Draft Action Research Project Progress Report...

Draft Action Research Project Progress Report

Interactive Whiteboards:  How effective are whiteboards in assisting teachers in the presentation and retention of information.

Whiteboard technology has transformed the way teachers can bring information to students.  Our district decided to put this technology in each classroom in the district without proper support or training.  Data will be collected in interviews with students and teachers.  I will use STAR chart data as well as data from standardized tests that are released in May.  Subject area, teacher, student sub-group, and campus can be broken down within this information.

Improvement needs to take place in several areas of this issue. After three years and hundreds of interactive whiteboard installations, I decided to research the effectiveness of how the boards were used.  I have researched students, parents, and fellow teachers to determine what can be done to improve present and future technology integrations.  My objectives are:

·      Determine the level of proficiency with interactive whiteboards among teachers (1-10 scale)

·      Examine the frequency of use with this technology in classrooms (Daily/Weekly/Monthly)

·      Inquire among teachers the familiarity with the technology and the level of comfort (1-10 scale)

·      Evaluate data from standardized tests to draw conclusions based on the use of technology versus those that do not (class/teacher/grade)

My original thought behind this project was that I knew I was to receive an interactive whiteboard for my class with no formal instruction on how to use the technology.  After being very inquisitive, my administration set me up for training.  I realized that most of the other teachers on our campus had little or no training for their technology, and if this was the case, what was the level of proficiency that could be achieved with no training.  While discussing this with several colleagues, I began dialogue with our principal and technology coordinator about researching this topic.  After several weeks of discussing how I wanted to go about researching this topic my campus principal gave his blessing to this work.

The initial plan involved getting to know how my colleagues felt about interactive whiteboards and how they used them in the classroom.  I then began informal discussions with my classes about how they felt about the use of technology in the classroom and how teachers were utilizing the interactive whiteboards.  When I had the chance, I also discussed my research with school board members so that they knew we were being proactive in the thought process about how technology money was being used.  My research blog was posted to all members of our faculty and many responded to questionnaires that I presented at the beginning of the school year.

The approach for this research was to be as non-invasive as possible.  I wanted to gather data from teachers and students when it was convenient for them.  This includes interviews during conference time, web-based surveys that can be filled out anywhere, and informal visits that take very little time away from anyone’s schedule.   I will conclude my research with data that is presented by the state.  This will be labor intensive on my part, but I will not hinder anyone else’s time with my project.

The operations of my research are very simple.  I am hoping to compile research from surveys, informal and formal interviews, as well as standardized test scores.  The biggest priority is to match whiteboard technology use with achievement to determine how and if these correlate.

Reports that are generated from my research will be available on-line for anyone in our community and on our campus to view.  It will be presented to two different campuses as I will research two different schools during completion of this project.  I hope that my research will be shared with anyone involved and that it will be helpful to those seeking more information on how school districts are using technology funding.