You Gotta Make a Mess to Make Progress

Classroom

Time for a remodeling update!!  For those new readers, we are remodeling 15 classrooms, our Multi-Purpose Room (performance and gathering space), Art Department and several academic centers.  In a classic portrayal of "you gotta make a mess to make progress"... we've definitely been making a mess!

Main Hallway

Classrooms were taken down to studs and cement.  New electrical wiring, new HDMI and ethernet, new HVAC, new ceiling grid, tiles, flooring are installed or about to be installed.  Materials are staged in the hallway for installation.  Projectors, screens, TV's and desktops will be moved with furniture in later weeks.

We are reaching the precarious stage where it looks like we are behind schedule.  We aren't... but appearances belie realities.  It's a time of frustration with the mess, weariness with the random power outages/alarms and panic that the Fall Semester is rapidly approaching and the chairs haven't been delivered.
As with all disruption... the propensity for "what if..." could out pace the vision.  Here is where faith lives.

I've written before on the symbolic and material meanings of physical space. Classrooms hold symbolic value (right or wrong) in American culture as the entry point of equality.  Education is the vehicle to success and prosperity... the classroom is portrayed as the idyllic innocence of childhood and the path to success.  And yet, just like libraries, classrooms have material functions to provide... testing, discussion, writing, lecture, viewing, reading... all those activities that are a part of "education".  I have to wonder:

• Can learning happen without chairs? 
• Can success occur if the paint isn't dry?  
• Can discussion happen without a projector? 

 I would argue YES to all the above.  Physical space can influence, inspire and enhance... but ultimately relationship, human relationship, is what binds us and facilitates growth.

But this is a post about renovating classroom space!  So... living within individual symbolic and material context, our old excuses to validate stasis are becoming obsolete. Furniture doesn't have to stay in neat rows to symbolize orderly teaching.  Students can project and share from personal devices - sharing their findings from their personal location.  This shifts the material practice to student-centered activities and away from teacher-centered lecture.  Suddenly we find ourselves with limitless possibility... on the cutting edge (if not bleeding edge) of educational practice to support student learning.  Exciting and daunting at the same time because our symbolic and material expectations of school are intentionally unsteady.

It's a little messy around here.  This amount of physical disruption is going to cause some dissonance.  The work of redefining the symbolic and material understanding of the classroom is a time for relationship -  listening, dialogue and patience... and maybe some Windex and ibuprofen.  Classes begin here August 12th... Prayers are welcome.  Visitors are welcome in October or so when the paint is dry.

Learning as Pilgrimage

Confession - I was supposed to be doing housework and I decided to kill some time on Twitter instead. A fabulous colleague @bhobbs63 posted a link to @StrategicMonk's blogpost "Our Pilgrimage is Not a Race".

"Our pilgrimage is not about gaining speed over a distance toward a goal. The point of our pilgrimage is to be aware on the journey....Pilgrimage is about learning, being open to the lessons of each step."

After reading the post, I took some time to reflect while I cleaned...

I had the privilege to go on a pilgrimage once with the Franciscans (we're a dual order household) to Assisi, Italy.  Our guides told us right away to not consider this experience a vacation.  A pilgrimage is not a vacation.  It is a journey with oneself and God - moving closer to unity - experiencing place in the present.

Not Assisi (those pics are on another computer), but pretty...

What if we thought about education in this light?

About now my public school readers are panicking, but never fear... this applies to you as well.  Image education as a journey with oneself and knowledge.  No destination test scores, no end goal spreadsheets full of SLO's, no race to fill the walls of a data room.  What if we knew each student - their gifts and weaknesses - journeying together to experience "school" in the present moment... unified by shared interest in content and open to the ...whatever... that might happen?

Does this mean I am advocating throwing goal setting and curriculum guides out the window?  Not at all.  I am all about setting goals and having a plan (strong J on Meiers-Briggs).  However, sitting in #FETC sessions this week, listening about PARCC and Smarter Balance testing I could not help but think we've gone too far.  We let ourselves focus on outcomes to the detriment of the individual.  The journey has become about an imaginary, norm-referenced finish line.

Yes, I am dreaming.  And yes, I may have inhaled too much bathroom cleaner. But here's the thing - down at #FETC this week, every conversation I had landed on the importance of personal relationships: between teacher and student; administrator and teacher; school and home... Being present in the moment with each other, unified in the journey of learning, was the topic on many minds - not destination items such as test scores and SLO's.  And we build these relationships when we let go of school as business and open ourselves to school as pilgrimage.  A journey of many little steps, unified by content and shared experiences in the present moment.

Learning happens everywhere!

The Administrative View: Teacher Evaluations

As much as I pretend to be all ed tech ... my day job actually falls in the Principal's Office.  Under my list of Faculty Development duties lies the bullet point heading of....

(insert ominous, creepy musical underscore)

Googling "evaluating teachers" got me 51,400,000 results from such sides as the difficulty and complexity of teacher evaluation, the benefits and challenges of "value-added" logarithms and even who should be doing the evaluating.  Like it or not, evaluating is challenging.  

