The PR Hat – Brim Backwards

When the PR hat is worn backwards, the ET is focusing on student PR instead of school PR. For the most part, when talking about PR with students, we're really talking about teaching kids to be aware of their digital footprint. A lot of students don't realize that what they put on the internet stays out there for good and, depending what it is, can affect their future education and employment opportunities.

When it comes to talking about your digital footprint, there has been lots of talk about how "Google-able" you are (see one example from Will Richardson). I'm not sure how authentic a Google search is to assess someone's character or personality, but the reality is that many companies, schools, scholarship committees, employers, etc. have started to check people out on Google. As such, ETs need to help students understand how what they put on the internet can affect their future and then teach them how to manage what they put online to ensure they are proud of the digital parts of themselves. In most cases, digital footprint discussions with students are going to revolve heavily around smart social networking.

I got a few really great ideas from this blog about some "recap apps" that help students get a glimpse of the kind of personality they are projecting on sites like Facebook or Twitter. The author of the blog, Lisa Neilsen, suggests trying things like status clouds or creating a year in pictures. This quick glimpse of the whole allows students to see the general image they are presenting of themselves. I really liked this idea because you are able to teach about the pitfalls of these sites by using them. (See my previous rant on the ridiculousness of locking kids out of sites to "keep them safe".) This site also stresses the importance (yet again!) of the teacher as a digital model. Before we try helping kids get their digital footprints under wraps, we better make sure we've got our own under control. You're also not in a great position to be preaching the importance of what is being shared on social networks if you've got pictures of you wearing a beer helmet riding a hobby horse at a rodeo plastered all over your Facebook. You know what they say about the pot and the kettle....

It is also a good idea to encourage your students to do a quick reflection on things they want to post before they actually post them. Have students ask themselves, "If I post this and _________ see(s) it, will I be proud to have it posted?" Have them try putting the following people in that blank: my friends, my parents, my grandparents, and my teacher. This strategy is especially handy when dealing with gossip/cyber bullying posts as well as with party pictures at the high school level.

In my search for information on digital footprints, I encountered a couple websites that offer a plethora of resources for kids, parents, and teachers on the subject. For example, mydigitalfootprintSD offers lesson plans for teachers including a digital footprint handbook assignment that explores all sorts of topics like online ethics, legal responsibility, market safety, and appropriate online conduct. It also has a section devoted to elementary students that is presented through video (cheesy as they may be) instead of text. A lot of the information on the site is written from the perspective of a middle years' student, so the language has some definite appeal to that audience. KidSMART offers a lot of similar content but has a much flashier presentation and includes games and online activities for students to participate in. This site also covers a much wider range of topics relating to online smarts. I also love this site because there is a "Skills School" link that provides kids access to a video tutorial on Facebook privacy settings (HOORAY!) and under the "I work with kids" tab there is an entire video series aimed at the elementary group. The series, called Know IT All, is animated and should keep younger audiences engaged.

As you can probably tell from my verbosity on this topic, student PR is a reasonably complicate hat to wear. There are almost no limits to what could be covered while trying to teach kids about their digital footprint. That being said, I think the most critical aspect of this topic is simply the awareness that what you do online can have far reaching consequences. Our students (generally) have good common sense and once they are made aware of the possible consequences of their actions, they will probably take some form of action even without our assistance.

Here's one more link to a blog entry that focuses on social media in the classroom. Written from a teacher's perspective, it puts some of the fears we all have about how using social media in the classroom might affect the digital footprints of our students and possibly ourselves.

The PR Hat – Brim Forward

The PR hat really has two sides to it. For those of you who need a visual, I picture a baseball hat – worn brim forward for school PR and brim backwards for student PR. So let's start with the brim forward, you know, business first.

