Personal Apps & iPads: The OnGoing Debate in Schools

Apps like Flipboard allow you to personalize your learning

I have had this conversation far more than once this year, but here I am 9 1/2 days before the end of the semester, having it again.  

Should schools allow students to personalize their iPads with their own apps?

When we talk about limiting choice on a device, I believe we are talking about policing instead of education.  Are we empowering students to use this opportunity to learn or are we sending a message about power and control?  Alan November speaks about teaching students to own their learning.  When students feel as if they have power and ownership over their learning experiences, they become deeply invested.  We all do.  

When it comes to controlling every aspect of the device, this is a case when our teachers want to own the learning.  We have the opportunity to teach students the right way to do things.  I don't believe this lesson gets any easier as they grow older.  When do they learn this? In 8th grade? In HS when they stop listening to adults?  Aren't we passing the buck?  In the Middle School, we have an opportunity to model the behavior we would like to see now.  How are we teaching students to take ownership of their learning and differentiate their learning in ways that are meaningful?  I don't see the issues we are facing any different that students who used to pass notes or stare out the window as someone cut the grass.  Did we close the blinds so no one could see outside because a student was a daydreamer?  Does limiting choice get rid of classroom management issues or just move those issues to another venue?  I feel as if we have an opportunity to empower and educate, and instead we are choosing to control and police.  I know it is not easy, but I believe it is the right choice.  In the graduate courses I teach, I have adults who's attention wanders to Bejewelled and Facebook.  This won't go away because we tell it to go away.  Who is teaching them?  This problem is not unique to our students, it is throughout our society.  I feel we have an obligation to teach students how to be manage these distractions.  I believe this starts in our schools.  

We need to change the conversation to "how are kids using apps to learn".  I believe that conversation is the number one conversation none of us are having.

So here are my questions: 

What are other 1:1 iPad programs doing?  

How are you handling this issue within your community?

30 Days and Counting . . . Again

Photo credit: Alvimann from morguefile.com

Last spring I wrote a post on the titled "30 Days and Counting" on the fact that I had thirty days to get ready for our iPad 1:1 program before the last day of school.  One year later, I have 30 days left of possibly the most challenging year of my career.  I have learned more this year than I ever imagined, and I have learned so very much about myself.  Here's a few things that I now know:

• I love teaching teachers.  They are my favorite students. Honestly, I don't know jack about teaching Science, but a huge part of my job is to help educators learn how to use the tools and then get out of their way so they can shine.  I have seen teachers take this tiny device and make their classrooms and students come alive in ways I never imagined. I have students running down the hall to tell me what they have learned this year in a classroom.  Teachers continue to blow me away when I watch them mold their craft with the ever changing learning landscape of today.
• We need to do a better job helping our leaders understand and model the paradigm shifts that are currently taking place in our schools. You can not effectively lead from the middle.  
• Learning anything new isn't supposed to be easy.  Tell me the last time you heard of someone learning a new language and they said, "It's easy."  My son is taking Mandarin and when you ask him why he likes it, he says, "It makes me think in ways I never thought possible."  Technology does this to people, especially teachers.  It may not always be easy, but in the end, it is almost always worth the journey.
• I like for people to be happy, and when you lead people through change, people are not always happy.  Change is hard, but it is worth it.  I take things personally.  When someone is upset with something at school, I feel as if I have personally failed them.  One of my goals is to take away the anxiety that comes with learning new technology, and when I hear the anxiety from others, I feel as if it is my mission to make it better.  But I can't always make everyone feel better and that has been a hard pill to swallow.  

