Article Summary
Articles
What program
was evaluated?
What was the
purpose of the
Evaluation?
Article #1
“Preparing
teachers for the
schools that
technology built:
evaluation of a
program to train
teachers for
virtual
schooling”
The Teacher
Education Goes
Into Virtual
Schooling
(TEGIVS)
Project
Article #2
“Assistive
technology
training for
teachers –
innovation and
accessibility
online”
Article #3
Article #4
“New evidence “Acquisition of
that tutoring
physical content
with community knowledge and
volunteers can
scientific
help middle
inquiry skills in
school students
a robotics
improve their
summer camp”
academic
achievement”
Psychology
The program
An educational
476/576 Assistive evaluated was
research center
Technology for
Community In
in a southern
Students with
Schools in
university
Special Needs
central Texas (a
offered a two
branch of
week robotics
AmeriCorps
summer camp to
training
teach physical
programs whose
science to
primary focus
middle school
was to offer
students for two
tutoring to
and a half hours
middle school
per day.
students from
volunteers)
There is an
This course
This program
The purpose of
increase in the
developed out of was a response
this evaluation
amount of
need for teachers
to intervention
was to analyze
students opting to
in Alberta, and
to the larger
the impact that
receive
throughout
problem of
the summer
instruction in a
Canada because
early detection camp had on the
virtual school
the majority of
of identifying
physics content
environment.
Canadian
potential middle
and scientific
With the
teachers had no
school students inquiry skills of
additional
experience in the
who later drop the students. In
amount of
area of assistive out by or before
addition, the
students selecting
technology. In
high school.
camp focused
this mode of
addition, the
on exploring
instruction, more
purpose of the
possible factors
teachers familiar
evaluation was
that could have
with this model
the result of the
influenced the
need to be
desire to know
outcome of the
trained with pre how effective the
student’s skills.
service teacher
course was in
Was the
evaluation
formative or
summative?
Who were the
stakeholders?
education
training
programs. This
article describes
the planned
model of the
program and the
evaluation
designed to
establish its
effectiveness,
including the
adoption of an
established set of
guidelines for
this environment.
Both formative
and summative
assessments are
used in the
evaluation of this
project.
Formative
assessments
occurs during the
project as a team
of evaluators
work
collaboratively in
seeking ways to
assess the
project’s success
in developing the
training program.
Summative
assessment
occurs in the
final project as
data will be
disseminated to
all of the
stakeholders.
Teachers,
counselors,
educational
institutions, and
training teachers
in the area of
assistive
technology.
Summative
Formative
Summative
Canadian
teachers and
students
Minimally
trained
volunteer tutors
from the
Stakeholders
consisted of 21
middle-school
students who
the U.S.
Department of
Education
What were the
evaluation
questions?
The project’s
Are you
goal was to
proficient in the
prepare preidentification of
service teachers available assistive
in the
technology
participating
devices for
institutions to
students with
implement the
disabilities?
curriculum and
methods of
Were skills
Virtual Schools
developed or
at four levels of
improved in
competence in
being able to
the roles of an
assess students
assistant, teacher,
with assistive
designer, and
technology needs
counselor. These
as a result of
objectives are
completing this
measured by
course?
three areas;
1. CompetenceDo pre service
teachers in the
community,
teachers and
256 middle
school students
who failed an
academic
course
previously or
were currently
failing were the
stakeholders for
this study.
Students were
from one large
urban school
and two smaller
rural school
districts, with
the majority
(90%) of them
qualifying for
free or reduced
lunch.
What was the
result of the
progress of the
students from
their previous
grades to their
current grades
after receiving
tutoring
services from
volunteers?
Did students
receiving
greater amounts
of tutoring
services show
more progress
than students
receiving less?
Were there any
differences in
were enrolled in
the robotics
summer camp
and their 10
facilitators.
Do student
participants exit
the summer
robotics
program with
increased
content
knowledge?
Do student
participants exit
the summer
robotics
program with
better scientific
inquiry skills?
member
institutions
demonstrate
competence in
each of the four
levels of Virtual
School
instruction?
the average preand postpass/fail scores
by subject or
grade level?
2. ToolsHas the project
developed
effective tools for
Virtual School
teacher
education?
3. Community
of PracticeAre personnel
inside and
outside the
project using
project methods
and procedures
and working
together to
enhance them?
What methods
were used?
What types of
data collection
were used?
Evaluators will
use a quasiexperimental
design, using a
control group to
provide
comparisons with
groups trained in
the project to
measure the first
objective of
competence.