Believe it or not, schools need PR. I don't even mean the division itself (not that they don't need it, too) but the schools specifically. My principal recently asked me about my thoughts on teacher recruitment and retention in our rural division. I gave a stack of answer that were not technology related, but when I got thinking about my own job search, technology definitely played a part in my job search. To be more specific, when I was checking out websites to get an inside track on the vision and purpose of these schools (you know, to really wow them at the interview!), I was more than a little worried that most schools had very dated websites if any website at all. This painted a picture for me that I really was going to be moving to the sticks where my social life as I know it would end and I would have no communication with the outside world. Okay, so maybe it wasn't THAT bad, but you can see what I mean.

If we want to attract families, teachers, visitors, etc. to our school, we need to get our name out there in a positive way. Since I've come aboard, our school website has improved dramatically (and that has nothing to do with me). It is bright, vibrant, and representative of our school environment. It is updated regularly and includes links for students, teachers, and parents to use from home. It includes a calendar of events for our school and community and copies of our past and current newsletters. I realize that for most city-dwellers, this isn't a big deal. Your website has probably had a lot of these features for a long time, but for a school that previously had a website that listed staff that had retired more than 3 years ago under "Our Staff Roster"; it's a big step toward good PR.

Getting me to a rural school (especially this one) was an easy sell for me. I didn't want to be in the city and this school was offering my dream assignment. I wanted this job regardless of where it was. Most new grads, however, want to stay in a larger center or at least within commuting distance of one. They want the opportunity to have a social life (and if you are like me, access to the arts!). It is these people we need to convince. We need to use all the PR resources in our reach to show them that we can offer rivals what the big cities offer. The ETs need to come up with a PR game plan and see it through. A simple change like updating your school website is an easy start and makes a way bigger impact than you might think it would.

The Bathing Cap

This quote: "Trying to prepare students for their future and teach them about Internet safety without Web 2.0 in schools ~ is like trying to teach a child to swim without a swimming pool!" (found here) has been thrashing around in my head all week. It's just so....true. However, I'm left wondering: Who are the lifeguards, what do we do if kids head for the deep end before they're ready, and are the ETs in the pool or shouting from the sidelines?

The Advocate Hat

Educational technologists need to be the advocates for technology change in their schools/divisions. The field of technology is defined by change and that is tough for an education system that is generally wary of change, so ETs need to be there to lead the way. ETs need to present their ideas, create awareness and swing the vote to make sure our students are getting a technology education that will serve them in the tech-driven business/work world.

Not all change is good change and change should not be made simply for change sake. However, if you have a valid researched idea for change, you need to be ready to fight/advocate for it. In my educational foundations class in my first year of education, we had to write a paper advocating for change in an area we felt passionate about. Our stand had to be thoroughly backed up with proof and research for what we were advocating for. One of the goals of the assignment (I think?) was to prepare us to fight for change at an institutional level in an intellectual and useful way. Only now do I understand the significant importance of that assignment. As ETs, we need to take part in this same process. This is especially important since technology usually comes with such a large price tag; we need to be prepared to prove why changes need to be made. We need to be ready to answer the questions, "Why do we need this new _____?", "How will ________ affect student learning?" and we need to be ready with a better answer than, "Because it is awesome new technology!"

I also think that ETs need to be selective in what they advocate for or else they risk losing credibility – both with the people who are paying the bills and those are trying to adapt to all the new software/hardware/programming. Start advocating for every new gadget in your school and your voice will quickly be ignored. The old adage holds true in this case: Know when to pick your battles.

One area that I feel really merits the battle is the idea of a technology curriculum. In Saskatchewan, we don't have a traditional curriculum (like math, language, sciences, etc.) for technology. Some divisions have developed their own continuum of sorts to guide their division's technology education, but it needs to be more widespread than that. At the itSummit in Saskatoon this year, there was a debate in one of the sessions I attended about whether or not typing should still be taught with the prevalence of texting and the seeming success of chicken-pecking.* As noted in my last post, there is some discrepancy about who should be teaching internet safety. Some schools teach social networking, some teach how to do internet searches, some focus on word processing or image enhancement. As a group of professionals, we can't even agree on what should and shouldn't be taught. We need to collaborate and come up with a core set of outcomes to teach technology to our students. With a provincial curriculum in place, think of the parts of the ET's job that would become so much easier – shared resources, pooled money for PD, easier access to technology (thanks to mass ordering...in theory). This is a battle I think it's time to pick.

