Analysis

= Analysis - Phase I =

Problem Statement:
In January 2010, the Warwick Middle School (WMS) Staff and students will enter a new building where each classroom (58 total) will be equipped with a SMART board, interactive white board. The school district is making a huge financial investment into the purchase of the SMART boards and related equipment, therefore WMS teachers will be required to use this equipment.

All WMS staff have been shown how to operate a SMART board during a 45 minute team meeting. In addition each teacher was required to use a SMART board to teach at least one lesson during the 2008-2009 school year. However, without regular access to equipment many staff members have not mastered the use of a SMART board. Currently only 6 teachers have access to a SMART board in their classroom on a daily basis.

While some staff members have embraced the use of a SMART board and are eager to learn how to use this new technology, some staff members are not. As is common with any change, some staff will need to make an attitudinal shift. Staff members currently have a variety of skill levels and a variety of attitudes towards the use of technology in the classroom.

Gap Analysis:

 * 30% of pilot group teachers surveyed have never used SMART Notebook software
 * Of the 70% of pilot group teachers that have used SMART Notebook software, 82.2% ranked their skill level at Basic or Below Basic.
 * Currently 88.9% of pilot group teachers use an overhead projector on a weekly or daily basis. In contrast, only 22.2% of pilot group teachers use a SMART board on a weekly or daily basis.
 * 66.7% of teachers responded that students use the SMART Board 0% of the time during lessons

Root Cause:
Several factors contribute to the root cause:
 * 1) lack of access to proper equipment
 * 2) affect towards technology
 * 3) lack of a formal training program

Task Analysis:
Data for the task analysis was collected using the following methods:
 * Observation
 * SME & Focus Group Interviews
 * SMART Technologies product tutorials
 * Personal Experience



