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Evaluating the use of technology in a classroom environment is not something most administrators are trained to do. It is easy to walk into a classroom and see that every student is using a computer, but how do you really assess if and what type of learning is taking place?

In the past, I have had administrators tell me "I walked into the teacher's room and all the students were on laptops." As though just the site of students working on laptops meant they were engaged in the learning process.
I have been trying to wrap my head around a simple way for administrators to evaluate the use of technology in the classroom (a thank you to Dennis Harter who got me thinking about this).

When most administrators evaluate teachers during the evaluation process, they have some sort of check sheet they are working from either mental or as part of a school's evaluation process. I wanted to come up with an easy way for administrators to add to that list some questions that they can answer without knowing a lot about technology and by just observing its use within a lesson.

I remembered a Marc Prensky article in Edutopia in which he talks about the typical process of technology adoption:

1. Dabbling with technology

2. Doing Old things in Old Ways

3. Doing Old things in New Ways

4. Doing New things in New Ways

What if we turned these stages of technology adoption into questions that an evaluator could use during the evaluation process?

1. Is the technology being used "Just because it's there"?

2. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in Old ways?

3. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?

4. Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?

This could be a simple list that any evaluator can use to decipher how the technology is being used in a particular lesson.
Is the technology being used "Just because it's there"?
This would be the use of edutainment software, the use of a particular piece of technology because it happens to be in the room. The teacher dabbles with technology, not having a real focus on its use within the lesson but uses it as an add-on or at a very basic level (no real impact on the learning process).
Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in Old ways?
Publishing a piece of writing in Word rather than hand writing it would be an example of this.

Also, using an LCD projector instead of a white/black board for a lesson.

Another example would be researching on the Internet rather than in an Encyclopedia.

These are all great things, and great ways to use technology, but they are only replacing the way we have always done things with something that might be faster, easier, and more accurate. In the end however, they are still the same old things we have been doing for years in education.
Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?
Examples would be: watching Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech or listening to a recording of Stalin. Old things in New ways could also be reading and evaluation an original piece of writing or visiting a battle site via Google Earth.

These are not new things...just new ways of doing old things. We used to read Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech to the class, now we can watch him give his speech in Washington D.C.

We used to read the words of Stalin, now we can hear him speak them.

We used to read from a book, now we can read and look at the original document.

Instead of talking about a battle site, we can now visit that site virtually.

These are not new things; they just enhance the old ways of doing things.

Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?

Does the technology allow students to learn from people they never would have been able to without it?

Does the technology allow students to interact with information in a way that is meaningful and could not have happened otherwise?

Does the technology allow students to create and share their knowledge with an audience they never would have had access to without technology?

Many of our teachers are not at this level yet and many might never get here because this level of technology use requires a new way of looking at learning. One in which many of our schools are not yet prepared to look deeply into.

Prensky puts it this way:

For the digital age, we need new curricula, new organization, new architecture, newteaching, new student assessments, new parental connections, new administration procedures, and many other elements. Some people suggest using emerging models from business - but these, for the most part, don't apply. Others suggest trying to change school size - but this will not help much if we are still doing the wrong things, only in smaller spaces.

As you evaluate a teacher, you should be looking for answers to the above mentioned questions. I am not advocating that every lesson should use technology or that every lesson should try to answer "New things in New ways". However, it is good to know just how the technology is being used. There is nothing wrong with only using an LCD projector, or Google Earth to visit a battle site. I get excited when I see both of those things happening in a classroom. I just think it is good to put it into perspective just what impact the technology is having on teaching and learning. If a teacher is only ever 'dabbling' or doing 'Old things in Old ways' then a conversation can start about how to move the use of technology to a deeper more meaningful level within the classroom.

It is great to see teachers using technology in their lessons during an evaluation. It is even more informative if you can evaluate at what level that technology is effecting learning. Is it a replacement for the way we do things or is it something completely new and pushes both the students and teacher to new heights, new learning, and new knowledge?

[tags]administrator, evaluation, 21st Century Learning[/tags]

Technorati Tags: marcprensky, evaluation, education, administrators, technology

I started blogging in 2005 and found it such a powerful way to reflect and share my thinking about technology, this generation, and how we prepare students for their future not our past.

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Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom

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Evaluating the use of technology in a classroom environment is not something most administrators are trained to do. It is easy to walk into a classroom and see that every student is using a computer, but how do you really assess if and what type of learning is taking place?

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Integrating vs. Using Technology

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

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Using Technology Vs Technology Integration- An Excellent Chart for Teachers

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A platform that provides reviews of educational web tools and apps to help educators, teachers, and students integrate technology in education.

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Education for Today and Tomorrow | L'Education Aujourd'hui et Demain

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Managing Technology Use in Your Classroom

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Managing Technology Use in Your Classroom By Karen Hume Don't let classroom management concerns prevent you from making effective use of technology in your classroom! Check out these tips and please add some of your own: Help students ...

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Photo by Kevin Jarrett via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

My first year of teaching, my administrator handed me an iPad and said, "Play around with it." Like I had all the time in the world as a first-year teacher to play around with a piece of technology I'd never used! Even though my administration didn't pressure me about integration right away, I pressured myself. It's hard enough to battle for students' attention against romantic relationships, hormones, fatigue and cell phones. Now, we are suppose to hand them another distraction. Being the people-pleasing person I am, I jumped right in.

I would love to tell you that technology integrates itself, but it doesn't. There are no technology faeries that come into your classroom to plug all the wires into the right places, create interesting videos for lessons or keeps students engaged. What I can offer you is five tips that I've learned along the way, so you can benefit from my blood, sweat and tears. If you have ever been fearful of integrating technology into your classroom, fear no more.

1. Create clear instructions

Students act like they know everything there is to know about technology, but they don't. It is helpful to have clear instructions that you review, model and have accessible throughout the year. I post easy, step-by-step instructions on my wall that are color coordinated and include visual icons. For larger projects, I create videos that go over the instructions using screencastify. This way the student can watch the video as many times as necessary.

2. Recruit student tech support

Students are more likely to ask another student for help than the teacher. I suggest recruiting at least two students (diligent, helpful and encouraging students) per class to become the student tech support team. I try to develop a team atmosphere between them. They have lunch meetings in my class where I feed them snacks and train them on programs that I will be using. They even have a cool name "Browning's Tech Squad." They are able to troubleshoot with their peers and decide when a problem needs my assistance.

3. Get up and move

First-year teachers are told that proximity will solve many of their class management issues. The same can be said for integrating technology. My students are in groups of six with their Chromebooks all facing different directions; therefore, I am up and moving around the room a lot. There is no management strategy that is better that your presence around the room, however, there are some ways keep them on track and minimize your walking-around time. During tests, I move students to pair seating. This way I can see all the screens at the same time. Also, they are not allowed to dim their screen and iPads are to be kept flat on the table.

4. Engage their interests

Using technology shouldn't mean doing the same boring worksheets on the computer instead of paper. Be mindful of all the opportunities that technology offers, including engaging videos, music, programs and online communication (like blogs) to help your students relate to the content materials. Finding these resources can be time consuming. Recruit your teaching team to lighten the load. Each of the teachers in your team can research one way to integrate technology into your next unit. By time you start, you can have four or five different engaging strategies or resources ready.

5. Create a professional online community

Digital citizenship may be the buzzword of the decade, but it is of great importance. Students are often thrown onto computers without any direction on how to behave or perform. Without guidance, students will approach academic digital work with the same relaxed mindset they bring to social media or online games outside the classroom. It is much easier to be proactive and teach them how to be professional than to deal with cyberbullying, or worse, later.

Schools have students sign technology user agreements, but students don't read them. I have my students create their own contract. First, we watch videos of professionals talking about online practices (inviting a business leader as a guest speaker would be powerful). We read stories about misconduct online. They even share their own experiences. Based on all that information, they create their contract. They take ownership of the level of professionalism they want in their online classroom.

You also need to create an authentic audience for their work, and discuss how to develop the correct level of professionalism for each type of audience. My students' update stream on Schoology is their place to chat. They can tell jokes, post polls, share information, etc. They have discussion posts within their assignments, where their peers are also their audience, but this time their writing is academic and purpose-driven. They also have presentations, interviews and projects that they share with business leaders from the community, and they must learn how to adjust their language, style and content to communicate with them effectively.

You might not have technology faeries to help you, but you don't have to fear fighting for your students' attention. You can't plan for every possible scenario when integrating technology into your instruction, but a well-developed and interesting plan can make all the difference. You don't have to overhaul your whole instructional plan, just pick one thing and try it out. Be patient with your students and be prepared to laugh at the problems (if you don't, you will cry). And when it finally does work, you can pat yourself on the back, give your students well-deserved praise and share your success with your friendly neighborhood technology faery.

5 Classroom Management Tips for Technology Integration

Author

Crystal Browning

Crystal Browning teaches English Language Arts in the Multimedia Technology Academy at Monache High School in Porterville, CA. She currently serves as the English Department Co-Chair. She is passionate about creating a safe and loving learning environment through mutual tolerance and transparency. She laughs, cries, and learns alongside her students. You can reach her on Twitter @MrsBteachagape.

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5 Classroom Management Tips for Technology Integration

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My first year of teaching, my administrator handed me an iPad and said, "Play around with it." Like I had all the time in the world as a first-year teacher to play around with a piece of technology I'd never used! Even though my administration didn't pressure me about integration right away, I pressured myself....

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There are some ways to integrate technology in your classroom that adds value to your learning environment and pretty much can be a go to no matter what the lesson plan. Here are my favorites no matter what grade level you might teach.

Research:
Allowing students to find information on a topic by themselves allows them to delve deeper into areas that appeal to them. It also allows them to be in charge of the path of their learning no matter how "locked down" the requirements for the lesson are. Most school systems have access to online research databases that are grade-based helpful. Teaching students how to curate all the information on the internet is no easy task but placing good research options in their path helps. Using digital encyclopedias and search engines like http://kiddle.co for younger students can help.

Showing older students how to use the Google search engine tools (http://mashable.com/2011/11/24/google-search-infographic/#0vBxYjxrxsqb)as well as how to use your library's digital learning databases are important steps to preparing our students to learn how to find quality information with ease.

Mind Mapping:
This article talks about the benefits of mind mapping: http://mindmapsunleashed.com/the-mind-mapping-concept-and-how-you-benefit-from-this. There are many free or almost free websites and apps that allow students the beauty of gathering their thoughts on a topic in a systematic way. Apps like Popplet and Simple Mind+ and websites like www.mindmeister.com allow students the ability to creatively make connections to ideas, discern important points, as well as map outlines for papers. Mind mapping has also often shown a benefit to recall as well.

Collaboration:
My favorite way to collaborate is using GAFE (Google Apps for Education), specifically Google Docs so that students can collaborate on writing projects through the use of multiple users on one document or even just allowing collaboration on a document by the adding of comments for reflection. There are also options like Padlet, Google hangouts, Skype, blogging, and the discussion boards of your school's LMS options that either allow students the ability to connect with each other or the world beyond the four walls of their classroom.

Whiteboard Options:
For years teachers have used whiteboards for quick formative assessment to see if daily learning objectives have been met. Today, we have websites and apps like A Web Whiteboard, Explain Everything, ShowMe, and EduCreations that can be used to give students personal access to content. Digital whiteboard options also are a great tool to allow students to use at the end of a class to show their learning for the day as well. Finish your lesson, tell the students to open their Digital Whiteboard and say "create a file that shows me the top three things you learned today in class," or "Create a math problem using the formula we used today and solve the problem." The possibilities are endless.

Study Aids:
Technology is a great way to aid students in studying. Digital flashcard makers like Quizlet and word cloud creators like Wordle are a great way for students to reinforce spelling and vocabulary terms. Khan Academy, ck12.org, and other online options as simple as youtube offer your students additional support in studying for exams or refreshers for homework.
The options for integrating technology into the classroom are endless and the creative ability to what a teacher hopes to accomplish is turning more dreams into reality every day. Technology often affords the teacher extra time to have more one on one opportunities with their students as well as supporting the learning environment in very concrete substantive ways that didn't exist a decade ago. The above 5 options could easily be adapted and adopted in any classroom to reap the benefits of technology in our schools and to equip our students for the world beyond their academic life.

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5 Easy Options for Beginning Tech Integration | Edutopia

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There are some ways to integrate technology in your classroom that adds value to your learning environment and pretty much can be a go to no matter what the lesson plan. Here are my favorites no matter what grade level you might teach.

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Integrating technology with classroom practice can be a great way to strengthen engagement by linking students to a global audience, turning them into creators of digital media, and helping them practice collaboration skills that will prepare them for the future.

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An Introduction to Technology Integration

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Integrating technology with classroom practice can be a great way to strengthen engagement by linking students to a global audience, turning them into creators of digital media, and helping them practice collaboration skills that will prepare them for the future.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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What Is Successful Technology Integration?

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Well-integrated use of technology resources by thoroughly trained teachers makes twenty-first-century learning possible. From our Technology Integration Professional Development Guide.

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Our mission is to realize the power and promise of 21st century learning for every student-in early learning, in school, and beyond school-across the country and around the globe.

As the pioneers in this movement, champions of the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity), and creators of the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 is the premier organization ensuring every child-without exception-experiences 21st century learning.

Now Creating Even Greater Impact

And now, as a part of Battelle for Kids, P21 has even greater ability to make tangible and immediate impacts.

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As the pioneers in this movement, champions of the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity), and creators of the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 is the premier organization ensuring every child-without exception-experiences 21st century learning. And now, as a part of Battelle for Kids, P21 has even greater ability to make tangible and immediate impacts.

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The Journal

Five years from now K-12 classrooms will look dramatically different than they do today because of the four trends identified in this week's blog post. You can take that prediction to the bank

Sign Up for our Newsletter

EdTech Magazine

By Meghan Bogardus Cortez From a strong network infrastructure to better teacher support, districts made sure to have everything in place to use technology to boost learning outcomes this year. Classroom Management Networking Personalized Learning Professional Development Training

EdTech Magazine

By Wendy McMahon Modernizing learning in the 21st-century school can start in the library. 3D printing Classroom Collaboration Hardware

EdTech Magazine

By Wendy McMahon Modernizing learning in the 21st-century school can start in the library. 3D printing Classroom Collaboration Hardware

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2017, Technology and Trends - EdTech Update

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The Journal Five years from now K-12 classrooms will look dramatically different than they do today because of the four trends identified in this week's blog post. You can take that prediction to the bank Sign Up for our Newsletter EdTech Magazine By Meghan Bogardus Cortez From a strong network infrastructure to better teacher support, districts made sure to have everything in place to use technology to boost learning outcomes this year.

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What are the benefits in using OER? : *How to Use Open Educational Resources (Public Edition)

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Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.

For example, if you are interested in learning about aeronautical engineering from a science whiz at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), you can check out lecture notes and videos from MIT courses.

The Vision for a Health OER Network in Africa is an OER initiative started by experts in health science institutions across Africa to openly share health education materials. These materials are used by health professionals in Africa to enhance their knowledge and training, as well as by students and educators around the world.

Another OER started by the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands includes courses on clean water technology for developing countries. These resources have been updated by universities in South Africa, Singapore, the Antilles and Indonesia to include information on water treatment processes from their regions, making a collaborative resource on drinking water engineering available online to anyone who wishes to learn more.

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What are Open Educational Resources (OERs)? | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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Open Educational Resources (OERs) are any type of educational materials that are in the public domain or introduced with an open license. The nature of these open materials means that anyone can legally and freely copy, use, adapt and re-share them. OERs range from textbooks to curricula, syllabi, lecture notes, assignments, tests, projects, audio, video and animation.

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Though the term "open educational resources" has become widely used in recent years, not everyone is clear on exactly what it means.

According to the Hewlett Foundation, whose definition is considered the most official, says Lisa Petrides, the CEO and founder of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), "[open educational resources] are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources (OER) include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."

There are, however, two other two definitions that include slight variations.

1. ISKME - which runs OER Commons, a curated digital public library and collaboration platform for open educational resources that's built by and for educators and was initially funded by the Hewlett Foundation - emphasizes that anyone can use and reuse these resources at no charge, without having to ask for permission, and that the creator of these resources decides not to keep many ownership rights.

2. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mentions that it's legal to copy and adapt resources that are either in the public domain or have an open license.

Also, it goes by three different names: open educational resources, open education resources and openly licensed educational resources. The differences between these terms are mostly stylistic, Petrides said, but they ultimately mean the same thing.

The whole open educational resources concept blew up in higher education when the MIT OpenCourseWare initiative launched 15 years ago. MIT published no-charge and open material from thousands of its courses online for anyone to access worldwide.

Educators and students have been using the material to improve their knowledge about a subject, and independent learners have been exploring areas outside their professional fields, among other things. In fact, most of the website's more than 2 million visits each month come from students and self learners. Educators make up 9 percent of the visits, according to the MIT OpenCourseWare initiative.

Higher education institutions embraced open educational resources more quickly than their counterparts in K-12 education, where a lengthy procurement process generally controls textbook adoption. Community colleges in particular have really run with it. That said, K-12 schools and districts have been turning more attention to open educational resources over the last few years, and their efforts have ramped up since the U.S. Department of Education's launch of the #GoOpen campaign in early 2016.

As part of this campaign, states and school districts are committing to adopt more open educational resources. These commitments have brought together education technology leaders and curriculum directors to work on open educational resources instead of making decisions on their own, Petrides said.

Practically speaking, she added, open educational resources have come to stand for affordability, access, equity and teacher professionalism. Some policymakers and community colleges have embraced open educational resources as a way to cut down on expensive textbook costs, which in turn increases equitable access to learning material.

"Affordability was a metric that a lot of the policymakers could really wrap their heads around," Petrides said, "because you could go back to your constituents and say, 'We can save you money.'"

Educators are also recognizing that creating their own open educational resources or choosing which ones to use gives them more control over their classroom.

Going deeper
Open Education Week Raises OER Awareness in Higher Education Open Education Resources: Will They Transform Curriculum Planning? 13 States Kick Off Open Education Resources Initiatives

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Though the term "open educational resources" has become widely used in recent years, not everyone is clear on exactly what it means.

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Open Author helps you build and publish Open Educational Resources for you and for the benefit of educators and learners everywhere.

Learn more about creating OER

Groups provides a flexible environment to organize, create, share, and discuss resources with others in your network. Collaborate with group members, tag and add resources to shared folders, create your own collections, all within a public or private group.

Groups

Search through collections curated by our digital librarians

Collections

Common Core resources organized for your needs

Common Core

Hubs

A Custom Resource Center

Projects, districts, states, and initiatives make use of Hubs to bring groups of educators together to create, organize, and share OER collections that meet their common goals. Explore Hubs

Microsites

Custom Digital Libraries

Microsites are custom, flexible sites that include all the features available on OER Commons. Microsites allow your users to search resource collections using a custom taxonomy at a unique URL. Contact Us

Our award-winning OER Professional Learning programs support instructors and curriculum specialists to gain the necessary skills required to find, adapt, and evaluate high quality open materials.

In-person and virtual OER workshops help focus instructors to develop a "commons" mindset, to experience the benefits of open processes using the platform's tools, collaborative features, and workflows. This can include using Open Author for creating, remixing, and publishing shared curriculum.

Learn More

How to Search OER Commons

View all How-to videos

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OER Commons is a dynamic digital library and network. Explore open education resources and join our network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement.

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LibGuides: Open Educational Resources: Pros and Cons of OERs

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A guide to finding and using OERs in the classroom.

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Adopting Open Educational Resources in the Classroom | Simple Book Production

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This course provides faculty with an introduction to the laws that influence the use, re-use, and distribution of content they may want to use in a course. Activities include finding openly licensed content for use in a class and publishing openly licensed works created by faculty.

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Slides from Webinar

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The world of open educational resources (OERs) is both a blessing and a curse for educators. The blessing lies in access to a host of free educational materials for use in the classroom. The curse is the sheer scope of the resources and providers.

