Beginning with a Commodore 64, at the age of 8, technology has always been a part of my life. Growing up, I taught myself what a computer was and how to use it all at the same time. Luckily, my love for technology has stayed with me into adulthood. The older I get, the more I realize that technology makes a pretty good friend because it never goes away and it always gets better.
Having a great relationship with technology helped me to make one of the best career decisions of my life. After 10 years of teaching junior high, I was ready for a new challenge. I decided I would pursue my Masters, but in what? I had no desire to be a principal or an assistant principal. I did not want to waste time and money on a degree I would never use. With that thought in mind, I put my goal on hold and continued on my path feeling blessed that I "get to" do what I love. My love is teaching a college readiness course called AVID. AVID prides itself on teaching organization through the use of a traditional three-ring binder. However, with so many digital resources focused on organization, the paper and pen method is quickly becoming obsolete. AVID recognized that to better prepare students for life in technology rich society, the traditional binder must give way to the eBinder. Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time when I was approached by my district to pilot the use of Microsoft Classroom. Not long after that, I was instrumental in partnering representatives from AVID with ones from Microsoft OneNote to begin the transition. It was at the annual AVID National Conference that the head of AVID's educational technology department asked me what I wanted for my future. I said I really wanted my Masters but did not want it in administration. He suggested that with my current tech knowledge and skills, I should check into a Masters program in Educational Technology. While I believe the AVID and Microsoft people entered into my life at the perfect time to start me on this amazing journey, it was the professors and my cohort colleagues that carried me through to the end. Having the constant support of a professional learning community helped me to feel comfortable expressing my voice throughout the entire DLL program. Making lifelong connections with like-minded people is truly a priceless resource. Reflecting on the highs and lows, all I can say is what a great roller coaster ride it has been. There were times when I felt the DLL program had pushed me to my breaking point, but...it really wasn't. It was my ownership point! The lows I experienced were out of fear of failure. Often, I would procrastinate on the assignments that made the most uncomfortable, but once I owned the assignment, the ideas began to flow. Discovering that I had choice, ownership, voice and authenticity in my learning changed my outlook on everything. I was beginning to live up to the theme of my DLL life by fearlessly learning to lead. I completely trusted the process. In turn, allowing me to produce many quality products. How I felt throughout the process can be summed up in one phrase: The DLL program shows you where to look, but it does not tell you what to see. From start to finish, my professors and colleagues led me in the right directions, but it was up to me to gather the knowledge and apply it to real world learning. Throughout the DLL program, the highs have always come in the form of the products I created. Beginning assignments with the most comfortable media platforms, such as Powerpoint, quickly gave way to more advanced outlets like Prezi, emaze and Powtoon. The DLL program gave me the confidence to coach myself through the unfamiliar. I was empowered with the freedom to choose my digital resources, engaged in owning my learning, expressive with my voice and enriched by my authentic professional and personal connections. One of my favorite highs was the creation of an online course through the use of Schoology. My district took notice of my course and will be including it in next year's online professional development credits. My second favorite accomplishment was the development of a plan for innovation. In the future, my goal is to implement my plan for blended learning school wide and district wide. I am poised to appeal to the hearts of the resisters and eager for lead their minds in the right direction. Looking back on what worked and what I could have done better, trusting in the process is what I found to work best. In every course, I tried to keep the big picture in mind and not get bogged down in the details. I tried to step out of my comfort zone to try new media platforms, instead of always relying on my go-to, safe digital resources. Trusting in the process helped me most in my scholarly writing. I never dreamed that my writing would progress enough to attempt a submission for publication. Could I have done some things differently...sure. I wish I would have sought more feedback from my colleagues. Mostly, I shared my work with my peers out of compliance. It was not until the last few courses that I realized the value of collaboration, even if my cohort members were worlds away in distance. I let the one thing I was seeking the most, building relational capacity with technology, become one of my biggest hindrances. Mistakes aside, I have learned countless lessons from my time in the DLL program. They seem to come in thee form of mantras. Some of my favorites include: Model, Model, Model Be Less Prescriptive Become a Catalyst for Change Learn by Doing "If we teach today's students as we did yesterdays, we rob them of tomorrow."