Technology is transforming our society in many ways. This blog is dedicated to exploring why and how education can capitalize on the benefits of technology to impact our classrooms. Please join me in the adventure to learn more. Presented to you by: Craig Juffer
There is a fair amount of talk in education circles about 21st Century classrooms. Rightfully so since we are moving into the seventeenth year of the century. However, I think we need to make sure that this dialog is not about just technology, but learning. Recently I read "Squad Goals" in EdTech Magazine. The article talked about giving the voice to teachers in the selection of IT materials. I think they hit the nail on the head with the notion of "Curriculum drives technology. Technology should not drive curriculum," (Hennick as quoted by Anne Pasco, page 21). Why would we consider making these expensive and critical choices without the input of those who will be using them. It seems only logical.
I would like to take this notion a step further. There are two other groups that I think should, at least, be able to provide input to these decisions. First, how about the students? These are the people that should have the most interaction with the technology. How are we making sure they have input into the decision? Second, how about their parents? These are the folks entrusted with upbringing of their children. Shouldn't they have a voice in ways and types of technologies used in our schools?
You might say, that all sounds good, but how do you go about getting the input. Honestly, the answer to that is technology! Over the last year, we were looking to expand our 1:1 program into grades four and five. We were also determining what device we would like to use in our second round of 1:1 in our middle school. We began the process with our technology team. This is a group of teachers and staff from various grade levels representing the whole school, as well as, various levels of technology competency. This group talked about all the different part of the the last three years with the 1:1. They asked a lot of what ifs and explored several options.
Together the group also put together a survey using Google Forms that was sent to parents. Another one was designed and sent to students. The survey reviewed our goals, asked about student use at home, and asked for input from them as to what goals they have in regards to technology and learning. The feedback results were just clicks away and recipients appreciated the simple approach that was relatively simple. When the choices for devices were narrowed, we brought in multiple examples and let students use them to give us further feedback on what they liked and how they might function in the classroom settings.
In the end, the information collected was reviewed and helped the team make a recommendation for the future technology devices in our school. The team put together the presentation that was shared with the Education Committee and eventually the School Board that resulted in the approval of the purchased devices. It was a great process that took time, but resulted in the device that fit our system and needs the best.
References
Hennick, C. (2016, Fall). Squad goals. EdTech, 18-21.
EdTech Focus on K-12: IT and Education. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2016, from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/
Growing up I lived about five blocks from the swimming pool. I loved going and playing in the water for as long as I can remember. I also remember one day I had decided I was finally going to do it. I was going to off the high diving board. My older sister was there and I was determined that she wouldn't make fun of me any more. I began my journey and walked to the line stretched three of four people deep at the base of the ladder. When I got to the front of the line I could see the rungs in front of me and I began my glorious rise to the pale blue board strung out over the water. I walked to the end ready to make the leap, when I froze a foot from the edge. I could hear my sister yelling to me, but I just couldn't do it. I turned around and climbed the longest set of steps I had ever taken. It was a rough day. Fear had struck. Fear of hurting myself, fear of looking stupid, fear of trying something unfamiliar and essentially failing. It didn't help that my older sister would remind me of it whenever she could. Later that summer I finally did make the rise up those silver stairs and walked that plank all the way to end and leaped. It was a glorious day. The first question I asked myself when I came to the surface was what took me so long. That wasn't bad at all. I think I went off the board fifty times that day. It was amazing. I had found something completely new.
I get the same feeling when I am trying something new today. While I haven't done a high dive for a while, I have been diving into some new technology tools and it has been amazing. I am learning new ways to create and design. I am growing in ways to serve teachers and students, and most of all, I am taking a step away from what is routine or comfortable. I am taking a risk. Yes, some of my ventures have failed, but thats okay. I am "failing forward" (Maxwell).
Now, here is my plug for you. Dive into a new adventure today. Have an open mind about the possibilities that exist beyond the norm. Attack that problem from new angle. Try a sending a Tweet. Create a new account on Wordle. Show your students a video you made and shared on YouTube. Stretch yourself to think outside the box and design a learning experience for your students with a new tool. Remember, you are a role model for learning. If you are not willing to get of your comfort zone to learn new things, then how can you expect your students to it. Go ahead and plunge in. The water is fine. I think you will find that it is an amazing rush.
Reference
Fail Forward. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2016, from https://failforward.org/
When integrating technology in any educational setting there are undoubtedly going to be some issues at some point. One of the greatest skills we can learn as educators in the 21st Century is to problem solve some of these issues. (In fact, this is something we should be teaching our students to do, but you can refer to my blog on ISTE student standards for more on that thought.) Let's take a few minutes to highlight some of the basic steps you can do to solve some issues with technology of varies kinds. Here are my top 5 items for problem solving technology issues.
1) Check to cables - Often times cables are the root of the problem. Check to make sure they are properly plugged in on both ends (power source, projector, device, etc).
