How to Use ISTE's Essential Conditions for Technology Planning

More Hit Than Miss

The ISTE's Essential Conditions:

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-for-students-essential-conditions

This was the only technology plan I could find for Franklin Central Supervisory Union:

http://www.fcsuvt.org/assets/files/pdfs/FCSU%20TECH%20PLAN%2009-12%20FINAL.pdf

Here are the four major overarching goals from the tech plan:

• Local Goal: Our SU will utilize technology to support the development of 21st Century skills in students and teachers.
• Local Goal: Our SU administrators will foster the development of teacher and student leaders for student centered learning through technology.
• Local Goal: Our SU will use technology to provide robust and rigorous educational opportunities to students and provide resources in ways that allow for varied access during and beyond the traditional school day.
• Local Goal: Our SU will use technology tools to develop collaborative relationships within the local, regional, state, and global communities.

Indicators of success for each goal are also provided. 

The Assessment and Evaluation element of ISTE's Essential Conditions is lacking in the SU's Tech Plan. There is a one-sentence descriptor at the conclusion of the tech plan that is loosely defined and is not implemented effectively. There is no model for either criteria, and teachers are not asked for any accountability with respect to the use of information technology in their teaching practices. I would suggest that teachers be observed a couple of times per year by "skilled personnel" with the use of ICT in the classroom so that progress, or a lack thereof, can be monitored and the school's Innovation Team can get a clearer picture of what information technologies are being used and which faculty members would benefit most from professional development opportunities, peer collaboration during the academic day, and direct the focus of in-service days dedicated to empowering more teachers with the use of educational technology. 

The areas of the tech plan that faithfully honor the ISTE's Essential Conditions are as follows. Student-centered learning is paramount to the academic success of our pupils, and the school's tech plan is not without ample opportunities to learn about teaching with technology. The six descriptors under student-centered learning through technology are all implemented and frequently subjects of discussion during collaboration time, faculty meetings, and during in-service days. The indicators of success also articulate the fact that the school is data driven and bases decisions around quantitative evidence collected via electronic platforms (ex. VCAT, PowerSchool, NECAP results, Measured Progress).

A second area that, for the most part, is consistent with the ISTE's Essential Conditions is in the field of Ongoing Professional Learning. The school has been innovative during faculty in-service with the digital "festival of learning". Skilled personnel have facilitated seminars surrounding teaching with technology, and there are always graduate-level courses and workshops offered throughout the school year and the summer (Vita-Learn, Google Tools for Schools, iPad trainings, Champlain College Tech Integration Summer Institute, Ed. Tech sequence at UVM). I am not sure that there is "dedicated time" to learn more about educational technology, since it is not mandated, but for the most part, the faculty desire to become more technologically efficient and demonstrate an authentic willingness to learn on a year-over-year basis.

Using Essential Conditions for Technology Planning

In the area of curriculum framework, preparation for the transition to the Common Core State Standards has dominated the teaching landscape over the past year. A digitized scope and sequence for the curriculum needs to be aligned with Vermont's Technology Grade Expectations and the Common Core State Standards that specifically address the use of information technologies. During collaboration times, which are held twice a week in the mornings before students arrive on campus, faculty need to expedite the process and not have these meeting times veiled as department meetings. More collaboration time (every other week, for example) should become solely dedicated to digitized curriculum mapping. The good news is that this element of tech planning is free; there are many curriculum mapping applications at one's disposal to honor this Essential Condition at no cost.

Another Essential Condition that requires further consideration is the employment of Empowered Leaders. Within the school's administration, the principal held his position for two years, the assistant principal and curriculum director lasted one year, and the superintendent of schools was summarily dismissed from his position as a result of his lack of leadership, though not necessarily a lack of vision for the school. As the Heath brothers state in Switch, "the Rider can't get his way by force for very long" (17). So, while I can appreciate the fact that administrator turnover is about 30% year-over-year in Vermont, hiring committees and the school board would be wise to probe deeply into the intentions of prospective hires and their vision for 21st century learning for the district's schools. Sticking around to see the technology initiatives come to fruition wouldn't be unhelpful with respect to effective and sustained vision for technology planning. Stakeholders at different levels have been catalysts for change, but they have used the school as a stepping stone to other professional pursuits, and that has a negative affect on technology planning when the key leaders are moving through revolving doors within my organization. This does, however, open the doors to searching for exemplars of technology plans from other schools that can provide some guidance for the district's future technology plans. School leaders and skilled personnel can look beyond their own school leaders and stakeholders in the event that they leave to pursue other professional endeavors.

Strategies and Resources for Deploying a Paperless Initiative

Overarching Plans and Specific Strategies to Go Paperless

1. http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/uploads/LLDecArticle.pdf

This is a five-part piece that effectively integrates the technology leader's responsibilities to direct riders motivate elephants, rally herds, and shrink changes. There wasn't much in the way of finding the feeling. perhaps because technology integration has to happen whether one is passionate about it or not.

