2019 One Word: Resolve

Sometimes my career feels like a battle. As an instructional technologist, I don't feel like my role has ever just been trying to help willing teachers integrate technology but also to be an evangelist or even prophet about the future of education and the impact technology can have. About this time every year,  I begin to feel a wee bit weary. I feel fatigued from having to defend educational technology which is always odd to me that this has become part of who I am.

I look back over the past few years and see a theme:
2015's one word was "Let's"
2016's one word was "Beta"
2017's one word was "Brave"
2018's one word was "Perspective"

This year as I tried to decide which one word to choose to help me as a professional, I found myself feeling less joy about what I do because of the weariness of having the same old conversations year, after year, after year. Every year, choosing one word in January gives me a sense of where I have been during this school year and a focus on where I want to be at the end of May.

So this year my one word is RESOLVE. After a year of diligently trying to look at and balance perspectives of others, I am ready to own who I am. I am an instructional technologist who currently is in the role of Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation. This year I am resolved to stand firm in sharing the virtues of educational technology with the educators, students, and parents that I come in contact with day in and day out. For me, this means that I will stand firm in touting the importance of students having the skills that support the ISTE Standards for Students for their futures.

I have been toying with the one word, "Resolve", for a few days now. This morning I felt affirmed in that word as we read the scripture from Mark 6: 1-4 in church:

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Now, I'm no Jesus but these words resonated deep within me this morning. Jesus's own family and friends in his own hometown didn't believe in him and the things he was sharing. One of the hardest things about my role is that I am often asked to speak at other schools and educational conferences but my fellow educators in the school I've been at for 15 years push back the hardest. My insecurities imagine what they say "Who is she? She was just an elementary computer teacher?" "How could she possibly think she could tell me better ways to teach my class?" "She knows nothing about my subject matter." None of those things have been said to me, mind you. Then my pride gets in the way and I'm convinced I do know best sometimes (hence the chosen word "perspective" last year to make sure I was being balanced.) 

But here I am today choosing "resolve," not to push my ways on others but to stand firm on believing I have an important role at my school to be an evangelist and prophet about the future possibilities of education. My prayer is that just like Jesus in the scriptures we read this morning, I can do it with humility (this was his second time to go to his hometown and try to reach them). I want to have the resolve to bravely share concepts and ideas based on what I have learned might be helpful regarding technology integration.

What will this look like immediately?

• Explaining the analytics data of digital testing inside Canvas and how it can benefit or students and teachers when creating assessments.
• Explaining how we are in an era that has never been before: we can now have immediate feedback after a lesson and adjust our teaching to that feedback to best meet our student needs.
• Harking the benefits of rubric-based assessing so that students can share their learning in ways other than a paper/pencil/digital assessment of questions.
• Explaining that Canvas is a learning management system that our school can "grow into"  as we consider mastery paths and learning outcomes associated with our questioning of students.

THE WHY: Benefits of Digital Objective Testing

My thoughts on the benefits of digital objective testing:

• Automated grading- My number one reason for loving digital assessments is the ability to automate grading. 
• Using digital testing gives teachers the opportunity to quickly perform pre-assessments that can guide teachers forward in curriculum. 
• Using digital testing gives teachers time. Teachers often spend ours a week grading papers, projects, homework, and tests. Digital testing frees up some of that time for them to be able to spend in planning. 
• Using digital testing allows for an increase in feedback for both the teacher and the student. Exit tickets give teachers immediate feedback on how the lesson was received and understood for the next day (or even the next period). Automated grading gives the teacher the opportunity for students to have a better sense of their knowledge along the way. I would even go as far to say that there are definite times assessments should not be in the grade book. Use this option as a tool to help students learn what they need to learn. In many digital platforms (like below in the LMS Canvas) when setting up quizzes you can actually give students multiple attempts so that it is not only an assessment tool for the teacher but it allows the student the opportunity to master the concept by going back and practicing/studying and taking the assessment again. 
  
  CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: Are you assessing in order to have grades in a grade book or are you assessing to know what your students know to get them to the ultimate goal of mastery of your curriculum concepts?
• Paperless- There are definite pros and cons to being paperless but I'm going to share the pros in this. No longer are there stacks of paper on your dining room table, desk, and crumpled in the bottom of your computer bag. Digital testing leads to classroom management. Tests can't be "lost" and because it is paperless there is no waiting on a teacher to give back the grade. Feedback can be immediate.  CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: Do feel led to embrace pathways of sustainability for our world? Do you feel you have a responsibility for teaching your students how to steward our natural resources (such as trees/paper)? Creating paperless opportunities in your classroom supports that line of thinking. 
• Individualization- Digital testing lends itself to being able to differentiate learning in a more streamlined, less labeled manner. No one knows that one student is getting a different "level" of test than another. For instance, when setting up a quiz in Canvas (see below),
  
  you can assign quizzes to certain people. Instant differentiation or personalization. With the use of digital instruction and testing, teachers can actually spend more time meeting individual student needs than ever before. "This isn't just about algorithms and technology, it's about increased face time with teachers" when your class becomes more of a blended learning environment by utilizing tech for what it does best and utilizing your skills as a teacher for what you do best. https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=416 This aspect allows you to also hit on the next two ideas of "remediation" and "acceleration." CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: If you aligned the questions you entered into a quiz with an outcome (i.e.- standard, essential understanding) and you then knew what individual concept your students were not understanding, would you use that information for each student?
• Remediation - Let's assume you said yes to the last challenge question. Because your desire is for all students to succeed, you could then create paths of learning that would allow those struggling students to master the curriculum set before them. In Canvas, there are options called Mastery Paths (see below)
  
  that would allow you to differentiate instruction/ resources/ testing based on the level of understanding achieved on their digital testing. CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: If you had data that showed you where your students had gaps, would you use that data for their good? Would it be worth the effort? 
• Acceleration - In many classrooms across the world it is the common, accepted practice to teach to the average student. But just like those kids that are below that norm have issues that can be addressed with digital testing, we also have the ability to push those higher achievers further in their learning with the mastery paths as well. They can either go farther faster or deeper into the concept for understanding. You're the teacher, the path is for you to decide but you've seen those bored faces waiting for the next chapter. CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: How are you, your school, and your district helping students progress that could accelerate through the curriculum? How do you support those students that could move on? 
• Data for student progress -  Any teacher worth their salt can grade a stack of tests and see patterns of lack of comprehension, it's part of being a teacher. But with digital testing you have the ability to look at that data in a whole new way. To drive instruction forward for your entire class, select groups, or individuals. Not only that, what if you could see the mastery from year to year? What if last year's math teacher could tell you the fundamental struggles the students you are about to teach have? Data is a four letter word but it doesn't have to be a bad word. We as educators tend to think of data as something being done to us, but: CHALLENGE THE EDUCATOR question: What if data helped you drive your day to day instructional strategies? Would that immediate feedback be useful to you? Could you adapt your standard mode of operation to include rethinking the next day's curriculum instead of grading papers for 1-2 hours every day? 

Stay tuned for my next blog post that gives you some tricks to trick the tricksters when dealing with digital testing:

• Question banks
• Access codes
• Easy alignment to standards
• Shuffle answers
• Time limits
• Filter IP Addresses

Educators as Learning Catalyst Analysts

Analyst- Educators understand and use data to drive their instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals. Educators:

• Provide alternative ways for students to demonstrate competency and reflect on their learning using technology.
• Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and summative assessments that accommodate learner needs, provide timely feedback to students and inform instruction. 
• Use assessment data to guide progress and communicate with students, parents and education stakeholders to build student self-direction. (ISTE Standards for Educators, 2016)

As a parent of two daughters that really struggle with test anxiety, I am thankful that technology can often create opportunities for alternative ways to assess. Having students create presentations of their learning allows for alternatives to the traditional formative and summative assessments of "test day." Creating rubrics can both guide students in understanding what they will be responsible for learning as well as creating an upfront knowledge of what will be assessed and how. As a sometimes Type A personality I have a daughter that truly does better on any paper or project if the parameters for expectations and evaluation are laid out clearly. Technology can aid in that.

