A place where a Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation transparently shares her successes, failures, fears, and desires in the realm of K-12 educational technology
@juliedavisEDU
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:
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
Recently I've been thinking about technology integration and I read this article https://ondigitalmarketing.com/learn/odm/foundations/5-customer-segments-technology-adoption/. While this article is not talking about eduction, the labels of the 5 segments of technology adopters resonated with me as I daily work with teachers helping them integrate technology into the classroom.
The article suggests "not everyone will adopt a disruptive idea despite obvious benefits." The article then quotes the research of Rogers to place adopters of technology in the following segments (my thoughts follow each label as it relates to what I see in education:
Innovators - These are the people that actually thrive in change and long to be change-agents because they are not convinced the status quo is what is right, or best, or easiest, or (fill in the blank). Innovators are often alone in their convictions and because educational systems change very slowly, they are often very frustrated with the day to day of educating. My definition of innovation has always been "the point where need intersects with passion under an umbrella of creativity." Innovators don't always use technology to get a job done but those that do are often seen as risk takers or rebels. For some administrators this is seen as a good thing and for others it is terrifying. The innovative educator is willing to fail, they have an open mindset, and sometimes have to be corralled back into the fold for the good of the whole but innovators need opportunities to try things. As a rule, there are very few innovators in a school building. In fact, I bet the 2.5% mentioned in the article is just about right for educators that are innovators in a school system.
Early Adopters - These are the ones that are willing to take a risk and even feel comfortable with learning things on their own to understand things better but they aren't necessarily the ones out their looking for the cutting edge thing to change their classroom. They are the ones that once they hear about it they think "YES! That's what I need." Early adopters have a strong influence on the other educators in their building. Because they are often seen as individuals that understand technology easily, others are watching to see how they react to new technologies. Early adopters tend to look at technology as a way to teach differently instead of trying to fit a technology into the way they already teach.
Early Majority - These are the educators that are obviously a bit slower in adopting the idea of change in the classroom but being followers, they look to the success the innovators and early adopters have had and decide to join the party. The early majority often feel they are not equipped to use technology but rarely take the initiative to learn more on their own without clearly laid out resources at hand. The early majority's success or failure with new technology is often in direct correlation to how well they feel that technology fits how they teach and how often they are willing to try to use it. The early majority often feel they need hand holding and support but tend to thrive once they truly understand the capabilities of the technology.
Late Majority - These educators are the ones that do not really want to change but feel they must either because they are being told they have to or because they realize their lack of change is making things harder for themselves. These are the skeptics among us. The ones that fear that "next year there will be something else you will want us to do instead." These are the ones that may not truly believe that technology integration is what is best for the students so unless they are "forced" they do not adopt or adapt. These educators often don't feel equipped to "take on" technology but they don't take advantage of growing themselves in that area either. These are the ones that panic when something doesn't go right and truly appreciate and expect great support. The innovators, early adopters, and early majority really have little impact on the thinking of the late majority adopters but the late majority adopters often give a balance to the early majority and innovators in discussions. When I "win over" a late adopter it is like Christmas morning for me. These are the educators that sharpen me to know my stuff and be able to justify my reasoning for tools.
Laggards - These educators are the ones that either vehemently oppose all things technology or strongly believe (and maybe rightly so) that they can teach their classroom just as well without the use of technology. The laggards are the ones that will refuse to follow set norms in a school about technology usage in either an intentional and/or unintentional way. There is often something in their life that makes them fear the technology. These educators often do not have much influence upwards due to being viewed as closed-minded.
Obviously each segment of technology adopters bring value to the conversation of what is best in the educational setting. Each group presents a balance to the others that often leads to a more acceptable medium adoption rate of mass technology rollouts at schools. I believe schools need representatives of all segments to best meet the needs and have a pulse on the community the school serves.
