Technology Portfolios:
The Next Exit Outcome


Now, I know there is never truly a new idea. I also realize that if educational change is going to occur, or we are going to expedite change, we may have to alter, increase, or simply redefine the exit outcomes, high school seniors will be required to fulfill before graduation. Why not then create some portfolio that illustrates the student's growth of technology and literacy. Imagine, every single student, in every single class, would have to construct a collection, illustrating literacy utilizing the web. This collection, transferring from year to year, would become a representation of that student's literary and technological growth.

For example, students exiting my A.P. European History class, would have to develop a blog and personal wiki, utilizing information gathered from their delicious account and that account's subscriptions, interject quotes from other blogs, wikis, articles, or sources, using diigo. They would also have to assist in the construction of a class wiki, leaving comments on a class blog, while collaborating online using vyew (online whiteboard), and sharing their delicious account with all their classmates. Talk about higher order thinking with a literary focus, in a dynamic and engaging environment.

Building Initiatives, or Building Initiatives?
Nobody Ever Washes a Rental

Have I mentioned that I am part of a district wide initiative to introduce web-based technologies to enhance student literacy? I was recently asked to discuss these building initiatives with my fellow teachers in an upcoming professional development day at the end of January, thus the title. I am never as secure discussing ideas of change amongst a group of my peers as I am amongst my students, or even the parents of my students. Probably because of the false perception often associated with any form of change, especially when the concept of change is presented by a peer. I thought I would share some observations and thoughts with you as I prepare for this session. Models of professional organization often operate with a stigma of poor communication of vision and objectives between administration and teacher, a structured framework that pigeon holes individuals into a set of guidelines that constricts creativity and ownership, a litany of false perceptions that construct the mount Everest of roadblocks, and the inherent failure most often associated with the principles of change, recognizing past practices (best-past practices) continue to have value, and may only need to evolve with the times. We have all been there, sitting usually in some auditorium environment with industrial colors, having individuals, usually with a power point, discuss some new idea of change, exclaiming "if you are not onboard the train, you will be left behind." Talk about the art of de-motivation. The sad thing is, when first told that I would lead a portion of the upcoming staff development day, I began to prepare a 28 slide power point presentation. What is the problem with presenters, why do we often forget how it feels to sit in as the audience? Scratch the power point.Recently, I was traveling back from New Jersey, driving a rented brand new 2007 Toyota Sienna mini-van, listening to Bob Seager's "Roll Me Away", this was sadly cool to me (mind you I have four kids). While driving, I could not help but think how I would treat such an outstanding piece of Japanese technology if it were mine. I would bath it once a week, wax it seasonally, and even place carpets inside, during the winter months, to preserve the beige carpets. However, for the time being, I was beating on this fine piece of machinery, realizing it is a rental and nobody ever washes a rental. The same holds true for change, especially in education. How can education overcome stigmas and preconceived notions, which have rendered educational change ineffective, initiative after initiative? How can educational administrators motivate teachers to thirst for innovation? How can professionals, many of which have been teaching as long as I, if not longer, am expected to buy into any form of change? Maybe it's as simple as ownership and I am talking real ownership.

Ownership that throws out traditional frameworks and planning structures allowing for individual learning styles, learning curves, and creativity. Staff development that is planned and exercised by the staff. Staff development that constructs open forum discussions, supported by best practice sharing, along with tutorial guidance, and information sharing. Professionals whose involvement will give them value and equity in the direction of education.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Learning Manifesto

Christian Long brings me back to my immigrant roots.

think:lab: "The Future of Learning" Manifesto

It Ain't About the Technology. It's About the Story.

Laptops? (Yawn)

Blogging? (Yawn)

PowerPoint? (Snore)

Multi-Media Center with a Starbucks 'coffee house' espresso shot in the backside? (Daring? 21st century school? Yawn.)

How about we stop talking all giddy-like about the technology. For us, it's not about the box. Not even about the iPod in pink or black. And it's definitely not about the email (psst: we don't email 'cept when old people need help).