Now here I am again and I have 30 days and counting.  Last October, I made a decision that this year would be my last in the K-12 world and to focus my energy on educating teachers.  Next year I have accepted a position to work as an online TA for the University of Kentucky and focus on completing my PhD.  Educators need help and I feel passionate about helping them through the major shifts that are happening in our field.  When I teach a teacher, I know that teacher will touch the lives of hundreds of students in their lifetime.  All of my life I have dreamed of earning a doctorate.  It may have been a bit much trying to running a 1:1 program and start a PhD at the same time, but I am not so sure.  When I first discussed doing both things at the same time with my principal, she said, "You are reading anything and everything about programs like this to help move our school forward, why wouldn't you use that same passion to pursue your dream?"  She has been my biggest cheerleader, my mentor, and my friend.  Pursuing my doctorate may have been a bit ambitious considering the other things on my plate, but nothing has given me the confidence more so than the educational knowledge and foundation my doctorate program has provided me.  

So here I am, 30 days and counting, 43 years old and about to start a whole new path of my career.  I am not afraid.  I am almost bubbling with joy over the possibilities that may be over the horizon.  I have no idea where my education will lead me, but it has never failed to lead me to a place that I thoroughly enjoy.   

Pay it Forward: By Writing Again

image: http://bit.ly/XuSUPq

I haven't written here in awhile.  In the years since I began blogging and writing, twice someone has tried to silence my thoughts.  Both times they have almost won.  I don't understand people sometimes.  I don't get negativity.  Two things may have helped me out of my rut this week.  One is a beautiful CoETaIL blog post by Ceci Gomaz-Galvez and another is a blog post about the Google offices in Tel Aviv.  How do these two things possibly relate, you might ask?  Well, here it goes. . .

In Ceci's post, she reflects on a time when I inspired her.  In just a few short days, many people have sent me a link to her post.  With their links, they go on to talk about ways I have inspired them.  Me?  Really?  I constantly feel like I am standing on the shoulders of giants.  I rarely feel as if I am inspiring anyone.  This post came at the end of a hard week when I was seriously down.  It reminded me of all the amazing people who have inspired me.  This week, my goal is to write a post about someone amazing that has inspired me.  I have quite a few in mind at the moment.  Could I help them the same way Ceci helped me?  I have absolutely no idea, but kind words are never spoken enough - especially in our profession.

So here's my leap, the Google offices and how do they connect?  This week I had the opportunity to attend Suan Yeo's presentation/talk to our AES staff about Google.  On Twitter I noticed he had posted a link to the Google offices in Tel Aviv, and I personally think they are mind blowing.  Here's the thing that got me, I was amazed at the comments and negativity below the images.  Where these people seeing the same images I was seeing?  How can people write and say such things about something so beautiful?

Then I remembered something my mom always told me, you can't please everyone all the time.  That is a REALLY hard lesson to learn when you are a people pleaser.  I am not sure I will ever master it.  But when you stick your neck out there, it gets a little bruised.  Ceci helped me brush myself off and pick myself back up this week.  How can you do the same for someone you admire?  My goal this week is to make someone else know that they make a difference.  It may be the best way I know how to thank Ceci. Pay it forward.

Leading to Learn

Photo taken by Ben Sheridan via Instagram: 

instagr.am/p/Qo7E5oMv7p/

Having just returned from the Learning 2.0 Conference in Beijing, my mind is still racing with ideas, and ways I hope to move my school forward in the future. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been asked to be a Learning 2 Leader at this conference. And when they asked me if I would like to do a mini keynote, I jumped at the chance, not because I love to stand in front of my peers and talk, but it was a chance to push me out of my comfort zone and try something new.  

As a past English teacher, I have always wanted to have the courage to do a poetry slam. Always. You don't know how many coffee houses I have attended and how many times I have hid in the back wanting to find the courage to speak. I decided to bring that desire to this conference. This is my attempt to merge my two passions into one, and place myself into the same shoes I place teachers in every day. Technology makes people feel uncomfortable, and makes them take risks.  

Here is mine:

Keynote: Leading to Learn

Learning 2.0, . . .
oh oh oh,
what is that?

Learning and leading,
leading & learning

What is all of that?