I've shared my two-bits...now I'm interested to know: If you had to advocate for one change right now, what would it be? What are you fighting for and why is it worth the fight?

 

 

*Just for the record: I think we DO need to teach typing to our students. Texting and chicken pecking is all fine and dandy for communicating with friends, but can you imagine what will happen to these kids when they reach post-secondary education? I don't think many professors accept text-essays. Would you, Rick? I dare someone to submit their paper via text. NO. I double dare you! (ooooooh!)

Whose hat is it??

I had intended to write a post about how one of the many unadvertised jobs of the ET is teaching cyber safety to teachers and students in the division. Then I ran across some statistics that mentioned a large part of teachers feel that teaching internet safety should be the parent's responsibility. I had never even considered that cyber safety would fall into a hat box not belonging to an educational professional of some sort....but those stats really got me thinking: Whose hat is it? And whose hat SHOULD it be??

On one hand, I can understand why teachers would be hesitant about teaching cyber safety. There is no standard curriculum that outlines what should be taught and no ready access to resources. (Speaking of which, why isn't there a curriculum model for teaching technology?) I'm sure many teachers, especially those who have limited technology knowledge, aren't even sure where to start. It doesn't help either that a lot of divisions have decided that internet lock-down is an easier way to deal with cyber safety. If the kids can't access it, it means they are safe, right? Instead of addressing the problem, we're putting blinders on, somehow thinking that will help. If that is the division stance, what is motivating teachers to take the initiative to learn (or even care) about online safety?

Things also get really tricky when you think about the values of the people involved. If I think social networking is offensive or dangerous, should I have to teach them how to use it safely (thereby having it to use it myself, assuming the teacher as model theory)? Or what if I think that blogging is a great way to start making a mark in the digital world but parents feel that attaching their child's name to things put on the internet is inappropriate? I feel like this argument is as complicated as the whole sexual education issue. How do you separate your values from what needs to be taught and how do you respect the values of others while teaching the information that is needed?

On the other hand, aren't we educators? Isn't it our JOB to teach kids the information they need to survive in our world? Whether we are ready to admit it or not, we are living in an increasingly digital age. These kids are already playing a part in that digital world and a lot of them don't know the rules. Are parents any more equipped to teach this than teachers are? Who is supposed to help parents find resources and make sure they are presenting accurate information? Who is going to train the parents to teach their children what they need to know? And what about families who can't afford a home computer or internet service – do those kids not need to understand how to be safe online? Everyone deserves the right to be educated in the ways of being safe online, not just those who are lucky enough to have regular access to the online world.

I still think that the ET should be wearing the cyber safety hat and it is pretty obvious how an ET can help provide training, guidance, support, and resources for cyber safety. The real question is who is the ET sharing this hat with: parents or teacher?

 

More on the statistics that inspired this post: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0226/Internet-safety-Whose-job-to-teach-kids-about-it

A great site to help with the development of a cyber safety program (for teachers OR parents): http://csriu.org/ (This link is also provided in the news story above.)

 

The Computer-Fixer Hat

As mentioned in the previous post, computer fixing takes up a fair chunk of an ET's time. I've already found that a lot of the problems I've been asked to fix really do not require any degree of technological expertise to fix. Most problems could be address by the user themselves if they knew where to look. I'm hoping that this post provides some resources that you can share with your teachers so that your time is spent fixing problems that actually need your expertise to be fixed.

