School and District Leadership for ICT Integration

To be a leader in Computer and Information Technology integration, a person needs to have knowledge of the infrastructure within the Board and an understanding of what infrastructure is needed to implement new technologies throughout the Board.  If the infrastructure is not there, new technology will only be a cause of frustration if it is not able to run properly within the networks available in the schools.  There also needs to be knowledge of Ministry supported software such as D2L so that course shells can be set up for teachers with as much content already there as possible.  They need to be able to support teachers that wish to add their own content to their courses as well as have a knowledge of how to do that.  With the new implementation of All About Me and the IPP, this person needs knowledge of how to create an e-Portfolio and provide PD to staff and students to meet these Ministry requirements.  The most difficult knowledge for this leader is to be aware of new technologies and be able to analyze whether or not they are going to be a good fit to meet the Board’s Strategic and Learning Plans.

This leader is also going to need to be innovative and creative.  Technology integration, as I read in the readings for this module, is not about what is put into classrooms, but how the technology is used.  This means that the leader needs to model innovative uses and be willing to provide PD and support to teachers in the classroom as the need arises.  Organization is important since there is only one person doing this job in my Board, all of the responsibilities fall to one person so along with organization, using key players within the Board to delegate is also going to be important.  Most Boards have leaders within individual schools that could assist the leader with implementing changes and leading PD sessions with staff.  The leader needs to be able to organize and manage the IT team that has been hired and ensure that the needs of the student are always front and centre.  Many IT team members follow a business model that does not always work in an education setting, so this leader needs to be in constant communication with this team to prioritize the needs of the Board.

I believe that the 21st Century Competencies apply to required competencies of the leader in technology integration.  Every competency listed applies to the this role.

Digital Citizenship and Parent/Community Communication

It is important for schools to work with parents and community partners so that students are wise, ethical and safe when working, learning and socializing online.  Many schools have sections of their website containing information such as the Board’s responsible use policies, but these are not always seen by parents.  Many parents and community partners are looking for opportunities to learn about online safety, but don’t always know where to go for it.  Something that my school did which was successful is have sessions with the OPP regarding online safety.  The officer spoke to the students in the school during the day and a then in the evening spoke to a public audience.  The event was well attended and parents and community partners had the opportunity to ask any questions they had about online safety and usage by teens.  He spoke about various social media apps as well and which of those had the worst security and privacy reputations at the time.  The best part of this, especially for the students, was that he was able to give specific examples of why these sites were not secure and what information was easily attainable by hackers.  This was an eye opener for most people that were in the audience, both students and adults.

Communication with parents/guardians and the community happens at many different levels.  There are still parents that do not have internet access or a computer at home so there needs to be many different ways to communicate with all parents.  There is still a place for the traditional school newsletter, although there no longer needs to be a paper copy sent home with every student.  In a high school with over 1000 students, this becomes expensive and is not practical since many of those copies probably do not make it home anyway.  Most parents give an email address to the school so the newsletter can be emailed to parents with some copies still available in the main office for parents that require it.  This not only saves money in paper, but also the time it would take to make all the copies.  Email is also used to send attendance records home to parents at least once a semester.  Email is our most common method to send detailed information home to parents.  Special announcements, such as missed classes or notice of report cards and parent-teacher interview dates are sent home through a dialing system that will call, text, or email a message to parents.  All school boards have a website that parents can go to for information and often there are links to school websites within that board.  Parents and community members have access to this and as long as the website is kept up to date, it is a good way to communicate information.  Our school website also contains links to our social media pages that parents can go to as well it they did not already know they existed.  What has been the most successful at my school is our Facebook page.  It contains anything that parents and students would need to know and more.  Any event happening at the school is posted on the page from employment opportunities to sport team schedules.  It is a very popular destination and staff and students know that if there is something they want to advertise it is the most effective way.  Parents and community partners know that the page is updated almost daily and they can ask for things to be posted there as well.  A new method of communication has been our school Twitter page.  It contains a lot of the same information as the Facebook page, but when looking at the followers, it is mostly parents and community partners, not necessarily the students...yet.  When communicating with parents/guardians and community members it is important that the information is accurate and meaningful.  For this reason, our social media pages are supervised by staff members simply for the purpose of filtering the information.  Students are more than welcome to tag the school in their Tweets, for example, but the decision of whether or not to retweet is made by a staff member.  I monitor the school Twitter account and I have yet to see a student Tweet that was not appropriate or that I was not able to retweet.  These social media pages also provide parents/guardians and community members the opportunity to interact with the school as well by “Liking” or “Commenting” on the various posts that are on the sites.  Although it is important to get the information out there, it is equally important to receive feedback from your audience on what is happening in the school.

