Alberta Technology Leaders in Education (ATLE)
Annual Conference - November 24th - 26th, 2010
Capri Centre, Red Deer, Alberta
Insights on Initiating a Technology Integration Plan from the Ground-Up
We live and teach in exciting times. Designing and applying a technology implementation plan in schools requires careful consideration for the teachers who will be implementing the plan. To integrate and use technology effectively toward an enhanced and vibrant teaching and learning environment, teachers need to feel confident enough to try it, and curious enough to continue building their capacity to synergize technology with their teaching. Effective educational technology leaders support this growth in a variety of ways- the best of which include modeling an attitude of inquiry and discovery... they have to think differently.
Critical Question- "How should teachers best be supported in the technology integration process?"
Attitude and Perspective... We Have to Have Them
Confessions of a Technology Neophyte- Lessons learned in real-time (mainly by making mistakes)
- I am not a technology expert (in fact, I'm not an expert at anything)
- I believe effective technology leadership has to be distributed
- I don't believe technology is an answer to anything, but it makes finding answers to everything easier and more efficient
- I believe hardware precedes software, (and that if you're paying big money for software, you're probably getting ripped-off)
- I don't believe in the continuum of digital native/digital immigrant (see... You can teach an old dog new tricks...)
- I believe that online platforms save time, money and unnecessary effort
- I believe in open-source and open systems
- I believe sit-and-get computer labs are a thing of the past; that connections to the cyber-world should become as automatic as opening a book
The edge of the cliff...
Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University. He also is the Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), the nation's only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators.
via Twitter... tomwhitby Tom Whitby
READ PLZ! Ya gotta love Scott McLeod, @mcleod "If we were really serious about educational technology". http://bit.ly/bCtnwN #Edchat
The edge of the curb...
In order to get to yes (or at least maybe...) we have to offer compelling rationale for technology integration in schools not as a solution to anything, but as an undeniable interdependent element of everything we do in a teaching and learning context.
Leading reluctant staff toward a tech integration paradigm...
Tech as applied to good pedagogy...
"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear"...
Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne
- We have to learn how to facilitate a culture of inquiry using technology as a catalyst to engage kids. We are deeply entrenched in the pedagogical mindset of defining answers and making up questions when we should be defining questions and seeking the answers.
- Teachers seem to need to know before they can teach to know... perhaps we should learn how to get comfortable "not knowing." Coming from an "I don't know but I'm willing to model effective ways to find out" paradigm would allow us to demonstrate appropriate and effective learning strategies narrowing the gap between teaching and learning.
Collaborative and Distributed learning...
-Why stop with teachers and students learning together... why not students, staff, parents, community members and classroom partnerships from afar? Distributed learning is defined differently in different contexts, but in my mind it simply means learning that is spread across a variety of contexts and information sources that isn't defined by the parameters of time and space. Technology provides us with brutally obvious opportunities to create and nurture this type of distributed learning environment.
Does Universal Design for Learning fit in here?
-I think so. UDL is a learning approach that provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
Teachers are looking for ways to address the new paradigm of inclusion... strategically applying the principles of UDL to our tech integration effort justifies and authenticates the use of digital tools for learning.
Jane Hart’s Top 100
The plan- leading the process...
Morphic Resonance
morphic resonance [ˈmɔːfɪk]
n
(Life Sciences; Allied Applications / Biology) the idea that, through a telepathic effect or sympathetic vibration, an event or act can lead to similar events or acts in the future or an idea conceived in one mind can then arise in another...
Good, effective leaders don't exude power, they exude character, morality, humanity and collaboration... the sort of stuff that rubs-off on folk without them even realizing it. Understanding morphic resonance makes leading people exponentially more efficient and effective because it moves leadership from transactional control to transformational collaboration... leaders working among their people as opposed to above them...
Knowledge assets...
- Get a Twitter presence, as fast as you can
- Read the really good technology integration blogs...
- http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/ -Scott McLeod
- http://www.practicaltheory.org/serendipity -Chris Lehmann
- /http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/ -Alec Couros
- http://21k12blog.net/ -Johnathan Martin...
- go find some more!
Skill assets...
- Lighten up... if you're learning and not having fun, that's bad. If you're having fun and not learning, that's bad. If you're learning and having fun, that's good! View the change process as continuous improvement, not a change of state.
- Discover... There's 100 tech integration tools to explore from Jane Hart- explore them
- Create some collegiality around your effort; distribute the leadership in your school by collaborating and learning together http://aisitech.wikispaces.com/
Links:
The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments...
http://jasontbedell.com/techniques-for-technology-integration-introduction
A few months ago, I started writing a book called Techniques for Technology Integration. Sometimes, I tend to be much better at coming up with ideas and starting projects than following through. The basic premise of the book is to help educators learn pedagogically sound ways to integrate technology; that by understanding the pedagogical foundations, they will be able to adapt to many different tools and environments, even as technology changes...