Assessing Digital Learning
Keep Your Eyes on the Road to Success
It has been said that the road to success is ALWAYS under construction. Well, if it is anything like the road construction in and around the Houston area, then we know for sure the road is NEVER ending. Sometimes, having to briefly slow down in life and perhaps take a detour brings us to exactly where we need to be on our journey.
My 1:1 implementation journey started five years ago on a long and winding road to achieving student success. As a teacher, we were prepped by our exceptional Instructional Technology department on the district's digital infrastructure and the procedures for a campus wide device roll-out. Opportunities for staff development over our 1:1 initiative were offered. Most teachers took advantage of these opportunities, while others did not. We were instructed on such things as how to set up student e-mail accounts using Outlook and how to install Microsoft Office 365. In turn, we were responsible for teaching our students about each program's features. All of this seemed like great preparation, yet something was missing. Were we properly ready to deploy this new technology with the intention of maintaining its connection to deeper learning?
Fast forward to the day of device roll-out. Parent-student contracts were signed, a price list of replacement parts were handed out, consequences for misuse were addressed, but none of this seemed as important as the excitement of finally getting their tablets in hand. A sense of awe filled the entire campus leading everyone to believe the sky's the limit with implementing our 1:1 initiative. We were all on board and headed down the road to success.
Fast forward another 2-3 years and it is safe to say our honeymoon period with 1:1 has definitely worn off. I'm going to go out on a limb here and claim that in all actuality, I believe the honeymoon period for the majority of teachers and students was long gone before the end of the first year.
Now, here we are in year five with a 1:1 initiative once traveling so fast that all signs were a blur, stalled out and struggling to get off of the road. How did we get here? Why did we take so many wrong turns? How close is the next filling station?
My 1:1 implementation journey started five years ago on a long and winding road to achieving student success. As a teacher, we were prepped by our exceptional Instructional Technology department on the district's digital infrastructure and the procedures for a campus wide device roll-out. Opportunities for staff development over our 1:1 initiative were offered. Most teachers took advantage of these opportunities, while others did not. We were instructed on such things as how to set up student e-mail accounts using Outlook and how to install Microsoft Office 365. In turn, we were responsible for teaching our students about each program's features. All of this seemed like great preparation, yet something was missing. Were we properly ready to deploy this new technology with the intention of maintaining its connection to deeper learning?
Fast forward to the day of device roll-out. Parent-student contracts were signed, a price list of replacement parts were handed out, consequences for misuse were addressed, but none of this seemed as important as the excitement of finally getting their tablets in hand. A sense of awe filled the entire campus leading everyone to believe the sky's the limit with implementing our 1:1 initiative. We were all on board and headed down the road to success.
Fast forward another 2-3 years and it is safe to say our honeymoon period with 1:1 has definitely worn off. I'm going to go out on a limb here and claim that in all actuality, I believe the honeymoon period for the majority of teachers and students was long gone before the end of the first year.
Now, here we are in year five with a 1:1 initiative once traveling so fast that all signs were a blur, stalled out and struggling to get off of the road. How did we get here? Why did we take so many wrong turns? How close is the next filling station?
My roadside assistance came in the form of this course, EDLD 5315 Assessing Digital Learning.
We were challenged to use previous and current course literature to help us look for trends and patterns that would support our disruptive innovation plan established in a prior course. Using this knowledge, we were then asked to create a presentation highlighting our measurement strategy. I found Douglas W. Hubbard's book, How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "INTANGIBLES" in Business, to be a very helpful resource in this process.
We were challenged to use previous and current course literature to help us look for trends and patterns that would support our disruptive innovation plan established in a prior course. Using this knowledge, we were then asked to create a presentation highlighting our measurement strategy. I found Douglas W. Hubbard's book, How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of "INTANGIBLES" in Business, to be a very helpful resource in this process.
Below, is my presentation I created using Prezi. For more information on how you or your student can enhance your presentations, click on the word Prezi to link to their site or click on Jim Harvey, world famous presentation guru, to be redirected to his site for further explanation and guidance.
Good presentations take time and great presentations take an enormous amount time. I worked day and night for at least a week putting together all phases of this assignment. No matter your level of skill or comfort in presenting, Prezi can help you shine.