Elliot Soloway, Arthur F. Thurnau professor at the University of Michigan, has heard tales of educators spending hours researching OERs when all they need is a few specific items. He fears that this leads teachers to attempt to reinvent the wheel nightly. "And what a horrible thought that is," he says.

Soloway points to a number of websites that provide more than OER content (videos, PDFs and other media that inform); they offer full lessons and curricula.

"And many educators know, there's a world of difference between content and curriculum - vetted, standards-aligned, scope and sequenced learning activities," Soloway said.

Here are his top recommendations for curricula:

ck12.org. This site has been around for years, and for good reason - it meets the needs of K-12 teachers. In addition to the usual assortment of OER content, teachers will find full lesson plans that are easily incorporated into classrooms.

edmodo.com. Also a pioneer among OER sites, Edmodo offers a time-saving "Spotlight" search to help teachers find specific OER elements.

opened.com. Turn to this OER for the greatest range of assessments available anywhere.

gooru.org. Not only does this site provide lesson plans, it offers full courses that can be downloaded and used - and they're all free!

curriki.org. Also an early OER resource, curriki.org provides content and also makes it easy for educators to share their OER-based lessons.

Educators interested in learning about a free, device-agnostic platform for creating OERs, monitoring students in real time and assessing student artifacts can join Soloway and colleague Cathie Norris for the ISTE Professional Learning Series webinar "Digital Lessons to Reap the Benefits of Your 1:1 Classroom" April 5. Participants will:

Learn how to best support student collaboration in 1:1 environments.

Get tips for managing a 1:1 classroom.

Gather best practices for creating digital curricula.

ISTE members can sign up now for the ISTE Professional Learning Series that includes the webinar "Digital Lessons to Reap the Benefits of Your 1:1 Classroom." Not a member? Join ISTE today.

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The world of open educational resources (OERs) is both a blessing and a curse for educators. The blessing lies in access to a host of free educational materials for use in the classroom. The curse is the sheer scope of the resources and providers. Elliot Soloway, Arthur F.

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Saying that it has always been this way, doesn't count as a legitimate justification as to why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators all over the world are doing amazing things, but some of the things we are still doing, despite all the new solutions, research and ideas out there are, to put it mildly, incredible.

I'm not saying we should just make the current system better... we should change it into something else.

I have compiled a list of 14 things that are obsolete in 21st-century schools and it is my hope that this will inspire lively discussions about the future of education.

1. Computer Rooms

The idea of taking a whole class to a computer room with outdated equipment, once a week to practice their typewriting skills and sending them back to the classroom 40 minutes later, is obsolete.

Computers or technology shouldn't just be a specific subject, that's not sufficient anymore but rather it should be an integral part of all the subjects and built into the curriculum.

2. Isolated classrooms

Classrooms can be isolated in two ways. One where parents, teachers or guests are not welcome because the door and drapes are always shut... which has the words "Don't come in here" written all over it. The other way is being isolated to all the knowledge outside the 4 walls. For example from the internet, videos, blogs, websites, and visits from authors or scientists through Skype, to name a few.

Tony Wagner, the author of the Global Achievement Gap says: "Isolation is the enemy of improvement". The classroom should be open, teachers should be able to walk in and learn from each other, parents should visit often, f.x. with so-called Extra Open Schooldays (where all parents are encouraged to visit classrooms anytime during the day). Isolated classrooms are therefore obsolete.

3. Schools that don't have WiFi

Schools that don't have a robust WiFi network for staff and students are not only missing a big change for teaching and learning but robbing the students of access to knowledge and also limiting their chances to learn about the internet and using technology in a safe way.

21st-century schools make it possible for students and staff to learn anywhere, anytime and schools that don't allow that are obsolete.

4. Banning phones and tablets

Taking phones and tablets from students instead of using them to enhance learning is obsolete. We should celebrate the technology students bring and use them as learning tools.

Phones are no longer just devices to text and make phone calls... when they were, then banning them was OK. Today there is more processing power in the average cellular telephone than NASA had access to when they sent a man to the moon in 1969. Yet most students only know how to use these devices for social media and playing games.

Today you can edit a movie, make a radio show, take pictures, make posters, websites, blog, tweet as a character from a book, have class conversations over TodaysMeet and Google most answers on a test with the device in your pocket. We should show our students the learning possibilities & turn these distractions into learning opportunities that will reach far outside the classroom.

5. Tech director with an administrator access

Having one person responsible for the computer system, working from a windowless office in the school basement, surrounded by old computers, updates the programs and tells the staff what tech tools they can and cannot use... is obsolete.

Today we need technology co-ordinators that know what teachers and students need to be successful and solve problems instead of creating barriers. Someone who helps people to help themselves by giving them responsibility and finds better and cheaper ways to do things.

6. Teachers that don't share what they do

Teachers who work silently, don't tweet, blog and discuss ideas with people around the world are obsolete. Teachers are no longer working locally but globally and it's our job to share what we do and see what others are doing. If a teacher is no longer learning then he shouldn't be teaching other people.

We should all be tweeting, blogging and sharing what works and doesn't work, get and give advice to and from co-workers around the world. We should constantly be improving our craft because professional development isn't a 3-hour workshop once a month but a lifelong process.
"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience." -John Dewey
7. Schools that don't have Facebook or Twitter

Schools that think putting a news article on the school website every other week and publish a monthly newsletter is enough to keep parents informed are obsolete.

The school should have a Facebook page, share news and information with parents, have a Twitter account and their own hashtag, run their own online TV channel where students film, edit and publish things about school events.

If you don't tell your story, someone else will.

8. Unhealthy cafeteria food

School cafeterias that look and operate almost like fast food restaurants where staff and students get a cheap, fast and unhealthy meals are obsolete.

A few schools in Iceland and Sweden have turned almost completely to organic foods and given thought into the long term benefit of healthy food rather than the short term savings of the unhealthy. For example at Stora Hammar school in Sweden, 90% of the food served is organic.

Children should put the food on their own plate, clean up after themselves and even do the dishes. Not because it saves the school money on the workforce but because it is a part of growing up and learning about responsibility. What 21st-century schools should be doing as well is growing their own fruits and vegetables where students water them and learn about nature. Setting up a farm to feed students would be optimal, but if that is not an option (for example in big city schools) then they can at last set up a window farm in some of the school windows.

The goal of providing students a healthy meal is not only to give them enough nutrition to last the school day but to make healthy food a normal part of their daily life and get them to think about nutrition which is something that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

9. Starting school at 8 o'clock for teenagers

Research has shown over and over again that teenagers do better and feel better in schools that start later. Often parents or administrators get in the way of that change. Research (f.x. from the The Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and University of Minnesota - video) show that delaying school start as little as 50 minutes and making it longer by 30 minutes instead has a positive effect both on learning and activities after school. Schools that don't do this are obsolete.

Starting later is easy and teachers could use the extra time in the morning to prepare class... it's a win-win situation.

10. Buying poster-, website- and pamphlet design for the school

When your school needs a poster, pamphlet or a new website they shouldn't buy the service from somewhere else (although that can sometimes be the case) and have students do it instead. In the best schools of the future, they will be the ones doing it as a real project that has meaning and as a collaborative project in language and art....using technology.

11. Traditional libraries

Libraries that only contain books and chess tables are obsolete.

A 21st-century library should be at the heart of the school and a place where both students and staff can come in to relax, read, get advice, access powerful devices, edit videos, music, print in 3D and learn how to code to name a few. This 21st-century learning space should give people an equal chance to use these devices and access information. Otherwise, these libraries will turn into museums where people go to look at all the things we used to use.

12. All students get the same

Putting kids in the same class because they are born in the same year is obsolete. School systems were originally set up to meet the needs of industrialism. Back then we needed people to work in factories, conformity was good and nobody was meant to excel or be different in that environment. That doesn't fit our needs today, let alone the future but many schools are still set up like the factories they were meant to serve 100 years ago.

We should increase choice, give children support to flourish in what interests them and not only give them extra attention to the things they're bad at. In most schools, if you are good at art but bad in german you get german lessons to get to par with the other students instead of excelling at art... All even, all the same!

Education should be individualized, students should work in groups regardless of age and their education should be built around their needs.

13. One-Professional development-workshop-fits-all

A school that just sends the entire staff to a workshop once a month where everyone gets the same is obsolete. Professional development is usually top-down instead of the ground up where everyone gets what they want and need. This is because giving everyone (including students) what they need and want takes time & money.

With things like Twitter, Pinterest, articles online, books, videos, co-operation & conversations employees can personalize their professional development. (Read about my article on Personalized Professional Development here)

14. Standardized tests to measure the quality of education

Looking at standardized tests to evaluate whether or not children are educated or not is the dumbest thing we can do and gives us a shallow view of learning.

The outcomes, although moderately important, measure only a small part of what we want our kids to learn and by focusing on these exams we are narrowing the curriculum. Alfie Kohn even pointed out a statistically significant correlation between high grades on standardized tests and a shallow approach to learning.

The world today and the needs of society are completely different from what they used to be. We are not only training people to work locally but globally. With standardized tests, like PISA, we are narrowing the curriculum, and all the OECD countries are teaching the same thing. Because of that, we all produce the same kind of workers, outdated workers, to work in factories. People who can comply, behave and be like everybody else.

In the global world today it is easy to outsource jobs to someone who is willing to do the same job, just as fast for less money. Therefore we need creative people that can do something else and think differently.

Andreas Schleicher (2010) said:

"Schools have to prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that we don't know will arise."

Standardized education might have been the answer once but saying that it's obsolete is putting it mildly and is only a way to try to repair the broken system. The results of those tests are, according to Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind, 2005) in direct contradiction to the skills we need today. Those skills are for example design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.

We should be solving real problems, asking questions that matter instead of remembering and repeating facts. Adults' accomplishments are linked far more strongly to their creativity than IQ ( source) and we should be celebrating diverse knowledge and interest instead of trying to standardize knowledge and skills.

I wonder if schools would finally change their direction if we designed a new standardize test that wouldn't measure numeracy, science, and literacy but empathy, creative thinking and communication skills... Maybe that is all we need.

Final thoughts

All the education systems on the planet are being reformed, but I don't think reform is what we need. We need a revolution and change the education system into something else. It isn't an easy task, but as S.E. Phillips once said:

Anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Doing something new and getting poor results on the old test shouldn't surprise anyone. What is the point of doing something new and different if we get the same results on standardized tests... then we might as well just do factory schooling, conform and comply.

"If I had asked the people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"

That is exactly what we are doing today. We are asking our students to remember more, write better and repeat faster than before... just like we wanted the faster horse when really we should be asking for the car. Sure the car wasn't better than the horse in the beginning and our education system won't be perfect either. It will never be perfect, it should be constantly evolving and we should strive to make it better every day.

I don't know what a perfect education system looks like, and don't think it even exists. But I believe that if we talk, try something different, fail forward, investigate and share what we do, not only locally but globally, we can get a lot closer.

If you want to see a change in education, you should start in your own classroom.

"Education can be encouraged from the top-down but can only be improved from the ground up" - Sir Ken Robinson
Icelandic Educator. Creator. Designer. Stanford Graduate School of Education Alumn
Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson

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14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools

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Saying that it has always been this way, doesn't count as a legitimate justification as to why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators all over the world are doing amazing things, but some of the things we are still doing, despite all the new solutions, research and ideas out there are, to put [...]

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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Science-fiction author William Gibson once said, "The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed."

The technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in select classrooms today, laying the seeds for the future of how students could learn. With 2016 fast approaching, technology analysts have been busy prognosticating the top technology trends. A few of these technologies have already made headway into education, and others are poised for mass distribution, with the promise of ground-shaking change in their wake.

We've reviewed a few of these trends through the lens of how they could affect classrooms in both K-12 and higher education.

Virtual Reality (VR) Adds New Dimension to Learning

VR is shaping up to be one of the largest technology turf wars of 2016. Several global companies have staked millions of dollars developing their brand of the technology, including Google, Samsung, HTC, Sony and the Facebook-backed Oculus. And in 2016 many of these iterations of the VR craze are set to go to market.

At ISTE 2015, representatives of Google Cardboard and Samsung's Gear VR were on hand to demonstrate how the technology could change how students learn. VR even stole the show during journalist Soledad O'Brien's keynote, in which she said the technology allows students to test the waters of different careers - educational experiences that could alter the trajectory of their studies and their lives.

The immersive power of this technology has also caught the eye of Jon Phillips, managing director of strategy for worldwide education at Dell. Phillips tells EdTech that experiential learning can teach complex problems in a different way than traditional education methods of today.

"I think as we head into the next year, we're going to see more grassroots approaches to bringing technologies like that into the classroom, allowing students to learn experientially," says Phillips.

Google is already on the case. Its Expeditions Pioneer program is bringing smartphone-powered Google Cardboard devices to classrooms across the country as a way to introduce students to VR technology. Google product manager Ben Schrom told EdTech that Expeditions is about a social VR experience, instead of one where each user is confined to his own virtual world.

3D Printing's Audience on Track for Growth

3D printers have already broken through in education, helping students bring their ideas to life or put their hands on concepts that previously lived only in textbooks. But 2016 could prove to be a transformative year for the technology as the devices become more affordable and the barrier to entry continues to drop.

EdTech spoke with Jordan Brehove, MakerBot's vice president of solutions, who explains that the power of 3D printing in education isn't merely replicating ideas but creating new ones.

"There is an inflection point that people get when they start to print because people go out onto Thingiverse, a repository of 3D files, and they print and they print and they print, but there is a certain moment when they realize, 'I don't need something that exists, I want something that doesn't yet exist.' It's just a complete paradigm shift," he says.

The support is certainly there. A community of tinkerers, programmers and students are fostering makerspaces - local labs armed with 3D printers and fabrication tools - across the country. Spaces like these are urging learners to develop new engineering skills that could become the bedrock for an industry that's still being pioneered.

Internet of Things Finds Its Place (IoT)

The number of connected technologies we use each day continues to multiply, and unless Moore's Law is disproved, they will continue to shrink, unlocking new uses for connectivity, changing how our lives are networked with technology.

For a glimpse at the future, look no further than how companies are gearing up to invest in the IoT. International Data Corp. projects that IoT spending will leap from the $ 655.8 billion seen in 2014 to $1.7 trillion in 2020, the same year that Gartner Inc. predicts 26 billion devices will be connected to the Internet.

Today, the IoT applications for education are still being explored, with some classrooms dabbling in gesture-based controls feeding data to Internet-connected devices. But the potential for the technology looms across a variety of applications, according to Andrés Cardenal, writing for The Motley Fool.

The technology also got a mention in IT research and advisory firm Gartner's list of 10 strategic technology trends of 2016, in its entry on "device mesh," the big-picture view of how our devices interact, creating a new picture of our lives through the data these devices collect.

"In the postmobile world the focus shifts to the mobile user who is surrounded by a mesh of devices extending well beyond traditional mobile devices," according to Gartner Vice President David Cearley.

Wearables Court Mainstream Status

The current star of the Internet of Things concept, wearable technology, still has a lot to prove to educators. Analysts at New Media Consortium (NMC) predict it will be widespread in classrooms in about four years, but there are already examples of the technology making waves in education.

"Indeed, wearable technology has been pushing the boundaries of what students are able to create - even spurring wearable-themed school events and contests," according to NMC's 2015 report.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory hosted a wearable-themed workshop as an interactive way of introducing mechanical design and electrical engineering to high school girls, the NMC report states.

In 2015, UNICEF launched Kid Power, a fitness program that tracked the steps of about 10,000 students while they wore fitness bands. Participants accrued points for walking, which were then converted into monetary donations to purchase food packets for malnourished children.

"Wearables not only assist students, but also offer many benefits to educators. From pinging students' GPS locations during a field trip to recording point-of-view lessons, teachers have more options to monitor and engage with students. And this engagement can also translate to communication between educators, giving them more options for collaboration," according to the K-12 Tech Decisions blog.

Tech Gets Smarter, Becomes More Interactive

As engineers refine machine-learning techniques, the tasks that devices can perform are becoming more sophisticated; indeed, these gadgets are on the cusp of becoming true thinking machines. At the same time, this sophistication allows smaller devices to do extraordinary things. In the coming year, a few innovations are on the horizon that could change the traditional role of technology in education.

IBM's cognitive-computing platform, Watson, has recently been used to revolutionize how higher education research is conducted. The results of AI-enhanced research methods can already be seen. In 2014, the company released the Watson Discovery Advisor, tailoring Watson's unique abilities to aid researchers struggling to parse mountains of data.

Other analysts see robotics serving a more hands-on role in the classroom. Constance Smith of Frog, a design firm, says robotic toys are capable of changing how special-education students learn in the classroom.

"In the future, we'll see a rise in robotic toys that serve counselors and playmates to children with various learning disabilities like Autism. Studies have shown that AI toys are extremely effective in getting withdrawn ASD kids in engaging in personal, playful interactions. Special Education departments will soon have whole classrooms of intelligent toys to play with," Smith writes.

Meanwhile, connected devices like the programmable robot Sphero are already working well in the classroom, reports K-12 educator Sam Patterson. It just takes the right lesson plan to unlock their potential, he says.

"There are hundreds of other great ways to use these robots to support student learning. My advice is get one and put it into the hands of students - see what they can do. Build challenges and celebrate failure. Learning can be hard but fun, and these robots make integration easy," Patterson writes in an EdTech blog.

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5 Tech Trends that Could Supercharge Education in 2016

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Science-fiction author William Gibson once said, "The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." The technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in select classrooms today, laying the seeds for the future of how students could learn. With 2016 fast approaching, technology analysts have been busy prognosticating the top technology trends.

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The future or that is to say the technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in classrooms today in the advancement of how students can learn. Some of these technologies have already found their way into education while some are already being prepared for mass distribution. They are all expected to enhance the learning capability of not just students but individuals who are and who will be exposed to these new technologies.

Using the themes: mesh, digital, and intelligent - a top list of technologies has been announced to break out in 2017 which promises an intelligent future. These are smart systems that adapt, learn, and can possibly act independently instead of just executing predefined directions.

Advance Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

Machine learning (ML) and Artificial intelligence covers tech that uses neural networks, deep learning, and natural language processing, which make these technologies learn, understand, adapt, predict, and operate on its own. These are specifically useful in banks to use updated instantaneous transactions and in businesses to develop transparent and precise business values. The ability of the previous system to learn and change future behavior has lead to the advancement of more intelligent devices and programs.

Intelligent Applications

Intelligent Applications include technologies such as virtual personal assistants (VPA), security tools, advanced analytics and more. VPAs make tasks easier and more efficient by focusing first on emails, as well as highlighting vital data or interactions while security tools are used for business apps for marketing. It is expected that majority of the world's biggest companies will be exploiting this kind of technology to utilize analytics tools and big data to fine-tune their services and develop customer service in 2018.

Intelligent Objects

Intelligent things include drones, robots, and autonomous vehicles. They are expected to advance the impact of the bigger cut of the market and back up the new level of virtual business, representing a facet of all the intelligent things making the office, home, medical facilities, and factory more productive and efficient. As these technologies progress or turn into significantly prevalent, they will change from being detached to being more collaborative wherein they are able to communicate with each other and act as one to accomplish more tasks. Although it will slow down some scenarios like privacy and liability.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual and augmented reality changes the way people interrelate with others, creating a more immersive environment. VRs can be utilized for training and remote activities while ARs enable a merger of both the virtual and real worlds. These technologies can help businesses integrate graphics onto tangible objects in real life. Eventually, they can be developed until they can include the five human senses other than visual.

Digital Twins

There are over several billion objects, which will soon be characterized by digital twins, within three to five years to be exact. A digital twin is an interactive software model of a physical object or structure used in the analysis and simulation of real-life conditions through physics information on how the parts of an object operates and responds to its setting. It also functions as a proxy for the mixture of talented individuals and conventional monitoring tools and devices. However, the introduction of this technology would require a change in the culture and perception as real-life things cooperate with information technologists and data scientists. When mixed with virtual representations of environments and facilities as well as individuals, enterprises, and systems, it can increase the precise virtual representation of real life for analysis, control, and simulation.

