Module 1: Future of Learning Reflection

It was interesting watching Future of Teaching which was created in 2011 and comparing it to how today’s role of the teacher is. I believe that he is correct in saying that we need to use the tools we have to teach students more effectively. In our Early Years classroom, we have a set of 5 iPads per class and 4 iMacs. On almost a weekly basis, I hear one teacher saying that she needs more in order to do her job. But instead of asking for more, we should be looking at how we can use what we have and leverage this technology to benefit our students and facilitate learning. In the Early Years classrooms, students should have time for play-based learning, exploring and inquiring in the world around them. If every child had an iPad, it would be tempting to glue them all to them. In addition, with  the current iPads, how can we use them most effectively? Are we having students simply play drill and kill games? Or are we nurturing higher-order thinking through application and creation?

Personalised learning environments is something I am very passionate about and often use technology to facilitate this. By providing students choice and voice in how their learn content and demonstrate their understanding of it, they gain a deeper understanding of the content.

Week 8 - ICT Resource Management Planning

Younie (2006) suggests that the UK ICT implementation had many challenges at the micro level such as slow internet and lack of technology in schools. In an international school, this is very much the opposite. We have a plethora of resources available to use with quality internet speed, funding to support new technology initiatives, education technology coaches to support staff and students and access to a number of different platforms for technology. The biggest challenge at the school micro level is that we have comes back to teacher training. With all of this technology and the international school turnover rate, teachers are constantly needing to be trained and upskilled to use the technology we do have effectively. At times, I wonder if so much technology being available to staff can be overwhelming. My role as a technology coach is to support teachers in figuring out what technologies are best for which task to make the learning meaningful and the technology integration enhance their learning.

Thinking from my Canadian experience, it is sometimes challenging for schools to gain buy-in on policies that were created by individuals who are not on the ground working with children and the technology every day. There is often a disconnect between a policy being created at the macro level and practice at the micro level. Policy creating takes time and with the changing of technology so quickly, it is essential that a policy for ICT implementation is created with this mind to allow for innovation and change. It is also important for policies to be reviewed and reflected on a yearly (at minimum) to ensure that what is written fits the needs of what is happening in reality.

I think international schools are unique to government schools as the school has more control over the policies for education. This can be both good and bad. While we don’t have a government creating the policies for us, we do still need to answer to certain governing or accrediting bodies. Firstly, we have our board of directors that oversee what happens in terms of policies in the school. We are accredited by WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges), the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) as an IB World School as well as EduTrust (Singapore governing body). Our policies and procedures need to meet the needs of all of our accrediting bodies. This can be tedious when each are slightly different while also creating policies that meet the individual needs of our school community. The Singapore government requires are quite different than an inquiry approach for the IBO, which can be challenging when creating policies. WASC and IBO are more similar in their accreditation processes and expectations of evidence, which makes creating policies at the school level easier when the accrediting bodies are aligned.

Our school looks to a lot of other schools who are similar to ours to see what they are doing. This greatly influences our own policies as we combine various policies to meet the needs of our community. While we borrow some, we also have to make sure our policies fit our specific environment and community. Therefore, we are constantly reviewing, adapting and ensuring that our policies are guiding us forward.

We do not have any ICT specific planning documents that we use. For next year, we are generating a large database of appropriate, tested and vetted technology resources for staff that support the different ICT skills in the PYP (International Baccalaureate, 2011) for teachers to reference. If the resource/software is not on the list, then they must apply through a Google Form explaining their rationale for wanting to use the resource and how it would be incorporated into their teaching and learning. This will help us gather more data on how and what teachers are using technology for in their classroom. In addition, our budget serves as an inventory of paid subscriptions and purchases every year. I also create various documents to keep a record of technology resources such as a spreadsheet with the various iPad apps stored on the iPads at different grade levels. Overall, I create a lot of my own planning documents for various tasks to demonstrate how I’m planning out technology integration across the Primary school so it’s been great to see some examples.

References

International Baccalaureate. (2011). The Role of ICT in the PYP. UK: International Baccalaureate.