I have included some screenshots of my desktop throughout the creation process. First, the top left picture is a view from the Prezi dashboard. This feature allows for easy navigation of the entire website throughout the creation process. Prezi also automatically saves your work for you as you go. A convenient time stamp is included at the top of the dashboard each time your work is saved.
Second, the top right photo is an image of Prezi's edit path screen. Prezi refers to their information rectangles as paths rather than slides. Each path can be easily edited and placed anywhere in the overall presentation screen.
Third, the bottom left photo represents Prezi's zoom feature. This feature affords you the ability to see specific paths up close. Here minor details such as spacing can be quickly corrected.
Finally, the bottom right screen shot represents the Prezi help window feature. I found this attribute to be the most useful and efficient in discovering all that Prezi can do to enhance your presentation.
I have included some screenshots of my desktop throughout the creation process. First, the top left picture is a view from the Prezi dashboard. This feature allows for easy navigation of the entire website throughout the creation process. Prezi also automatically saves your work for you as you go. A convenient time stamp is included at the top of the dashboard each time your work is saved.
Second, the top right photo is an image of Prezi's edit path screen. Prezi refers to their information rectangles as paths rather than slides. Each path can be easily edited and placed anywhere in the overall presentation screen.
Third, the bottom left photo represents Prezi's zoom feature. This feature affords you the ability to see specific paths up close. Here minor details such as spacing can be quickly corrected.
Finally, the bottom right screen shot represents the Prezi help window feature. I found this attribute to be the most useful and efficient in discovering all that Prezi can do to enhance your presentation.
Navigating my way through this assignment, I have experienced a range of emotions. In the beginning, I felt completely lost, as if I had no GPS. I had an idea of what the final destination was supposed to resemble, but with no GPS, I was left to flip and fumble through Hubbard's book, How to Measure ANYTHING. The concepts on page after page might as well been written in a foreign language as I could not decipher any of its content. After reading the first three chapters several times, I was able to statistically conclude, with absolute certainty, that on a scale of 1 to 10, (10 meaning I completely understand how the concepts in Hubbard's book relate to assessing my digital learning initiative) that I am a 4.8 + or - 0.2. Things were starting to look up.
Trudging forward, at a snail's pace, I gained the most clarity from Chapter 8 titled, Transitioning From What to Measure to How to Measure. From this point on, I experienced several "ah-ha" moments in relation to measurement. With each moment, I had smoothed out the proverbial "road map" and was more confident in my direction.
It is here that my 1:1 story began to unfold. From my own experience, I methodically addressed the issues plaguing a district with a stalled out 1:1 technology initiative. Using my newly acquired measurement skills, I came up with achievable solutions and formulated a plan to get our technology efforts back on track.
My week three efforts to assess digital learning have brought me to an unexpected but great place on my journey to becoming a digital leader. While I did struggle to produce a final product worthy of presenting to my district administration, I truly enjoyed the process. When the time comes to get our 1:1 initiative going again, whether I'm behind the wheel or in the passenger's seat, I will confidently keep my eyes focused on the road to success.
Trudging forward, at a snail's pace, I gained the most clarity from Chapter 8 titled, Transitioning From What to Measure to How to Measure. From this point on, I experienced several "ah-ha" moments in relation to measurement. With each moment, I had smoothed out the proverbial "road map" and was more confident in my direction.
It is here that my 1:1 story began to unfold. From my own experience, I methodically addressed the issues plaguing a district with a stalled out 1:1 technology initiative. Using my newly acquired measurement skills, I came up with achievable solutions and formulated a plan to get our technology efforts back on track.
My week three efforts to assess digital learning have brought me to an unexpected but great place on my journey to becoming a digital leader. While I did struggle to produce a final product worthy of presenting to my district administration, I truly enjoyed the process. When the time comes to get our 1:1 initiative going again, whether I'm behind the wheel or in the passenger's seat, I will confidently keep my eyes focused on the road to success.
You are here.
Let's face it...we have all been to the mall or an amusement park and at some point felt lost. Did you sit down and cry with your head in your hands? Did you walk around aimlessly hoping a stranger would take pity on you and offer to help? Chances are you were smart enough to seek out the one thing that could quickly get you back on track...the huge illuminated property map shining like a beacon in the night. Hallelujah! You can almost hear a choir of angels singing as you rush to the map and locate the big red dot proclaiming "YOU ARE HERE".