The use of these technologies in the future will surely boost the educational system and further the developments of other tools that will pave the way for a better and brighter future not just for students but for everyone in the society.

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5 Tech Trends That Could Supercharge Education in 2017

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The future or that is to say the technologies of tomorrow are already being tested in classrooms today in the advancement of how students can learn. Some of these technologies have already found their way into education while some are already being prepared for mass distribution.

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Dr. Puentedura graciously Creative Commons-licenses some of his papers to allow for reproduction on other sites with attribution.

I have taken one of the PDF files and turned it into a slideshow below. I have included links to the original PDF files in case you want to download it from Dr. Puentedura's site.

Bloom's and SAMR:
​My thoughts based on the work of R. Puentedura, A. Churches and L. Nelson

I feel teachers need to both create tasks that target the higher-order cognitive skills (Bloom's) as well as design tasks that have a significant impact on student outcomes (SAMR). A visual to illustrate that follows.

Educators will argue they have seen redefinition tasks that only target the remembering level or have a creative assessment that is only at the augmentation level. Of course that is true, but I believe we should be planning for technology tasks, activities, and assessments that include both the higher levels of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and the transformation area of the SAMR model.

My vision of how the Bloom's and SAMR models work together and intersect follows below.

Bloom's and TECH: My thoughts

Work by others

Videos by others

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SAMR is a model designed to help educators infuse technology into teaching and learning. Popularized by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the model supports and enables teachers to design, develop, and ...

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The Technology Integration Matrix

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) provides a framework for describing and targeting the use of technology to enhance learning. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, and goal-directed. These characteristics are associated with five levels of technology integration: entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation. Together, the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments and five levels of technology integration create a matrix of 25 cells, as illustrated below. All TIM descriptors apply equally well to online and face-to-face instruction, Developed by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology (FCIT) in 2005, the TIM is now in its third edition (2019).

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technological pedagogical and content knowledge  tpack tpck

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Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge

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Math Specific

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The student will solve multistep linear and quadratic equation sin two variables, including e) solving systems of two linear equations in two variables algebraically and graphically f) solving real-world problems involving equations and systems of equations. Graphing calculators will be used both as a primary tool for solution and to confirm an algebraic solution.)

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Technology Integration Models Technology has begun to be integrated in the school system. Bauer and Kenton (2005) said that computer technology is an effective way to widen opportunities to...

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Goal: All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences in both formal and informal settings that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally connected society.

To be successful in our daily lives and in a global workforce, Americans need pathways to acquire expertise and form meaningful connections to peers and mentors. This journey begins with a base of knowledge and abilities that can be augmented and enhanced throughout our lives. Fortunately, advances in learning sciences have provided new insights into how people learn. ¹ Technology can be a powerful tool to reimagine learning experiences on the basis of those insights.

Historically, a learner's educational opportunities have been limited by the resources found within the walls of a school. Technology-enabled learning allows learners to tap resources and expertise anywhere in the world, starting with their own communities. For example:

With high-speed Internet access, a student interested in learning computer science can take the course online in a school that lacks the budget or a faculty member with the appropriate skills to teach the course.

Learners struggling with planning for college and careers can access high-quality online mentoring and advising programs where resources or geography present challenges to obtaining sufficient face-to-face mentoring.

With mobile data collection tools and online collaboration platforms, students in a remote geographic area studying local phenomena can collaborate with peers doing similar work anywhere in the world.

A school with connectivity but without robust science facilities can offer its students virtual chemistry, biology, anatomy, and physics labs-offering students learning experiences that approach those of peers with better resources.

Students engaged in creative writing, music, or media production can publish their work to a broad global audience regardless of where they go to school.

Technology-enabled learning environments allow less experienced learners to access and participate in specialized communities of practice, graduating to more complex activities and deeper participation as they gain the experience needed to become expert members of the community.²

These opportunities expand growth possibilities for all students while affording historically disadvantaged students greater equity of access to high-quality learning materials, expertise, personalized learning, and tools for planning for future education. 3, 4 Such opportunities also can support increased capacity for educators to create blended learning opportunities for their students, rethinking when, where, and how students complete different components of a learning experience.

Personalized Learning

Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) all may vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated.

Blended Learning

In a blended learning environment, learning occurs online and in person, augmenting and supporting teacher practice. This approach often allows students to have some control over time, place, path, or pace of learning. In many blended learning models, students spend some of their face-to-face time with the teacher in a large group, some face-to-face time with a teacher or tutor in a small group, and some time learning with and from peers. Blended learning often benefits from a reconfiguration of the physical learning space to facilitate learning activities, providing a variety of technology-enabled learning zones optimized for collaboration, informal learning, and individual-focused study.

Agency in Learning

Learners with agency can "intentionally make things happen by [their] actions," and "agency enables people to play a part in their self-development, adaptation, and self-renewal with changing times." ⁶ To build this capacity, learners should have the opportunity to make meaningful choices about their learning, and they need practice at doing so effectively. Learners who successfully develop this ability lay the foundation for lifelong, self-directed learning.

What People Need to Learn

To remain globally competitive and develop engaged citizens, our schools should weave 21st century competencies and expertise throughout the learning experience. These include the development of critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration, and adding multimedia communication into the teaching of traditional academic subjects. ⁵ In addition, learners should have the opportunity to develop a sense of agency in their learning and the belief that they are capable of succeeding in school.

Beyond these essential core academic competencies, there is a growing body of research on the importance of non-cognitive competencies as they relate to academic success. 7, 8, 9 Non-cognitive competencies include successful navigation through tasks such as forming relationships and solving everyday problems. They also include development of self-awareness, control of impulsivity, executive function, working cooperatively, and caring about oneself and others.

Building Non-Cognitive Competencies: Providing Opportunities for Practice

Interacting with peers, handling conflicts, resolving disputes, or persisting through a challenging problem are all experiences that are important to academic success.

Digital games can allow students to try out varied responses and roles and gauge the outcomes without fear of negative consequences. ²⁸ Accumulating evidence suggests that virtual environments and games can help increase empathy, self-awareness, emotional regulation, social awareness, cooperation, and problem solving while decreasing the number of behavior referrals and in-school suspensions. ²⁹

Games such as Ripple Effects and The Social Express use virtual environments, storytelling, and interactive experiences to assess a student's social skill competencies and provide opportunities to practice. Other apps help bridge the gap between the virtual environment and the real world by providing just-in-time supports for emotional regulation and conflict resolution. A number of apps are available to help students name and identify how they are feeling, express their emotions, and receive targeted suggestions or strategies for self-regulation. Examples include Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame; Smiling Mind; Stop, Breathe & Think; Touch and Learn-Emotions; and Digital Problem Solver.

Fostering Growth Mindset: Technology-Based Program to Fuel Student Achievement

A key part of non-cognitive development is fostering a growth mindset about learning. Growth mindset is the understanding that abilities can be developed through effort and practice and leads to increased motivation and achievement. The U.S. Department of Education has funded several growth mindset-related projects, including a grant to develop and evaluate SchoolKit, a suite of resources developed to teach growth mindset quickly and efficiently in schools.

Jill Balzer, a middle school principal in Killeen, Texas, has seen success from using SchoolKit in her school. Balzer spoke with an eighth grader who achieved academic distinction for the first time in five years after using the using the program. "When I asked him what the difference was," recalled Balzer, "he said that now he understood that even though learning was not always going to come easy to him it didn't mean he was stupid, it just meant he needed to work harder on that subject." ³⁰

District of Columbia Public Schools also have made the SchoolKit available to all middle schools. Principal Dawn Clemens of Stuart-Hobson Middle School saw increases in reading scores for their seventh-grade students after using the program. "With middle-schoolers, there are always excuses," Clemens said. "But this shifts the language to be about payoff from effort, rather than 'the test was too hard' or 'the teacher doesn't like me.'" ³¹

Increased connectivity also increases the importance of teaching learners how to become responsible digital citizens. We need to guide the development of competencies to use technology in ways that are meaningful, productive, respectful, and safe. For example, helping students learn to use proper online etiquette, recognize how their personal information may be collected and used online, and leverage access to a global community to improve the world around them can help prepare them for successfully navigating life in a connected world. Mastering these skills requires a basic understanding of the technology tools and the ability to make increasingly sound judgments about the use of them in learning and daily life. For the development of digital citizenship, educators can turn to resources such as Common Sense Education's digital citizenship curriculum or the student technology standards from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Technology-Enabled Learning in Action

Learning principles transcend specific technologies. However, when carefully designed and thoughtfully applied, technology has the potential to accelerate, amplify, and expand the impact of powerful principles of learning. Because the process of learning is not directly observable, the study of learning often produces models and conclusions that evolve across time. The recommendations in this plan are based on current assumptions and theories of how people learn even while education researchers, learning scientists, and educators continue to work toward a deeper understanding.

The NETP focuses on how technology can help learners unlock the power of some of the most potent learning principles discovered to date. For example, we know that technology can help learners think about an idea in more than one way and in more than one context, reflect on what is learned, and adjust understanding accordingly. 10, 11 Technology also can help capture learners' attention by tapping into their interests and passions. ¹³ It can help us align how we learn with what we learn.

Following are five ways technology can improve and enhance learning, both in formal learning and in informal settings. Each is accompanied by examples of transformational learning in action.

1. Technology can enable personalized learning or experiences that are more engaging and relevant. Mindful of the learning objectives, educators might design learning experiences that allow students in a class to choose from a menu of learning experiences-writing essays, producing media, building websites, collaborating with experts across the globe in data collection-assessed via a common rubric to demonstrate their learning. Such technology-enabled learning experiences can be more engaging and relevant to learners.

Scaling Up Personalized Learning: Massachusetts' Innovation Schools Create Multiple Pathways to Learning

As part of Massachusetts' Achievement Gap Act of 2010, funding was set aside to give schools the opportunity to implement innovative strategies to improve learning. Through this legislation, educators can create Innovation Schools that can operate with increased flexibility in key areas such as schedule, curriculum, instruction, and professional development. ³²

As of 2015, there were 54 approved Innovation Schools and Academies in 26 school districts across Massachusetts. Some schools implemented a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or STEM-plus-arts model, and others implemented a combination of one or more of the following educational models: multiple pathways, early college, dual-language immersion, or expanded learning time.

Students in a Safety and Public Service Academy combine rigorous college-style coursework available in a variety of formats (in class, online, blended learning, off-site for internships and job shadows) in areas such as forensics, computer science, criminal law, crisis management, psychology, and video production. Students at the Arts Academy may combine their coursework with off-site learning opportunities at local universities, combining high-tech design skills and knowledge of the creative arts to prepare them for post-secondary education and a career in the arts.

Pentucket Regional School District's program has scaled their innovation approach to every elementary school in the district. Their approach is centered on student choice and the use of opportunities for learning that extend beyond the classroom walls. Through the redesign of the school day and year, students engage in hands-on experiential learning with in-class lessons; online and blended coursework; and off-campus academic opportunities, internships, and apprenticeships.

2. Technology can help organize learning around real-world challenges and project-based learning-using a wide variety of digital learning devices and resources to show competency with complex concepts and content. Rather than writing a research report to be read only by her biology teacher and a small group of classmates, a student might publish her findings online where she receives feedback from researchers and other members of communities of practice around the country. In an attempt to understand the construction of persuasive arguments, another student might draft, produce, and share a public service announcement via online video streaming sites, asking his audience for constructive feedback every step of the way.

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning takes place in the context of authentic problems, continues across time, and brings in knowledge from many subjects. Project-based learning, if properly implemented and supported, helps students develop 21st century skills, including creativity, collaboration, and leadership, and engages them in complex, real-world challenges that help them meet expectations for critical thinking. ¹³

Engaged Creation: Exploratorium Creates a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Exploring Circuits and Electricity

In the summer of 2015, the Exploratorium in San Francisco launched its first MOOC, working with Coursera, called Tinkering Fundamentals to inspire STEM-rich tinkering; introduce a set of high-quality activities that could be replicated easily in the classroom; and foster robust discussions of the learning.

The six-week course included a blend of hands-on activities, short videos of five to eight minutes each, an active discussion forum, live Web chats, social media, and other resources. Each week the videos highlighted an introduction to a new tinkering activity, the learning goals, and tips for facilitation; step-by-step instructions for how to build and support others to build the tinkering contraption; classroom video and interviews with teachers about classroom implementation and student learning; profiles of artists; and comments by learning experts. Reflective prompts generated extensive conversation in the discussion forums.

To facilitate these online activities, the Exploratorium integrated multiple platforms, including Coursera and live video streaming tools. Instructors used these online platforms and spaces to reflect on the week's activities and forum posts and to provide real-time feedback to participants. In videoconferences, the instructors positioned themselves as questioners rather than as experts, enhancing a strong sense of camaraderie and collaborative exploration.

The Exploratorium used a social media aggregator to showcase photos and videos of participants' tinkering creations, underscoring the hands-on and material nature of the work of the MOOC. The course attracted more than 7,000 participants from 150 countries, of whom approximately 4,400 were active participants, resulting in more than 66,000 video views and 6,700 forum posts. For more information, visit the Exploratorium and Coursera on the Web.

Building Projects for Real Audiences: National Parks Service Deepens Engagement Through Technology

Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a partnership project of the National Park Service that encourages students to create rich connections to history through project-based learning, specifically making videos about their visits to historical sites. The students take the roles of writers, actors, directors, producers, costume designers, music directors, editors, and filmmakers with the support of professional video editors. The videos allow the students to speak about history in their own words as well as share their knowledge with their peers. In addition to learning about history, participating in the projects also teaches students to refine their skills of leadership and teamwork. All videos become official material of the National Park Service and are licensed openly for use by other students and teachers around the world.

3. Technology can help learning move beyond the classroom and take advantage of learning opportunities available in museums, libraries, and other out-of-school settings. Coordinated events such as the Global Read Aloud allow classrooms from all over the world to come together through literacy. One book is chosen, and participating classrooms have six weeks in which teachers read the book aloud to students and then connect their classrooms to other participants across the world. Although the book is the same for each student, the interpretation, thoughts, and connections are different. This setting helps support learners through the shared experience of reading and builds a perception of learners as existing within a world of readers. The shared experience of connecting globally to read can lead to deeper understanding of not only the literature but also of their peers with whom students are learning.

Upskilling Adult Learners: At Peer-to-Peer University (P2PU), Everyone Is a Teacher and a Learner

P2PU and the Chicago Public Library (CPL) have partnered to pilot Learning Circles-lightly facilitated study groups for adult learners taking online courses together at their local library. In spring 2015, the partnership ran a pilot program in two CPL branches, facilitating in-person study groups around a number of free, online courses. The pilot program has expanded to 10 CPL branches in fall 2015, with the ultimate goal of developing an open-source, off-the-shelf solution that can be deployed by other public libraries, allowing all libraries and their communities to harness the potential of blended learning for little to no expertise or cost.

Meeting once a week in two-hour sessions, a non-content expert librarian helps facilitate a peer-learning environment, with the goal that after six weeks the Learning Circles become self-sustainable. P2PU has designed a number of software tools and guidelines to help onboard learners and facilitators, easing administrative burdens and integrating deeper learning principles into existing online learning content. Initial results suggest that students in Learning Circles have far higher retention than do students in most online courses, participants acquire non-cognitive skills often absent from pure online learning environments, and a diverse audience is participating. By working with libraries and building in additional learning support, P2PU also is able to reach first-time online learners, many of whom do not have a post-secondary degree.

P2PU measures success in terms of both the progress of individual learners and the viability of the model. In addition to the number of branches involved, cost per user, and number of learners, attributes such as retention, returning to additional Learning Circles, advancing from the role of learner to that of facilitator, and transitioning from Learning Circles into other fields (formal education, new job) are all other factors that contribute to success. Furthermore, P2PU designs for and measures academic mindsets (community, self-efficacy, growth mindsets, relevance) as a proxy for learner success.

Helping Parents Navigate a Technological World: A Resource for Making Informed Technology Decisions

Family Time With Apps: A Guide to Using Apps With Your Kids is an interactive resource for parents seeking to select and use apps in the most effective ways with their children. ³³ The guide informs parents of the variety of ways that apps can support children's healthy development and family learning, communication, and connection with eight strategies. These strategies are playing games together, reading together every day, creating media projects, preparing for new experiences, connecting with distant family, exploring the outside world, making travel more fun, and creating a predictable routine. Tips on how to find the best apps to meet a child's particular needs and an explanation of how and why to use apps together also are included.

The guide references specific apps, which connect parents with the resources to select appropriate apps for their children. This online community is connected with various app stores and gives parents a menu for app selection on the basis of learning topic, age, connectivity, and device capability. Information also is included that describes exactly what other elements are attached to each app-for example, privacy settings, information collection, advertisements allowed, related apps, and so on.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop also recommends the Parents' Choice Award Winners as a tool for selecting child-appropriate apps. These apps, reviewed by the Parents' Choice Awards Committee within the Parents' Choice Foundation, have gone through a rigorous, multi-tiered evaluation process. The committee looks for apps that help children grow socially, intellectually, emotionally, and ethically while inspiring creativity and imagination and connecting parents and children.

4. Technology can help learners pursue passions and personal interests. A student who learns Spanish to read the works of Gabriel García Márquez in the original language and a student who collects data and creates visualizations of wind patterns in the San Francisco Bay in anticipation of a sailing trip are learning skills that are of unique interest to them. This ability to learn topics of personal interest teaches students to practice exploration and research that can help instill a mindset of lifelong learning.

Leveraging the Power of Networks: Cultivating Connections Between Schools and Community Institutions

Cities of LRNG helps close the opportunity gap by connecting young people with a wide range of learning opportunities throughout their cities. The program makes learning activities from hundreds of community organizations easily discoverable to youth and their families on a single online platform.

Each LRNG city has a website where partner organizations can make their offerings visible. Young people receive recommended activities on the basis of their personal passions. For example, in Chicago through the local Chicago Cities of Learning initiative, more than 120 organizations have provided a collective 4,500 engaging learning opportunities for tens of thousands of young people in all areas of the city through the platform.

As students participate in learning activities, they earn digital badges that showcase their skills and achievements. These digital badges signify mastery of a skill-for example, coding, games, design, or fashion-giving out-of-school learning greater currency by documenting and archiving learning wherever it occurs. Each time a young person earns a badge, he or she is recommended additional learning experiences and invited to broaden or deepen skills to propel him or her along academic, civic, or career trajectories. Because digital badges contain in-depth information about each individual's learning experiences, schools and potential employers can gain a comprehensive view of each person's interests and competencies.

Hive Learning Networks, a project of the Mozilla Foundation, organize and support city-based, peer-to-peer professional development networks and champion connected learning, digital skills, and Web literacy in youth-serving organizations in urban centers around the world. Using a laboratory approach and catalytic funding model, Hive re-imagines learning as interest based and empowers learners through collaboration with peer educators, youth, technology experts, and entrepreneurs.

Similar to Cities of LRNG, Hive networks are made up of community-based organizations, including libraries; museums; schools; after-school programs; and individuals, such as educators, designers, and artists. Hive participants work together to create learning opportunities for youth within and beyond the confines of traditional classroom experiences, design innovative practices and tools that leverage digital literacy skills for greater impact, and advance their own professional development.

The Hive model supports three levels of engagement:

1. Events. Organizations with shared learning goals unite to provide fun, engaging events, such as maker parties, as a first step toward exploring longer term collaborations.

2. Learning Communities. Community organizers with an interest in Hive's core principles come together in regular meet-ups and events to explore how to apply connected learning tools and practices. Learning communities are in seven cities in the United States, Canada, and India.

3. Learning Networks. With an operational budget and staff, Hive Learning Networks commit to promoting innovative, open-source learning models in partnership with a community's civic and cultural organizations, businesses, entrepreneurs, educators, and learners. Learning Networks are in New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.