One of the major efficiencies for technology in the classroom is in relation to digital assessments. Technology used for grading assessment gives faster feedback than ever before. Self-grading assessments, speed graders like in the Canvas LMS, and the ability to see all answers in one place allows educators the opportunity to truly use assessment data to guide their instruction not just to evaluate learning of the instruction.

Digital assessments create a series of data points that can readily be evaluated for individualized purposes. This can mean anything from competency based mastery path individualized learning plans to adjusting whole classroom instruction to best meet the classroom needs for the next day due to assessment results. Digital assessments allow for quick responses to all stakeholders- students, teachers, and parents. If it is in the form of formative assessments, it can show gaps or weaknesses that need more attention before a summative assessment takes place.

In today's world of adaptive software that adjusts to student learning, algorithms can serve the role of analyst for the educator while the educator spends more time in collaborator, designer, and facilitator  roles as learning catalysts described in the ISTE Standards for Educators.

An LMS for Everyone?

Recently our school has been in the process of not only trying to decide if an LMS (learning management system) is important to implement school wide but also what LMS meets the needs of the community as a whole. Through this process over the last 5 years we have implemented in both large and small ways 4 different LMS solutions- Moodle, Edify, Google Classroom, and Canvas.

As a technology coordinator there are some moving parts that I think about that don't really impact the individual teachers:

1. Cost. Is it cost effective for us to choose certain LMS options. Is it going to cost additional funding to be able to integrate our SIS (student information system) into it for ease of use. 
2. Longevity. Edtech options are exponentially growing. Are we choosing an option that is forward thinking and that has potential to grow into the platform we will need for the future?
3. User friendly interface for teachers and students. Is the LMS set up in a way that it feels intuitive to the user with a bit of use? Is support good? Are answers to questions quick? Is there a community of users I can tap into to ask specific questions and learn from their usage as well? Are there resources available for teachers to access and pull into their curriculum?
4. Cross-curricular usefulness. Truthfully, it's fairly easy for a teacher that wants to do true/false and multiple choice questions to feel confident with almost any LMS but does the LMS lend itself to grading papers, short/long answer questions, graphs, math equations, scientific notation? It's imperative to choose a LMS that best meets a wide average of users or else there is a biased expectation of usage that just won't happen because it just isn't deemed useful.
5. Data accessibility. As research is showing, the data that quick formative assessments via technology is bringing to today's classroom can be a game changer for the teacher willing to utilize this mode of instructional practice. To be able to both quickly give and receive data from a formative assessment helps teachers plan forward and even personalize for differentiation. The easier it is to create assessments and the more people that can access that data, the better. 
6. Multiple Platform Interfaces for single sign-on access. Apps and software that interface with the LMS seamlessly create an easier classroom for the teacher and makes me feel better about student privacy with single sign-on options. 

While all these things play heavily on my mind I do strongly believe that the future of education will be LMS driven. Data will play a big role in helping educators meet the needs of individual students as education moves toward competency based assessment linked to essential questions or standards. An LMS will bring that all together for curriculum leaders and educators. 

There are many districts that already require their teachers, every year, to pull 3 years of summative assessment data and create plans to meet the needs for each student in their classroom. As we all know summative assessments are a blip in a student's year...many things can impact how a student does on those tests- sickness, cold air, warm air, attitude, nerves, distractions, etc. By also adding the value of summative assessments into the mix we get a better representation of who these students are. When all those on the educational staff that work with our students have access to this information we can all better meet the needs of our students. 

The future is changing, it will look differently for different subject areas but some things will be consistent- the need to leverage the tools for best practice to meet student needs. 

