06 Oct Develop a needs assessment report based on the data you collected. Your report must include the following identifiable (Use the titles typed below in bold) s

MEDT 8462

WHAT IS A NEEDS ASSESMENT AND WHAT ARE ITS STEPS?

A needs assessment is a systematic process for determining and addressing needs, or "gaps" between current conditions and desired conditions or "wants". The discrepancy between the current condition and wanted condition must be measured to appropriately identify the need. The need can be a desire to improve current performance or to correct a deficiency

A needs assessment is a part of planning processes, often used for improvement in individuals, education/training, organizations, or communities. It can refine and improve a product such as a training or service a client receives. It can be an effective tool to clarify problems and identify appropriate interventions or solutions (Fulgham & Shaughnessy, 2008). By clearly identifying the problem, finite resources can be directed towards developing and implementing a feasible and applicable solution

Needs assessments can include data collection from many sources. Existing documentation, such as historical budgets, student achievement, and target population demographics, is typically available in program files. Interviews, focus groups, and environmental scans provide additional information on current practice. Surveys, however, remain the most common form of needs assessment, as they are relatively easy to administer and provide data in an accessible format (Reilly, 2016, p. 131)

Conducting a needs assessment requires a systematic approach that progresses through a defined series of phases:

1. Gathering needs-related information (usually the most critical and time consuming part of the process).

2. Reviewing and prioritizing need.

3. Documenting results and decision-making.

For the purposes of this first assignment, we will focus on technology in your school or place of work. Decide on how to organize the major components of the technology available in your classroom and shared resources for your campus. For example, in your media center you may have hardware (computers, smartboards, etc.) and software that students/teachers can use; or some classrooms might have technological tools students can use during class. These items may be standardized across the building (so that all classrooms have the same number of computers and devices). You will also have devices and resources which are shared between faculty members and/or students.

 

You will need to determine structure of your database to organize, categorize, and track the availability of the resources on your campus.

1. INFORMATION GATHERING

The first step in this process is investigating if your school/place of work already has a technology plan. This will save you a TREMENDOUS amount of time.

Information gathering can be time-consuming, so it is helpful to set a reasonable schedule and try to stick to it. It can make sense, however, to consider extending deadlines when important participants still have not offered their suggestions. It is essential to give everyone sufficient time to make their opinions heard. Information gathering should be approached with caution, as it often suffers from reactions representing two extremes:

 

· reluctant participants who may not see the importance of the project and may only be half-heartedly interested

· overly zealous participants who have been waiting years to unburden themselves of their endless requirements and difficult jobs, and may overstate opinions during the quest for information

 

The challenge to planners is to distinguish real from exaggerated need, and give each the importance it deserves. Several techniques for gathering information are presented in the table below:

 

Needs Assessment Information Gathering Techniques

Technique Definition Advantages Disadvantages Personal Interview Face-to-face meeting with individual technology users to determine "needs" using a prepared set of questions. Good for details about needs and related issues. Individual sessions encourage open and honest assessment of need. Time consuming. Findings may not always be comparable when participants have opportunities for open-ended responses. Group Interview Face-to-face meeting with multiple technology users to determine "needs" using a prepared set of questions. Time efficient because it collects opinions from several participants at once. Can lead to "consensus" opinions. Multiple participant approach may stifle individual input. May be difficult to reconcile conflicting opinions that arise. Written Questionnaire Written questions sent to multiple technology users with instructions for completing and returning the survey. Consistent set of questions for all respondents. Can be administered to a geographically dispersed group of users. Response rates can be low. Time consuming to review responses unless process is automated, which usually requires additional expense. Focus Group Facilitated discussion of job-related needs and possible technology responses in an open forum. Time efficient because it collects opinions from several participants at once. Can lead to "consensus" opinions. Multiple participant approach may stifle individual input. May be difficult to reconcile conflicting opinions that arise.

 

 

 This model also could be used to develop a different set of questions for identifying instructional technology needs via face-to-face interviews or a questionnaire.

Guidelines and examples of surveys for needs assessment (Your surveys should be different to the ones presented below, but you can use these as a starting point to develop your own)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/559/06/

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/?sm=lSsWCYRNQ56LYjmZiaIuwA%3D%3D

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/?sm=dwkzQvq8wdQXnw2R4w03OA%3D%3D

http://www.update234.com/technology-needs-assessment-template.html

2. REVIEWING AND PRIORITIZING NEED

STEP 1: Set Priority of Needs

Criteria for assigning priorities among needs are based on several factors:

The magnitude of discrepancies between current and target states;

Causes and contributing factors to the needs;

The degree of difficulty in addressing the needs;

Risk assessment—the consequences of ignoring the needs;

The effect on other parts of the system or other needs if a specific need is or is not met;

The cost of implementing solutions; and

Other factors that might affect efforts to solve the need.

