Achieving Technological Literacy in Arizona for Students and Teachers
Project Outcomes – Year One
The ATLAST Project began in earnest with the hiring of the Project Coordinator in July 2008. The
Coordinator immediately began contacting and building relationships with Arizona school districts,
Arizona Department of Education representatives, Career and Technical Education Directors, and
Education Professions teachers. Based upon the outcomes of an online needs assessment, training
opportunities were offered as follows for Year One.
Workshop 1, offered in January 2009, provided participants with hands-on, interactive training on
Google Apps., blogs, using cell phones with Poll Everywhere, and student response systems.
Workshop 2, offered in February 2009, provided training in creating and customizing eportfolios,
and creating an RSS page in Google Apps.
Twenty teachers from eleven school districts participated in Workshop 1 and/or Workshop 2.
A webinar, entitled What is a Webinar?, was offered in April 2009 through DimDim, a free webinar
application.
In addition to workshops, the ATLAST Coordinator
Contributed to the development of Education Professions standards at the state level,
Contributed to Education Professions assessment of standards, and
Wrote the curriculum overview of Educational Technology for Arizona’s Education Professions
program, which did not previously contain education technology content.
The ATLAST Coordinator also presented at various conferences in fall 2009.
Discover 10 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom was offered as a breakout session at the
NACCTEP national conference in Reno, NV in March 2009. Approximately 30 conferees attended.
Discover 5 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom was presented at the Maricopa Center for
Learning and Instruction’s Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference in May 2009. Over 30
conferees attended.
In June 2009, a three-day ATLAST summer institute (Workshops 3, 4 and 5) was offered for participants
and their students.
Fifteen teachers and five students from nine school districts participated in this training opportunity.
Day 1 (Workshop 3) introduced teachers to web 2.0 applications that permit the sharing of
multimedia and communicating with multimedia. Fair use, copyright, and creative commons were
covered, as well as Virtual field trips, collaborative learning objects, and mobile blogging.
Day 2 (Workshop 4) introduced teachers to media literacy and digital citizenship, and included a visit
to Rainbow Studios, a Phoenix-based video game company, to learn about local technology industry.
Day 3 (Workshop 5) provided an opportunity for teachers and students to explore classrooms of
today, a planetarium classroom, and new technology terminology while learning about Arizona’s
semiconductor industry. Teachers also had the opportunity to chat with an industry panel about
skills they desire in future employees and what skills they think future teachers should be teaching.
Participation
Twenty-five teachers participated in at least one ATLAST event in year one. Five students
participated in the Summer Institute.
Ninety-nine percent of participant ratings on evaluations for all year one workshops were positive.
Ninety percent of ATLAST participants completed an online ATLAST Post Workshops Survey in April
2009. According to results, 94% had implemented technology for personal use or with their students
specifically as a result of participation in an ATLAST workshop.
The ATLAST Coordinator has personal knowledge of at least 184 students utilizing technology in
participating teacher classrooms as a result of ATLAST participation.
The following activities have taken place in participant teacher classrooms as a direct result of
technology training through the ATLAST Project.
A teacher and students using a blog to document their learning service project in the Bahamas.
Students using a Web 2.0 application to reflect on teaching field experiences.
A teacher using Web 2.0 applications to provide one-on-one instruction for students.
A teacher using micro-blogging with students to reflect on learning activities, accommodate
24/7 learning, and encourage a learning community among students and teacher.
The entire Career and Technical Education department at one high school using a Web 2.0
application to allow students to work collaboratively across projects.
Another high school Career and Technical Education department adopting Google Apps for all
students and teachers to enable collaborative learning and take advantage of cloud computing.
Comments from Project Evaluator Report, June 2009
[The ATLAST Coordinator] has gained the confidence of the high school teachers and
worked successfully to provide technology workshops on Web 2.0 tools which have been
embraced by the teachers.
There is excellent professional staff and support with open collegial team environment
among the Maricopa Community College District Office, National Center for Teacher
Education, and Maricopa Community Colleges faculty who support teacher workshops.
Support from Arizona Department of Education staff, including the FEA State Director, was
evident given their involvement and participation at the teacher summer institute.
“I have served as an external evaluator on both ATE projects and national centers over the
past 10 years and have participated as a member of two NSF external committees to review
the effectiveness of the entire ATE program. I have never witnessed this degree of
cooperation and support among all constituencies and the broad level of support from high
school teachers in an ATE program.”
Workshop Evaluation Comments
“I learned a whole new vocabulary.”
“I showed what I learned (at a workshop) to the Career and Technical Education Director so
that we can implement this as a department next year.”
“My confidence in accessing and using technology has definitely grown.”
“I am now addicted to Facebook and technology blog reading.”
“My (students) all keep an e-portfolio, we blog back and forth, and our FEA club now has a
website with a blog.”
“Use of clickers in class has been great.”
“*The project coordinator+ came to my school and helped me set up Google Apps for my
class. I really like the ability to grade/review their work from home without having to carry
home a basket of papers.”