As in anything in life, knowing where you are makes it a whole lot easier to get to where you are going. In the first two weeks of EDLD 5315, Assessing Digital Learning, I found myself sitting at the kitchen island with my head in my hands not knowing which direction to move. We were asked to look back at our disruptive innovation plan from a previous course and measure the impact and success of our plan on our learning environment. Okay, my red dot had appeared, but it was still a little out of focus. Through many valuable peer discussions on exactly what to measure, how to measure it and why we were measuring it, my red dot became quite clear. I knew exactly where I was and where I needed to end up on this journey to becoming a digital leader and learner.
With Hubbard's book, How to Measure Anything, in hand, I set off to quantify any uncertainty, compute the value of reducing that uncertainty by measurement and then apply these methods to assessing digital learning environments.
My initial plan focused on how to get stalled out 1:1 initiatives back on the road to success. Through much research, I pinpointed the factors detrimental to technology integration. While the devices themselves were viewed as enormous roadblocks in most initiatives, overwhelming evidence pointed to the teachers having the most impact on the success or failure of 1:1 initiatives.
In a previous blog post, I submitted a plan that addressed the issue of how to get more teachers using their district device for personal and professional productivity. This was a great place to start, but something was preventing my plan from moving forward. I got so caught up in all the ways teachers could use their devices, that I neglected to connect the device usage to the learning. My revised Prezi below expands on the vital connections needed between teaching and learning.
As in anything in life, knowing where you are makes it a whole lot easier to get to where you are going. In the first two weeks of EDLD 5315, Assessing Digital Learning, I found myself sitting at the kitchen island with my head in my hands not knowing which direction to move. We were asked to look back at our disruptive innovation plan from a previous course and measure the impact and success of our plan on our learning environment. Okay, my red dot had appeared, but it was still a little out of focus. Through many valuable peer discussions on exactly what to measure, how to measure it and why we were measuring it, my red dot became quite clear. I knew exactly where I was and where I needed to end up on this journey to becoming a digital leader and learner.
With Hubbard's book, How to Measure Anything, in hand, I set off to quantify any uncertainty, compute the value of reducing that uncertainty by measurement and then apply these methods to assessing digital learning environments.
My initial plan focused on how to get stalled out 1:1 initiatives back on the road to success. Through much research, I pinpointed the factors detrimental to technology integration. While the devices themselves were viewed as enormous roadblocks in most initiatives, overwhelming evidence pointed to the teachers having the most impact on the success or failure of 1:1 initiatives.
In a previous blog post, I submitted a plan that addressed the issue of how to get more teachers using their district device for personal and professional productivity. This was a great place to start, but something was preventing my plan from moving forward. I got so caught up in all the ways teachers could use their devices, that I neglected to connect the device usage to the learning. My revised Prezi below expands on the vital connections needed between teaching and learning.
Week 4 of EDLD 5315, brought about one of my biggest challenges...a literature review. Although I felt extremely overwhelmed at times during this week, I never felt completely alone in the process. I found the sharing of articles and collaboration with my peers to be the most beneficial in identifying the proper resources to review. Below, is a revised copy of my literature review. I added more articles to be sure the technology connection to learning was properly made.
collins_edld_5315_literature_review.docx | |
File Size: | 27 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Week 5 of EDLD 5315 was not without its challenges as well. However, these challenges came more in the form of travel constraints rather than course work. On a plane traveling from Houston to Denver, I took the time to view the weekly video assignments. As I quietly viewed the videos, I noticed a very well dressed man sitting across the aisle studying what appeared to me as a rather in depth report. I had Hubbard's book out on the tray table. The man acknowledged the book and told me he was a patent attorney headed to Colorado for a business meeting.
A very nice conversation ensued about the level of measurement skills needed to decipher patent drafts. Asking the right questions about a product helps the attorney navigate for clients the tricky path to obtaining a patent. A special knowledge is needed to understand the scientific and technical documents related to the field. I never realized the learning curve for a patent lawyer was so steep, but it makes sense that as technology rapidly advances inventions become increasingly more complex.