The help menu would seem to be a logical place to start. Try pointing out where this menu is and how to use it (like how to type in questions or keywords to actually get the results that you want). For some people, the help menu isn't the best option because it is text based. This is a problem for two reasons: First, users without the vocabulary necessary to navigate the help topics are not going to find much help. Second, many users are looking for a quick solution and reading isn't really the fastest fix - it's faster to track down the ET than it is to read 6 paragraphs on photo resizing. As a result, help topics with more visual components like screen capture stills or videos might be an easier sell on the self-help front. Here are a few links to get you started.

http://www.actden.com

This site features various tutorials on common educational software applications like PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, IE, etc. Another really neat feature this site offers is online "classes". These classes are really just detailed tutorials - and in some cases, activities - in graphic design, information technology, math, writing, etc. Judging by the design, language, and content of the site, the target audience is really student based. If teachers are willing to get through some of the cheesy themes, they may find portions of the site are helpful for them. The instructions provided are very simple and include visual examples. This is a wonderful site for beginners. The absolute best part of this site? It's FREE! (Although some parts of the site do require registration.)

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line2.htm#pp

This site is more of a hub for online tutorials. It has an extensive list of links that are supplemented by a short explanation which helps to pinpoint what you need. That being said, you need to willing to sift through a lot of topics to find the one you want. The nice part of this site is that it offers a nice mix of text and visual help topics and provides some very specific areas of focus so that you aren't stuck watching a 15 minute video to get the 30 seconds of information you were actually looking for. It is free to use although some of the links will ask for payment depending on what site you are directed to. This site is not as user friendly as actden, but if you are really determined to learn what you need, it is a pretty decent site. If you are looking for a quick fix, don't go here.

www.Lynda.com

This is a wonderful site with an awesome variety of tutorials. The site itself is easy to navigate and offers comprehensive and user-friendly tutorials. Most (if not all?) tutorials are presented as videos with instructions narrated along side of a screen capture of the task being performed. Of the three sites I've listed, this is really the best option for educating teachers. The only downside is that it is reasonably expensive for a personal account ($25/month or $250/year). However, this cost could be a lot more manageable if a school purchased an account and shared the username and passwords with the staff. I'm not sure if you can have more than one computer logged on under the same username at the same time, but I'd imagine that the occasions for simultaneous usage would be few.

If none of these options appeal to you or fill the need at your school, you may consider creating your own video tutorials. This is relatively easy if you can get some screen capture software downloaded onto your computer. (I'd recommend some, but I haven't had much luck finding a program I love...) Then you can narrate the procedures in language you know your teachers would understand. Then you could post these videos to your school website or wiki for teachers to access. This is a nice option because you are able to add your personal touch and teachers still feel like it is YOU helping them. It does take some time to setup, but would be worthwhile in the end if staff were consistent in using it.

This is really only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the computer fixing hat, but hopefully with a small investment of time teaching teachers to help themselves, you will be able to put your efforts where they are needed most and will make the biggest impact for your school.

 

The Juggler Hat

I know I started this blog telling you this wasn't about magic tricks, but ETs really do need to know the delicate art of juggling. I was sitting in on a software sales pitch the other day when the conversation led to some of the challenges tech departments face. One of the presenters commented that schools need to have more technology personnel in place to help teachers make the adjustment. More specifically, he thought we needed people that go from school to school helping out where they can. Our technology leader commented that we actually had a designated person IN each school to help out and that this arrangement worked out better for a school division that covers so much geography. He was quick to disagree with her and explained that in-house technology leaders tend to get burnt out very quickly because everyone comes to them with the expectation that they will know how to fix everything. He also commented that a lot of people come to look at the technology leader as a computer fixer instead of a leader...so much so that people don't even try to troubleshoot on their own; they just go to the tech leader as soon as there is a problem.

I'm not going to lie, what he said kind of freaked me out! I'm not even in that position this year and already people seek me out to help them figure out how to change templates on PowerPoint, troubleshoot error messages, and hook up the projectors. In the TIL position next year, I am expected to do most of the things listed in the original hat box post as well as lead computer classes for K-6 students. And that only takes up 50% of my contract! The other half of my time will be spent teaching French classes. Add into the mix the extracurricular expectation, completing my master's degree, and being the community cake lady, and suddenly I'm infinitely aware of the number of balls I've got up in the air. The same rings true of most ETs, I'm sure! So what can we do to make sure all those balls STAY in the air and don't come crashing down into a fiery pit of burn out?!

