Analysis

====  The Web Wizards will provide training materials to the faculty of Chapin High School. Web page technology will offer teachers a way to disseminate information to both parents and students, post assignments and class calendars, as well as communicate with both parents and students. Though teachers at Chapin High School use School World as their web page service, we are planning to tailor our training materials to general web page design and support so that the materials can benefit a wider audience in the future. To analyze the specific needs of our audience and create learning objectives that are appropriate for that audience, the Web Wizards created a ten-question needs assessment survey. We administered the survey through //Survey Monkey//. Forty-eight teachers from the faculty responded. The characteristics of their work environment and the responses from the survey will help the Web Wizards design appropriate training materials. ==== ==== Teachers at Chapin High School each have at least one computer in their classrooms. They are able to use this computer during their planning blocks that last ninety minutes each day. Though this planning time is usually consumed with a myriad of responsibilities and tasks, teachers do have time during the school day to create, update, and maintain a basic web page. The principal of the school wants every teacher to have an active web page with at least two weeks of projected due dates for students and a general overview of each course that they teach. ==== ==== The first question on the survey asked teachers to report their teaching experience. Five teachers reported one to three years, nine teachers reported four to seven years, twenty three teachers reported eight to twenty years, and eleven teachers reported more than twenty-one years. 47% of respondents consider themselves “proficient and willing to try new things,” but 27% feel the need for support for tasks that go beyond what is required. Because the web page initiative is “new,” that 27% would benefit from these training materials. 20% of respondents have no experience creating teacher websites; although, 79% reported that they do have experience with web sites. The Web Wizards will balance beginner support with other training that is relevant to teachers that are more advanced. On a Likert scale of one to five (five being most comfortable), most teachers considered themselves comfortable with the thought of creating a website, though 24% report discomfort. ==== ==== As far as creating and maintaining a web site, most respondents report feeling skillful enough to update and maintain it on their own. On a Likert scale of one to five (five being most comfortable), the average response was a 3.44 (35% of respondents marked three-five). Most respondents also reported a desire to update a web page one to three times a week (35%) or one to three times a month (31%). When asked about web page content, respondents chose the following categories with more than 50% interest: schedule (62.5%), calendar (54.2%), announcements (50%), assignments (81.3%), classroom resources (70.8%), links (70.8%), and communication (54.2%). The Web Wizards would like to offer training concerning Web 2.0 tools that could aid in web page development or content, so we asked respondents whether or not they are familiar with Web 2.0. 60.4% are not. Considering that some of our respondents may not have the knowledge necessary to know what to ask for help with before they begin the task of creating a web page, the Web Wizards asked about four general areas of development. Respondents were asked to choose the ones that they felt they needed the most help with. 14.6% marked web page design, 18.8% marked content and organization, 25% marked Web 2.0 tools, and 20.8% marked adding media. ==== ==== Respondents were asked to leave a comment about the biggest challenge facing them concerning creating and maintaining a web page. Overwhelmingly, “finding time” to create and maintain it was mentioned as an obstacle. Second to time, respondents either do not know how to access their page or have never been trained. The Web Wizards aim to create basic web page training materials for these teachers and offer training to them in early October during a professional development session. Based on the results of our needs assessment, we will create a design plan that will most effectively serve these teachers. ====