People say they want change,
but they lie to you

what they really want is for
nothing
to change,
Or
or at least if it does,
they want you to do it
all
for them

From the Industrial Revolution
to the Information Revolution

Change happens
and it will continue to happen
And happen
And happen again

And it is gonna hurt,
and it will be bumpy,
and it will be rocky

There will be days when you think
I have never worked harder than this
and then
There will be days when you think,
I have never loved my career more than this

And remember,   
you are leading to learn
Students may love you,
Teachers may follow you,
Admin may empower you
Parents may thank you

But
but there will be far more
many,
many,
many days
When students blame you for their lost homework
When teachers take the newness of everything out on you
When admin accidentally throws you under the bus
When parents will hate you

. . . and those people will tell you that they aren’t upset with you
“it is really the tech they are upset with”

Bullshit (I wanted to say this, but just couldn't bring myself to say it)
They are mad at you
You have lead them to change
You have moved them out of their comfort zone
You have forced them to see something new

You must remember,
You are leading to learn

We are leading to learn
because we believe in it

It is in our hearts
In our minds
In our dreams in the middle of the night

Pecha Kucha, Kama Sutra
Google vs Moodle, maybe not quite as much fun :)

Flipboard and the Common Core
Common Craft and Creative Commons

SAT & a GRE
Wolfram vs Khan

Dragonvale and Minecraft

Richardson, Christianson,
November & McLeod

TPACK, SAMR

Constructivism, Connectivism
Flipped, Teaching 4 Understanding
Problem based or Project based
mixed in with a little game based learning
BYOD or School issued
Airs or iPads

No matter what your poison
We are all leading to learn

And at the end of the day
when you are leading to learn
You will have a target on your back,
on your front
on your frickin forehead, my friend

Get ready
Everyone will see it
except your kids and family

Because at the end of the day,
they will remind you

That you really are brave,
That you really are strong
and that you really are loved

So go out there
and lead to learn
and learn to lead.  

Don’t just be the change you want to see in the world,
be the leader of that change

Stick your neck out and get bloody
because the first one through the wall is the bloodiest,

but you
you know it is right

WE can create the schools we never had

WE can create the schools we want for our children

WE can create

Don’t be paralyzed by the insecurity of change

Shift those paradigms

Awaken the minds of others

There are times when I want to say
“I don’t care if you like me,

But you know what,
I really do

Because this personal
Because I believe in the learning
and continuing to learn even when it hurts

It is my life,
I am following my passion,
now,
How about you?”

iPads, 1:1 & Digital Citizenship Camp

Wow, I am not sure where the last 6 weeks have gone, but it has been a whirlwind of activity at AES.  We have switched from First Class to Gmail as our email provider, switched from Skyward to Veracross as our student administrative management system, and made the move from laptops to iPads as our 1:1 device.  To say that we may have taken on a bit much all at the same time would be an understatement, but we have gotten through it amazingly well.  That is due to the fantastic educators at AES who took hold of these changes and rolled with it through the ups and downs.

iPads. . .when I talk about iPads, people tend to think I am a little bit crazy.  I am slowly getting used to it.  Why this little device conjures so much emotion from people is beyond me.  It is an instructional tool we use in our classrooms to help students evaluate, create, analyze and apply new knowledge to their every day learning experience.  As we traveled further down our path toward iPads, we decided that since we were introducing a new device and going 1:1 as a school, there were pockets of information that our students and teachers needed to know right away to help us get started on the right foot.  At the end of our third week of school, we stopped our regular classes for two days and re-organized these days into sessions on Digital Citizenship.  I also wrote a book to go along with our program titled, "Learning with iPads" for our teachers, parents and students.  It is currently available as an eBook on the school iPads and we printed out copies for the parents.  Hopefully it will be available on iBooks in the coming weeks. This book and many of our ideas were inspired by Kim Cofino and her amazing team at YIS.

