. The

ITSs team-teach these classes at the Bradley, where four SmartBoards are available for group

work. The results of these surveys include over 1,000 participant responses. The following three

survey questions provide insight to the significance of this training and exemplify how well ITSs

assist faculty by providing access to technology tools and resources.

To the 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 1 survey question, “Opportunities for

discussion facilitated understanding of teaching and learning in a 21st Century

Classroom,” 93% of 1184 participants strongly agreed or agreed with this statement.

To the 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 2 survey question, “How confident do you

feel about using the Smart Notebook to integrate interactive lessons,” 79.4% of 1090

participants indicated they were very confident or confident.

To the 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 2 survey question, “How confident do you

feel with your students using the SmartBoard,” 81.3% of 1090 participants indicated they

were very confident or confident.

Goal 2. In some cases, the Division of Information Services’ goals are not fully within

the scope of the DoIT’s responsibility. “Architect, deliver and maintain a reliable technology

infrastructure appropriate to support the core instructional mission of the district” is primarily the

responsibility of the Department of Applications Services. However, the Director of DoIT has

indicated that she and the Technology Academy Manager support this goal by attending and

offering input during startup meetings with the Department of Application Services and

Information Services Division.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 17

Goal 3. Because of ITSs’ interactions with Information and Academics Services, the

DoIT proactively builds healthy partnerships throughout the district, which enables the DoIT and

these departments to better serve their customers in meeting their business objectives.

66.7% of respondents to the ITS survey indicated that they spend approximately 75-80%

of their time at their schools and 20-25% of their time at the Bradley Center. 88.9% of the

respondents believed their time was divided appropriately and indicated that the schools and

teachers are their primary customers, so in order to better serve their customers, they need to

spend the majority of their time in their schools.

In addition to serving their primary stakeholders, the DoIT builds healthy partnerships

with other departments in the Information Services Division by staying involved in major

software and hardware initiatives and consulting with these departments whenever there are

questions concerning impacts to faculty and staff. Additionally, department members attend bi-

weekly meetings with the Division of Teaching and Learning to ensure the two divisions are

meeting the strategic goals of the district through a unified vision. (Muscogee County School

District, 2013)

Goal 4. “Develop and provide access to student learning and leadership opportunities

and resources that promote academic growth and success” is not fully within the DoIT’s area of

direct responsibility. However, the department does support this goal by developing and offering

training for key software and hardware that facilitates faculty and staff in developing and

providing access to student learning and leadership opportunities. For instance, one of the ITSs

is responsible for managing the eWalk database and providing training for this software. This

software is an observation tool used by all administrators and academic coaches for the purpose

of providing teachers individual feedback and suggestions for improving classroom instruction.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 18

ITSs are also responsible for the annual start up and support for Infinite Campus, Destiny,

Classworks, and RenPlace, which are used by all administrators and many faculty members in

the school district. (Muscogee County School District, 2013)

Goal 5. The ITSs are constantly honing their skillsets through professional development

to ensure that best practices are followed when training and assisting teachers and administration

in the process of developing lessons that fully integrate available technologies. As mentioned in

the Center’s Activities, ITSs spend approximately 10% of their time on professional

development opportunities. Furthermore, the DoIT provides input concerning instructional

software selections to the Division of Information Services.

Recommendations. Throughout interviews with district employees, one recurring theme

rises above all others. ITSs are critical to the successful implementation and utilization of

technology in and outside the classroom. The DoIT’s team members and other departments

appropriately acknowledge that this department’s primary functions are training and

consultation, and the department’s most important stakeholders are the schools and teachers who

work in the classroom. Based on the ITS survey and stakeholder interviews, surveys, and

meeting, the DoIT’s stated mission and supporting position in contributing to the Information

Services Division’s goals are being met to the degree that is possible with the human resources

available to this department.

