As part of my self-evaluation process, I conducted a survey of my teachers to gain some insight into their perspective on growth. (View the results here.)  I was impressed that over 70% of the teachers felt that their use of technology had grown between 50%-100%.  Even more eye-catching was that 97.6% tried something new using technology with their students this year.  During the 2 years I have been a TIS at my school, I have been so impressed with the openness of my faculty to new ideas for technology integration.  Every time I asked a teacher to participate in a project, each one has always agreed!

One example is that this year my 2nd grade team really branched out with PBL.  Every 2nd grade student in my school learned about using the Internet for research (I got to teach that lesson!), used Open Mind 2 mind-mapping software to organize research findings, exported OM 2 to PowerPoint, refined the PPT, and then presented an oral multi-media project.  It was an amazing leap in technology growth for our 2nd graders.  I can’t wait to see what these students will accomplish in the future!

I know that all of my teachers had tremendous growth in the area of technology this year.  I had 15 teachers who were new to our school and district.  Many of these came from districts that did not have the technology resources we have.  They were required to take the TTCA, our district’s level 1 technology competency test.  After some tutoring, they all successfully passed the test and have made great personal gains in their use of technology.  It was a great year at my school, and I’m already beginning to think about how to guide growth next year!

Dr. Robert Marzano, one of our nation’s leading scholars in the field of educational research, has begun studying this issue and recently presented his findings in the keynote speech at CUE. Using 85 teachers across the nation who taught one class using an interactive whiteboard and another “control” class without the technology, he examined the effect of the use of an interactive whiteboard on student achievement.  He discovered 4 variables that affected results: overall years of teaching experience, length of time in months of experience in using a whiteboard, percentage of time the whiteboard is used in the classroom, and teacher’s confidence level in ability to use the technology effectively.  The research showed that optimal student achievement gains (the “sweet spot” according to Marzano) are possible with these conditions: a very experienced teacher who has at least 2 years of experience using an interactive whiteboard, uses it about 75% of the time, and is confident in his/her ability to effectively use the technology.  According to Marzano, such a teacher may expect up to 30 percentile point gains in student achievement.  Marzano admitted that all research is equivocal, and that ultimately the most significant factor in student achievement, with or without technology, is teacher quality.

His suggestion for effective use of technology was to focus on content, not the bells and whistles.  He also gave a reminder of the importance of keeping track of which students are getting it and which are not.  That point led Marzano into commentary about formative assessment and the use of technology for record-keeping.  He asserted that assessment should be an instructional technique, not a labeling technique. It’s important to examine lots of data over time to get the best picture of a student’s progress.  The most significant acievement gains came from tracking student progress over time using a rigorous rubric-based model.  The implications are that teachers need professional development in both effective teaching and the effective use of technology to maximize growth in student achievement.