3 Ways Tech Can Negatively Impact Classroom Learning

As an instructional technologist, I am always looking for tools to aid in the learning process. I believe wholeheartedly that when integrated well technology adds engagement, opportunities for advanced/deeper learning, and possibilities for teachers to be more relational. That being said, I also believe that technology can become a babysitter and the idea of putting access to the world in the hands of students as a babysitter is a little unnerving to me.

This blog post is to help teachers think critically about the way they integrate technology. The following are 3 ways that technology can negatively impact classroom learning:

1. Not choosing the right resource for the job. Think of all the decision making going into choosing a textbook. If you are using technology as part of instruction, the same level of digging deeper to see if it is a quality app or website needs to be done. Common Sense Media does a great job in helping you decide if an app or website is a good choice through their review portion of their website https://www.commonsense.org/education/reviews/all . There are also probably people on your campus or in your school district that can give you some suggestions on good edtech choices...do you have a tech coach? math coach? literacy coach? curriculum coordinator? Ask them what they would suggest for your task at hand.
2. Not using educational technology intentionally. There is a big push, and rightly so, towards station rotation blended learning. Walk into a classroom that has access to technology and you will often see subjects being taught in small groups with at least one being a tech-based option. This is a great way for teachers to work with smaller groups or individuals in order to help students fill gaps or personalize their learning. Be careful of the culture of this type of classroom though. Set the classroom up so you can make sure the students using technology are on task the whole time they are in the technology-driven rotation. If not, you have just decreased their math learning time by whatever time they have spent in that particular rotation. If you are not being intentional and checking to see if they are truly on task each day, you are undermining yourself. This might mean starting the year with a volunteer working the room while you teach your small groups. It definitely will mean explaining to your students that every rotation is as important as the other. Which leads me to my third point...
3. Not looking at data. Orange may be the new black but Data is the new teacher homework. We aren't use to looking at data daily but whatever amount of time you used to spend grading papers every night, now use it to look at your student's daily data. This data allows you to see the gaps and reassess to best meet needs THE FOLLOWING DAY. With the advent of intuitive assessments that adjust to students knowledge, we can meet the students where they are but this is only good if it is being monitored and used. 

There are many teachers not using technology as a true teaching tool in the classroom and more for creation and curation but if you are tapping into this gift of technology by using the tools that support your classroom teaching, make sure you are not lazy with the way your are utilizing it. It's easy to look around the room and think, "they must be making progress, everyone is on task" but you have immediate feedback in the form of formative assessments using technology...utilize it to feel confident you are meeting needs as best you can.

Algorithms, learning curves, data and change.

In a series of strange events for my life, I spent 45 minutes with the chief operating officer of a fortune 500 company yesterday. The discussion we had was an interesting one. As he discussed the significance technology plays in his world, I found myself grinning. Unlike many companies in his industry, the company he works for doesn't believe that every client is cookie-cutter; they do believe that leveraging technology can play a major role in personalizing each client's experience for the better with their company. 

As I sat there with him and two other people, I realized that the conversation we were having was one that I find myself having on a regular basis in the educational world. I do believe that technology will be a major support and game changer for teachers. I do not believe that technology can lead to the best mode of personalization without the help of a trained professional to guide the process. In the educational world this professional is the teacher. 

Much like teachers fear that technology may one day replace them, I realized that employees in other industries have the same fears. We talked about algorithms, learning curves and data. While one employee shook his head that the human factor would always do a better job than a computer in analyzing individuals, the COO (and myself) disagreed with him. I shared that I don't think his job would ever go away, it would just morph into something other than what he currently knows. 

In some weird way I enjoyed the fact that a fortune 500 company is dealing with some of the same fears, excitement, and unknowns as I am as an instructional technologist in a school of 1400 students. It was the biggest "future ready" slap in the face of reality that I have had in a very long time. It also reminded me of how relevant my work is to life for my students. Change is scary for individuals but if the goal is to best meet student/client needs, then change must be considered.