It's about the conversation. The ricochet of words. The energy. The fact that its happening right here right now and it ain't coming back.

You tell me to turn off the game. Because you're staring at the box. I can't turn off the game. Because the game ain't in the box.

So, stop making technology such a big deal. You want laptops. I got a cell phone. And you still don't get it.

'cause no matter what you spend your money and professional development time on, for us it's about being inside the game, inside the story, in real-time.

Everything else is over-priced and ready for recycling.

Whats in a Name?

If you have time, go to Jeff Utecht's blog The Thinking Stick, Jeff nails what I believe may be the biggest challenge educators face in changing the view of technology and instruction within our schools.

"Where technology just replaces the things that we do. This isn’t a new school, this is an updated school. A new school starts with a new pedagogy a new theory and even a new taxonomy of learning. School 2.0 is not an upgrade to School 1.0…it’s a whole new school. An upgrade to School 1.0 is word processing instead of hand writing or PowerPoints instead of posters. These are upgrades to an old system. School 2.0 needs to be new from the ground up…starting with the foundation in which we build our teaching practices on. . . "

I often times find myself having a conversation in my head. I am taking part in a discussion with a group of teachers about the ideas being developed in the district's Technology Action Planning Committee, when without fail, I am being bombarded by a statement (not even a question), "this sounds like the next flavor-of-the-month," or "how does this differ from anything else we have been told is the future? "

The cultural change within education cannot overlook the importance of bringing awareness to the staff within a district. Easy for any card carrying techno-geek, to recognize how technology has created an unprecedented access to a global community, and how that global community has changed the learning environment. However, individuals who have limited exposure to technology in their individual or professional life, may not actually comprehend the educational potential of the global community. Presenting the idea of educational change in the form of technology, may actually create a major distraction to the goals of educational change in the 21st century. Maybe, our districts committee name, the Technology Action Planning Committee, should look to re-design itself into a 21st Century Action Planning Committee.

Breaking the Chains of the Past:

The Flexible Future of Education

I came across an article by Sharon Kopyc . The title of Sharon's article captured the ultimate question many of us are wrestling with in today's movement to change the face of education. Entitled Enhancing Teaching with Technology: Are We There Yet? Sharon addresses many of the institutional challenges both K -12 and college academics face in this ever changing educational environment.

As a member of a Technology Action Planning Committee (TACP) in the Iroquois Central School District, I found many of her observations a reaffirmation of the struggles we will all face, as we try to recognize the value of technology in changing the instructional environment within today's classroom.

In her article, Sharon references

"Faculty claim that a lack of time, a lack of skills, and a general discomfort with the educational technology culture impede their use of it (Gustafson 2003-2004) "

We must begin to ask ourselves how the institution of education can overcome these impediments. As an active member of the educational profession, trying to implement these new technologies, we can no longer simply qualify an individuals discomfort with these technologies as a lack of professionalism. These technologies take an large amount of time to effectively master and implement. Furthermore, there is such a large number of technologies that compliment each other. How can an educator, working within the realm of the traditional institutionalized educational system of standards based education, be expected to effectively achieve those standards, while practicing non-traditional modes of technology based instruction? It may be safe to assume that political pressures will not afford the academic freedom to develop a truly dynamic educational environment in the near future, so we must develop some plan that affords educators and students the necessary opportunities to develop intellectually in this current academic environment.

What complicates this problem is something Sharon points out as a troubling gap between the promise and reality of technology-related innovative instructional and learning practices in much of higher education (2004).

She points out that this gap is partially caused by the simple fact that the technological cart was put before the academic horse, and a strong shift to flip this around is desperately needed. In other words, pushing technology on academics, the drivers of education, will not get technology into the classroom unless academics first understand the technology and its relevance in the classroom.

