murtaghj_project01_503

8/11/2019 MurtaghJ_Project01_503

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Jim Murtagh

Transitioning to Google Drive at Red River Elementary School

The Red River Public School District (RRPS) is in the process of migrating student file storage from the

districts local area network to the Google cloud. Students currently use a network drive, referred to as

their H drive that is mapped to their login whenever they use a school computer. Students can only

access their files from within a RRPS building, using RRPS computers. The Google cloud provides

students with the freedom to access their school files anywhere that has Internet access and with any

Google supported device. Faculty, support staff, parents and students need to learn how to access a

Google drive and perform basic file management tasks (save, copy, edit, share, etc.) so that students can

use this resource independently in and outside of school. Red River Elementary school (K-4) was chosen

as the pilot school for this initiative.

1.

Stakeholder(s): Who are the primary stakeholders? As in, who are the people most directly

impacted when the instruction is carried off?

There are five groups of stakeholders in this project. The student is the primary user of the Google

cloud, in particular the Google drive functionality, which is where files are stored and accessed. Students

need to use this resource with minimal to no support from teachers, support staff and parents. Theseaforementioned groups are also stakeholders, as they are responsible for ensuring students reach the

required level of independence, but it is most likely that this group is also unfamiliar with the Google

drive functionality. Instruction needs to be provided for all four groups. Within the support staff group

are the district and building level technology support resources. School administrators are part of the

faculty group in the RRPS structure. The fifth stakeholder group is the District Technology Committee

who sanctioned this initiative.

2.

Roles: Who would best serve as the Subject Matter Expert? Who will serve as the designer? Who

will evaluate the instructional product?

The subject matter experts are a subset of the support staff group, particularly the technology

departments staff. Three members of this group are assigned to this project: Director of Technology,Technology Integration Specialist and building network technician. These assignments were made by the

Districts Technology Committee (DTC), which is comprised of the Superintendent, school principals,

Board of Education members, faculty members, students, parents, and several members of the

technology department. The three technology personnel are the project designers. The instructional

product will be evaluated in a small trial group consisting of the building principal, 2-3 Red River faculty

members, and a selection of students from various grades (K-4). The final material will be presented to

the Technology Committee for critique and approval since stakeholders from all groups are represented,

and then a full-scale trial will be unleashed to all Red River Elementary students (300 approx.).

3.

Problem Definition: What problem is to be addressed by the instruction that gets created?

Students need to learn how to independently use Google drive to access their school related files as a

replacement for their H drive. They need to access these files on potentially multiple computing

platforms (Windows, MAC, IOS, Android devices) and from locations where they will not have the

immediate support of a RRPS employee. (i.e. at home, public libraries, etc.)

4.

Data: What kind of data will you gather and how will you gather it?

The District Technology Committee needs to understand the rationale for making this change, such as

the financial impact, effect on district resources, added or lost functionality between the two

approaches, and any potential risks the district could entail. This information will be collected and


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summarized by the three selected technology personnel. The Director of Technology has access to this

data. A comparison chart listing the differences/similarities in functionality between the methods of

accessing files will need to be created.

The district does not know how many of the stakeholders are already familiar with Google drive and

surveying each group will be beneficial to gauge the amount of resources needed to conduct training,

and to create a proposed timeline for testing and implementation. The survey should capture both the

stakeholders skills and their attitude towards this change.

During the initial testing phases, direct observation of faculty, staff and students will take place and their

results measured on a skills checklist. A group of students will be asked to setup Google drive at home,

and a survey to their parents will provide valuable feedback. The survey will include the type and age of

equipment at home, as well as a gauge for the difficulty of the installation process, and feedback on the

RRPS provided support materials (website).

5. Constraints and Resources: Describe any constraints that might impact addressing the need, or

resources that can help meet it.

District owned resources are maintained by the district technology department, and any software (suchas Google drive) is installed by RRPS technicians. This initiative is designed so that students can access

their files outside of the school, and this will require Google drive to be installed on non-RRPS property.

Assisting students and parents install and troubleshoot the Google drive installation on their personal

equipment is a major constraint, as it will involve a wide range of users technical abilities, age of

computing resources and device platforms. Another constraint is the willingness that faculty, parents

and support staff bring to this initiative, as all three of these groups begin as a targeted learner, but then

hopefully transition into an educator role, assisting the students to build independence. In essence,

these groups begin as a potential constraint but if properly prepared become a significant resource.

Students may also experience a similar transformation, and proficient students may be able to help

struggling peers (both in school and outside of school). The districts major resource for supporting

parents is the support material created for this project posted on the school website. Students will besupported by various groups of RRPS employees.

6.

Goal(s): What are the specific goals to be met?

Faculty, staff and students need to become independent users of Google drive. This requires them to:

Login to Google drive

Access Google drive from school and home (home refers to any location outside of school)

Install Google drive on their personal devices (if necessary)

Save files to Google drive from within an application such as Word

Save files to Google drive via drag and drop functionality

Create, edit and delete files from Google drive

Share files on Google drive with faculty and other students (for grading and collaboration)

Log Out of Google drive

Faculty and staff must have the skills to not only perform the above skills, but also troubleshoot and

assist students experiencing difficulty with these tasks. Parents should be able to locate RRPS resources

to support their child if they experience difficulty with any of the learning objectives identified above.


