Technology Integration Coach

Seed Starter for School-wide PLN

2011-05-29T15:55:00.004-05:00

In December 2010, my husband gave me an iPad for my Christmas present. I planned to use it as an eReader for the many books I love to read and as my mobile PDA (check email, keep my calendar and to do lists up-to-date). I also was looking forward to being able to get to web sites on-the-go.

Shortly, after I got my iPad, I was lucky enough to attend an iPad tweetup with tech divas @according2jo @DigiLibrarian21 @thetechtiger among others. They shared great apps and I immediately downloaded many of the recommended apps. One of these, Flipboard, was a game changer for me.

Flipboard allowed me to preview web sites mentioned in tweets, my RSS feeds, and facebook updates. The interface put all of this information in one place in a digital magazine format. Honestly, before Flipboard I was not into twitter. Since twitter is blocked within our school system and I didn’t have access to it on my phone, I could only read tweets when I was at home on the computer. I checked my tweets once or twice a month, rarely tweeted my own ideas, and didn’t have much of a network of followers or people I followed.

Flipboard makes it so fun to keep up with my network and learn more from people with interests similar to mine. It can be addicting to a geek / life-long learner like me. (I need to restrict the amount of time I spend online in this fashion.) I have discovered so many new Web 2.0 tools and how they are being used effectively in classrooms across the world. I regularly make an effort to follow the tweeters and subscribe to bloggers who are contributing to my learning. Growing my network with quality individuals is a continuous work-in-progress.
This leads me to my reason for this post. I’d like other (less geeky) teachers at my school to be able to dip their toes into the PLN waters. My teachers are willing to collaborate with each other. Since we have ample laptop carts and interactive whiteboards at my school, teachers already regularly share their lesson flipcharts and student project templates with their grade level teammates. The principal also calls on teachers to share best practices face-to-face at faculty meetings. Every six weeks or so teachers have grade level meetings where they can discuss what’s working and what needs improvement.

I’d like to foster even greater collaboration between grade levels, capture some more of the informal discussions on meaningful school improvement, and reflect more deeply on 21st Century teaching and learning. I’d like to have a school-wide eCommunity where such discussions can happen asynchronously. The discussions can be enriched with links to web sites, book recommendations, and videos relating to the topics being discussed. It could also be a place to share instructional resources across grade levels. The eCommunity would be a place to continue discussions as follow-up to face-to-face professional development activities, a place to discuss professional book study topics, and a forum to exchange impromptu best practices. Since it will be kept online, existing teachers can search it and refer back to it at will, and new teachers can catch up easily be looking back on the discussions. Building this eCommunity would be one step on the path to promoting PLNs for all.

What do you think about this idea? I’ve participated in online forums that worked well and ones that flopped. What would make our eCommunity successful? Since twitter is blocked at school, what environment you’d suggest for implementing the eCommunity?

Standardized or Individualized?

2009-08-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

How do you feel about a national curriculum? a national standardized test? Think about the opinions expressed in this video.

Enthusiam

2009-08-09T11:49:00.001-05:00

Here is the video that Maryland Public Television made about me when I won the MICCA Outstanding Technology Using Teacher of the Year award. It was such an honor.

Higher Order Thinking in a Digital Age

2009-07-27T15:50:00.002-05:00

I came across the revised Bloom's taxonomy (with digital skills added). See http://techlearning.com/article/8670. I wonder how many of the new digital additions are being taught in schools. At what grade level should they be introduced? How many teachers today can do them all?

Are Interactive Whiteboards Worth their Cost?

2009-07-27T14:54:00.002-05:00

I was interested in this post:
http://mcrel.typepad.com/mcrel_blog/2009/07/do-iwbs-change-instruction.html

I commented:
Your question has been raised a lot in my district as well. I received a Promethean ActivBoard this school year and now I can't imagine teaching without it. I find myself trying to justify the technology to others in the district (generally those who are without IWBs themselves). These folks seem to see them as either an expensive substitute for a wireless mouse or just another way to keep teachers locked into teacher-led whole-class instruction.

I agree with you that the best way to get insight into this question is to see an IWB used by an effective teacher with real students.