2) Restart the program - Often times the program that is not running correctly and simply needs to restart. Something may have happened on start-up or a while you were working that causes this issue.
3) Check your wifi - Many issues today revolve around not having internet access. Due to the fact that wireless connects are far more prevalent today, checking the wifi connection is a good place to start when there are issues.
4) Restart the device - Again there can be issues on devices where they just need to be reset. A simple shut down, pause for about 10 seconds to let everything fully shut down, and then restarting can get you going again.
5) Check your login - With the number of programs that require a login, sometimes you need to be sure your account is the right one. Often a warning will come up for this one. Be sure you know passwords for your accounts.
Of course, there are more ways to solve issue, but these at least give you some place to start. If you don't get the results you were hoping for from these you can try a search online (provided that isn't the issue) for your specific problem. There are lots of help chats and videos that can walk you through some problem solving techniques.
I want to tell you a story today that helped me to understand the power of YouTube. It begins with this guy. He is an eight year old who is into dragons, Legos, Star Wars and most recently Rubik's Cubes (all which are in this picture). About six months ago, this young guy ran across an old Rubik's Cube in his grandmother's basement. He asked some questions about it, then proceeded to mess with it a little while. He ended up taking it home with him later that day. With the influence of his older siblings, he was watching some funny videos on YouTube and a picture came up with a Rubik's cube. He was intrigued, so he began searching. Over the next week he became hooked and learned to solve his first cube completely by watching YouTube and messing with that old find from grandma's basement. He is definitely hooked on the three-dimensional puzzles and has begun a collection of varies types. Some he still goes to YouTube to solve and others he uses what he already knows to figure out.
I had asked him to go on video to describe his experiences, but he was a bit too shy (hard to imagine with that mischievous grin). He did share some thoughts with me about the step-by-step process and the algorithm (yes, that was his word) that is used to solve the device, but the think that really caught me we this quote: "It is easy, you can search how to do lots of things on YouTube." As you know some of those "things" are not so good, especially for eight year olds, so please be sure you are supervising kids online. However, isn't it amazing that this guy already knows how to teach himself (sort of) with the power of technology. It begs the question of how we harness this power in our schools. Are we doing enough with this resource? Are we teaching our students to find answers and help them think through skills with YouTube? Do we teach them to use it positively and not just for funny cat videos?
Hopefully, we do recognize this tool for what it can be used for. I'd love to hear your ideas, but here are just a few thoughts to get the mind going:
Create classroom instruction videos
Locate video clips related to content areas
Have student create their own instructional videos
Research "how to" about anything
Feel free to leave comments or thoughts on YouTube uses in the classroom.
In working with some teachers on technology integration models, I have been exploring more about the TIP cycle. I had mentioned it in a previous post, but I wanted to add a little more about it as I am learning. Using the model below, you can see that you begin with the goal in mind and that drives the type of instruction and the tools. Essentially, if technology becomes a hinderance to the goal, you should exit it as a tool. I believe this focus is critical to the design of technology integration. Just like instruction and assessment should be aligned to the goal, the technology used to assist with instruction and assessment should also be aligned with the goal. Technology should be used to enhance learning not hinder it.
This past week another resource was shared with us to better help us unpack this process. The following is a set of questions that you can use to walk you through the process. Thanks to Tyler Youngers for sharing this resource and to Dr. Amy Carter Hutchison for her work to develop it.
Reference
College of Education and Human Development - George Mason University. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from https://cehd.gmu.edu/people/faculty/ahutchi9
Instructional Designer in Iowa & Wedding Singer in Iowa. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from http://tjyoungers.wixsite.com/youngers
Technology Integration Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from http://tipcycle.wixsite.com/tech-integration/project-information
Technology Integration Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://tipcycle.wixsite.com/tech-integration
The Albemarle County Public Schools are using instructional coaching to impact the teaching and learning going on in their classrooms. I invite you to watch the video and unpack some of the takeaways from this work.
The Overall Structure
As the video highlights the structure at Albemarle is designed around sharing information among teachers and buildings. This structure allows ideas to flow between a large population of teachers. In this way the school has harnessed the power of collaboration among the entire district. There are 24 coaches who each work in three different schools and every school has multiple coaches. When an idea is born it can eventually make its way throughout the district via the network of coaches who share buildings. In addition, the diverse needs of teachers are met by having multiple coaches available to them. Coaches also have the opportunity to meet together to share learning.
The school uses what is referred to as The Seven Pathways to Learning as a foundation for their coaching. Utilizing these ideas, teachers can approach coaches for help on how to integrate ideas into their classroom, and coaches can help guide teachers to practices that fit their needs and situation.
As coaches and teachers meet, the coach helps the teacher clarify the need and connects appropriate learning ideas or tools to the instruction. Then coaches help model, plan, provide feedback from observation and evaluate the process with the teachers.