Younie, S. (2006). Implementing government policy on ICT in education: Lessons learnt. Education & Information Technologies, 11(3/4), 385-400. doi:10.1007/s10639-006-9017-1

Module 7 - Curriculum Development for ICT integration Part 2

Technology has really changed the way we teach. As technology becomes more prevalent in education, its impact on education continues to evolve. No longer are we teaching in traditional ways or focusing on traditional technology tools, rather how we can use the best tool for the best possible learning experience and expression of our students’ knowledge (ACARA, 2012).  ICT is constantly changing and adapting and education must find a way to continue to adapt to it yet have a state of constant for our students at the same time. One way to do this is to focus on the transdisciplinary skills such as creating, communicating, collaborating, building knowledge, managing their tools as the students of today prepare for the unknown jobs of tomorrow.  

Working in an international school, I find myself with a plethora of technology resources easily accessible to me. However, I know that back home in Canada I would not have the same luxuries in the public and Catholic educational systems. This would make me believe that it would be a similar experience in Australia. I wonder how teachers are finding the ACARA guidelines if they don’t have the resources to implement the ICT capabilities across the year groups and subjects effectively. On the flip side, are schools with an abundance of technology really impacting the teaching and learning in the way we hope it would? If some schools struggle with not enough technology, is it possible that at times the other end of the spectrum of too much technology occurs in some classes?  

The ICT capabilities in the Australian curriculum (ACARA,2010) are similar to the International Baccalaureate ICT skills in the PYP. The ACARA ICT capabilities consist of 5 capabilities with a continuum across all year groups through 6 levels. The capabilities include:

• Applying social and ethical protocols and practices when using ICT
• Investigating with ICT
• Creating with ICT
• Communicating with ICT
• Managing and operating ICT

It is easy to see how this can be paired up with 6  the International Baccalaureate ICT in PYP skills (2011). They include:

• Investigating
• Collaborating
• Creating
• Organising
• Communicating
• Becoming Digital Citizens

This allows teachers to look through the various lens when developing curriculum and think about the skills students need to develop and demonstrate in order to be successful (International Baccalaureate, 2011). These technology skills need to run across many platforms and devices. Technology can support varying and diverse needs of students to help enhance their experience to be more equitable (ACARA, 2010). With the rise of BYOD, learning spaces have also evolved with the increase in mobility and the need for flexible learning spaces for collaboration. Students need to learn how to find valid resources and think critically about their findings rather than to just search and answer questions. Technology allows for more transdisciplinary learning as various subjects can be woven together through visual literacies and online platform. In addition, technology has forced schools to educate students about digital citizenship and appropriate online behaviour.  Technology is pushing our students to become more critical and creative thinkers in an ever-changing society.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2012, March) Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum - Technologies. Retrieved from: http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Draft_Shape_of_the_Australian_Curriculum_Technologies_paper_-_March_2012.pdf

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2010). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Capability. Retrieved from  http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/information-and-communication-technology-capability

International Baccalaureate. (2011). The Role of ICT in the PYP. UK: International Baccalaureate.

Module 6: Educational Leadership and Models of ICT Decision Making Part 2

The second site is a link to some planning documents from the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Don't worry if you are not in a school - or in Victoria or Australia. These documents are designed to help in a school's planning for the use of ICT. In your current (or future) role, do you have documents or a site that's similar? Are you provided with resources like this in another way? How useful would these resources be do you think? Post any links you might have to similar documents to share - if you are able!

We do not have any such document similar to the resources posted as the second link for module 6. The school strategic plan does incorporate aspects of technology but in no way as extensive as this. I think that this type of model helps the technology department really have a clear direction and I am looking forward to using something similar to map out where we are going as a school for next year. I think it will also help me feel more confident in my role with a clear direction. The challenge with education technology though is that it is not a department that can work separate from any other department. Thus, a lot of what would be on there would also have to be in the Primary strategic plan as well. This means developing good working relationships with the Primary school and all departments are crucial to the successful implementation of a strategic plan once created.

The third link looks at the idea of having organisational "Champions" as a possible leadership strategy. Have you used this idea in your organisation? Given the findings of the research in this article, to what extent might this now influence your approach to ICT in your organisation?

