Computer Availably for Elementary Students
Jacquelyn Johnson
A00108280
Jacquelyn.johnson2@waldenu.edu
Leading and Managing Educational Technology EDUC - 7103 - 1
Carol Watson
Walden University
April 1, 2010
Executive Summary
The twenty-first century is the century for technology education within the public school
system. In order for students to grow into productive citizens within the United States it is
important that they be provided with the skills necessary to obtain employment. Employers want
employees who are technology oriented, team players, problem solvers, and critical thinkers.
Public schools need up-to-date technology, including computers in every classroom, to meet
twenty-first century technology standards. The computers available inside classrooms at Beacon
Him Elementary School are not up-to-date at this time. Existing computers run slowly, do not
have sufficient memory, and crash frequently. This leads to teacher and student frustration.
Technology skills are a vital part of early education and prepare students for competition in the
global job market. If teachers are to remain focused and motivated in teaching students 21st
century technology skills, the district must find a way to fund new computers for student
availability within the classrooms.
Computer Availably for Elementary Students
Beacon Hill Elementary School
Problem Summary
Beacon Hill Elementary School is one of seven elementary schools within the Kelso
School District. The Kelso School District proposed and passed a levy for technology two years
ago but funding for up-to-date computers inside the classroom still remains an issue. As a
classroom teacher it is difficult to integrate technology instruction into the subject content when
the computers inside the classroom do not have the capabilities to keep up with the memory and
ram required to process information from the internet, or download current software programs.
The students are often frustrated as they try to do research, play a learning game, use
manipulatives, or create presentations because the programs often shut down. The Kelso School
District puts technology as a high priority and the schools are current with 21st century
technology standards but as innovations are developed the requirements to implement them
increase. Beacon Hill Elementary is in the process of obtaining a new server to help with
internet issues. Unless the classrooms are equipped with up to date computers having a new
server will only enhance teacher accessibility to online grade books, attendance reporting, and
communication. The server will do nothing to enhance technology integration and engagement
for the student.
Background of Organization
Beacon Hill Elementary School was established in 1967. The school is located within the
Kelso School District in Longview, Washington. Beacon Hill Elementary is a county school
serving students that live Northwest of Kelso in the Columbia Heights, Lexington, and Castle
Rock neighborhoods. Students attending the public school are in grades kindergarten through
fifth grade. There are 573 students that attend Beacon Hill Elementary. The population of the
school consists of 55% male and 45% female students. The following cultures make up the
student population of male and female students: 7% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 7%
Asian or Pacific Islander, 2% Black, 13.8% Hispanic, 74.5% White, and 10.1% Two or Mixed
Races. The Free and Reduced lunch count is 53.4% of the population. The school serves 13.6%
of its students with Special Education services and 9% of the students are on 504 plans. 7.3% of
the population is Transitional Bilingual. Beacon Hill Elementary school received 16,000 dollars
to spend on technology for the 2011-2012 school year. The funds come from a levy that was
passed by voters of Cowlitz County, Washington in 2010. The school will receive another
16,000 dollars to spend on technology in the 2012-2013 school year from the levy. Information
on annual reports and finances for Beacon Hill Elementary School can be found at:
http://www.kelso.wednet.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PASM3AqtrS4%3d&tabid=296&mid=9
88. The school web page can be found at the following address:
http://www.kelso.wednet.edu/beaconhill.aspx.
Stakeholders and Decision-Makers
Staff and students at Beacon Hill Elementary School are impacted by decisions made by
administration, technology specialist, PTO, and by the Kelso School Board members.
Technology specialists Sean Scattergood and Sheryl Forsman make decisions on how the
technology funds are spent for Beacon Hill Elementary School.
Performance Gap: Cause Analysis
Actual Current Performance
Teachers get frustrated when teaching students how to use technology inside the
classroom for assignments and activities. Students get frustrated because the computers crash
and will not load programs, internet pages, videos, online books, and interactive games used to
complete assignments and activities. The state’s required technology standards are not being met
by students because of the lack of updated computers available for student use.
Desired Performance
Students would have up – dated, working computers available at all times, so that
assignments and activities could be completed, allowing state mandated technology standards to
be met 90% of the time.
Performance Gap
The difference between the current teacher and students performance and where it should
be is that 90% of the times, student computers are not usable making it difficult to perform
assignments and activities. This means that 90% of the time technology standards are not being
met.