---Dewey Culture is what you allow The Power of Yet COVA Holy Crow! and my all time favorite...The head won't go where the heart hasn't been! For me, the head and the heart mantra resonated the loudest. It is one that will stay with me and help to influence my approach to leading organizational change or for that matter, any type of change. As of now, all my hard work in the DLL program is paying off. Currently, I am not at liberty to reveal the details, but I promise you the chance I have been presented ranks as once in a lifetime status. All I can say is that if everything goes as planned, I will have the ability to teach in a technology-rich environment where I can put COVA to use everyday. I will be able to immediately apply my DLL knowledge to create more opportunities for significant learning. I feel like I need a year to decompress from the demands of being an educator, instructional coach, AVID District Director and Staff Developer before I begin my next journey. I plan to continue my studies in Educational Technology through the Lamar University Doctorate program. Knowing that I will have my DLL professors as my support system, made that decision a no-brainer. As I sit here only hours until I walk across that graduation stage, I can say with the utmost of confidence that my DLL journey has been one of the best in my entire life. I am so ready to take ALL I have learned and PAY IT FORWARD! Reaching My Escape Velocity
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WOW, my time as a Digital Learner and Leader has definitely gone by in the blink of an eye. As I stand on my combined summit of EDLD 5317 and EDLD 5320, I look out over the vast terrain covering the last 18 months and I feel nothing but pride and accomplishment. Although my technology landscape definitely had its peaks and valleys, COVA gave me the confidence to navigate even the toughest of grounds. Week 1 of 5317 started off without hesitation by asking us to consider the impact of current and future trends on educational technology. In evaluating this impact, I instantly turn to the use of social media in the classroom. As technology advances in the real world, teachers are all but forced to use technology to bring in and keep up with the real world inside the classroom. Incorporating blogs, podcasts, presentations with voice overs, eBinders and even ePortfolios are becoming standard applications to enhance traditional curriculum. Students are entering classrooms as digital natives with more experience than most teachers when it comes to technology use. Today's students expect the teacher to meet their learning needs through the use of various technology platforms, but are teacher's just using technology for technology's sake? If there is one thing I have learned from the DLL program, it is to always connect the technology to the learning. When this behavior is modeled by the teacher than the student has more opportunities for an authentic learning experience. For me, collaboration is the key to providing quality, authentic social learning. Dr. Richard J. Light (Harvard School of Education) conducted a study that found student participants who work in groups, even once a week, were more engaged in their studies, were better prepared for class, and learned significantly more than students who worked on their own (Tomaszewski, 2012). Dr. Light's findings promote the benefits of using social media tools for collaboration both inside and out of the classroom setting. Simply using a common hashtag can connect students to global social learning perspectives anytime and anywhere. Imagine participating in a virtual study group via Twitter. The possibilities of social learning are endless. However, everyone involved in social collaboration activities must be mindful of acceptable use policies and good digital citizenship practices. I support learning in my classroom by using several technology platforms to make authentic connections. In the AVID college readiness elective, we have transitioned from a traditional 3 ring binder to an eBinder through the use of Microsoft OneNote. OneNote provides several opportunities for collaboration. Namely, OneNote has a Collaboration Space section that serves as a built-in back channel for teacher and student communication purposes. We also use PlayPosit, a tool to integrate inquiry to any Youtube video. Schoology has also positively impacted the blending of our AVID curriculum with technology. I have experimented with my students using PowToon. We definitely need more play time to produce our best PowToon work. I have successfully moved my students away from the standard PowerPoint presentations and more towards Prezi with voiceovers. We love Remind as a form of class collaboration along with the coolest app ever...QUIK. QUIK is a video production app that allows you to create short video productions simply from the pictures and video on your phone. I document our activities and field trips, produce these videos and promote a college going culture within a matter of minutes. Note of caution: I always make sure my students sign a district media release before I include them in any photos or videos. All in all, I definitely believe social learning is becoming the new norm for teachers and students everywhere. In surveying my technology landscape, I realize how conquering the various digital resources has empowered me and inspired me to empower others. The following emaze presentation serves as a reflection on the past, present and future impact of technology on my life. As you can see, the positive impact of technology on my life is immeasurable. It is funny to feel this way after learning a long time ago in another EDLD course that you can measure ANYTHING. At least one thing I know for sure, when it comes to measurement...what gets measured gets done. Along with "What Gets Measured Gets Done", I have come across many mantras on my DLL journey. Some of my favorites include: Less Prescriptive, Always Connect the Technology to the Learning and The Head Won't Go Where the Heart Hasn't Been. As an instructional coach, The Head Won't Go Where the Heart Hasn't Been resonates louder than any other when I set out to lead organizational change. Trying to get technology apathetic resisters on board is one of the hardest parts of my job. However, armed with the knowledge from the DLL program, I know to first appeal to a person's emotions before their brain follows with the logic. While this leg of my DLL journey is only one week old, I am excited to see where the final four will take me as I attempt to publish my first article in a scholarly journal. Sticking with what my heart knows best, I plan to address how using Microsoft OneNote to transition traditional AVID college readiness 3-ring binders to eBinders helps to promote more opportunities for authentic learning. My heart is definitely in the right place. So, stay tuned for how my head will follow. Tomaszewski, J. (n.d.). Study Suggests Benefits of Social Media in the Classroom. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/study-suggests-social-media-has-place-in-classrooms.shtml In education circles, it is often said that teachers who are leaders wear many different hats. Over the last five weeks, I have been challenged to don several unique chapeaus, each with their own specific purpose for helping to create more significant learning environments. Week 1 of EDLD 5318 provided the opportunity to explore different learning theories before deciding which one best fit our teaching style. I tried on hats related to Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Connectivism before deciding that I looked exceptionally good in a Constructivism hard hat. So, with my hard hat, a great theory tool belt and neon orange vest, I set out to develop an online course using the learning management system Schoology. My online course is designed to assist teachers in creating significant learning environments through the use of Microsoft OneNote. Constructivist learning theory is based off of the concept that learning is an active process. Learners draw from their prior knowledge to build on new learning experiences. Constructive teaching methods include a wealth of opportunities for scholars to express themselves through Socratic open dialogue discussions that compel the learner to think about their thinking. It was here, very early in week 1, that I realized my favorite hat to wear and the one I wear most often is the definition of constructivist learning at its finest...my AVID hat! AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a college readiness elective that prides itself in preparing ALL students for success in a global society. AVID is the epitome of Constructivism, setting goals for student success, arming students with 21st century skills and above all knowing how to manage and apply all types of knowledge. AVID is by far my favorite hat to wear because I have the pleasure of teaching the AVID elective, supporting over 16 AVID campuses as an instructional coach and working for AVID in the summer as a nationally trained staff developer. When deciding on the best ways to implement constructivist learning theories into my online course, I had to look no further than AVID as it embodies all things active learning. Once, I discovered the multiple correlations among Constructivism and AVID, it was hard for me in the remaining four weeks to encompass other learning theories. Every week going forward, I found myself wanting to easily sum up all of the answers in one mic-drop acronym...AVID! I was completely okay with that realization because I firmly believe that AVID is how we do school right! For more information on how AVID can help your district do school right, check out www.avid.org In the weeks to follow, I began to build my course using the principles found in Constructivism, AVID and a familiar concept known as Understanding by Design. Introducing UbD to my online course allowed me to further develop the foundations of critical thinking, problem solving and real world connections firmly put in place by AVID. UbD helped me to scaffold the learning in a way that makes it easy for learners of all levels to comprehend. All lessons in my course were designed with the "why" and "how" in mind giving every module intent and purpose. Throughout this course, I discovered many enduring take-aways that I will most certainly incorporate into my teaching and instructional coaching. However, there is one constant that I want to make every educator who comes in contact with AVID aware. The AVID System does not add more to your plate. It simply takes all the good routines that are already there and makes them more intentional. When educators and scholars embrace these benefits the possibilities for success are endless. It is my sincere hope that through the use of UbD, scholars who complete my online course can and will transfer their new found knowledge to their peers who in turn continue the cycle of creating amazing learning opportunities for all. Click on the links below for more valuable info on the resources used in designing this course:www.avid.org - AVID website for ALL things college readiness and beyond
docs.com/avidforonenote - Download the Microsoft OneNote AVID eBinder Starter Kit www.onenoteforteachers.com - Microsoft website dedicated to meeting educator's technology needs summitps.org - Comprehensive online core curriculum designed around the Project Based Learning concept www.schoology.com - Learning Management System focused on collaboration as the heart of learning www.playposit.com - Helps educators and scholars transform ordinary videos into digital assessment tools todaysmeet.com - Backchannel used to enhance and manage engaging digital discussions that empower the learner www.teachable.com - Digital platform used to create and sell beautiful online courses When given the task in week 4 of turning traditional courses into online courses, I found it very difficult to only identify two existing school courses that could be redesigned. My research led me to conclude that with the right blend of technology, every traditional course could be tweaked and then easily transitioned to an online format.