A champion is someone who is leading the way with innovation and enthusiasm to implement a creative idea. In Stuart, A. M. Mills, et al. (2009), it is suggested that a champion of ICT implementation should also have a certain level of ICT capability and competence in order to encourage others to also implement technology. I think my international school very much sees the importance of someone championing ICT integration as they have invested in a full-time staff member as an Education Technology Coach. In this role, I believe it is my job to do much of the championing for ICT integration and also find those who are enthusiastic to help champion the innovative ideas in our organisation that need to be rolled out on a whole school scale. Our school ensures that our EdTech Coach and Director of EdTech both have experience and knowledge in ICT and continually stay up to date with best practice by allowing them professional development opportunities around southeast Asia to continue to upscale their knowledge. In addition, we try to promote a positive outlook towards technology at school focusing on how it can support teaching and learning and help teachers do this in a more efficient and effective manner. Finally, we want out teachers to have a positive outlook to using technology so we have regular professional development opportunities to build their ICT knowledge and give them hands-on experiences using ICT (Stuart, A. M. Mills, et al., 2009). From there we ensure we continue to support innovation with teachers on an ongoing basis in both formal and informal settings.

For me, the most important part of ICT leadership and the idea of championing innovations is that whatever is done within the school must support the school mission and vision. It is imperative that leaders see how technology fits into the overall vision for the school and not a separate component (Stuart, A. M. Mills, et al., 2009). It truly needs to be woven into one in order to be successful. If teachers and administrators can see how technology is a part of our overarching goals, they will have more buy in and be willing to explore technology use more.  

The last link (which you will have seen from the last module) deals with professional development, but this of course is an key element of leadership in this field. In the context of ICT leadership, in what ways might you deal with developments in technology that are always changing and where this always something new and "cool" being introduced as "educational technology". The iPad is one example of this. How reactive do you need to be and how much planning can you do when you are not sure what is around the corner

Technology is constantly evolving and changing. This makes a role like mine so exciting as we try to see how the latest technologies can have educational application. That being said, I am always cautiously optimistic with anything that I try. I think it’s important not to just jump 100% in and buy the next technology gadget for the whole school when it is released. Rather, look at trialling things on a smaller scale, evaluating whether they will be effective in different areas of teaching and learning and then look at moving the whole school if that is the way to go.

There is something exciting about exploring new innovative ideas but you also have to evaluate if this technology will be around in another year or two and for the look for the right tool for the job. Armfield (2011) suggests that when implementing something on a whole school scale, everyone needs to be working towards the same goal and there needs to be reflection throughout the process.

Before integration any tool into my teaching I look at it from a larger school - what learning/ professional development do my students/teachers need? What do we already have that does similar things? What does it allow us to do that we aren’t already doing? How will it impact the other systems we already have in place? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered before implementing.

The process of planning, designing, implementing and evaluating is an important cycle (Armfield, 2011). Planning for effective integration allows teachers to move through this cycle in a way that makes them think critically about the tools they wish to use. Ultimately, if the new technology is the best resource for the task at hand and is properly planned out, students can benefit from new and innovative technologies in the classroom.

References

Stuart, L. H., A. M. Mills, et al. (2009). "School leaders, ICT competence and championing innovations." Computers & Education 53(3): 733-741.

Armfield, S. (2011). Technology leadership for school improvement Planning, designing, implementing and evaluating technology, pp. 109-128, 2011. in Technology and Leadership for School Improvement. Papa, R. (Ed) California :Sage http://primo.unilinc.edu.au/primo_library/libweb/action/dlDisplay.do?vid=CSU&docId=aleph002231582

Learning Management Systems

Learning Management Systems all have their pros and cons when it comes to using them in the classroom. The hardest part is finding the best one to fit the needs of the learners and the community. Careful consideration should be given to the benefits and downsides of the learning management system before committing to one as a school. Some of these benefits and downsides are included below.

Advantages:

1. Available anywhere anytime online: With a learning management system, students can access the class content from anywhere, anytime and on any device (ProProfs, 2013). This provides the learner with an immense amount of flexibility in their learning. For students who are travelling, have children, working full time or a range of other things, they are able to ensure they have easy access to engage with content and complete assignments. With a learning management system, students can access information both in class and outside of school.
2. Tracking of Students & Progress: With a learning management system, there are many functions to track student progress easily. This includes things such as instant assessment and feedback (ProProfs, 2013). This helps to increase transparency between the teacher, student and school while also supporting the students in using this feedback to further help them grow. The teacher can use the data gained from assessment or other administrative aspects to help them further plan and support students.

