Action Research Project Progress Report Part 1

A) Online Safety: How is Sour Lake Elementary Protecting Students On the Internet

B) For my research project my campus principal shared with me results from our campus 2010 teacher needs assessment survey. One of the questions was about the safety of our students in regards to online settings. Many of our teachers expressed a need for the campus to address online safety among the faculty. My mentor and I decided to make this the focus of my action research project.

C) After deciding the need for my Action Research plan the following six questions were chosen as objectives for research focus. The vision for the project is to make faculty aware of the risks of online predators, and to instruct them on how to maintain a safe environment for themselves and the students on our campus.
1) How does the current technology plan at Hardin-Jefferson I.S.D. address keeping students safe in an online environment?
2) Have there been points of trouble within the district in the last three years?
3) How is the district adapting to the rapidly changing use of the Internet, to ensure students are protected?
4) Do Students and teachers feel safe in an internet setting within the district?
5) Is there more that the district could do to ensure that all students are safe and protected while using the Internet?
6) Are there policy changes that can be made to further ensure student and teacher safety in an online environment within the district

D) This portion of my project is currently ongoing. The implementation of my project will be incorporated into the district technology plan, as well as, into the campus improvement plan for the upcoming school year. The decisions for this were brought on by the school district technology director and my campus administrators, with input coming from myself. We are still in the process of researching desired changes for implementation
E) The vision will be articulated to the faculty and students through on campus training. Teachers will receive the information at an inservice activity before the start of the new year. Students will receive information during their normal technology classes within the first 2 weeks of the new school year. Parents and communitiy leaders will be informed of policy changes and better protections at our campus open house meeting within the first 3 weeks fo the start of the new school year.

F) All implementation will be handled by myself and the technology classroom teachers. I will be producing all documentation and training our faculty during the inservice time on policy changes and security improvements that will be implemented in our classrooms. I along with assistance from campus administrators will be responsible for the open house presentation to parents and community members. The technology classroom teachers will be responsible for training our students on changes to current policy. All changes will be to stress improved safety of our students in an internet setting and protect them from online predators or cyber bullies.
G) The major contributing factor to choosing this project was based on the needs presented by our faculty on the basis of internet safety for our students. As a teacher and technology leader within my district it is part of my job to make sure our teachers and students have the information and resources they need to be safe in an online setting. It is because of this that I am leading this project. In the review of the needs assessment and data collected from a survey of teachers and students, I found that we had some deficiencies in our knowledge of online predators and safety in an online community. Because of this I wanted to create a plan to address the needs of students and teachers alike. I brought the information collected from our survey and assessment to the administration with the suggestion of policy change and the further training of faculty and students in safe practices. I was met with a positive reaction and have had no conflict to the implementation of my plan.
H) In recent years our campus haas moved towards a mainstream setting for all students. While greatly benefitting the special needs students, including them in all classroom activites has opened the door for potential issues with their safety. Due to the nature of these special needs some students may be found to be more susceptible to online predators. One aspect of my plan will focus on the protection of special needs students.
Ethnic and economical diversity has also been found to be a cause for concern. According to data collected during a survey of teachers, some of our students have less access to computers and the internet away from school. These students were found to be less knowledable about online predators and the risks related to the use of the internet. One of the focuses of our solution is to address these concerns and make sure all students understand the dangers and risks of the internet and how nest to avoid them.

Action Research PlanAction research Plan

In today’s society Internet usage has become the norm for almost everyone in America. Although it is a vast resource for knowledge and information, it has also become a haven for criminals to ply their trade on innocent victims. In this research project we will be exploring the following questions:
1) How does the current technology plan at Hardin-Jefferson I.S.D. address keeping students safe in an online environment?
2) Have there been points of trouble within the district in the last three years?
3) How is the district adapting to the rapidly changing use of the Internet, to ensure students are protected?
4) Do Students and teachers feel safe in an internet setting within the district?
5) Is there more that the district could do to ensure that all students are safe and protected while using the Internet?

Week 2

Week 2 work is finished. This week we learned the value and usefulness of action research. We saw where many schools use action research for a variety of reasons, all of which are meant to strengthen the district. We also chose the project we would be setting up to research. I chose to create a plan on the Hardin-Jefferson ISD's internet safety policies. I will be determining the current policies and then evaluating those policies to see if there are ways to further protect the students from internet predators and cyber bullies. I am looking forward to doing something to help the district in this area.

What is Action research?

Action Research is a non-traditional methodology of educational research. It allows for the participants to be the practitioners of the research rather than having them rely on outside sources, as traditional methods do. The ability for an administrator to use personal reflections and ideology to form the basis of the research allows them to better benefit from the results. thus intern creates a better educational environment from the top down, improving the school setting and the teachers under their administration. Practitioner participation also provides for more meaningful results due to the fact that the research is lead by those with a stake in the results and solutions to the problem, as well as the knowledge of any underlying situations that could influence results. This provides more relevant results, as opposed to relying on outside researchers who do not always have a full understanding of the situation or problem being researched.
Personally, I can see action research being a benefit to my development as an administrator. By being involved in the research instead of an observer, can only increase the knowledge and understanding one has of a solution and also allows one to apply what is learned in a more individualized manner, creating growth as an educator.

Blogging for Administrators

What are the benefits of blogging from a standpoint of a school administrator? First a blog provides a quick and easy way to publish thoughts and ideas for sharing with faculty and staff. It provides simple two way communication for administrators and teachers for school related situations. It also allows for collaboration between administrators from one or more districts.