BPMS Home Internet Access /Technology Use Action Research Plan*

BPMS Technology Committee, 11/4/10

• Describe the problem and area of focus.
As we teach students to use 21st Century Tools, we often find ourselves wondering if
students have computers and Internet access at home. We suspect that those who do not may be
falling behind in the new literacy skills, as do students without books in the home.
The introduction on our new SchoolFusion website, which encourages students and
parents to interact with the school through class pages with homework assignments and other
news posted online, has exacerbated the problem and heightened the need for school personnel
to be aware of families with limited access to these resources.
In addition, the BPMS Technology committee needs to ascertain the needs of staff
members for training and professional development in the area of technology use and
integration into the curriculum.
• Define the factors involved in your area of focus (e.g., the curriculum, school setting,
student outcomes, instructional strategies).
As the CESU District implements the next phase of its three year Technology Plan,
BPMS needs to integrate use of 21st Century tools in the classroom. Last year the D.O.E.
adopted the Transformation & Technology: A New Way of Learning – Classroom
Scenarios document and this year it will release a second document, the Technology Grade
Equivalents. In order to keep pace in this area, Brewster-Pierce needs to have a plan that builds
on the current status of technology integration and moves the school forward in this area.
• Develop research questions.
The questions we are asking at this time include:
What skills do staff already possess in technology use?
What professional development is the staff in need of?
Which students/families have access to computers and the Internet at home?
Which students/families do not have access to computers and the Internet at home?
Are students/families accessing the the BPMS Website?
Which are unable to do so?
Which aspects of the website are most used and why?
What barriers are preventing families from accessing the school website and other 21st
Centurey resources?
• Describe the intervention or innovation to be implemented.
In the spring of 2010, a questionnaire was completed by all staff members regarding
their knowledge of, and comfort with a number of computer based teaching tools. We intend to
review the results of this survey and to design in-house professional development opportunities
once the needs have been identified.
In the fall of 2010, we will send a questionnaire home with students to be completed
with their parents which will gather information about the use of technology in the home and
the interaction between school and home via the new website and its many tools for
communication.
The results will help us target homes which may require alternative communication
methods and to provide additional resources for students who may not have the same access to
technology tools that other students have.
• Develop a timeline for implementation.
The staff questionnaire results will be reviewed by the BPMS Technology Committee in
November and professional development goals will be established over the winter.
The home questionnaires will be finalized in November by the BPMS Technology
committee and send home in the end of November. Results will be reviewed during December
and January. Areas for intervention, if necessary, will be identified following the review of the
results.
• Describe the membership of the action research group.
The BPMS Technology Committee is made up of the CESU District Director of
Technology, the District Technology Integration Specialist, the BPMS Technology Specialist,
the school principal, library media specialist, a grade 3-4 teacher, and a grade 2 teacher.
• Develop a list of resources to implement the plan.
The staff questionnaire was conducted in Google document online, and the home
questionnaire will be duplicated and sent home with students. The School Bell will have an
article about the importance of completing the questionnaire.
• Describe the data to be collected.
The data regarding staff training needs is anonymous and will reflect not only areas of
comfort, but also areas of discomfort and preferred training requests.
The data collected in the family questionnaire will not be anonymous, in order to target
students with need of intervention in this area.
The data will include anecdotal information.
• Develop a data collection and analysis plan.
The staff data is already collected and needs to be analyzed by the members of the
committee. The questionnaires can be analyzed by the classroom teachers to determine if their
students have needs, and then reviewed by the committee.
• Select appropriate tools of inquiry.
The questionnaires and the gathering of anecdotal information provide the necessary
information.
• Carry out the plan (implementation, data collection, data analysis).
See above.
• Report the results.
The results will be shared with the committee, the community, and the school board.

*Deductive Research Outline from Action Research, Richard Donato, University of Pittsburgh, December 2003,
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0308donato.html .