For more information about Hive Learning Networks, visit Hive on the Web.

5. Technology access when equitable can help close the digital divide and make transformative learning opportunities available to all learners. An adult learner with limited physical access to continuing education can upskill by taking advantage of online programs to earn new certifications and can accomplish these goals regardless of location.

Building Equal Experiences: Black Girls Code (BGC) Informs and Inspires

Introducing girls of color to technology at an early age is one key to unlocking opportunities that mostly have eluded this underserved group. BGC, founded in 2001 by Kimberly Bryant, an electrical engineer, aims to "increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color to become innovators in STEM subjects, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology." ³⁴

Through a combination of workshops and field trips, BGC gives girls of color a chance to learn computer programming and connects them to role models in the technology space. BGC also hosts events and workshops across the country designed to help girls develop a wide range of other skills such as ideation, teamwork, and presenting while exploring social justice issues and engaging in creating solutions to those issues through technology. ³⁵ One example of such an event occurred at DeVry University where 100 girls between the ages of 7 and 17 learned how to build a webpage in a day. Tech industry volunteers led sessions in how to code using HTML, change the look and formatting of webpages using CCS, and design a basic Web structure. The girls developed webpages that integrated text, images, videos, and music, according to their interests and creativity. Toward the end of the day, participants presented their websites to cheering parents, volunteers, and other attendees. Between 10 and 12 similar events by BGC are held in Oakland each year. ³⁶

BGC is headquartered in San Francisco, and BGC chapters are located in Chicago; Detroit; Memphis; New York; Oakland; Raleigh; and Washington, D.C., with more in development.

Creating for Accessibility: Hello Navi for the Visually Impaired

When Maggie Bolado, a teacher at Resaca Middle School in Los Fresnos, Texas, was approached about the unique challenge of helping a visually impaired student navigate the school's campus, she had not imagined the innovation that was about to happen. Bolado helped guide a group of seventh- and eighth-grade students to develop an app to navigate the school grounds called Hello Navi. Working mostly during extracurricular time, the students learned bracket coding via online tutorials that enabled them to develop the app. As they learned to program, they also were developing problem-solving skills and becoming more detail oriented.

When the app was made available for download, requests came in to tailor the app to the needs of other particular users, including one parent who wanted to know how to make it work for her two-year-old child. The students participated in a developers' forum to go through requests and questions on the app and problem-solve challenges and issues together. The students also interpreted various data sets, tracking the number of times the app was downloaded and monitoring the number of total potential users, making possible an improved next iteration of the app.

The Future of Learning Technologies

Although these examples help provide understanding of the current state of educational technologies, it is also important to note the research being done on early stage educational technology and how this research might be applied more widely in the future to learning.

As part of their work in cyberlearning, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is researching opportunities offered by integrating emerging technologies with advances in the learning sciences. Following are examples of the projects being funded by the NSF as part of this effort:

Increased use of games and simulations to give students the experience of working together on a project without leaving their classrooms. Students are involved actively in a situation that feels urgent and must decide what to measure and how to analyze data in order to solve a challenging problem. Examples include RoomQuake, in which an entire classroom becomes a scaled-down simulation of an earthquake. As speakers play the sounds of an earthquake, the students can take readings on simulated seismographs at different locations in the room, inspect an emerging fault line, and stretch twine to identify the epicenter. Another example is Robot-Assisted Language Learning in Education (RALL-E), in which students learning Mandarin converse with a robot that exhibits a range of facial expressions and gestures, coupled with language dialogue software. Such robots will allow students to engage in a social role-playing experience with a new language without the usual anxieties of speaking a new language. The RALL-E also encourages cultural awareness while encouraging good use of language skills and building student confidence through practice.

New ways to connect physical and virtual interaction with learning technologies that bridge the tangible and the abstract. For example, the In Touch With Molecules project has students manipulate a physical ball-and-stick model of a molecule such as hemoglobin, while a camera senses the model and visualizes it with related scientific phenomena, such as the energy field around the molecule. Students' tangible engagement with a physical model is connected to more abstract, conceptual models, supporting students' growth of understanding. Toward a similar goal, elementary school students sketch pictures of mathematical situations by using a pen on a tablet surface with representational tools and freehand sketching, much as they would on paper. Unlike with paper, they easily copy, move, group, and transform their pictures and representations in ways that help them to express what they are learning about mathematics. These can be shared with the teacher, and, via artificial intelligence, the computer can help the teacher see patterns in the sketches and support the teacher's using student expression as a powerful instructional resource.

Interactive three-dimensional imaging software, such as zSpace, is creating potentially transformational learning experiences. With three-dimensional glasses and a stylus, students are able to work with a wide range of images from the layers of the earth to the human heart. The zSpace program's noble failure feature allows students constructing a motor or building a battery to make mistakes and retry, learning throughout the process. Although the content and curriculum are supplied, teachers can customize and tailor lesson plans to fit the needs of their classes. This type of versatile technology allows students to work with objects schools typically would not be able to afford, providing a richer, more engaging learning experience.

Augmented reality (AR) as a new way of investigating our context and history In the Cyberlearning: Transforming Education EXP project, researchers are addressing how and for what purposes AR technologies can be used to support the learning of critical inquiry strategies and processes. The question is being explored in the context of history education and the Summarizing, Contextualizing, Inferring, Monitoring, and Corroborating (SCIM-C) framework developed for historical inquiry education. A combined hardware and software platform is being built to support SCIM-C pedagogy. Students use a mobile device with AR to augment their "field" experience at a local historical site. In addition to experiencing the site as it exists, AR technology allows students to view and experience the site from several social perspectives and to view its structure and uses across several time periods. Research focuses on the potential of AR technology in inquiry-based fieldwork for disciplines in which analysis of change across time is important to promote understanding of how very small changes across long periods of time may add up to very large changes.

E-rate: Source of Funding for Connectivity

The Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program, commonly known as E-rate, is a source of federal funding for Internet connectivity for U.S. schools and libraries. Created by Congress in 1996, E-rate provides schools and libraries with discounted Internet service based on need. The program was modernized in 2014 to allow schools to prioritize funding high-speed wireless connectivity in schools. For more information about E-rate, visit the website of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Across these examples, we see that learning is not contained within screens or classrooms and that technology can enrich how students engage in the world around them.

To see additional examples of cyberlearning, visit The Center for Innovative Research in CyberLearning. ¹⁴

Bringing Equity to Learning Through Technology

Closing the Digital Use Divide

Traditionally, the digital divide in education referred to schools and communities in which access to devices and Internet connectivity were either unavailable or unaffordable. ¹⁵ Although there is still much work to be done, great progress has been made providing connectivity and device access. The modernization of the federal E-rate program has made billions of dollars available to provide high-speed wireless access in schools across the country.

However, we have to be cognizant of a new digital divide-the disparity between students who use technology to create, design, build, explore, and collaborate and those who simply use technology to consume media passively. 16, 17, 18, 19

On its own, access to connectivity and devices does not guarantee access to engaging educational experiences or a quality education. ²⁰ Without thoughtful intervention and attention to the way technology is used for learning, the digital use divide could grow even as access to technology in schools increases. 21, 22, 23, 24

Providing Technology Accessibility for All Learners

Learning experiences enabled by technology should be accessible for all learners, including those with special needs. Supports to make learning accessible should be built into learning software and hardware by default. The approach of including accessibility features from the beginning of the development process, also known as universal design, is a concept well established in the field of architecture. Modern public buildings include features such as ramps, automatic doors, or braille on signs to make them accessible by everyone. In the same way, features such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, enlarged font sizes, color contrast, dictionaries, and glossaries should be built into educational hardware and software to make learning accessible to everyone.

Three main principles drive application of universal design for learning (UDL): 25, 26, 27

1. Provide multiple means of representation so that students can approach information in more than one way. Examples include digital books, specialized software and websites, and screen readers that include features such as text-to-speech, changeable color contrast, alterable text size, or selection of different reading levels.

2. Provide multiple means of expression so that all students can demonstrate and express what they know. Examples include providing options in how they express their learning, where appropriate, which can include options such as writing, online concept mapping, or speech-to-text programs.

3. Provide multiple means of engagement to stimulate interest in and motivation for learning. Examples include providing options among several different learning activities or content for a particular competency or skill and providing opportunities for increased collaboration or scaffolding.

Digital learning tools can offer more flexibility and learning supports than can traditional formats. Using mobile devices, laptops, and networked systems, educators are better able to personalize and customize learning experiences to align with the needs of each student. They also can expand communication with mentors, peers, and colleagues through social media tools. Digital tools also can make it possible to modify content, such as raising or lowering the complexity level of a text or changing the presentation rate.

At a higher level of engagement, digital tools such as games, websites, and digital books can be designed to meet the needs of a range of learners, from novices to experts. Learners with little understanding might approach the experience first as a novice and then move up to an intermediate level as they gain more knowledge and skills. One example is McGill University's The Brain from Top to Bottom. The site includes options to engage with the content as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced learner and adjusts the learning activities accordingly.

To help in the selection of appropriate universally designed products and tools, the National Center on Universal Design for Learning has developed a resource linking each guideline to information about digital supports that can help a teacher put UDL into practice.

Reaching All Learners: Tools for UDL

Developed with support from the U.S. Department of Education, the tools listed here were designed to help educators implement UDL principles into classroom practice and make learning activities more accessible:

Nimble Assessment Systems developed Nimble Tools, to deliver standard versions of assessment instruments that are tailored with embedded accommodation tools to meet the specific needs of students with disabilities. Some examples of the accommodation tools include a keyboard with custom keyboard overlays, the capacity of the system to read text aloud for students, an on-screen avatar presenting questions in American Sign Language (ASL) or Signed English, and the magnification of text and images for students with visual impairments.

The Information Research Corporation developed eTouchSciences, an integrated software and hardware assistive technology platform to support STEM learning among middle school students with (or without) visual impairments. The product includes a haptic sensing controller device to provide real-time tactile, visual, and audio feedback. See video.

Filament Games developed the Game-enhanced Interactive Life Science suite of learning games to introduce middle school students to key scientific concepts and practices in the life sciences. These games, aligned to UDL, provide students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement and provide assistive features such as in-game glossaries and optional voice-over for all in-game text. See video.

Institute for Disabilities Research and Training developed the myASL Quizmaker to provide Web-based assessments for deaf or hard of hearing students who use ASL. This product provides automatic ASL graphic and video translations for students; enables teachers to create customized tests, exams, and quizzes that are scored automatically; and provides teacher reports with grades and corrected quizzes. See video.

Design in Practice: Indiana School District Adopts UDL for All Instruction for All Students

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation is a public school district in Columbus, Indiana, serving approximately 12,000 students. The student population consists of 13 percent in special education, 50 percent receive free or reduced-price lunch, and more than 54 languages are spoken. UDL has been helpful as a decision-making tool in the deployment of technologies such as computers and other networked devices. The UDL guidelines help educators determine what strategies, accessible technologies, and teaching methods will enable all students to achieve lesson goals.

In one instance, a social studies teacher held an online discussion during a presidential debate. Realizing that some students were not taking part in class discussions, the teacher used technology to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. Some students who were reluctant to speak up in a face-to-face setting felt safe to do so online, becoming engaged participants in the class discussion.

Since they adopted a universal design approach, graduation rates increased by 8 percent for general education students and 22 percent for special education students. Also, the number of students taking and passing Advanced Placement tests has increased.

Physical Spaces and Technology-Enabled Learning

Blended learning and other models of learning enabled by technology require educators to rethink how they organize physical spaces to facilitate best collaborative learning using digital tools. Considerations include the following:

Are the design and layout of the physical space dynamic and flexible enough to facilitate the technology-enabled learning models and practices selected? Can a space in which an educator delivers whole-class instruction also be shifted to facilitate individual online practice and research?

Do the physical spaces align in their ability to facilitate individual and collaborative work? When practices such as project-based learning require students to be working together with multiple devices for research and presentation building, is the space as useful as when individual learners need time and space to connect with information and experts online for personalized learning?

Can the physical spaces and tools be shaped to provide multiple contexts and learning experiences such as Wi-Fi access for outdoor classrooms? Are library spaces able to become laboratories? Can a space used as a history lecture hall for one class become a maker space for engineering the next period?

For more information and tools for aligning physical spaces, visit the Centre for Effective Learning Environments and the Clayton Christensen Institute's Blended Learning Universe.

Innovation From the Ground Up: Denver School for Science and Technology (DSST) Uses Space to Promote Student Achievement

The DSST is an innovative high school located in Stapleton, Colorado, a redeveloped neighborhood near downtown Denver. Behind the bright colors and unique geometry of spaces at DSST lies a relationship to the way academic subjects are taught and community is formed at the high school. The school is designed to be flexible and aims to support student achievement through the design of its physical spaces.

The school features a series of gathering spaces that can be used for various academic and social purposes throughout the day. The largest of the gathering areas, near the school's entrance, is where the school's daily morning meeting for both students and faculty is held. Student and faculty announcements, skits, and other community functions are all encouraged in this communal setting.

Each of the three academic pods also includes informal spaces for gathering, studying, and socializing. These academic clusters are linked by a galleria, or large open hallway, that is lined with skylights and also serves as a gathering place for students and faculty members.

DSST has demonstrated results in the academic achievement of its students and in its attendance record. In 2005, the school's founding Grade 9 class was the highest scoring Grade 9 class in Denver in mathematics and the second highest scoring class in reading and writing. DSST was also the only Denver high school to earn a significant growth rating on the Colorado Student Assessment Program test scores from one year to the next. Student attendance at the school is typically about 96 percent.

Recommendations

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should develop and implement learning resources that embody the flexibility and power of technology to create equitable and accessible learning ecosystems that make learning possible everywhere and all the time for all students.
Whether creating learning resources internally, drawing on collaborative networks, or using traditional
procurement procedures, institutions should insist on the use of resources and the design of learning experiences that use UD practices to ensure accessibility and increased equity of learning opportunities.

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should develop and implement learning
resources that use technology to embody design principles from the learning sciences.
Educational systems have access to cutting-edge learning sciences research. To make better use of the existing body of research literature, however, educators and researchers will need to work together to determine the most useful dissemination methods for easy incorporation and synthesis of research findings into teachers' instructional practices.

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should take inventory of and align all learning technology resources to intended educational outcomes. Using this inventory, they should
document all possible learner pathways to expertise, such as combinations of formal and informal learning, blended learning, and distance learning.
Without thoughtful accounting of the available tools and resources within formal and informal learning spaces within a community, matching learners to high-quality pathways to expertise is left to chance. Such an undertaking will require increased capacity within organizations that have never considered such a mapping of educational pathways. To aid in these efforts, networks such as LRNG, the Hive Learning Networks, and education innovation clusters can serve as models for cross-stakeholder collaboration in the interest of best using existing resources to present learners with pathways to learning and expertise.

Education stakeholders should develop a born accessible standard of learning resource design to help educators select and evaluate learning resources for accessibility and equity of learning experience.
Born accessible is a play on the term born digital and is used to convey the idea that materials that are born digital also can and should be born accessible. If producers adopt current industry standards for producing educational materials, materials will be accessible out of the box. Using the principles and research-base of UD and UDL, this standard would serve as a commonly accepted framework and language around design for accessibility and offer guidance to vendors and third-party technology developers in interactions with states, districts, and institutions of higher education.
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To be successful in our daily lives and in a global workforce, Americans need pathways to acquire expertise and form meaningful connections to peers and mentors. This journey begins with a base of knowledge and abilities that can be augmented and enhanced throughout our lives.

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Section 2: Teaching with Technology

Goal: Educators will be supported by technology that connects them to people, data, content, resources, expertise, and learning experiences that can empower and inspire them to provide more effective teaching for all learners.

Technology offers the opportunity for teachers to become more collaborative and extend learning beyond the classroom. Educators can create learning communities composed of students; fellow educators in schools, museums, libraries, and after-school programs; experts in various disciplines around the world; members of community organizations; and families. This enhanced collaboration, enabled by technology offers access to instructional materials as well as the resources and tools to create, manage, and assess their quality and usefulness.

To enact this vision, schools need to support teachers in accessing needed technology and in learning how to use it effectively. Although research indicates that teachers have the biggest impact on student learning out of all other school-level factors, we cannot expect individual educators to assume full responsibility for bringing technology-based learning experiences into schools. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 They need continuous, just-in-time support that includes professional development, mentors, and informal collaborations. In fact, more than two thirds of teachers say they would like more technology in their classrooms, ⁶ and roughly half say that lack of training is one of the biggest barriers to incorporating technology into their teaching. ⁷

Institutions responsible for pre-service and in-service professional development for educators should focus explicitly on ensuring all educators are capable of selecting, evaluating, and using appropriate technologies and resources to create experiences that advance student engagement and learning. They also should pay special care to make certain that educators understand the privacy and security concerns associated with technology. This goal cannot be achieved without incorporating technology-based learning into the programs themselves.

For many teacher preparation institutions, state offices of education, and school districts, the transition to technology-enabled preparation and professional development will entail rethinking instructional approaches and techniques, tools, and the skills and expertise of educators who teach in these programs. This rethinking should be based on a deep understanding of the roles and practices of educators in environments in which learning is supported by technology.

Roles and Practices of Educators in Technology-Supported Learning

Technology can empower educators to become co-learners with their students by building new experiences for deeper exploration of content. This enhanced learning experience embodies John Dewey's notion of creating "more mature learners." ⁸ Side-by-side, students and teachers can become engineers of collaboration, designers of learning experiences, leaders, guides, and catalysts of change. 9, 10 Following are some descriptions of these educator roles and examples of how technology can play an integral part.

Authentic Learning

Authentic learning experiences are those that place learners in the context of real-world experiences and challenges. ¹¹

Educators can collaborate far beyond the walls of their schools. Through technology, educators are no longer restricted to collaborating only with other educators in their schools. They now can connect with other educators and experts across their communities or around the world to expand their perspectives and create opportunities for student learning. They can connect with community organizations specializing in real-world concerns to design learning experiences that allow students to explore local needs and priorities. All of these elements make classroom learning more relevant and authentic.

In addition, by using tools such as videoconferencing, online chats, and social media sites, educators, from large urban to small rural districts, can connect and collaborate with experts and peers from around the world to form online professional learning communities.

Building Communities for Educators: International Education and Resource Network (iEARN) Fosters Global Collaborative Teaching and Learning

Through technology, educators can create global communities of practice that enable their students to collaborate with students around the world. Technology enables collaborative teaching regardless of geographic location, as demonstrated by the global nature of the Solar Cooking Project organized by earth and environmental science teacher Kathy Bosiak.

Bosiak teaches at Lincolnton High School in Lincolnton, North Carolina, and is a contributing educator for iEARN, a nonprofit organization made up of more than 30,000 schools and youth organizations in more than 140 countries. iEARN offers technology-enabled resources that enable teachers and students around the world to collaborate on educational projects, all designed and facilitated by teachers and students to fit their curriculum, classroom needs, and schedules. ¹⁷

In addition to its student programs, iEARN offers professional face-to-face workshops for teachers that combine technology and continued engagement through virtual networks and online professional learning opportunities. The workshops focus on the skills needed to engage in Internet-based collaborative learning projects, including peer review, team building, joining regional and international learning communities, and developing project-based curricula that integrate national education standards.

Educators can design highly engaging and relevant learning experiences through technology. Educators have nearly limitless opportunities to select and apply technology in ways that connect with the interests of their students and achieve their learning goals. For example, a classroom teacher beginning a new unit on fractions might choose to have his students play a learning game such as Factor Samurai, Wuzzit Trouble, or Sushi Monster as a way to introduce the concept. Later, the teacher might direct students to practice the concept by using manipulatives so they can start to develop some grounded ideas about equivalence. ¹²

To create an engaging and relevant lesson that requires students to use content knowledge and critical thinking skills, an educator might ask students to solve a community problem by using technology. Students may create an online community forum, public presentation, or call to action related to their proposed solution. They can use social networking platforms to gather information and suggestions of resources from their contacts. Students can draft and present their work by using animated presentation software or through multimedia formats such as videos and blogs. This work can be shared in virtual discussions with content experts and stored in online learning portfolios.

