Running head: FINAL TRAINING PACKAGE
Final Training Package Janet L. Coe Sam Houston State University
Goal Statement and Objectives With an ever-growing student population, The Woodlands Christian Academy has seen a reciprocal growth in faculty. Each year new teachers are hired to meet these growth needs and expected staff turnovers. This training module seeks to introduce new faculty members with the tools they will need to be successful for the school year. The school’s wifi system, email, electronic textbooks, and school management system are the focus of the skills acquisition of this training. 
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Learner Outcomes of Training Package This training module has three instructional goals: • Objective A: Learners will log on to the school network and email system, then send an email to the instructor as verification of success. • Objective B: Learners will open and gain access to their electronic textbook. • Objective C: Learners will log on to school management system and create lesson plans within the system. State and Federal Standards At present, The Woodlands Christian Academy does not have technology standards for teachers or students. The Director of Technology projects those standards will be published before the next school term, 2015-2016 (Farra, 2014). In anticipation of the creation of those standards, this training reflects the International Society for Technology in Education standards for students as published in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The ISTE Standards for Students (2007) details six areas of proficiencies: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts. ISTE also designed standards and performance indicators for teachers “for evaluating the skills and knowledge educators need to teach, work and learn in an increasingly connected global and digital society” (2008): facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity, design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments, model digital age work and learning, promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility, and engage in professional growth and leadership.
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The standards for teachers and students reflect the goals and long-range plan for technology of the federal and local state (Texas) governments to educate our students to thrive as 21st century digital citizens. By aligning their goals and standards to these criteria (for students and teachers) The Woodlands Christian Academy will enable students to become technologically literate in preparation for college and daily life. This training package is designed to meet Standard 3b of the ISTE Standards for Teachers. That standard states: “Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation” (ISTE, 2008). Each objective of the training package would support and reinforce this standard.
Plan for Training Target audience: New teachers Location: Nehemiah Commons Room, The Woodlands Christian Academy Time allotted: Approximately 90 minutes When: Back-to-School Teacher In-service This training module is focused on skills acquisition. As such, a few instructional strategies are not appropriate, in particular, student-directed learning. While student-directed learning is not present in this module, the skills acquired in this module will create other opportunities for the learners. These skills will enable teachers to create lessons that will enhance teachers ability to “(c)ollaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation” (ISTE, 2008).
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Additionally, many of these skills will allow teachers to create lessons that enhance student collaboration, communication, critical thinking skills, and “voice and choice” opportunities in the future. Outcomes of Training: • Learners will log on to the school network and email system, then send an email to the instructor as verification of success. • Learners will open and gain access to their electronic textbook. • Learners will log on to school management system and create lesson plans within the system.
This diagrammatic representation demonstrates my reflection of the process of developing this training module:
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Outline of Training Objective A: Teachers will log on to the school network and email system with 90% success rate based observations during training and follow up surveys. (30-40 minutes) Training Presentation available at: Online: https://www.smore.com/rcx5d Google Drive: http://goo.gl/B0hNjT •
Demonstrate how to locate correct wifi (Warrior Wifi) and log in using personal log-in information (username and password.) (Direct teach)
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Have learners open laptops and locate appropriate wi-fi (WARRIOR Wifi).
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Distribute pre-assigned log-in usernames (school email addresses) and passwords.
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Learners will try logging into the school network.
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Instructor will verify success by surveying the learners via socrative.com survey and visual checks. (Self-assessment with instructor observation of postings)
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Demonstrate how to access email application, FirstClass, which will have been preloaded to their school issued laptop by the technology department prior to distribution. (Direct teach)
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Have learners follow my modeling using their personal log in information.
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Have learners send a test email to me and one other learner (instructor assessment).
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• Learners will communicate with the sender by sending a reply email to verify successful accomplishment of objective. (Student-directed/self-assessment/ peer assessment/communication)
• Offer opportunity to students to create unique password that will be easier for them to recall and also allow for greater security (voice and choice) within domain’s parameters.
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Post-assessment: instructor observation and survey of learners (instructor assessment).
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Reteach and/or troubleshoot as necessary as indicated by observation and formative assessments mentioned earlier. (Direct teach) (Collaboration: students may help each other problem solve.)
• Prompt: Brainstorm how the email system could be used for communication and collaboration with students? with parents? with colleagues?
• Post answers on http://padlet.com/coe/email (communication and collaboration) (critical thinking skills)
• The answers from the learners are displayed for all participants to see. Time will be allowed for further discussion (communication) and further development (collaboration) of these ideas (critical thinking).
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Objective B: Teachers will access an electronic textbook using log on procedures with a 90% success rate based on observations within training and follow up surveys. (30-40 minutes) Training Presentation available at: Online: https://www.smore.com/kh91e Google Drive: http://goo.gl/0f4NFv •
Demonstrate using SmartBoard and laptop how to register a teacher at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com. (Direct teach)
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Have learners go to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com and complete the process using the access information that is specific to their textbook. (This will be distributed through a handout to each learner.)
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Learners will check their email for a verification request from Pearson and will complete this process through the link on the email.