I often find it interesting how educators can move from one segment to another based on the technology being rolled out, the grade level of their students, and the subject matter curriculum they are teaching. Unlike the article, I have found that age doesn't necessarily place a teacher in certain segments. Some of the most amazing technology integrators I have seen have been over the age of 55. I do think the receptiveness to change is the biggest indicator. And the truth is, as a rule, education systems do not change quickly. You could walk into almost any school in the U.S. today and see rows and columns of desks with a teacher in the front just like you did in the 1800's. Education is built on tradition. Educators are often the type of people that thrive in routine. It's the nature of their world.
I believe education as a whole has changed more since 2010 and the advent of the mobile device than in any decade in my lifetime and dare I say in my father's lifetime as well. I also believe with the constant growth of educational technology towards smart software, quick assimilation of data, streamlining of basic tasks, and the ability to personalize learning more easily we will see the average classroom continue to wrestle with the exponential change opportunities out there. I truly wonder what the education system will look like for my grandchildren one day. Will it be better or worse? More sterile? More active? Less relational or more relational? Will certain schools stand firm in the idea of traditionalism and what will that look like for those students?
As a parent and educator, I know that parenting in an ever connected world can be a constant battle with our children. As an educator I speak on finding balance and I teach digital citizenship skills on a regular basis, starting as young as kindergarten. Honestly I start most lessons with elementary students this way: "Do you ever try to talk to your parent and they don't listen because they are busy doing something on their phone?" 94% will shake their head yes with about 89% adamantly wanting to add their two cents. Learning how to balance plugged and unplugged time is a beast, even for adults. As an educator, I read 3 books every year to kindergarten and first graders. These books are When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins and Mike Lester, Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino and Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd. I think it's important to start talking to students about the why of unplugging from technology at a young age when they still think adults know some things!
For my older elementary students I actually have them participate in a little multitasking lesson that can be found here:
But the truth of the matter is, it's usually families that feel the brunt of too much technology usage because home time is less structured than school time and children want to use their free time to connect with friends on social media, play online games, or just mindlessly surf, shop, and chase rabbits for hours on end with their technology. So the question is "how do parents create boundaries at home for their children?" The first time I was asked about this as an educator I was a little shocked. It felt like someone was asking me how to parent their child. I see technology as just one of the things in life that I have had to place boundaries for my two girls. I also can tell you that no two children are the same, different genders often need to be monitored differently in families, and that the choices I make regarding technology in my family may not be what works best for your family.
That all being said, I do believe there are options available to families to make the process a bit easier. Here is my list of things I share with parents as they try to navigate what is best for their own families:
www.commonsensemedia.org While this has great resources for students and teachers, it also gives some morally sound help to parents in regards to movies, apps, websites, etc.
www.meetcircle.com "Manage all of your home’s connected devices. With Circle, parents can filter content, limit screen time and set a bedtime for every device in the home." (https://meetcircle.com/circle/). While I haven't used Circle myself, I know families that have and the less confrontations about technology they are having makes them sing the praises of this device. While it only controls devices while on your wifi network, at a price tag of $99 it appears to be a family game changer for some people.
Parental controls on devices or Google accounts. Whether it be a Chromebook or an iPad there are parental controls on the device that can be found in settings to tighten up your child's access to things you deem inappropriate. Google your device and parental controls and learn more about how to create a safer browsing experience for your children.
The Tech Wise Family by Andy Crouch. Every family is different but Andy Crouch shares the goals his family set for technology usage. While I read part of the book and thought some things wouldn't work for my own family, this book can be used as a catalyst to start discussions regarding your own family's philosophy on technology usage.
Shared account information or following your child on social media. First, create a culture of following set rules regarding social media usage. Almost all social media platforms require the person signing up to verify that they are at least 13 years of age. There is a reason for this...maturity levels. If you have allowed your child to have social media accounts, ask yourself about their maturity level- 13 isn't always a magic number. If your child is begging but you have reservations, create an account with them that you have access to as well. At my house, the rule was that I knew what social media platforms my children were using. I would friend them or follow them for accountability. But my favorite accountability moment ever was when my then 16 year old daughter walked in the room and said, "you know what will make you use Instagram correctly? When your grandmother starts following you!" Go Mom! I hear many parents say they don't want to have social media accounts, my guess is you also don't want to drop your child off at 8 a.m. sports practices on Saturdays but it's part of parenting. Let them know you are parenting them in all aspects of their life.