A school without access to science labs or equipment can use virtual simulations to offer learners those experiences that are currently unavailable because of limited resources. In addition, these simulations are safe places for students to learn and practice effective processes before they conduct research in the field. Just as technology can enhance science learning for schools lacking equipment, it can enable deep learning once students are in the field as well. Students can collect data for their own use via mobile devices and probes and sync their findings with those of collaborators and researchers anywhere in the world to create large, authentic data sets for study.

Educators can lead the evaluation and implementations of new technologies for learning. Lower price points for learning technologies make it easier for educators to pilot new technologies and approaches before attempting a school-wide adoption. These educators also can lead and model practices around evaluating new tools for privacy and security risks, as well as compliance with federal privacy regulations. (For more on these regulations, see Section 5: Infrastructure). Teacher-leaders with a broad understanding of their own educational technology needs, as well as those of students and colleagues, can design short pilot studies that impact a small number of students to ensure the chosen technology and the implementation approach have the desired outcomes. This allows schools to gain experience with and confidence in these technologies before committing entire schools or districts to purchases and use.

Teacher-leaders and those with experience supporting learning with technology can work with administrators to determine how to share their learning with other teachers. They also can provide support to their peers by answering questions and modeling practical uses of technology to support learning.

Evaluating Technology Through Rapid-Cycle Technology Evaluations

As schools continue to invest heavily in education technology, there is a pressing need to generate evidence about the effectiveness of these investments and also to develop evaluation tools that developers and practitioners can use to conduct their own evaluations that take less time and incur lower costs than do traditional evaluations. The U.S. Department of Education is funding a rapid cycle technology evaluation project that will design research approaches for evaluating apps, platforms, and tools; conduct pilots and disseminate the resulting short reports; and create an interactive guide and implementation support tools for conducting rapid cycle technology evaluations to be used by schools, districts, developers, and researchers.

Rapid cycle technology evaluations will help provide results in a timely manner so that evidence of effectiveness is available to school and district leaders when they need to make purchasing decisions.

Teach to Lead: Developing Teachers as Leaders

Teach to Lead, a joint program of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, ASCD, and the U.S. Department of Education, aims to advance student outcomes by expanding opportunities for teacher leadership, particularly opportunities that allow teachers to stay in the classroom. With the help of supporting organizations, Teach to Lead provides a platform for teacher-leaders and allies across the country (and around the world) to create and expand on their ideas.

Teach to Lead participants are invested personally in the development of their teacher leadership action plans because the ideas are their own. Participants identify a current problem within their school, district, or community and develop a theory of action to solve that problem. Since its inception in March 2014, Teach to Lead has engaged more than 3,000 educators, in person and virtually through its online platform, with more than 850 teacher leadership ideas spanning 38 states. Teach to Lead regional Teacher Leadership Summits brought together teams of teacher-leaders and supporting organizations to strengthen their teacher leadership ideas, share resources, and develop the skills necessary to make their projects a reality.

Marcia Hudson and Serena Stock, teacher-leaders at Avondale Elementary School in Michigan, identified a need for teacher-led professional development at their school and created a module for teachers to collect and analyze student outcome data to drive new professional development opportunities. The teachers now are holding engagement meetings with teacher-leaders to develop and fund professional development and data collection further.

Chris Todd teaches at Windsor High School in Connecticut and is a Teacher-Leader-in-Residence for the Connecticut State Department of Education. Chris's team is developing the Connecticut Educator Network, a database of teacher-leaders who are readily available to advise on policy development. The group intends to provide training and policy briefings to continue to hone the teachers' leadership skills.

Educators can be guides, facilitators, and motivators of learners. The information available to educators through high-speed Internet means teachers do not have to be content experts across all possible subjects. By understanding how to help students access online information, engage in simulations of real-world events, and use technology to document their world, educators can help their students examine problems and think deeply about their learning. Using digital tools, they can help students create spaces to experiment, iterate, and take intellectual risks with all of the information they need at their fingertips. 13, 14 Teachers also can take advantage of these spaces for themselves as they navigate new understandings of teaching that move beyond a focus on what they teach to a much broader menu of how students can learn and show what they know.

Educators can help students make connections across subject areas and decide on the best tools for collecting and showcasing learning through activities such as contributing to online forums, producing webinars, or publishing their findings to relevant websites. These teachers can advise students on how to build an online learning portfolio to demonstrate their learning progression. Within these portfolios, students can catalog resources that they can review and share as they move into deeper and more complex thinking about a particular issue. With such portfolios, learners will be able to transition through their education careers with robust examples of their learning histories as well as evidence of what they know and are able to do. These become compelling records of achievement as they apply for entrance into career and technical education institutions, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities or for employment.

Deepening Student Understanding: Using Interactive Video to Improve Learning

Reflective teachers can search for new ways for their students to engage with technology effectively, especially when students are not optimizing their learning experiences. Every year at Crocker Middle School, Ryan Carroll would ask his sixth-grade world history students to watch a variety of online videos for homework. He found that no matter how entertaining or interesting the videos were, his students were not retaining much of the information being presented, and often they were confused about key concepts. After learning about Zaption, a teaching tool funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Carroll realized his students could get more out of the videos he assigned. Using Zaption's interactive video platform, he added images, text, drawings, and questions to clarify tricky concepts and check for understanding as students watched the video.

Zaption's analytics allow educators to review individual student responses and class-wide engagement data quickly, giving greater insight on how students are mastering key concepts as they watch and enabling teachers to address misconceptions quickly.

Educators can be co-learners with students and peers. The availability of technology-based learning tools gives educators a chance be co-learners alongside their students and peers. Although educators should not be expected to know everything there is to know in their disciplines, they should be expected to model how to leverage available tools to engage content with curiosity and a mindset bent on problem solving and how to be co-creators of knowledge. In short, teachers should be the students they hope to inspire in their classrooms. ¹⁵

Co-Learning in the Classroom: Teacher User Groups Provide Peer Learning for Adult Education Educators

Recognizing the power of virtual peer learning, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education has funded projects that have established teacher user groups to explore the introduction of openly licensed educational resources into adult education. This model of professional development recognizes that virtual peer learning can support teachers to change their practice and provide leadership and growth opportunities. The small groups of far-flung teachers work with a group moderator to identify, use, and review openly licensed resources in mathematics, science, and English language arts.

Reviews referenced the embedded evaluation criteria in OER Commons, a repository of open educational resources (OER) that can be used or reused freely at no cost and that align to the College- and Career-Readiness mathematics and language arts and Next Generation Science Standards. They also included practice tips for teaching the content to adult learners. The reviews are posted on OER Commons and tagged as Adult Basic Education or Adult English for Speakers of Other Languages to facilitate the discovery by other teachers of these high-quality, standards-aligned teaching and learning materials.

Learning Out Loud Online: Jennie Magiera, District Chief Technology Officer and Classroom Teacher

Planning a lesson on how elevation and other environmental influences affect the boiling point of water, Jennie Magiera realized that many of the students in her fourth-grade class in Cook County, Illinois, had never seen a mountain. So Magiera reached out to her network of fellow educators through social media to find a teacher in a mountainous area of the country interested in working with her on the lesson.

Soon, Magiera and a teacher in Denver were collaborating on a lesson plan. Using tablets and online videoconferencing, the students in Denver showed Magiera's students the mountains that they could see outside of their classrooms every day. After a discussion of elevation, the two teachers engaged their students in a competition to see which class could boil water faster. By interacting with students in the other class, Magiera's students became engaged more deeply in the project, which led them to develop a richer understanding of ecosystems and environments than they might have otherwise.

Educators can become catalysts to serve the underserved. Technology provides a new opportunity for traditionally underserved populations to have equitable access to high-quality educational experiences. When connectivity and access are uneven, the digital divide in education is widened, undermining the positive aspects of learning with technology.

All students deserve equal access to (1) the Internet, high-quality content, and devices when they need them and (2) educators skilled at teaching in a technology-enabled learning environment. When this occurs, it increases the likelihood that learners have personalized learning experiences, choice in tools and activities, and access to adaptive assessments that identify their individual abilities, needs, and interests.

Connected Educators: Exemplars

Technology can transform learning when used by teachers who know how to create engaging and effective learning experiences for their students. In 2014, a group of educators collaborated on a report entitled, Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom. Not a how-to guide or a set of discrete tools, it draws together narratives from a group of educators within the National Writing Project who are working to implement and refine practices around technology-enabled learning. The goal was to rethink, iterate on, and assess how education can be made more relevant to today's youth.

Producing Student Films With Online Audiences: Katie McKay: Lights, Camera, Social Action!

In Katie McKay's diverse, fourth-grade transitional bilingual class, encouraging her students to work together on a project helped them build literacy skills while simultaneously giving them the opportunity to pursue culturally relevant questions related to equity.

McKay recognized that her students were searching for the language to talk about complicated issues of race, gender, power, and equity. To address the competing priorities of preparing her students for the state test and providing them with authentic opportunities to develop as readers and writers, McKay started a project-based unit on the history of discrimination in the United States.

Students worked in heterogeneously mixed groups to develop comic strips that eventually were turned into two videos, one showing micro-aggressions students commonly see today and one about the history of discrimination in the United States. The movie on micro-aggressions portrayed current scenarios that included characters who acted as agents of change, bravely and respectfully defending the rights of others.

According to McKay, students who previously were disengaged found themselves drawn into the classroom community in meaningful and engaging ways.
While reflecting on this unit, McKay wrote:

We were not only working to promote tolerance and appreciation for diversity in our community. We also were resisting an oppressive educational context. In the midst of the pressure to perform on tests that were isolating and divisive, we united in collaborative work that required critical thinking and troubleshooting. In a climate that valued silence, antiquated skills, and high-stakes testing, we engaged in peer-connected learning that highlighted 21st century skills and made an impact on our community.¹⁸

Just-in-Time Learning: Janelle Bence: How Do I Teach What I Do Not Know?

Texas teacher Janelle Bence was looking for new ways to engage and challenge her students, the majority of whom are English language learners from low-income families. After observing her students' motivation to persist through game challenges, she wondered if games held a key to getting them similarly engaged in classwork. After attending a session on gaming at a National Writing Project Annual Meeting, Bence was inspired to incorporate gaming into her classroom. She did not know anything about gaming and so, as is the case for many teachers seeking to bridge the gap between students' social interests and academic subjects, she had to figure out how to teach what she did not know.

Bence started by reading a book about using video games to teach literacy. As she read, she shared her ideas and questions on her blog and talked to other educators, game designers, and systems thinkers. Through these collaborations, she decided that by creating games, her students would be required to become informed experts in the content of the game as well as to become powerful storytellers.

As she explored games as a way to make academic tasks more engaging and accessible for her students, Bence found it was important to take advantage of professional learning and peer networks, take risks by moving from a passive consumer of knowledge to actually trying the tasks that she planned to use with students, and put herself in her students' shoes.

Bence shared that "finding a way to connect to students and their passions-by investigating what makes them tick and bridging [those passions] to academic tasks-educators are modeling risks that encourage the same behavior in their learners." ¹⁹

Building Student Agency: Jason Sellers: Text-Based Video Games

Aware of the popularity of video games among his students, and as a longtime fan of video games himself, teacher Jason Sellers decided to use gaming to develop his 10th-grade students' ability to use descriptive imagery in their writing. Specifically, Sellers introduced his students to text-based video games. Unlike graphics-based games in which users can view graphics and maneuver through the game by using controller buttons, text-based games require players to read descriptions and maneuver by typing commands such as go north or unlock the door with a key. Sellers decided his students could practice using descriptive imagery by developing their own text-based games.

Using tutorials and other resources found on Playfic, an interactive fiction online community, Sellers created lessons that allowed students to play and eventually create interactive fiction games. Prior to the creation of the games, Sellers's class analyzed several essays that skillfully used descriptive imagery, such as David Foster Wallace's A Ticket to the Fair, and composed short pieces of descriptive writing about their favorite locations in San Francisco.

Students then transferred their newly honed descriptive storytelling skills to the development of an entertaining text-based game. Because Sellers's students wanted to develop games their peers would want to play, they focused on ways to make their games more appealing, including, as Sellers described, "using familiar settings (local or popular culture), familiar characters (fellow students or popular culture), and tricky puzzles." ²⁰

According to Sellers, this project allowed students to work through problems collaboratively with peers from their classroom and the Playfic online community and motivated them to move beyond basic requirements to create projects worthy of entering competitions.

Rethinking Teacher Preparation

Teachers need to leave their teacher preparation programs with a solid understanding of how to use technology to support learning. Effective use of technology is not an optional add-on or a skill that we simply can expect teachers to pick up once they get into the classroom. Teachers need to know how to use technology to realize each state's learning standards from day one. Most states have adopted and are implementing college- and career-ready standards to ensure that their students graduate high school with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.

For states that have voluntarily adopted the Common Core State Standards, there are more than 100 direct mentions of technology expectations, and similar expectations exist in states adopting other college- and career-ready standards. Many federal, state, and district leaders have made significant investments in providing infrastructure and devices to schools. Without a well-prepared and empowered teaching force, our country will not experience the full benefits of those investments for transformative learning.

Schools should be able to rely on teacher preparation programs to ensure that new teachers come to them prepared to use technology in meaningful ways. No new teacher exiting a preparation program should require remediation by his or her hiring school or district. Instead, every new teacher should be prepared to model how to select and use the most appropriate apps and tools to support learning and evaluate these tools against basic privacy and security standards. It is inaccurate to assume that because pre-service teachers are tech savvy in their personal lives they will understand how to use technology effectively to support learning without specific training and practice. This expertise does not come through the completion of one educational technology course separate from other methods courses but through the inclusion of experiences with educational technology in all courses modeled by the faculty in teacher preparation programs.

Aligning Education With Technology Standards: University of Michigan

Pre-service teachers at the University of Michigan School of Education are experiencing the kind of learning with technology their students will one day know. The curriculum addresses each of the five ISTE Standards for Teachers ²¹ and aligns with skills from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. ²² Each standard also has related course projects designed for teacher candidates to use technology actively to demonstrate their understanding of the material through practice and feedback. For example, teacher candidates are asked to design and teach a 20-minute webinar for fourth graders that is based on Next Generation Science Standards and to design and teach a lesson that uses technology and meets the needs of their learners as part of their student teaching placement.

Preparing to Teach in Technology-Enabled Environments: Saint Leo University

A 2006 survey of Saint Leo University teacher preparation program alumni showed satisfaction with their preparation with one notable exception-technology in the classroom. As a result, the education department established a long-term goal of making technology innovation a keystone of its program. Saint Leo faculty redesigned their program on the basis of the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge model, in which pre-service teachers learned to blend content, pedagogical, and technological knowledge in their PK-12 instruction. ²³

Faculty developed their expertise with different technologies so that every course models the use of technology to support teaching and learning. The school built an education technology lab where teacher candidates can practice using devices, apps, and other digital learning resources. Students regularly reflect on their experience using technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency as well as its value in the learning process.

Perhaps most notably, Saint Leo ensures all pre-service teachers have basic technologies available at their student teaching placements. Each pre-service teacher is given a digital backpack with a tablet, portable projector, speakers, and a portable interactive whiteboard. A student response system is also available for pre-service teachers to use in their field placements.

Advancing Knowledge and Practice of Assistive Technologies for New Teachers: Illinois State University

Illinois State University's Department of Special Education is one of the largest special education training programs in the nation. Recognizing the value of assistive technology in meeting the needs of each student, the special education teacher preparation program at the University includes an extensive emphasis on selection and use of assistive technologies.

Classroom learning is brought to life through ongoing clinical and field-based experiences in schools and at the university's Special Education Assistive Technology Center. The center provides hands-on experiences to pre-service teachers enrolled in the special education programs at Illinois as well as opportunities for teachers, school administrators, family members, and businesses to learn about assistive technologies. Furthermore, faculty work in partnership with a variety of public, private, and residential schools to enhance student field experiences and provide opportunities for students to work with learners with a range of disabilities and in a variety of settings, including rural, urban, and suburban areas.

Building Digital Literacy in Teaching: University of Rhode Island (URI)

A critical aspect of ensuring that young Americans learn appropriate digital literacy skills is equipping educators at all levels with the same skills. To that end, URI offers a graduate certificate in digital literacy for graduate students, classroom teachers, librarians, and college faculty. By targeting a broad audience to participate in the program, URI is expanding the number of educators with the professional capacity to help students to learn, access, analyze, create, reflect, and take action using digital tools, texts, and technologies in all aspects of their lives.

During the program, students are introduced to key theories of digital literacy in inquiry-driven learning and given time to experiment with and explore a wide range of digital texts, tools, and technologies. In collaboration with a partner, they create a project-based instructional unit that enables them to demonstrate their digital skills in the context of an authentic learning situation. Throughout the program, students participate in hands-on, minds-on learning experiences; participants build a deeper understanding of digital literacy while developing practical skills and have time to reflect on the implications of the digital shift in education, leisure, citizenship, and society.

In its evaluation of the program, URI has found that participants experienced a dramatic increase in digital skills associated with implementing project-based learning with digital media and technology. Their understanding of digital literacy also shifted to focus more on inquiry, collaboration, and creativity.

Fostering Ongoing Professional Learning

The same imperatives for teacher preparation apply to ongoing professional learning. Professional learning and development programs should transition to support and develop educators' identities as fluent users of technology; creative and collaborative problem solvers; and adaptive, socially aware experts throughout their careers. Programs also should address challenges when it comes to using technology learning: ongoing professional development should be job embedded and available just in time. ¹⁶

Increasing Online Professional Learning: Connected Educator Month Builds Collaboration Across the Country

Connected Educator Month, part of the U.S. Department of Education's Connected Educators project, began with a monthlong online conference that included a centralized guiding structure, kickoff and closing events, engagement resources, and an open calendar to which organizations of all types could submit professional learning events and activities. Educators used these resources and the calendar to create their own professional development plan for the month. Available activities included webinars, Twitter chats, forum discussions, and actively moderated blog discussions based on personal learning needs and interests.

In the first year, more than 170 organizations provided more than 450 events and activities, with educators completing an estimated 90,000 hours of professional learning across the month. More than 4 million people followed the #ce12 hashtag on Twitter, generating 1.4 million impressions per day.

Now led by partner organizations from the original Connected Educators project-American Institutes for Research (AIR), Grunwald Associates LLC, and Powerful Learning Practice-Connected Educator Month features more than 800 organizations and has provided more than 1,000 events and activities. Australia, New Zealand, and Norway hosted their own iterations of Connected Educator Month, and educators in more than 125 countries participated in some way.

Putting Learning in Teachers' Hands: Denver Public Schools Personalizes Professional Development

In 2014, 80 teachers from 45 schools engaged in the pilot year of Project Cam Opener, an initiative of the Personalized Professional Learning team in Denver Public Schools. Now in its second year with 425 teachers and leaders, Project Cam Opener allows educators to record their teaching with customized video toolkits and share those videos for self-reflection and feedback within an online community of practice.

In the program's pilot year, the first 80 teachers recorded hundreds of videos using tools such as Swivls, iPads, high-definition webcams, and microphones. The videos were uploaded to private YouTube channels and shared via a Google+ community for feedback. For many of these teachers, it was the first time that they had seen the teaching practices of other teachers in their district. The videos sparked daily conversations and sharing of ideas.

Three measures are used to determine the effectiveness of Project Cam Opener: engagement, retention, and observation. In the first end-of-year survey, 90 percent of respondents said that taking part in Project Cam Opener made them more engaged in their own professional learning and growth. In addition, not a single teacher from the pilot group left Denver Public Schools after their year with Project Cam Opener (the overall district rate of turnover is 20 percent). Although teacher observation scores are harder to attribute to this project specifically, the growth of this cohort of teachers outpaced that of their non-Project Cam Opener counterparts, according to the district's Framework for Effective Teaching.

