Integrating technology in our classrooms...formerly known as BYOD

Integrating Technology in our classrooms...formerly known as BYOD

At one point, even chalk was new technology.

Months ago, we started our journey into changing the way we use technology in the classrooms.  It all started with a vision and a plan.  I did several blog posts about them last year.  You can read them here and here.


Ever since schools have existed, teachers and students have been integrating the newest technologies in their teaching and learning.  From stone tablets to iPad tablets, teachers and students have learned while using technology.  Today is no different.  However, sometimes the integration of technology is pushed along with a little nudge from a school Principal, Director, or select school leaders.  This year at our middle and high schools, that nudge came in time for the first day of school where we required that all students in grades 6 through 9 come to school with a device of their own.  We encouraged teachers to teach with those devices in mind, planned several in-service courses and professional development opportunities and let things fly.


My last blog posts were a while ago and talked about the challenges and successes of our first few weeks of this integration.  You can read those posts here and here.


As I write this new post, we are 24 weeks into the school year and the biggest question I continue to get is why did we do this?  Why did we push to have all students with devices in school this year?  Why did we ask teachers to change their mindset and thinking and plan lessons with devices in mind?  Here are the reasons why we made this change:


Reasons students should have devices in class:

1.   Provide access to information anytime, anywhere.  Students should have ubiquitous access to information for research and learning purposes.  By having access to information, students can interact in ways they could not before.  In addition to gaining access to the world of information and knowledge, students also have access to the Google suite of apps at all times.  This means that their work is always with them.  They can collaborate and participate in ways they could not before.  This in essence can expand the classroom beyond its four physical walls and its fixed time frame.  Learning can now take place anywhere and anytime.


2.  Utilizing technology can foster the 4 C's - Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication.  The 4 C's come from the P21 framework found here.  These are essential skills all students need to master to be successful in life.


3. Teachers will now explicitly teach 21st century digital skills and digital literacies.  These include the development of proficiencies and fluency with using the tools of technology, solving problems collaboratively, strengthening independent thought, developing global awareness, global voice and a global forum to present information, managing, analyzing, and synthesizing multiple streams of digital information, as well as critiquing and evaluating digital texts and digital sources.


4.  By using the Google suite of applications, teachers can provide a digital forum where students receive relevant feedback from peers as well as teachers in a timely manner.  This feedback can be used by students during the learning process to improve their work, develop their ideas and more deeply think about their solutions.



John D. Bransford of Standford University wrote the following in his research paper titled, How People Learn; Brain, Mind, Experience and School:
"Cognitive research has shown that learning is most effective when four fundamental characteristics are present: (1) active engagement, (2) participation in groups, (3) frequent interaction and feedback, and (4) connections to real-world contexts."

I believe that our efforts to engage students in academics through the integration of technology has brought to the surface these four fundamental characteristics of effective learning.  While we will push to have the best and newest technologies in the hands of teachers and students, we will only do so when it improves the teaching and learning process. 




Link to previous BYOD and Going Google Posts:

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/09/byod-day-1-of-many.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/05/going-google-part-2.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/01/being-creative-with-google.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/03/google-classroom-part-1.html


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Positively thinking...BYOD

We are 3 weeks into our BYOD initiative.  Well, not exactly 3 weeks.  Officially, we are 10 days into BYOD at LMK, but who's really counting.  We have many things to be proud of such as getting every student in the school to log in successfully to Google and successfully managing over 2400 simultaneous connections to our network district wide.

Our IT staff has been adjusting access points by moving them when teachers notice areas of weak signal strength.  They have been resetting passwords and adding new Google accounts daily.  Teachers and building administrators have also been troubleshooting and answering questions each day.

As the Director of Technology, many questions come to me.  Recently, a series of interactions made me remember a story I used to tell my students when I taught 7th grade science and we would discuss the great electricity debates between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse in the late 19th century.  The story goes something like this.  Thomas Edison developed a method of producing direct current.  He used it to light his famous light bulbs.  While it was effective and safe, it was not practical since he could not deliver it over long distances.  This is where George Westinghouse came in.  Westinghouse created the method for creating and delivering alternating current.  Edison knew that this would end his dominance in the world of delivered electricity, so he made it his mission to degrade Westinghouse and prove that his alternating current was unsafe.  Edison found everything he could find that was wrong with alternating current and he publicized it.  He invented the first "electrocution" machines that used alternating current to kill animals such as dogs and horses in the public arena to discredit Westinghouse's alternating current.  These machines later became what we know to be the "electric chair".

Yes, it is true that alternating current is dangerous.  Yet, we cannot live in our world without it.  In almost everything we do in life, we can always find the negative.  We can always find what doesn't work, and what may even hurt us.  That's the easy part.  In the end, Edison failed to prove that the world didn't need alternating current.  The world only needed to see its true value.  Thinking positively about it proved its success, even with the many doubters and naysayers.