Mobile Learning, Connected Learning and Social Media in Education

    The benefits of using social media in the classroom are instant feedback and improved connectivity between students and teachers.  When social media sites like Twitter are used, a quick poll given as an exit ticket for example, gives teachers and students instant feedback on how they are doing.  Students can quickly and easily summarize their learning and a class hashtag will allow absent students to still feel included in class activities.  If you create a class Facebook page, students can communicate with each other to discuss what is happening in class.  The teacher is able to monitor the discussions and clarify if there are questions outside of the classroom.

   Teachers will ensure a positive, equitable, accepting and safe learning environment through direct teaching of the pros and cons of social media.  Better yet, have students co-construct acceptable use of social media sites both in and out of the classroom.  When the students are involved in setting criteria, I believe they are more likely to use the criteria and even “police” each other if the criteria is not being followed by other students.  In high schools, many students will have their own phone to access the internet and sites or apps that teacher would ask their students to use, but it is important to have some extra devices in the room for students that do not have a phone.  Another option is to have students work in pairs or groups, you do not need a 1:1 ratio to use social media effectively in the classroom.  Younger students could be given their own Symbaloo Board for example to ensure that the websites they are using are safe and suitable for educational use by younger students.

   When planning for instruction that integrates social media, teachers must consider student experience with the site or app.  Most sites are intuitive and students will be able to use them without direct instruction, however many students are what has been referred to as “surface surfers” and will not necessarily go in depth to meet all the requirements.  A quick tutorial or instructional video could go a long way to ensure that students are using the social media the way the teacher expects them to.  Often just letting the students go will produce ideas and products that the teacher would have never imagined or expected and the learning will become even greater for everyone.

Blended Learning

The Ministry of Ontario e-learning strategy is to have all students K-12 with access to blended learning in Ontario.  This strategy is not simply online access to materials, it includes face-to-face opportunities with the teacher.  The e-learning strategy includes:  D2L, a virtual learning environment where teachers and students can interact online and complete class work in a secure site.  It features email, discussions, content, groups and many other features.  The OERB - Ontario Educational Resource Bank is a searchable database of activities and content that can be added to D2L, or used on their own with classes.  All of the activities are linked to Ontario Curriculum Expectations and many are interactive.  E-Community Ontario is a digital community where teachers can interact and communicate with other teachers in the province.  The Seat Reservation System allows Guidance Councillors to reserve spots in online courses for students that need an alternative to traditional learning.  Finally, Homework Help is a free online math tutoring website that is sponsored by the Ministry.  Students can log in throughout the evening and get math help.  I used this resource for the first time this year with my son who was taking Academic Grade 9 math and he chose an audio tutor so he could hear the tutor talking to him live and they could both do calculations on the screen at the same time.  It was incredible and saved the assignment.  I think this is under-utilized in our school and I will be promoting it more to students (and their parents) after my experience.  This strategy allows students, especially in rural areas like mine, to take courses that aren't always offered in a face-to-face session.  There are some courses that students need to take for college and university that don't always run in my school.  E-Learning provides that opportunity.  Also, we have students that have been ill or injured and can't come to school; D2L allows them to stay caught up in their classes.  We also have students that are not comfortable in a traditional classroom setting, so they will opt to complete a course online either at home or with the support of a student success teachers.  All of these options just provide more choice and options for students.

