School Technology Survey

School Technology Survey

1.      School name:               West Valley Elementary

2.      Name of Principal:                  Naomi Hopf

3.      Names of teachers talked with whose classrooms you visited and grade level: 

Janet Wellman, 5th

4.      Ask the teachers/principal their perspective on current and future use of technology in the classroom: 

Technology is a wonderful tool.  The students would prefer to use technology rather than traditional tools.  I believe that technology use will increase in the future.  It is an integral part of the new CORE.  However, many classrooms still do not have basic technology.  Funding for technology is a huge challenge.

5.      Does the school have its own website?          Yes 

6.      If so who maintains the site what is the URL?         

Janet Wellman  http://westvalleyelementary.weebly.com/

7.      Do teachers at the school have class blogs?        Yes

  If so who has access to them?           Everyone

8.      Is there a school technology supervisor?        School Technology Specialist          

Name?       Tami Loosle

9.      Do all the classrooms have computers in them?          Yes 

Explain what you find:     All classrooms have at least 3 computers.  There are several that have up to 20 laptops.

10.  Is there a computer lab/s?       Yes, three of them 

If so how is it used and by whom?           One lab is for projects, one is for assessment, and one is for writing.  All students use these on a weekly basis.

11.  What kinds of computers are in the school – PC’s, Laptops, Mac’s etc.? A combination of all three  Overhead projection equipment etc.:  Every classroom has a projector mounted on the ceiling.

12.  What software programs are regularly used by teachers?  Inspiration, Microsoft Office, Comic Life, KidPix,  PhotoStory/iMovie

13.  Can/do teachers use the Internet in their instruction? Yes         Detail findings. 

There are online tools such as Museum Box (http://museumbox.e2bn.org/),

Create A Graph (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/),

Timeline Generator (http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timeline/),

and Posters 4 Teachers (http://poster.4teachers.org/worksheet/view.php?id=160029)

 that teachers use for project creation.  The Internet is also used for research.  It is used for instruction and review.  Different sites are used for current events and real time data.  They are also used for assessment and review.

14.  How does a teacher get further training to use technology?         New teachers are given training during their first year.  The STS gives other training and teachers help also.  There are also District and other classes new teachers can take.

15.  See if you can get a sense of the % of students who might have a computer in their home:  60% - 70%

16.  Did you observe students using computer based technology?    Yes  
   If so detail what you observed:                  I viewed their website and how they put their assignments onto it.  That they have each others graphs and presentations to look at is cool so that they can view each others work and compare their results and observations to others that may have different ones.  http://web.me.com/jsw21/DOLPHINS/Welcome.html