Although the DoIT has met its mission and supports the goals of the Information Services

Division to the extent that it can, nearly all stakeholders interviewed stated that they actually

needed more involvement from the DoIT. This was also reiterated throughout the comments and

suggestions sections of the 21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 1 and 2 surveys. While ITSs

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 19

devote 75%-80% of their time to their assigned schools, most of the teachers, administrators, and

other school staff stated all schools should have a full-time ITS on staff. Although members of

the Project Management Office and the CIO acknowledged that ITSs should give priority to

schools, they also believed that it would be beneficial for the DoIT to allot more time to

consultation with other departments in the Information Services Division.

Even though all of the DoIT’s stakeholders and many of the ITSs believe it is appropriate

to have an ITS in each school, the new superintendent has made the decision to reduce the

DoIT’s staffing from thirteen district ITSs to three regional Technology Integration Specialists.

The Technology Integration Specialist job description is very similar to the current Instructional

Technology Specialist description. Realistically, the three individuals chosen for these positions

will be unable to successfully fulfill this role as it exists today.

Considering the reduction in staff and the DoIT’s current inability to completely meet the

needs of its stakeholders, some of this department’s responsibilities must shift to other

departments. One recommendation would be to transfer much of the individual faculty training

for integration of technology into lesson plans to the academic coaches. This will require that

academic coaches receive extensive training in best practices for technology integration into the

curriculum. Additionally, academic coaches will need to monitor all teachers to ensure that this

integration is successfully implemented.

Support for other departments within Information Services should also be limited.

Currently, the DoIT is responsible for managing the eWalk database and annual startup and

support for Infinite Campus, Destiny, Classworks, and RenPlace. Software maintenance and

startup should shift to the Department of Application Services, and any frontline

faculty/administrative support for these applications should initially be handled by someone

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 20

onsite. Computer lab managers or those who are considered “go to” people for technology at the

schools should be trained to recognize common issues that might arise when a user is not entirely

familiar with one of these applications. In instances where designated onsite personnel are

unable to address the issue, a help desk ticket should be opened and assigned to the appropriate

Application Services area.

Acknowledging that the decision to reduce this department to three Technology

Integration Specialists is final, one last recommendation is to adjust the way these individuals are

assigned. Although the superintendent has indicated a desire to divide the county into three

regions, this does not appear to be the best way to allocate the workload for the Technology

Integration Specialists. It would be more advantageous to have the Technology Integration

Specialists’ workload divided into elementary, middle school, and secondary tasks.

With the proposed regional divisions, each of these Technology Integration Specialists

will be responsible for K-12 schools, where they will be expected to assist with technology

integration into the curriculum to meet NET-S, offer suggestions for the selection of instructional

software, and provide training. While this likely will not be an issue for general software that is

used by all grade levels, it may be more difficult to deliver grade-specific training and/or provide

suggestions for successful technology integration that meets NET-S. For instance, while visiting

the Bradley, elementary ITSs were involved in the decision to purchase the Reading Wonders

program and for developing appropriate training materials for elementary school teachers.

Without the appropriate educational background, it would be far more difficult for other

Technology Integration Specialists to make suitable recommendations concerning ways to

integrate this software and address how it meets the needs of elementary students.

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 21

References

Muscogee County School District (2010a). Director Instructional Technology. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/ForStaff/divisions2/HR/Job_Descriptions/

director_instructional_technology.pdf

Muscogee County School District (n.d.). Division of Information Services. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/forstaff/divisions2/informationservices/SitePages/

Home.aspx

Muscogee County School District (2010b). Instructional Technology Specialist. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/ForStaff/divisions2/HR/Job_Descriptions/

instructional_technology_specialist.pdf

Muscogee County School District (2013). Instructional Technology Specialist DoIT. Retrieved

from https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/AboutUS/disannualreport/2013/Pages/

Instructional-Technology-Specialist.aspx

Muscogee County School District (2014). Professional and Certified Positions. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/Employment/Pages/Professional-and-Certified-

Positions.aspx

Muscogee County School District (2011). Technology Academy Manager. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/ForStaff/divisions2/HR/Job_Descriptions/

technology_academy_manager.pdf

Muscogee County School District. (2012). Three-year technology plan July 1, 2012 - June 30,

2015. Retrieved from

https://www.muscogee.k12.ga.us/AboutUS/Pages/MCSD-Technology-Plan.aspx

Appendix A

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 22

Administrator, Faculty, and Project Management Interview Questions

1. Under what circumstances do you interact with ITS?

2. Approximately how many times per week do you work with ITS?

3. Are there times that you reach out to ITS for guidance or assistance that don’t follow

standard protocols?

