Needs+Assessment

Needs Assessment: Incorporating technology into all classrooms is a hot topic at South Western. A technology committee was formed two years ago to address technology in the classroom. One concern is that middle school students are not being exposed to enough technology in which they must solve a problem or create a project. South Western School District’s strategic plan has six parts. One part of the plan is the Educational Technology Report. A shared value mentioned in the report is that utilization of new methodologies and technologies is essential to providing students a quality education in a constantly changing world. Teachers are trying to address this goal within their classrooms. One of the strategies mentioned in the report is 100% of students will be exposed to innovative ways for learning and analyzing information.

At the Middle School Computer Fair teachers were exposed to Scratch. Scratch is a programming language put out by MIT. The software has many uses. Through animated stories, games, music, and art students are learning to think creatively, work together, and reason systematically.

Teachers also looked at the ISTE goals. Goal number one is students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Two parts of this goal are to apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes and to create original works as a means of personal or group expression. The teacher feels that Scratch can address both an ISTE goal and a goal of South Western's strategic plan.

Type of Learning:

Intellectual skill