Supporting Innovative Classrooms Grant Recipient Meeting

Supporting Innovative Classrooms Grant Recipient Meeting

Welcome

BY: Marilyn Steier

Project Manager

Highlights of the Day

9:00-10:30 Welcome

Lessons Learned

Roles & Responsibilities

Communication

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 Research

Reporting

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-3:00 Breakout Sessions

Project Overview• 26 Projects

Theme 1 (12) Theme 2 (1) Theme 3 (3) Theme 4 (8) Theme ¾ (1) Theme 5 (1)

Participants Theme 1

• Black Gold• Calgary Public• Edmonton Catholic• Elk Island Catholic• Elk Island Public• Foothills

• Holy Spirit Catholic• Lethbridge• Medicine Hat• Parkland• St. Albert Protestant• Westwind

Enhancing Educational Leadership Capacity


• Northern Gateway

Enhancing Information Technology Leadership Capacity


• Aspen View• Golden Hills• Wild Rose• Wolf Creek

Software as a Service


• Wolf Creek• Chinook’s Edge• Edmonton• Greater Southern

Separate Francophone

• Lakeland Roman Catholic

• Prairie Land • Prairie Rose • Red Deer Public• Sturgeon

Innovative Technology Management Solutions


• Northern Consortium– Peace Wapiti– Fort Vermillion– High Prairie– Northland

Shared Services Solutions

INITIATIVE - Purpose

• To explore innovative practices in the areas of leadership development for the effective use of technology and

• To explore technology management in Alberta school jurisdictions.

INITIATIVE - Background

• Technology use in Alberta schools is on the rise, resulting in a growing emphasis on the critical role of leadership in fostering innovation and managing change

• Highlighting the need for new approaches to managing and maintaining the technology to support today’s learning environments.

Goals and Strategies in Alberta Education's 2008-2011 Business Plan:

• Core Business One: Lead and Support the Education System So That All Students Are Successful at Learning.

• Strategy 1.10: Work with school authorities to promote innovative learning and teaching through increased access to classroom technologies.

— Don Knezek, ISTE CEO

Integrating technology throughout a school system is, in itself, significant systemic reform. We have a wealth of evidence attesting to the importance of leadership in implementing and sustaining systemic reform in schools. It is critical, therefore, that we attend seriously to leadership for technology in schools.

1.Love Your Employees2.Connect Peers with

Purpose3.Capacity Building

Prevails4.Learning is the Work5.Transparency Rules6.Systems Learn

Michael Fullan: The Six Secrets of Change

Learning is not doing…Learning is reflecting on doing.

The Six Secrets of Change

The Implementation Dip

PERFORMANCE

TIME Herold & Fedor 2008

Depth of Decline

Change is Introduced

Perceived Performance Gap

Actual Performance

Myth

Duration of

Recovery

Study: Ed tech leads to significant gains when

• the teacher had 10 or more years of teaching experience,

• the teacher had been using the technology for two or more years,

• The technology was used 75 to 80 percent of the time in the classroom.

The Wisdom of CrowdsWhy the many are Smarter than the few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies,

Societies, and Nations

• Groups are remarkably intelligent

• Groups are often smarter than the smartest people in them

– James Surowiecki

The Unexpected: Some EUREKA moments

1. While researching influenza Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin

2. Sucralose was discovered as a result of ESL BLIP

3. Scotchguard was an accident

Innovation: Embracing New Approaches

The desire to innovate fuels collaboration. In turn, collaboration enhances innovation.

The best collaboration produces new approaches.

Organizations like humans, often cling to the familiar, so it’s a constant struggle to ensure that we develop, recognize, polish and implement great new ideas.

Lessons Learned from Previous Projects

Karen AndrewsSenior Manager, Research and Planning

KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL PROJECTTop 4 Challenges and Lessons Learned

From Previous Projects

Challenges from…Applied Research Projects in Alberta

• Videoconferencing Research• Emerge: One-to-one Laptop

Learning• AISI (Technology and

Learning)• Technology and High School

Success • + SuperNet Snapshot


• What is the top challenge identified in the implementation of learning technology initiatives?

• Hint: NOT time or resources

2 min table talk

Top

Challenges


• Maintain lines of communication

• ***Plan for staff turnover ***

• Clearly communicating the expectations, roles and responsibilities of each members (project leads, teachers, administrators, school and board technical staff, etc).

• Clearly outline the communication strategy (procedures for sending/receiving information). AE Communications.

• Instill the power of a Community of Practice (COP). Sharing of information/strategies. Sharing of experiences both successes and

challenges is how we learn from each other.

#1 COMMUNICATIONSTop

Challenges


• Build capacity for how to use technology to support innovative learning experiences

• Moving From…• An expensive chalk board

• Use it to type up the good copy• Only difference is a camera in the room

• Worksheets with buttons

#2 Instructional Design-Professional LearningTop

Challenges


• Ongoing focus on building instructional practice in the design of rich authentic learning experiences

• Educators Proficiency: Need to look at professional development plans related to how to integrate technology into teaching.

• What is needed to transform teaching and support critical thinking skills for students?

#2 Instructional Design-PDCont’d

Top

Challenges

Technology

Construction Tools.

