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.
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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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May 2017
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