Check with your phone provider to see if there are parental controls. Because phones use cellular networking, all the wifi filtering in the world will not block things for your child. I know Verizon has these options for families.
Last but surely not least, create a culture of using technology in open areas of your home and put technology to bed at night. Most issues of inappropriate usage whether it be bullying, pornography, or just sleep deprivation happens often because children have their devices in their rooms at night where there is no accountability. Invest in an old fashion alarm clock for your children (because this will be their excuse why they should keep the device in their room) and plug in devices in a family area at night. If children start this at a young age, it will just be the expectation forward. It's harder to manage as children get older.
The bottom line is each family is different and each user of technology bring different views and struggles into the mix. What might be a addiction to one person will have no real pull to others. What might seem like a glorious "rule" and a no-brainer for you might change as situations change. For instance, at age 11 my youngest child was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, from that point on her phone (which she didn't have before the diagnosis) stayed in her room at night in case of a medical emergency. As we all know, parenting is messy as it is, add technology to the mix and it might feel like a losing battle much of the time. Hear me say that I see a whole lot of good usage of technology by students daily. I see our digital citizens making wise choices and reaching the world in positive ways through the use of technology.
I think the main thing I would leave you with is this...most of the time the technology in the hands of our children belong to the parents. Remember that. Oftentimes because students are the sole user of a device they get the "this is mine and you can't touch it" mentality. While technology is the main way students communicate with each other informally, you have the ability to adjust that usage as their parents. I believe in restorative practice. There is nothing wrong with forcing your child on a technology fasting for a while. It might lead them to better balance later. Just leave the communication lines open so they know what your concerns are and why. While schools are teaching digital citizenship and about digital footprints, parents have the bigger impact and ability to speak into non-educational use of technology. Don't let that opportunity slip by.
Back when I was a kid (oh my word, did I just say that?) the rule was to come back home when the street lights came on. I played in my neighborhood with friends some days with my parents never laying eyes on me but at lunch and supper and then at bedtime. I learned curse words from the neighborhood kids, I learned about sexual things on the bus from neighborhood kids, and I also learned we all were raised with different values...many of neighborhood friends were raised with more freedom than I had- I mean they could even watch HBO!
When I started driving and dating the rule was to always have a quarter on me in case I needed to call home. There were no cell phones. I left for school at 6:30 in the morning and sometimes went straight to work after school and didn't get home until 10:00 pm some nights. And my parents never really knew if I was where I was suppose to be or if I made it to my next destination. There was a level of responsibility and trust placed on children by being unconnected from today's technology.
My parents knew my grades when progress reports went out and then again when we got our report cards. They never knew the day to day "missing grade," "bad test score," or "current average in class." My grades and my work were my responsibility.
Stick with me here. I'm not saying that parenting was better, I'm just saying it was different and generation after generation have made it through life without being tethered to their children.
So why am I going on about this? As a technology coordinator in an elementary school I am a season in my educational career where technology is integrated into the classroom on a regular basis. The progression being that for the first 9 years at the school I am at I was an out of classroom elementary computer teacher. Over those 9 years I taught every student in grades 1-5 anywhere from 30-45 minutes a week. In that time frame our families were just excited that technology was a weekly part of their children's curriculum and out of the 1000+ students I taught for all those years I might have been questioned by families about my curriculum 12 times in nine years...and by question I mean "what do they do in here?" This role began for me in 2005ish. I had 25 Microsoft desktops in a lab. To say filtering has gotten progressively better since those first few years of popups and spam would be the biggest understatement of this blog post. I was a vigilant ninja monitoring and creating meaningful opportunities for our students using the best technology that was available to me at the time.