I've got some ideas that I'd like to try like some very simple instructions to FAQs, picture models of projector hook ups, a troubleshooting process, etc. I always encourage my students to pay attention when others ask questions because they just might learn something they didn't know they needed. Maybe if I take that same philosophy and apply it to working with teachers, I can create more 'experts' to help out. The more people working together on juggling the balls, the easier it is to keep them all up in the air.

**I am aware that classroom teachers and other school personnel have a lot to juggle as well. I do not mean to diminish the expectation on any other member of the education team.**

The Professional Development Hat - Solutions

I'm not quite ready to walk away from the article I discussed yesterday. I really only touched on the identification of the problem and the goals for solving it. The article did contain some suggestions for ways to get the PD ball moving and keep it in motion. The authors expressed a few ideas I really questioned though. I would love to see a follow-up article to find out if these strategies worked. (Similar to yesterday, this does not reflect all their suggestions, just the ones that stuck out for me.)

1. Practice logs – the idea here is to have teachers fills in practice logs to reflect on the new practice they used and provide feedback on what worked, what didn't, and if further support is needed. When I read this, I immediately thought of first year education reflections and thought "there is absolutely no way anyone is going to do that faithfully enough to make a difference." More the point, if one of the obstacles is getting teachers to look at technology as a help, not a hinderance, is throwing more paperwork into the mix really helping the situation?!
   
2. One way to motivate teachers to use technology is to mandate it – REALLY? After our class discussions this week on how motivation depends largely on autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Mandating that something be used totally strips away the motivating factor of autonomy. It also takes away the motivating factor of mastery. Why would you want to get better at something you aren't really interested in? As for purpose, that doesn't seem to be a strong motivator here either. It is hard to recognize the purpose of something that has been funnelled down to you. It is even more difficult to understand your purpose in the task when you were never consulted about it. The point is, I have HUGE doubts that this whole mandate idea would work.
   
3. Offer pay increases or extra technology to those who use it – First off, the same motivating factors come in to play here. Research shows that big rewards tend to result in smaller achievement. Not to mention the fact that this logic is totally backwards. How is giving the people who buy into technology more technology going to help the people who are resisting it? If anything, this model is going to create animosity between the haves and the have-nots and the whole issue of technology is just going to get lost in the politics! Talk about a slippery slope.
   

I am filled with complaints and resistance to their ideas, but of course I have no alternative suggestions. It seems I make a better critic than a creator. Despite my criticism, I think there is truth at the heart of these suggestions: motivation is key. As ETs, we need to look at how people are motivated and use that to our advantage. Maybe we need to adopt the system Atlassian uses (find out more about it from Dan Pink's talk on Drive.) and give our teachers unstructured time two or three times per term to just play around with things. Give them time to sort out what they like, what they don't, what works, what doesn't, etc. Give them time to develop some mastery, autonomy, and purpose and just see what happens as a result!

Rodriguez offers a quote about the importance of Technology PD that I think sums things up nicely: The Office of Technology Assessment (1995) states, "Helping schools to make the connection between teachers and technology may be one of the most important steps to making the most of the past, present, and future investments in educational technology and our children's future" (p. iii). Definitely some food for thought, I'd say!

The Professional Development Hat - Goals

Professional development (PD) is a huge part of the ET's job. ETs need to find out what kind of PD is needed in the division, research those topics, either design a PD opportunity or seek out someone who has the expertise, present the PD, evaluate post-PD behaviour and implementation...it's a big job!

I've been thinking a lot about what Donna and I discussed in her interview about how teachers are comfortable with their own use of technology, so what kind of PD do we offer to take it to the next level. It seems to be the big question on a lot of people's minds as of late...with no obvious answers in sight. I did some poking around on the internet last night and came across an article by Ginger Rodriguez that explored the Critical Issue: Providing Professional Development for Effective Technology Use. The article provided some interesting research into what PD should look like for it to be most effective and some of the obstacles that stand in the way. I'm only going to comment on the things that really stuck out for me, so please do not consider this a comprehensive review of the article. That being said, I strongly recommend that you read it; they've got some interesting stuff to say!