Disadvantages:

1. Ongoing Training & IT Support: Learning Management Systems are not usually set up just by the teacher. The IT department needs to support with training teachers on the functions and tools, helping them get content onto the site, maintaining the LMS and ensuring security for students and staff (Contact North, 2012). This means that the teacher and students are often reliant on other staff to ensure the course is in ‘working condition’. Sufficient IT staffing would need to be in place to be able to support teachers and students and the school would have to have funding to ensure this. This will also need to lead to increased teacher training to become competent with the learning management system that can be expensive but has the potential to build capacity in teachers (Contact North, 2012).
2. Lack of Integration of Other Web 2.0 Tools: Learning Management Systems have limitations often with the functions/ tools available. As teachers become more facilitators and learning becomes more student-driven, a one-size fits all model is not effective. Teachers need to work to use a learning management system in conjunction with other Web 2.0 to personalize the learning for students. While some may be able to integrate other tools, it is often considered ‘clunky’. Therefore, it is important that when integrating Web 2.0 tools for engagement and personalized learning that it is easy for the user (Contact North, 2012)

References

Contact North. (2012). Is there a future for learning management systems? Retrieved from: http://teachonline.ca/sites/default/files/contactNorth/files/pdf/publications/the_future_of_learning_management_systems_eng.pdf

ProProfs. (2013). What is a learning management system? LMS Software [Video Log Post]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAsdtwj00Uo

Module 2 Post 2: Impact of ICT in Education

Cuban, Kirkpatrick & Peck  (2001) suggested that the majority of teachers in US are not computer users. If teachers aren’t using the tools, then the impact on teaching and learning is not present. In my international school setting, this is not the case at all. All of our teachers are provided with a laptop when they begin with our school and receive training on them. There is an expectation that attendance, grading, reports, planning are all on our LMS systems. Thus, technology use is not an option rather a mandate as part of being an employee at the school. In terms of teaching and learning, much of this is also done digitally, however, not mandated in the same way. That being said, with digital resources for classes, teaching teams can share the workload easily by sharing resources with a click of a button. Teachers can view student work using tools such as Teacher Dashboard easily to support them with their work without having to take bags of workbooks home to review.

Cuban, Kirkpatrick & Peck  (2001) suggested we need to know more than how often students are turning on computers but rather what students are doing with them while they are on. If it is simple drill and kill practice all of the time, the impact on learning will be minimal as they are not developing skills that are transferable in other scenarios.

As I was reading about Cuban, Kirkpatrick & Peck  (2001) study, I felt our school had much more access to technology than the schools in the study who had computer labs. With a 1-to-1 programme at our school, each student has access to connectivity and software at all times whether at home or school, thus, increasing the use of computers. Teachers do not have to worry about booking the lab or if the internet connection will be working. This allows for technology to be used at a moment’s notice in class or left to the side of the table when not needed. The 1-to-1 programme allows for technology to just be another tool for students to use if deemed necessary.

Somekh (2004) outlines 4 examples of institutional resistance to change in the article. ICT is often seen as a separate subject rather than being integrated into every subject. Teachers often use one-size fits all, a linear model where they start from scratch and teach all the skills rather than differentiating for the needs of the students who are well advanced. Access to technology is compounded by the kinds of ICT use. Finally schools restrict access to a number of websites out of fear of the unknown and need to be extra cautious in schools. What we have learnt is, that in order for technology to be effective, it needs to become a part of the human activity (p. 177).

I think there will always be resistance to new technologies entering into the educational realm. Geoffrey Moore’s book ‘Crossing the Chasm’ (2001) outlines that there is always going to be a bell curve when it comes to technology starting from technology enthusiasts who are willing to try anything as soon as it is available to the sceptics who are the last to give in to technology initiatives if ever. I actually think this is a good thing. It is good to have a variety of perspectives and varying adopting times. It gives the visionaries time to try it out and imagine where it can go which convinces the pragmatists and conservatives to make the transition once there is some proof it will work.  When I run trials with new technology tools, this is exactly how I approach it. I access those most willing to try, see what the results are, reflect and analyse if this is the best move forward as a school and use this data to help move the school forward.  