Set priorities in two stages: (a) broad areas, such as goals, concerns (needs) or target groups; and (b) critical needs within each area.

STEP 2: Identify Possible Solutions

Set criteria (or standards) for judging the merits of alternative solution strategies. At a minimum, proposed solutions should meet the criteria of effect on causes, acceptability, and feasibility (includes resources).

Generate and examine potential solutions. In examining possible solutions—review and document research and evaluation data that supports the merits of each alternative.

NEED	CAUSES	CONSEQUENCES	DIFFICULTY TO CORRECT (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH)

In column 1: List needs that were previously identified in the needs assessment. In column 2: List all possible “treatable” causes of each need (concern), itemized separately for each need. A given need may have more than one cause. In column 3: List consequences if the cause is not removed and the need is not meet, also itemize separately for each need. There may be more than one consequence for each need. In column 4: Enter a rating (low, medium, high) of the difficulty of correcting the problem once it has occurred

3. DOCUMENTING RESULTS AND DECISION MAKING

STEP 3: Select Solutions

Evaluate and rate each solution separately against the evaluation criteria.

Consider whether each of the high-ranking solutions will drive toward the contemplated change or whether they will push in the opposite direction, preventing change.

On the basis of all the information, select one or more solutions for each need area.

STEP 4: Propose Action Plan

The plan should include descriptions of the solutions, rationale, proposed timelines, and resource requirements.

STEP 5: Prepare Report

At the end of this phase, a written report should be prepared to communicate the methods and results of the needs assessment to decision-makers, policymakers, and key stakeholders. The report should include:

Name, job description, and detailed description of work setting;

Description of the needs assessment process;

Current available technology

Description of stakeholders

Major outcomes (identified needs);

Priority Needs (and criteria used to determine such priorities);

Action Plan (with the data and criteria used to arrive at the solution strategies); and

Appendix with all the data collection materials.

Read these other resources, they will help you to understand the process, and to develop your needs assessment:

What is a needs assessment:

https://www.panopto.com/blog/how-to-conduct-an-educational-technology-needs-assessment-in-5-steps/

https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/tech_suite/part_2.asp

https://www.esc11.net/cms/lib3/TX21000259/Centricity/Domain/489/CNA%20Process%20Resource.pdf

Examples of need assessments:

Reeds spring IV schools

SERVE Center (this one includes several surveys that can help you developing yours)

References:

Fulgham, S. M. & Shaughnessy, M. (September–October 2008).  Q & A with Ed Tech Leaders: Interview with Roger Kaufman. Educational Technology. pp. 49–52.

Reilly, E. (2016). Developing technology needs assessments for educational programs: An analysis of eight key indicators. International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology. 12(1), pp. 129-143

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MEDT 8462 Project 1 – Needs Assessment for technology

This first project will be the starting point to develop your second and third assignments. In order for you to understand the process to complete the three assignments in MEDT 8462 successfully, read the following –very simple- example:

Needs assessment (Project 1) In the needs assessment I discovered that my school needs Google Expeditions (GE) to enhance history and geography lessons for 5th graders.

Technology Plan (Project 2) In my technology plan, I will devise a strategy to: a) Develop educational and technology objectives for students, teachers, and staff, related to the GE b) Make sure GE works properly with my school’s infrastructure c) Make a list of all my expenses related to the project, d) Acquire the GE and train my teachers to use them e) Train my students to use them, and f) Evaluate if the inclusion of GE is really beneficial for the school.

Grant proposal (Project 3) I will look for the best Agency, and will write a grant proposal to secure funds to acquire the Google Expeditions equipment.

Before you start developing this assignment, you need to read the PDF named “what is a needs assessment?” located in this module. It contains essential information and resources to develop your first assignment.

A needs assessment indicates the gap that exists between the present state of technology and the desired state. For example:

Desired State: Every student in 8th grade should have a laptop

Present State: Only 20% of students enrolled in 8th grade have a laptop

NEED: 80% of the students enrolled in 8th grade should have access to a laptop

Before considering whether to purchase new hardware, software, infrastructure, or services, staff in an educational organization must identify plans for using the technology. This can be a particularly difficult task as it frequently generates questions about the capabilities and limitations of the technologies in question. 