4. What do you believe are the primary functions of the ITS team?

5. Are there instances where you believe having ITS involvement would be appropriate, but

doesn’t take place today?

6. Do you believe ITS is effective in meeting your needs?

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 23

Appendix B

Instructional Technology Specialist Survey

1. Are you an elementary, middle school, or high school ITS?

2. How many schools do you currently serve?

3. How long have you been in this position?

4. How many times per month do you visit each of your schools? If you regularly visit

some schools more frequently than others, please indicate this and why.

5. What are your primary responsibilities when you visit one of your schools?

6. What are your primary responsibilities when you are at the office?

7. How is your time split among your responsibilities?

8. Do you believe your time is divided appropriately? Why or why not?

9. How do your schools introduce you to new employees? Are there orientations each year,

or is it a more informal process?

10. Do you believe the faculty members at your schools know what your role is, and when

they should contact you?

Bradley Information Services Department of Instructional Technology 24

Appendix C

21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 1 Survey

1. Hands on activities at the SmartBoard enhanced my understanding of the notebook software.1. Strongly disagree2. Disagree3. Neutral4. Agree5. Strongly Agree

2. Creating activities on my laptop enhanced my understanding of the Notebook software.1. Strongly disagree2. Disagree3. Neutral4. Agree5. Strongly Agree

3. Small group activities enhanced my understanding of the use of the SmartBoard.1. Strongly disagree2. Disagree3. Neutral 4. Agree 5. Strongly Agree

4. Opportunities for discussion facilitated understanding of teaching and learning in a 21st Century Classroom.1. Strongly disagree2. Disagree3. Neutral4. Agree5. Strongly Agree

5. Based on the demonstration today which resources will be most helpful to you?a. Handbooksb. Smart Resources webpagec. Atomic Learningd. My Big Campus Group

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6. Which of these topics were especially helpful?a. Resources Overviewb. Hardware/Software Troubleshootingc. Level One Skillsd. Gallerye. Lesson Activity Tool Kit (LAT)f. Smart Response

7. Please feel free to add any additional comments!

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Appendix D

21st Century SmartBoard Training Day 2 Survey

1. How confident do you feel about using the Smart Notebook to integrate interactive lessons?1. Very unconfident2. Somewhat unconfident3. Not confident or unconfident4. Somewhat confident5. Very confident

2. How confident do you feel with your students using the SmartBoard?1. Very unconfident2. Somewhat unconfident3. Not confident or unconfident4. Somewhat confident5. Very confident

3. Being given time to create my own Smart Notebook lesson was.....1. Very unhelpful2. Somewhat unhelpful3. Neither helpful or unhelpful4. Somewhat helpful5. Very helpful

4. The My Big Campus 21st Century Group used during these sessions was.....1. Very unhelpful2. Somewhat unhelpful3. Neither helpful or unhelpful4. Somewhat helpful5. Very helpful

5. If additional SmartBoard trainings are offered I would be interested ina. Online Trainingb. Training after school at DIS Building or Rigdon Tech Academy c. Summer Classes at DIS Building or Rigdon Tech Academyd. None of the above

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6. Which of these topics covered today were especially helpful?a. Review Activityb. Google Earthc. Level 2 Skillsd. Example Notebookse. Smart Exchange f. Notebook Creationg. Notebook Share Time

7. What comments or suggestions do you have for improving the training in the future?