Survey+Results+2008

Student survey results from the past 2 years: Survey used: http://www.profilerpro.com

It has been two years since we have implemented the laptops and I began to wonder, how are we doing? I really didn’t know what I meant by that question, but thought I would do some investigation. The good news is… when we started the laptop project we were already doing a lot of really great things with technology. That was pretty clear. And we know that we are doing some really great things just by the successes we have had in our classrooms, with Apple hosting their Learning Interchanges here, and with the notoriety we have drawn with this program. But, as always, I continued to wonder… what can we strive to do better? What results should the school be looking for? What do we really want to improve for our student’s education beyond just being better at technology?

From the survey the students took during the last week of school (and have taken since the initiative started), many things came to the surface as things are doing well. Some examples are:

These things we do well:
 * first, I think we have done a great job moving beyond teaching the tool, and using the computer as a tool to educate our kids. They are using them every day, they are using them independently, and they are helping each other and the teachers.
 * 80% think they can get to a printer adequately or better
 * 62% think they can get to a projector adequately or better
 * 74% think they can get to a camera, video camera, or scanner adequately or better
 * 98% of our students think laptops make schoolwork more interesting
 * 89% of our students think laptops make school easier to do
 * 78% of our students think laptops have improved the quality of their schoolwork
 * 53% of our students think laptops have improved their grades
 * 73% of our students think laptops have done more homework outside of school
 * 84% of our students think what they learn in school is helping me to prepare for the future
 * 78% of our students use the computer for organization
 * 64% of our students use their laptop to take notes either daily or weekly
 * 50% of our students say they write more than one page

Also from that survey, I could see many things that have not changed since the laptops. These might be the areas we need to consider to continue to grown and utilize the laptops as tools for educating our kids. Some of these things are: •	Utilize the visuals of the Internet more. There are so many simulations and short videos which could enhance lectures rather than a teacher trying to describe the same thing. •	Utilize the online study resources such as

Some requests from the students through this survey include: •	Move more away from direct instruction, or lecture, and move toward more discovery of new information. ___% of students use the internet to look up information daily according to the survey. •	Utilize the online study resources such as algebra web sites, video podcasts for science lessons, etc. Ask us a good question and then give us a few minutes to find the answer ourselves. We will remember the answer more. •	Use the visuals of the Internet more. There are so many intelligent animations, simulations and short videos which could enhance lectures rather than a teacher trying to describe the same thing.


 * These things we do well:
 * 80% think they can get to a printer adequately or better
 * 62% think they can get to a projector adequately or better
 * 74% think they can get to a camera, video camera, or scanner adequately or better
 * 98% of our students think laptops make schoolwork more interesting
 * 89% of our students think laptops make school easier to do
 * 78% of our students think laptops have improved the quality of their schoolwork
 * 53% of our students think laptops have improved their grades
 * 73% of our students think laptops have done more homework outside of school
 * 84% of our students think what they learn in school is helping me to prepare for the future
 * 78% of our students use the computer for organization
 * 64% of our students use their laptop to take notes either daily or weekly
 * 50% of our students say they write more than one page
 * Things we could improve upon:
 * 37% of our students think what they learn in school is relevant to my life now
 * 70% of our students work in groups less than once a month
 * 64% of our students create presentations or projects monthly or less
 * 54% of our students use email or social networking to communicate daily or weekly. (But we don't do it in school.)
 * 89% of our students use the Internet daily. How often are you asking students to find or analyze new data and information in your classrooms?
 * 27% of our students use Inspiration daily or weekly.
 * only 27% of students say they use the textbook as a primary guide for learning less often
 * only 28% of students say they think student interest influences lesson planning
 * 68% of students say they still answer textbook questions about as often
 * To keep growing we need to:
 * have students create spreadsheets to analyze data
 * have students create presentations to demonstate what they know, or teach others material.
 * 36% of our students said they taught their teachers something more often
 * 49% of students say they explore topics on their own. How can we incorporate this into our lessons to keep them interested?
 * 49% of students say they explore topics on their own. How can we incorporate this into our lessons to keep them interested?