Shared Voice in IT

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/

Take a Risk

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/

Problem Solving with Technology

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.