What should we be doing as leaders to respond to this challenge? Do we know what changes are needed that create learning environments that take advantage of current and projected technology advances? How do we create focus here with all the other issues that we face as leaders in school systems? Do we have the commitment necessary to make the changes?
The challenge I was referring to was our capacity as a system to take advantage of technology to support teaching and learning. In reflecting on these questions today I believe that we have made significant progress in creating capacity for technology to significantly influence what teachers and students do in the learning process. I shared some of why I feel this way on my last post. The other reasons include:
- The changes that we have made to the Technology Plan, the Technology Summit, and the decision making model. The focus of the plan is clearly on the classroom with increased technology use aligned with curriculum implementation. This provides for vertical and horizontal alignment of student opportunities to acquire the necessary literacy and fluency skills that are not dependent on what a building, individual, or team of teachers want to pursue. The Summit process has been revised to increase teacher voice and to provide additional support at the building level for teachers engaged in change. This team of Ten Tech Teachers is an important layer of support in our plan.
- The Fusion process where we brought our tech staff together with our teaching and learning staff to develop a common understanding of our goals and to identify and implement structures that provide for consistent opportunities for these departments to merge their focus, work, and support. In many systems both in the public and private sectors, these departments work independently resulting in lack of common focus, loss of energy, and finger pointing. We have been successful in merging multiple silos into one working collaboratively to support Classroom 10.
- We have differentiated the responsibility of the technology coaches that includes an intentional focus on staff development that is at the same time focused on system training needs while also providing for specific building needs through the teacher leaders.
- Recent publication of the state technology standards and increased system understanding of the NETS is providing increased direction for those engaged in the curriculum development process.
- As a system we are acknowledging our mistakes and attempting to create the changes that result in system learning and successful Classroom 10 implementation. We believe that the focus is on the learning embedded in Classroom 10 and that technology is one of those essential learning's, not THE FOCUS. I can see how some people in our profession see technology as the answer, but for us it is one of the vehicles for supporting learning as well as one of the basic skills that position young people for success in post high school learning and work.
Yes, I believe that we have learned much over the last year and that we are in a better position for technology to influence teaching and learning. Of course, I have the opportunity to influence and know what we are doing that most of you do not. Unless you are in one of the classrooms experiencing curriculum implementation you are not seeing or experiencing these changes and that makes it more difficult to accept or support the Technology Plan. And, if you are one that believes that buildings and individual teachers should have autonomy in technology implementation decisions our model will again be difficult to support. I would encourage you to share your thoughts with the Ten Tech Teacher representatives at your building and ask that they bring them to a meeting for discussion.
Perhaps someone from the Summit would also like to share their thoughts about where we are and the model we are using to make these critical decisions.
No comments:
Post a Comment