Micro-Credentialing Teacher Learning: Kettle Moraine Introduces Teacher-Led Professional Learning

Kettle Moraine School District in Wisconsin is creating a professional learning environment in which practicing teachers can be the masters and architects of their own learning. Using the Digital Promise educator micro-credentialing framework as a guide (for more information on Digital Promise's micro-credentialing work, see Section 4: Leadership), teachers in the district take a technology proficiency self-assessment, which they use as a baseline for their personal professional growth. The teachers then work by themselves and in collaborative teams to develop specific professional learning goals aligned to district strategic goals, which they submit to district leadership for approval.

Once these goals are approved, the teachers establish measurable benchmarks against which they can assess their progress. Both the goals and benchmarks are mapped to specific competencies, which, in turn, are tied to micro-credentials that can be earned once teachers have demonstrated mastery. Demonstrations of mastery include specific samples of their work, personal reflections, classroom artifacts, and student work and reflections, which are submitted via Google Forms to a committee of 7 to 10 teachers who review them and award micro-credentials.

Currently, 49 staff members are working to earn a micro-credential for personalized learning, which requires them to conduct their own background research and engage in regularly scheduled Twitter chats as well as blogging, networking, and other forms of self-guided learning using technology. Many also have begun to engage with teachers across the country, allowing them to give and receive ideas, resources, and support.

Embracing the Unconference: Going to Edcamp

An educator attending an Edcamp event engages in a professional learning experience vastly different from traditional professional development. Sessions are built on the interests and needs of the people who attend and are created on the day by using a cloud-based collaborative application that is open to all (including those unable to participate in person). Each teacher chooses which sessions to attend on the basis of individual interests or needs.

Because using technology in learning effectively is one of the challenges facing teachers, sessions frequently are organized around sharing practices and overcoming common challenges when improving practices around the use of technology. Teachers collaborate to overcome challenges together, often making connections that lead beyond the single session or day, as partnerships are formed to engage their students with each other. The shared documents created at these events become an archive and resource for whoever attended, in person or virtually.

The first Edcamp was organized in Philadelphia by a group of local educators interested in new unconference (self-organizing) approaches to a conference for professional learning. The model took off, and five years later there have been more than 750 Edcamps all organized by local educators. The enormous popularity of the format has led to the formation of the Edcamp Foundation, a nonprofit organization that will formalize much of the ad hoc support that has been provided to Edcamp organizers until now.

Recommendations

Provide pre-service and in-service educators with professional learning experiences powered by technology to increase their digital literacy and enable them to create compelling learning activities that improve learning and teaching, assessment, and instructional practices.
To make this goal a reality, teacher preparation programs, school systems, state and local policymakers, and educators should come together in the interest of designing pre- and in-service professional learning opportunities that are aligned specifically with technology expectations outlined within state standards and that are reflective of the increased connectivity of and access to devices in schools. Technology should not be separate from content area learning but used to transform and expand pre- and in-service learning as an integral part of teacher learning.

Use technology to provide all learners with online access to effective teaching and better learning opportunities with options in places where they are not otherwise available.
This goal will require leveraging partner organizations and building institutional and teacher capacity to take advantage of free and openly licensed educational content such as that indexed on LearningRegistry.org. Adequate connectivity will increase equitable access to resources, instruction, expertise, and learning pathways regardless of learners' geography, socio-economic status, or other factors that historically may have put them at an educational disadvantage.

Develop a teaching force skilled in online and blended instruction.
Our education system continues to see a marked increase in online learning opportunities and blended learning models in traditional schools. To meet the need this represents better, institutions of higher education, school districts, classroom educators, and researchers need to come together to ensure practitioners have access to current information regarding research-supported practices and an understanding of the best use of emerging online technologies to support learning in online and blended spaces.

Develop a common set of technology competency expectations for university professors and candidates exiting teacher preparation programs for teaching in technologically enabled schools and post-secondary education institutions.
There should be no uncertainty of whether a learner entering a PK-12 classroom or college lecture hall will encounter a teacher or instructor fully capable of taking advantage of technology to transform learning. Accrediting institutions, advocacy organizations, state policymakers, administrators, and educators have to collaborate on a set of clear and common expectations and credentialing regarding educators' abilities to design and implement technology-enabled learning environments effectively.
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Teaching - Office of Educational Technology

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Technology offers the opportunity for teachers to become more collaborative and extend learning beyond the classroom. Educators can create learning communities composed of students; fellow educators in schools, museums, libraries, and after-school programs; experts in various disciplines around the world; members of community organizations; and families.

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Literacy educators play an increasingly critical role in improving student achievement. The stakes are high.

The more proficient a student is at reading, writing, and thinking, the more prepared the student will be to take his or her place among a highly literate citizenry. The right literacy solutions empower teachers, boost literacy outcomes, and prepare students for college and careers.

Given the ever-evolving digital and technological resources available for today's schools, it can be difficult to manage a classroom successfully, as well as to incorporate technology thein the most optimal manner.

Some top challenges include:

1. Instruct with Intent - Infuse purposeful technology into the classroom

2. Reach all Learners - Create differentiated and engaging Instruction to meet the needs of all learners

3. Engage & Inspire - Apply Digital Lesson Management and harness data to inform instruction

Educators need to be able to use technology purposefully, not just merely as a replacement for print products. Technology must help teachers manage the dynamic digital classroom. For example, new digital platforms offer real-time data enabling enhanced formative assessment practices which can propel the modern teacher to new levels of instructional differentiation.

Maximize the conceptual learning environment in a digital world. Traditional teaching and classroom processes are changing to focus on student-centered conceptual learning. The objective is to let the student drive the learning, instead of waiting for content to arrive. Four principals and four practices that are associated with digital rigor help explain best practices for instructing with intent.
4 Principles of Digital Rigor:

1. Context: Learning tasks should have a real-world application that allows learners to connect personally with what they are learning. Students today are digital natives, so when we deliver content in a digital platform, it is often highly accessible to them in new ways.

2. Construction: Learners should be able to link their own experiences and prior knowledge with new learning. Lessons should contain engage sequences, and also offer reconnect and reflect components to take the linking process and cement it for the student.

3. Collaboration: A problem-solving scenario allows learners to develop, test, and analyze their ideas while being exposed to others' opinions. Each individual learner will arrive at an individual conclusion after collaboration is completed. Let students grapple with a big hairy concept. This lets them think about different ways and scenarios for solving a problem. We want students to independently develop, test, and analyze their ideas while experiencing others' opinions.

4. Conversation: Communication among learners and within the learner themselves are essential to creating essential to creating effective digital collaboration. Learners should spend time in conversation while planning and making sense of new learning. Students need to demonstrate their metacognitive thinking, to show how they reached a solution. Open-ended questions afford many opportunities for students to not only show us their answer, but more important, articulate how they came to an answer.

Putting the Principles of Digital Rigor into practice: 4 Practices of Digital Rigor

1. Shift your mindset: You are now going to be a true 21st Century teacher, teaching in a digital environment. This fact influences what you teach, how you teach, and how you will access the key concepts you want students to understand. The first step in converting your teaching to digital learner-centered experiences is to change your mindset. Learners are more active in this setting; they're questioning, analyzing, discussing, qualifying, and drawing conclusions.

2. Getting to know your learner: There is no "one size fits all" approach to digital learning. All learners are different, and failing to pay attention to the diversity of various learners can make a huge difference in the success of program implementation - and may result in the inability to facilitate student-centered content. Choose programs which contain multitudes of ways to differentiate instruction for individual learners. In addition, a platform that generates individual student data which is easily accessible to the teacher ensures our learners are getting exactly what they need, when and how they need it.

3. Rethinking the learning objective: Consider shifting your perspective to creative objectives aimed at describing what the student will be able to do at the end of the lesson. This is an important part of the learner-centered model, according to the UCD Centre for Teaching and Learning. Instead of describing your lessons, find ways to focus on what the student will be able to do, the tasks they must undertake, and the tools they can use to deal with those tasks.

4. Shifting the balance of power: Implementing digital lessons that shift the balance of power to the student is an excellent way of requiring more learner responsibility. Instead of waiting for content to be delivered, students are engaged in creating their own meaning and learning. This change may seem a bit scary at first, but it is definitely worth it. Shifting the balance of power affords students the opportunity to manage their own knowledge, at their own pace, and to reflect on individual efforts.

Power positive outcomes with real-time data, and digitally-differentiated Lexile levelswith scaffolded support. Implement personalized learning with responsive feedback, point-of-use scaffolding, and audio support to allow students to progress through levels of differentiated content independently.

Use your digital classroom to build confidence. In every lesson, every day, allow students to experience technology-enhanced questions. This opportunity not only exposes them to the wide variety of questions types they will encounter in high-stakes assessments, but it builds confidence and sets all students up for success. Select digital programs that allow teachers to transition smoothly between whole-class activities, and large and small group work - regardless of individual reading or skill levels.

Employ real-time progress monitoring - Digital classrooms simplify teaching by providing real-time notifications of student progress throughout the course of the lesson. Teachers, imagine a world in which the teacher is given individual student data in highly visual ways. And these visuals help instructors target students who are struggling at their exact moment of need. And pinpoint where and how they are struggling. So the teacher can step in real time. Good digital platforms provide just that.

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Transforming Literacy Instruction in a Digital World: 4 Principles and Practices of Digital Rigor

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Literacy educators play an increasingly critical role in improving student achievement. The stakes are high. The more proficient a student is at reading, writing, and thinking, the more prepared the student will be to take his or her place among a highly literate citizenry.

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Education Week - Leading From the Classroom

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On Tuesday, July 10, the US Department of Education (ED) hosted "What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning" as part of their Teacher Summer Seminars.
Richard Culatta, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology, Matthew McCrea, Science Instructional Lead Teacher at G. James Gholson Middle School in Maryland, and I discussed our perspectives on promoting personalized learning in schools from the policy, classroom, and staff development perspective. What is Personalized Learning?
ED describes Personalized Learning as:

1. Adjusting the pace of instruction so that instruction is more individualized.

2. Adjusting the learning approach so that instruction is differentiated.

3. Leveraging student interests and experiences so that learning is more... personalized.

Richard emphasized the following points in his presentation:

The traditional teaching model treats all learners the same despite unique needs and strengths.

We need a new educational model that takes classroom learning beyond a one-size fits-all mentality.

Personalized Learning is not about technology, but technology helps.

Richard gave some examples of how technology empowers personalized learning from 1:1 computing, use of handheld devices, classroom response systems, and learning management systems.

Matthew shared the wonderful examples from his classroom including a blended learning model in 7th grade Algebra class with 1:1 laptops and a project based learning in 7/8 STEM class with 1:1 laptops.
More than Technology Required
From my perspective, with this new emphasis on Personalized Learning, any special education teacher understands that Personalized Learning is not new. It's what is done everyday in special education classrooms where services and instructional delivery are designed from the needs of the individual.

This focus on Personalized Learning is exciting because we've combined the emphasis on individual needs and empowered this approach with the power of technology.

But, with our focus on technology, one should hope that educational leaders will not view the purchasing of devices as providing quick and easy solutions. More importantly, Personal Learning demands a shift in how lessons are designed, which requires certain levels of knowledge and skillsets.

I posed the following question to the teachers:
"Let's say that a delivery truck shows up at your school and suddenly you have all these devices such as iPads, netbooks, classroom response systems, and learning and data management portals.... Will teachers in your school teach any differently?"
Teachers understand that change does not happen so quickly and easily.

Personalized Learning, like all other models of instruction that attempt to introduce innovation in schools, is about professional development and support.

Teachers need to have certain skills for Personalized Learning to use these technologies. It's about pedagogy and content:
Personalized Learning requires that teachers should:
1) Know their students: Teachers should know their students ' interests, know their learning styles, and know their ability levels.

In Personalized Learning, the teacher needs to be personable to the students. Teachers who already do this will be prepared for that shift; teachers that do not have this knowledge may not see the value in the technology. In order to "leverage student interests, one must first know the interests of their students and know how to act on it.

2) Know their pedagogy and content: Teachers should be able to implement multiple paths to knowledge- having a variety of ways to help a diverse group of students learn rigorous standards. This means having more than one resource or activity to teach a lesson and meet a goal or objective. This means teachers should be able to differentiate instruction, find all opportunities for remediation to help struggling learners, and understand how to provide enrichment to challenge the advanced student.

Simply giving a teacher an iPad will not guarantee this level of expertise.

3) Manage student learning: As teachers will now have classrooms where multiple activities may be occurring at the same time, this requires a level of classroom management, data keeping, and use of a variety of assessments. Not to stereotype, but elementary school teachers are more familiar with managing a classroom with lots of movement and activities going on- those teachers who rely on lecture only may need additional resources and support, as well as seeing other teachers in their subject and grade level who have this level of flexibility.

4) Access available resources
These can be tremendous challenges if teachers work alone. There is no need for teachers to reinvent the wheel. A teacher should not have multiple preps for a single class period.

As Mathew suggested in his presentation, teachers should beg, borrow, and steal the great lessons whenever possible.

In this regard, district and schools will have to provide curriculum support and ensure that all teachers have the resources to focus on student learning.
Transforming the Teaching Profession
Ultimately, just as Personalized Learning transforms student learning, it can transform the teaching profession as opportunities will be created for teachers to be design the instructional resources and provide support for teachers in schools.

And in this regard, Personal Learning has exciting potential for both the student and the teacher.

It's time. And with technology and our information-on-demand society creating opportunities for more students to learn academics outside of school through opportunities such as through Udemy, Khan Academy, and LearnZillion, perhaps this change is inevitable.

It's time to harness the power of technology to start meeting the needs of the individual during the school day.
So, if that delivery truck appears at your school and delivers these technologies for Personalized Learning, are you ready? For a similar discussion on Personalized Learning, join me on July 26 for the Alliance for Excellent Education's Webinar: The Role of Teaching in a Learner-Centered, Digitally Empowered Environment from 2:00-3:00PM. Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

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On Tuesday, July 10, the US Department of Education (ED) hosted "What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning" as part of their Teacher Summer Seminars. Richard Culatta, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology, Matthew McCrea, Science Instructional Lead Teacher at G.

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ASSURE is an instructional design model that has the goal of producing more effective teaching and learning. "ASSURE" is an acronym that stands for the various steps in the model. The following is a breakdown of each step.

See also:
A - Analyze Learners
The first step in the process is that the teacher should analyze the attributes of her learners. There should be a focus on those learner characteristics which are associated with the learning outcomes desired. The information gathered will help you in the decisions that you make with respect to the other steps in the process. When you determine the character of the learners, it will guide you in choosing specific strategies and resources to aid the learning process.

The analysis of your learners should include:

The general attributes of your learners, such as age, academic abilities, gender, interests, etc.

Prior competencies

Learning styles, such as auditory, visual, and tactile

S - State Standards and Objectives
After the analysis of the learner attributes, the teacher must state standards and objectives for the learning module. This statement consists of a specification of what the learners will be able to do as a result of the instruction.

To be more concrete about things, this statement will focus on what the learner will know or be able to do as a result of the instruction. An example of this is with medical students. The learners will be able to name at least two databases and two search techniques that they can use to locate medical evidence for particular cases.

The objectives can be used in assessing the success of the students, perhaps for the grading process. Also, you can use them to let the learners know what they will accomplish through the class.

The mark of a good set of learning objectives is conformity to the ABCDs of well-stated learning objectives. They are as follows:

Audience - For whom is the objective intended?

Behavior - What is the behavior or performance to be demonstrated?

Conditions - What are the conditions under which the behavior or performance will be observed?

Degree - To what degree will the knowledge or skill be mastered?

The objectives statement should be formulated with verbs that pinpoint the learning objective. A useful guide to the appropriate verbs to use is contained in Bloom's Taxonomy. Remember that assessment can only be based on your learners' behavior. A learner may know some material backwards and forwards but may not be able to perform well on a test.
S - Select Strategies, Technology, Media, and Materials
The second "s" in the acronym stands for select strategies, technology, media, and materials. Given what your learning objectives are, it's necessary to pick instructional strategies, technology, and media that will bring about the results that you want.

First, you should figure out what which delivery method will be best for your instruction. For instance, what proportion of your instruction will be instructor-centered and what proportion of will be student-centered? The first of these are strategies such as lecture, demonstration or showing a video. The second are strategies such as group discussion or cooperative group work.

Common sense weighs in on the side of learner-centered strategies. Learning becomes more exciting when there is more class participation. Ultimately, it's the learner who must gain mastery over the material, not the teacher. However, there will be a certain amount of crucial information and technique that the teacher must give over and demonstrate.

Learning is at its best when the teacher merely leads the student into discovering the correct answer to a problem themselves. An effective teacher is merely a facilitator to the process of learning.

Once you select your teaching strategy, then it's time to figure out which technology, media, and materials best support the method of teaching that you're using. This ranges from simple tools such as chalk and blackboard to more sophisticated ones such as power-point presentations. What must be remembered is that the instructor is the essential ingredient in giving over the material. Fancy tools are useful, but it ultimately boils down to having someone who knows more than what the textbook contains.
U - Utilize Technology, Media, and Materials
This step in the ASSURE process concerns making a plan as to how you will utilize the technology, media, and materials that you have selected. As with all of the instructional steps, you must make sure that your plans contribute towards producing the objectives that you have laid down.

It's important to follow the "five p's" process to achieve this:
Preview the Technology, Media, and Materials
This means that it's important to plan ahead of time just how you're going to use them. It's good to do a dry run of your lesson before you actually teach it. Make sure that the whole lesson will go smoothly and seamlessly.
Prepare the Technology, Media, and Materials
You need to gather together all of the things that you will need to teach your lesson. They must be working properly. For example, if you are making a power-point presentation, then you'll need to create the text and graphics for each screen.
Prepare the Environment
There is some minimal preparation required to set up the learning environment. Simple things like making sure that you have enough desks are important. Also, if you have control over the situation, you should make sure that there are no sources of noise that will disturb the students.
Prepare the Learners
First, you need to clearly inform the learners as to what the learning objectives are. This will help the learners create a mental map of what they need to absorb. Next, it's important to tell the students how they will be assessed. You need to tell them what their assignments will be, how they will be graded, if there are tests, etc. Also, you should explain to the students what the benefits of learning the material are.
Provide the Learning Experience
You then actually carry out the lesson. This is where all of your planning takes effect. You should be prepared to carry out the lesson with every prior step of the process in mind. This will insure your success as a teacher.
R - Require Learner Participation
This step actually belongs within earlier steps. It requires that you make plans to how you are going to actively engage your students in the material that you are teaching. This needs to be figured out both at the class level and the individual level.

The most basic step that you can take is requiring participation of the students in class discussions. A more sophisticated approach would require that students prepare questions and comments at home to bring into the class. You might try even allowing individual students to lead classes or discussions in the style of a seminar.

Beyond this, you need to plan exactly how the students will participate in the learning process generally speaking. How will they learn the information and techniques included in a lesson? This plan needs to be more specific than just saying that they will listen and absorb the material. Maybe you will encourage a specific kind of note-taking or other learning strategies.
E - Evaluate and Revise
The final step in the ASSURE process is just as crucial as all of the others. In this step, you evaluate the impact of your teaching on student learning. This includes an evaluation of your teaching strategies and the technology, media, and materials that you used. The following questions are useful to ask during this evaluation:

Did your lesson meet the learning objectives that you planned? How will you determine whether the students reach the objectives? Is your way of assessing the students in line with your learning objectives?

Can this lesson be improved? How? How are you going to assess the weaknesses in your presentation?

Was your choice of media and materials a good one? How will you assess the effectiveness of these tools?

Is it possible that other technologies, media, and materials would have done a better job?

The final step in your evaluation should focus on feedback from your students. Was their experience positive overall? Do they feel that they have reached your objectives and their own personal objectives? How will you determine whether or not your performance was effective?

