Kecia McGouirk FRIT 7739 Technology Program Administrator

Part A: Program Evaluation Executive Summary The Media Center at Monroe County Middle School acts as both a literary and a technology resource center. It provides services to all students, faculty, and administration. The center houses a technology specialist, an instructional technology coach, and the media specialist who also acts as the technology coordinator. The media specialist offers informational lectures and tutorials on technology implementation for both students and teachers. Technology tips are broadcasted on the school morning news and the school website. Proper digital citizenship rules and regulations are enforced with emphasis on plagiarism and copyright laws. Observations and an interview with the media specialist indicate that the media center is supporting its mission and goals which include providing both literary and technology materials and services to support all stakeholders. A suggestion for improvement is to increase the memory space of each desktop and laptop in the computer labs. A second suggestion is to offer a school email address to all students so that students can be held accountable for their digital materials and so teachers can forward digital materials to them. Organizational Chart

Methods I used a variety of sources when constructing my evaluation report. The data I obtained was supported by interview questions and answers from the media specialist (Appendix A), checklist observations (a total of 5 hours) of the media/technology center (Appendix B), the schools website (Appendix C), as well as additional documents, PowerPoints, YouTube links, and reports found on the schools Website (Appendix D).

Center Context and Goals The Monroe County Middle School Media Center has served as a book resource center for many years but within the last 12 years it has evolved into a 21st century technology center. Students can still check out books to use as reference material or pleasure reading, but they can also utilize technology as well. Ms. Pierson, a 15 year media specialist, has observed hands-on the way a library has progressed towards a digital environment. She believes that technology is the key to prepare students as modern thinkers. She is even trying to persuade administration to purchase a small set of eReaders and allow students to borrow and read fiction or other types of novels using a Kindle. Her mission for the media center is to keep students reading and technology is the key. Ms. Piersons main duties include promoting literacy, technology, digital citizenship, and copy right laws. She maintains the school website, monitors all equipment, and updates resources through well researched purchases. The media center houses 28 computers that can be used for research and creating project-based technology assignments. Besides the media center we have four additional computer labs located within the school building. Ms. Pierson is in charge of monitoring these labs for teachers as well as maintaining the equipment. Additional key personnel who staff the media center include a Media Assistant, Ms. Williams, Technology Specialist, Kelvin Hughley and an Instructional Technology Coach, Ronnie Shipman. Ms. Williams duties entail checking out books, and technology resources which include: iPads, iPods, Active Votes, Quiz Bowl Buzzers, digital cameras, video cameras, and projectors. Kelvin Hughley acts as technician for any hardware, software, wireless or internet issues and Ronnie Shipman, who maintains a monthly IT newsletter, helps teachers learn how to acclimate technology for best practices. The media centers objective is to service all stakeholders such as teachers, students, and administration with updated technical support services. These services provide a rich digital learning environment that will promote technology and increase literacy skills. The goals for the media center include: Providing technology services appropriate to the curriculum of our school. Providing materials and services which meet the informational needs of our school. Promoting literacy. Promoting safe and ethical technology use.

Center Activities The Media Center provides several services and activities for teachers and students such as: Teaching groups how to utilize reference materials. Teaching groups how to research information. Teaching groups about plagiarism and copyright laws. Teaching groups how to use the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) and GALILEO. Demonstrating to groups various ways to use software. Demonstrating to groups various ways to utilize technology equipment. Broadcasting a technology tip for the day on school morning news and school website. The Media Center also promotes, supports, and instructs all middle school students to compete in the Georgia Student Media Festival http://www.gsmf.us/. The purpose of the festival is to stimulate interest and involvement in all types of media production. Each ELA class takes a turn going to the media center where the media specialist lectures and demonstrates GSMF information and technology uses to students. Areas discussed and actions covered include: PowerPoint about GSMF. Types of media production. Student examples of previous state winners. Student examples of previous local winners. Student access to digital equipment through the media center. Student access to editing software through the media center. Demonstration and tutorial on how to edit digital video using Apple software. Evaluation After reviewing the data collected, it is evident that the Media Center performs resourcefully as the technology center for the Monroe County Middle School. The media specialist along with the supporting staff upholds the mission and goals of the media center. It is evident that the activities, information, demonstrations, and tutorials that are provided by various clientele support literacy and technology for all stakeholders. Updated technology and equipment is available for student and staff usability. It is in my opinion though, that the most supporting evidence provided is the schools Instructional Technology Coach. This is a new position that was executed this school year and has proven to be most successful. Having an ITC allows teachers to have someone else explore, research, and decide which Web tools and apps are useful and which are not. This is truly a timesaver for us educators who are skillfully wielding 21st century learners. A suggestion for improvement would be to increase the memory space of student desktops and laptops to provide faster service. A second suggestion is to offer a school email address to all students that can be maintained and serviced by the school system. Providing a student email will also hold students and teachers accountable for delivering and receiving instructional materials.

Appendices

Appendix A: Interview Questions and Answers

Interview Questions Media Specialist/Technology Coordinator

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. What is your title? What are your job responsibilities? What are the job titles and brief descriptions of key personnel who staff the center? What is the mission of the center? What are the goals of the center? Who are the stakeholders? What activities or programs are carried out by the center? What technology equipment is available for teachers? What technology equipment is available for students? What Web tools and Applications do you promote and offer? What additional resources do you provide for students and faculty? What digital rules and procedures do you promote? In your opinion, does the media center effectively serve as the technology center?

Appendix B: Observation Checklist

Technology Resource Center Checklist

Items to be Observed 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Evidence of Literacy Promotion Evidence of Digital Citizenship Promotion Evidence of Copy Right Laws Promotion Evidence of Technology Student Usage Evidence of Equipment Monitoring and Usage Evidence of Computer Lab Usage Evidence of Website Monitoring Evidence of Technology Updating and Repairing Evidence of Updated Resources Evidence of Instructional Technology Information for Teachers

Appendix C: Website

Appendix D: Additional Documentations I used additional resources obtained from the Monroe County Website such as: Trends in Cybersecurity: Insightful YouTube Links about cybersecurity. 2014 Technology Progress Report: A PowerPoint explaining where the school started and how it has progressed in the implementation of technology. 2012-2015 Technology Plan: The school systems three year technology goals. Be Social but Be Safe: A PowerPoint explaining how to utilize the internet safely. Monroe County Schools Media Handbook: The Media Center and Media Specialist Guidelines and Procedures. Monroe County Schools Technology Citizenship: A Technology Citizenship poster created by the school system and advertised throughout the school. Technology Plan Overview: A PowerPoint summarizing the schools technology plan. Trends Presentation Cybersecurity: A PowerPoint designed by the school explaining tips and useful information about cybersecurity. Your Child Online: A PowerPoint explaining proper student utilization of technology. Monroe County Schools Cybersafety: A Wiki explaining cybersafety as a crash course introduction. All of these items can be found under Links and Contents on the Website seen in Appendix C.