Cause Analysis
The current problem exists at Beacon Hill Elementary for two reasons. The first
reason is that technology changes rapidly. As technology changes, the amount of memory and
speed needed to process information increases. Memory and speed are important elements
needed to up-load and download information from the internet and software programs. Out dated
technology devices such as computers cannot keep up and need to be replaced. The second
reason the problem exists is due to the budget cuts being made to education at the state and
federal government levels.
Organizational History and Background
Goals
The technology specialists’ goal to address the issue of providing students with up-dated
computer availability within the current funding constraints is as follows: First, purchase a new
server for the school. Second, purchase enough computers for a complete computer lab. Teachers
will be scheduled time in the lab so that technology standards can be addressed and students can
have opportunity to complete assignments related to the technology standards.
History
Kelso’s first public school was built in 1889, creating school district 36. Beacon Hill
Elementary was the seventh and final elementary school built in 1967. The Kelso School District
no longer is district 36 but many years ago became part of the ESD 112. The school is funded by
city, county, state, and federal revenues. The district also receives grants and donations to help
meet yearly budgets. Beacon Hill Elementary receives funding support from its PTO along with
funding allotted by the district.
Mission and Vision
The vision of the school is that, “Beacon Hill students are positive contributors to society
making educated, thoughtful and reflective decisions”. The school mission states, “At Beacon
Hill we inspire creative, independent thinkers who collaboratively solve problems and are
responsible life-long learners who realize their greatest potential” (Beacon Hill website, 2012).
Three Intervention Strategies
The up-to-date computer problem could be solved by implementing one of the following
three solutions: redistribute the available up-to-date classroom computers, create a computer lab
with up-to-date computers, or provide up-to-date computers in each classroom.
Low end intervention
The lowest cost solution to having up-to-date computers available for student access
would be to redistribute existing computers. All fourth and fifth grade classrooms have eight
or more up-to-date computers in their classrooms. Several teachers do not use the computers
on a regular basis. Taking half of the computers from each of the classrooms and
redistributing them into lower grade classes would be a low cost solution. However, it would
cause teacher resistance as teachers may wish to hoard their computers. The only cost that
would be incurred would be the cost of labor for moving the computers and hooking them up
in the new locations.
Middle end intervention
The next solution to the computer problem would be to create a computer lab with up-todate computers. In the past there has been a working computer lab at the school. Scheduling
conflicts became a problem. The computer lab ended up being used the majority of time as a
meeting room and testing lab. This limited teacher/student access to the computer lab.
Eventually the computers became out dated and would not work. The computer lab with new
up-to-date computers is an option that could be imposed with the budget amount of $16,000
that the school has been allotted, but unless the scheduling issue is solved, the lab would be
of no use to the teachers/students who really need to use it.
High end intervention
The best possible solution but the one with the highest cost would be to provide at least
five up-to-date computers for each classroom. Teachers who integrate the use of computers
into their daily routine would have access to them. There would be no schedule conflicts or
teacher resistance. Those who use them daily would not have their day interrupted by
transferring students to another classroom, the time wasted transferring students could be
spent on using the computers for classroom activities and assignments. The cost of
implementing this solution would be more than the school's allotted budget for technology
but grants could be written
Justification for Intervention Strategy
The solution that would best solve the problem would be to purchase up to date
computers for the classrooms that do not have them. This would be the best solution because it
would eliminate teacher conflicts and resentment although the cost of implementation would be
the highest. In speaking with Sean Scattergood, the technology specialist at the school, he
expressed agreement with this solution but offered a different alternative. His proposal was to
have one up-to-date computer in each classroom and connect five monitors with keyboards to the
computer. Sean believes that is would solve the problem but does not believe he can get teachers
to go along with the concept because if the one computer goes down there would be no
computers available to use. He also believes that the district might not go along with the idea
because it would be a quick fix with a low cost but the problem will eventually have to be fixed
with a long term solution. An article about effective technology use states, “When technology is
used as a tool to support students in performing authentic tasks, the students are in the position of
defining their goals, making design decisions, and evaluating their progress”
(U.S. Department, (n.d.). Having computers available for student use inside the classroom would
strengthen their ability to perform a project goal daily, not just at scheduled times. With up dated
computers inside the classroom, available at all times throughout the school day, students would
be using them, thus closing the performance gap.
The low cost solution would allow technology monies to be used on supporting other
technology needs of the school but would cause resentment among teachers which would create
other problems within the school environment. Teachers already have issues with loosing tools
and supplies.