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7.

Approval: Who needs to be involved in vetting the results of your needs analysis and/or goal

development?

Needs analysis and goal development will be presented to the District Technology committee prior to

the first phase of testing. Interim milestones will be assessed by the Director of Technology. Final

approval lies with the District Technology Committee with the recommendations of the Red River

Elementary building administration.

8. Evaluation: In what ways will you (or others) know if the needs have been met?

The district will know if its goals are met by:

1. Direct observation of students demonstrating mastery of the learning objectives listed in

question 6.

2. Minimal disruption to teacher lesson plans and class time that require students to access their

school files.

3. Feedback from faculty, support staff and parents indicating if stakeholders (all groups) are

successfully making the transition to Google drive, or if they are experiencing

difficulties/frustrations with the process.

4. Feedback from the District Technology Committee.

5. A survey could be conducted to assess the satisfaction or concerns of stakeholders after the full-scale pilot, but this could be seen as unnecessary by the DTC if all of the above goals were met

satisfactorily. If the results of the pilot do not go well, then some type of survey instrument will

be necessary.

Part 2: Learner Analysis

1.

Clearly describe the data sources that are available (or could easily be created) that provide

information about the group of learners.

Interview or survey of target population members: An initial survey of faculty, support staff, parentsand students should be created to ascertain the stakeholders familiarity with Google drive, the type of

computer systems students will use to access Google at home, the approximate age and operating

system on these home computers, their understanding as to why the district is making the change, and

if they are supportive of this initiative. Survey Monkey will be used, as this is an established district tool.

This survey should take place before the limited trial (where process and training material will be

evaluated).

Observations of target population and learner results from pilot-test: During the small scale pilot,

faculty, support staff, students, and parents (if they are willing to attend), will be observed by experts in

Google drive (most likely technology staff, but could consist of other accomplished users) and their

results recorded on a skills checklist aligned with the requirements in question 6. A post-pilot survey will

be created to capture the experience of those participants involved in the trial. This survey needs to

determine the users level of independence with all the learning objectives identified in question 6. In

addition, this survey should also be used to assess the testers satisfaction or concerns with the Google

approach. As mentioned in question 8, bullet 5 a post full pilot survey could be a possibility.


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2. To the greatest extent possible, describe the group of learners who would participate in any instructional

intervention. Be sure to address: demographic data, physiological aspects, cognitive abilities, prior

knowledge, and motivation or other affective aspects.

Faculty Support Staff Students Parents

Demographic

Data

Adults, approx. 40

members, certifiedteachers, mostly

female, middle to upper

income class, English

primary language

Adults, approx. 20

members, roles in schoolvary, most college

educated, mostly female,

middle to upper income

class, English primary

language

Approximately 300

students in K-4 (5-9 yr.old), evenly split

male/female. English

primary language with

approx. 10 exceptions

(Spanish)

Median age 42, median

income $87K, 2.8% belowpoverty line. 54%

bachelors or more, less

than 10% non-white

Physiological

General good health

and mobility, limited

exceptions, most likely

representative of US

population, but verified

only through

observation.

General good health and

mobility, limited




only through

observation.

General good health

and mobility, limited

exceptions. Less than

5% with physical

disabilities, hearing or

vision impairments.

General good health and

mobility, limited




only through observation.

Cognitive

Undocumented but

most likely average to

above average

intelligence based on

requirements for

teaching certification

and employment.

Undocumented but most

likely average to above

average intelligence

based on requirements

for certification and

employment.

High performing school

district with above

average standardized

test scores in reading

and math. Estimated

10% of population with

special needs (students

with cognitive and

emotional issues).

Undocumented but most

likely average to above

average intelligence based

on CERC data of 90+%

high school graduates and

76% with some college

education.

Prior

Knowledge

Unknown but will be

determined throughsurvey. Anticipated that

at least 25% of the

population is currently

using Google drive in

some fashion.

Unknown but will be


at least 25% of the



some fashion.

Unknown but will be


at least 25% of the



some fashion.

Unknown but will be

determined throughsurvey. Anticipated that at

least 25% of the



some fashion.

Motivation /

Other

Student access to files

at home has been a

request of teachers for

several years. Faculty is

motivated as this

initiative will alleviate

some teacher problems.

Google has a positivereputation within the

population.

When students can work

independently, the

support staff is able to

concentrate on other

tasks. This initiative

should reduce the

frequency that students

leave their assignmentsat home since they will

now be accessible

through Google.

Students want access to

their files at home and

are familiar with the

Google name.

Motivation should be

high.

Access to student files at

home is a significant

advantage for parents as

this eliminates the issue of

forgetting assignments in

school. It is anticipated

that parents will be

motivated.

Resources:

School related data is my personal estimate and not sanctioned by the school district. The name of the school and the district

has been changed for confidentiality. Demographic data for students and parents obtained from:

Guilford, Connecticut cerc town profile 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved fromhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-

Images/guilford.pdf
http://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdfhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdfhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdfhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdfhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdfhttp://www.cerc.com/TownProfiles/Customer-Images/guilford.pdf

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