1. Teachers should become fearless in their use of technology – I think this is a great articulation of the ultimate PD goal. Fear is a definite obstacle for technology usage in my school/division. I really don't think the fear is the technology itself but more looking like you don't know what you are doing that is the problem. Teachers pride themselves in being knowledgeable about a variety of things, so putting that at risk is a big deal. I think this whole idea is something that ETs need to be aware of and sensitive to. Just because we are ready for the technology, doesn't mean everyone else is.
   
2. Transform thinking of technology as software, hardware, and connections into being tools for teaching and learning. As ETs, we need to help teachers realize that technology doesn't need to be considered another add-on to the list of things to include in our day. If we can help teachers to realize that technology can be used as a teaching tool like a text or a handout, some of the fear mentioned above may dissipate and the "integration" of technology will become second nature instead. Hopefully.
   
3. Technology PD has to deviate from our traditional one-shot model – Technology is ever-evolving and it seems that as soon as you learn a program and get comfortable using it, it changes. For that exact reason, technology PD needs to be an ongoing process with repeated instruction and plenty (LOTS) of practice time. Within the article it said that 15 live or videotaped demonstrations on a topic resulted in modest-sized change in practice. At first I was totally shocked by that. Then I got thinking, aren't we taught that I student needs to see/hear/interact with a concept something like 50 times before it sticks. Well duh, shouldn't that same idea apply to teachers? The article also pointed out that substantial change in practice take 4-7 years in a resource-rich school and even longer in schools that lack resources. Good to know for us ETs! It's good to remember this when we aren't seeing the enthusiasm and results we had hoped for.
   
4. IT support needs to be immediate for teachers to stay engaged in the process – I think we can all appreciate this one. My division is quite vast and our IT department is quite small. As such, malfunctions take time to be addressed. Our in-house technology leader is able to fix/troubleshoot small issues, but most of the system is locked down, so we are pretty limited to what we can fix. In that same realm, new technologies need to be tested before implementation is encouraged (or, GASP, mandated). Have we learned nothing from Windows?! Make sure it works or people will get frustrated to the point of not wanting to use it.
   

If nothing else, Rodriguez has really helped to focus what needs to be accomplished by professional development in technology. Technology is such a large topic it is hard to know where to focus our professional development efforts to make the most significant impact.

Interview with Donna DesRoches (Pt.1)

Donna is the Ed Tech guru for Living Sky School Division and she graciously accepted my request for an interview! In this meeting, she shares a bit about what her job entails, some of her favourite technologies, and provides an important tip for us budding Ed Techs! Thanks so much to Donna for sharing her insight with me (and you)! Due to technical limitations,this interview will be posted in two parts.

No hat, just ponderings re: Technology Integration

I've been doing a lot of thinking about something a colleague recently posted in a discussion on reluctance in technology integration in schools. He said that perhaps the key to success is pulling people into technology instead of pushing them. He suggested that instead of making people buy into an idea, we should let the people who already accept the idea encourage others by sharing how easy/useful it is for them. Hopefully, by hearing how wonderful other people think it is or seeing the difference it makes in their classroom, the reluctant ones will come to accept the ideas well. At the time, I thought it was a really inspired idea. After thinking about it for a few weeks and interacting with people who are reluctant technology users, I've changed my mind. Sometimes people really do need a push, even if they don't realize it.