This article aligns the ISTE's NETS for Administrators with creating a shared vision for embedding technology integration, whatever the initiatives might be. There are five major considerations involved with integrating innovation technology into a school district's classrooms: visionary leadership, digital-age learning culture, systemic improvement, excellence in professional practice, and digital citizenship. Districts would behoove themselves to enact a technology plan before an urgent need arises. Educational technology leaders need to provide a collaborative vision to teachers across all academic disciplines so that these technology leaders can provide clarity and reduce anxiety about the increased use of information technologies in the classroom. There also needs to be a certain level of confidence that the technology tools are used effectively, and not just by pockets of teachers in the schools. Policies and procedures governing technology tools also needs to be articulated in the district's strategic vision. District leaders must also afford its teachers opportunities to grow their technological skills (in-service, conferences, workshops, seminars, coursework), and provide incentives to learn as they cannot cross their fingers and hope that educators will sharpen their skills on their own. Finally, technology leaders need to ensure that teachers and students develop the requisite skills to become responsible digital citizens so that they understand the “social, ethical, and legal issues and responsibilities as

related to technology.”

2. http://trendsintechnologyandeducation.blogspot.com/2013/03/paperless-powerhouse-5-tools-that-can.html?spref=tw

From educational technology consultant Randy Thomas's blog, he offers five tools that can assist a district's initiative to go paperless by varying degrees. My elements of a vision focused on eliminating printed works of literature, and for a few courses, that will happen for free. In the event that all texts cannot be accessed for free department wide, and, at best, school wide, the blog and website offers many ways to save money and time by going paperless. There are a lot of free software applications that can motivate district elephants to make the push for digital text and jettison printed books.

An Accomplished Leader in Information Technology

I acknowledge that this prompt recommends that we don't reveal names, but the individual I have selected might potentially be a valuable resource for our class. This leader's name is Don Tapscott. He is a highly accomplished leader in the field of information technology and the social media landscape, an author, and an exemplary role model for demonstrating how people can embrace change. He is the son of a homemaker and a high school French teacher.

I first met Don when I was his son's youth hockey coach in Toronto. I knew virtually nothing about what he did professionally, even though I saw him several times a week throughout some very long and cold winters. He began to deliver talks about the rise and economic implications of the internet during the 1990s, and he came to speak at my high school. He has consulted with many leaders in the educational arena in order to better prepare graduates for "The Digital Economy". Don is a calm, poised and unpretentious speaker who has a knack for bringing clarity to topics that do not lend themselves to crystal clarity- such as the future socio-economic implications of the internet. He is a great illustrator of abstract ideas and he is organized, prepared and equipped to entice his listeners to embrace technological change.

He also relies heavily on the voices of young people (he frequently quotes his children in his writings) to educate himself of the subjects he addresses in his books, or discusses through public forums. Don is enterprising and entrepreneurial, but possesses the requisite humility that doesn't turn off others when he is sharing his ideas surrounding all things digital. He always provides examples that qualify his points in much the same way that the Heath brothers' provide a wealth of narratives to illustrate ways to innovate and enact change.

Don cannot really perform his job without a collaborative effort online and face-to-face with colleagues, economists, business and industry leaders, and teachers. He is a lecturer at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, he travels constantly, but seems to be able to balance his commitments effectively, and as an agent for change, it is a marvel as to just how remarkably he can prepare and organize his day-to-day public life. His circle of influence is astounding, simply by doing his work thoroughly and with care. His quality work ethic prevails and is contagious- all of which make him an admirable leader, and one whose work and resources could benefit others in this class.

Here is one of his recent TED talks:

http://www.ted.com/talks/don_tapscott_four_principles_for_the_open_world_1.html

... and an interesting article on the future plight of universities from this past year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/the-week-university-as-we-know-it-ended/article7896507/

Who I am as a Leader

         What is the important work for you as a leader? What makes it important?

         I think that some of the most important work one can do as a leader includes coaching others, setting an example, and providing the knowledge, skills and desire that help to form the habits necessary to become an effective leader. I think that one of the most critical elements of quality leadership centers around sound preparation. One doesn't have to be the most intelligent, innovative, or experienced individual to achieve lasting results. One of the most salient and helpful reminders about thorough preparation comes from Louis Pasteur: "Fortune favors the prepared mind". 