So how do we go about the process here at Brebeuf Jesuit?  We work through a blended approach of formal, one hour, planned observations; one-on-one planning and goal setting meetings; informal walk-throughs; collected materials such as lesson plans, rubrics, sample assessments... and yes, we may even look at the occasional common assessment data.  

The (Learning) Objective 
I usually start my conversations with faculty discussing the objective of the process.  My objective is not punishment.  My objective is not rooting out the weak to bring fire and termination.

My objective is professional growth and development.  As our mission statement reads, "Students at Brebeuf Jesuit are called to discover and cultivate the fullness of their God-given talents as a responsibility and as an act of workshop."  Well guess what?  My job as an evaluating administrator is to help teachers of Brebeuf Jesuit to discover and cultivate their God-given talents.  I do consider this an act of worship.

Framed in the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm, our evaluation program (called the Magis Program for Professional Growth) looks like this:

The Details

Definition of "Members of the Principal's Office": Principal, Assistant Principal, Director of Faculty Development.

For faculty in their first three years at Brebeuf, the goal-setting and follow-up will occur with the Principal’s Office (and in collaboration with the Department Chair) each year along with the annual evaluation.

Faculty beyond three years of experience at Brebeuf will be on a three-year cycle with the evaluation process, so goals would be discussed with the Principal’s Office only every three years. 

Informal walk-through observations occur for all faculty by members of the Principal’s Office (and in collaborations with the Department Chair) each year.  These informal walk-throughs are most unannounced (though can be planned ahead) and are 5-10 minutes based on the Carolyn Downey model.  Frequency of walk-throughs is generally:

• 1Year 1-2 Faculty – 6 visits per semester
• Year 3 Faculty and Faculty in Cycle – 3 visits per semester
• Faculty off-cycle – 1 visit per semester

Materials submitted as part of the reflection element are examples of lesson planning (daily lesson and unit plan), sample assessments, samples of student work and a self reflection writing.

The Difference

Most of this is not going to look too radical to most readers.  It's a lot of Downey, Marzano, Danielson and a little McTiegh... plus a whole lot of St. Ignatius.  What might be different to some is the emphasis on the relationship created.

The first step in relationship building is trust.  How do I build trust?  I'd say it's through listening (really listening), taking time to turn off the phone ringer/minimize computer screen, drop whatever I am doing to focus on the individual.  I strive to build conversational around teacher identified areas of growth and strengths.  The commitment to not tie monetary compensation to evaluation also builds trust ... as there is nothing like a heavy power imbalance (holding your family's financial success or failure in my subjective little hands) to at seriously hamper a trusting relationship.

The next step is. as the Prayer for Generosity reads, to be willing to give and not to count the costs.  This type of evaluation system takes time, energy and resources.  With walk-throughs, meetings, observations, writing reflections... a minimum 10 hours per teacher (times 16 for me this year that's 160 hours plus off cycle hours adding about 20 more).  It may mean hours of Googling teaching methods, resources and best practices for field's outside my comfort zone (I work with two fabulous Physics teachers this year... having never taken Physics this is a stretch year for me).  It means knowing all faculty well enough to pair up veteran teachers with newer teachers as mentors and role models.  It means occasionally getting up and modeling an activity or strategy myself.  It means being the bad guy sometimes - or brave enough to face uncomfortable conversations.  I

Finally, relationship requires mutual respect.  I work with amazing people.  There talents and dedication astound me.  I respect them as professional educators and individuals on a journey of growth.  I have no idea why they hang with me... but I am thankful they do.

If you are interested in learning more about our evaluation system or seeing some of our materials - send an email or note in the comments below.  As with our Ed Tech stuff, we share.  Be warned - there is no iPad app or automated spreadsheet for this type of work.  Only yourself and the desire to cultivate the fullness of individual talents.

Spending Time in the Real World

Ever notice how we seldom complain we are spending too much time in the real world?  There is money to be made clocking, complaining, berating for time spent in the virtual world... but not so much in the face-to-face.  It's conference season in our world... @jdferries and I are stretching our introverted personalities to the extreme.  I thought I'd share some of our real world work - so those of you in our virtual circles don't feel neglected.  That said, we've made tons of new, real world friends!  (Singing that old Girl Scout ditty "Make new friends, but keep the olllddd...one is silver and the other gold)

Indiana Computer Educators Conference

http://www.slideshare.net/lamastej/ice-2012-its-about-what-you-do

A look at how we changed Professional Development from noun focused to verb focused.

JD has the other presentation posted on his side... check out Designing Toward Digital Citizenship: Rethinking Computer Curriculum over at Confessions of a School CIO.

Indiana Non-Public Education Conference (Educators)

http://www.slideshare.net/lamastej/what-byot-looks-like-for-inpea

A photo essay on What BYOT Looks Like at Brebeuf... played before presentation.

http://www.slideshare.net/lamastej/updated-byot-why-we-took-the-plunge-for-inpea

A revitalized classic presentation - looks at our discernment process leading to our 1:1 BYOT learning environment.

What the future brings...