With respect to technology, a needs assessment is an evaluation of the technical tasks and functions an organization must be capable of performing (that it currently isn't) or the needs that technology must be able to meet (that are not currently being met). A true needs assessment requires that all possible needs be identified. Determining whether they are realistic, necessary, and affordable comes at a later point in the planning process.

Conducting a needs assessment requires a systematic approach that progresses through a defined series of phases:

1. Gathering needs-related information (usually the most critical and time consuming part of the process).

2. Reviewing and prioritizing need.

3. Documenting results and decision making.

Disclaimer: I cannot provide you with a specific example for you to complete your needs assessment because those developed in previous semesters may include sensitive information about the individual who developed it, or the school/place of work where it was conducted; each needs assessment is different and unique in nature, and your outcomes will be completely different from the ones developed by your peers. If you google “Needs assessment” you will notice that there are THOUSANDS of examples, and each of them serves its own purpose. What I recommend you is to follow the checklist below. As long as you have those components clearly identifiable within your document, you will be fine. If you need help or guidance with this project, we can setup a 1:1 Zoom/google meet/GoToMeeting consultation. Just send me an email, I am available and happy to do it for you to successfully complete this assignment.

Checklist for the assignment:

· (50 points). Design and implement a survey (written questionnaire) examining the technology needs of stakeholders in your school. You need to collect results of at least 10 stakeholders (you cannot include yourself), and your survey must contain at least 10 questions. For these surveys you can utilize Google forms, or Survey Monkey ( https://www.surveymonkey.com/). You can also conduct phone or email surveys.

· (50 points). Conduct a personal interview with at least 5 stakeholders at your school or place of work One of them can be the director of the media center, and the other must be an administrator. If you do not work in the school setting, one of your stakeholders can be a colleague, and the other can be your immediate superior. Your interview should consist of at least 10 questions, and you should present the transcription of the interview in the proper forum . You cannot use yourself as a source of knowledge.

Note: Your interviews and surveys will help you to discover the NEED of technology in your classroom/place of work. So one of your first questions you might need to ask is "what do you think the school is lacking in technology integration, and what can be done to satisfy that need?". Another question might be "what would you like to be taught at school, that right now is impossible because of lack of technology?"

(250 points). Develop a needs assessment report based on the data you collected . You need to submit a word document for this assignment. Do not use Google docs to develop it (this means that it is not acceptable to provide me with a link to a Google document; you must submit a file for the assignment). I will not evaluate submissions that do not come on a .doc or a .pdf file.

If you aren’t familiar with APA, check the following links ( APA Owl or APA Style – I recommend the first one)

Your report must include the following identifiable (Use the titles typed below in bold) sections:

· (10 points) General information. Your name, job description, and detailed description of your work setting (k12 classroom, media center, instructional center, etc.) Also, include the number of students that attend your class and their demographics.

· (50 points) Results of the needs assessment. You need to describe the needs assessment process. What steps you followed to complete it? How did you organize your time to collect data, analyze results, and develop the report? Be detailed and thorough.

· (25 points) Available technology. Describe the current available technology at your place of work (this information will come handy for your second assignment!). Be as detailed as possible. Listing that your school has 3 computers and two projectors is not enough. You also need to talk about technological resources, such as ITS, internet access, etc.

· (35 points) Stakeholders. Detailed description of stakeholders who participated in the needs assessment, and why their input was valuable to identify needs in technology. In this section you also need to describe their job duties, general demographics, and why you selected them to collect your data.

· (45 points) Major outcomes (identified needs) This is the section where you discuss your data, so be very detailed and thorough. In this section it is important that you address the reasoning that stakeholders gave you to acquire the technology, and this reasoning must be tied to specific learning outcomes/performance;

· (45 points) Priority Needs and criteria used to determine such priorities. You need to use the table included in the Step 2 of the “What is a needs assessment?” document. In addition to the table, you need to describe in detail the priority needs and describe at least two needs that you will focus your efforts in your technology plan, and why you chose those two needs.

· (40 points) Action Plan with the data and criteria used to arrive at the solution strategies. Again, be very detailed, provide deadlines and strategies to satisfy your needs; and

· An appendix with your completed surveys and interview transcripts. The quantitative data should be aggregated and presented using graphs or pie charts. Qualitative data should be transcribed and added as text. (50 points will be taken if you don’t include your data)

· Your report follows APA style (50 points will be taken if you don’t follow these style guidelines)

Once you have completed your report, submit the file to the proper dropbox.

The criteria to evaluate each item on the checklist will consist of 4 brackets: Unacceptable (0% points awarded), Developing (up to 20% of the total points), Proficient (up to 80% of the total points), and Exemplary (from 81 to 100% of the total points). The course in

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