Schquetta+Hawkins

**Executive Summary** Technology is an important tool that is commonly being asked to incorporate into classes on a daily basis. It is asked many times by district leaders/administrators for teachers to create lessons that allow students to use technology and the computer. These lessons should keep students engaged in the and readily prepare them to master the curriculum objectives that have been set forth by the state. The problem is that XYZ Middle School needs more student engagement in the technology courses to keep students engagement and involved in the lessons. Although is a problem, there are some ways that this problem can be resolved. First, there can be more workshops provided to teachers to help increase student engagement in lessons. Next, a software program can be purchased that allows students to only focus on the activities that have been assigned to the students. Although these solutions would help to increase student engagement they will propose a cost to the institution. This cost would include teachers taking the time to participate in a professional development workshop where they gain the knowledge and skills needed to provide better student engagement. The other option of the implementation of the software program would be a cost to the institution as well. In the end, these tools would magnificently have an integral impact on promoting student engagement as well as student achievement.
 * The Improvement of Student Engagement In Technology Courses**

XYZ Middle School is seeking ways to keep students focused on their daily computer lessons. The school currently has technology tools such as Smart Boards, Document Cameras, Flip Cameras, laptops and desktop computers. These are tools that the district has purchased in order to help incorporate technology lessons in the classroom. Students who participate in technology courses are more often exposed to participating in assignments where they are engaged in using the Internet. The main problem is that students may linger off to other websites or other programs other than what the teacher has assigned for them to be on. This is a problem because students’ engagement in the lesson is lost, which can demote student achievement in the objectives being taught.
 * XYZ Middle School**
 * Problem Summary**

This school is located in the eastern part of North Carolina and it is located in a very small city with a current population of about 16,190 people ( [] ). The city that the organization is located in has few industry jobs and top company jobs in the area. The current clientele of the organization is students between the ages of 11-14 and the parents of these students. The teachers, administration, cafeteria workers, office workers, and central office staff also serve as part of the clientele that is served within this institution. The intervention plan for this organization is to develop a comprehensive plan that would allows students to only access computer tools that the teacher has assigned to them. Also while incorporating this plan; software tools should be used that block students from going to other sites/tools outside of the assignment. This software program should allow teachers to access students’ computers from their working computers. Also while incorporating this plan; it is important for teachers to know and understand about ways in which keep students engaged in the lessons. It is helpful to know and understand the type of students that are currently being served within this organization. Also a survey conducted by various teachers would also assist greatly because this survey would convey what teachers know about various technology tools and they would be able to state whether or not they need more assistance in training or professional development in order to use this type of software on a daily basis.
 * Background of Organization**

The people that would be affected by this plan will be the teachers, administration, students, and parents. The teachers will be using the technology tools in order to instruct and teach students, the administration would be ensuring that the teachers have the tools that are needed in order to incorporate safe online usage. Teachers are in the classroom monitoring students while they are exposed to activities that involve the Internet or computer software programs. The students will be using the technology tools in the classroom and they are the ones who are exposed to many different types of technology tools on a daily basis and exposed to the Internet/software programs. Lastly, the parents play a role because they would have the ability to have the available technology tools at home for the students to use, and ensure that students are going to appropriate websites while they are engaging on the Internet at home. Once this plan has been developed, the individuals who will make sure that implementation of this plan is implemented is the administration. They must ensure that this technology software must be purchased and installed for classroom usage. Key personnel that would provide insights into the performance problem is the teachers who use computers and the Internet regularly for classroom assignments and computer technicians.
 * Stakeholders and Decision-Makers**

The current problem is how to keep student’s focus on their daily computer assignments. This is a major problem for middle school students, because their focus is on using the computer for entertainment purposes and not for learning how to use computer applications. The gap where the company currently is at is the ability to be able to keep the students’ focus on class computer related assignments. This gap is currently causing some students achievement levels on computer assignments to be at a low due to their inability to focus on the assignments that the teachers have assigned to them.
 * Performance Gap: Cause Analysis**
 * Actual Current Performance.**

The school wants to be at a standing point where there are high levels of student achievement on class computer assignments and their focus remains on the classroom objectives and classroom assignments. The desired performance looks like that 95% of the students attending this school has improved student engagement in their computer classes and these students have a 95% or higher passing rate on class assignments that pertain to computer applications related assignments such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, multimedia, etc.
 * Desired Performance.**

The actual performance involves that the students are not focused on classroom computer activities. The desired outcome is for the students’ focus to be on all computer related activities.. The gap would be that student’s focus on computer activities would be increased by 95% or higher.
 * Performance Gap.**

This problem has developed because of teacher’s lack of expertise of providing more student engagement while in the computer classes. Another cause of this problem would be the student’s ability to access other sites programs outside of the assignments. This gap can exist because of the students’ incapacity of knowing and learning about the importance of knowing and understanding how to use computer applications is a great benefit to them.
 * Cause Analysis.**