The Five Phases
Establish the Need: This is where is all begins. Teacher have a desire to design learning toward a specific area. Perhaps the strategy or instructional plan is a new endeavor or previous attempts have not gained the expected results. The teacher now has a need to develop a partnership with a coach.
Create Partnerships: The appropriate coach should then be selected to help the teacher develop the learning experience. At Albermarle the shared design allows for some level a choice within the building but also a network of resources for coaches to use to assist teachers. It appears that this choice is often strongly connected to the teacher's desire and certainly trust plays a role in this decision.
Target Differentiated Projects: It is here that the project take shape. Teachers have articulated the needs, now the plan for how it is done gets rolled out. Coaches help design learning, model, acquire tools or provide assistance depending on the need of the teacher. In the video we see the coach ask the teacher about a critical thinking rubric to help design instruction.
Assess The Progress: This is ongoing, but the idea is that the intended goals are being met with the work being done. This is possible through observation feedback and or student data, as well as, reflection and discussion between the coach and teacher. Hopefully, the ongoing relationship helps to build better practices. Again, we see the coach interacting with students at Albermarle as a way of assisting the teacher and gaining feedback.
Reflect on the Integration: As always, reflection helps to build learning. This step is about a look back on the process as a whole to see if it met the goals. It is also demonstrated by sharing out findings among others. Again, this is modeled by coaches sharing with others or taking the learning to another building at Albermarle.
My Takeaways
I love the fact that the coaches don't dictate processes, but help teachers to establish powerful goals and reflection. The ownership is on the teachers to grow their practice and take ownership in the process. Ben Johnson states in his blog, "..., the administrator's role is to help the teacher identify the problems and bring their own solutions to light. By asking the teacher probing, open-ended questions, the administrator helps the teacher reflect and analyze an issue of the teacher's choosing and then asks the all powerful question: 'What are you going to do about it?'"(Johnson).
Another big piece demonstrated in the video is that the coaches get to spend significant time with the teachers and the students through this process. They are there to model and assist rather than just give ideas of throw out suggestions.
Finally, I like how the school has established choice between coaches and how these coaches take learning across classrooms and buildings. I think it is a strong model for impacting a big population of teachers and, most importantly, students.
References
Johnson, B. (2013, January 31). The Power of Educational Coaching. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-educational-coaching-ben-johnson
E. (2015, September 18). Instructional Coaching: Seeding District-Wide Innovation. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0IrZ5jrvCo
The integration of technology is one of those tricky things. We desire to push new technology into our schools and make requirements that dictate their use, but are we taking the right approach? Do we look closely enough at the reasons behind this trend? Are we impacting our students in ways that really enhance their growth? While we (definitely including myself in this) might not have always been able to answer these questions, I suspect that we are getting better at being reflective of our practices regarding technology. Some evidences that I see are various frameworks of technology integration that being used. Let's take a look at a few that I have come across in my recent work.
You can see many variations of the SAMR Model with a simple search online. The one shared here shows the four basic steps of integration (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) with added examples for each level. Beginning at substitution, we see that the technology simply does the same thing as previous tool. Added capabilities allows us to move up to augmentation stage. In the modification stage we are now changing the task to something unique to the technology that wasn't available before. Finally, redefinition refers to creating a task the was not even considered before. While all of these levels would be useful in learning, a desire would be to harness the power of technology to transform learning in new ways.
Another framework for consideration would be the TPACK model. As you can see below, the model emphasizes the impact of knowledge in both pedagogy and content as well as the knowledge of technology (Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge). The overall concept here is that these things work together to impact student learning. "The Sweet Spot" of learning is in middle of these three concepts. In other words, we should make decision about how we use technology to implement sound instruction of our content to students.
Both of these models can be useful in making integration of technology affective and impactful. Utilizing the SAMR framework helps us all see how the technology can be used to develop deeper understanding. However, I believe the TPACK model best meets our school mission because it emphasizes that technology is interwoven into the full process of instruction. It is focused on the student learning rather than simply integration of technology.
If I were to roll these models out I would utilize the TPACK model to connect technology as just another piece of the puzzle in develop student gifts and skills. We could have some fantastic discussion about how these three elements can come together to develop student learning. To further emphasize decision making with technology I would introduce a Technology Integration Planning Cycle. I believe this would also help us to make appropriate decisions about when technology can assist us in meeting student needs and when it gets in the way, which is a critical element of integrating technology well.
If we use models like those shared here, I believe we will be able to confidently reflect on best practices for technology integration. Our student will indeed be positively impacted by the tools we give them.
References
SAMR Model Explained for Teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/06/samr-model-explained-for-teachers.html
The SAMR Model – Enhancing Technology Integration. (2015, December 16). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from https://digitallearningteam.org/2012/06/07/the-samr-model-enhancing-technology-integration/
SAMR/TPACK. (n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://www.ipadbootcampforteachers.com/samrtpack.html
TPACK.ORG. (n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://tpack.org/
Technology Integration Project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 05, 2016, from http://tipcycle.wixsite.com/tech-integration