I must admit that before I had an IWB I too was concerned that IWBS might lead to too much teacher-led whole-class instruction. We have only had our boards since October of 2008. In the beginning, they were an extension of the teacher's toolkit (i.e., another way to do what they would have done with a chalkboard, overhead projector, etc.) Yet in less than one year, the IWB have been increasingly used by students to increase their role during whole-class instruction; but more importantly, this has gradually led to the teachers adding new technology integration approaches to their repertoire. Our teachers are now comfortable with a variety of technology integration strategies (at the board, with the board as a center, with activities in the computer lab, and with laptops on wheels). IWBs provided the bridge to technology integration adoption and more student-centered instructional strategies.

This change did not happen overnight or without effort. It requires patience, respect for teachers unique abilities, plenty of professional development, responsive technical support, and administrative vision. Could we have made these advances without IWBs? Who knows, but I’m glad we didn’t have to!

What do you think?

Effective ePortfolios

2009-07-13T13:18:00.005-05:00

In his blog 2 cents worth, David Warick comments that he views a state-of-the art ePortfolio system as the next killer app (see http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1792).

I commented:

I too participated in the Leadership Symposium at NECC. I agree that “what gets measured is what gets taught”; therefore we need to move toward adding ePortfolio in as one way of assessment. In Maryland, this was the first year that High School Assessments (HSA) were required for graduation. Seniors needed to pass the HSA Algebra, Government, Biology, and English to graduate. As the deadline approached, there was an issue about students who would not graduate who had met all the other graduation requirements. Maryland decided to offer projects and portfolio assessment of these projects as an alternative to passing the tests. Many students worked hard and teachers worked hard with them to satisfy the requirements. Reports from this year’s seniors to under classman are that you should pass the test because it is alot less work than passing the project portfolio assessments. May question is why weren’t these students taught this way in the first place?

Now I'd like to add:
Finland (top ranked in educational performance) emphasizes project-based learning (along with performance assessment). What do we need to do in the US (besides reducing our dependence on high-stakes testing) to make project-based learning and performance assessment more widely adopted here?

Baltimore Sun Article - Maryland Math Gap Widening

2009-07-12T12:57:00.003-05:00

I'm glad the issue of math achievement made the front page of the paper today (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/education/blog/2009/07/math_standards_and_maryland.html). Preparing students in mathematics for college level study is indeed an important issue. This blog post repeats my comments on that article.

One thing I'd like to see in such an article would be information about how many more students are now attempting college work than before and therefore are taking "college prep" coursework in high school. It is difficult to judge the trends without such information.

I teach in a Maryland elementary school and I agree there is an issue with students mastering basic facts fluently. The curriculum emphasizes problem solving and concept attainment which is important for 21st century learning. Practicing math facts then becomes homework. I'd like to see more parents support this by quizzing their children in their basic facts when it is assigned by the teacher.

MSA and HSA high-stakes testing is causing negative instructional impacts such as the issue of Algebra I courses being diluted as described in the article. Finland who tops the list of educational performance does not use high-stakes testing (http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1340000334/post/20022802.html). Instead they focus on providing a highly qualified, respected, and supported teaching force; project-based learning; and broadband access to the web. I'd like to see the US move in that direction.

Finally, there are great advances in educational technology (interactive whiteboards, learner response systems, individualized learning management systems) these days. I’d like to see more funds available to apply these technologies to mathematics instruction at all levels.

2009-07-09T16:04:00.001-05:00

drnywh87fc

Contribute to the Solution

2009-07-06T16:09:00.003-05:00

I urge all people interested in the advancement of technology integration to share their opinions as the next version of the National Educational Technology Plan is developed. The initial round of comments was solicited at NECC. You can share your thoughts by visiting www.edtechfuture.org. Register, sign in, read, and respond!

I drink the Orange Kool-Aid

2009-07-04T16:33:00.003-05:00

I have just completed my first year openning up the newest school in Baltimore County Maryland (Vincent Farm Elementary). We are tech-rich school with an onsite TV studio, one stationary computer lab, six mobile laptop labs with 24 laptops each, Promethean ActivBoards and Elmo document cameras in every classroom, a podcasting kit, a poster maker, and a digital camera kit with 10 cameras.

The most amazing technology has been the ActivBoard. They are changing the we we teach daily. They arrived in October for half the teachers and April for the rest. I've had mine since October and I can't imagine teaching without. It is so hard to explain the value but it makes teaching and learning so much more multimodal, engaging, and tailored to the way digital natives prefer to learn.

