One of the greatest values of assessing faculty technology skills is knowing where you and your faculty stand in terms of knowledge of technology and comfort of using it as well. Once you find out where the majority has a baseline, you can build on how you want educators to grow with technology and what means are at your disposal to do so. An estimate of funding can be determined when you look at your results from the assessment. Information gathered can also classify the level of knowledge in order to see what faculty might have the ability to do in house training as well with the different components. For instance there may be a couple of teachers who are masters with business applications who can train on productivity software. Or maybe someone is a gadget person that wants to share their knowledge, you can pull them to educate the rest on the benefits of using said gadgets in their curriculum.
The major pro for assessment is getting the feedback of where you are and what kind of possibilities you can aim for with the resources you have. You can also plan for funding for the future. Honestly I cannot think of a con for doing a technology assessment because ultimately you want to have students be able to be competent in mastering the usage of technology in the world they are about to face.
How do you do your assessments of faculty? Do you do them informally such as through a conversation or formally such as administering a test? How do you feel about the "culture of assessment" which is rampant in education right now and which many people hate because it focuses more on a narrow set of outcomes measured by a test rather than on learning in a general sense?
ReplyDeleteIt depends what the assessment is for. Basically what I have been reading about technology assessment and skills assessment of faculty that use technology. These assessments once compiled can show strengths in weakness overall in the presence of technology and the knowledge and competency of staff. The tool used in Texas for e-rate is the Texas STaR chart and it show readiness and skill level from several standpoints including technology infrastructure, administrative support, faculty competency, and professional development assessment. With the Texas STaR Chart, a gauge can be set around what can be done on a campus, district, or regional basis to improve technology to ultimately build learner strength with the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteAssessment i feel is just a guide to make improvement to the current system. It is not trying to target any one person. But it is trying to get an overall feel of what a group is going through. From that factors and determinations can be made to make improvements. You are right in some cases the narrow set of outcomes it what some assessments do and it should not be so set in stone for a certain result. One thing I learned as a math major is that there are many different possibilities to arrive at the same answer. So assessment can build on the results from them and come up with a variety of solutions. In this case they would come from not just the people that are assessing but from all stakeholders, whether it be administration, teachers, learners, parents, business partners/provider, etc.
Are there assessment tools for other stakeholders (such as parents or administrators) or are teachers and students the only targets for assessment?
ReplyDeleteAdministration is included in the STaR Chart. i am not sure about parents. My guess is that they are represented by the administration. Only a guess though.
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