Our conversation about measurement skills led into a discussion about skills in general. The attorney definitely agreed that students are rarely equipped with the communication and analysis skills needed to be a standout in today's highly competitive corporate world. What a great and unexpected way to pass the time on a very bumpy flight.
Although my attorney friend did not watch the videos, I did ask him what was the most important skill or skills that our students lack. I followed that up with the question, "why" do you think communication and analysis skills are the most lacking? He blamed it on students not having the soft skills needed to be successful and not being problem solvers. I was like...are you sure you haven't seen these videos before? Most of us agree that this generation lacks in skills. However, it would be interesting to ask professionals of all types to give their elevator speech on "why" this occurs so frequently.
Hubbard says that anything can be measured. After 5 weeks of assessing digital learning and much speculation, I am becoming a believer of this concept. Starting off any measurement by asking the right questions makes the impossible possible and if you learned a little more than you knew before then consider it a successful measurement.
Early on in this course, we were asked to describe how a business book relates to education. At first, I was on the fence in my opinions. Now, I can definitely see how valuable Hubbard's book is to me as an educator, instructional coach and overall pretty cool human being. I believe the key to connecting our learning in this course goes back to understanding the fundamentals of learning and measuring. It is here in their symbiotic relationship that we can see how one benefits the other and vice versa.
In forming my plan and finding ways to measure my plan, I temporarily lost sight of the importance in connecting my plan to learning. I am happy to report that after much valuable feedback from you all, I have found my red dot, the balance between measurement and learning. Knowing exactly where I am is a great place to rest for now on my journey to becoming a digital leader.
A very nice conversation ensued about the level of measurement skills needed to decipher patent drafts. Asking the right questions about a product helps the attorney navigate for clients the tricky path to obtaining a patent. A special knowledge is needed to understand the scientific and technical documents related to the field. I never realized the learning curve for a patent lawyer was so steep, but it makes sense that as technology rapidly advances inventions become increasingly more complex.
Our conversation about measurement skills led into a discussion about skills in general. The attorney definitely agreed that students are rarely equipped with the communication and analysis skills needed to be a standout in today's highly competitive corporate world. What a great and unexpected way to pass the time on a very bumpy flight.
Although my attorney friend did not watch the videos, I did ask him what was the most important skill or skills that our students lack. I followed that up with the question, "why" do you think communication and analysis skills are the most lacking? He blamed it on students not having the soft skills needed to be successful and not being problem solvers. I was like...are you sure you haven't seen these videos before? Most of us agree that this generation lacks in skills. However, it would be interesting to ask professionals of all types to give their elevator speech on "why" this occurs so frequently.
Hubbard says that anything can be measured. After 5 weeks of assessing digital learning and much speculation, I am becoming a believer of this concept. Starting off any measurement by asking the right questions makes the impossible possible and if you learned a little more than you knew before then consider it a successful measurement.
Early on in this course, we were asked to describe how a business book relates to education. At first, I was on the fence in my opinions. Now, I can definitely see how valuable Hubbard's book is to me as an educator, instructional coach and overall pretty cool human being. I believe the key to connecting our learning in this course goes back to understanding the fundamentals of learning and measuring. It is here in their symbiotic relationship that we can see how one benefits the other and vice versa.
In forming my plan and finding ways to measure my plan, I temporarily lost sight of the importance in connecting my plan to learning. I am happy to report that after much valuable feedback from you all, I have found my red dot, the balance between measurement and learning. Knowing exactly where I am is a great place to rest for now on my journey to becoming a digital leader.
References
Calhoun, E. F. (1994). How To Use Action Research in the Self-Renewing School.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1250 N. Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1453 (Stock No. 1-94030, $6.95).
Collins, M. (2016, June 16). Back on the Road to Success [Digital Presentation].
Retrieved June 16, 2016, from https://prezi.com/n-widxcc3j3t/back-on-the-road-to-success/#
Stansbury, M. (2010). One-to-one computing programs only as effective as their teachers. eSchool News.
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1250 N. Pitt Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-1453 (Stock No. 1-94030, $6.95).
Collins, M. (2016, June 16). Back on the Road to Success [Digital Presentation].
Retrieved June 16, 2016, from https://prezi.com/n-widxcc3j3t/back-on-the-road-to-success/#
Stansbury, M. (2010). One-to-one computing programs only as effective as their teachers. eSchool News.