So what does this all mean for education? I believe that the technological revolution in education is well underway. I also believe that a system must be devised that will promote the use of these new technologies in meaningful ways, that have a productive impact on curriculum, while enhancing student engagement. To avoid the famous educational stigma of calling technology the favor of the month, districts must construct within their school systems, a flexible partnership that allows the teacher to become instrumental in developing these technologies. These technologies cannot be pigeon-holed into a rigid framework that constructs a false formula for success. Technologies must be married to instructional pedagogy, giving value and relevancy to their usage. In the past, instructional reform, whether instituted on a state or district level, seems to have been a top-down initiative. Such a program will promote uncertainty amongst the educators, and create reluctance on the part of the teacher due to historical stigma. Rather, teacher initiative should drive technologies development. These initiative should take the form of professional development groups, that include a flexible group of teachers, administrators, technologists, and most importantly, students.

The professional development group will look different from place to place, due in part to the many different types of individuals participating. For example, at Iroquois, we currently have a group of teachers who have begun to initiate the infusion of technology into our daily instruction. The meetings and in-service being held, take on more of the look of a best practice sharing session. As new technologies are learned, they are modified to the individual curriculum, then shared amongst the staff. Staff members are offered several different opportunities, and the atmosphere is designed to bring awareness of the potential of the technology. Administration is also providing a tremendous amount of support, supplying the growing demand with new technologies, and continuously stressing the focus of all progress toward instructional pedagogy. The next step for our professional development would be to introduce the technologist element. Here, we can begin to re-engineer the design of traditional tech-support. No longer should tech-support be simply the programmer, rather, there should be the introduction of both the curriculum expert with technological experience. Finally, the student element completes the group. Students must begin to become a part of both the planning and learning of these technologies. Students should sit in on the planning process, giving insight into the characteristics of student engagement. Students should also become a part of the educational process, taking on a role as a peer-learner with the teacher. This portion of the group has truly an unlimited potential for expansion.

Sharon Kopyc in her article attributes the modern educational environment as a lab. I like that analogy the best. Education should become a continuous learning lab, where student, teacher, administrator, and technologist, continuously strive to better the academics within the educational environment, without traditional stereotypes, without traditional roles, and without traditional limitations.

What will 2007 Have in Store?

I have taken a break from my blog these past several weeks to spend time with the family, enjoy the holidays, and contemplate what I have experienced as a classroom teacher over the past six months. I can state without a doubt, these past several months have been the most energizing period of time in my fifteen year career as a public school educator. I have become a disciple of the new technologies and the ways in which they can transform the students. I have embraced these ideas, and have done my best to apply these technologies to engage my students in some very creative and innovative ways. I have developed a greater understanding of student needs, and realize that adopting these strategies is truly the way to become a meaningful part of a young person's intellectual development.

That being said, and forgive me for the cliche, I have decided share with you several of my New Year's Resolutions. Forget weight lose and getting back into shape, there is too much pressure associated with them, plus, I am only 39, I figure I can focus on those hurdles when I reach that great milestone of 40. I have decided that my professional goals will take center stage.

1. I will look to forge ahead with adopting these technologies in my classroom. However, I will move beyond the initial phase of adoption, and strive to create some good examples of student-directed learning.
2. I will look to develop an online blogging community with my students that truly taps into their individual interests, and allows them to take full advantage of the read/write platform that these tools afford everyone.
3. I will look to take this message to the local media in the Buffalo, metropolitan area.
4. I will look to construct an educational opportunity that will educate the parents within our district, and allow parents to become a greater part of their child's educational experience.
5. I will look to construct an international network that reaches across the world, and allows the students within our district, to develop an opportunity for international collaboration.
6. I will look to expand the technological opportunities within our district.
7. I will look to become a truly self-directed technological Uber learner of the 21st century.

Only time will tell whether I am able to achieve these resolutions. However, knowing my track record with weight loss, and attempting to recover past physical glories, I am confident that I have a better chance of achieving these goals more than the traditional resolutions of years past.