Frameworks for Technology Integration

Our school had a PD session about the SAMR model.  We looked at the different levels, were shown examples of the different levels and teachers that wanted it could have a copy of the Padagogy wheel with lists that would support the four levels of the SAMR model.  That was the last I heard about it before this Module in this course from either administration or teachers.

The most important thing that school and system leaders need to take into account for things to change in a building is support.  Any change must come with a high level of support, especially in the beginning stages.  Yes, we spent a great deal of time on the model at a staff PD session, but there were no suggestions of how to implement it.  Perhaps it should have been the PLC topic for the year so that teachers could collaborate on lesson plans and moderation of student work throughout the year.  If teachers had the opportunity to implement the different levels and experience success, it would be something they would like to continue.  Since this did not happen in our school, as I have already said, the ideas ended when the PD ended.  If you have the feeling of being a "lone wolf", it is very easy to drop something if you try it and it doesn't work.  If we want teachers to stick with something, it needs to be supported by administration either through release time, classroom visits, "appy hour" pizza parties, and other opportunities for teachers to collaborate.  As teachers become more comfortable with the model, and form their own support networks to build capacity, the support from administration can be decreased.

Vision for Technology Use in Education

After visiting a place like High Tech High in California and completing Part 1 and Part 2 of Integrating Technology, my vision of technology use in education has changed.  I used to think that technology needed to be forced into the hands of students and that everything possible should be done using technology.  I have come to the realization that this is not practical, sustainable or even necessary.  I now believe that a true integration of technology should be seamless and natural.  It is more about having the right tool for the task, than just having the tools.  I see many examples of simple Substitution when looking at the SAMR model in the work my own son is doing in his Grade 9 classes.  Our school has an iPad cart that can be booked out by teachers to use in their classes and it is simply collecting dust.  Teachers don't know what is available to them on these iPads, and the students are happier to just be on their phones than to use a school device.  It seems as though the kids think that being tech savvy means being able to send Snapchats and Instagram photos to their friends.    While these are acceptable uses for technology, teachers now need to show students how to use technology in a professional manner, which, I agree, can be through gaming and social media.  The readings discuss the 21st Century Competencies, which many students at my school are not demonstrating because they are not being given the opportunity to practice.  Our school is embarking on a new journey to incorporate Project Based Learning into as many courses as possible.  When looking at the Competencies, all of them can be achieved through PBL.  Technology becomes the tool to help solve a real life problem, not just a prop placed in a student's hands.  I hope to see changes in my school in teaching and learning so that students are more engaged and see themselves as partners in their learning.

High Tech High

What an incredible opportunity and experience for this week.  I am in San Diego for a tour and workshops at High Tech High.  Now hearing the name probably puts a particular image in your head, but get that out of there right away.  High Tech High is not all about technology!  It's not about hardware, software, apps etc.  it's about a different way of thinking about kids and learning.  Credits are earned at High Tech High through Project Based Learning.  When you look at certain Ontario Ministry documents (i.e. co-op), what they are doing is old news, but it's one of those things that "everyone talks about but no one is doing".  This school is doing it from kindergarten to Grade 12.  Now there were some "ya, but" moments, but nothing that makes this a BHAG for us to implement at least some of the components at our school, in our new space (or even in the regular classroom).  A lot of what the kids were doing here, we envisioned our kids doing in our own Project.  The way we designed our project, is the same way they design many of their projects, with some notable differences.  At this point at High Tech High students work together with students in the same Grade only, and they are working toward the same final product with specific parameters in place.  Before the project starts, the teacher and students discuss the project and will make changes if the class agrees that they would like to change things.  Our project had students from Grades 10-12 and their final product was really up to them.
   One thing that struck me when walking around the schools, was that every wall space had a display of student projects and when we went into classrooms and asked kids questions, all of them (no matter the grade level) could tell me what they were doing and why they were doing it.  Our HTH contact for the week was Law and he took us through some workshops around project design as well as how the teachers there assess the projects.  There are too many takeaways to try and portray in a blog, but here are links to my Google Photos albums of my two days in the schools.

Day 1

Day 2