Dream
IT
Build IT
Technology:
To support my proposed endeavor, a strong department ed tech community will be built so that teachers don’t feel isolated in the implementation process. A department Facebook group will be established to disseminate ideas, thoughts, concerns, videos and such that the group feels are meaningful to the project. A Google Doc will be created for each department project to keep an open forum for brainstorming and organizing the project. A Twitter feed will be created by the technology leader connecting the department to various like-minded people and allowing the department members to deposit their own pertinent information via Twitter, because often the best ideas come when one isn’t working on the project directly.
Pedagogy:
I find that most teachers really want to incorporate technology into their classrooms, even if they don’t know it. I say this because most teachers want to improve student learning, provide meaningful assignments for students, help students learn to solve problems and also save themselves some valuable time such as in collecting, grading and recording grades, that can be devoted to direct involvement with students. As discussed in Teaching that Sticks by Dan Heath and Chip Heath, illustrating a learner’s gap in knowledge, stimulates a learner to gain that knowledge. When educators learn that technology can help them solve their long-term educational problems, meet the educational goals of their learners and save time in busy work, then, they will come to realize that the time and energy spent in learning new technologies is worth it. When the knowledge gap is pointed out, they will understand the value of technology integration.
Also, I want to build off what they already know about social media, learning and student engagement. They know that learning is an exciting experience. How do I get them to understand this new perspective based on what they already know? I want to help them realize that technology is just a way of connecting with other people, as they know. They use social media and technology for the same reasons that learners do. Making this connection for them and then leading them in how to guide learners to make constructive use of social media is likely to help them see educational technology less as an obstacle and more as a tool to foster deep learning.
Once this concept is grasped, then Dewey’s impulses for learning come into play. Educators want to inquire about appropriate technologies. They want to communicate with their colleagues about what and how educational technologies can solve problems and meet goals. They want to invest the time to construct artifacts that can be used in learning. And, they want to customize them in order to express their individual teaching styles.
Content:
I would like the technology integration process to be considered a group project in which all members of the group are brainstorming ideas, identifying educational problems and goals, as well as describing time consuming tasks. This differs greatly from the current popular framework of PD sessions in which each educator is on his or her own. I haven’t heard of any other way of conducting technology leadership, so I think the paradigm shift I’m proposing might be difficult for educators to adopt.
The technology content within most current PD sessions varies and it will continue to vary depending on the needs of the department. As a technology leader, I want to change educators’ minds about how the technology integration transpires. Instead of thinking of it as the lone task of individual teachers, I’d like them to make a conceptual paradigm shift and then act in accordance with the new framework for the implementation of appropriate technology. I’d like to approach technology integration at a departmental level instead of an individual level. This is a shift in thought that I think will benefit educators immensely.
Part 3
The Total PACKage
Solutions
Generally, Professional Development(PD) sessions are lead in a particular format. The technology leader highlights a specific technology at a scheduled PD session. Educators interested in learning that particular technology attend the session. The technology leader walks educators through the technology teaching them how to make an account and how the functions of the technology work. Then, the session is over. This often leaves educators compelled, but confused and still struggling to implement technology. Why? There are many layers to why this is the case. One of the primary reasons is that many educators are intimidated by technology. These educators may feel it will take a good deal of time and energy to learn new technologies and fear that the time and energy devoted to the activity will not produce valuable results. It does take a good deal of time to learn a new technology, which many educators don’t have. If they do have the drive to educate themselves, they often find themselves alone in this endeavor, working on their own after school or at home on weekends. This is a problem.
Creative Commons Photo Credit: 3347658610_bd6daf9b57_z.jpg
Within the SAMR model my project aims for the Redefinition level. The goal of this project is to redefine the standard design of technology leadership delivery and professional development. Prior to social media, web 2.0 technologies and cloud storage, group work was only possible when the group physically met in a single room and communicated verbally. Technologies, particularly the ones utilized in this project, allow for a new way of collaboration. In the case of this project, educators can work together on a single project asynchronously and at different locations, meaning work during prep periods, after school, at home in the evenings and weekends, or during the summer can take place seamlessly, when it could not before the proliferation of these technologies. The group can still operate as a group even when they are separated. The project mission can remain clear, work can be ongoing and always accessible by each member, and the project progress can be monitored in real time as it manifests and is recorded in the technology.
This surely will bring a sense of wholeness to the project and a sense of community and support to the members of the project group.
SAMR MODEL
PACKaging TPACK
The key to hitting the sweet spot in TPACK for this DreamIT project is the proposed paradigm shift, which will only work with all the pieces. This project really is a PACKage. To be convinced that the proposed paradigm shift will work(content), educators need to be educated on what they don’t know about the value of technology(pedagogy) and then be supported in the transformation with the department community(technology). Some educators don’t have a good deal of experience using Facebook, Google Docs and Twitter, so this in itself will be something to learn. But, they will find the value in it because these technologies will bring them support, direct help and inspiration, in their common vision to create meaningful education for their students. Without the content component of the total PACKage, in this case the knowledge of how and why technology integration can happen for the betterment of educators and learners, teachers won’t give value to their own struggle in the technology learning and implementation process and the project with fail. Without the solid pedagogy component in the total PACKage, in illustrating to educators that they just have a misconception about the time and effort technology takes to create as compared to the profound effect resulting therein, the project will fail. Without the technology component in the total PACKage, in which the community communicates, supports and inspires each other through social media and cloud sharing, the project will fail. The success of this project will result in a positive transformative experience for educators if the three components work together to support educators in a process that requires them to take what they currently know, get it outside of themselves and add new knowledge to it, then allow the amalgamation of information to be their stronger foundation on which to base their teaching decisions.
