Running head: INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

NARRATIVE

Individual Teacher Technology Assessment Narrative

Nia M. Cannon
Kennesaw State University

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

A sixth-grade teacher, located at Inman Middle School

participated in two questionnaires aimed toward assessing her level of
technology integration and her attitude regarding the adoption of new
and existing technology in her classroom. Dr. Smith-Greene is in her
eighteenth year of education, with nine years teaching middle school
and nine years in leadership. I selected Dr. Smith-Greene to take part
in my Individual Teacher Technology Assessment because of her lack of
confidence in technology. I gathered this information from observing
her in the classroom and the constant assistance she is always asking
for. While interviewing her, she expressed interest in learning how to
download new apps and where to find content specific apps for the
provided school technology; navigating through old assignments and
revamp them to include technology; how to access SharePoint and
Blackboard with ease; lastly how to incorporate the individual student
response system into the curriculum to make class more engaging. Dr.
Smith-Greenes classes consist of two gifted classes and two general
education classes.
The first questionnaire that Dr. Smith-Greene completed focused
on the Levels of Teaching Innovation Framework (LoTi) and was
comprised of 10 scaled and short answer questions. The first question
simply asked was how many years you have been teaching which she
selected more than ten years. The second question asked to select the

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

current technology available and she selected Create and Publish

(Blogs, Google Docs, You Tube Videos), Online Research, Presentation
(PPT, Prezi, Windows Live Movie Maker, Podcasts), Collaboration
(Dropbox, Skype, Twitter). Questions 3-10 were scaled questions, which
ranged from 1= few per quarter to 4=once per day. Dr. Smith-Greenes
answers were all 3s except for question number nine she selected 4.
When asked if students are involved in standards-based learning
experience during the instructional day, which lead to deep
understanding of content standards and require higher order thinking
skills a three was selected. When responding to the question students
assumes professional roles and uses the technologies and processes
associated with adult performance and problem-solving to complete
learning tasks she selected 3. Almost daily was selected as an answer
to her role s that of facilitator as I initiate project-based / problembased learning experiences. I scaffold students' learning needs and
guide them as they create products to present purposed solutions.
When looking at her response to the question asking My students have
opportunities to learn from and collaborate with peers from other
schools, and adults within our community and from other schools she
replied with 4 once per day. The final question on the LoTi
questionnaire, asked Dr. Smith-Greene My students model my example
of "correct and careful" use of digital resources and are aware of
consequences regarding their misuse of a level of a 3.

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

Based on the answers provided by Dr. Smith-Greene on the LoTi

questionnaire and my informal observations of her on a daily basis, she
is currently at the LoTi level 4A, Integration Mechanical. At the
mechanical level, technology-based tools are integrated in a
mechanical manner that provides rich context for students
understanding of standards and concepts. However there is a heavy
reliance on prepackaged materials/or outside resources to aid the
teacher on daily operations. For example, Dr. Smith-Greene frequently
has the students use ipads in class to complete webquests for
research. I would like to see Dr. Smith-Greene move into LoTi level 5,
expansion. In this level technology access is extended beyond the
classroom to expand student experiences directed and real-world
problems.
To gain an understanding of Dr. Smith-Greenes practices with
integrating emerging technology into her instructional activities, she
answered an Adopter Level questionnaire, which comprised of ten
questions. Overall, her responses indicated that she is more of late
majority and is often skeptical to the use of new technology and will
wait until an innovation has been accepted by the majority of people.
Based on my experience in education, one of the benefits for teachers
being apart of the late majority to adopt new technology in their school
is they are able to collaborate with the early adopters and instructional
technology specialist for supportive coaching on the newest

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

technology. According to Knight (2007), coaching is about

relationship with teachers as much as it is about instruction and to get
around barriers to change, coaches often start by working one-to-one
with teachers (p. 33).
Going forward, I will continue to collaborate and journal my
coaching sessions with Dr. Smith-Greene. At this time, our coaching
sessions occur on Wednesday of each week after our collaborative
content planning time. During this time, I share with her researched
based strategies that she may need to integrate the current
technology she is using, as well as, answer any questions she may
have regarding iPad apps and/or Web 2.0 resources she has discovered
and would like to integrate into her instruction. During our next
collaborative coaching session, we will discuss how we can continue to
develop her gifted class into a more student-centered classroom, as
well as, how we could extend her student collaborations beyond the
classroom, ultimately increasing her LoTi from 4 (mechanical/routine)
to 5 (expansion).

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

Technology Usage Questionnaire Response

Change Adopter Questionnaire Response

INDIVIDUAL TEACHER TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT NARRATIVE

References
Knight, J. (2007). Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to
Improving Instruction.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Moersch, C. (1995). Levels of technology implementation (LoTi): A

framework for measuring classroom technology use. Learning
and Leading with technology, 23, 40-40.