Research and Rationale

The survey showed the following results:

1: Fear of using the proposed LMS (Google Classroom): 80% of teachers fear of using Google Classroom while 20% reported no fear or preferred not to answer; 65 % of librarians and administrators reported fear while 35% reported no fear or preferred not to answer; 60% stakeholders reported fear while 40% reported no fear or preferred not to answer.

2: Lack of support: 90% of teachers reported minimal support while 10% reported there was plenty or moderate support ; 65% of librarians and administrators reported minimal support while 35% reported there was plenty or moderate support; and 80% of stakeholders no support while 20% reported plenty or moderate support.

3: Not comfortable: 85% of teachers reported that they were not comfortable while 25% reported some some or fully comfortable; 50% of librarians and administrators reported that they were not comfortable while the 50% reported some comfort or fully comfortable; and 85% stakeholders reported that they were not comfortable while 25% reported some comfort or fully comfortable.

4: Unfamiliarity: 90% of teachers and stakeholders reported unfamiliarity with Google Classroom while only 10% reported some or very familiar; 60% of librarians and administrators reported unfamiliarity with Google Classroom while 40% reported some or very familiar.

Our mission as the technology leaders of Amerman’s School District is to support the use of Google Classroom as the specific Learning Management System (LMS) that the Superintendent has deployed district-wide. The goal is to deliver a series of Professional Development (PD) to teachers, librarians, administrators, and other stakeholders to assist them in delivering electronic instructional materials instead of paper format. This series of PDs will explain how the Google Classroom (LMS) is an effective strategy that can be easily used by everyone to provide instruction. Google Classroom is advantageous in education because interaction is achieved either synchronously or asynchronously through a virtual platform (Casapia, 2020).

We understand that the adoption of a new system may pose numerous challenges. Still, some may welcome the challenges, especially since the entire country is forced into reimagining their teaching strategies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies show that businesses have embraced this change enthusiastically while the education sector has shown some resistance (Casapia, 2020). In education, the acceptance of new practices necessitates the acquisition of innovative skills and comprehension of new information which has the potential of causing stress as well as failures (Frazier, 2019). Recent findings from data show that as many as 92% of educators are willing to use technology in their classrooms and believe in its educational benefits. However, some educators are resistant to use it in their daily practices and refuse to accept changes due to nervousness, lack of training, and fear of using technology in their practices (Lynch, 2018).

As a team, we would hope that after this Professional Development Series everyone in the district will feel comfortable using Google Classroom to deliver their instruction as the Superintendent envisions.

References

Casapia, R. (2020). Resistance to change, the challenge for Universities with online education:

The challenges that COVID-19 has revealed in higher education in Latin America and the

Future of online education. EgageIdeas.

Frasier, S. (2019). Understanding innovative teaching practice in higher education: A framework

for reflection, Higher Education Research & Development, 38(7), 1371-1385.

Lynch, M. (2018). Why college professors still struggle with ed-tech? The Tech Edvocate.

Module PDs:

The Teacher Module, Admin Module and the Support Staff Module will be evaluated using a formative assessment tool. An 80% score on the End of Module Assessment will display mastery of skills. Attendees who do not achieve this score will obtain notification from our Tech Department to review the specific areas in need of improvement. Remediation tools and support will be available for attendees as deemed necessary for the components on the assessment that were incorrect. This can include a one-to-one virtual walk-through and/or asynchronous tutorial. At the end of remediation, attendees will be reassessed on the specific questions they scored incorrectly. This will be done until attendees obtain an 80% or higher for their cumulative score.

The Tech Coordinator will aggregate data on initial scores obtained for each End of Module Assessment and share scores with stakeholders at the Tech Committee Meeting. Scores will be assessed accordingly to determine which areas within each module need additional support or are in need to be revamped on this PD site. The data collected from the assessment scores will provide insight on the areas to be discussed during Tech Committee meetings as potential topics for future professional development opportunities within the Amerman School District.

PD Survey:

After each participant completes their corresponding PD, they will be asked to provide feedback on their overall experience via the PD Survey. The purpose of the PD Survey is to measure the effectiveness of participants' entire experience on the (this) Amerman School District PD: Google Classroom site. Specifically, attendees are asked to rate their knowledge of Google Classroom after their respective PD Module, as well as provided an open-ended response to share how this platform can be improved. The district's Technology Coordinator will review the results of this survey and share feedback at the district's monthly Tech Committee Meeting. Collectively and collaboratively, stakeholders at the meeting will be able to decide what components of this platform need to be adjusted to meet the diverse needs of the Amerman School District.