I know you must be thinking...what is the connection to BYOD?  It's easy to find what doesn't work, what is challenging and maybe even impossible.  BYOD and Google is a different way of doing things...maybe it's akin to alternating current over 100 years ago.  Only time will tell.


Link to previous BYOD and Going Google Posts:

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/09/byod-day-1-of-many.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/05/going-google-part-2.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/01/being-creative-with-google.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/03/google-classroom-part-1.html

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BYOD - Day 1 of many

BYOD - Day 1:  Google Apps for EDU and connecting to the network

Today was the second day of school, but the first day of BYOD and Google Apps for Education.  We have been planning this for a full year and today was the day.  We beefed up the network, increased our bandwidth, installed new controllers, new access points, set up over 3000 Google accounts, and spent countless hours leading professional development for teachers and staff.  The moment of truth was upon us.

By 9 am, almost 1500 users had connected to the network.  The most connections ever in the history of our district...and it was only 9 am.  As I walked the Middle School hallways with our principal, we were amazed at what we were seeing.  In every class, almost every student had  device and was actively engaged in connecting to the network and logging into their Google accounts.  We saw devices of all kinds; Microsoft Surfaces, iPads and mini iPads, Macbooks, chromebooks, kindles and standard laptops.  We saw devices that had 7 in screens all the way up to some massive 15 in laptops.  In the entire building of 850 students, my guess was that over 800 brought their own device.

All wasn't so good.  Our network is like a fortress...connecting to our network is like hacking the military...oh wait, bad example.  Actually, our network is set up with a double layer of authentication.  This was a challenge for some devices and for some students.  We found out that some of the newest devices running windows 8 or 10 had the most trouble accessing the network, but kids and teachers persevered.  Mr. Fried, our tech savvy principal made the rounds with me troubleshooting in several classrooms.  In the end, I would estimate that a good 70% of our students successfully logged into the network today.

However, at the end of the day, I met with my IT staff and we made several adjustments.  We changed the login protocol to our network by reducing the double authentication to a single password.  This hopefully will simplify things for our students.  We also added 2 additional access points in strategic locations in the building where we knew we had some issues.  We also resolved the windows 8 and 10 issues by running a patch and and update on the wireless controller and all access points.

Our teachers persevered today.  They were patient and a calming influence even when they were out of their comfort zones and their elements.  Today was a good day.  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Link to previous BYOD and Going Google Posts:

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/05/going-google-part-2.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/01/being-creative-with-google.html

http://educreatechnics.blogspot.com/2015/03/google-classroom-part-1.html

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The power of the people...

Yesterday was an interesting day in the life of a school administrator.  We held a press conference at Harrison High School which was attended by Superintendents, teachers, school leaders, parents, school board members and community leaders from over 40 school districts in the region.  The press conference was held to announce that we were fighting back against the mandates of NY State and trying our best to change its course, hopefully for the better.

"It is time for New York State to get it right!" exclaimed Dr. Wool, Superintendent of the Harrison School district as he left the podium.  At that point we had 600 signatures to our petition.  600 signatures in roughly 5 hours.  Here is the amazing part...24 hours later, we have 4500 signatures....wait, we have 4550 signatures.  Each refresh of the page comes with more signatures.  It's taking on a life of its own on Social Media including Facebook and Twitter.  #GetItRightNY is our hashtag.  It is our hope.  It is what we demand.

In the next week, it is our hope that we can gain enough momentum that the NY State Senate will join the Assembly and pass legislation putting these changes on hold until we can make a better system.

If you care about education, please sign this petition.  Let's put pressure on our elected officials to do what is right.

#GetItRightNY

Link to Petition:  http://form.jotformpro.com/form/51403613544952

Link to Resources:  http://www.harrisoncsd.org/index.php/featured/571-getitrightny


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Going Google Part 2:

I recently wrote about "Going Google".  Here is a section of the post:

I know that change is difficult, and is usually avoided. I wrote about that in 3 separate posts:  the Pessimist, the distracted, and the procrastinator.  I know deep down that teachers will embrace going Google, once they realize its potential.  I decided that I would speak to some of those potentials here:

1.  Going Google allows teachers access to their work anytime, from any device.

2.  Use of the "Drive" and a smartphone as a scanner to display work on their smartboards. All they need to do is snap a picture of the document, and send it to their "Drive" and then display it on their smartboard.

3.  Collaboration has never been easier than with Google.  Sharing a Google doc with multiple colleagues as they work on a common assessment or curriculum plan is one click away.

