Technology Assessments

The Pros and Cons of Technology Assessments

There are many pertinent aspects that go into developing a technology assessment for school districts to use in designing their technology plans.  Many of the criteria used in Technology Assessments have come from internal and external evaluators.  It is very important that not just external evaluators are used.  By using internal evaluators you are able to get a more precise look at the districts themselves.

There are many successful outcomes of assessments but there are also flaws to the assessments.  They should not be used as the only source of information on how a district is performing.  The questions that are asked are often vague and misleading.  Fellow teachers are also not informed on many of the areas of the assessments such as budget and funding.  For example, The STaR Chart gives you few choices to choose from when evaluating how your district is improving with technology.  The questions on the STaR Chart do not have options for the survey taker to fill in exactly what technology has been purchased for that school year.

Over the course of the three years evaluated for one district the survey does not take into account the number of teachers that have been with the district for the same amount of time.  There is not a line of questioning to take this into account.  Perhaps the district had a large turnover that year and the employees were not aware of the technology that was purchased for the previous year.  The employee may not have been made aware of technology that is available for shared use.

All assessments are going to have areas that do not truly reflect how a district is performing.  There needs to be an understanding that this is just one of several tools to use to evaluate how a district is performing, not the only tool.  As I was reviewing my school district's STaR chart I noticed several discrepancies in the overall outcomes in several areas.  As a teacher, I knew that the school had purchased new ELMO's with projectors for every teacher in the district and also some interactive whiteboards to be shared on the campuses.  However, on the chart we fell from Advanced down to Developing when just the opposite had happened.  One teacher's perception of how technology is progressing is different than another teacher's perception.  An online survey does not take into account one's perception of technology.

When the state is viewing these survey's, there is no way for them to know the mindset of the people who are filling them out.  Unfortunately, states are not able to step foot into every classroom to make sure that technology is being integrated properly.  They have to rely on assessments to some degree.  I feel that more than assessments need to be used when evaluating if a district is meeting the state's requirements.