Technology Support Solutions for Rural Schools: Evaluand

Profile and Evaluation Practice

Mark Hawkes, Dakota State University

Rob Honomichl, Madison High School, Madison, SD

24th Annual Rural and Small Schools Conference

Manhattan, November 2002

Tasks in Technology Facilitation

Network system managementHardware/software installation and maintenanceServicing staff and student email accountsResponding to LAN and WAN issuesSystem back-upsRepairs and Upgrades of serviceable items

Satellite downlinkingInteractive video system bridgingVideo production, editing, and distributionHelp Desk supportInstructional DesignSchool staff Professional DevelopmentGrant WritingSoftware evaluationPolicy development

Concerns in Rural School Technology Use

Dependence on vendor service (slow, costly)

Extended lengths of technology down time

The resources for maintaining and facilitating technology in schools limited

Majority of funds allocated to teacher development—not to technology support

Digital Dakota Network underutilized

Common Support Strategies

Full time network administrators/technology coordinators

Multi-person technology support teams

Information Technology specialist on staff

Evaluation Approach

Broad scale survey of primary technology support personnel– 23 structured format items– Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota– 268 surveys distributed, 48% response rate

Success case profiles Develop “best practice” blue printOrganize state and local resources to implement model facilitation activities

Personal Characteristics

  Female Male

Average Age 41.7 42.2

Average Salary $30,631 $35,586

Gender 45% 55%

Training and Qualifications

Discipline Number Percentage

Education 74 57

Information Technology 17 14

Science 16 13

Other 15 12

English 4 3

Fine Arts 2 2

Sources of Coordinator Training

Training Percentage Quality

Self-taught or work experience 65 2.84

Inservice (workshops/conferences)

26 2.99

Advance degrees 9 2.86

Coordinator Perception of Quality of Training

Quality of Direct Training on Network Operating Systems

2.64

2.43

2.70

2.86

1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00

Higher Education

State or DistrictSupported

Self-taught: books,manuals, practice

No training, school usesvendor support

Poor Excellent

Frequency and Source of Support

Has Your District Paid For Training

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

approximately howmuch

No

Yes

urban

rural

Allocation of Coordinator Responsibilities

Task Rural % Urban %

Teaching student courses* 24.3 7.6

Technical support to other teachers/staff 14.6 16.6

Maintaining or repairing network/equipment 13.2 16.8

Installing hardware/software* 10.8 3.4

Training teachers/staff to use technology 7.3 5.8

Purchasing hardware/software 6.3 8.3

Integrating technology into curriculum 4.7 3.0

Other capacities (committees, coaching, etc.) 4.3 5.5

Developing school/district policies for technology use* 3.8 15.0

Serving on computer-related committees 3.4 4.8

Developing products for teachers or school (web sites, etc.) 2.5 4.4

Other 4.7 8.6

Taxonomy of Coordinator Tasks

Tasks Percentage

PedagogicalTeaching student courses Training teachers/staff to use technologyPurchasing hardware/softwareIntegrating technology into curriculum 

42.624.37.36.34.7

Technical Technical support to other teachers/staffMaintaining or repairing network/equipmentInstalling hardware/softwareDeveloping products for teachers or school (web sites, etc.) 

41.114.613.210.82.5

Managerial Other capacities (committees, etc.)Developing school/district policies for technology use  Serving on computer-related committees

11.54.33.8

 3.4

Element of Technology Facilitation for Rural Schools

Emerge from the teaching ranks

Technology coordinator transitions from the classroom

Focused but relevant program of study that includes but is not limited to network administration, computer hardware characteristics, multimedia production, instructional design, and leadership in school change.

Supported on-going training

Gender and Technology Facilitation

Degrees Held Male (%) Female (%) Level Associates 3 2 Bachelors 17 17 Bachelors Plus 44 66 Masters 35 9 None Provided 1 7 Area General Education 54 62 Science 18 3 Information Technology 13 12 Computer Education 6 8 English 3 3 Fine Arts 1 2 Other 5 9

Coordinator Time on Task

Task Female (%) Male (%) Both (%) Teaching student courses* 25.3 23.6 24.3 Technical support to other teachers/staff 14.0 15.1 14.6 Maintaining or repairing network/equipment 13.2 13.3 13.2 Installing hardware/software* 9.1 12.2 10.8 Training teachers/staff to use technology* 8.5 6.2 7.3 Purchasing hardware/software 6.4 6.1 6.3 Integrating technology into curriculum* 5.9 3.7 4.7 Other capacities (committees, coaching, etc.)* 2.9 5.4 4.3 Developing school/district policies for technology use 4.0 3.6 3.8 Serving on technology and computing-related committees 3.3 3.5 3.4 Developing products for teachers or school (web sites, etc.)

2.8 2.3 2.5

Coordinator Task Proficiency Comparison

1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

Selecting/purchasing technology products

Installing hardw are/softw are

Giving technical support to staff

Developing district policy for tech use

Training staff to use technology

Maintaining/repairing equipment

Developing products/w eb sites for school use

Integrating technology into curriculum

Teaching students

Technology related committee w ork

participating in other capacities

Other

Mean Item Score

Female Average Male Average

Network Operating SystemsServiced by Coordinators

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

Window s2000

Window sNT

Novell Mac OS-9

Unix orLinux

Other

Male

Female

Training Sources for General Technology Facilitation

  (ave.) Male (%)

(ave.) Female (%)

Self-taught or on-the-job work experience*

(2.87) 95.8% (2.80) 81.0%

In-service (workshops/conferences)

(2.99) 94.4% (3.00) 75.9%

Formal degree*# (2.80) 43.7% (3.00) 24.1%

Training Sources for Network Administration

  (ave.) Male (%)

(ave.) Female (%)

Self-taught: books, manuals, practice#

(2.50) 83.1 (2.68) 82.8

State or district supported workshops*#

(2.78) 77.5 (2.58) 63.8

Outside vendor or Third party

(2.85) 49.3 (2.87) 53.4

Higher Education (2.80) 45.1 (2.88) 44.8

Did not receive training (2.38) 12.7 (2.50) 12.1

Training Support

  Men (%) Women (%)

Financial support provided*

54.9 62.1

Amount financed by the district*

70.5 77.7

Technology Program Funding

  Men (%) Women (%)

Technology funds are adequate*

92 81

District budget as funding source

87.3 87.9

Government and vendor grants as funding sources*

36.6 32.8

Other external funding source (independent contributions, PTO, etc.)*

29.6 20.7

Compensation Differential

Men earn 10.3% more in wages than women in the same positionMen with a bachelors degree averaged $32,909 whereas women with a bachelors degree averaged $31,060Men with a master’s degree averaged $38,458 while women holding the same degree averaged $33,358.Men averaged 13.9 years experience whereas women averaged 13.4 years.

Drawing women to Technology Facilitation Positions

As one of the most highly visible information technology roles school age children are exposed to, the school technology coordinator can be extremely influential in building beliefs among girlsFind value in the challenge of school technology management and coordinationSupport helps the school system and individual learners

Paper and Slides Available at:www.homepages.dsu.edu/hawkesm/Presentations.htm

Contact Information:mark.hawkes@dsu.eduhonomicr@pluto.dsu.edu