• Today (October 20, 2012 for those of you time shifting) we are off to ISTE's Leadership Summit here in Indianapolis.  Purely observers for this one!
• Next week I head to an undisclosed location in the midwest to be part of an ISACS accreditation team (Woot!  That is one lucky independent school...)
• November 13-18 we'll be at the JSEA Tech Directors Conference in New Orleans - our first keynote... it's going to be EPIC!  I think we'll make a Jen & JD Show episode of it.

And then we collapse into an introvert coma... once revived the blogs will once again flow.  Unless somewhere in the real world I get bored, annoyed or delayed at an airport.  Cheers!

So What's Next?

As many of you know, Brebeuf launched it's 1:1 BYOT learning environment on Thursday, August 9th.  For those of you new readers... 1:1 refers to one computer per every one student.  BYOT refers to Bring Your Own Technology... students were able to chose the best personal learning device for them (we support iOS, Mac OS, Windows, Chromium, Android, Windows Mobile and are testing Windows 8).

@jdferries is blogging in somewhat live time over at Confessions of a Jesuit School CIO... and quite frankly knocking it out of the park so I won't even try.  Check out his reflection of Day 1 and Day 2 by following the links.

I've been reflecting on the Professional Development side of the process this weekend.

The anecdotal evidence... 

Anecodote #1: Social Studies teacher writes,

I had a good day with BYOT.  I was able to set up all my students with Edmodo in my Genocide class and my AP Macro and APUSH classes were able to connect. 

Excellent.  Technical side - check.  Then he continues:

I have a question regarding PDF's and what would be the best way for students to use them on a computer. 

Fair question...How best to use, navigate and annotate static content.

Anecdote #2: Vocal Music teacher requests,

Am thinking of where students should send recordings when I’ve had them all record themselves singing one of our choir pieces. 

Wow!  Great question...There’s a specific learning need met by a 1:1 environment – recording the individual voice.

Anecdote #3: Math Teacher writes,

...It is changing the way that we do our graphing calculators (let the students be responsible for learning the tech), too. And it is very empowering. I am witnessing teachers in my own department adopting a more advanced online presence that implements multiple cloud services, each with a specific purpose…

I am feeling pretty good right about now...then he continues...

So…, how do we sustain this in the long term? 

And there it is… the dust hasn’t even settled and the question of sustaining momentum come up.  I have been a little torn on this.  I thought JD and I could sit back, at least for a month, to regroup and rest a bit.  I truly expected a slower grasp of enthusiasm and sense of adventure in change. I thought we'd still be building some momentum. I am forced to accept the error of my thinking.

So how to we sustain for the long term?  This summer, at the International Colloquium for Jesuit Secondary Education, I listened to Daniel Villanueva, SJ (@danivillanueva)  lay out what is probably going to be my focus for the next three years.  He spoke of moving technology from systems of support to systems of advocacy.  Right now, Brebeuf is in a system of support.  We have structure to support learning – BlackBoard Engage as learning management system.  Google Docs to support production of documents, spreadsheets, presentations… the business of being a student.  We have Rediker Administrators Plus and Admissions Plus to support the business of our academic and admissions processes.  We have a wireless network to support 6 or so operating systems. The next step is to move beyond these supports and into advocacy.  Advocacy as in morally and ethically working to influence social, political, economic decision making.  In Jesuit terms – developing men and women for others in our students and faculty/staff.  Men and women who will use their talents, resources and technologies to promote equality of education (local, state, global).  Men and women who promote excellence in teaching not only within our walls but into the national scene.  Men and women who fight for justice, who engage in dialogue and act with solidarity with the poor.  In his keynote, Dani spoke of the power of social media at World Youth Day in 2012.  Empowering young people to speak with the voice of social media.   The adults created the system of support (wifi hotspots, starter blog, couches) and the students created advocacy structuring dialogues on justice via Facebook, Twitter and blogs.  As I have written before, point the way and get out of the way.  

Moving from systems of support to systems of advocacy will sustain the remarkable momentum we have going.   We have the support systems in place.  Now we can turn our eyes to the power of these systems in our student’s hands.  Not sure exactly how this will play out... but it’s exciting to think about!

  

Yes, We Have a Show!

In much the same way as Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland would say "Let's Put on a Show" and suddenly a fully constructed proscenium arch would appear in Grandpa's barn... we thought we'd venture into video production.  Cross Posted from Confessions of a School CIO.

As JD said in original post...

So please, sit back...no, on second thought...
Read the links.
Post comments.
Retweet, share, subscribe....
Do that interactive PLN thing that you do SO well.

Episode 1: The Snarkfest o' Educational Stuff.



The Teacher Resource Center before the cameras were arranged.



Here's the Screencast/Vlog/Video Link CLICK HERE to view.

(link is because Blogger will only link to YouTube and the Camtasia embedded links works better on Screencast.com)

A BYOT Glossary for the School Community

The feedback loop is hinting that @jdferries and I are speaking a little too "techie" these days for the local school community.  And that feedback is probably correct as we hang out with tech-types and each other so much we speak in what sounds like code (and sometimes is code - but I digress)... So I am starting this BYOT Glossary for the School Community.  All Brebeuf students are expected to have a device, in hand, ready to use on the first day of school for 2012-13!  Devices pictured below have been piloted this year (by students - more than one - not just heavy tech users) and we feel confident saying they work at the school. The MBS electronic book platform has also been successfully tested on these devices (the electronic devices - not the mechanical pencil).