         The types of work that carry the most meaning to me include having a pioneering spirit that motivates others to either follow, or create other initiatives that contribute to the prosperity of others at work or at home. This past spring, my colleagues who teach sophomore English, spearheaded a new first semester curriculum that focuses on improving student writing. We figured that it was more valuable for our students to write effectively than to read an extra novel or two. Our sophomore team was eager to improve upon the existing sophomore English curriculum, and our collaborative leadership within the department acted as the catalyst for other grade-level groups to examine their curriculum more closely. Our hope is that the preparation we put forth this spring with come to fruition this fall. Our collaborative approach was not groundbreaking, but we were preparing thoroughly to enhance sophomores' writing skills and the overall quality of their learning experience in the classroom. We were not a directive, either from our department chair or curriculum coordinator. Our department also voluntarily furnished a school-wide writing rubric for colleagues across all academic disciplines to use to assess writing, since this is a shared responsibility under the tenets of the Common Core.  

 As a teacher, adopting a leadership role is kind of a non-negotiable standard. I think it's also assumed within the greater community that teachers are leaders, too. So, to lead is to do your job well. When I worked in the independent school system, I was required to coach two seasons of athletics and supervise study halls three nights a week. This was very time consuming, but afforded me a lot of time to interact outside the classroom with the kids, but those days are gone. I am reminded, however, how important it is to lead as a teacher, because, as Ted Sizer's book title aptly points out,  The Students are Watching.

         What guides your decisions as a leader? For the organization? For the people with whom you work?

 Often my decisions as an educational leader are guided by what has been done effectively in other places. I think that my experiences teaching in a few different places has afforded me some perspective about how there are many different ways to lead a group of students or a learning community into a different direction. Drawing from past experiences provides a lot of good information and resources upon which to draw from for inspiration. There is a lot of talent in the workplace, and, as the Heath brothers assert in Switch, people like to feel "big" when contributing to change, and so as a leader, I try to elicit ideas from the group to inform my own decisions. For instance, last year, the administration decided that it would change the daily schedule at BFA, and the principal was accepting schedule proposals from the faculty. Based on past experiences, I thought that the school community would benefit from shorter classes, collaboration time for teachers without students on campus, and a more consistent daily schedule that would allow students to see all of their subject teachers at least four days a week. The schedule the school adopted included all of these elements, and although I am sure I did not singularly make the changes happen, I did draw from past experience and filtered the ideas through colleagues before making the submission to our principal. 

         How do you get the work of the school or organization done?  What is the focus – getting things done for short term? Long–term? 

 This is a great question- getting work done for the school can be a painstaking process. I think that decisions are driven by data that is sort of overhyped in the short term and "underhyped" over the long term. In other words, decisions affecting school policy guided by consensus building and there is too often division amongst the ranks. Sometimes, it is better to act decisively than to meander and consume excessive time and resources performing analyses of the implications of making changes. The faculty are part of a three-year personal learning cycle intended  to improve professional practice, but the director of curriculum who implemented the cycle accepted another leadership position at another school. Our principal accepted another leadership position after just two years, and our superintendent was summarily dismissed for demonstrating a gross lack of leadership. So, getting things done has been a long and difficult process within the community. I  believe that short-term fixes have been trumping longer-term goals for the future of the school. 

         How do you communicate with others?

         I generally communicate with others face-to-face if it is during the school day, and I do take advantage of the web to communicate with students and colleagues "after hours". I will often tell my students that I will check my e-mail in the early evening should they have any questions regarding the course material. I also invite them to join me in assessing their written work when it is assigned through Google Drive. I don't like it when others assume a communications matter is important simply because an electronic communication was sent out. Electronic communication is entirely inappropriate at times, especially in a leadership role, when a face-to-face conversation needs to happen. It is my subjective opinion that too often electronic correspondence is used to absolve individuals of the commitment to communicate effectively and responsibly with others.

        What is your process for making decisions?

I think that increasingly, my decision-making processes are become more individually tailored than collaboratively because a lot of time is wasted overanalyzing the potential outcomes within the group. I think that this is probably a bit of a contrarian approach given all of the collaborative tools at our disposal to help inform the decisions we make. I am certainly not averse to working collaboratively within a group, but I think that often institutions like to state that their workplace is a collaborative work environment because it's trendy and it's the jargon that's expected. My school claims that it is a collaborative workplace, but the administrative turnover makes it difficult to make a case for effective administrative leadership when the leaders leave. I tend to base my decisions around what has worked elsewhere and if the changes I am trying to make are attainable, especially in the short term.

         How do you determine what resources to use and how to use them?

 I have no reservations letting it be known that I am a benevolent thief when it comes to acquiring resources from others. The electronic resources I have adopted into my own teaching practice from classmates in the educational technology sequence alone is staggering. With these digital resources, I refer to the SAMR model with what I am learning and choosing to use so that the reason(s) for using them are purposeful and effective. I also consult the Vermont Technology Grade Expectations, the Common Core State Standards, and the NETS-S standards to ensure that my students have the potential to become better equipped for the workplace that awaits them and so that I am improving my own skills as a licensed professional educator

 *** The inspiration for my blog title comes from Professor Robin Bates's literary blog        titled Betterlivingthroughbeowulf. His daily articles delve into several different aspects of life and his inspiration to begin the blog is quite touching.