It was sharing my internship experience with someone that recently really got me thinking about the whole push vs. pull argument. When I requested my internship placement, I put heavy emphasis on the fact that I wanted to teach the primary grades. It was what I knew, loved, and was comfortable with. Everyone wants to have a positive internship experience and in my mind, a primary placement guaranteed a positive experience for me. You can imagine my trepidation when I received notice that I would be in a grade 6 class. I was terrified. Those middle years' kids were bigger and meaner and scarier. I went into my first week of internship expecting the worst from the students AND myself. I was out of my element and so had little confidence in what I was doing. After a somewhat bumpy start, I discovered that I loved teaching middle years. The independence the students were able to use was something I wasn't used to working with and neither was the ability of the students to form opinions and share thoughtful discussion. I was floored. And every day since then I have been so thankful that the universe pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me the opportunity to experience something I never knew I could love. If that push wouldn't have come, I'd probably be singing "Itsy bitsy spider" and sewing sock puppets, never realizing what I was missing.

If I hadn't been pushed to try teaching middle years, would I have done it? I doubt it. It's this realization that has me questioning the power of "pull". I knew people who loved teaching middle years, I knew people who wouldn't have taught anything BUT middle years, but did that make me want to do it? No. I chalked it up to a difference of opinion. The pull of hearing great things about how much people loved teaching middle years' kids, did not make me want to try it. I had to be pushed into it. I think technology is the same.

If we as ET's are really serious about integrating technology, we're going to have to push a few people out of their comfort zone to do it. However, we also need to be there to support them in their efforts and make the experience as positive as possible. I also think that we need to be selective about what we push and when we push it. Pushing someone into trying something that is way beyond their ability level or pushing something that hasn't been tested (and proven) will probably end with undesirable results.

I'm not saying that every push will have the same results as my internship experience, but sometimes it also takes being pushed out of your comfort zone to shock you into re-evaluating your practices. Teachers are supposed to adapt the best practice to educate students. Sometimes that best practice isn't going to fit into your comfort zone. So when resisting that push, you need to consider why you are resisting. Is it because you really don't think it will help educate your students or because you are comfortable doing things the way you've always done them?

The Software Recommender Hat

Websites featured in this presentation:

http://www.mathletics.ca/

http://www.geogreeting.com/

http://www.software4schools.ca/

The Technology Integration Hat

One of the main jobs of an educational technologist (ET) in any setting is to assist in integrating technology. In reality, just about anyone can "integrate technology" into their classroom without the help of an ET. (Having a computer in the class so students can play computer games during free time counts, right?) The ET's real job in the realm of integration is to help teachers use technology in engaging and meaningful ways. Sounds easy enough, but a lot of classroom technology is used to present an old idea in a new way (not very meaningful OR engaging). In order to get to the meaningful and engaging use of technology, ETs have to help teachers transform their teaching strategies to facilitate the best use of the technology available. Not sounding so easy anymore, right? Fear not!

To get teachers headed in the right direction, ETs need to provide the tools (and support) to help teachers ask themselves a key question when they use technology in a lesson or assignment: "Could this task have been completed without the technology I used?" If the answer is yes, chances are their attempt at integration missed the mark.

Imagine this scenario: A grade 5 teacher asks her class to give a report on animal habitats by researching facts on the internet and then presenting them with PowerPoint.

So let's try to evaluate this task on its meaningful integration. Was technology integrated into the lesson? Absolutely. Was it a task that used technology for technology's sake? Possibly. Now consider the key question: Could this task have been completed without technology? I do believe a resounding "YES!" is in order here. This task is no different than the traditional task of sending kids to the library to research facts in books and then create a poster showcasing their findings. In other words, it's a new way to complete an old task.

So how do we fix it? One idea is to use rubrics or checklists to help teachers evaluate their use of technology. One example comes from Bernajean Porter. In her presentations at IT Summit 2010 in Saskatoon, Bernajean led a few discussions that dealt with the meaningful integration of technology in schools. (See the synopsis of her presentations here. "All Technology Uses are NOT Equal" and "Extreme Make-over" are the presentations I refer to in this post.) During Bernajean's presentation, she gave participants a rubric entitled "H.E.A.T.ing UP™ Student Performance Tasks for Transformational Learning". (The rubric itself is copyrighted but I'll give you the gist.)

