We’re gearing up for teachers to complete their annual self-assessment of technology skills, but frankly, I don’t see much value in repeatedly asking them how well they can use software or hardware. How could we get more useful data?
Whether it’s staff or student use of technology, you’ll learn a great deal if you gather data in three areas:
- knowledge
- attitude
- practice
Based upon your question, it sounds as though the self-assessment instrument you’re using currently focuses on just the knowledge area. It is important to have a snapshot of teachers’ current skills levels, but it’s equally, or perhaps even more, important to get a handle on teachers’ attitudes about technology use and what they actually do.
Much of this can be self-reported using multiple choice questions, but you will want to use additional data sources such as observations or lesson plans to get the full picture. Work with your evaluation committee to identify ways to expand the instrument in use and other data sources.
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