When Google Expeditions AR Pioneer Program Visits Your School

This letter went out to our families this week:

Yesterday CCS had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. Twenty different groups of students from Kindergarten to 12th grade were able to use augmented reality tools to enhance the concepts they are currently learning in their classrooms through engagement, visualization, and manipulation. This software is not available to the public as Google is perfecting its product, and we were honored to be selected to experience it and give feedback! 

Augmented reality is best described as the process of layering a computer-generated image over a real-world view (think of SnapChat filters). Our students worked in groups of 2-3 using a Google phone attached to a selfie stick to see 3D manipulative visuals ranging from objects associated with a coral reef, to a hurricane, to Da Vinci's inventions! 

The opportunity to participate in the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program provided both teachers and students access to technology-based tools that have the ability to bring abstract concepts to life and give students a deeper understanding of the world beyond the classroom. When students have the ability to look at a bumble bee up close and then enter its body to see how it is formed, that sparks questions and enriches learning!

Google created a safe, non-threatening, fully supported culture for our teachers to be trained to use this technology. Then the teachers were able to introduce this new way to enhance the teaching and learning in their classroom with continued support from Google while they piloted the product. It was an excellent experience for everyone involved!

Julie Davis, our Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation, interviewed with WDEF News 12 this morning and explained CCS's participation in the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. Click here to watch the interview. 

Now that you know about our experience, I wanted to share my ed tech takeaways from this experience. If you have the chance to pilot a tech tool at your school, do it. It was hard work to get all our ducks in a row on short notice but how often does this type of opportunity come around? Here is why:

• Empower the early adopters: The teachers that are interested will sign up and it is a great way to get feedback on a concept without sinking straight into it through a purchase. I believe it's important to slide new ideas in the back door so it is less overwhelming for those that are wary of "the next great thing." Let your early adopters have the opportunity to be challenged first. 
• Effectiveness of tools: In this case, it became immediately evident to me how a good lesson plan can be created around augmented reality by watching teachers in action during this pilot.
• Explore cost free: There really isn't much risk by trying out something like this. If the product is worth the hype, you have multiple users clamoring for it. 

I hope to be able to find other opportunities for our teachers to try new concepts in a stress free environment. The beauty of the Google Expeditions AR Pioneer Program is that not only was it introduced to the teachers but immediately they were implementing it. I now have 20+ teachers that have experience with augmented reality in the classroom and have that concept in a tool belt for their future. 

Taking Personalized Learning Personal

When I think about personalized learning I see two faces- my own girls. One daughter is a junior in college and the other is a senior in high school. They will both be graduates at the school I have been an educator at for the last 13 years. All through their k-12 educational experience they struggled with math. On and off (more on than off) I hired tutors to help them to feel more confident in the math classes they took. With tutors in their life studying for exams became less tearful. I couldn’t help but ask myself “how is the current system of math instruction not working for my girls and other students like them?” “Why do my girls not understand concepts in class?” When I think of personalized learning, I see my girls and what it could have done for them to make them feel like more confident learners.

As an instructional technologist for my school system I am constantly looking for innovative ways to enhance learning and help teachers become more effective. An opportunity was placed before me that has caused me to become a champion for personalized learning like never before. Three schools across the United States were coming together to look for ways to lower the cost of education through a blended learning math prototype. I was asked to be a part of this pilot as technology support. Our school, in Chattanooga, Tennessee would be a trailblazer.

It started simply with a below average 5th grade math class. The teacher felt overwhelmed by their lack of progress. We turned it into a blended learning station rotation class with the use of technology to fill gaps. The increase in test scores were phenomenal but what stuck with me was the confidence building I saw. I wanted to baby step into blended learning- this is what transpired: https://youtu.be/q_bk38syWfE

In 2015 those three schools came together to prototype blended learning math using the model of a lead teacher and paraprofessionals in the classroom. Each school looked at it a bit differently due to individuality of the schools. For Chattanooga Christian School, our teachers started off in a blended learning station rotation model with modality stations such as teacher instructed, hands on, technology instruction, gaming, inquiry based.