BYOT: Bring Your Own Device.  Refers to a computing model where the student chooses the device best suited for them... rather than an IT department dictating device.

For those new to the Bring Your Own Device discussion - I offer some key terminology you'll need to know in the glossary below.  Regular readers - feel free to add other suggestions in the Comments box below.  Eventually this will all go on the school website - but as the website is being redesigned I thought why not start here on the blog.


BYOT Glossary


The following are operating systems… basically what makes the device turn on, light up and run programs you want…These operating systems work on the Brebeuf Jesuit network.

Android – refers to operating system for mobile devices not made by Apple.  Marketplaces include Google Play, Amazon App Store for Android and Android Marketplace.

Examples
· Samsung Galaxy Tab
· Asus Transformer Prime
· Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet
· Motorola Zoom

Chromium – refers to operating system creating by Google.  Currently only runs on Chromebook sold by Samsung and Acer. Unlike traditional laptops, Chromebooks are “nothing but web”.  At startup, Google Chrome opens and all applications are run through browser based apps.  Marketplaces are Chrome Store and Google Play.

iOS – refers to the operating system for mobile Apple products.  Marketplace is iTunes.

Examples
· iPad
· iPhone
· iTouch

*** Linux – Open system which is mostly used by tech geeks because it allows for modifications and doesn’t involve all the licensing mess of Mac OS and Windows. We have not tested Linux extensively on Brebeuf network – if you are thinking of using a Linux machine please stop by IT.

Mac OS – refers to the operating system for laptops and desktops made by Apple (MacBook Pro, iMac).  Recently named after large, predator felines such as Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion. Helps run programs like Pages, Keynote, iMove, Office for Mac and the like in a traditional computer model.

Windows – refers to operating system for PC laptops and desktops.  Used by a variety of vendors including HP, Asus, Lenovo, Dell, Acer.  Helps run programs like Word, PowerPoint, Windows Live MovieMaker and the like in a traditional computer model.  Will not run most Apple programs.


Other terms you may hear:


App – short for “application”.  Apps are small, single use programs that run typically on mobile device (although apps for full Apple and Windows devices are in the works).

Browser – program that gets you on the Internet.  Popular browsers include: Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera.

Cloud Storage – back in the day, when you hit File-Save, the document saved on the computer in front of you or a server in the basement of the building you worked in.  Now there is a third option generically called “The Cloud”.  Don’t be confused, the file still sits on a server in the basement… it’s just that the basement is 600 miles away.  You can access that server from anywhere, anytime as long as you have an Internet connection.

Examples
· iCloud
· Dropbox
· Google Drive via Apps for Education (Brebeuf will give student account)
· Box
· Microsoft Skydrive

eReader – Devices specifically designed for reading electronic texts.  While some eReaders may do basic web-based activities, the primary function of the device is reading.  Think of a book that can get to your email.  These do not meet Brebeuf 1:1 BYOT requirements as you cannot create documents, presentations or spreadsheets on these devices.

Examples
· Kindle devices
· Nook and Nook Color
· Sony Reader

Marketplace/Store/Walled Garden – Each mobile operating system has online store where one buys apps, music and movies.  These stores (gardens) do not share between each other (thus the wall) very easily if not at all.  For example, an iTunes app for iPhone cannot be transferred to an Android device and vice versa.  We mention this because a garden can influence preferred device – particularly if you have money invested in one garden already.

Examples
· iTunes (Apple Devices)
· Android Market (Android Devices)
· Amazon Markets (Kindle Store, Android App Market, Cloud Player)
· Google Play (for Chrome and Android apps, music, movies, books)

Ed Tech Lingo Bingo 2012

Some of you might be aware of a little game @jdferries and I made up last year after sitting in way too many webinars entitled "Ed Lingo Bingo".  Now, after sitting in on way too many #chats, we bring you Ed Tech Lingo Bingo.  Curl up with your favorite device, login to a #chat and play along!

We are encouraging one of our students to create an app for the game over the summer.  Hopefully, more to info on that front soon...

Ed Tech Lingo Bingo by @40ishoracle and @jdferries

Shifting Sands

Believe it or not, educational technology is only one part of my job description as Director of Faculty Development.  I also facilitate teacher evaluation and formation.  Throw in support for a couple of strategic plan initiatives and chairing the Department of Information and Media Services.  My head is a busy place to be…

The benefit of being so cross-curricular (dare I say cross-platform) is that I see everything.  I see the classroom, the IT cave, faith formation and Jesuit Identity, marketing, library services.  I have daily conversations about curriculum development, assessment practices, classroom management, technology integration, access-evaluation-retrieval, advertising, strategic planning, Indiana state law.  I have even been known to move furniture and collaborate with electricians.