Education's New Slippery Slope

This past Friday, I was fortunate enough to have had a dinner with a friend who happens to be the I.T. guy for a M & A Firm in Buffalo, New York. After several brief minutes of catch-up, we found ourselves exchanging ideas about the future and technology (I would only begin to realize later how much of a geek I have become). Now, I have read Friedman's book, The World is Flat, and have been teaching the concepts of outsourcing to my economics classes for several years. Remarkably, I was taken by surprise when my friend informed me that as a corporation, they are finding it more economically efficient to outsource the use of technologies. Having lost several I.Q. points from the classroom to the dinner, I asked him why? He explained that the software and hardware services being provided in the private sector are in a constant state of innovation. Simply, it would be ill-advised for a corporation to invest human resources as well as financial resources into certain systems , knowing very well that another company will be launching a beta version within months. Remarkably, this struck me like a bolt of lighting and I began to see what I viewed as a serious hurdle education will have to overcome.

Being a part of the public sector, we often find ourselves chasing the private sector. In this particular case, I began to see educational technology in a different light. If the private sector is finding it difficult to keep up with the ever changing world of technology, how is education, with it's limited resources, going to provide students with a cutting edge learning environment? From there, I began to question how teachers, who are immigrants in this era of technology, are going to be able to take these technologies and bring them into their classrooms for their students? How are educators, with limited knowledge of the capabilities of these technologies, and limited time, going to buy into their uses, knowing very well, the energies they expend on learning these new tools, will only lead to a continuous struggle to stay on top of the ever changing world of technology? Furthermore, from a management end, how can administrators within a district, looking to optimize their instructional staff, avoid waisting their financial and human resources learning technologies that are quickly becoming antiquated?

I have recently been experimenting with Web 2.0 technologies in my own classes, and have had positive feedback from the students. I am seeing first hand, the value these tools add to the learning environment and student motivation. However, having had these results, and recognizing the need to continuously stay on top of the technology coming into the market, thanks to blogs such as techcrunch, I have developed a fear that we have opened up an institutional Pandora's box. My fear is the diligent teacher, seeking to provide their students with cutting edge tools, will fight a never ending battle. Currently, there is no systematic means in which to learn these technologies. There is no mechanism in place that filters out the new technologies in a manner that efficiently determines what should and should not be used. What is current and effective today, will soon be outdated, as new generations of technologies change the web. This has created a very slippery slope for the classroom teacher and the district administrator.

This structural flaw may actually become the biggest priority districts tackle in their plans to implement these tools. Like the private sector, the I.T. structure in education may need to redesign itself, to include a technology manager with significant instructional background, whose role is to study the market, and marry the technological innovations with pedagogy. This job may play as important a role in the future of education, as the I.T. specialist plays in private sector technology management. I also believe the market will need to develop a service for education that creates a short cut in this process. Whether it is google, microsoft, or some twenty-something techno-superfreak, there needs to be service providers that allow districts to outsource these very difficult questions.

Student Reflections

This post goes out to those students who have developed their individual online communities using blogs, wikis, skype, and vyew. As we, both teacher and student, begin our long journey into Web 2.0 technologies, there will often be times when we should reflect upon this journey. In particular, we should look at the value added and the distractions occurring to our educational experience. One of the most powerful tools of learning, and unfortunately one of the most under utilized tools is individual and group reflection. With the future still a large unknown, we must continuously work on the quality control aspect of these technologies. We must ask ourselves, "is there value in what we are doing?"