Our teachers created icons to help students navigate the day for movement in the classroom. They also used a LMS for instructions. It didn’t take long for the educators in the classroom to see they had students that could move forward and some that needed additional time. They decided to allow for personalized learning to take place with some constraints as far as pacing. Those moving ahead were often given opportunities to go deeper and those lagging behind were given calendar dates to get things done by.  It wasn’t an easy year. At the end of the year the lead teacher looked at me and said, “I’ve been teaching for 17 years and I never saw the cracks that my students were falling through. Please don’t make me go back to teaching traditionally again.” It still gives me goosebumps. Especially considering I thought she might quit on me at any moment during the school year! Here are testimonials from 2 students: https://youtu.be/XQFBb6Nmmug

In the 2016-2017 school year we are in year two of the prototype with two school systems still involved and 40 students in the classrooms with one lead teacher and 2 para-professionals. The educators in the room have found a rhythm and other math teachers are questioning positively “what’s happening in that room and how can I be a part of it?” I believe in personalized learning and think that maybe some students might become confident math learners because of the trailblazing these amazing teachers are doing at our school. I believe the culture of being grade driven students is changing to competency driven in this pilot. I believe these students have been given a glimpse at being in charge of their path of learning and seeing it for the process it is. I'm interested to see where the future takes us.

How do I know what Contemporary tool will become a Classic?

1. 
   The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Coca-Cola, Rolls-Royce, Gone With The Wind, The Beatles, MonaLisa, Piaget, Socrates, hamburgers, and phonics- all considered "Classics" by some. Enduring products, ideas, legends even under the scrutiny, dislike, and judgment of others. 
   According to Merriam Webster the definition of classic means "serving as a standard of excellence: of recognized value, traditional, enduring, historically memorable, etc." but what makes a classic? That's the rub. How do we know what will be useful and worthy of keeping for the future?
   As an instructional technologist I am often asked what's the best tool for doing certain things which often leads to "why do we have to embrace so many different tools? Why isn't there something that can do everything we need it to do?" We are in a time where there are many different software options to perform different primary functions. As my coworker, Cathy Smith said, "there is always a degree of overlap which requires an understanding of strength and weaknesses of each product. How a teacher chooses to incorporate the tools into their instructional practice is of course a matter for each of us as professional educators to determine and would be impacted by our specific discipline." At FETC this year Tom Murray said "the technology our students are using today will be the worst technology they will ever use." Meaning that capabilities will become faster, more intuitive, more useful. I think the same can be said of the tools we use that work on a technology platform. 
   So the bottom line is, in a technology world that is exponentially changing faster than it ever has before, how do I know what will be a classic? Which companies and platforms will adapt to best meet needs? Which platforms will be replaced due to better companies coming on board? What needs that we currently have in education will actually become obsolete?And with these questions, is it possible for me to say "this is the best platform for our school's future?" and be able to feel confident that I mean that for 5 years or even 10 years? I submit I definitely can't say 10 years and that is so different to what the culture of education has been up until this point. What does the role of contemporary tools have on an educational culture that embraces classical? How do we embrace change and need for change without being able to make promises that you might have to rewrite and re-enter your lessons, ideas and curriculum in mass amounts a few years out. Is that a terrible expectation? 
   As I dig, ask questions, pilot, and evaluate technology platforms in a typical debits/credits t-account in my head, I struggle with being part of decisions that might fall flat. Being labeled as someone that made a bad suggestion for the masses based on current information that quickly becomes outdated concerns me. What if I suggest a choice that makes us a Blockbuster in a Netflix world? I find myself worrying about how to best support the scope and sequence of curriculum at our school with instructional technology. I worry about remaining relevant in a quickly changing environment. I know what it feels like to try to make something "fit" that just doesn't fit. I see the value of the tried and true. While I love to have opportunities to trial cutting edge technology, I know the risks it brings to the table. I pray that I can be balanced in my desires and that I will be useful to my school because I strive to stay well informed. What educational technology names will be considered "classics" one day? I do not know. And dare I say, I wonder if it is going to matter?