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Instructor will demonstrate how to log in with my unique user name and password. (Direct teach)
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Learners will attempt to log on using the unique user name and password they created during the registration process.
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Allow learners to explore multiple opportunities/resources within the electronic textbook (multimedia, charts, lessons, assessments, etc.) that may be of use in future lesson planning (voice and choice).
• Learners share with other learners present via Padlet (http://padlet.com/coe/ebook) items of interest that they discovered within the electronic textbook and might use in the future. (collaboration)
• Learners discuss how these resources could be used for Critical Thinking Skills for their students. (collaboration/critical thinking)
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Post-assessment: instructor observation/assessment and survey of learners (self assessment).
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Reteach and/or troubleshoot as necessary as indicated by observation and assessments responses. (Direct teach; collaboration: students may help each other problem solve.)
• Prompt: Brainstorm how could you use the resources you discovered in the electronic textbook to infuse technology into your lessons?
• Post answers on pollev.com/jcoe (communication and collaboration) (critical thinking skills)
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• The answers from the learners are displayed for all participants to see. Time will be allowed for further discussion (communication) and further development (collaboration) of these ideas (critical thinking).
Objective C: Teachers will be able to log on to and create lesson plans within the school management system, RenWeb, with 90% success rate based on a related assessment. (30-40 minutes)
Training Presentation available at: Online: https://www.smore.com/jag7q Google Drive: http://goo.gl/mpL1vp •
Demonstrate and ask learners to go to www.RenWeb.com and follow the following path: Support tab>Faculty Access Tab>Online Faculty Access (High Speed) (Faculty web training manual, 2011). (Direct teach)
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Demonstrate and then instruct learners to create a bookmark for the log-in screen that now appears.
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Explain enter the District Code (twca-tx), specific user name (school email address) and password (same password used for initial email sign up in previous objective lesson.) (Teacher directed learning). Click “Login.”
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Instructor checks progress by observation of learners and their progress. (Instructor assessment)
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Demonstrate how to go to Lesson Plan pages and choose appropriate class lesson plan. (Direct teach)
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Open document with lesson plan already prepared. Demonstrate how to copy and develop lessons and homework into appropriate areas. Save lesson.
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Have learners practice the same process while moving about the room observing progress and completion.
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Demonstrate how to retrieve lessons for the week: click on Report Manager>Grade Book>Lesson Plan/Homework (Class)>choose appropriate class>Print (save as PDF). (Direct teach)
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Have learners practice the same.
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Demonstrate what the lesson plan looks like for parents and students by going to ParentsWeb tab and click. (Teacher-directed learning)
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Trade lesson with a colleague and elicit feedback (peer review/collaboration) on information listed there for better communication with students and parents. (Student directed learning) (Peer Assessment)
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Post-assessment: instructor observation and survey (instructor assessment), peer review (collaboration) and survey of learners (self assessment) at http://goo.gl/FzLXFm (easypolls.net).
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Reteach and/or troubleshoot as necessary as indicated by observation and survey responses. (Direct teach; collaboration: students may help each other problem solve.)
• Make note of trouble areas for future revisions of instructional material (summative evaluation).
• Prompt: Brainstorm how you could use RenWeb to increase communication with your students? with parents?
Final ten question quiz: testmoz.com/407088, passcode: twca (Instructor assessment)
Disaster Plan As with every plan, instructors have to be prepared for failure of any system that might interrupt or prevent the session from taking place. Availability of wifi is an integral part of each objective. If the wifi network should encounter issues on the day or time of training, two alternatives could be pursued: reschedule training for a different meeting time within the teacher inservice or review the instructions using presentation tools with follow up at a future date. The first is the optimal choice between the two alternatives. The second would not allow learners to
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practice each objective, collaborate with their peers, or demonstrate proficiency of success with the objectives.
Assessments Formative Assessments Formative assessments in this training mode will provide feedback to the trainer in various forms: self, peer, and instructor. Those assessment methods (measurable objectives) are summarized in this chart:
As illustrated in the chart various assessments will be incorporated throughout the training to evaluate how the lessons and learning align with the goals of the objectives. These intentional
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assessments will demonstrate the level of mastery by use of measurable objectives of the students at different points in the training. Learners will self-assess through feedback via survey tools such as socrative.com, PollEverywhere.com, or TodaysMeet.com. Peer assessment is also present. Once the teachers have input their lesson plans on the school management site, they will review another teacher’s final posting for completeness of thought in the homework section. The homework section of the school management system (RenWeb) is one of the main communication tools that teachers use with their students. Clarity is imperative here. This collaboration will strengthen the learners’ ability to communicate with students (and parents) about expectations and assignments. Finally, instructor assessments such as observation and a ten-question quiz (90% pass acceptable pass rate) to review their accomplishments based on the objectives are incorporated in the training. These various assessment will verify that the teachers have mastered the three objectives of the lesson: • log on to the school wifi network and email system, • access and use electronic textbook, and • log-on to school management system and create lesson plans. Note: The web addresses of each assessment is embedded in the training presentations as well as noted in the Outline of Training (above). They are not listed here as to avoid redundancy. In anticipation of presenting this training module to new hires/teachers, I asked three colleagues (Subject Matter Experts) to review my training module up to this point. These professionals are all former teachers and/or server as digital learning specialists as well as campus technology coordinator and Director of Technology. I created a rubric based on the strengths and weaknesses of the module to collect their feedback: http://goo.gl/xpqGRb. The
FINAL TRAINING PACKAGE comments and suggestions from these reviewers were compiled into one document for easier review:
This document is also available at http://goo.gl/TH8fAL. In light of these comments I needed to update my plan in the following ways: • Create an invitation announcing the training session with a list of items to bring, including laptop, power cord, and a lesson plan previously created by the teacher. • Make a checklist of pre-training activities including set up and reservation of training room. • Update training module to reflect new email system, First Class.