In conclusion, the ASSURE process is really just a matter of common sense. However, it is good to follow a regimented guide to improve your teaching technique. Any effective teacher knows that the perfection of their technique does not come overnight, and there is always room for improvement. By following the ASSURE process, you will be sure to improve your teaching for many years to come.

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ASSURE: Instructional Design Model - Educational Technology

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ASSURE is an instructional design model that has the goal of producing more effective teaching and learning. "ASSURE" is an acronym that stands for the

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Abstract
The lesson plan that will be presented in this paper includes the use of the ASSURE model. It was developed for an Advanced Placement English Language Composition course in which students were to use Microsoft OneNote in order to produce an outline that would be used while constructing a 40-minute timed essay. The need for the use of an emerging technology in the classroom was identified through the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), which serves as a guide to decipher the level as well as the learning environment in which educators incorporate technology in their classrooms. According to the TIM this educator was using technology at cell level D1 which translates into an authentic learning environment at the entry level. It was found that this teacher should incorporate technology at the E2 cell which includes a goal-directed learning environment in the adoption level. This lesson requires students to use an emerging technology that will guide them to write better timed essays and its creation was guided using the New Generation Sunshine State Standards and the advanced English course description.

ASSURE Lesson Plan

A lesson plan is an extremely useful tool that serves as a combination guide, resource, and historical document that reflects an educator's teaching philosophy, the current student population, and the proposed goals for students. It can be described with many metaphors such as a road map, blueprint, or game plan, but regardless of the analogy, a lesson plan is essential not only for novice teacher, but also convenient for experienced teachers (Jensen, n.d.). The ASSURE model is a step-by-step process that is used by educators in order to create lessons that effectively integrate the use of technology and media in the classroom as a means to improve student learning (Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell, 2012).

The need for the creation of an ASURRE model lesson plan was discovered through the use of the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), that was created in order to aid in the intricate task of evaluating technology integration in the classroom (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2011) in order to close the technology use gap presented by this educator in which she exhibited D1 as the highest level of technology use in the classroom which translates into an authentic learning environment at the entry level. As a result, this teacher found that she should incorporate technology at the E2 cell, which includes a goal-directed learning environment in the adoption level in order to better address the authentic learning as well as technological needs of the students that she serves on a daily basis. The purpose of the paper is to present a step-by-step lesson plan for an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course using the ASSURE Model.

Analyze Learners

According to Smaldino et al., (2012), the first step in planning a lesson is to identify the learner characteristics, which should be associated with the learning outcomes. The key areas that need to be examined in this step are: (a) general characteristics of the students, (b) entry characteristics (previous knowledge and skills about the subject matter), and (c) learning styles. In terms of the general characteristics the 30 students enrolled in the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course are between the ages of 15 and 16. There are 13 boys and 17 girls in this group of which 0.45% are Hispanic, 0.35% are White, and 0.2% are Black.

These students are enrolled in this course because they scored a three or higher on their Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) writing score. In addition, they completed an English Honors during their sophomore year and received a recommendation to be part of the Advanced Placement program through their past English instructor. All students are proficient in the use of technology and have access to use a digital device (laptop or smartphone). Also, they have the capacity to create and save documents using a word processor, navigate the Internet, independently complete coursework through online educational platforms, use correct grammatical conventions of Standard American English, and revise and edit writing to improve compositions. The students in this course present a preference towards visual and kinesthetic learning styles because they prefer to complete tasks through a hands-on approach, in groups, and by seeing presentations done by their peers and the instructor as well.

State Standards and Objectives

The second step in developing and effective plan using the ASSURE model is to state the curriculum and technology standards that have been adopted by the educator's district as well as the objectives (Smaldino et al., 2012). For the purpose of the lesson that will be delivered using this ASSURE model lesson plan the following New Generation Sunshine State Standards will be used: (a) LA.A.1.4.4: apply a variety of response strategies, including rereading, note taking, summarizing, outlining, writing a formal report, and relating what is read to his or her own experiences and feelings; (b) LA.A.2.4.4: locate, gather, analyze, and evaluate written information for a variety of purposes, including research projects, real-world tasks, and self-improvement; (c) LA.B.1.4.1: select and use appropriate prewriting strategies, such as brainstorming, graphic organizers, and outlining; (d) LA.B.1.4.2: draft and revise writing that is focused, purposeful, and reflects insight into the writing situation and has an organizational pattern that provides for a logical progression of ideas; (e) LA.B.1.4.3: produce final documents that have been edited for correct formatting that appeals to readers, including appropriate use of a variety of graphics, tables, charts, and illustrations in both standard and innovative forms; (f) LA.B.2.4.2: organize information using appropriate systems; and (g) LA.B.2.4.4: select and use a variety of electronic media, such as the Internet, information services, and desktop-publishing software programs, to create, revise, retrieve, and verify information (Polk County Public Schools, 1997).

In terms of technology the students will be directed through the following National Educational Technology Standards (NETS): (a) students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others; (b) students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information; (c) students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources; (d) students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior; and (e) students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations (International Society for Technology in Education, 2007). The main objective of this lesson is the following: the students will use Microsoft OneNote software in order to construct a research-based outline that will be used to construct an effective 40-minute timed essay on the topic of controversy. According to Fitzpatrick (2009), OneNote is a note-taking and organization tool that includes an outlining tool that is user-friendly.

Select Strategies, Technology, Media, and Materials

Thenext step in building a plan using the ASSURE model is to choose appropriate instructional strategies, technology, and media that will allow the educator and students to achieve the intended objectives of the lesson (Smaldino et al., 2012). This lesson will have a duration of three weeks in order to allow students to understand the concept and purpose of outlining as well as to properly use Microsoft OneNote software to produce an effective research-based outline. In order to complete the aforementioned task the students and teacher will need the following materials: (a) the students will need digital devices (laptop, smartphones, or tablets) in order to conduct research on the topic of controversy through the school's library database; (b) wireless Internet service; (c) the teacher will request a laptop cart that contains 30 computers with Microsoft OneNote preinstalled as well as a teacher laptop; (d) a digital projector in order to show the students how to properly use OneNote; (e) a USB pen drive to save their work or an electronic mail (e-mail) account to send their work for future use; (f) a wireless printer so that students may print their final outline to use and attach to their timed writing assignment; and (g) the teacher will provide the students with a rubric (see Appendix) that will be used to assess the quality of their writing and the appropriate use of Microsoft OneNote to construct their research-based outline.

Utilize Technology, Media, and Materials

This fourth step requires teachers to plan their role for using technology, media, and materials in order to help students achieve the learning objectives that were established in the second step of the ASSURE model (Smaldino et al., 2012). During the first week of instruction, the teacher will discuss with students the role and purpose of creating outlines in order to write effective essays. Through these lessons she will show the students many examples that include effective as well as non-effective examples of outlines. In addition, she will teach the students how to conduct effective research through the use of online databases that are supplied through the school's library website; in the aforementioned process the students will be learning visually and in auditory format only.

During week two of instruction, the students will be provided with a laptop that contains Microsoft OneNote in order to learn how to use this software to construct their outlines; this process will be practiced for two days. On the remaining three days, the teacher will provide the students with a variety of topics in, which they will conduct research and construct outlines as a form of practice in preparation for their final outline, which will be created during week three of instruction. The students may solicit the help of peers in order to complete and evaluate the correctness of the aforementioned tasks that require a kinesthetic learning approach.

Throughout week three of instruction the students will be provided the final topic which will be on controversy as well as the rubric (See Appendix) that will be used by the instructor to evaluate their work which will need to be attached with their final essay and outline. In this instructional week the students will have two days to conduct research on the provided topic and two days to complete their outline using Microsoft OneNote. On day five of instruction the students will construct a 40-minute timed essay on the topic of controversy using their outline as a guide for effective writing.

Require Learner Participation

Effective instruction requires learners' active mental engagement. Therefore, instructors should provide activities that will allow the students to practice new knowledge and skills, which will result in receiving feedback from their peers, the teacher, or through self-evaluation for their efforts before being formally assessed on the topic being taught (Smaldino et al., 2012). On day one of this instructional unit the students will be able to provide their input through an informal writing assignment that requires them to explain what is an outline, describe their previous experience with outlining, discuss the purpose of this strategy, and they will be surveyed to find out if they have used Microsoft OneNote, if so what task did they complete with this software. The students will share their responses as part of classroom discussion in order to explore the student's prior knowledge on the topic that will be explored through the upcoming three weeks. Also, this information will guide the teacher in her instruction in terms of what topics need to be further addressed and stressed during teaching time. Once, the students are provided with a laptop, the students will be able to complete tasks that require a hands-on approach. The students will be able to see how to effectively use Microsoft OneNote as a means to complete an outline. Students will be able to work with the peers to request feedback in terms of correct usage; in addition, the instructor will provide periodic informal feedback and correct any misusage of the program by the students. Furthermore, as the students conduct research and create their practice, outlines they will receive feedback from the instructor to ensure that they include the vital components that will help them construct an effective argumentative essay on the final topic, which will be controversy. During the third and last week, the students will be able to apply correctly the acquired knowledge form the past two weeks in order to produce an outline that incorporates the use of research which will serve as a foundational guide for the construction of a timed essay. The work produced during week three will be evaluated with a rubric (See Appendix).

Evaluate and Revise

Finally, the ASSURE model requires teachers to evaluate the impact of the lesson on student learning after implementation has occurred. It is vital for this assessment to examine if learning objectives were achieved as well as the impact of using technology and media for instructional purposes. The aforementioned will serve to make appropriate revisions that will aid instructors to address areas of concern for future lessons (Smaldino et al., 2012). Through observation the teacher will be able to explore whether students feel immersed in this instructional unit. Also, she will use a previous argumentative essay that did not require the use of an outline to compare the quality of writing presented by the students after completing the essay on controversy. Through the proper use of the rubric (See Appendix) the teacher will examine if the students paid close attention to the elements that would impact their final grade on this assignment. In addition, the teacher will survey the students anonymously to rate and evaluate the effectiveness of the incorporation of the emerging technology (Microsoft OneNote) as a means to develop an outline, the impact it had in their learning, and how this lesson can be improved for future use. The results obtained from this survey will allow the instructor to modify and revise for future use as well as the development of other lesson that will incorporate emerging technologies.

Conclusion

Good lesson planning that incorporates the use of technology is imperative to the process of teaching and learning. An educator who is prepared every time he/she enters the threshold of the classroom will undoubtedly encounter a successful instructional experience. It is important to note that any document that will produce effective results (student engagement and participation) will require a great deal of effort and time on behalf of the educator (Jensen, n.d.). Therefore, this educator deems necessary for teachers to conduct research on best practices of lesson planning and make appropriate use of the ASSURE model, especially when incorporating technology in the classroom.

References

Fitzpatrick, J. (2009). Five best outlining tools. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5419988/five-best-outlining-tools

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2011). Technology integration matrix: A video resource supporting the full integration of technology in Florida schools.
Retrieved from http://www.fcit.usf.edu/matrix/2006tim.html

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards (NETS): Students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s- standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Jensen, L. (n.d.). Planning lessons. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~pia/TEFL.pdf

Polk County Public Schools. (1997). English course description. Retrieved from http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/teachers/documents/EnglishIIIHonor1001380.pdf

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2012). Instructional technology and media for learning. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

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Abstract The lesson plan that will be presented in this paper includes the use of the ASSURE model. It was developed for an Advanced Placement English Language Composition course in which students were to use Microsoft OneNote in order to produce an outline that would be used while constructing a 40-minute timed essay.

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Introduction to Technology Integration in Education

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I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)

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Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) and TIM Tools Introduction, 2013 ISTE Presentation

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What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools?

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Personalized learning is instruction that offers pedagogy, curriculum, and learning environments to meet the individual student's needs. The experience is tailored to learning preferences and the specific interests of different learners. In a personalized learning environment, the learning objectives and content, as well as the method and pace, may all vary. Personalization also encompasses differentiated instruction that supports student progress based on subject matter mastery.

Read a report and key findings from the Software& Information Industry Association about innovation and redesigning education for personalization.

Personalized learning is non-linear

The way people learn is 'messy' and intensely personal -research has shown that it doesn't happen in a straight line or easy progression. Because learning isn't linear, true personalization can't be either. Learning is a complex, interconnected web, particularly in the early elementary grades. Students need to have the opportunity to learn concepts and construct their own knowledge and understanding in a way that honors students' ideas.

Read a white paper from the Center for Digital Learning that covers current and future pathways to personalized learning.

Read a brief government document that reviews brain research and how it relates to early childhood learning and personalization.

Developing a personalized learning plan

So, how can curricula be designed to do create greater efficiency and personalization at the same time? It has to be designed 'backwards' from the goal. It's important to ascertain the variety of ways that a student may arrive at an answer or understanding, how they got there, how much time it took, whether they asked for help or not, and then tailor the experience.

While one-on-one instruction between a teacher/tutor and their student is the best way to achieve a high-level of personalization, a ratio of one teacher per student can be unrealistic in today's environment.

To solve this issue, and particularly for elementary schools to align with new standard mandates for math and language arts, many school districts have turned to the use of adaptive learning technology in blended learning environments, according to the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.

Review a presentation by Grant Wiggins about his work, Understanding by Design, and the basics of 'backward design'

Read some recent case studies about how districts are personalizing instruction.

A look at the personalized learning classroom environment

After assessing each student academically and understanding 'where they are' in their learning progress, it's important to learn about their strengths, weaknesses and learning style. The classroom can have different areas or stations based on needs and abilities to accommodate auditory, visual, and kinesthetic style learners. For example, some stations may support inquiry-based, independent learning; while there can be a separate area for group activities. Groups can be based on content, ability and assessment results.

Social-based learning, which gives students the opportunity to collaborate with each other, is important to the new personalized learning classroom. In many cases, the classroom may not be a 'room' at all.

Read blog posts about personalized learning trends.

Technology and personalized learning

In a blended learning environment that leverages technology, students are not bound by their classroom walls in terms of access to information, knowledge, and experts. A digitally-rich learning environment provides students with the context and relevancy for learning that they want. Most children today are technologically fluent and make daily use of laptops and mobile devices. Learning programs that offer a rewarding gaming environment that younger and older students play with on their own time is a good way to engage learners by making their learning work feel like play. In any case, techno-fluency is important to the development of 21st century skills to ensure a successful academic and work life.

So, the keys to personalized learning are providing access to appropriate technology, for the teacher to provide appropriate support when it's indicated, and to give students flexibility around physical space, learning time frames, and instructional modalities.

With this new paradigm of personalized instruction, instructors have an unprecedented opportunity to redefine their roles and scale personalized education like never before. But this isn't about educating more students with fewer teachers. This is about educating the students we already have, with the teachers we already have, more successfully.

Review case studies and results related to how personalized learning boosts achievement.

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Personalized Learning - DreamBox Learning

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Personalized learning is instruction that offers pedagogy, curriculum, and learning environments to meet the individual student's needs. The experience is tailored to learning preferences and the specific interests of different learners. In a personalized learning environment, the learning objectives and...Read more ›

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By now you've probably heard of personalized learning, which tailors instruction, expression of learning and assessment to each student's unique needs and preferences. While one-on-one instruction geared toward the strengths and challenges of each student has always been an ideal, only in recent years have technological advances allowed it to become a reality in public education.

Personalized learning capitalizes on students' almost instinctual ability to use technology, but it is so much more than technology and algorithms. It is the purposeful design of blended instruction to combine face-to-face teaching, technology-assisted instruction and student-to-student collaboration to leverage each student's interests for deeper learning. When done right, it meets several of the ISTE Standards for Students and ISTE Standards for Educators while leading to a more rigorous, challenging, engaging and thought-provoking curriculum.

Over the last four years, I have transformed my traditional classroom into a blended-learning environment that provides a more personalized learning experience for each one of my students. It hasn't been easy. It's taken a lot of research, trial and error, and adjustments. But the results have definitely been worth it.

Here are five lessons I've learned that have helped me take my classroom from a traditional sage-on-the-stage affair to a tech-assisted personalized learning haven.

1. Learn from others.

I won't lie. The journey from old school to new learning paradigm was bumpy at first. I tried blended lessons that took less time than planned, had technology failures, chose the wrong method of delivery for various types of content or skills, and generally made every mistake you can imagine. But I didn't give up, and eventually I had more successes than failures. My students' input and further pedagogical study helped me refine my lesson planning until I got it right.

I started by researching personalized and blended learning as a member of the Rodel Teacher Council (RTC) to create the Blueprint for Personalized Learning in Delaware. I was also a member of the BRINC Consortium, a group formed to implement blended learning in several Delaware districts.

Being able to work with other teachers also implementing blended learning was key to my continued growth. We worked with Modern Teacher to understand the shifts in pedagogy necessary to transition to blended learning. I heard Caitlin Tucker at a BRINC training and have used her books to guide my continued development.

All of these experiences helped me find more effective ways to lead my students while empowering them to take responsibility for their own learning. On top of that, learning from and collaborating with others is a hallmark of the new ISTE Standards for Educators, which advise us to "dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems."

2. Use the technology you have.

Although it is not the focus of a student-centered classroom, technology plays a big part in the success of this approach because it allows the differentiation of instruction, assessment and expression of learning as well as the collection of student data.

We don't have a 1:1 environment at this time, but the students - who are my co-learners and teachers - have helped me adapt to whatever tools are available. The standard hardware in core content classrooms throughout my district includes a set of 15 iPads, a projector and a document camera.

Students are allowed to use their cell phones for educational purposes. We use Schoology as a learning management system. I use Google Classroom and curriculum sites such as CommonLit | Free Fiction & Nonfiction Literacy Resources to embed high-quality digital content within our LMS. Much to my surprise, technology itself plays the smallest role in providing personalized learning for my students.

3. Let students make choices.

When I first embarked on this mission, I decided to "release" one piece of the assignment at a time in an effort to control student's' pathway through the material. Since then, I have learned to take a more personalized approach to assignments, which also aligns to the ISTE Standard for Educators that advise us to "foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings."

Class often starts with a mini-lesson, which then flows into students making choices about what they need to do next to meet specific learning targets aligned to the standards.

My units in Schoology offer guidance to the students while allowing them to choose their own learning pathways and complete the activities in the order that makes the most sense to them.

For instance, while reading a short story, they can choose between just reading or reading along as they listen to a story. They can also decide whether to annotate online or on a printed copy. They can take notes on paper or record their thoughts verbally as they analyze the story.

While my students are still required to write traditional essays on many assignments, they also get the chance to show their learning in a variety of other ways. When appropriate, they can submit their analysis by writing a traditional essay, creating a website, creating infographics, writing a script for a video that they then record or via a communication tool they suggest.

4. Choose the best content delivery method.

I had another a-ha moment when I finally understood how to choose the right delivery method for various types of content. My first few attempts included finding a video on each topic to provide background information or delivering a face-to-face lecture on a new concept, followed by an online quiz. My inaugural online lesson consisted of a folder with a page for my essential question, a copy of my PowerPoint and a link for students to submit their notes.

But I was simply using technology in place of my normal face-to-face teaching. When asked to explain the "why" behind my choices during professional learning sessions, I realized there was more to creating blended lessons than simply adding technology.

Today, I carefully construct my units with specific learning goals that drive the method of delivery and learning activities. When deciding how to structure my lessons, I look at the learning activities I've used in the past to decide which were successful and which need to be refined or replaced. As a result, instead of lecturing to students and showing them a PowerPoint during class time, I often give them screencasts or videos to watch at home.

The screencasts, which I create with Zaption, Screencast-o-matic and Video Ant, are better than PowerPoints because students can hear my voice instead of clicking through a silent slide deck. And videos are better than face-to-face lectures because they can skip forward, pause or rewind as needed until they get the lesson. They still get a chance to ask questions during our class time or online.

