Sharing thoughts on 1 to 1 Laptop Learning
I was recently inteviewed by members of Worcester Academy’s Board of Visitors regarding 1 to 1 laptop learning.
Archived entries for Technology
Are we ready?
It really is a simple question, isn’t it? Are we ready? Are our schools, teachers, administrators truly ready to stop talking about teaching and learning in the 21st century and instead, start actually doing IT? I have been thinking about this quite a bit recently, and an email from a colleague prompted me to revisit Wordpress and finish my reflection on this question. He claims he is on a personal mission to “Get folks to re-think the use of the word technology as it is currently applied in school.” He says “Here at Urban, it’s all about how to improve the learning experience/learning community and NOT about learning to use technology.” Powerful right? And I can see where he is coming from when he says that his “given title is NOT Technology Director, rather Director of Digital Tools and Practices that Support, Enhance, and Extend the Teaching and Learning Process.” Brilliant. There is a paradigm shift for you. Put that job title in your ad in the newspaper or on Carney Sandoe next time you are looking to fill a technology leadership position. For those of you who know or have had the opportunity to work with Howard Levin over at Urban, you know that he means it and is actually delivering on it.
EduCon 2.1 Sunday Morning Reflections
This is my first time attending EduCon and I must admit that it has on the whole, delivered in every way. As I sit here in a Starbucks trying to catch my breath and enjoying a Vanilla Rooibus Tea latte I am thinking about the depth and breadth of conversations I have been able to have over the last two days. From our arrival on Friday afternoon, our tour of the Science Leadership Academy, the panel discussion at The Franklin Institute, the Saturday sessions, my presentation, the networking gathering and Sunday morning panel, the experience has been superb. Continue reading…
Redefining College Prep
We recently held a professional development day where a portion of the morning program was devoted to the topic of differentiated instruction. Our very talented and capable Center for Learning Director worked with her equally talented and capable staff to design an hour long presentation intended to serve as a follow up to their presentation at our pre-sessional meetings in late August. Differentiated instruction is not a new concept to those of us in education, and its underlying premise is that rather than expecting students to fit their learning to the curriculum, curriculum and instruction are flexible so that they can better meet the individual needs of individual students. Teachers who are practitioners of DI believe that their teaching is shaped by the students they have in their classes. Continue reading…
21st Century CIOs for 21st Century Schools
This presentation was done on December 6th, 2008 at The Association of Boarding Schools conference in Baltimore, MD. We had a great group of 12 independent school administrators and teachers. Thanks to those who came and enjoy!
“Equity, Access, and Opportunity” – Harvard Education Letter
Today I received in the mail, my copy of the Harvard Education Letter, published by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The cover article focuses on how “despite the challenges” more schools are adopting one-to-one laptop programs. The article goes on to say that over the last several years, many schools across the United States have initiated laptop programs and according to a recent survey more that 25% of the 2,500 largest school districts have at least one full grade of students working with laptops. What I found refreshing was that the article states that many educators believe that in time, these powerful tools, capable of allowing students to create, design, invent and publish will be “as ubiquitous as lunchboxes in students’ backpacks.”
While the research is still out and many studies have confirmed mixed results with regards to gains in student achievement, as a teacher of writing, there is a clear indication that student performance in writing increases and improves when working in a one-to-one laptop program. An example of this could be taken from my Creative Writing class today. Students and I are exploring poetry as a multidimensional form of expression. Today, my budding, young writers were asked to bring in a set of poems that they would share with one another in small groups. The purpose was to reach each other’s poetry and then engage in a conversation on providing one another feedback. I provided the groups with a rubric/outline for the discussion points and feedback areas they could focus on. This happened with paper copies of drafts, circling the tables and students writing in paper notebooks.
Now imagine for a moment, 18 students take out laptops, upload their poems to a blog or wiki. They read through and provide comments, mashup, link, respond using technology like VoiceThread.
The potential is endless, the opportunities countless. We are hoping to take the plunge and move to a one-to-one next year in our Middle School. I will be sure to keep you posted.
Photo Credit: carf Photo Credit: Matthew Clark Photography & Design
21st Century CIOs for 21st Century Schools
The technology landscape keeps changing and anyone working in schools over the past several years can tell you that. When I was hired as the CIO at my current school in 2002, using terms like podcasting, blogging and wikis were words very few faculty members would have recognized. Six years later, many of Worcester Academy’s teachers are experimenting with each of these read/write/web technologies looking to find new ways to use Web 2.0 to enhance the educational process. In fact, there is no question that in many of our schools, tech savvy teachers are doing the same and taking the leap into a vast realm of instructional possibilities.