Fast forward to this school year...This year we rolled out touchscreen Chromebooks to our fifth graders. These chromebooks are being monitored by Go Guardian software. Every time a student looks up something deemed inappropriate or an innocent search leads to something inappropriate, I get an email. Right then. This software works 24 hours a day no matter where the student is located at the time. I get an email. I have the ability to look at history at any point.
We also have a SIS (student information system) that allows parental access to the real time grade book of our students. Parents can see what grade a child has made on a test, they can receive an email if there is a zero for a grade, they can contact a teacher if a grade hasn't appeared in the amount of time the school has deemed appropriate for grading.
Our students have the ability to collaborate with teachers and/or students through the Google Suite for Education in real time. They can study together via video conferencing, they can collaborate synchronously on a document or slideshow using Google Docs and Slides. They can use their email to contact their teachers at any time, day or not, with questions.
The overwhelming majority of our students have cell phones in our upper school (and some even have them in the elementary school). This allows our students to not only be connected to each other but to their parents and the outside world at all times.
Not only can parents monitor their children's whereabouts through the GPS tracking device on their phones but I can search for a device on campus that might not be where it should be as well.
Today's children live in a society of instant connectivity that has created a world of "immediate expectations." This has probably helped some students not to stumble as deep or dark as they might have otherwise in life. As a parent of a type 1 diabetic, I have the ability to know my child's blood sugar at any time during the day. That's reassuring. But I find myself asking these questions and I would love some response and thought on it:
Does constant connectivity give parents a false sense of security?
Does constant connectivity create a larger generation of people that are use to having someone bail them out when times get tough?
Does constant connectivity create unrealistic expectations on educators in terms of replying to emails and monitoring student behavior on devices?
Does constant connectivity create more pluses in life than minuses?
Does constant connectivity make students behave better in terms of school and parent expectations?
Should parents be monitoring the constant whereabouts of their children?
Does constant connectivity take away the ability for students to learn from mistakes and fail forward in becoming a better person?
What is too much? What is too little? What is a no-brainer? What crosses the line of controlling?
Are school systems creating expectations that change parenting styles of tech diligent families due to students being required to have technology?
How do families best find the balance for their children and should expectations be different for every child?
How do technology departments make sure they are using technology intentionally at schools?
How do technology leaders like myself communicate and help parents that feel like they are being forced into something they don't want for their children?
How do we prepare children, parents, and teachers for the road ahead that will include more wearable and integrated technology such as virtual reality?
Who is making sure that the future of edtech is morally sound?
These questions may open a can of worms but they are constantly on my mind. The truth is technology is not going away and it will be an important part of the lives of our current and future students. Creating a give and take culture to navigate forward with all the key players is imperative in any school system to understand all sides and place value on all views.
As our fifth grade has moved away from iPads to the Acer R11 Chromebook as our device of choice this school year I have been searching for and researching annotation options as we move forward. The chromebooks we have chosen are touchscreen and android app ready. We are using Google Classroom with these fifth graders and within the Google Classroom App, students have the ability to annotate with the "pencil" option at the top of an open file.
While it's fairly easy for a student to annotate on a PDF file in Google Classroom, it's a bit more cumbersome for a teacher to annotate and share back to students. A copy has to be made of the document and reshared in order for students to see the teacher's remarks through digital inking. Google is remarkable in how quickly it updates Google Suites for Education to best meet teacher's needs. I don't think it will be long before they will have a process within Google Classroom that makes this easier for the teacher.
As we are looking at ways to annotate, we have found 2 options that I really like. The following are choices we can use at our school for annotating (digital inking) and how to get them:
Kami https://www.kamihq.com - we are using the free version of Kami and it integrates with Google Drive to allow students or teachers to save their annotations directly to their drive account. The downside to the free version of Kami is that it does not integrate with Google Classroom. I'm currently looking into whether this is a worthwhile investment or not by asking for a quote for a school usage license. Their teacher license covers 1 teacher and 30 students for $99/year. I can see where having this license would streamline the grading process for teachers but really wouldn't change much for the students.
