Follow-Up Information on Clarity Service through BrightBytes

During the March HAA meeting, we viewed a webinar on Clarity, a new service we are offering to districts. Clarity, which is used in thousands of schools across the country, uses online surveys to help districts better understand their technology strengths and areas in need of improvement. Data can be gathered at a building and district level.

The value is in the data dashboard that is created for each school. The data tell a story about the degree of technology implementation and integration, impact on teaching and learning, infrastructure and access. It is a tool to plan, make decisions and even monitor implementation and growth in the area of technology in the classroom.

Examples of these surveys for students, teachers, administrators and parents are below. Feel free to answer questions on these sample surveys as you look through them. They generally require about 5-10 minutes to take.

High School Student: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1049180/Clarity-High-School-Student-Sample-Survey

Middle School Student: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1049175/Clarity-Middle-School-Sample-Survey

Elementary School Student: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1049178/Clarity-Elementary-Student-Sample-Survey

Teacher and Administrator Survey:  http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1049181/Clarity-Teacher-and-Administrator-Sample-Survey

Parent Survey: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1049171/Clarity-Parent-Sample-Survey

Once a district has a significant number of surveys filled out (normally defined as 25% or more of the number possible), the real fun of data analysis begins. After the data collection concludes, districts and buildings will be given access to a data dashboard and a set of recommendations that are based on the data and how it compares to other districts. Heartland AEA will offer several different opportunities to become trained in analyzing the data and drilling down to the individual question level.

Click here for a PowerPoint which gives an overview of the process, using the Katy, Texas district as an example.

If you are interested in learning more about Clarity, or you are interested in starting to gather data in your district, please contact either Lance Wilhelm or Susan Schrader at the email addresses below. If you are ready to start surveying your students and staff and community, please indicate a point of contact person for your district, and Lance or Susan will get them the information they need to get started (including survey links and templates for communicating with your various groups).

For more information, contact Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology, at lwilhelm@aea11.k12.ia.us or Susan Schrader, Director of Resources and Library Services, at sschrader@aea11.k12.ia.us.