Image from: http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/7/b/1/8/600_354151512.jpeg

In my school, technology is not just the responsibility of one teacher. Rather it is the expectation that all teachers teach ICT within their classrooms. As the Technology Coach, I support teachers in doing this but at the end of the day, we all need to weave ICT into our lessons when appropriate. This takes the ownership of ICT off just a single specialist, just like we are all language teachers to an extent. Integration of subjects has become the norm not that anomaly. As a school who uses a transdisciplinary approach to learning through the IB framework, students have all subjects being intertwined.

As I am reading the articles by Somekh (2004), I wonder what his findings would be today 12 years later. Cuban, L., Kirkpatrick, H., & Peck, C. (2001)’s article is now about 15 years after it was written. What are the more recent studies arguing about the impact or lack thereof with technology? Is there really as much discrepancy between home and school? When my students were doing something at home (ie 3D printing), we found a way to bring it into the classroom. I let the students drive their own learning and incorporated the tools they wanted to use. I use Edmodo to mimic Facebook for privacy, age restrictions and safety but still allowing them the social aspect of media. With a student who struggled with creating content and developing his e-Portfolio, I used a mobile device with Blogger to mimic what he was doing with Instagram on his own time. Are these the same tools they are using at home - no. But they are replicating their uses at home in an appropriate and safe way for educational purposes. Because I was making the effort for them, they were also making the effort and I saw improved work quality and quantity. Technology can have a positive impact on learning, community and teaching if used in authentic, meaningful and innovative ways.

References

Cuban, L., Kirkpatrick, H., & Peck, C. (2001). High access and low use of technologies in high school classrooms: Explaining an apparent paradox.American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 813–834.

Moore, G. A. (1991). Crossing the chasm: Marketing and selling technology products to mainstream customers. New York, N.Y.: HarperBusiness.

Somekh, B. (2004). Taking the sociological imagination to school: an analysis of the (lack of) impact of information and communication technologies on education systems. Technology, pedagogy and education, 13(2), 163-179.

Assumptions & Debates in ICT

As I was reading Wellington’s article (2005), I couldn’t help but think that these are the questions that we constantly asking in our office when it comes to using technology in the classroom.

From a vocational standpoint, Wellington (2005) suggests that we need to be teaching students transferable skills for the workplace (p.29). This is something I really try to get across to teachers. Teaching them a specific tool that will be outdated within a few months or years is not helpful for our students, rather they need to understand the process of planning, implementing and revising. For example, students creating movies need to understand building scripts and storyboards, different film shots, etc. From there whether it is iMovie or another video editing software it doesn’t matter because the skills are at the core. There are a ton of tools to foster collaboration but it is more important for students to understand how to collaborate rather than what tool to collaborate with. These are the types of skills that can be transferred to any discipline or workplace not just restricted to a school setting.

I am constantly asking teachers if the use of technology is adding value to their learning. If they simple are replacing one tool for a technology tool, it isn’t transforming the learning. We need to push the integration further to make it have a purpose to change how students experience learning.

I am currently looking at how we can measure the impact of iPads and technology in general in our early years. Does it make a difference? Is it necessary? Just because we have technology doesn’t mean that we need to use it if it doesn’t enhance our pedagogy. Teachers need to understand how to choose the right context for technology integration in order for it to really add value to the learning (Wellington, 2005, p. 32).

From a societal point of view (Wellington, 2005, p. 26), it is interesting to look at how formal learning of ICT impacts ICT at home and vice versa. Are teachers really using the tools kids want to use? Does it make sense to use those tools? What about just choosing aspects of those tools? Our students are well versed in technology but it doesn’t eliminate the need to still facilitate learning as home and school ICT use often are quite different.

