Educators Zoom in on survey benefits

Zoomerang zPro is helping school administrators change the way they evaluate their programs, resources and training to better allocate resources in education.

It was in November 2001 at the NSBA Technology + Learning Conference in Atlanta when Scott McLeod, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, had the idea. "The greatest technology in the world is useless if schools arent using it," he realized. With that, the fundamental idea of STLI (School Technology Leadership Initiative) was born. "We want to move technology up to the administration level of schools," says McLeod. "Students and some teachers may understand the impact technology can make, but often, at the administrative level, that understanding is lost."

An idea becomes a program
By September 2002, only 10 months after conception of the idea, McLeod had government funding and 2:1 private matching funds from technology firms such as MarketTools, Inc. and Microsoft. In July 2003, 18 participants began the nations first school technology leadership graduate program.

"Were exposing school administrators to some pretty interesting technology," says McLeod. And one of the primary pieces of technology used in the program is Zoomerang. "When you put high quality tools in educators hands, its amazingly powerful," he says.

The cohorts introduction to Zoomerang happens before they know it. "They complete the entire admissions process through Zoomerang. It allows them to do everything we need except send documents for the essay application," McLeod says.

Zoomerang helps schools learn more
Educators in the program have already been given their first assignment with Zoomerang.

Becky Tappe is the Library Media Specialist at Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minnesota, a school of about 2,000 students. This fall she plans to use Zoomerang to survey students on their technology needs.

"The questions I want to know are how students view the technology use, she says, and where they would like to see more technology used or placed in the school. We have goals in our tech plan and I would like to see if they match what the students want and what their parents want."

She couldnt conduct a survey of this magnitude without Zoomerang. "I suppose we could have done a survey like this on paper, but I don't see how we could have tallied the results unless we did a Scantron test where they fill in the bubbles and run it through a machine. That would be a huge project with this number of students and an interruption to valuable class time. Not to mention the cost of paper and running it on a copy machine," she says.

Neil Charles, a technology coordinator in Clinton Township, New Jersey, is planning on using Zoomerang immediately. "In September, our school community will be voting on a referendum for a new school. On the same day we will be using Zoomerang for students to vote to pick the new mascot and school colors. We will have several voting kiosks with a Zoomerang survey modified to look like voting selections," he says.

Their use of Zoomerang will extend beyond the school grounds. "We have also started to put together a needs assessment survey for parents, teachers, community members, and administrators. We are looking at the issue of Respect for All or Respect Begins with Me as part of our anti-bullying campaign," Charles says.

Surveying helps program evaluation
McLeod not only teaches the benefits of using Zoomerang to his STLI students, he also uses it regularly for evaluations in his other university courses, including pre-assessments of incoming students. "That way I know their level of understanding before I even start the course."

McLeods use of Zoomerang continues through the semester for mid-course check ins, and post-course assessments. "With Zoomerang, we get better feedback. It seems that people are now more comfortable at a keyboard, than with pen and paper. So by having them respond online, we get longer and richer responses," he says.

Zoomerang helps schools deliver more
From understanding students needs better to formulating plans for school change, Zoomerang zPro helps teachers and administrators understand how they can best assign their limited resources to improve the overall quality of their schools.