This morning, in a fit of “hey, I got some sleep” my brain was piecing together all I’ve seen this week… and what is beginning to synthesize is an idea of “Shifting Sands”.  It’s not just technology that is changing.  It’s not just learning theory.  It’s not just evaluation of teachers or students… it’s everything.  To borrow a rather trite analogy… it’s like shifting sand… the ground beneath education is literally shifting.  I am a storyteller for youth worship at my husband's parish. When the story of the week takes place in the desert - the text begins "The desert is a strange and wild place...The winds blow... moving and shaping the sand...the desert is never the same."  One could argue the same goes for education.

This loss of solid grounding is intimidating and a little panic inducing but necessary.   The rock of multiple choice tests to assess learning, the teacher as sage, the student as recipient, the school day as 8:00am – 3:15pm…the overhead projector... it’s all shifting.  It’s also why education pundits and legislators don’t get it.  They are stuck in a vision of education from their childhood through the lens of their childhood experience.  The trick is, education is alive because it exists through the lives of the students filling the halls (literal and electronic). It is never the same.

I’ll be exploring this idea of shifting sands over the next week or so in several posts (unlike JD – I prefer to write in short segments).  Interesting in hearing your thoughts along the way so please engage in conversation in the box below!

A Great Act of Hope

In prepping a discussion of first year teachers on Ignatian education, I am reading Kevin O’Brien, S. J.’s article “The Classroom as Holy Ground” (America, May 26, 2003 if you are so inclined to read).  In the article he writes:

“…the classroom – the vineyard to which we teachers are called.  There we build and plant, trusting that the harvest will be bountiful one day, even if we are not around to see it. 

Teaching is a great act of hope.”

I’ll admit that before the holiday break, I was feeling a little hopeless about education.  Everywhere I turned, education was villianized and marginalized.  Current educational analysis would have the casual reader questioning Fr. O’Brien’s observations.  Build and plant … trusting a bountiful return some day in the distant future?  Not when test scores are paramount, schools must compete to appease a consumer market of education and outside “experts” legislate from afar.  The seeds these days are low level recall data germinating in multiple test scores aggregated immediately into graphs and charts used to compare and judge.  Any potential for a bountiful harvest (see JD Ferries-Rowe’s post) is terminated by the next test, the next piece of legislation and the next 21^st century learning tool.

And then comes along Fr. O’Brien to remind me of the hope.  The hope I see in young faces every morning.  They are not caught up in the arguments of adults over how, when and in what format learning should take place… they are too busy germinating all the seeds sown in their environment.  I see my role in education to engage the conversations.  To cultivate ideas and cherish those which challenge mine. To unleash potential in all the many varied ways available today.  To understand that not everyone learns the same way or the same speed.  To be flexible in how learning is shared and articulated.  In short, to trust: myself, the educators I work with and our students.

I may not see the harvest… but today I am full of hope that it will be amazing!

Time to Play

As we reach the end of the semester… I hope all educators take a little time to play around with new tools.  And I mean PLAY… no agenda, no administration making you, no goal in mind.  Some of the best tools I’ve encountered were because I took the time to just play around to see what happens.  For example, this morning I was drinking coffee looking over my Twitter feed and saw this post

I had a moment… so I downloaded the app and tried it out.  No reason beyond it was free, I had 5 minutes and the iPad was charged.  And you know what – it’s a nice app.  I could see it being useful to some.  Maybe a little low power for high end screencasters… but for the new iPad user (perhaps one who has recently been given an iPad by their school IT department) it’s worth a look.   So, take some time to play and make your technology integration choices your own.  You'll be glad you did! 

 … and those of you at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School get ready!  I hear many students have personal electronic devices on their holiday wish lists… 

Library Space in a BYOT School

Four years ago, as faculty and students embraced the idea of collaborative experiences, I was part of a team of people trying to find space in a max’d out building for collaborative workspaces. The library was considered an ideal place to create some collaborative workspace: it was well lit, had seating conducive to collaborative work … and the necessary computers! Plus a local architectural firm analyzing our over-crowded, out-date space reported to us that a library as information commons should create “a comfortable environment where students like to meet, study and collaborate.”

Now, we are a few years in… the library is busier than ever. Two fantastic librarians are facilitating research experiences, supporting technology initiatives, constantly assessing resources in light of learning (electronic and print), experimenting with new hardware options (e-Readers, Chromebooks, tablets) and yes, checking out books. I witness students studying, collaborating or just sitting and reading. Environment where “students like to meet, study and collaborate” achieved.

Now on to the new challenges…130 high school students in one space (built for less than 100) effects both students and adults using the space. Many students prefer to work in the library because it is the one quiet space in the building dedicated to study. The library has a back wall of windows allowing for natural, soft light and a sense of natural space. The library has librarians… adults who can help navigate those days when you need a helping hand. But when so many students are in the space, the law of rising conversations applies. Table A must talk louder to be heard over Table B. Table B must then start talking a little louder to be heard over Table A. Table C talks even louder… and soon the din is comparable to the cafeteria. Students wishing for the quiet workspace are frustrated. This puts the librarians in “policing SHHHH” mode. And contrary to popular belief… no librarian really likes to spend their whole day shushing (really… I am speaking as a librarian here… I have more interesting things to do with my time).

