Caitlin Maynard
ITEC 7500
Reflection – Standard 5.1
5.1 Diversity, Cultural Understanding & Global Awareness - model and facilitate the use of
digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and
increase global awareness.
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During the Fall of 2019, one of the tasks we were assigned in ITEC 7460, Professional
Learning and Technology Innovation, was to dive into our school’s improvement plan and rate
our overall performance using the Georgia School Assessment Performance Standards (GSAPS).
Within this assignment, I had to determine the strengths and weaknesses of my own school and
its programs, identifying areas of success and those in need of growth. Additionally, the Current
Reality assignment forced me to truly the state of the school, including gaps in technology-based
professional learning and instructional strategies.
As part of the Professional Learning and Program Evaluation standard, Element 5.1 deals
with diversity, cultural understanding, and global awareness. For one to be completely aware of
the state of a program or school, a needs assessment must be conducted to determine strengths
and weaknesses. The information gathered much then be used effectively to inform the content
and delivery of technology-based professional learning. I was able to complete these tasks
through ITEC 7460 and the GSAPS rating and Current Reality assignments. After conducting
my own needs assessment and using that information to write my results, I reached out to other
colleagues for their input by using the same forms and questions just to see if my interpretation
was shared with others. I spoke with my Digital Coach at the time as well and we were able to
create a series of professional learning topics to push out to staff members in the Spring of 2020,
all of which were informed and designed based on the information from the needs assessment.
While completing these artifacts, I learned that conducting a needs assessment is like pulling
off a band-aid; it can hurt, but it must be done. It is never fun to look at survey results and come
across negative comments, especially if it is for a program in which there has been heavy
investment. Earlier this month, I had to look through feedback for our school’s technology needs
assessment and it was hard for me to not take things personally. If I could have done anything
differently for the two included artifacts, I do wish that I had included more people in my quick
needs assessment to really get the grasp of the entire school, not just my close colleagues. I
believe that could have helped me identify gaps that I may have missed or areas that truly were
excelling. In order for a needs assessment to be effective, all sides of the program or school must
be considered.
The work that went into creating this artifact impacted all three areas of school improvement,
faculty development, and student learning because it highlighted areas of strength and weakness
and by communicating this information with my Digital Coach, we were able to direct
professional learning that faculty members could immediately use in their instruction, which
benefitted student learning, and that overall met areas of school improvement. The impact was
assessed by feedback from faculty members and students about the new teaching practices and
student assessment data after the implementation of said practices.
