6.1 Evaluation of an online technology leadership master's program  (Page 14/16)

Technology professional development. The data displayed in Tables 11 and 12 indicated ETL graduates in non-classroom staff roles tended to strongly agree their perceived role included designing technology-embedded professional development at the school (78.8%) and district level (81.3%). However, the data showed classroom teachers seemed to perceive designing technology professional development school level (44.3%) and district level (18.4%) as a lesser part of their role. Furthermore, the classroom teachers rated that role lower on the Likert scale ( M =2.79) than non-classroom staff ( M =3.69). A low percentage of the respondents appeared to be involved in designing technology professional development for non-education work settings: classroom teachers (13.2%) and non-classroom staff (36.4%). Overall, a majority of ETL graduates (53.5%) denoted leading the design of PK-12 school-based technology professional development. Interestingly, the mean average for non-classroom staff was slightly higher related to designing district ( M =4.03) technology professional development when compared to school-based offerings ( M =3.69).

An examination of Tables 13 and 14 showed classroom teachers (54.5%) tended to rate the implementation of technology-embedded professional development at the school level lower than non-classroom staff (84.4%). At the district level, non-classroom staff (87.9%) again rated the implementation of technology embedded professional development higher than classroom teachers (36.0%) as a perceived function of their role. Both data set one and two pointed to agreement with the implementation of technology-embedded professional development in non-education work environments (30.3%). There was a lower mean score of the district implementation of technology professional development by the classroom teachers ( M =2.48) than by the non-classroom staff ( M =4.18).

In reviewing Tables 15 and 16, more than 50% of the total ETL graduates reported they served on school-based technology related committees. Classroom teachers ( M =2.94) seemed to rate their involvement slightly lower than non-classroom staff ( M =3.00). Non-classroom staff ( M =3.90) appeared to rate higher agreement with serving on district level committees than classroom staff ( M =2.48). Neither data set rated their role serving on non-education technology related committees as high as school or district committees.

Qualitative

Results from the qualitative data indicated Educational Technology Leadership online program graduates exhibited leadership in the personal use and campus implementation of online learning, Web 2.0 tools, and technology professional development very similar to the quantitative results. The open-ended survey item content reflected the PK-12 environment of the graduates giving more evidence which contributed to transference of concepts into PK-12 school settings. The synthesis of the electronic portfolio reflections showed evidence of graduates’ understanding the need for continued growth in the areas of online learning, the use of Web 2.0 tools, and in technology professional development.