Last July, a group of educators from BCPS went to Activ08 in Boston. We were so impressed with the passion and enthusiam that the Promethean teachers demonstrated. It almost felt like we joined a cult. We coined the phrase for how this felt (i.e., like we drank Orange kool-aid). Well, I'm happy to report I too have sipped the Orange kool-aid and I try to convert any teachers in my path to the wonders of teaching with ActivClassroom technologies.

Please share your thoughts with me on interactive whiteboard technologies.

Freedom Writers

2007-07-04T10:11:00.000-05:00

The other day I finished The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. If you haven't read the book or seen the video, put them on your summer to do list!

Erin Gruwell is a novice high school English teacher who inspires her students to overcome the violence, bigotry, and poverty of their East L.A. neighborhoods through her effort to form personal connections with these students and allowing them to express themselves through writing. Visit her website to learn more about her teaching practices.

Ms. Gruwell’s students articulate the pain of abuse, neglect, bullying, drugs, homelessness, abandonment, shop lifting, prison, suicide, and gang wars to name a few. The students feel like outsiders because of their race, sexual preference, learning disabilities, obesity, -- you name it. They suffer a loss of “childhood” which results in a loss of hope. Ms. Gruwell shares with them the stories of Anne Frank, Zlata Filipovic and others so they see that even under extreme adversity an individual can make a difference. Her message is so empowering.

Although I teach elementary school students in a working class suburb of Baltimore, the story still resonates with me. At my school, I too see students who are not protected from the harsh realities of the world. Columbine, 911, and the Virgina Tech shootings make it difficult for any child to stay a child for long. Additionally, the rapid pace of change and increasingly impersonal aspects of a growing society adds to students’ feelings of isolation. A caring teaching and the ability to voice one’s story are potent tools to combat these forces. The leads me to ponder how Web 2.0 technologies can boost this process.

A rose by any other name

2007-06-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

I recently was asked to talk to some teachers in my district about Action Research. I must say I felt some trepidation. I did an Action Research project some years ago, but I am not an expert by any means. The event was coordinated by University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and I was going to have a UMBC professor as a partner for the session. My role would be to give the viewpoint from the trenches (i.e., a teacher who had actually been through the process). This made me feel better about not being an expert, but I it also made me realize I had another concern.

I was not convinced that Action Research was worth the effort required. I didn’t know if I wanted to “advocate” for something that I doubted myself. It turned out that all of the other teachers who might have served in my place were not available. Thus, I agreed to participate and do my best.

Well, I pulled out some books and looked at some websites as I prepared my presentation. I wanted my audience to understand that Action Research is not as intimidating as it sounds. Actually, reflective teachers do a less structured variation of it all the time which I prefer to call “teacher inquiry”. I realized that “teacher inquiry” was something that I do firmly believe in and have been doing and promoting for some time. I even was a finalist in Dell’s competition on “data-driven decision making” – another name for “teacher inquiry”. I had to look at my preconceptions to reconcile this contradiction.

When you call it “Action Research”, the connotation includes publishing a definitive conclusion for a larger audience, using the scientific method, and perhaps “randomized groups”. However, this connotation comes from the word “research” and those characteristics apply to “basic research” – not “action research”. The word “action” means that you act within your classroom. With “action research”:
· Publishing your results is optional
· The process is expected to be iterative – not a linear like the scientific method
· You don’t need to use randomized groups.

In other words, I had a problem with the name not the concept. My action research project had been time-intensive, but action research is still valuable on a smaller and less formal scale. I needed to examine what I valued about action research. First, the basis is inquiry. As a life long learner, asking my own questions about my practice is fundamental. I need to question in order to improve and should question in order to be a model for my students. Questioning without follow-up is worthless. Action in order to answer these questions is vital. Next, it follows that if you are going to spend effort on some action, it makes sense to evaluate if the action had the intended effect. The Question-Action-Evaluate triad just makes sense and really is what action research is all about.

This triad was something I could advocate. I needed my audience comprehend this understanding of “What is action research?” Not only that, but I wanted them to be empowered by what this meant. If practice could be improved by personal examination, then the individual could be a source of school improvement innovation. Each teacher did not need to wait to be told the best course of action by the district or “basic research”. These sources were tools in the process of improved practice, but one’s own “action research” was also a valid tool as well!

Note: After this line of reasoning, I was ready for my co-presentation. It went well and the audience went from saying that they never did action research to realizing that they have been doing action research all along.