The goals of this organization are to promote student engagement and promote more technology use in the classrooms. The organization is working to promote higher level of success through the use of more technology related tools and devices. This relates to the performance gap because the current performance gap within the organization pertains to technology usage in the classroom. As a school, the district is striving to encourage and promote higher student success through first, encouraging higher student engagement.
 * Organizational History and Background**
 * Goals.**

This organization has been in operation for over 30 years. The facility was upgraded to a new school in 2001, and the new building has been operating for the past 11 years. This organization has always been a middle school and is currently an operating middle school for grades 6-8. The school provides the core subjects of Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The enhancement courses that are included along with the core subjects are AVID, three CTE courses, Band, and Physical Education.
 * History.**

Part of the mission of this organization is as follows is to prepare students to achieve academically, be creative and think critically, etc. ” (School Improvement Book, 2011). This mission entails that the institution is working together with the communities surrounding the institution in order to prepare students for the 21st century. The 21st century involves students using their critically thinking skills in order to master objectives and also use technology to enhance the skills of the students in the 21st century. Part of the vision of this institution is to “continuously embrace diversity and assist all students in achieving their highest potential in a safe environment, etc. (School Improvement Book, 2011). This vision statement discusses the importance that is placed on each individual student’s fulfilling their full potential in order to excel in comfortable and safe educational environment.
 * Mission and Vision.**


 * Three Intervention Strategies**

The intervention strategies that have been chosen are strategies that would greatly assist in the improvement of student engagement in technology related courses. These strategies are include the implementation of more classroom monitoring tools/ adjust classroom setup, additional staff members to support the technology teachers, and the introduction of a software program to help manage the students and keep students on task with classroom assignments.


 * Low end intervention.**

The low end intervention will consist of adjusting the current classroom setup. In many technology related courses, there is not much that can be done in order to adjust the setup of the classroom. In some cases, the classroom setup cannot be changed, but there can be some strategies that can be implemented in order to make the arrangement of the classroom a bit more conducive to learning.

Some adjustments that can be made include the addition of more mirrors so that the teacher can easily view more of the classroom computers while the students are working or completing assignments. Also, the computers can be changed around so that the screens can be more visibly seen by the teacher. The classroom would need to take more of a U shape, so that the teacher is seen in the middle of the classroom and she/he can easily see all the computers.


 * Middle end intervention.**

The middle intervention will consist of adding additional personnel in the technology classrooms. The additional teacher assistant can be used in order to help with classroom monitoring and ensuring that all students are staying on task and completing assignments that have been assigned to them. This can greatly assist the teacher, because as she is teaching/instructing, the extra personnel will ensure that each student is on task.

Another middle end intervention would be the use of professional development opportunities. These professional development activities can provide teachers with activities and strategies to use in the classroom in order to assist with keeping the students engaged and focused on the lessons.


 * High end intervention.**

The high end intervention strategy will consist of the purchase of a software program that will allow the teacher to monitor all the students’ computers right from his/her computer station. The software program is called UserMonitor from Neuber Software. This software program allows for teachers to monitor their computers and provide demonstrations on the computers also (www.neuber.com/usermonitor/index.html). The teacher can also type messages to the students’ computers and close programs that should not be open on the computers (www.neuber.com/usermonitor/index.html).

Another software program that would be very useful and helpful would be Netsupport software. This program also allows for monitoring of all students computer screens at one time, instant messaging to the computers, viewing of websites (www.netsupportschool.com/monitor.asp). This software would also greatly help and support the technology classes for easy monitoring of the students computers.

The strategy that I would like to propose to the organization would be the high end intervention. The strengths of this intervention is that it allows for easy classroom monitoring and allows the teachers to keep the students on task with minimal to no interference with the regular classroom instruction. Also this software has the capabilities to keep students engaged in the lesson which will promote higher levels of success on classroom assignments. This intervention will most likely resolve the problem because the teacher will able to visibly view each child’s computer with just one click, whereas with the other interventions, although there will be monitoring, students can easily get off task again as soon as the teacher walks away from them. A limitation to the high end intervention is the cost of the software program. Today, money is scarce in education and although obtaining this software program would be a great asset, the funds may not be there to purchase this program. Funding of this program would be a limitation for the school district. The low end intervention has benefits such as low cost. The installation of extra mirrors in the classroom would not be very expensive. Also, changing the classroom setup around would not cost any money at all. This would only require the movement of the computers to more of a U shaped environment. Some limitations of the low end intervention would be that the rearrangement of the classroom may not help the teacher will the monitoring of keeping students on task. As soon as the teacher walks to the opposite side of the classroom, the other students may again begin to get off task. Another limitation would be that some classrooms may not be able to be rearranged. These computers may have to remain in their regular locations, because the movement of them may cause other classroom restraints. The low end intervention was not chosen because although this intervention would require minimal funds, this intervention would not allow for complete access to student engagement. The resolution to this problem requires total student engagement for the teacher as well as the students. The middle end intervention has strengths such as providing more eyes in the classroom. More personnel monitoring the students would allow for more students to remain on task. The teacher would not have to constantly maneuver around to each computer all the time, but the teacher can continue teaching while these is extra monitoring in the classroom. Also the use of professional development would provide teachers with opportunities to enhance their skill and learn new ways of providing better student engagement in the classroom. The weaknesses of the middle end intervention would be that the school may not have extra personnel to add to the technology classrooms. In these cases, this intervention would not be a good choice. A weakness of the use of professional development opportunities would be that some teachers may not want to participate in the professional development, especially if they feel as though they do not need this type of professional development. The middle end intervention was not chosen because realistically, there are not any other teachers that would be available to help assist students in the technology classrooms. The teacher assistants who are available are already assigned to the specified teachers and students; therefore there would not be any extra teachers available. The high end intervention strategy that was chosen would meet the organizational needs of the school district because when students are engaged and focused on the lessons, then they are more than likely going to excel and succeed in learning.
 * Justification for Intervention Strategy**