4.   Auto Save.  No more "File Save as", "Ctrl-S" and certainly no more...."oh no! the computer crashed and I forgot to save".

5.  Google for Education gives them unlimited storage.  Wow...unlimited storage?  Yes, Unlimited storage.

6.  Google Classroom is a tremendous resource for teachers.  I just introduced it to our 4th grade teachers and posted a short blog on it here and here. 


However, there is a huge challenge to "Going Google".  Teachers will fear the unknown and the loss of something they know and use everyday.  We are all creatures of habit and fear change because it makes us uncomfortable.  Knowing and planning for the unknown can help ease this transition.


A teacher at the middle school asked to be introduced to Google Classroom once she heard about it from her colleagues.  Her request came and I set her students up.  Less than a week later she stopped me in the hallway to tell me how amazing it is.  She has already used Google Classroom as a means to assess understanding by setting up a Quiz and using Flubaroo to quickly grade the assignment.  She was also amazed that she can track her students' progress in real time as all the work is shared between her and her students.

I am confident that when teachers see the power of "Going Google", they will never miss the "good old days" of the past.

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Technology Spotlight #1

I have decided to dedicate my next few blog posts to technology recommendations.

Evernote:
Evernote is an organizational tool that can be used in a variety of ways.  Here are the main ways I would recommend using it for the classroom teacher.

1.  Creating Portfolios for each student.  In Evernote, you can create a notebook for each child in your classroom.  In each notebook, you can record notes, running records, capture pictures of student work, record audio messages such as a student's reading fluency, and much, much more.  At the end of the year, the notebook could be shared with the next year's teacher or archived.

2.  Saving Digital copies of chart paper.  Elementary teachers use tons of chart paper.  They use them to take class notes, write goals, or use them to highlight tools and strategies students may refer to.  Most of the time, the chart paper gets rolled up and stored until there is no more room.  I would use Evernote to make a digital copy of the chart paper.  You can use add ons such as Skitch to edit the chart paper and make notes for the next time you may create a similar one.  Saving the image of the chart paper in Evernote, hwlps to organize your library of resources.  You can also tag the images for sorting and filtering.

3.  RTI notes.  In many schools, teachers participate in RTI meetings.  If you don't have RTI meetings, maybe you have Child Study Teams, Instructional support teams, or anything like that where teachers come together with support personnel and principals to discuss the progress, or lack of progress for students in your class.  Evernote can be used to keep notes and recommendations regarding interventions that can or could be used in the classroom.  You can track progress as well. 

4.  Make Checklists.  Evernote has a simple way of making lists...and my favorite kind of list - the checklist.  Thanks to the Evernote blog, you can find out how to make the checklists here:  https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2011/08/02/did-you-know-how-to-create-a-checklist-in-evernote/


I also recommend going to the Evernote Blog to read stories and find tips on how to best use the product.  https://blog.evernote.com/blog/category/tips-stories/

Evernote is free.  It is compatible with any smartphone, any laptop, and any desktop computer.  It will syn your notebooks and notes across all your devices.  Good luck and give it a try.



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Device Fluency

The other day, my three year old daughter begged me to play minecraft with her.  So, of course, I said yes.  Well, how could I say no to her?  As we walked around the house looking for unoccupied devices, we came across the macbook first.  "Daddy, let's play it here", she said.  As soon as we started, my older daughter rushed in and stopped us.  "I need to do my homework! Can't you find another device?" she yelled.  

Ok, there are others.  So we moved along and came across the iPad.  "Daddy, we can use the iPad."  As soon as we started to use the iPad, my other daughter rushed in and took the iPad away and said that she was already playing a game.  "Can't you find another device?"  

Ok, there are others still.  So we moved along again and found the xBox.  Finally, a device that nobody was using.  I guess with 4 kids in the house, it is expected.  So Jordan and I sat down to play minecraft on the XBox.  I looked at the controller and had no clue what to do.  How can I move up, how to I place a block, how do I "fly"?  Uh oh!  How can I play minecraft when I don't know which of the 9 buttons to press?

Without hesitation, Jordan showed me how to use the controller.  To her, the device wasn't a roadblock.  It was a means to play the game.  She didn't care if she played on the laptop, or on the iPad, or even on xBox.  All she wanted to do was play the game.  

This lesson came to me when introducing BYOD to our teachers.  The device is not relevant.  The skill and the context for which the device is being used is what is relevant.  So, when teachers expect students to write persuasive essays, while collaborating with a peer, they can accomplish this task on virtually any device.  Device fluency may not be the terminology I am getting at...maybe its device agnostic (denoting or relating to hardware or software that is compatible with many types of platforms or operating systems.)

Our children are growing up in a world where they need to be able to manage various platforms and hardware.  Our digital world relies on it.

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