Ed Tech...its Not About the Tech

I am a tech geek.  There is no way around it.  I enjoy gadgets, websites, creating, connecting, just about anything that has to do with technology.   I have an inherent interest that has allowed me to educate myself.  I have no formal training (you might be surprised I would admit that I am self trained, but I am proud of it) ...but I have, much like many of our students today, found a passion.  Educational Technology is my passion and I want to give a little insight on how I think that fits into the greater world of education.

As a classroom teacher I always tried to make sure that technology was a part of what I did in the classroom.  From using Blackboard to Google Apps and other Web 2.0 tools, I was a staple in the computer lab (much to the dismay of my colleagues who also wanted lab time).  To me technology was just a part of the way that I operated in the classroom.  It was what I did and wanted for my students, not something extra for me to do in my classroom.  But more importantly, before all of that, I felt it was important to have high quality engaging lessons with rock solid relationships with my students that allowed them to become "thinkers" and "creators".

You may or may not be surprised to hear me say this then...Technology is not the answer.

You read that right, in education technology is not the silver bullet we are all waiting for.  Its not Khan Academy, its not iPads, its not flipping the classroom, and it is not (insert fad technology here).

The most important part of education reform and increasing student achievement is....drum roll...high quality teachers and lessons that are relevant and ENGAGE students.  Sure, there are extenuating factors in a students life, I get that, but high quality lessons that demand that students (spoiler here) think and use real world application skills is the most important thing you do as a teacher.  It is not our content, but what student can create with our content. 

What does this look like?  Well I was inspired by an article I read that talks about promoting deep learning in in students.  You can read it here.

So what is the role of technology and education then Mr. I Have a Passion for Educational Technology.   Well let me tell you what I think..........

I will use a medicine analogy here.  Thirty years ago there were terrific doctors in the world.  They were able to diagnose and treat patients with the technology that was available to them at the time. If you took the best doctor from 30 years ago and magically transplanted them to today they would quickly learn the tools they had 30 years ago would not be sufficient today.  If the doctor tried to use the same tools as 30 years ago...he would have no patients.  His patients would demand the latest technology and current research and theory.  However, the great doctors of 30 years ago would adjust to today's world.  They would demand and implement current theory, practice, and technology.  Not for technologies sake, but because it made them a better doctor.

Don't the students of today deserve to have the most up to date technology and current educational practice?

Technology should just be the way we do things.  It should not be an extra thing that teachers have to "fit into" their day.  Utilizing the latest technology should become the way that we operate.  Example:  Blackboard.  Our students today demand that they have access to their learning outside of the 60 minutes that you may see them in a day.  Colleges, universities, and technical schools use Learning Management System's like Blackboard so that students can have their education outside the walls of the classroom.  In fact, many corporate training happens within an LMS.  Exposing students to this type of environment is crucial as we prepare them for whatever lies ahead for them after they leave K-12 education.

At first, yes, it might seem like something extra, but we have to meet the needs of today's students.  Once you start using an LMS, an online gradebook, or having students create the hope is that it will become part of how you operate as a teacher, not something extra.  The goal is communication and access, and the technology allows that to happen.

While technology is not the silver bullet, it is the way things are done in our world today.  To ignore it would be a diservice to our students.  Embrace technology and its role in the classroom and world today.  When you do, you will increase student engagement and help prepare your students for life after high school.

I am sure you have seen the Sir Ken Robinson videos...but if you have not here they are again.  Enjoy, they really speak to the urgency of the shift that must happen in education.  The first is a follow up to his initial talk.  The second has 8 million YouTube views.

Here is the full Changing Paradigm video.  No political commentary from me...I just focused on the education part of the video.

My First Year as a Tech Coach

As a classroom teacher one of my strengths was my ability to reflect.  I can remember having a lesson 1st hour and then it being completely different by the end of the day based on experiences from my other classes.  This provided to be a critical part of my success in the classroom.

So I sat down the other night was thinking, what have I learned this year in my role as an Instructional Technology Coach at Waukesha North?  What are some successes I have experienced, and what are some challenges that still face us in the coming wave of Waukesha One and a 1:1 iPad program?

1.  Teachers need support.  Classroom teachers are asked to do so much today.  Admins, coaches, and colleagues need to help each other so students can succeed.  Working in a PLC with course alikes is such an advantage for teachers and is so critical in improving achievement, instruction, and efficiency   Teachers supporting teachers is very powerful and is needed at all schools.  But, coaches and admins are a critical element.  Working together for students can help a building achieve more.

2.  Coaches must be visible.  Whether one is an instructional coach, or a technology coach, coaches need to be in the hallways and classrooms being seen by teachers and students.  This was crucial for the rapport building that I had to have in my first year at Waukesha North.  I knew...maybe 5-6 teachers, so building relationships was a an important priority for me.  Being in the hallway, talking during PLC's, and establishing trust was very important for my first year.

