Lots of food for continuing thought. I'll store some of the ideas here:
PA, he says, will be most successful because of the integrated teams that are here today - not just a clan of tech directors. Exciting! (Agreed!)
The big picture and a strategy, from BD's perspective:
What does a classroom for the future look like?
- Singapore - keeping us all on our toes; they are SO focused - brought together the "whole system" (imagine that) to generate a vision and implementation plans. How to help teachers to understand what technology can do for them? I'm teaching XXX math - what can you do for me? They've built a model, a simulation:
Kid contact and integration of formal and informal learning environments; vertical and horizontal integration and connection. IMPORTANT: It brands in the minds of all that THERE WILL BE CHANGE!
FOCUS: What are we going to DO with the technology (what are the holes that we want, per DKnezek's presentation earlier)?
- Tech can be used to: do more of what we do; add to what we do; subvert and transform what we do. Which are we going to support? (and that's not a "tech" question).
- Papert: Fundamental change or incremental improvement? Why are we not talking about that? [Claiming neither as the "right" answer, just asking that we think and talk about it]
Pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and school organization must be changing in alignment with introduction of information technology if the latter is to be worth the investment.
- Bentley, Tom 1998: from "school"-focused to "learner as agent" focus
- Alan Kay - "computer" - "an instrument whose music is ideas"
Book: Bruce Dixon/Jennie Little (?) Transforming Learning (1998?) -
But, asks BD, what on earth does "transforming" mean? We need to be clear and concrete about our "why's" that are driving our "how's"
Survey of reasons: economic; assessment; narrowing the digital divide/equity' research on the impact on learning; budget imperative; textbook replacement; marketing/competitive advantage; pedagogy.
... to create compelling learning experiences for all students! [BD's preferred reason]
Set YOUR expectations as a leader. WHY are you taking us down this road?
A tech-rich environment should:
- address learning diversity:
Computers are the best opportunity for addressing learning diversity: new architecture of communication between teachers and students; new learning and literacies emergent and available; enables mix of vertical/horizontal (nonformal)/self-learning (tacit learning). Bransford, Brown & Cocking 2000 - teaching stratigies must adjust along three dimensions: deeper understanding of pre-existing understandings that students bring with them; must teach with more depth the content that we wish to convey; and we must integrate teaching of metacognitive skills into the curriculum.
- promote pedagogical innovation
To be "fluent" in a foreign language is to be able to 'create things' in it; to be fluent in computer is to be able to 'construct' things (Papert and Resnick)
Collaborative learning communities; compelling models; exploration of new directions and more challenging and rigorous concepts [depth of learning]; range of teaching tools
Scaffolding thinking: encourage teachers to take risks; e.g., use of chat to reach beyond the classroom [yes, of course, there are many issues]
- check
http://www.schoolkit.com for scaffolding tools
- literature example: Heart of Darkness: put the book in adobe file for kids; embedded comments and questions, references and clips from film (and question - how does the film show contrast between natives and narrator... let's look at Apocalypse Now... [we could do this with anything our of copyright]
- reassurance: some of the most innovative, compelling, inspiring pedagogical ideas are rather simple - what if I digitized the book and added some questions and comments?
- Podcast: use of blogs, wikis, webcasts by PA professors to enhance their instruction and students' learning: ex, scan-read a student's electronically submitted paper, highlighting the areas that demand comment, then recording and inserting her comments within the document and returning it to kids. (and kids can do the same for each other).
- Carol Thompson, Louisiana - one of the best social studies teachers in the world.
- Taking It Global: a site through which kids all over the world can interact
- teaching/teacher effectiveness and efficiency
'who will teach the teachers?' How to 'reform the learning experiences of those responsible for providing learning experiences'?
How can we take away the administrivia to restore time for teaching?
- rethnk assessment
We can put meaning behind formative assessment, with results and differentiation of responses
Success in a rapidly changing world requires that we be able to do what we were NOT taught to do.
If we can google it, should we teach it?
Setting Strategy (with comments from Kutztown team):
* development of an effective implementation model
* sustaining broad community support: the bar went up - so much investment - how to keep it in place? - underpromise and overdeliver; create a communication strategy; be proactive and totally transparent at all times; educate and inform around all issues, ideas and challenges; celebrate successes frequently and publicly.
* Implementation Models: variety of paths to take (a class, a grade, a school); pilot vs. expanded program; optional vs. mandatory across subjects or grades; mixed classrooms or laptop-only classrooms. Set yourself up for success! Think through the issues: take it home? who's responsible for bad things through the computer at home (parents); damage off-site? which staff members have access (drivers? coaches? ...)
* Software issues: build on your curriculum objectives; tools, not 'software du jour' - keep it simple; licensing etc.
* Infrastructure planning: constantly refer to your learning objectives; set high bar for acceptable [tech] performance - and set the metrics of performance; what's prerequisite, preferred or optional? Hold your vendors responsible. Consider when you'd be better investing in teacher professional development rather than the next increment of technology
* Service and Support Management: The machines must work! There can be no "kids can't work today because the machines don't!" student helpers (student corps - Apple Core...; trustworthy, not necessarily geeky; students from each peer group); sustainsable, replicable, scalable; who is responsible for support and to what level (what's handled in-house, what out-sourced); hardware - warranty and insurance; software - helpdeks and outsourcing; how is the support costs going to be covered?
* Classroom Issues: role of textbooks; how much communication; how to get and keep student attention; inappropriate use (games on laptops; porn etc on internet); myspace, youtube, IM'ing; blogging, podcasting, webcasting, etc, etc [Kutztown: 'if it's not for a class, don't do it']
Have a vision and be able to articulate it
Significantly improve the learning opportunities for young people
[Whew!]