The challenge of computer access is changing. Now, with the advent of BYOT, we are no longer tied to the library as THE space where students can access computers during the day. Wireless is throughout the building (even outside) and there are other spaces to work (cafeteria, Student Commons, lobby). Teachers and students are communicating more frequently via electronic means. This redefines the sense of a, one place to study and collaborate.

So what is the best use of the library space? This is how I have spent the last week… How to maintain a student focused workspace that respects those who need quiet space AND respects those more collaborative in nature? In what is essentially one big room! Suggestions welcome!

Oh the Marketing!

This weekend, I tweeted about a K-12 educational marketing white paper that floated past my desk. The more I pondered the report, the more I realized I had more than 140 characters to say about it. The “key takeaway” that stuck with me concerned the marketing tip to innovate disruptive technology in stages… the exact wording being


The interactive whiteboard segment offers a particularly instructive example of how disruption can happen slowly, in stages, and still fuel growth (meaning marketing/sales growth – not learning growth). At a time when schools are reluctant to invest in new technologies, this market has exploded, and one key reason for the rapid growth is that the technology need not disrupt traditional classroom practices: for a teacher standing in front of a classroom, and interactive whiteboard can be functionally similar to a blackboard. Ignoring the argument about whether this is pedagogically sound, one less derived from the success of interactive whiteboards is that technology succeeds best when it disrupts least.

Let me take this apart…

1. The interactive whiteboard first hit the market in 1991. So by slowly, they apparently mean over 20 years. That’s really slow folks. Too slow for our students.

2. Let us remember market value. While many of our vendors claim to be partners in education (and some may even believe it)… the bottom line is they are for profit companies. They need schools to buy their product. Period. According to the Association of American Publishers, in 2006 educational materials was a $8.1 billion industry for publishing. I appreciate everyone needs to make a living,.. this is not a rant about costs. However, we as educators need to remember educational products electronic, print or plastic are a for profit industry.

3. Educational resource companies do not teach your class. Bad pedagogy is on us.

4. The industry surrounding education is marketing to the lowest common denominator. If we sit back and allow manufactures to dictate our teaching by dictating our resources… then nothing is going to change. They do not think we want a disruptive force affecting daily classroom practices.

No one is creating magic in a box for $29.99, $599.99 or even $3999.99. The time, the talent and disruptive change is going to have to start with the classroom teacher. Daunting, yes… but rather exciting.

BYOT

JD has been more prolific at posting on the topic than I at http://geekreflection.blogspot.com/... but here's my two cents...

We began a voluntary BYOT program this semester in our private, 9-12 college preparatory school. I tend to use the term (or acronym as the case may be) BYOT as I see student choice evident not only in device, but in all the various tools student use.


Our goal in BYOT is critical in understanding why we chose this model:

Brebeuf Jesuit IT focuses on the learning needs of the students, creating an environment where students, faculty and staff:


• have the ACCESS to all the resources necessary for teaching and learning;


• develop EVALUATION literacies (skills) to discern appropriateness of their tools, their actions and their behavior;


and


• are supported in the USE of technology tools personalized to the learner.



I approached our faculty and staff with Marc Prensky’s “nouns vs verbs” argument. It’s not important to get hung up on the nouns (Mac, PC, tablet, desktop, Word, Pages) in education. What we need to focus on are the verbs – what we DO to illustrate mastery. For example, with BYOT, our teachers are still confident that they can teach persuasive writing techniques. How students evidence learning can be done on a Mac, PC, mobile tablet… heck a cell phone (which will happen once and lesson will be learned). What matters is not the device or word processing program used. What matters is the academic learning objective of the persuasive essay. We are finding that students are more engaged in determining the best tool for the job when they are held responsible for demonstrating the learning objective. Learning how to access, evaluate and use technology to meet one’s objective is critical and oh, so valuable for the future.

Why I Need to Stop Watching Educational YouTube Videos While Eating Lunch

Nothing like expanding one’s job scope to… I don’t know… Director of Faculty Development… to wipe out blogging time!  I am really going to try and get back on the wagon.

So I am watching a YouTube video from the Hunt Institute introducing the Common Core State Standards.  Seemed like something a Director of Faculty Development would do while she eats her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  About 17 seconds in, I put down my PB & J at the line “…our students need better knowledge and tools to compete in the global economy…” And there it is folks, the commoditization of education.  We no longer educate to create informed electorate, to create life-long learners, for the growth of humankind… we educate to compete.   We educate to make more money than our neighbor.  We have our commodity to create: men and women who compete in the global marketplace!  I guess this is why mainline educational arguments surround improving test scores, value-add accountability matrixes for teachers and the predilection of social media forming the bullies of tomorrow.  We can count those things!  We can make more, do more, score more than our neighbors.

Silly me – I thought it was about cultivating God-given talents to live in the fullness of creation.

Frustrations at the Curve

I find it annoying that I am thwarted at every turn this summer testing new tools. Not by my non-Digital Native status. Not by my lack of formal education in the computer sciences. Not by gender, age, ethnicity, location… or any of the other demographics usually surveyed to determine computer comfort and proficiency. No, I am thwarted by the fact that I update my browser.