A number of the faulty assumptions about ICT are ones that still have relevance in my own school setting. Teachers do not change their teaching just because they have technology (Bain & Weston, 2012, 7). It is difficult for teachers to unlearn and relearn how to teach using technology in meaningful ways. Similarly, as students have more technology, it doesn’t meant they will be better at technology or achieve higher results (Bain & Weston, 2012, 8). Rather, students with technology just have a greater variety of tools to show their learning and understanding. Sometimes technology can help them share their voice more effectively, this showing the learning in more apparent ways.

References

Bain, A. & Weston, M.E. (2012). The Learning Edge: What Technology Can Do to Educate All Children.  New York: Teacher's College Press.

Wellington, J. (2005). Has ICT come of age? Recurring debates on the role of ICT in education, 1982-2004. Research In Science & Technological Education,23(1), 25-39.

Affordances & Justifications

I think the affordances of technology often are dependent on the tool, the person and the context but technology provides us with so many affordances in educational settings. My school context has a BYOD Macbook school from Year 7 and above. This allows students to have the affordance to access information from their personal laptop from both home and school (Conole and Dyke, 2004). However, our Year 3 to Year 6 students have a class set of laptops that remain at school. This makes it challenging when students don’t automatically have the affordance to access their work from the same device and rely on cloud-based sharing to be able to access their work from a home device. There is the assumption that students have the affordance of accessibility at home sometimes in these grades to continue work even.

One of the technology resources our school uses is Google Apps for Education. This suite of applications provide us with so affordances. Gmail provides us with the ability to communicate quickly, easily and in an organised manner. Though because of this, I find myself often checking to make sure I don’t have any messages and respond promptly when I can (This leads to both positive and negative connotations as mentioned in Conole & Dyke, 2004). The Google Docs and Presentations provide students with the ability to create and the affordance to collaborate. They can access so much information for their presentations and work through online that students become curators in addition to consumers and creators.

With so many digital tools, my students are constantly creating multimodal presentations to showcase their understanding. App-smashing and digital storytelling have become a way of developing high-order thinking as students create, evaluate and reflect.

While our school has access to quite a substantial amount of technology, it does not mean everyone is using it as effectively as possible. In terms of technology usage, our school emphasises it be used only when it is authentic and enhances the student learning experience. However, with the rate of changes in technologies, it is hard for teachers to stay current at all times and feel confident using unfamiliar tools.

The policy document for our international school covering ICT is called "ICT, phone and social media". This document covers the main campus K-12 school, east campus K-6 school and two local kindergartens. This purpose of the policy is “to ensure the effective and proper usage of the computer systems within the school and protect employees and school from litigation associated with inappropriate use of ICT, phone and social media.” (School policy, 2015).

The policy focuses more on operational expectations of teachers while use technology in education settings. In addition, we have an acceptable use policy for teachers, students and parents to further explain the expectations of each stakeholder for technology used for the purpose of learning. The policy outlines provides a framework of expectations. Within that, hardware and software are purchased, implemented and maintained for the benefit of student learning.

Technology has numerous advantages that extends beyond just student learning in an educational setting. The policy clearly states that ICT resources are provided to staff in order to support the teaching, learning, research, administrative and business activities of the school. The usage of ICT in teaching and learning provides the students with a 21st-century approach to learning.

I was surprised when I read back that it focused so heavily on the guidelines and boundaries of using ICT instead of how to use it for teaching and learning. However, once those are in place, the ability to explore technology integration within the framework becomes more manageable for students and teachers.

One thing I really appreciate about our school’s approach to technology integration is that there is no one person who has a say of what resources get implemented. There are tools such as ManageBac, PowerSchool and Google Apps that have been implemented on a whole school scale and mandated but to get to that point, there was a lot of input and research to make those decisions. Similarly, when staff want to purchase software, there is a process of bringing it to the IT committee composed of administration from all divisions, Head of School, Director of Administration as well as our 2 IT staff and 2 EdTech teachers. This helps to ensure that various perspectives are seen and discussed before a discussion is made to see if the new software is the best fit for existing systems and for student learning. The committee meets biweekly for the entire morning.

References

Conole, G. and M. Dyke (2004). What are the affordances of information and communication technologies?ALT-J 12(2): 113-124.

School Policy (2015). QP64 - ICT, Phone and Social Media. [internal document]