Evaluators will
review the
Opinions were
gathered in the
form of a survey
from 2,000
teacher
perceptions
regarding
assistive
technology and
their levels of
comfort with it.
As a result of the
unfortunate high
percentage of
inadequate
Students were
Mixed methods
split into two
consisting of
groups:
qualitative and
1). Group 1
quantitative data
(students
collection were
receiving 1-13 used to measure
hours of
the impact of
tutoring because
robotics
they had began
activities on
the program
students’
later due to
scientific
failing a course
inquiry skills
later in the year)
and robotics
and
activities.
2). Group 2
documentation of
perceptions
(students
the software
regarding
receiving 13.50
development, and
competency,
to 61 hours of
utilize a
Athabasca
tutoring
summative
University
services).
evaluation to
developed online Tutors received
document when
course,
5 days of prethe tools are used
Psychology
service training
as part of the
476/576 Assistive
where they
intervention
Technology for
learned how to
evaluated for the
Students with
track data from
1st objective of
Special Needs.
the students.
competence to
Tutors used a
measure the
computerized
second objective
data collection
of tools.
system to record
the type of
The third
service and
objective of
amount of hours
community of
spent with each
practice will be
student.
measured by
Progress was
using a set of
measured by
checklists and
comparing the
logs to monitor
previous grade
progress and
in the failed
participant data,
academic
and a modified
subject to the
version of the
end of the
Concerns Based
school year in
Adoption Model
the targeted
(CBAM)
subject.
instrument.
Instruments will
also include: prepost course
evaluation Likert
scale, Virtual
School scenario
rubrics, postcourse rubric for
online
instruction, a tool
ratings checklist,
a modified
The following
types of data
collection were
used: facilitator
focus group
interviews,
facilitator
interviews,
facilitator
reflections, and
researcher field
notes.
What results
were reported?
CBAM), and pre
service and postgraduation
follow-up survey
items.
The development
The survey
of this project is revealed that 70%
still in the
of teachers
implementation revealed that they
phase.
had not had an
Therefore, results
opportunity to
were incomplete even be trained in
at the time this
assistive
article was
technology. In
written.
addition, the
However, the
majority of
article did report
teacher revealed
that the project’s that they needed
early goals were
support in this
achieved as
area. Some
evident by the
reported that they
creation of the
were still
first version of
unskilled and
Virtual School
even less reported
standards by
that they were
adding to the
proficient. Zero
National
percent reported
Education
that they were
Technology
very skilled.
Standards
Eighty-six
(NETS) for
percent revealed
Teachers.
that they were not
satisfied with
their levels of
proficiency in the
assessment of
assistive
technology.
Although several
students who had
completed the
course have
informally
provided
feedback on
several of the
The results
indicated that
student scores
improved 13
points from a
60% prior to
tutoring
services to a
73% average
after extensive
tutoring
services.
Students
receiving more
than 13.50
hours of
tutoring
services had a
greater success
in their scores
than those
students
receiving less
than 13 hours.
There were no
significant
differences in
average preand postpass/fail scores.
A statistical
analysis
indicated that
the camp had a
significant
effect on
students’
progress in
physics content
knowledge.
However, the
analysis
indicated no
significant
difference when
pretest and
posttest scores
of measuring
scientific
inquiry were
compared.
components, the
formal evaluation
has not been
completed and is
ongoing.
However, most of
the feedback so
far has been
positive.
As
a
result
of
the
Data
collected
What
project, the
from teachers in
recommendations
the course
were reported? recommendations
were that that the
indicated an
methods be
acknowledgement
adopted as a
that assistive
model for the
technology will
community of
continue to
Virtual Schools
change and
to assist with
advance.
preparing
Therefore, there
teachers and
was a unified
support staff with belief that future
being competent
professional
with the
development
integration of
opportunities like
technology.
this course should
exist as
technology will
continue to
expand.
This study
indicated the
need for
additional
studies to be
conducted
which would
specifically
distinguish
between other
contributing
factors (a
smaller or
similar range of
hours, an
indication to
what extent of
the interaction
between the
tutor and
student, etc.)
and how they
could influence
the progress.
It was reported
that resources
such as tutorials
should be
included in
robotics
programs to
improve
progress.
Students should
be provided an
opportunity to
support their
designs by
citing related
scientific
concepts. It was
also
acknowledged
that long-term
programs
should be
provided
because a two
week program
might not be
long enough for
skills to be
acquired and
mastered.