Next school year, at the seventh grade level, my district is moving ten intermediate campuses to the Summit Public Schools model. Summit Public Schools model is an entire core curriculum designed around project based learning. I am excited to work closely with the campuses to integrate the AVID system into their model. Teaming AVID with Summit Public Schools is a dynamic move that will certainly help to create highly significant learning environments district wide. Check out the following websites for more info on both the AVID System and Summit Public Schools model: www.avid.org and http://summitps.org/ Since the Summit Public Schools model has already transformed core curriculum into online learning, I decided to place my focus on two elective courses that are heavy on textual information. Texas History is a seventh grade elective required by most junior high schools in Texas. Being a history class, it relies heavily on printed content. Textbooks, worksheets, maps and journals seem to dominate the Texas History curriculum. In observing several Texas History classes, I found most teachers and students to be drowning in a sea of paper. This fact alone is a primary reason why Texas History could benefit from a course redesign. Just as Texas History is an elective loaded with printed content, so is the Health elective. In Texas, Health is offered to all freshmen and most eighth graders for high school credit. By moving Health to an online format, students are able to free up space in their schedules to take other campus housed courses. The digital possibilities are endless when you infuse technology into a text based curriculum. Textbooks can now be accessed online along with a variety of digital content alternatives. With the introduction of Microsoft OneNote, classrooms can become as paperless as they need to be relieving the need for copying stacks of worksheets. Journaling can be taken to the next level with the integration of digital discussion boards and Backchannel forums such as TodaysMeet. These collaborative discussion avenues empower students to discover and express their authentic learning voice. Perhaps the best tools used in online learning are videos. Through applications such as PlayPosit, most videos can be easily turned into digital assessments further engaging the learner and assuring course accountability. As a digital learner and leader, I am thrilled for the opportunity to tweak the process. In doing so, I have definitely gained the knowledge and confidence needed to transform traditional courses into technology rich super courses in my district and beyond. It is week 3 of EDLD 5318: Instructional Design and I find myself in unfamiliar surroundings. Where am I? How did I get here? Where am I going? Those are just a few of the questions I hope to answer in this post. Where am I? I am completely finished designing my online course. How did I get here? By quieting the noise and distractions in my life such as social media, I was able to focus a large amount of time on completing my assignment. Where am I going? I plan to use this next week tweaking the media in my course to include interactive video assessments. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a dweller. For those of you who do not know me, allow me to introduce myself...Hi, I'm Brandi and I'm a dweller. Now don't get me wrong. I do not hang out in shady underground places. I am not that kind of dweller. Simply put, I tend to overthink and discuss things at length. In week 2, a question was raised regarding the purpose and necessity of lecture in the digital age. More specifically, when are lectures appropriate and how can they best be used? Being the dweller that I am, the answers to these questions have been looking for places to fit in my mind for over a week now. Our week 2 discussion began by viewing the video, "Amazing Method of Teaching". Amazing method of teaching - very creative teacher (2:57) Published by: DZ English Added: 10.03.2012 YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cn4RTbNE0M In watching the first video for discussion, "Amazing Method of Teaching", my mind immediately went here. Jurassic Park cloning video. (2010, October 13). Retrieved February 03, 2017, from https://youtu.be/iMsJe3TymqY As soon as the video started, I had the feeling I had seen this method of teaching somewhere before. Of course it was the 1993 version of video lecture and my how times have changed. Although, each video was and is highly effective for its time. When we think about lectures in the digital age, I would be remiss if I did not relate my own experiences with lecture happy college professors. I teach a college readiness elective called AVID. Often, I find myself discussing with my students the importance of note taking. I emphasize this importance by telling a story from my college days of when I sat in a full auditorium style lecture hall and the History professor walked in, set his coffee cup down and began lecturing for the longest hour of my life. Within the first five minutes, the room cleared out to almost ghost town status. I tell this story to my students in hopes that they will understand the value in good note taking but I realized I am telling a somewhat extinct version of the college lecture. Because of where we are with lectures in the digital age, most of my students will not have the same college lecture experience as I did. That makes me a little sad because I believe every college kid needs a small dose of the "Bueller....Bueller....style of college professor to help with applying their organization and problem solving skills to make it through the entire course. Even with the advances in technology, lectures are still the main form of educational delivery. I thought it was interesting that Dr. Tony Bates claims in his book, Teaching in the Digital Age, that one reason for the persistence in lectures is that some professors consider themselves to be experts in delivering the oral tradition of teaching and learning. The