This flipped learning setup frees up my students to use class time to practice their skills. For instance, they might annotate a short story or poem in Google Docs or take part in a Socratic seminar. During our unit on research into social justice issues, students receive a digital review of the research process and choose their learning activities based on their needs. Some may meet with me to review how to embed quotes while other groups start planning their presentations and still others work independently on gathering valid research.

5. Assess as you go.

Instead of just giving a final exam at the end of each unit, I try to use formative assessment to enable me to give my students guidance and assistance when they need it. I use a variety of methods for this. For instance, my video lectures often include interactive questions to assess their understanding of the material. Playposit and TED-Ed: Lessons Worth Sharing are my go-to tools for this type of assessment. And our classroom is often noisy and active as we play a round of Kahoot, which gives me instant, actionable feedback on what we need to do next, who needs to be pulled into a small group for reteaching and who would be better off in a group that pursues extended learning while I reteach the rest of the class.

I also gather formative assessment data through:

Discussion threads.

Self-grading quizzes, which give students immediate and actionable feedback on their proficiency in specific skills.

Monitoring of students works in progress on Google Docs.

Exit tickets, which assess the class' comfort level with new concepts.

I use all of this data to inform adjustments to learning activities as well as selection of resources to help students meet the standards addressed in the unit. When the assessments show a student has mastered a skill, I can provide them with instruction to go deeper or learn new skills.

6. Pull it all together.

My original objective was to transform my classroom into a blended learning model that would give my students the best access to rigorous, engaging, personalized learning experiences.

Going into my fifth year, I am pleased with the progress we've made toward this goal and excited to implement new ideas including more flexibility in seating and groups as well as a better use of formative data.

My classroom today is a vastly different place than it was five years ago. Instead of showing up to class to hear me deliver all the content and teach the skills they need to meet the standards for our curriculum, my students are now the masters of their own learning destinies.

Instead of relying on notes they take during one-time lectures, they can access and even return to my videos and screencasts and other resources when they need them most, as they are working on an assignment or reviewing for a test.

My role used to be standing in front of the room lecturing about the research process, modeling various components and monitoring students' progress toward a final, correctly formatted research paper.

Recently I began partnering with the Human Ecology Foundation to expose my students to a range of real-world issues. The students then form groups and choose one to research and propose a solution or way to make an impact. Not only are they learning to do authentic research, they will be volunteering and learning about the issue through first-hand experience. Students can even win a scholarship for their research and projects!

I am available to assist students, conduct check-ins, and assess their individual responsibilities and group outcomes throughout the project. But most of the time I just stay out of the way while they learn how to effectively research, collaborate and create presentations together.

The biggest compliment I have received since all this started came from a student in my AP Language and Composition class. He told me, "Your class is easy. I don't mean simple - I mean it is easy for me to learn because I can pick assignments that let me do my best work."

I strive to make my classes that kind of "easy" for every student I teach. Across the board, my students acknowledge that they feel better prepared for college or jobs because of our use of collaborative technology. I've had students who are now in college tell me that our use of digital content made it easier for them to adjust to college.
Robyn Howton is English Department Chair and the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) coordinator at Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington, Delaware. She is a member of the Rodel Teacher Council, which created the Blueprint for Personalized Learning in Delaware, and a member of the original cohort of the BRINC consortium. This is an updated version of an article that originally published on May 19, 2015.

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Turn your classroom into a personalized learning environment

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By now you've probably heard of personalized learning, which tailors instruction, expression of learning and assessment to each student's unique needs and preferences. While one-on-one instruction geared toward the strengths and challenges of each student has always been an ideal, only in recent years have technological advances allowed it to become a reality in public education.

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Flexible Classrooms: Making Space for Personalized Learning

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Personalized Learning: Enabling Voice and Choice Through Projects

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This is a link to my blog post that I created for my reflection. The first post is my reflection.

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I first want to start by saying this is my first blog post. I was trying to figure out what type of technology I wanted to use for my Padlet Curation Reflection. When reading what was expected, and thinking about the concept of a reflection, I immediately thought I wanted to do some sort of narrative. The best way I could think to do a narrative other than a boring Google Doc was trying out a blog. So here I am watching the Cardinals game and writing my first blog. Now on to the important stuff.

I want to start by saying I am really starting to love Padlet. I fiddled with it a little in our other classes and I am really excited to use it next year in my classroom. So when I found out it was the main technology of one of our big projects I was excited to play with it more. When I saw that we had to include several categories I decided the best way to organize my Padlet was to utilize the Shelf layout. This layout creates columns in your Padlet that you can add headings to. I made a column heading with each of the categories that were required to be used. Then as I found resources I wanted to say I added them to the appropriate column and gave them a title so that I know what topic it related to that we had studied.

The resources I added to my Padlet were chosen for a variety of reasons. First I wanted to save the resources that were provided by the instructor. Obviously these were chosen for a reason and to have them saved all in one location is so much more convenient than having to search through each module to find them. The other resources chosen were either links shared by a classmate in the discussion boards, links for topics that were one of our assignments (one of my columns is all about Open Educational Resources from the module 3 that I chose to write about), or links for resources on topics I needed or wanted more information on (I had to do a lot of digging for resources on the technology frameworks for our assignment in module 4).

How I am going to implement these resources in my classroom is going to vary depending on the resource. Many of the articles I saved just to have as a reference for what the various concepts are that we learned. I did find a few digital tools that I can't wait to try next year. One of my classmates talked about Gizmos and how they used it to simulate an experiment. This is something I hope to use in my Statistics class next year. Another tool I found actually came to my work email. It's called ClassPad. I haven't really played with it yet but it appears to be an online tool for math calculations, graphing, and statistics. This is something I have desperately needed for my Statistics students who can't afford to but a $100 calculator needed for my class. I also am really looking forward to implementing either SAMR or TIM in my classroom next year. I really had no clue how poorly I was implementing technology until module 4 and now realize I have some work to do. I found several great resources to utilize both and can't wait to us them.

My biggest area of new learning was module 4 when we learned about the various technology frameworks. I have heard of SAMR at a very brief PD session but never really understood what it represented and how it was used. Then to find out there are other frameworks that can be implemented was eye opening. At first I was very overwhelmed by TIM and TPACK (I'm still not sure about this one) but the more I read about TIM and the more videos I found to help me wrap my brain around it I am looking forward to utilizing SAMR and TIM much more. These will both definitely impact my teaching and student learning. I had no clue how poorly I was utilizing technology. I have definitely spent most of my time at the substitution level. Now that I am aware of the various levels and their impact on student learning and also that I have resources to help me advance I know this will greatly impact my teaching practices. I am excited to push myself to become much more of a facilitator and utilize technology to help me help my students take ownership of their learning.

I am most excited to dive deeper into ClassPad and how it can help me. Math resources are some of the hardest to find, especially high school level. Most math applications I find are very elementary level. You can get away with some when you teach freshmen but I have four classes of seniors and one class of college credit juniors and those apps just won't suffice. ClassPad might give my kids a way to put their notes online for each other to collaborate. Writing equations and graphing is very difficult online and this application has those options built in. I can't wait to try it out!

As I said above I am so excited to use Padlet this coming school year. I have been trying to brainstorm several uses for it, especially with my college credit students. This class is much more strict with what I can do because it is through UMSL and they give me a list of the objectives required. First I would like to use Padlet similar to the Padlet project we just completed with much more of a collaborative effort. I would like to create one for each unit and have students add resources to it that they find that are relative to the unit. This would create a resource guide for each unit for all students to access. I would organize it in columns with heading appropriate for the unit. I have also thought about somehow using Padlet as a gallery walk application to share work and projects. My Statistics classes do projects and that would be a great way to share them and allow comments from other students. These are just a couple of ideas I have started thinking about to utilize at the start of the year.

This Padlet project was a great way to help me organize my resources from this entire class. I have enjoyed being forced outside of my comfort zone. And the best part...I just finished my first blog post!

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I first want to start by saying this is my first blog post. I was trying to figure out what type of technology I wanted to use for my Padlet Curation Reflection. When reading what was expected, and thinking about the concept of a reflection, I immediately thought I wanted to do some sort of narrative.

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Look into Google Cast and add resources here!

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Look into Google Cast and add resources here!

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As an instructor, you realize that technology is here to stay. Most likely, technology has helped you with lesson planning and delivery, grading, and reporting. Yet when software or apps are poorly selected, designed, or understood, when equipment doesn't work, or when cellphones are abused for non-learning purposes, technology may seem more like a curse than a blessing. When technology feels overwhelming, it is time to evaluate current practice and consider future possibilities.

As you search for ways to productively integrate technology into your classroom instruction, or evaluate your current use of technology, ask yourself how well you are doing on each of the following points; or better yet, write a written report for yourself and a plan of action for improvement.

1. Analyze and describe exactly what equipment you have available and when it is available (already in your classroom, available for sign-up to be delivered to your classroom, offered in a lab or library). Note any Internet filters you are working with, and be sure you understand any school policies regarding use of school equipment.

2. Consider these reasons to integrate technology into the classroom. Rank them according to the greatest need for your students, as well as ease of implementation to create your plan of action.

Increase student motivation through curriculum-related hands-on projects (project-based learning)

Increase student motivation through self-guided, decision-based learning (individualized learning)

Increase student motivation through immediate feedback (clickers, apps like Nearpod or GoClass)

Increase student motivation through novelty, interactivity, and media-rich delivery of content

Increase classroom time and efficiency by using technology in cases of individual remediation or enrichment (differentiation)

3. Decide how available technology best enhances your curriculum; avoid making your curriculum fit the technology available.

4. Model productive use of technology. White boards, digital projectors, and creativity will help you demonstrate to students how to conduct effective searches, utilize informational websites, and conduct classroom-wide Skype conversations or Google Hang-outs. It can also maximize limited hardware availability.

5. Use technology to stay in touch with parents. At the beginning of the year during open house, offer parents the chance to give you an email address where you can send personal notes of praise or ask for more parental involvement. For public communication to all your students and parents, consider using Twitter.

Most of all, embrace all the opportunities you have available to learn about the latest uses of technology in the classroom. Modeling openness to learn new things is one of the greatest things a teacher can do in his or her classroom. Do not be afraid of failure. Showing students that, "It is better to try and fail, than not to try at all" is a great life lesson.

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Five Points for Evaluating Use of Technology in the Classroom

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As an instructor, you realize that technology is here to stay. Most likely, technology has helped you with lesson planning and delivery, grading, and reporting. Yet when software or apps are poorly selected, designed, or understood, when equipment doesn't work, or when cellphones are abused for non-learning purposes, technology may seem more like a curse than a blessing.

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I have been searching high and low for an efficient, easy-to-understand list of criteria for evaluating hardware, software, tools, and everything in between. Most online articles that I found focus on selling things, or are incredibly vague or incomplete so I decided to do some brainstorming based on what I have found in my own practice speaking to students, teachers, specialists, and researching online. Here's what I came up with.

TechPudding's checklist for evaluating technology:

Always put learning first. What is it that you want your students to learn, examine, discuss, think about, use as assistive technology, and research? it is useful to create a list of what you want to do first so that you don't forget anything or get distracted by extra bells and whistles. How does the technology help to accomplish your learning goals? There are so many options for applications, software, and hardware out there that you will definitely be able to find a tool for every learning opportunity.

Higher order thinking skills. Does the tool support you and your student's engagement in higher-order thinking? Andrew Churches' Educational-Origami wiki provides a look at Bloom's Taxonomy (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) and Bloom's Digital Taxonomy (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, creating).

Does it follow universal design for learning (UDL) principles? Meaning, does it allow for: 1) multiple means of representation, 2) multiple means of expression, and 3) multiple means of engagement? UDL principles are becoming more and more important as we move toward personalized, real-world learning and away from teachers as conduits of knowledge that use limited modes of teaching and delivery.

How about usability? Is it user-friendly? Is it easy to learn for everyone who will need to learn it, including teachers, administrators, students, and parents? What kinds of training and support are necessary? How long does it take to get comfortable with it? One way in which you can "try before you buy" is by downloading a trial of a prospective application or service. It is useful to have people of varying comfort with technology try it out, and for students to try and evaluate it.

How much does it cost? What can you, your students, and your institution afford to spend on training, maintenence, upgrades, and the like?

Word-of-mouth. Researching online user discussion boards and asking specialists for recommendations can be very useful. But also be careful about word-of-mouth. I find that people often recommend anything that is new, just to sound like they are on top of the trends (or they try to sell you products and services).

Reliability and support. How much support is required? Are there frequent updates that need to be installed? Does it break down easily? You can find information about this from real users on discussion boards.

Flexibility. This refers to how the software is used, what it can produce, how much it can expand with increased use and access, and how it might expand to offer more services in the future. For instance, utilizing Google Apps may offer incredible options in the future as its services and access points expand.

Evaluation and monitoring tools. Does the technology come with tools for you to monitor how you and your students are using it? Does it come with tools for you to evaluate your students' learning? If these tools are built-in to the application, it can be a huge bonus for both teachers and students.

Security and privacy. How does this technology protect information and privacy of its users? Who has access to what is shared and how is it shared?

User interface. The more I use different tools, the more this has become a deal-breaker for me. When user interfaces are cluttered, illogically laid out, or overly complicated, they immediately turn me off. Information and commands should be laid out with the most-used ones easily accessible. There should be no more than 3 mouse clicks to access any option or command, and vocabulary should be readily accessible to new users. Again, UDL principles dictate that software and apps should offer visual, audio, text, and other forms of support, not just one. Furthermore, the user should be able to create their own shortcut keys and commands for exactly what she/he would like to accomplish.

Sharing and communication. We know that collaboration online and sharing with an authentic audience is important to both student learning and teacher collaboration. Therefore, the software should enable sharing either in a secure way to authorized users, or in a public way to all users online. The tool should make it easy to view, share, comment, communicate, evaluate, contribute, and socialize synchronously and asynchronously.

Integration with existing tools. Does this tool support or integrate well with the existing tools that you are currently paying for or using? Can you use it to "fill in the gaps" for existing applications? How can all of the tools that you use collaborate with each other and enable you to do more than you could with them independently?

Don't get attached to one tool. This is the most important thing to remember! There was a time when we all thought that Microsoft Word was the be-all and end-all of word processing tools. But now there are multiple ways to produce, share, collaborate, and contribute to written texts. There will always be new tools-one is released every second, so don't get stuck using only one. Always be on the look-out for recommendations and discussions about the next thing. That way, you will be able to find the best tool for whatever job you are engaged in. You can sign up for online newsletters, blogs, and other services to help stay up to date.

What are your criteria for evaluating technology, applications, software, tools, or hardware for the purposes of learning and teaching? What can you add to this list based on your experiences?

Checklist for Evaluating Tech Tools, Apps, Software, and Hardware

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Checklist for Evaluating Tech Tools, Apps, Software, and Hardware

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I have been searching high and low for an efficient, easy-to-understand list of criteria for evaluating hardware, software, tools, and everything in between. Most online articles that I found focus on selling things, or are incredibly vague or incomplete so I decided to do some brainstorming based on what I have found in my own practice speaking to students, teachers, specialists, and researching online.

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Although the digital divide may be closing as more districts transition to 1-1, there is a new concern over the digital use divide - "the disparity between students who use technology to create, design, build, explore, and collaborate and those who simply use technology to consume media passively." ( NETP16) Although accessing information (consumption) through technology is certainly important in some respects, it should seldom be students' primary use. They should also be curating, collaborating, and most of all, creating with the technology.

Question to Consider

In which of the following ways will students be using this technology

Consumption: Access information through some form of digital media to deepen knowledge.

Curation: Sort through content and present it in an organized and logical way.

Collaboration: Communicate and collaborate with others (students, teachers, community) for deeper learning.

Creation: Create original products to learn new concepts and provide a representation of their learning.

3. Investigate Infrastructure Requirements

Before diving into any new edtech product, it is vital to evaluate the product's technology & infrastructure requirements. This will avoid an instance where considerable time and effort is put into a pilot only to realize that implementation is impossible due a mismatch in existing infrastructure and what the tool needs to effectively function.

Questions to Consider

What steps need to happen for initial setup? Ex. Software installation on devices, class roster upload, student password creation.

What type of devices will the software work on? (Ex. iPads, Chromebooks, Laptops, All?)

Will the company provide direct support to customers?

What set-up and maintenance is required by teachers? By IT?

Can students access to this technology outside of school?

4. Take Student Data And Privacy Seriously

As we strive to personalized learning for students, we will also be using tools that collect information and data about students at unprecedented scales. We therefore have to be increasingly aware of the student data and privacy implications of our edtech decisions.

Questions to Consider
For more info, here is a great student privacy guide for educators.
5. Be Mindful of Resources, Both Time & Funding

It is no secret that schools have limited resources. And by resources, I include both funding and time. We must be strategic about where we allocate our monetary resources as well as how much time it will take educators to comfortably implement any new tool. We also need to be ready to shift resources when necessary, away from tools that provide little academic return on investment towards those that better align to the school's vision of teaching and learning.

Questions to Consider

What is the upfront and recurring monetary cost of the tool (if any)?

Is the product intuitive enough for teachers to implement right away? Or, will substantial time and resources be needed for professional development?

Is it financially feasible to scale this edtech tool across the school or district?

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5 Guiding Principles to Help Evaluate EdTech

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Innovative edtech products are being developed at an increasingly rapid pace, making it more challenging than ever for educators to decide which to use in their classroom. As a former high school teacher who was eager to try anything that could improve student learning, I was at times overw

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Search Results for Common Sense Education

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Use filters and keywords to refine you search results for lessons, digital citizenship resources, videos, edtech reviews, and advice for teaching with technology.

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Tools for Leading Learners - From Patrick Larkin on Edudemic

kate

November 12, 2013

12:53 pm

0 comments

This post first appeared on Edudemic.

As I look for entry points in working with school leaders just getting their feet wet with digital tools, I sometimes struggle to pinpoint the best place to start. I guess it is because there are so many useful tools out there that my colleagues could utilize to help them to change their workflows for the better. However, the important thing is not the tool at all. The important thing is that educational leaders are modeling the fact that they too are continuous learners who are striving to employ the most relevant resources that they can access to do their jobs.

In tackling this dilemma, I have decided to look at a few of the functions that school leaders perform and provide a couple of tools that can not only assist them but also help them model the integration of digital tools into their daily routines. Again, I am looking to stay away from a specific solution and instead list some of the options that are available for particular tasks. Choices are a good thing, so let's embrace the fact that we live in a day and age where we have them!

When first getting started with digital tools, the most important task for school leaders is communication. Whether it is with staff, students, or parents, school leaders need to be strong communicators and provide their stakeholders with the appropriate information at the appropriate time. There are also different levels of communication that we deal with here. Are we just putting out information on upcoming events or are we telling our story and providing people with asynchronous opportunities to share in events and presentations that they cannot get to in person due to their busy schedules?

In an era of transparency and connectedness, we have the ability to tell our story every day of the school year instead of waiting for media coverage of something going on in our school. Why wait for that negative news item that brings the media swarming to your school when you can inundate people with the positive things happening on a daily basis. When people Google your school or district what do they find? What is the first impression they get from a digital walkthrough?

These are the questions that you need to answer for yourself as you start to think about the tools that you want to choose to communicate and the information that you want to communicate. Here are some of the types of communication we do in our district and how we do them:

These are just a few of the countless ways that school leaders can communicate, collaborate, and engage with stakeholders in whatever the topic of the day is in their school community. It's not critical that educational leaders use all of these resources, but it is critical that they start to get comfortable with some of them.

Patrick will be addressing this topic at the upcoming iPad Summit in Boston in his session titled iLeadership.

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Tools for Leading Learners - From Patrick Larkin on Edudemic - EdTechTeacher

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Tools for Leading Learners - From Patrick Larkin on Edudemic kate November 12, 2013 12:53 pm 0 comments This post first appeared on Edudemic. As I look for entry points in working with school leaders just getting their feet wet with digital tools, I sometimes struggle to pinpoint the best place to start.