Education Commons^™

Into The Cloud: How Professional Development And Leadership Relate To Technology Implementation, Jessica Iovinelli

Dissertations

The skills necessary for 21st century society and the information age require that schools reevaluate their mission, vision, and goals to reflect how they will prepare students for the demands of a world in which immediate access to droves of information has led to increased value placed on what Tony Wagner (2008) has defined as the “seven survival skills”: critical thinking and problem-solving; collaboration and leading by influence; agility and adaptability; initiative and entrepreneurship; effective communication; accessing and analyzing information; and curiosity and imagination. For many districts and schools, the response has been adding technology to the menu of initiatives. …

Creating A Systemic Approach To Technology Integration Through Job-Embedded Professional Growth, Andrew Kohl

Dissertations

This change plan employs Wagner’s (2008) change leadership model to assess culture, context, conditions, and competencies of a small suburban school district and to develop a systemic plan for implementing job-embedded professional development in the area of technology integration. However, this plan is meant to be applicable to all content areas. This plan is informed by data that I collected as part of my program evaluation of a one-to-one technology program and also applies additional survey data and interviews with building principals, to examine staff attitudes towards professional development and understanding of instructional coaching models. Using this plan, I hope …

One-To-One Learning - Success Factors For Meaningful Technology Integration, Andrew Kohl

Dissertations

This paper explores an evaluation of the Grove School District’s one-to-one iPad program, for the purpose of understanding the relationship between teacher support for the program and classroom use. The evaluation also explores the various factors that impact a successful one-to-one program, including leadership attitudes and professional development. The attitudes of the teaching staff were compared to classroom observation data and focus group input. The research design followed a case study approach with a combination of survey, focus group, and observation methodologies. The goal was to determine to what extent the attitudes of teaching staff towards the one-to-one program impact …

Advocating For Integration: Acculturation In A Non-Profit Serving Immigrants Organization, Daniel Calderon

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

This paper presents acculturation practices in a non-profit, serving immigrants organization in a Midwestern city in the United States. Although the programs and services offered at this organization become pertinent vis-à-vis the welfare of the immigrants, their expected outcomes seem to foment the Americanization of the organization’s clients.

Through a critical examination, certain services and practices within this organization respond to a unidirectional process of acculturation, in which the immigrants turn out to be the ones who have to acquire certain sociocultural and linguistic repertoires for them to adapt and fit in the U.S. mainstream society.

The utilization of the …