Yes, I run IE9, Firefox 4.0.1 and Chrome. This is apparently odd amongst educators as currently I am 2 for 12 on web-based products working on my computer. I am not even going to start on my mobile devices (Blackberry and iPad). No, today’s rant is simply an open request to educational vendors. Contrary to what you appear to think, schools are not in the dark ages. We do upgrade our operating systems. We do upgrade our production tools. And we do upgrade our browsers. I will not buy your product if I have to wander the building looking for an old machine running an outdated browser (and now that re-imaging is complete I can’t even do that as every machine here is running either IE9 or Firefox 4.0.1).

I spend a great deal of time with curriculum and technology integration. The annoyance of having to roll back browsers in order to run outdated vendor created products does nothing for student learning. In fact, I would have to hinder student learning (Firefox 4.0.1 has some wicked web developer tools) in order to run web-based learning environments which refuse to keep up with the times. Brebeuf is going to a BYOT model. Our students will learn on a multitude of devices running all sorts of operating systems, apps, software and browsers. The days of platform uniformity are slowly but surely ending. I believe those vendors who embrace flexibility and fluidity will survive. The rest of you will not.

BTW: Firefox 5 is on the horizon... Just saying.

Test upload from iPad

This is a sample test using Blog Press app to blog from the iPad. Now to try and upload a photo of the birthday present the guys gave me in April.


Okay... I am optimistic this will work. Used the camera connection kit to get photos from camera SD card to iPad.

And for my vanity... No, I was not born in 1965!

Ed Lingo Bingo

Because professional development webinars need a little "fun"... feel free to use at your next department viewing of your favorite education reform movie/webinar/network expose or article/book discussion.

Pondering Presentations (and bad blog post titles) Part 2

When we last visited our intrepid rant, we uncovered feelings of anxiety that seemed interrelated with the use of technology by those crazy kids to quickly create presentations using tools that are much more natural to them than they are to the educators (please Google “digital natives” for the 5 million blog entries, books, and YouTube videos on this subject).

But rather than continue to pick apart some of the flaws in presentations-as-assessments, let’s see if there is a correlation between the assessment tool and the tendency to foster an environment that promotes critical thinking skills in students. In fact, let’s just compare presentations to one other tool:

Traditional papers, especially those with multiple drafts, seem to have this call to critical thinking built into the process. First, it is apparent when someone is not saying anything of relevance for paragraph after paragraph (the irony of this multi-post blog is not lost on me). Second, the drafting process itself forces the reflection on both the content (is this really what I want to say?) and writing style (is that the best way to say it?). Finally, the traditional written paper has set modes of attribution and citation that encourages the use of outside resources to broaden the scope of the individual mind.

In summary:
· Built-in checks to validate the presence of thought
· Built-in reflection on content and style through drafting
· Built-in assumptions and methods for incorporating the thoughts of others into your own

Conversely, while the typical presentation is made better when these things are present, they are not necessary. Presentation assessments typically (and frankly ideally) have fewer words so that lack-of-thought can remain hidden. Use of multimedia, pictures, sounds, clever (and not-so-clever) transitions tend to compound the issue, particularly when educators are liable to be impressed by things that have nothing to do with the content of the presentation (but a lot to do with the presentation mechanics).

Informally, there seems to be less of a drafting process with presentation-based assessments. Where formal papers may typically have one-on-one meetings with a teacher, peer reviews, work-shopping strategies, etc., the typical project timeline for presentations often consists of a combined research-and-preparation period (individually or in groups) followed by a class presentation. Feedback by the class is limited and feedback/assessment by the teacher is done in the form of written comments given afterward. There is little presumption that a presentation is “drafted” or will be refined throughout a creation process.

Furthermore, the growing tradition of “borrowed” photos without citation and a lack of feedback from teachers about attributing ideas properly also feed the trend to use other ideas and claims as one’s own thoughts. Not only does this reinforce a cultural trend of plagiarism, but it eliminates the critical process required to properly present the ideas of another and critically compare them with one’s own.

Unfortunately this issue is happening at all levels of education; thus we as secondary educators find ourselves encountering students who have less and less exposure to the assessment strategies that most naturally call for the upper levels of Bloom’s famed taxonomy and more and more experience with assessments that can be done quickly, without drafting, and with minimal critical feedback to evaluate proof of accuracy or originality of thought.

So what is the solution?
1. Let’s isolate the problem from its apparent technological origins. This has very little to do with the mechanics of Keynote or the tendency for teenagers to tweet in 140 characters rather than handwrite letters. Technology is an emphasizer of trends, seldom a trendsetter in its own right.

2. Design assessments timelines that build in the critical thinking process and identify when that process has not been followed. Two examples:

a. The teacher from the illustration in the last blog modified his assignment to require a written paper (with traditional citations, page length, drafting etc.) as a preface to the presentation. Thus the teacher engages with students during the “thinking” portion of the education and the presentation becomes a distillation of the thought that has gone before.

b. Embed another process for showing critical thinking into the presentation assessment. This might include a question and answer period used by both teachers and students after the presentation, formal reflection writing afterward on a prompt of the instructor’s choosing based on the presentation, or a separate analysis of literature about a research topic as pre-work.

c. Require drafting and peer-review of PowerPoint presentations.