Here is how they were outlined:

Day One was focused on four main themes surrounding technology: Learn, Balance, Protect and Respect.  Each modular was developed by a team of educators who collaborated on a Google presentation to create their individual modulars.  We used this opportunity to illustrate to students ways in which they could use technology to Learn, and Protect and Respect themselves and others online.  We also focused on the importance of Balance in the lives of students and the important need to step away from screens and engage in outside activities to develop a better life of wellness.  Between the modulars, students were given time for open gym sessions during their regularly schedules Advisory time and during lunch.  This provided the students some additional time away from screens and created new interactions with their peers.

Learn modular began with a look at the rapid development of technology over the past 10 years and the benefits and challenges this technology brings to our lives.  From there, the conversation centered around multi-tasking and the benefits and drawbacks of multi-tasking, especially when doing homework.  Then the students subscribed to their teacher's Google homework calendars and synched this with the calendars on their iPads as their own personal agenda.  The conversation then moved toward the importance of critical literacy especially when using the Internet for research.  The modular ended with a activity on copyright and giving proper credit to others online.  This introduced students to Creative Commons and their ability to give credit and get credit for the work they produce online.

Our Balance modular involved a discussion on when technology use is appropriate and inappropriate.  We then introduces students to our new student management system title Veracross, and spoke with students about viewing their grades online and how often it was appropriate to check on their progress. We created a shortcut to this on their iPads to help them find the site in the future.  Students then worked with teachers in our PE department and did a balance activity to reinforce the importance of balance within their lives.  Students were introduced to Google as a method of keeping their documents in the cloud to enable them to be device independent in the future.  The modular ended with a brief survey to get a gauge on the amount of technology students were using prior to the introduction of our 1:1 program and their attitudes and behaviors toward digital citizenship.

In the Protect modular, students went through a series of statements and considered when and if they applied to themselves when they were online.  They viewed a short video by Common Craft about the importance of protecting their reputations online and created skits to illustrate ways they could do this in the future.

During the Respect modular, students learned the importance of protecting their passwords and created a shortcut to the AES Learning Portal.  Additionally, students were introduced to the concepts of Netiquette and Cyberbullying.  From there, students reviewed proper behavior when blogging, posting and emailing.  Students were shown ways to use licensed images via Creative Commons on their blogs and asked to use proper citation when utilizing images from the web.

Day Two gave students an opportunity to bond with their individual Advisories for the full day.  We began with an iPad Scavenger Hunt where students were given a series of tasks to complete.  Once each task was completed, students were asked to project their solution on the SmartBoard via the Apple TV in the front of the room.  After another Open Gym session during the regularly scheduled Advisory time, students were given the task of creating a digital story about one of the four main themes from the day before.  These public service announcements gave students an opportunity to utilize the many different ways they could incorporate the skills and knowledge they had learned the day before in a real life learning environment.  The day was broken up into sections with tasks assigned to each regularly scheduled block.  The end of the day finished with a viewing of the films with other advisories that also created films on the same theme.

These are the films the students created:
Balance: C. Al Moreno, de Oliveira, Freil1, Freil2, Freil3, Schmid, McArthur, Melgaard, Sethi, Z. Al Moreno
Learn: Currey, Datta, A. Citrino, Tabor, Hannon, Hahn, Murphy, Lawson, Collins
Respect: C. Brown, Coleman, Moore, Kapoor, Hamilton, Hegranes, M. Citrino, Tananone, Gulati
Protect: Niedzwiecki, Krueger, Frazier, Januskiewicz1, Januskiewicz2, Januskiewicz3, Januskiewicz4, K. Brown, Caemmerer, Henderson, Kuehn1, Kuehn2, Kuehn3

We are still in the process of looking over what we would do differently in the future and how we can improve upon this if we decide to use this model again with our students.  It wasn't perfect, although rarely is anything in life.  That being said, we couldn't have asked for a better group of educators to help us through this process.  We still have a lot to learn as we continue to grow and travel down this learning path together, but together we are learning so very much.