Each time technology is used in the classroom, the teacher can evaluate how much transformational learning the students were engaged in by circling the objectives they met. For example, under Higher Order Thinking, if the task mentioned above was designed to help students become familiar with internet searches and PowerPoint and the point was not really to learn about habitats, then the lesson would be focused on technological literacy. (This is fine in moderation, by the way!) If the point of the task was to have students research facts and report back about them (ABOUT being the operative word), then the assignment would fit into the adapting technology level. However, if students were required to make meaning of animal habitats by USING the facts they found or, even better, produce information of their own about animal habitats, then we would be looking at transformative learning. With just a quick glance, teachers are able to see how their use of technology measures up. They are also able to consider how to take an existing idea and transform it to create higher learning and more meaningful use of technology for their students.

Of course, transforming the strategies and practices a teacher is accustomed to will take time. Encourage teachers to start small with one or two lessons a year and build from there. Trying to change too much too fast just might have the opposite effect and result in teachers avoiding technology integration all together.

For more discussion and a few examples, check out Jeff Utecht's post on Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom or Sun Associates webpage.

Wondering how to offer Professional Development to get everyone on the same page? Here's an exploration of the issue that might give you some ideas!

The Hat Box

The position of Educational Technologist is not an easy one to define. Wikipedia offers the oh-so-helpful definition that "An educational technologist is someone who is trained in the field of educational technology." How insightful! A definition like that is probably more helpful when the area of expertise has more concretely defined parameters. For example, What's a firefighter? A firefighter is a person who fights fires. Well, that's a fair definition because I know (or at least have a general idea of) what that means. I know what a fire is and I have a reasonable understanding of what it means to fight a fire. However, when the field of educational technology is best defined by change, using the term to explain the job of an educational technologist is not terribly helpful.

The best place to find out what is expected from an Ed Tech on the job is to check out a job posting. In reality, each Ed Tech position is going to be different from the next because the needs of each school/division/corporation are going to depend of their current level of technology integration and their vision for future integration. After perusing several job postings available on line (and there are a lot of them!), there seems to be at least some common ground in each post. Regardless of what audience is involved (elementary/high school, post-secondary, etc.), the basic must-haves of the position seem to be the same.

As a side note: There were corporate listings available on many sites under the heading of Educational Technologist, but I'm going to stick with the education setting for now. We'll touch on the corporate possibilities of the position later on.

Educational Technologists are expected to:

• Work with teachers to implement technology into the curriculum.
  
• Arrange and/or provide teachers/staff/students with technology training and professional development.
  
• Recommend and/or purchase software, hardware, and other resources.
  
• Identify trends in technology that supplement curriculum and teaching strategies.
  
• Maintain/Oversee the technology integration plan of the school/division.
  
• Create/Collect learning resources for teachers, staff, and students.
  
• Evaluate new and existing programs and strategies being used to integrate technology.
  
• Maintain resources and equipment
  
• Troubleshoot software/hardware issues on site
  
• Provide input/insight on ways to increase teachers' use of technology
  

  .
  

Quite the diverse list of duties, non? And that's just the tip of the iceberg; many jobs will require additional responsibilities! Also, bear in mind that each of those duties comes with its own list of more specific expectations. However, this list definitely gives a starting point for filling our hat box. Over the next 5 weeks, we'll take a closer look at each of these responsibilities and what hats are required to fulfill them. In the end, we should have a hat box twice as diverse as Mr. Dressup's tickle trunk!

Abracadabra

If you've come here in hopes of learning to pull a bunny out of your hat or finding some magic tricks to wow your friends with at your next dinner party, you've been misdirected. The hat trick I'm referring to here is actually the multi-faceted job of the Educational Technologist. Through this blog, I hope to take my current understanding of the profession and pare it down into something a bit more concrete (if I can). I'll be drawing on my own experience, sharing insight from my university class, checking out journals, and conducting some interviews with the pros. So if you are as stumped as I am by the question "What exactly does it mean to be an educational technologist?", then read on to be enlightened!