Safari Montage was the biggest success

2007-06-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

When a teacher wants to jazz up a lesson to help students understand a concept, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth .... ? This year our county (Baltimore County Publish Schools) provided a video on demand service (Safari Montage) for all schools.

Safari is very easy to use and because the videos are not streamed, the performance is excellent regardless of Internet bandwidth. The greatest feature of Safari is that you can search by topic, or content standard. Then you can zero in on the just the minute or two of video that supports your specific instructional objective. Our teachers have used video clips to help students learn about behavior of mosquitoes, the life cycle of a frog, what a seed needs to grow, healthy eating habits, and many other topics. The videos were high quality and each had metadata that decribed the appropriate grade level(s) for viewing the video.

In addition to the technical capabilities provided by the Safari Montage vendor, the county utilized a well-thought out rollout strategy. The rollout included on-site setup, system-wide professional development, technical support coordinated with the department of technology and follow-up via the library information services web portal, including an e-community of best practices.

I have introduced a lot of different technologies to my teachers, but this one took off the fastest. I wonder what made this innovation more successful than others. I'm sure the ease of use was an important factor, but I also feel it fit easily into the classroom teachers’ educational philosophy. In other words, it supported them as communicators of new knowledge. Basically, they already know how to apply videos in the "lecture" instructional model. I believe another positive factor was that for teachers with a large TV connected to their computer, they could use it directly in their classroom with minimal set up. Thus, the innovation was an efficient use of instructional time.

I hope as more technology integration approaches become available they will be adopted as quickly and broadly as Safari Montage. What innovations have been successful at your school?

Adopt or Avoid?

2007-06-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

Why do some teachers jump right in when a new technology is introduced? There are tons of reasons to postpone adopting a new technology, such as …

The professional development:

Hasn’t happened

Was at an inconvenient time or place

Wasn’t targeted to my situation

Didn’t provide enough information on how to apply it to teaching.

The technology:

Takes too much preparation time to use

Is not reliable

Is too slow on the equipment I have

Requires that I sign-out equipment elsewhere in the building, so it is too inconvenient to setup

Is too restrictive (not enough flexibility, agility, or creativity).

The intended use:

Is not developmentally appropriate for my students

Is too abstract/basic for my students

Is not part of the curriculum

Would inhibit human-interaction between the teacher and the student or between students

Is just another fad. This too will pass.

I usually respond that if you could just as effectively deliver the lesson without the technology, then you should! However, there are times when technology integration truly enhances the instruction (i.e., it has a high ratio of instructional benefit to effort required – a high value ratio.) There are too many examples of innovative practices with high value ratios to list here. Yet, a high value ratio is necessary but not sufficient to induce adoption. What makes one innovation take hold while another one flounders?

See also: Sugar, W., Crawley, F., & Fine, B. (2004). Examining teachers’ decisions to adopt new technology. Educational Technology and Society, 7 (4), 201-213.

Cutting Edge or Bleeding Edge?

2007-06-01T11:05:00.000-05:00

You might call me an Educational Technologist (although I prefer the title technology integration coach). I enjoy trying out new innovative techniques and teaching them to myself.

However, yesterday I became acutely aware that many of my classroom teachers feel just the opposite. Change is scary. This cohort of teachers craves order and autonomy. They carefully plan and prepare to increase the probability that their lessons will work. This is admirable and it makes them great teachers.

Yesterday, one of these teachers was about to try the Interwrite software with a projector and laptop. I was overcommitted and couldn't provide the coaching time I had hoped. When I needed to leave to fulfill another obligation, she was terribly distraught. I felt miserable as well; because I felt like I was abandoning her in a time of great need.

In the future, I need to be sensitive to the emotional side of attempting something new and risky. I need to do a better job of managing teacher expectations. Most of all, I need to become more comfortable about saying no, when the demands of my job won't let me fulfill a teacher's request. If I had said, "I can't help you until next Tuesday.", then her hopes wouldn't have been dashed. She would have planned today's lesson without the new technology. Then on Tuesday, she could have employed it more successfully.

In a similar vein, if a technology is still new to me or not working reliably - then I need to be assertive and say it is not yet available. My classroom teachers expect me to have mastered the techniques which they want to try. When they ask for more than I can deliver, they don't know any better. I need to remove my pride from the situation and admit my limitations. It is better to be slightly embarrassed ahead of time rather fall on my face at the last minute. Whew! What a tough lesson to learn!