Putting the NETS-A to Practice

Recently I was asked to write a School Technology Leadership Vision statement for a class I am taking for my doctorate.  I may have made the mistake of tackling this project in a very practical way.  I looked at the NETS for Administrators and decided to write a goal or action plan for each of the standards.  I didn't get the assignment task completely right, and the post below is the rewrite;  however, I found this process incredibly helpful as we continue down our 1:1 iPad journey at AES.  This might be a great exercise for a possible PD Day using the NETS for Teachers on in your class using the NETS for Students.

My profile of an action plan of MS Tech Leadership @AES for SY 2012-2013

1.   Visionary leadership:

a.   Share school vision statement with all stakeholders within the school community

b.   Inspire others to model life long learning through the use of technology

c.   Develop a strategic 3 year plan for AES with the Admin Team, librarians, and ES/MS/HS Technology Coordinators.

2.   Digital Age Learning Culture

a.   Encourage department sharing at meetings where one teacher showcases integration during a 5 minute presentation at the start of meetings

b.   Continue modeling and promotion of effective uses of technology during Faculty meetings and Parent Coffees

c.   Creation of the iCenter as a learner-centered environment for students throughout the school day

d.   Integration of NETS for Students within the curriculum and Atlas Rubicon

e.   Participation in global personal learning network via Twitter

3.   Excellence in Professional Practice

a.   Continue to offer SUNY’s Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Leadership (COETAIL) courses to the faculty after school

b.   Create pockets of instruction for Admin to help nurture their comfort and familiarity with technology.

c.   Continue MS Tech Weekly Updates to the school community about latest innovations in technology integration.

d.   Begin doctoral studies in educational leadership at the University of Kentucky

4.   Systematic Improvement

a.   Lead integration model from laptop carts to 1:1 device model

b.   Collect and analyze data via a pre and post survey on habits and attitudes toward digital citizenship and share with stakeholders

c.   Continue attempts to hire additional personnel to staff the tech library and iCenter

d.   Maintain and continue partnership with ES and HS tech leadership teams to ensure better integration between the three schools during student transition

e.   Establish Self Service software by JAMF to house our Volume Purchasing Program and distribution of applications for the iPads and MacBook Airs

5.   Digital Citizenship

a.   Ensure equitable access to iPads and laptops for all learners

b.   Promote and model use of the MS Responsible Use Policy

c.    Promote and model appropriate use of social media at AES through PSA Coffees, Advisory and Digital Citizenship Camp

d.   Continue the distribution of the MS Tech Weekly Updates to the shareholders of the school with ideas for collaboration, sharing and integration across the curriculum

Addendum to the vision for leadership: Ask all MS admin faculty members to go through the Digital Citizenship Camp with teachers and students to help promote a common knowledge within the school community.

School Technology Leadership Vision: Theory

School Technology Leadership Vision 2 (Pre-Course)

Theoretical Version

I am finding this a very hard assignment to write, possibly because I am in the trenches as a school technology leader and currently guiding us through one of the largest technology initiatives our school has ever taken on.  We are in the beginning stages of our 1:1 iPad program as we enter our third week of the devices in the hands of students.  What is my vision?  How do I see my leadership? Currently, it is all about survival.  But let’s move beyond that and look toward the coming year and how I envision my role as a leader within my school.

My vision for technology leadership involves:

1. creating learning opportunities in a safe environment for students, teachers and parents to expand their knowledge and tech competencies
2. establishing a more transparent communication between the tech office and the parents community
3. initiating a plan for integrating digital citizenship in a more authentic learning experiences within the curriculum
4. planning and instituting a 1:1 iPad program with the focus on using the iPad as a tool for instruction
5. understanding and developing best practices of technology integration and how students learn with a strong focus on pedagogy and content

I believe as educators, we guide students to become adaptive learners in a rapidly changing environment.  Our students live in an information landscape and it is our mission to prepare students to become global citizens through the promotion and modeling of 21st century skills including collaboration, digital citizenship, creativity and self directed learning.