The medium cost solution would be ideal because there would be a centralized location
for students to work on computers at the same time but loss of time due to transferring students
from one location to the next would become an issue, and scheduling conflicts would become an
issue. The school already faces scheduling conflicts when planning every year for library,
physical education, and music. The school has previously had a computer lab that was not
utilized to its fullest potential.
The Manager’s Many Roles
As a manager for this intervention my role will be to counsel colleagues. As a counselor I
will go to classrooms and observe the use of computers by students and teachers in daily
activities. I will schedule meeting times and inform teachers of those times through email and
notes placed in mail boxes. As a counselor I will answer questions teachers may have related to
the new computers and share advice on how to improve student computer use in daily classroom
activities. A simple activity sheet will be used to track computer activities (see Appendix A).
After new computers have been placed in each of the classrooms teachers will be given
the activity sheet. At a scheduled time I will work with each teacher to set goals related to
computer activities that they feel are important to daily routines. A data sheet will be developed
based on information provided in the activity sheets.
The Manager as Change Agent:
I will take on the role of participative change agent for this intervention.
Financial and Budget Information: Ninety-six Dell Inspiron desk top computers will
be purchased for 24 classrooms at an estimated cost of $33,504 dollars (see Appendix B). In
addition to the cost of the computers, cost of installation and cost of performance assessment will
be $1960 dollars. The estimated total cost for the intervention will be $35,464 dollars (see
Appendix C).
Project Assessment/Evaluation: I will meet with teachers once a month to discuss
performance of the activities listed. The activity sheet will be used to help teachers track goal
performance (see Appendix A). The activity sheet that I will be using will be in addition to the
performance survey Kelso School District Currently uses to track school wide teacher
technology performance. The activity sheet will be used as a formative evaluation for Beacon
Hill Elementary teachers, to set goals and then determine if goals are being met at the end of
each month for one school year. The technology performance survey that the district uses can
provide information on individual schools and will be used as a summative evaluation at the end
of the first year after the up-to-date computers have been installed (see Appendix D). If no
significant increase in time students use computers is noted, teachers will work with a teacher
coach to improve computer integration into daily activities.
References
Beacon Hill Elementary School. (2010). 2009-2010 School report card, Beacon Hill Elementary
School. Retrieved March 28, 2012, from
http://www.kelso.wednet.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=PASM3AqtrS4%3d&tabid=296
&mid=988
Chevalier, R. (2007). A manager’s guide to improving workplace performance. (pp. 22 & 37).
New York: AMACO
Dell Corporation (n.d.). Computer store online. Retrieved on May 5, 2012, from
http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-620/pd
Kelso School District (n.d.). Technology Eboard. Technology integration and technology
,
proficiency goal worksheet. Retrieved on May 5 2012 from
http://www3.eboard.com/eboard/servlet/BoardServlet?ACTION=NOTE_SHOW&ACTIO
N_ON=NOTE&OBJECT_ID=4611707&SITE_NAME=kelso&BOARD_NAME=techgro
ups&SESSION_ID=zvuf34w128swc2167&TAB_ID=521310
U.S. Department of Education (n.d.). Effects of technology on classrooms and students.
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html
Retrieved on April 15, 2012, from
Appendix A
Appendix B
Beacon Hill School Layout
Appendix C
Financial and Budget Information
Computer Type - Dell Inspiron 620 Desktop computer. Technology design features can
be located at: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-620/pd
Cost per computer - $349.00
Price information can be found at: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-620/pd
96 computers to be purchased for 24 Classrooms equipped with 4 computers each.
Estimated cost of 96 computers @ $ 349.00 dollars each - $33,504 dollars
Installation cost
16 hours @ $35.00 per hour. Estimated installation cost - $560.00 dollars
Hardware cost
There would be no hardware cost. Computers are wireless accessible so would need no hardware
to connect to internet.
Training Cost
There would be no cost for training teachers to use new personal desk top computers.
Performance Assessment Cost
40 hours @ $35.00 dollars per hour. Estimated cost for assessing performance - $1400.00 dollars
Total Cost for Performance Plan
Estimated cost for intervention - $35,464 dollars
Appendix D
Technology Integration and Technology Proficiency Goal
Worksheet
Name
School Year
SelfAssessments
Technology
Goal
Evidence
Training
Opportunities
Tech Tier/PILOT score
Fall Self-Assessment
Spring Self-Assessment
__Tier 1 __ Not Proficient
__Tier 2 __ Basic
__Tier 3 __ Proficient
__Not Using
__Beginning
__Developing
__Applying
__Innovating
__Not Using
__Beginning
__Developing
__Applying
__Innovating