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• Plan to create presentation (Keynote or smore.com) with instructions used in the class that can be stored and retrieved for reinforcement and future training sessions. • Create a ‘disaster plan’ if technology (wifi) does not cooperate on the day of training. These changes have been incorporated into the plan. Summative Assessment After training has taken place, the instructor will reflect on how the training accomplished the instructional goals. Feedback from learners and the instructor’s observations will direct the instructor as to how the training should be modified for future use to be more effective. A survey will be sent to all attendees via their new email accounts that will ask for the strengths, weaknesses, and suggestions to optimize time spent in this training. That form is available at: http://goo.gl/forms/2PlLunBkMT. I sat down with my mentor, Cyndee Farra, Director of Technology at The Woodlands Christian Academy to assess the development of and the final training package (summative evaluation). Ms. Farra’s comments echoed the comments in the chart above (Formative Evaluation Feedback on Training Package). She reviewed the changes made to the package: the invitation to training, the pre-training checklist, the updated email system in the training, the presentations for the training, and the disaster plan. In consideration of these changes/updates and the details of activities or learning strategies used in the overall training, she deemed that the goals of the training met Standard 3b of the ISTE Standards for Teachers. That standard states: “Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation” (ISTE, 2008). Each objective of my
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training module supports and reinforces this standard. Additionally, the module will meet the needs and fall within the budget and management parameters (Farra, 2014).
Objectives Funding: Budget/Costs As with all training, budgets and costs must be considered. This training module will not incur any additional expense that has not already been realized. All hardware has already been purchased and is in use. There is no additional software expense. Each aspect of this training is using products and services that are already in place, therefore no additional monies need to be allocated.
Objectives Management: Technology and Advanced Preparation Training will incorporate the technology infrastructure of the school for this training module. Use of the wifi system is an essential component of each objective. The training room should be equipped with a SmartBoard, projector, and Apple TV (bluetooth connection) for this lesson. Teachers will bring their school-issued laptop with preloaded software to use during the training. They will continue to practice the lesson objectives with these laptops post training. As previously mentioned, the Pre-training Checklist outlines preparations that should be completed at various dates prior to and the day of training. The objective of this checklist is to ensure technology systems are all in working order. This allows the instructor time to correct any issues that are discovered in the process with the goal of having all components in working order for the day of training. A snap-shot of the checklist (http://goo.gl/7J2NLH):
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In support of the training, documentation of instruction (handouts) have been created as a reference to reinforce the learning. Step by step directions with illustrations that are projected during the training will be made available through a shared storage drive and via a web address. These documents may be accessed at any time should the learners need to review any procedures. Future training classes may access these documents as well.
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Important Handouts
• Training Invitation: An invitation has been created listing the time, place, and required items to bring. A printed invitation such as this is necessary since these new hires do not have access to email yet. A copy of this invitation is available at http:// goo.gl/zuEOIj.
• Electronic Textbook (e-textbook) Registration: This documentation, sent from publisher each year with the registration codes, will be distributed at the appropriate juncture in the training.
• Pre-training Checklist: This checklist was created to manage and facilitate advanced preparations for the training. This checklist is available at http://goo.gl/7J2NLH.
• Training Presentations: Presentation notes of the training have bene created. This will be available via the shared storage system at the school for future use (ShareFile) and should learners find a need for review. These presentations are available online (as noted above in the training outline):
• Objective A: https://www.smore.com/rcx5d • Objective B: https://www.smore.com/kh91e • Objective C: https://www.smore.com/jag7q
FINAL TRAINING PACKAGE • Other assessment: These various assessments and their links are listed above in the Training Outline, pages five to 10. Resources/Reference Boyle, J. (2014, November 19). Interview by J Coe [Personal Interview]. Campbell, E. (2003, June 9). “2. Entry Behavior.” Modular Teaching. University of Iowa. Retrieved from http://www.cjbr.om/modularteaching/prerequisites/behaviour.htm Farra, C. (2014, September 14). Interview by J Coe [Personal Interview]. Farra, C. (2014, November 21). Interview by J Coe [Personal Interview]. ISTE standards for students. (2007). Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://www.iste.org/ standards ISTE standards for teachers. (2008). Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://www.iste.org/ standards Sweet, H. (2014, November 19). Interview by J Coe [Personal Interview].
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