Technology has the ability to enhance and supplement student learning by creating interactive and dynamic opportunities to utilize critical thinking and allowing for differentiated learning experiences.  Technology integration enables students to analyze information and become creators of content.  

I envision my role as a school technology leader as a amalgamation of being a transformational leader and instructional leader.  My role as a school technology leader is to engage my school community to use technology to innovate and create authentic learning experiences.  As an instructional leader, I spend a lot of time meeting with teachers in individual departments, in teams divided by grades and with individual instructors.  Together, we look at upcoming units and assessments and discuss possible tech integration possibilities.  Through formative and summative assessment, tech integration is happening in almost every facet of the curriculum.  Additionally, my role is to provide multiple learning opportunities for teachers, students and parents.  This involves professional development opportunities, creation of help videos and tutorials, one to one student help, and constant outreach to our parent community.  One of my goals as a technology leader this year is to provide more training and development of technology to our parents community.  By providing our parents with the same learning opportunities we are providing the students, we are empowering them as partners in their child’s education and in the learning journey we are creating for our students.  By combining the leadership styles of both a transformational and instructional leader, I hope to move our school forward as we venture into the un-chartered territory of iPads.

A large part of my role is to promote awareness and understanding of digital citizenship and what it means to our school and the community at large.  This should involve a general introduction of the concept of digital citizenship and then constant modeling and authentic use of digital citizenship throughout the curriculum.  For instance, this may involve teachers working on a digital story comparing the effects of the Industrial Revolution to modern day society.  Students and teachers need to understand intellectual property and the need for Creative Commons before they begin their search for images.  The modeling of digital citizenship doesn’t end with a two day workshop but trickles through the entire school day in many ways.  This is essential to being a leader in school technology.

I believe that a good teacher is a good teacher, with or without the use of technology. But educators need to be introduced to various methods that can potentially enhance student learning through effective integration of technology in a classroom.   This process should involve the combination of pedagogy and content knowledge with technology on all levels; this is also known as TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2005).  This will enable us to be able to make informed decisions on the effectiveness and impact on learning within a given curriculum.      

General Integration of NETs for Administrators:
With the introduction of our 1:1 program, the administration team was asked to attend all aspects of our Digital Citizenship Camp with teachers and students to help promote a common knowledge within the school community.
Additionally, we are continuing to offer SUNY’s Certificate of Educational Technology and Informational Leadership (COETAIL) courses to the faculty after school.  To ensure personalized learning opportunities, MS Tech Weekly Updates will be sent out to the school community about latest innovations in technology integration.

The Middle School will collect and analyze data via a pre and post survey on habits and attitudes toward digital citizenship and share with stakeholders.  Promotion and modeling of  appropriate use of social media will take place at AES through PSA Coffees, Advisory and Digital Citizenship Camp.

General Integration of NETs for Teachers:
Through faculty meeting and professional development offered at the school via SUNY, teachers will become familiar with the NETS.  Teachers are asked to include the NETS into their curriculum standards.

Additionally, teachers will work with the Curriculum Director and Technology Coordinator to work within the TPACK model combining the three aspects of Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge for a thorough integration of the NET standards within the given curriculum.

General Integration of NETs for Students:
Teachers should work hand in hand with the Curriculum Director and Technology Coordinator through the lens of formal assessment to integrate the NET standards and document the implementation of those standards through Atlas Rubicon.  This will involve the minimum of one formal assessment per semester to be
 
Process for Disseminating and Sustaining a Research Based Vision
Students, teachers and parents will participate in a pre-survey of their attitudes and behaviors online prior to the start of the 1:1 initiative.  

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National education technology standards for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-t-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

International Society for Technology in Education. (2009). National education technology standards for administrators. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-a-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

International Society for Technology in Education. (2009). National education technology standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Koehler, M. and Mishra, P. (2005) What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 32(2), 131-152.