It is easy to blame the trends of society at large or the looming media-consumption tablet explosion on our lack of student’s willingness to engage in critical thought. But if we have fallen into the all-too-comfortable trap of lowering expectations due to the lure of the shiny and pretty, we may need to take time to identify our ultimate learning objectives, reflect on our experiences, and match our assessments and activities with our desired outcomes. It is the same bar to which we should hold our students, whether they are thumb-typing a book report at the elementary level, researching for term papers in high school, or presenting with Keynote in middle school.


PS: Yes, this is a long multi-post blog. But according to Mark Bauerlein’s article “Too Dumb for Complex Texts?” (Educational Leadership, February 2011), we need to encourage reading of complex texts for at least one hour a day (we’d link to it but we don’t think he’d like that… oh whatever…click away). Consider today complete for you.

Pondering Presentions: Part 1

It has been an interesting week in the world of technology and #edtech and, as is often the case, a number of seemingly isolated incidents have begun to swirl around in my head enough for me to draft a blog-entry. Luckily, I have @40ishoracle to look over the writing to make sure that it makes sense when all is said and done (if you haven’t had the opportunity, you should take time to read her profile in “School CIO”).

Incident #1: My nine-year-old (for those of you who follow me on twitter, Daughter Prime) came into the living room where I was diligently working on the RIO version of Angry Birds and her mom was typing on a laptop. She asked “can I use the (Google)TV? I need to type a reading log.” Now this question could be worth a blog entry in and of itself, but I watched in fascination as she accessed her school’s learning management system, brought up a blank report template, thumb-typed three solidly written paragraphs about The Mysterious Benedict Society, and posted it for teacher review to a virtual homework dropbox.

Incident #2: I had the opportunity to play with the ASUS Transformer brought in by @brebeufjesuit alum @kcklippel. As I played with the device (an Android Honeycomb tablet with widescreen that docks with a larger-than-netbook keyboard for fast typing and 7hrs additional battery life), I began to see how useful it could be in the post-pc world that Steve Jobs declared with the release of the iPad 2.

Incident #3: (stolen from fellow parent, @40ishoracle): Her daughter has had an increasing number of assignments taking the form of “presentations” created in Keynote for assessment and evaluation in place of traditional papers at the middle-school level.

The discussion that swirled around these incidents began with typing.

For a number of years, I have been saying as part of the precursor to Bring-Your-Own-Tech language @40ishoracle introduced me to, that the role of tablets/phones will be as personal productivity enhancers…That a computer will be necessary for “full production” – papers over a certain length, multi-tasking or multi-window or multi-screen research, etc. After watching my nine-year-old comfortably manipulate a thumb keyboard at a decent rate and speed indistinguishable from a nine-year-old at a standard size qwerty keyboard, I opened myself up to the idea that home-row typing vs. thumb-typing alone is not a distinguishing element from critical thinking and productivity.

So if students can be as productive typing (or swyping), what does this say about the types of assignments that we offer?

Rant Begins Here:

When @40ishoracle and I offer a presentation, it is backed up by hours of work. This work ranges from formal and informal discussions, conversations with other educators, background research on the topic, examples in the lab environment that is our Jesuit High School, etc. The presentation is a distillation or interpretation of the thinking that went before it. This combination of context (the work that has been done by others), experience (trying and interpreting lessons in the classroom), reflection (the conversations), is the heart of the Jesuit educational system and parallels with critical thinking that is so beloved of everyone from the ASCD to legislators to *gasp* teachers.

But (and it is a big one): It is absolutely possible to create a presentation that does not benefit from this level of prep work.

Last year, as part of our preparation for addressing issues of information literacy and research rigor that the school wanted to address, we had the opportunity to review a number of student presentations created by our junior class. A common trend that became apparent in our evaluation was that the presentations, while for the most part factually accurate and in most cases properly, if loosely, sourced, lacked the depth of thought that we would have hoped to see (that critical thinking piece again).

In our year on the social-media and research presentation circuit, we found that we are not alone with our assessments. Teachers have noted and agreed that:

• The number of presentation based assessments are growing and in some cases replacing traditional writing.

• There is a general feeling that students are not thinking as hard about the subjects on which they are being assessed.

• There is a malaise of inevitability about this that is wrapped up with “info-whelm” and technology anxiety.

Ultimately, the call for educators, and the educational technologists that support them, is to help craft lessons, including assessments, that will challenge students to think and then demonstrate in some way the level, accuracy, and intensity of that thought process either publicly (presentations) or interpersonally (papers, tests).
If our anxiety level is increasing and we lack confidence in the student-created presentation as an assessment tool, then we owe it to ourselves and our students to analyze the assessment and figure out how to make it fit our critical thinking needs.

Will students notice if we replace traditional keyboard with thumb boards?
Is there an inherent flaw in electronically assisted presentations?
Do these rhetorical questions raise feelings of nostalgia for 60s syndicated super hero TV shows? Stay tuned to the blog for your answer…Same #edtech time, Same #edtech URL!
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