XODO https://www.xodo.com/ is also a PDF reader and annotator and would work on any laptop that uses Chrome and can be accessed straight from a browser or if the Chromebook is app ready, there is also an app option for this. XODO allows students to backup their annotations straight to their Google drive (just like Kami) but I am not a big fan of the way you erase annotations on their product. You have to draw a square and delete it, as opposed to using an eraser (something that seems more natural for students).
As I look at digital inking and the way we are using it at our school, I find myself still seeing the ease of printing off things and having students do fill in the blank being easier for some teachers than all these extra steps. The bottom line is what is most important to the teacher...
The ability to streamlining and not having paper to wag back and forth to school to grade?
Saving trees?
Saving time by being able to just quickly get grading done on paper?
The ability to have a digital record of all work?
Could it just as easily be done through Google docs and have students type their answer?
As we have moved to chromebooks I appreciate the hearts of my fifth grade teachers that are willing to try and experiment with different approaches at the things they have done. As I introduced them to Google Classroom they wanted to have a place where we can do so much in one location. In the past, we have used the Seesaw Learning Journal app and notability for annotation using iPads and we knew both very well. The Seesaw app has already been downloaded on the students chromebooks and may be the best way forward until Google Classroom makes the teacher side of grading annotations a bit less cumbersome.
I end this by saying that I am thankful for teachers with innovative hearts that don't balk at the roll of being "trailblazers" at our school. These teachers create a culture of acceptance for the early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards that follow in tech integration (blog post of these levels coming soon.)
For the past 2 weeks I have had Bonnie Tyler's song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" running through my head. If you are too young to know the song, that's a shame. But the reason is clear to me why it's become an ear worm...a total eclipse of the sun will happen Monday within 20 miles of my home. A total solar eclipse is a really big deal and every single day I get another email about it from fellow educators. It's exciting times for the area I live in.
Many schools are out that day and our school has an early dismissal. Thousands of people are suppose to come to the total eclipse path. News agencies have actually suggested that people gas up for that because of potential traffic. At our school, it will only be the third day of school for students but we have already started teaching about it. One of our amazing lower school science teachers created a wonderful display explaining it from a Christian worldview for our students to see and she also created a video to go along with it. Alice Sikkema's passion for science is evident and her desire for students to understand this phenomenon is contagious.
As I reflect and look forward to being able to experience this solar eclipse I am reminded of another time in my life. 1979. I was standing in the hallway by a window in Crestmont Elementary School in Northport, Alabama looking down at a piece of paper and watching the shadows of the eclipse through a pinhole on a piece of card stock. This was way before the days of Amazon Prime, NASA approved glasses, and the internet. I remember being told very strongly "DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN, YOU CAN GO BLIND" but I looked. It was too mysterious not to try to catch a brief peek and honestly, the paper version of it was bizarre for my elementary mind to wrap around.
Just like now, I remember it being a really big deal to my teachers. I remember being told "this doesn't happen very often." Quite honestly I feel like I'm having a Mark Twain moment in my life, He had Halley's comet I've been around long enough and in the right place often enough to witness 2 total solar eclipses.
I'm writing this post to just affirm in you that I still have very vivid memories of this taking place in my life as an elementary student some 38 years ago. I remember discussions in the hallway with fellow students, I remember the disruption of the ordinary this moment brought to our school, I remember the intrigue of taking a risk and glancing up wondering if I truly was going to go blind from it. I remember not believing that was true. I remember wanting to know more about that and how long do you have to look before it does something to these cones and rods I supposedly had in my eyes that I have never heard of. It sparked wonder and a desire to learn more in me. I share this with you to say If you are an educator or parent, don't let this opportunity for learning slip away. If it sparks questions, let your students dig deeper. Sometimes the best teachable moments aren't in the lesson plan for your grade level. Sometimes the pacing guide needs to be put aside. This phenomenon is a great way to open conversations about being a global student as well. For many of us school is just getting started, we are setting expectations but it's ok to deviate. From one little girl from Northport, Alabama that decided a solar eclipse just made her want to learn more... I give you permission to teach the current moment. ;)
.PNG)
