EDU 533 Assignment 1 Need Analysis

The Identified Need

The need identified in week 1 was the anticipated need of a middle school teacher to acquaint herself with the use of latest gadgets and technology because of the increased use of these gadgets and technologies in teaching. Education in the future could change drastically with newer technologies and more of online environment. The need analysis can help in the identification and evaluation of needs and the first step to do so is the determination of the desired outcomes. The training goal in this regard is to train the middle school teachers to use all technologies which can be used in education. The second step in need analysis is to link the desired outcomes with employee behaviour.

Need Analysis

In this case, the teacher would need basic knowledge of computers (Rakes, etal. 2006) and inclination or flexibility to learn newer technologies. If the person has a phobia for newer technologies or is resisting change, it would be difficult to fulfil the identified need. The next step is to identify the trainable competencies. It is important that the teacher must possess basic knowledge on using computers and must be using them for normal day-to-day duties.

Furthermore, the fourth step is to evaluate the current competencies. This would done with the help of a basic assessment which has computer based questions, interview and overall performance in the current job. Teachers could be evaluated by asking about common terminologies related to computers. They could also be asked to demonstrate their skills by teaching a concept completely with the help of technology.

The fifth step is to prioritize the training needs and ensure that all the middle school teachers are well-trained in the use of latest technologies relevant to the field of education. Then appropriate methods to provide training will be considered. These will include On the Job Training (OJT), e-learning and conferences. The final part of the need analysis would be to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. The cost of hiring new teachers who would have knowledge of the use of various technologies and gadgets would be higher than training the current ones well in advance. This needs to be followed up through an evaluation of whether the training has achieved its objectives. The trained teachers would have to demonstrate their learning in a live session and this evaluation must happen o a regular basis because the skills might not be needed to be used immediately since this is an anticipated need.

Learner characteristics

Learner characteristics for the identified need are firstly, the person must be ready to adopt new technologies. If the person doesn’t like to acquaint oneself with new technologies and has problems accepting new ideas, teaching newer technologies will not be easy. Secondly, the teachers must be flexible and ready to accept change rather than resisting it.

Thirdly, the middle school teachers must show acceptance and enthusiasm of the new initiative because they might have to work extra hard to take care of their original work and take out time to learn the new things this might require staying after school and doing things which are not in their comfort zone. For if the learner is being absent or voicing concern and resentment about the hectic schedule, it could mean that the teacher doesn’t possess the required characteristic.

Objectives from the cognitive, behavioural, and affective domains for the identified need

Furthermore, the objective of the need from the cognitive domain (Krathwohl, D. R., 2010) is to help the middle school teachers understand that adoption of new technology is a necessity and it is important to master it before it cripples their career. The need from the affective domain is feeling the motivation to learn.

In order to fulfil this, it is important that the learner is well-aware of the need for the training. Thirdly, from the behavioural domain the teachers can be helped to adopt technologies with a lot of interest and motivation if their need has been fulfilled well in time. Some champions of change (Teo, T. 2008) could be identified who could be able to spread the word and ensure that some difficult employees can also be convinced in this regard.

Finally, the teachers need to be able to understand that the cognitive domain of the students has been undergoing a drastic change because of their exposure to the newer technologies and old methods of teaching are no longer as effective as they used to be. Unless the teachers adopt newer methods, the students might not learn as effectively.

Procedure analysis flowchart

References

Krathwohl, D. R., (2010) A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview Theory Into Practice. Volume 41, Issue 4. DOI: 10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2.

Rakes, etal. 2006. The Influence of Teachers’ Technology Use on Instructional Practices. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. Volume 38, Issue 4, 2006. DOI:10.1080/15391523.2006.10782467

Teo, T. 2008. Pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards computer use: A Singapore survey. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 2008, 24(4), 413-424.