Online Collaboration:
The Positive Social Dynamics

In a recent discussion at the beginning of class, students began to share with me the story of a recent online study group that was created using Skype and Vyew. The conversation they shared focused on how much fun these technologies enabled students to have when studying for a simple document based essay. As the conversation progressed, it became apparent that 85% of this particular class participated in this online endeavor. That alone should have been enough for any classroom teacher to jump up on a desk and shout "Carpe Diem". However, what followed that discovery was something even more powerful and enlightening. It became apparent the class I was having this conversation with was developing a very positive and powerful relationship. They were laughing, joking, and recalling bits of their online interaction with ease. The back and forth banter was illustrating for me, the true social power such an online platform can have for the social dynamics of a class. Students who may have found it initially difficult to engage in meaningful academic conversation, were sharing thoughts and ideas.
Having been a coach for many years, I can state with confidence that a team's chemistry is in direct proportion to the success of that team on the playing field. I have always struggled to take that formula for success and apply that to the academic environment. However, there were always the traditional stumbling blocks of social dynamics. In a face to face environment of a classroom, traditional social stigmas rule the day. Whether it is looks, cliques, or other teenage social inhibitors, melding the class into a learning team has often been the one obstacle I struggled with. This may be on the verge of changing.
Web 2.0 technologies foster a platform where individuals can work together without typical stereotypes. Shy students, who may not be confident, can voice there ideas and opinions without the looks or stares that may exist in a traditional classroom setting. Gender based chauvinism may fall to the way side, in search for the answer. An individual's personality can thrive in this environment, allowing both the introvert and extrovert, or the class clown and the black sheep to work together. This particular class, produced an incredible intellectual exchange that put a smile on my face, and may have even put a smile on the faces of the makers of Monty Pythons flying circus.
Now there will always be the examples of power and ego gone amuck. With that said, we began to lay the foundation for a series of rules.

Rule 1: Everyone is entitled to a voice.
Rule 2: No one individual should monopolize the air waves (chat lines).
Rule 3: There must exist a mutual respect for all participants.
Rule 4: There is no such thing as a bad idea.
Rule 5: The group must clearly define the objective of every online collaboration.
Rule 6: Recognize everyone is participating in an intellectual exercise, humor and individual personality aside, there should be some level of discretion.
Rule 7: All participants are to avoid profanity.
Rule 8: Anyone who violates these simple rules, may be kicked out of the discussion.

We are still in the early stages of this online environment, and I anticipate hurdles will need to be overcome. However, the social benefits for a classroom may be as powerful as the technologies themselves.

The Dawn of a New Day
Real World Meets the Classroom

Will Richardson published a blog titled "Passion Based Learning", where he comments on a CNET review. The web and the 2.0 technologies are fostering the development of a passion and energy that promotes collaboration beyond anything previously available. Don't get me wrong, we have all been a part of some educational experience that has peeked our individual excitement and forced student collaboration. However, these technologies have enabled students to experience a more comfortable and user friendly platform unlike ever before. Over the course of the past two weeks, I have experienced this energy as a teacher from the sidelines. Having introduced students to blogs and wikis in the early part of the school year, I thought I would extend their understanding of the potential of these technologies by introducing them to Skype and an online whiteboard called vyew. What has transpired over these past two weeks has not only reinforce my own personal belief in these web 2.0 technologies, but more importantly, they have opened the eyes of the students to their value. During the course of these past two weeks, students in my classes have initiated online study groups on their own. They have begun to utilize these technologies to collaborate and prepare for tests, essays, and reading assignments on a nightly basis. Entering class each day, I would hear a new tale of the previous night's online happenings. I actually heard a student make the comment that studying is FUN! To further understand the phenomena that was occurring, I opened up this blog to parent comments. This only furthered my excitement, as parents began to engage in the process, and began to comment on their child's enthusiasm. Parents began to recognize these learning experiences and how these experiences were providing real world applications. One parent comments

I am delighted to see her enthusiasm each time you have introduced her to a new form of technology. "Social Studies", I'm showing my age, has never been my strong point and I find it difficult to help her. Your class has changed that.

I work for a company that was recently bought by a company in MA. My boss works there. We have created wikis to communicate and compile information regarding projects we are working on. We also use Skype to keep in contact. This is a real world example of how what you're teaching them can be used productively!

As long as I have been in education (16 years), educators have often claimed the value of parental involvement in learning. These technologies are beginning to cross the generational barriers that have often been a difficult obstacle to overcome. Imagine, teenagers and their parents, sitting in front of the family computer, working together to construct a wiki or a blog, while Skyping other teens and parents. Katie bar the door! What could be next, teens sitting with parents, helping mom with her company's wiki?