3.  Tech integration is not about tech, but improving instruction.  And really, that is what we are trying to do with technology...improve instruction.  There are skeptics to technology, and I get that they have concerns.  But, maybe it is not really concerns about technology, rather a difference in philosophy on the direction of education.  Technology allows for better instruction, but if you don't think students should be creating or that the role of the teacher is changing, you might not buy into certain parts of technology integration and the role it can play in student learning.

4.  Leadership matters.  In order for a school to improve it must have leaders throughout the organization.  And while it starts with the principal, you also need stakeholders from all groups including teachers, coaches, parents, students, and admins.  Improving student achievement takes leadership at all levels, and this is critical to a buildings success.

5.  Google and Apple can play well together.  While I could write a separate blog on just this topic (and I might) it is clear to me know more than ever that these two huge companies are critical in education.  The Google Apps for Education are a must have for school districts.  It is an amazing array of apps that allow students to create and demonstrate learning.  Apple's hardware solutions are 2nd to none.  The iPad is an amazing device that is not just a screen with a keyboard in front of students, but a device that allows for amazing creation, collaboration, and communication.  The combination of these two companies and the technologies they have can truly lead to better learning and instruction for students.

It was a great school year.  Becoming a technology coach was one of the best decisions of my professional career.  It has been fulfilling, engaging, and full of stuff I love (Google, Apple, and helping teachers).  We have a lot of work to do in Waukesha and at North.  I am so excited to help learn and lead in such an exciting time. 

A Teachable Moment: Helping Students to Understand Permanence of the Digital Age

Surprised parents and staff members have been emailing me this week with a concern.  Googling the keywords of our school district's name provides some information about the district along with an image that represents members of our student body, but not in the positive or academic light most of us might hope.

While there is a larger issue here of the district being improperly and unfairly represented in the public eye (we are presently working on a solution to this issue as we want the district positively and accurately represented for the meaningful teaching and learning that happens here), there is something we can use in this event to assist in a meaningful conversation with students and families.

With services like SnapChat and Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook, sharing with the world is easier than ever before.  Especially with some of these services, but true for all, users often confuse the ability to instantaneously share with the world with the appropriateness of doing so.  Add to that the sense of anonymity, the tidal wave of information that is being shared worldwide (as in "everybody is doing it"), and the false "promise" of the information existing only in the short term (services like InstaGram allow users to post to the world, but in very short intervals, as in 10-15 seconds, before the post is removed).

However, as so many of us are aware of, the truth is that once data is captured and posted in a public forum (and the Internet is a public forum), even if only for a few seconds, the potential exists for that data to live forever.

This is exactly how the image that presently represents our district in a Google search (not a decision consciously made by anybody in the district, by Google itself, but simply a result of an algorithm written and a change in the way Google presents information for ease of viewing), an image of some young people captured in a dance position while at a school dance that may have made them blush had their parents been present, came to be.  It seems to have been captured and shared online, likely by a student interested in updating others on the fun of the evening.  It probably didn't get much attention immediately.  However, it was picked up in a story by a local news outlet about the appropriateness of student behavior at dances (not just our students...students across the area).  That seems to have gained some traction with viewers, and the image has been viewed many times by many people.  That moved the status of the image up in Google's search rankings.  When the Google Knowledge Graph was created and launched publicly, the ranking of that image, coupled with the search term of our school's name, resulted in the "marriage" of the district's online reputation with a student's behavior at a moment in time.  Something the students likely had not considered or even imagined in that moment.

As unfortunate as any of this may be, there is a teachable moment in this.  In a digital world, our actions (both online and in real life) do not have the promise of privacy.  While we may (or may not) disagree with this reality, it is still, in fact, a reality.  This week's headlines about the availability of private digital data possibly available to government entities supports this reality.

Students need to hear that message -- in a digital world, our actions (both online and in real life) do not have the promise of privacy.  They need to be engaged in the conversation.  They need to consider how that information may positively or negatively impact them in the present and in the future.  These are all meaningful discussions that we, as educators, cannot be afraid to engage in.  Even if we are not technically savvy enough to know all of the latest digital tools, sites, trends, and methods.  We have life experience enough to talk about the value of students holding themselves to a standard that they (and their families and communities) deem appropriate.  We have life experience enough to talk about how decisions made in a weak moment today can forever impact our futures.  This doesn't require knowledge about technology -- let the kids bring that knowledge and experience to the conversation.  Instead, it takes us actively talking with kids and caring about their lives today, and in the future.  And we do care!

That is the teachable moment in this.