My role as project manager for this intervention would be to introduce the problem to the staff or other team members and then provide the possible solutions to the problem. I would also provide meaningful data on schools that have already used this program and we will discuss and view the success rate and changes in the students after using the software program. It will be discovered whether or not this intervention helped the other organizations or not. My role will also consist of ensuring ways of funding of this intervention. If this intervention is purchased, then I will take on the role as overseeing and determining the overall effectiveness of the software program. Resources that will be used for this intervention will consist of the data results from schools that have used this program before. These results will be shared with the faculty andstaff members. Also the interview questions results from other technology teachers will be used as resources in this project. (See Appendices C and D). Other resources that will be used will be the actual software program, central office team technology chairperson and the staff members. The software program will need to be purchased for the school. The central office team Technology Chairperson will be needed in order to discuss and seek the current problem. After discussion of the problem, I as the project manager will discuss the potential intervention resolution strategy. The faculty and staff member will be needed in order to discuss how this program usage will affect the school as a whole. The median for delivery of this intervention strategy will be to provide a power point presentation about the current problem. The overall delivery will be conducted through one particular technology course. This presentation will entail current problems in technology courses relating to keeping students engaged in the lessons. Next possible solutions for the problem will be addressed along with strategies on how these possible solutions will benefit the school. The software will be purchased for one technology class as a pilot study in order to seek whether the technology will help with higher student engagement and higher success in passing the courses. Once the pilot study is over, the data obtained through the study will help to determine if the software purchase will benefit the entire school or even district as a whole. A pilot study on a small group would be more beneficial than making a purchase for a very large group of students. Information related to this intervention strategy will be stored on the computer system in a database program. This information will be accessed by the project manager and other school personnel. This information will be processed in order to seek the advantages and uses of the software program for the school system.
 * The Manager’s Many Roles**

The manager as a change agent is vital and important in the workplace. The manager/leader has to be the person to initiate change so that the fellow employees would be able to properly implement change effectively.  Within XYZ Middle School, I will be the person who will act as the manager and implement change within the workplace. The implementation of this plan will greatly help and assist with the development of strategies in order to keep students engaged and focused on classroom computer assignments. In order to compensate and assist with the financial budget for this intervention program, there are some factors that have to be considered, for the low-end intervention strategy which is to change the setup of the classroom, there will be no cost for the implementation of this intervention. This can be done with just physical changes and movements of the equipment from within the classroom.  The middle-end intervention strategy which is to use the teacher assistants that are currently employed with the school would not be of any cost either. Although, if XYZ Middle School had to hire new assistants to put into the computer labs, then this would change to the high-end intervention strategy, due to the salaries that would have to paid to the assistants.  The high-end intervention strategy which is the purchase of some software packages that would control the students’ computers and keep them engaged in the lessons. The first software program which would be the UserMonitor software program has a cost of $190.00 for 50 licenses ([]). This would be the idea amount of licenses since the technology would be used for one classroom setting rather than purchase for the entire school.  The purchase of this software program would come from the technology funds from the technology department. These funds will be used in order to ensure that the computers are being used properly and students are continuing to be focused on class assignments.
 * The Manager as Change Agent **
 * Financial and Budget Information. **

The project objectives will be evaluated through the use of formative and summative assessments. The formative evaluation plan that will be used will be surveys. The surveys will be used to seek and determine what technology teachers feel and believe about technology engagement in the classroom setting. Another tool that can be used as a part of the formative assessment process would be an ongoing evaluation tool that would be used to assess the progress of the computer software tool. The ongoing evaluation tool would allow for the teachers in the technology classroom to assess the software program and increased student engagement over a six month period.  A form of summative assessment that will be used in order to access whether or not the technology software has resolved the issue would be to make comparisons of data related to the number of students that were on task without the software versus the number of students that were on task with the software tool. Data can be collected from the current year that shows the amount of students staying on task, and then when the new software is installed that data will be collected also to show what the differences are in the collection of data.  Another form of summative assessment would be the use of student work. This data would show the amount of students having mastery in classroom assignments before the software, and the amount of students with mastery after the software was installed.
 * Project Assessment. **

References [])

School Improvement Book (2011). School Improvement Committee.

http://www.netsupportschool.com/monitor.asp. Retrieved on April 7, 2012.

www.neuber.com/usermonitor/index.html. Retrieved on April 7, 2012.