Critique/Reaction
Article #1
In the article, “Preparing teachers for the schools that technology built: evaluation of a
program to train teachers for virtual schooling”, the authors provide the reader with an overview
of a pre-service program that help teachers develop the skill set necessary to be successful in a
Virtual School. The article does a good job of explaining the project’s focus of detailing specific
methods for the stakeholders involved in Virtual Schools. This article is particularly important
to the field of education as online learning is no longer only utilized by rural, underserved, and
at-risk students. Today’s virtual school student can be an individual who enjoys the opportunity
for flexible scheduling of instruction.
As this method of education continues to grow, projects like this are conducive to helping
establish guidelines for educational institutions, potential instructors, and students. In addition,
this program and other similar teacher pre-service programs can help equip the instructor with
needed technology education while simultaneously assuring students that they are receiving the
highest quality of instruction. As an educator who would eventually like to branch out and
facilitate in such an environment, this and other similar articles can be a valuable asset in
achieving this goal.
Article #2
In the article, “Assistive technology training for teachers – innovation and accessibility
online”, the authors introduce the reader to the development of an undergraduate and graduate
course that was the result of several Canadian teachers being unable to adequately assess
assistive technology devices in the classroom. The article did a good job of providing the reader
with background as to why this course was developed. An actual screenshot was provided to
assist the reader in making a visual connection of the course and provided a rational for the need
of teachers becoming aware of the many aspects of assistive technology.
I was surprised at the large percentage of teachers that were not aware of the many uses
of assistive technology for students with disabilities. Although it is assumed that most special
education teachers would be knowledgeable of assistive technology devices, it is equally
important to general education teachers to be familiar with the needs of students with disabilities
as the increasing amount of this population is included in the inclusive environment of the
general education setting. As a current special education teacher, I can certainly acknowledge
the need for continually increasing my education of assistive technology as devices are
constantly upgraded for the benefit of this student population. Stakeholders such as special
education teachers, general education teachers, and parents of students with disabilities can all
benefit from reading this article.
Article #3
In the article, “New evidence that tutoring with community volunteers can help middle
school students improve their academic achievement”, the authors provide the reader with a
descriptive summary of a volunteer tutoring program for middle school students. The article
gave strong background information which supported the community’s need for developing a
program to decrease the number of potential students who dropped out prior to completing a high
school diploma.
This article is important and especially important to the field of education. With so many
resources being unavailable due to financial constraints, the use of volunteer tutors can provide
school systems with an additional resource while actively engaging the local community to
contribute to alleviating the dropout problem. Incorporating volunteer tutors into after school
tutorial programs at the intermediate age range of the middle school student serves as good
method of prevention rather than waiting to react once they are older at the high school level. As
an educator, I can see the benefit of incorporating supporting members of the community into
tutoring programs in schools. Educators, administrators, community leaders, and parent
advocates could benefit from reading this article. Although this was formal program governed
by a known agency, this program could be developed by any of the previously mentioned
stakeholders.
Article 4
In the article, “Acquisition of physics content knowledge and scientific inquiry skills in a
robotics summer camp, the authors provided the reader with the evaluation of a two week
robotics summer camp. The authors gave relevant related background information of similar
robotics summer camps and international robotics competitions, such as RoboCup and FIRST
LEGO that transpired prior to this summer camp. This helped the reader make a connection of
what robotics consisted of if they were not already knowledgeable about them.
The information in this article is important because there has not been a lot of previous
research conducted to justify the need for robotics activities in the K-12 environment. This type
of research is needed to convince education decision makers of the positive impact that robotics
activities can have in an educational setting. As an educator who currently teaches in a K-12
environment, this research and programs like this can be beneficial to my future professional
practice because of the additional technological options it can provide. Physics and engineering
teachers can also benefit from reading articles like this. In addition, it can provide a written
documented justification for using this program as a resource tool for improving skills.
References
Allen, A. & Chavkin, N. (2004). New evidence that tutoring with community volunteers can
help middle school students improve their academic achievement. School Community
Journal, 14 (2), 7-18.
Chmilar, L. & Cheung, B. (2007). Assistive technology training for teachers – innovation and
accessibility online. Developmental Disabilities Bulletin, 35 (1-2), 18-28.
Davis, N.E. & Roblyer, M.D. (2005). Preparing teachers for the schools that technology built:
Evaluation of a program to train teacher teachers for virtual schooling. Journal of
Research on Technology in Education, 37 (4,) 399-407.
Williams, D., Yuxin, M., Prejean, L., & Ford, M. (2007). Acquisition of physics content
knowledge and scientific inquiry skills in a robotics summer camp. Journal of Research
on Technology in Education, 40 (2), 201-216.