Authe

ntici

ty

Real-W

orld

Artifi

cial

Productivity

Tools

Expression/

Visualization

Com

plex

ityB

asic

Ski

l ls

Instruction ConstructivistDidacticCoaching

Hig

h O

rder

Thi

nki

ng

eCommunications

Video/Audio/Data

Online Environments

Technology in Schools: A Range of Use

Online Research

Problem Solving w/ Data

Sets, Probes, etc. Simulations

Online

Courses

Integrated

Learning

System

Drill &

Practice

Stakeholder Technology Branch

Cognitive Learning Tools

$1000Pencils

Learning

Passive Learning-LittleImprovement

Engaged Learning-SignificantImprovement

High

Low

Tech

nolo

gy P

erfo

rman

ce

High

Low

Tech

nolo

gy P

erfo

rman

ce

PassiveLearning

Engaged

The Learning and Technology Framework

Quadrant D Quadrant B

Quadrant C Quadrant A

Stakeholder Technology Branch

Professional Learning Continuum


•Technology does catalyze new teaching methods and to change teaching and learning. These new teaching methods have a positive impact on student engagement and learning.

•Technology projects increased the focus on meta-cognition, where new technology prompted teachers to look at how students learn and not just what they learn.

•Student learning moved from lecture to small group, inquiry and one-on-one training, which proved successful in all projects.

•Professional development was embedded in daily classroom activities, as opposed to only providing one-time professional development or technology workshops

Research Sound Bites


Tracking, Measuring, Analyzing

• How do we know if it is working?• How do we measure impact?• Will we have anything to say at the

end?

#3 Evaluation and AssessmentTop

Challenges


• Providing flexible technical environments, to support innovative teaching and learning, that are also secure and supported.

• Locked down systems –not allowing student-owned devices

• Access at home (take home laptops)

• Access anywhere, anytime (24/7)

#4 PROCEDURES AND ACCESSTop

Challenges


1. Shared Vision 2. Equitable Access3. Skilled Personnel 4. Professional Development5. Technical Assistance6. Content Standards and Curriculum Resources7. Student-Centered Teaching8. Assessment and Accountability9. Community Support10. Support Policies11. External Conditions

Essential

Conditions

Roles and Responsibilities

Roles and ResponsibilitiesProject Manager

Manage the project on a day-to-day basis

Overall project schedule, budget and quality of deliverables

Provide Support to participantsTrack ProjectsCollect and summarize

reports/deliverablesShare information and research

among project participants

Roles and ResponsibilitiesProject Manager

AuthorityReview proposals and assist with defining the work breakdown structure and deliverables to be produced by the Project Team.

Accept or reject project deliverables in fulfilling first level quality assurance procedures.

Reject /approve changes to planned scope or deliverables.

Ensure the project is managed to the business case and the deliverables result in the business case requirements, goals and objectives being met.

Roles and ResponsibilitiesJurisdiction

Schedule A

Proposal

Roles and ResponsibilitiesProject Manager & Project Lead

• Listen and learn• Engage in fact finding and joint problem solving

• Carefully diagnose the situation• Address people’s concerns• Be enthusiastic, genuine and sincere about the change

• Obtain buy-in for what needs fixing• Develop a credible plan for making that fix

Herold & Fedor, 2008

Roles and ResponsibilitiesJurisdiction Project Lead

• Manage communications among project team and stakeholders

• Monitor timelines and offer “encouragement” when needed

• Prepare and submit reports and other deliverables

• Maintain “the vision”• Manage change/challenges• Celebrate Success

Roles and ResponsibilitiesJurisdiction Project Lead

• Be aware of the project timelines and deliverables

• Implement the project• Develop the necessary

technological AND Leadership skills

• Use those skills with participants• Evaluate success• Communicate successes and

challenges• Celebrate Success

Project Expectations, Opportunities and Supports

Project Expectations

• As discussed in Roles and Responsibilities•Proposal•Schedule A

Project Opportunities

• Innovate

• Collaborate - Project sharing •Information concerning PD opportunities

•Emerge Summer Institute 2009•August 19-21

•Featuring John Seely Brown•Sessions on topics such as

•21st Century Learning•Leadership•Web 2.0 tools

Project Supports

• Alberta Education offers support to project participants through.

• Project Manger – Marilyn Steier• Meetings – Theme Meetings• Project sharing• Facilitate communication• Research and disseminate best practices and challenges.• Field visits• Alberta Education website

Communication Plan

Communication PlanCommunication ToolKit

Communication PlanProject Communication

Communication Plan

Videoconference Meeting Room

Within Supernet - [email protected] Internet –139.142.188.3##3011

Research

Research and Evaluation Model

Alberta Education Research

School/Board Research

Research Goals

• Piloting innovative practices in the areas of leadership development for the effective use of technology and technology management in Alberta school jurisdictions.

• Sharing of expertise related to the development of leadership capacity and IT service management and its resulting impacts on learning and teaching.

• Informing technology implementation across the K-12 education system.

• Successful applicants must agree to: • o Participate in research activities in

collaboration with Alberta Education;

• o Participate in knowledge sharing activities in collaboration

with Alberta Education

Research Design: Participant Input

1. What are the key things that we are doing that need to be captured within the research? (general or specific by theme)

2. What data should we capture?

3. What methods should we use to capture the data and share our experiences?

Deliverables & Timelines

• Interim Report 1 – November 30, 2009• Interim Report 2– August 31, 2010• Final Report – October 15, 2011• Project Closure Event - January 2012

Deliverables & Timelines

Meetings

• January 2010 Theme Mtgs• November 2010 Theme Mtgs• Project Closure Event January 2012• Field Visits TBD• Provincial Research Participation - TBD

Opportunity

Please remember• Recycle your badges at the

end of the session– Leave at registration table

• Complete the event evaluation form– Leave at registration table

Themes

Theme 1- Enhancing Education Technology Leadership Capacity

Theme 2 - Enhancing Information Technology Leadership Capacity

Theme 3 - Software As a Service

Theme 4 – Innovative Technology Management Solutions

Theme 5 – Shared Services Solutions

• FOIP Form

Documents

Supporting Innovative Classrooms Grant Recipient Meeting