Technology Program Administrator

Christina Rice
Georgia Southern University
FRIT 7739
 Technology Program Administrator

Executive Summary

Lee County 9th Grade Campus is one of the 10 schools in Leesburg, Ga. The
school was established in 2008 and was placed in the oldest school building in the
county. There are approximately 560 students with a 17:1 student:teacher ratio. The
demographics are 79% Caucasian, 18% African American, 2% multi-racial, and 1%
other. The free and reduced lunch rate is 43%. The campus is an open campus and
each building has to be accessed by going outside. The media center is centrally
located in the middle of the campus and students are able to visit the center before
school, lunchtime, after school, and during class with the teacher’s permission. A large
selection of fiction and non-fiction books are available for student check out.
Educational videos are stored in a separate room for teachers to check out. There are
a variety of class set novels for the English Language Arts teachers to use. All
textbooks are stored in the media center over the summer and are checked out as class
sets to keep in the classroom for the school year. There are 16 desktop computers for
students and two rolling carts each containing 30 chromebooks for teachers to use.
Students can print documents out for 5 cents black and white and 25 cents for color. A
computer and projector are available for faculty meetings and trainings. The students
are given a tour and introduction to the media center at the beginning of school with
their ELA teachers. Students who come in to visit at lunch can work on the various
puzzles or play the board games and card games. The media specialist and faculty
have expressed a desire to have more technology throughout the school. In March an
online survey was conducted by the board office to assess the technology needs and
the wishes of the 9th Grade Campus. Group interviews were conducted to see what
current technologies are working and what could be improved upon.

Organizational Chart
 Technology Program Administrator

Board Office

Principals

System
Media Specialist Media
Technology
Paraprofessional
Department

Teachers Classroom
Paraprofessionals

Parents Students

Methods

Information about the 9th Grade, the primary school, and the middle school
media centers were collected through observations and interviews. One on one
interviews were conducted with the media specialist, a student, and a teacher from each
school. Email was a good way to keep in communication with the other schools to
clarify any questions. The media center website and the technology website proved to
be a valuable place to find information. The media center computer database provided
data on circulation of books, videos, and computers. Students sign in log recorded the
numbers of daily visitors.

Center Context and Goals

The Lee County School System was established in 1954 and currently has 6300
students and 309 faculty and staff. Lee County has the lowest rate of poverty and free/
reduced lunch percentage in the southwest region of Georgia. The 9th Grade Campus
was established in 2008 to house just the 9th grade students and give them a place
where they could adjust to the complexities of high school without being overwhelmed
by upperclassmen. The school building is one of the two oldest in the county and went
under some renovations before it opened. The media center was part of the
renovations to include technology installation of computers, internet, and wifi.
 Technology Program Administrator

Mission:
The Lee County School System has a drive for excellence and a passion for distinction
in providing challenging educational experiences for all students.

Beliefs:
We believe in…
1. investing in our students through strong partnerships between home, school, and
community.
2. providing each student a quality and challenging education through engaging learning
opportunities.
3. ensuring everyone an environment in which they feel safe, valued, and nurtured.
4. offering opportunities for students to be successful through highly effective teachers
and targeted resources.
5. preparing our graduates with the academic, social and work skills necessary to be
productive citizens in school and life.

LCSS Vision:
Learning, Encouraging, Excelling

Stakeholders:
Faculty, staff, students, parents, and community. The school system is the largest
employer in the county.

Personnel

The media center has one media specialist and one paraprofessional. Both are
responsible for inventory, monitoring circulation, lamination, technology/computer
assistance throughout the school, school social media, reading tests to ESOL students,
assisting in online courses for transfer students, ordering textbooks and other materials,
setting up meetings and training tools, downloading new software, setting up student
and teacher email accounts, and organizing labs for the Georgia End of Course
Assessments.

There are student volunteers who will occasionally use their lunch period to
reshelve books or perform other simple tasks the media specialist might need. There
are no parent volunteers.

The Instructional Technology Specialist organizes and promotes the

incorporation of new technology to the faculty at each of the 10 schools. She provides
 Technology Program Administrator

professional development through faculty meetings, online instruction, and individually

in the classroom.

Center Activities

1. Technology training and professional development takes place in the media

center on a regular basis.
2. State standardized testing is done on the computers in the center.
3. ESOL students take tests that are read aloud to them.
4. Materials are laminated in one of the room off of the center.
5. I-Pevo is an interactive whiteboard system that can be checked out.
6. Books, videos, and chromebooks are checked out through the center.
7. There is a reading center with couches open from 7:30-3:30.
8. New materials are cataloged into a database and barcoded.
9. Book covers are repaired with clear film and the spines with glue and tape.
10. Art club meets in the center during PRIDE time on Thursdays.
11. Faculty parties occasionally take place in the center since it has a kitchen.
12. Students print and make copies in black/white or color.
13. Vendors set up and sell their clothes/jewelry/books to the faculty in the center.

Evaluation

The 9th Grade media center is an inviting and comfortable place for students to
visit. There is a moderate book selection for students to check out. Computers are
readily available and there is rarely a time when they are all completely taken. The fees
for students to print materials out is very reasonable. They can charge these fees to
their account as long as they do not currently have an overdue balance. The overdue
charge for books is low compared to the local public library fees. The media specialist
is friendly and helpful to the patrons of the library. She manages the day to day
operations proficiently. The media paraprofessional is new this year but has put forth
significant effort in learning about the media center and its operations. The media
center could use significantly more technology for teacher and student use. Lee
County’s budget for technology is low compared to many surrounding counties. After
speaking with administration and the media specialist this is somewhat due to Lee
County not being a Title 1 school. They do not receive additional funds from the state to
purchase technology such as the 1:1 laptop program the surrounding counties have.
The teachers are all given an iPad to use, however they are seven years old and will no
longer download any updates or new applications.
 Technology Program Administrator

Through my own observation this year and the interviews conducted I make the
following recommendations:
1. Requests to the board office be made to purchase more technology for the media
center and the classrooms.
2. Ongoing education on plagiarism and cheating for students. There has been an
increase in these offenses this year.
3. Develop a student media center team to provide a daily or weekly news program
to be offered either first thing in the morning or during the PRIDE time on
Thursdays.
4. Additional training to teachers to incorporate more 21st century learning into
classroom lessons. Many teachers still do not use much technology.
5. Student training on the skills of writing essays/ papers, research, and proper
email etiquette.