book even went so far as to claim that it is very satisfying for these experts to have the ear of a captive audience. So what is the future for lectures in the digital age? Dr. Bates claims that lectures are likely to dominate for ten more years. I was having a discussion with a colleague the other day about technology apathetic teachers. The question we raised is how long do we have to wait for them to retire so the new crop of teachers who are "digital natives" can take over learning and infuse it with technology? Do you think this time frame of 10 years until a new crop of tech savvy teachers emerge is realistic? or Will lectures steeped in oratory tradition always find a way? Jurassic Park 3D Movie CLIP - Life Finds A Way (1993) - Steven Spielberg Movie HD. (2013, March 22). Retrieved February 03, 2017, from https://youtu.be/ZnczJcY1Xe8 In week 2 of EDLD 5318 Instructional Design, a major theme seemed to resonate louder than ever before and in my every move. That continuous, booming and ear piercing sound unfortunately was not coming from my new JayBird wireless headphones. It was the sound of cognitive overload taking over my life. Cognitive overload can be defined as a situation where a person is given too much information or too many tasks to learn simultaneously, resulting in the learner being unable to process this information. The task at hand is to design an online course using the Learning Management System of our choice. Seems easy right? Not so fast Kemosabe! Allow me to set the scene for the kind of week I just experienced. On Mondays, our very large cohort of talented educators and professionals meet to discuss the week ahead. While the meetings are highly informative and helpful, I sometimes find myself leaving the meeting with more questions than I had at the beginning. However, having questions is not always a bad thing. Remember what Clayton Christensen says about inquiry. He believes that questions are places in your mind where answers fit and if you haven't asked the question, the answer has no where to go. So with Monday evening class behind me, I set out to conquer the world or at least do the following: ask and answer discussion questions, reteach myself how to use my LMS of choice...Schoology, drive a school bus full of kids on a 350 mile round trip journey to tour the campus of Texas A&M, teaching my classes, coaching other teachers, grocery shopping, cleaning house, cooking supper, getting over walking pneumonia and a 24 hour stomach bug...it was only Wednesday. Needless to say, I was officially deep in the throes of cognitive overload. Or was I? A majority of these tasks, such as driving the school bus to College Station for field trips, grocery shopping, cooking and even sickness were tasks I had no problem mastering. Why? Because as taxing as they all were on my body, I had routinely completed them all before. If I am so familiar with accomplishing these tasks, what was still taxing my mind? A very good question to ask at this point and it did not take very long for the answer to fit like a glove in a place called Cognitive Capacity Land. When I took on the task of creating an online course in Schoology, I jumped into a place that was somewhat familiar. I knew a little bit about Schoology from being compliant with my school district's requirement that every teacher set up a Schoology account. Now, by creating an online course, I was faced with using Schoology in an entirely new and unfamiliar context. In retrospect, it was not so much that I was in full cognitive overload as much as I was operating at full cognitive capacity. Something had to give because someone was about to give up. Enter in Simon Sinek's talk on Millennials in the Workplace. This talk made me realize that in order to complete the task of creating an online course, I had to stop doing some of the other things that were weighing down my cognitive load. When stress presented itself in the form of designing an online course, I coped by turning to Facebook for hours at a time. After listening to Simon Sinek speak on the importance of quieting the noise in your life. I believe as Simon does that there is nothing wrong with social media. It is the capacity stealing imbalance of use that causes all the problems. With a new perspective on productivity killing social media, I decided to give myself back the gift of time by deactivating my Facebook and Twitter accounts Monday through Friday and Sunday. This leaves me only looking forward to...Social Media Saturdays! I thought I would miss it, but I can honestly say after day two I did not. I was able to quiet the noise in my head that contributed to filling my cognitive capacity. By getting rid of social media, I freed up space in my mind to actually think for myself, to wonder, to create and to innovate. I was able to free up so much space that once I got going, I completely designed and built my entire five week online course in the span of ten hours on Saturday. Yes, that's right, on Social Media Saturday, I was taking advantage of my new found creative flow and accomplished 100% of an assignment that only called for 50% completion by the end of this week. I did not even log onto Facebook until 10:00pm that evening and never even thought about checking Twitter. As I wrap up one of my most introspective weeks in the Digital Learning and Leading program, I can say with confidence that the process is in full effect and I am loving it! Simon Sinek - Millennials in the Workplace. (2016, December 28). Retrieved February 03, 2017, from https://youtu.be/5MC2X-LRbkE
Welcome to week 3 of EDLD 5388, which is technically week 4. Sounds a little confusing? Yes, it is. Even all the more reason for me to get my ducks in a row as tomorrow begins week 5. This week presented us with the challenge of designing a plan to move our districts away from Sit & Get PL and towards the better alternative of Go & Show PL. The plan consisted of a BHAG, Big Hairy Audacious Goal, and a three column table outlining our plan.