National Priorities

2007-05-31T07:14:00.000-05:00

If you're like me, you wish the educational policy makers would spend a day in your shoes. Well, if you'd like to educate them, join the blog dialog about eductional policy. Here are some posts on this topic which I decided to comment on:

Murphy's Law

2007-05-30T16:39:00.000-05:00

It seems that when you use technology in your lesson; if something can go wrong, it will at the most inopportune time.

This week I have been gearing up in helping to prepare one of my teachers for her observation. The administration wants to build technology integration capacity outside of the computer lab (i.e., not just by me - the technology integration teacher, but by all teachers throughout regular instruction in the classrooms). To motivate teachers to integrate technology, the administration asked that one observation per teacher this year demonstrate technology integration.

During her observation, this particular teacher (Mrs. T) wanted to use the iPanel, an interactive monitor / graphics tablet from Interwrite. This device runs the same software as an electronic whiteboard, but you sit down and write right on the monitor's surface instead of standing with your back to students and writing on the whiteboard's surface. We had the device on loan for evaluation purposes from our helpful local reseller (Peripheral Vision, LLC). I demonstrated the equipment and Mrs. T was very excited about the capabilities. She and her students tried it within a number of math lessons. The students were really engaged and enjoyed easily seeing the activities with the attached LCD projector. We thought we had a great plan for her observation.

Now this leads me to the Murphy's law portion of the story. As it turns out, the iPanel uses a special pen and the pen tip fell out unbeknownst to Mrs. T. She sent me a frantic email. I told her not to worry. I contacted their technical support that kindly put another pen tip in the mail at no charge. Unfortunately, it would not arrive in time for her observation. I tried other Interwrite pens, but they were not interchangeable. I then borrowed an existing Interwrite Schoolpad from another teacher in the building. Again, we thought we had a great backup plan.

Murphy strikes again. Although I had tested the Schoolpad with the same laptop she intended to use for her observation, when she started to teach the Blue Tooth connection wouldn't autoconnect. She turned it off and back on as I had advised her, but still it would not connect. She reverted to using her traditional blackboard at this point. I jumped in and made the software manually connect. This time it did work. Whew! She competed the rest of her lesson with the SchoolPad. The technology added engagement and focus to her delivery.

Typically teachers don't deal well with this type of unpredictability brought on by Murphy's Law-like events described above. Children create enough unpredictability - they don't want to add more chaos because of technology. I believe it was Alan November who I heard use the phrase that technology integrated lessons need to be "Monday morning ready" (i.e., they need to be able to slip right in to our teaching and be ready to go first thing on a Monday morning).

I feel this application of technology did not pass the "Monday Morning Test". This is not a criticism of the hardware or software. I take some responsibility for the problems. I think as a technology coach, I need to have more backup supplies and teach troubleshooting techniques more effectively. In hindsight this seems obvious, but prior to these experiences, I have tried "not to confuse" teachers with the technical aspects and "let them focus on the instruction". I now feel I need to adjust this philosophy, because if teachers cannot function independently of me when they integrate technology in their classrooms, they will not fully adopt technology-integrated instructional strategies.

I invite other technology coaches to weigh in on how they prepare for the dreaded "Murphy".

I'm Blogging!

2007-05-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I'm a technology integration teacher at Relay Elementary in Baltimore, Maryland. I recently attended the MICCA conference (a conference for technology using educators in Maryland and surrounding vacinity). I have heard about blogging, podcasting, wikis for a while now. When I heard Will Richardson and Hall Davidson speak at the conference, I decided to be part of the wave, rather than just a spectator so I'm starting this blog.

Initially, my focus will be on the part of my job that entails helping other elementary school teachers in my school learn how to integrate technology into their instruction. I view this part of my job as "coaching". I'm hoping to elicit a dialog with other professionals who are coaches on technology integration as well.

Being a technology integration coach is sometimes like being a tight rope walker. I feel that I need to be careful with each step. I want to support teachers as they attempt new techniques. I don't want them to feel that I judge them. I make every effort to be encouraging. However, sometimes I have knowledge that would help their lessons to be more effective. I struggle with when I should advise them about things I have learned and when I should let them learn themselves. I recognize this balance is hard to accomplish.

As a parent and teacher myself, I recognize that knowing when to help and when to let go takes care and wisdom. I look forward to reflecting on this topic and hope other technology integration coaches that eventually stumble upon this blog will join me in the dialog.