761 week ten-online march 24, 2004

Good Examples of Part II. of Action Research Papers

Sara Stewart's | Midena Sas' |

Follow the steps below about reading and reviewing some online resources. Share your thoughts by responding as described in the last step.

Technology Support

1. Read the article Quality technology support: What is it? Who has it? and What difference does it make? (Dexter, S., Anderson, R. E. & Ronnkvist, A. (2002). Journal of Educational Computing Research, 26 (3), 287-307). Focus on the definition of "quality technology support" and determine which of its elements are present in your setting, and thus how your site compares to this national, representative sample.
(Note: This is the published paper that is based upon the same data as Report #5 of the TLC'98 project, but it doesn't include the findings, below, that I indicate you should read.)
2. Look over sections 1, 2, and 3 in REPORT #5 Technology Support: Its Depth, Breadth and Impact in America's Schools from Teaching, Learning, and Computing, 1998.Pay close attention to the "definition of technology support" and table 1---noting it has BOTH technical and instructional dimensions. In reviewing the tables and figures (and their accompanying text in sections 1, 2, 3) reporting the national data, get a sense of how your school site's technology support access compares, nationally.
(Note: this is the most recent national survey of technology use in education; I suggest you poke around its website, and bookmark it for future reference.)
Helpful: Useful Support Sites for Educators Who Have Technology Support Questions Search engines to a variety of support portals.
Helpful: Technology Support Index (TSI) The TSI is a framework that outlines effective technology support strategies. With the TSI self-assessment tool, school districts can appraise the quality of their technology support program and learn about possible improvements they can employ.
Helpful: Total Cost of Ownership : A model of calculating all of the costs associated with using and maintaining networked computers; it includes calculations of costs that may not turn up in a budget, but that can still have an impact on school district operations--for example, when teachers must take time out of their day to address their own tech support problems.

Digital Equity

3. Go to The Five Dimensions of Digital Equity and read about each dimension, and click on each one to review a few of its resources. Consider the degree to which your school addresses these five dimensions.
4. EnGuage EnGauge is a framework for engaged learning and 21st century skills; one dimension of its framework is equity. Review this indicated page's left-side links about the issues, definitions, indicators, and references for equity. Consider the degree to which your school addresses these five indcators.
Helpful: Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2001 Stats and facts that may be of use.
Helpful: Digital Divide Network Digital Divide Basics Fact Sheet.

Grants /Funding

5. In Obtaining Resources (Moursund 2002) read all of Chapter 1, and in Chapter 3 (at least) the "Project Mission Statement" and in Chapter 8 (at least) the "Problem Statement and Local Needs" sections. You may also want to skim Appendixes A-E.
Helpful: Alice Christie's Grant Writing and Funding Opportunities Page

Apply these Ideas

Whereas the five resources/readings identified here stand in for assigned chapters this week, the exercise below stands in for discussion/classwork in lieu of our face-to-face class meeting.
6. In a one-page (single-spaced) Word doc that you upload to WebCT, apply the conceptual frameworks of technology support and digital equity to your local school/work setting to conclude how your site measures up. After identifying additional resource needs, sketch out the first ideas needed for a grant proposal. A more detailed description of this is provided below:

a. Using items #1 and 2 above, write one paragraph describing the extent and quality of the technology support (technical and instructional) at your school site. Put it in context of the definition of quality support in #1 and the pervasiveness of various elements of technology support as described in #2. Conclude this paragraph by identifying any technology support needs in your site.
b. Using items #3 and 4 above, write one paragraph describing the degree to which your site achieves digital equity. Use the dimensions and/or framework to discuss the extent and quality of digital equity. Conclude this paragraph by identifying any needs at your site that so as to help it better acieve digital equity.
c. Using item #5 above, in one to two paragraphs identify the resources (e.g. staff, books, equipment, release time, software, connectivity, etc.) that your site would need in order to provide higher quality technology support and digital equity. Write about this more so like you are stating a project mission statement and/or problem statement and local needs than simply making a list of resources with attendant budget information. While the latter goes into a grant proposal as well, the former is the more critical information to think out and express clearly in a grant proposal. Imagine these 1-2 paragraphs as the beginning steps toward preparing an implementation grant (as described in chapter 1) for a non- or low-competition funder (as described in ch. 6).

To summarize, in this document you should have three to four paragraphs that tell describe the technology support and digital equity situation at your worksite, and identify not only the resources it might need to improve, but provide a general sketch of how you might frame a request for these resources to a funder.