Visiting another school

Yesterday several members of our tech department including myself, went to Dubai to visit their school to see how they manage their tech infrastructure, tech integration, and to see how their new facility was coming along. We are preparing for a possible 1-1 laptop program, and a future new campus so were doing a bit of homework. It was definitely well worth the time as we spent all day visiting with their tech integration specialists. I have always felt that networking with peers is the most valuable part of any conference and this was well worth the time and drive to Dubai. We went with a list of questions to help guide our discussions that we sent ahead so they could be prepared for our "onslaught of questions".

We focused on how they managed their tech resources and laptop program. We asked what they would do differently in the implementation, what they would do the same, what integration techniques they used, and saw several examples of how they use their systems.

From this we learned some infrastructure tips such as:

• Put the projector and speaker ports off to the side of screens (rather than below in the middle), and one in the back of the room and one in the front
• Put electrical outlets into lockers if possible
• Have outlets around the classrooms and hallways for charging

Some other neat software and hardware they use:

• Insight from Faronics to manage laptops
• Casper management software
• Document cameras in every classroom
• Put speakers in the ceiling
• Inklet- a mac trackpad drawing program
• Gpanel to manage Gmail accounts
• xroads internet load balancers/aggregators (like the Mushrooms)
• Palo Alto network security firewalls
  
• Power-Over-Ethernet cameras that are motion activated, and one can speak through them
• A VoIP system that has a component that can work with Skype to call outside of the UAE.
  
• They had developed a home-grown database system for report cards in elementary, and it also pulled grades out of PowerSchool for MS/HS. They called it "hafeel school" named after the gentleman from Sri Lanka who developed this system. It was very interesting how he pulled demographic information from PowerSchool into this system, that is web based and created using Microsoft .net. It then generates object reports. It also uses a Filemaker system to create a system that pulls grades into the object reports, then Filemaker emails them all out to parents.
  

Laptop Tips:

• Train teachers early and get them on board
• Train parents and
  
• Get the AUP up to date
• Make them school-owned, and then issue them to the students.
  

Integration Ideas:

• Create teacher/staff proficiency skills checklist to let them see where they are
• Create a survey for staff to take to help guide our tech integration with individuals and departments
  
• Develop a student survey that lets them rate their tech skills based on our standards (or have them do a tech assessment)
• Let the MS be in charge of making their own yearbook section (Viper Vision)
• Elementary subscription to a typing website
• Require one transformational tech integration project per semester
  

I am sure there will be more I remember later, but this should work for now :-)

Shutting Up the Naysayers in Your PLC

From:
http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/01/19/shutting-up-the-naysayers-in-your-plc-5-questions-with-rem-jackson.aspx

This is a great article about how to effectively initiate PLC's in a school faculty community, that helps focus on student learning. A good point to make since many times PLC's start to help the faculty. Read the quote below:


THE Journal: Schools and districts seem overrun with seemingly arbitrary policies that can affect teacher performance, morale, and productivity. How can a PLC help address that component of the environment?
Jackson: Ironically, my previous comment answers that. In fact, I think too many PLC programs focus too much on teachers and teacher feelings and morale. But it's fascinating when you see teachers transition from a focus on teacher needs to student results. You start to see the cream rising to the top.
[In] PLCs that focus totally on looking at student assessment results and on strategizing how to help students meet the assessment targets, all the other stuff becomes less important. The true professional teachers step up and want to make sure their students make progress. They also start to see how this laser beam focus makes their instructional practice more efficient and gratifying. Some teachers will focus on making excuses, blaming policies, and complaining about expectations, but that only happens when the PLCs are organized in a way that enables that kind of behavior. It all goes back to developing a culture focused purely on student results.

STEM Education and Project Based Learning Links

Here you go: some great links!

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/08/28/project-based-learning-in-the-classroom/

The importance of a Personal Learning Network (PLN)

I saw this on a posting. He did a nice job explaining the importance of having a PLN.

Sneak Peek: Personal Learning Networks from SimpleK12 on Vimeo.

Wow- Education in the Age of Disruptive Education

I just sat through this presentation at  ISTE Denver by the authors of www.committedsardine.com and...I am scared that we (as a society), are not preparing our K-12 kids for the world and jobs of tomorrow.  My head is spinning...

Some information and thoughts I gleaned from this presentation:

These are disruptive times for education (rate of digital change, access to information, etc.)
The continued existence of the current system is not assured
Even good organizations with good people will disappear if they don't understand the natural laws of disruptive education
Its very difficult for existing successful organizations to become dominant players in the new market.
This is sneaking up on most school organizations as well....adapt to the needs of students

"When the rate of change outside an organization is greater than the rate of change inside, the organization will fail..."

They believe that education has had three goals:
Acculturation for local norms, Appreciation of Culture, Preparation for Life Beyond School

The presenters propose that it is essential to teach the 21st century skills since they cannot be outsourced to other countries.

They showed that there are four types of workers:
Agricultural, Working, Service, Creative:
Similar to what the author Daniel Pink proposes, (Creative Right-Brainers will have an advantage). They need 21st century skills to stay flexible to learn to learn and adapt...
The availability of Service and Creative-related jobs will grow, the others jobs will shrink since they can be outsourced and mechanized...
See: Daniel H. Pink:  http://www.danpink.com/whole-new-mind :  A Whole New Mind

My initial thoughts on how to teach kids to succeed right after this presentation are:
The creative arts are just as important as tech literacy to promote right-brain creativity, Teach how to learn, Teach using Project-Based Learning and Inquiry-based methodology, STEM is important, 1:1 programs are the pen-paper of today, Partner schools with real industries, Get student mentor, Student centered projects, teach to benchmarks and standards, do not socially promote- promote based on mastery, care for kids as individuals to curb the drop-out rate and teach them how to be creative/inventive/innovative and be tech savvy...

How to increase Computational Thinking in K-12

I am sitting in an interesting workshop put on by CSTA about how to increase computational thinking in K-12 in all subjects. Here is a link to the curriculum guide they have for doing this: http://www.csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/ACMK12CSModel.html

From personal experience,  I feel that students need to get hooked early on to get into logical thinking through games such as Scratch, Alice, Greenfoot, etc. This helps in Math, Science, and STEM education. I think integrating these concepts into creative classes such as Music, the Arts is imperative to create right-brain thinkers that have an understanding of how to make their ideas work. Hey- we need creative problem solvers to help solve the worlds issues....

ISTE 2010

I am here at ISTE 2010 in Denver having a a very educational time! I have been to three sessions (Mobile Devices in the Classroom, Web 2.0 tools, 20 lessons about 1:1), and seen some great exhibits! It is a bit overwhelming with all the people, exhibits, and workshops.  But, it is definitely a place to get inspired and learn.