Learning Environments

LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

2) Needs analysis

Needs Analysis

Let's assume that we have already conducted a comprehensive front-end analysis. We have conducted interviews with our primary stakeholders, including inservice teachers, school curriculum specialists, and professional development coordinators. We have surveyed groups of potential students to measure their entry aptitudes and attitudes with technology. We have also analyzed the performance setting and identified possible constraints affecting design and delivery. And we have calibrated all of that data to appropriate criteria published by the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) project at ISTE.

Based on the data collected, we have a very good understanding of the performance capabilities of entering students and the expectations and needs of professional practice. The difference between these two states is the gap we must now bridge through the design of an appropriate web-based learning aid.

The data collected suggest that:

1) most students have limited experiences with Microsoft Windows operating system,

2) most students have limited experiences with word processing, email and Internet browsing,

3) most students have no previous experiences using Microsoft Powerpoint,

4) most students have no previous experiences connecting and configuring presentation equipment, such as projectors, scan-converters, and television monitors,

5) most students have high levels of anxiety about using technology to deliver an instructional presentation,

6) most students have previous knowledge about student-centered learning and project-based learning,

7) all students are expected to utilize presentation technologies in their current professional positions,

8) all students are expected to model effective use of presentation technologies in their classrooms,

9) all students are expected to integrate presentation technologies in learner-centered curricular activities,

10) approximately 70% of students are currently in-service teachers, the remaining 30% work in a variety of other professions.