Needs Assessment SAMR Model Online Staff Development

Target Audience
The general audience is composed of all certified teachers at Apalachee High School in Winder,
Georgia. There are a total of 129 teachers that teach a variety of core subjects (math, science,
English, social studies) as well as CTAE classes (technical, business, fine arts, and agriculture).
The certified staff features faculty with bachelors, masters, specialists, and one with a doctorate.
The range of teaching experience is 0-27 and the number of years at Apalachee ranges from 0 to
15 years. Apalachee High School was established in the year 2000, which is why a number of
teachers originated from other districts. The data were collected via a survey using Google Forms
and could only be accessed using a Barrow County Schools issued Google account. The total
number of participants that responded to the survey was 30 (n=30). Based on the variety of
subjects taught, level of education, and experience, the 30 respondents represent a sample of the
population of certified staff at Apalachee High School.

The staff at Apalachee High School demonstrate a strong understanding of how to use computer
programs and software as well as Web 2.0 tools such as Google Drive, Google Forms, and
Google Presentation. In part, a factor that may be contributing to this is the new requirement this
school year that teachers submit lesson plans via Google Classroom, which has required a new
competency among the staff.

Despite the individual use of technology amongst the staff, the understanding of what the SAMR
Model is diffuses the ability to implement it. The goal of the district is to increase awareness and
implementation of the SAMR Model throughout Barrow County Schools, but a significant
portion dont know what it is and therefore dont know how to develop lessons while being
cognizant of the different levels. An overwhelming majority (75.6%) indicated they did not know
what the SAMR Model was. From the seven staff members that had awareness of the SAMR
Model, only two indicated any kind of experience with implementation (both positive).
The staff reflected a positive attitude toward learning about the SAMR Model. Also, the faculty
indicated many different learning style needs for the Professional Development.

For the purposes of the staff development, the needs of the learners represented multiple learning
styles. As a result, a screencast was developed, text in the form of a script and literature was
supplied, and infographic/online digital resources were included via a digital curation tool, Bag
the Web.