The BHAG is to teach teachers how to create significant learning environments through the proper use of PL. The six little ducklings I had to line up were named: Foundational Knowledge, Application, Integration, Human Dimensions, Caring and Learning How to Learn. Just like any mother with six kids or ducks, you are not supposed to have favorites. So, if you asked me the question, "In planning your three column table, which kind of learning do you like the best?" My mom answer would be the standard, "I love them all the same." However, when you have that rare moment to snuggle up to one of your biological kids or ducks without the other five hanging around, I would whisper in Human Dimension's ear, "Don't tell the flock, but Mommy loves you the best! I believe that Human Dimension is a truly significant factor in creating any meaningful learning environment. Most of the time, learners get caught up in the details of a producing quality work. Don't get me wrong, quality work is always a desirable outcome, but not when the product becomes more important than the process. When assigning any project, I want my students to learn about themselves almost more than I want them to master the content. A student who embraces the human dimension of their learning has a sense of ownership in their work. This feeling of ownership allows for greater meaning in ALL learning experiences. Just as I want this deeper learning for my students, I want the same for teachers and administrators as they follow my plan for creating significant learning environments through the use of effective PL. No matter how significant of a leader you are, a few ducks will always fall behind or get out of line, but just as in any family you need the ongoing support of the others to help keep all of your ducks in a row and moving forward.
WOW! What a long and much needed rest stop on my road to creating significant learning environments. This post finds me three weeks in to one of my favorite classes thus far, EDLD 5388 Special Topics: Technology and Professional Learning. In this course, we were asked to examine the antiquated methods "behind" the Sit & Get professional learning model (behind...sit, see what I did there) and compare them to those of the new Go & Show model of professional learning.
The differences in the two models were immediately apparent. The Sit & Get style of professional development is every thing districts should NOT be doing when it comes to training their teachers, while the Go & Show PL model with its five easy principles is revolutionizing staff development as we know it. Even though the positive results of Go & Show PL are proven by many studies, school districts are still reluctant to break the old mold of Sit & Get instruction. This week 3 assignment is a call to action for district administrators to STAND UP and MOVE towards implementing the highly effective Go & Show PL model. You might be wondering in what ways is the Go & Show model highly effective. Let me be the first to tell you, the possibilities with G&S are endless, but the experts have narrowed down the top five most effective components of Go & Show PL. Here they are in a semi-particular order: duration, support, engaging, modeling and content driven. I say semi-particular order because duration and support are the true keys to the success of the model. Without first giving a significant and continuous amount of time to becoming the best learners of new information we can be, the ideas spawned in professional development go back to our teacher's desk to pile up and die. It is during the implementation of this new learning when ongoing support becomes the go-to principle to conquer any challenge. Principles three through five have valuable spots in the order. Engagement is great for fostering learning by doing. Modeling is crucial in helping teachers and students understand a new practice and content is always specific and grade level appropriate to the learner. Currently, I am in the beginning stages of trying to convince my district to say goodbye to Sit & Get PL and welcome in the new era of Go & Show PL. I have prepared a presentation using Microsoft Sway calling all administrators and teachers to open their hearts and minds to professional development done right.
I have also created a one-pager to go along with my Sway presentation to further turn up the volume on my call to action.
I believe with my presentation and one-pager, I have begun to the answer the question of why Sit & Get professional learning got up and went. And why...it needs to stay gone.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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. 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. |
AuthorMadeline Brandi Collins is a Louisiana girl through and through. Raised by her beloved Maw Maw and namesake, she moved to Texas 13 years ago to pursue a career in education which proved to be one of the best decisions EVER!
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