1. What is the general purpose for which the grant is being requested?

This pilot project is to create a distributed (mobile) learning environment for teachers. Distributed learning environments allow learning anytime, anyplace. A cadre of no more than fifty teaches will be selected to have the use of a laptop computer to develop instructional materials, for instructional presentations, for doing research for instruction, for using SASIxp, and for communicating with students, parents, and peers.

The purpose of the project was accomplished. Fifty teachers were selected by the administrative team from approximately sixty applicants.

2. What changes will occur as a result of this project?
 

• Teachers will no longer be restricted to a time or place for doing their work.
• Instructional materials will be developed and presented on the same machine.
• Staff development will be on-going.
• Teacher access to technology will increase.
• Teacher computers will be removed from the classrooms of the selected teachers.

In school network connectivity for the PowerRangers was established at their office desks as well as a separate network connection in their classrooms. The PowerBook was equipped with a modem allowing connectivity outside of school.

One of the major advantages teachers recognized early on was the ability to develop and present from a single computer, their PowerBook. Development and presentation on different machines is a major stumbling block.

PowerRangers received four hours of staff development prior to receiving their PowerBook, attended monthly staff development sessions, participated in a listserv, instructed others (PowerRangers and non-PowerRangers), took on-line courses, and worked at home.

Not only did PowerRangers have 24/7 a week access to technology, but with fewer teachers needing to use office machines, access in general increased.

Where possible, teacher computers were removed from classrooms. This was not possible in all cases with multiple teachers using a classroom.

3. How will the changes advance the District goal of integrating technology into the curriculum?

It's a challenging time for educators. They are looking for ways to provide equity of access to technology for themselves and students, provide mobility to take learning outside of the traditional classroom, create multisensory learning experiences, and provide a collaborative environment for students and teachers to work within. Distributed learning environments (mobile computing) provide a suitable framework for meeting all these objectives.

Experience suggest that teachers, even those most enthusiastic about teaching with technology, typically pass through several distinct stages before they become education technology integrators and innovators. Progression through stages of technology entry, adaptation, and transformation is not unique to the education community. There are two prerequisites that must be met before an educator can use technology to achieve more advanced levels of collaboration. First, the educator must have easy access to collaborative technologies, preferably in the classroom and at home. The more convenient the access, the more likely the educator is to experiment with new technologies. Second, the educator should achieve a basic level of proficiency with technology before attempting to use technology for serious professional collaborations.

4. How will the changes advance the District goal of ensuring that students have access to technology for use and instruction?

Students of the teachers selected will benefit form the increased use of multimedia for instruction, increased knowledge of technology for instruction, and increased communication capabilities.

5. How many students will be impacted by the proposal?

Selecting fifty teachers with an average student load of one hundred would mean five thousand students (non unique) will be impacted.

6. How often will students utilize the technology during the course of a semester?

This proposal does not provide student access to technology. However, it is expected that the teachers involved would use the laptop in class each day and expand their expectations of student use of technology.

As stated in the proposal, students will not directly benefit from increased technology access. However, as the assessment indicates and the anecdotal comments highlight, students were impacted in and out of the classroom as a result of their teacher being a PowerRanger. Presentation, communications, and up-to-date information are the most frequent areas mentioned.

9. What evidence will be presented to demonstrate that the project has accomplished its intended outcomes?

Teachers involved in the pilot will demonstrate movement in the Core Technology Skills from the Entry stage to the Transformation stage as outlined in the Milken Exchange Professional Development Continuum.

Two groups of Stevenson teachers, PowerRangers and non-PowerRangers, took the on-line Technology Assessment developed by NCREL and the Milken Exchange. The Exchange is the technology portion of the Milken Foundation. While PowerRangers were required to take the assessment, the non-PowerRangers were volunteers. The results of this assessment are attached.
 

10. What is your plan for sharing your finding with other interested colleagues?

• The pilot group will conduct inservice in the use of technology for instruction for the faculty using the “lunch and learn” format.
• The pilot group will be mentors for the next group of teachers receiving laptops.

With the continuation of the project, this year’s PowerRangers will mentor new members of the group. It is also my recommendation that the current PowerRangers receive the new PowerBooks and pass their current PowerBooks to their mentees.
 

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