Yet many researchers, educational pundits and bloggers would say that these tools are only being utilized sporadically in schools across the United States. Regardless of the size of your school, its geographic location, limited versus vast resources, the 21st century is squarely upon us, and as highlighted in a number of recent studies on the topic suggest that the potential of recent innovations in technology have gone more or less underutilized. In turn, it is believed that much of the investment our schools have made in recent years will have little systemic impact on teaching and learning. The important question for our schools clearly becomes are we able to measure and substantiate our investments in educational technology and its ability to impact the learning process? As schools face increasing costs and pressure to justify technology fees, 1 to 1 laptop programs and staffing expenses continue to rise, this question will remain squarely in the minds of many school leaders and boards. In order to prepare students adequately for the 21st century, smart, strategic and mission based decisions will be required to leverage the full potential that these rich resources have if they are to truly impact the learning process.
So why is it that when it comes to integrating technology in the classroom, many schools struggle with making the shift into the 21st century? Is it enough to simply be content with the “early adopters” and ignore the overwhelming evidence that college graduates entering the workplace will be expected to function at the highest level of technology proficiency and creative fluency. One strategy that often goes under recognized is that we may need to redefine the role and nature of technology leadership within our schools and administrative structures.
Schools have traditionally looked to technology leaders to maintain and oversee the operating of a school’s information technology systems. This included working printers, making sure that email was up and running, and that attendance could be taken. Often, the role was filled by a tech savvy teacher who found themselves neck deep in issues beyond their ability or control. At times, this created an environment where technology became a scapegoat for a host of school issues. As a result, many schools have transitioned toward the model of hiring a school Chief Information Officer or CIO who possessed an understanding of the “T” in information technology. This approach solved part of the challenge, however, in order to see education truly enter the 21st century, an emphasis on CIOs with a detailed understanding of education and a perspective on institutional strategic goals and mission must give way. Many might be asking, do such technology leaders exist?
Outside of education, IT executives must understand total cost of ownership, security, return on investment, vendors and outsourcing, and while the CIO within a school must also understand these critical issues, we need to recognize that we are in the business of teaching and learning. Our schools have become extremely sophisticated, high tech organizations, running complex relational databases, information web portals, advancement and finance systems and increasingly sophisticated network architectures. At the same time, teachers are asking for SmartBoards, blog hosting, access to Second Life, and wikis. Students and teachers produce multimedia projects, create original films, tackle design projects, evaluate and study scientific data, publish print and digital publications, and program complex robots. It is this distinction in our practice that places an enormous emphasis on the CIO to leverage and manage information technology in order to meet the mission of the school. Furthermore, Business Managers and Advancement and Admission Directors will tell you that information is the lifeblood of a school; teachers and students use it every day, administrators need to cull it in order to make data driven decisions and FIX THIS. CIOs need to embrace and capitalize on that reality, and in doing so we truly put the “I” back in CIO.
A first step should include placing technology leadership squarely at the executive leadership level, reporting within one or two levels of a school’s Superintendent or Head of School. Secondly, Attending professional development opportunities that focus on curriculum, instruction and assessment, and developing a deeper understanding of the academic program of their school is crucial. Technology leaders must work towards building stronger communication and political savvy skills in order to remain squarely at the decision making table. And lastly, they need to increase their fluency in the language of business AND education. Department chairs and curriculum coordinators use a very different vocabulary from CFOs and Business Managers.
10 Key Questions:
- Where does the current IT Director/CIO sit in the management chain?
- Are their frequent opportunities to communicate with other top leadership within the organization?
- Does the CIO sit at the executive cabinet or leadership team level of a school system?
- How and to what degree are top IT leaders in your institution beyond IT?
- Is the technology leadership participating in non-IT decisions?
- Is the CIO connected to the curriculum leaders within your school?
- How often does the CIO work directly with faculty and students?
- Does professional development focus exclusively on IT or does it include pedagogy?
- What other areas does the IT leadership oversee? Does it include communications, library and media services?
- Is the CIO allowed to provide strategies on how technology can meet institutional goals?
A better understanding that the role of CIO included business partner, classic IT support provider, integrator, informaticist, strategic thinker and educator, as well as a redefining of attributes and job description have given way to great strides at my school, and I believe can serve as the missing piece in a school’s strategic, 21st century, educational puzzle.
