http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2016/04/why-pedagogy-first-tech-second-stance-key-future

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2016/04/why-pedagogy-first-tech-second-stance-key-future

As districts across the country purchase technology at a feverish pace, they must ensure they have a solid implementation plan.

by Eric Sheninger Twitter

Eric is a senior fellow and thought leader on digital leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education. He also runs a blog on K–12 leadership, A Principal's Reflections.

While I am a huge advocate for the purposeful integration of technology in schools, we must resist the temptation to think that this is the solution to solve all the ills in our current education system.
What concerns me most is how many districts and schools are going all in with one-on-one or bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives with no real plan for implementation and evaluation of effectiveness. This lack of planning and support will likely result in devices never achieving the outcomes that they were designed to achieve. It’s foolish to think that students will learn just by putting a device in their hands.
What’s needed is a shared vision and strategic plan for how mobile technology will be utilized to improve student learning outcomes that are aligned to higher standards.
When implementing and successfully sustaining a mobile learning initiative, it is imperative not to allow the device to drive instruction. Lessons, curriculum, schools and districts should never be built around technology. Everything we do in education should be built around learning. Thus, if the ultimate goal is to improve student outcomes then the role of any mobile device initiative should be to support or enhance learning.
When it comes to educational technology, I often get the feeling that the learning is often secondary. Using technology just for the sake of “using it” equates to a huge waste of instructional time that could be dedicated to deep, meaningful learning. It also equates into a huge waste of money.
Most students know how to use technology. However, we cannot assume that they know how to use technology to support their learning. This is where attention to sound instructional design is necessary, first and foremost. With a pedagogical foundation and better assessments firmly in place the stage is set for students to truly begin to own their learning in ways never imagined. The key is to determine what we want our students to know, and then let them have a choice as to how they will demonstrate or apply their learning. This not only adds relevance and meaning to the learning, but also takes the pressure off the educators from having to learn how to use an endless number of tools.
As educators we need to place a great deal of emphasis on creating artifacts to demonstrate conceptual mastery in one-on-one and BYOD environments.
Technology can become a nice pedagogical fit when viewed this way. Adopting a mindset of pedagogy first, technology (when appropriate) second when integrating mobile learning devices asserts a focus on what’s most important — learning. When it comes to technology we must always ask ourselves how will this tool support learning and allow students to demonstrate conceptual mastery.
There must be more of a concerted focus on learning outcomes, construction of new knowledge leading to authentic application, and the development/enhancement of essential skills (creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, digital citizenship, entrepreneurship, media literacy, technological proficiency, communication, collaboration). The assessment and feedback pieces are also critical. Mobile learning represents a huge investment in time, money, and other resources. With so much at stake the goal should be placing a powerful learning tool in the hands of our students — not a digital pacifier.

VLADGRIN/ThinkStock

Rubrics

https://timespaceeducation.wordpress.com/2017/04/06/rubrics-and-continuums-dont-berate-innovate/

Rubrics and continuums – don’t berate, innovate.

Yes, we all know that we should be moving rapidly towards models of education that can be described as self-directed, self-regulated, student-driven, learner agency etc… and many of us are genuinely trying to do so. Many more have been trying to do so for many years… bit-by-bit, step-by-step. If you’ve been part of this for a while, “hello again”. If you’re just joining us, “welcome to our struggle”.

Creating the conditions for these types of learning to occur is not simple. It just isn’t as simple as handing control over to students and saying “go for it”. Like all people, our students need to know what “successful” looks like and how they can be it. At some point, someone has to articulate what we are looking for from our students. In collaborative teams, this means argument, compromise, semantics and considering what the different stages of learning might be as students work towards success. Assessment should be formative, purposeful and provide students with the guidance they need… it should illustrate their next steps. The language this is articulated in should be instructive, easy to understand and present in the daily vocabulary of your learning culture. Creating the tools and strategies for this to happen effectively is a very hard task, but it is hard because it is worth doing.

This notion of “successful” cannot remain a nebulous, abstract notion in the mind of an individual teacher. There can be no “hit and miss” about whether or not this notion of “successful” is communicated clearly to students, or even communicated to them at all. There can be no half-hearted attempts or abandoned thinking just because it’s difficult or “uncool”. Teachers and groups of teachers must deliberate about:

• where the learning is going
• what they’re looking for from the students
• how they might reach – or get close to that
• how they will guide students in that direction

Guess what… that’s going to end up being a rubric or a continuum or some other form or model of criteria – because that’s the point we’ve reached so far in the evolution of education. They are the thinking educators’ attempts to move beyond tests, multiple choice, right and wrong, yes and no, good or bad. They are the thinking educators’ attempts to turn the abstract into the tangible, to convert randomness to clarity and to extract what has been hidden in the minds of teachers and make them visible to students. They symbolize the attempt to allow for more freedom of pedagogy, more room for manoeuvre, more real, on-going differentiation and the recognition that our students learn and do at different rates.

Like everything in life, there’s some amazingly good examples out there, and there’s some incredibly bad ones, and a whole lot in-between. What makes them amazingly good is thought. What makes them incredibly bad is lack of thought (I feel a rubric coming…). If you’re not a fan of rubrics or continuums, or don’t think they’re fashionable… come up with another way of doing what’s in the bullet points above and share it with everyone. Fashion designers don’t ditch the previous season’s designs and tell everyone to go around naked until someone randomly suggests an article of clothing! They come up with new designs, they innovate. I’m sure everyone in education would be very interested to see what you come up with, although I can’t promise a “Paris Rubric Week” any time in the near future!

Let’s face it, without guidance, most students would be completely lost… largely because their teachers would be equally lost because they never really bothered to discuss what the learning was really about. The “blind leading the blind” is never used as a positive example, unless as a joke.

Our job is not a joke.

Now, of course, the ideal situation is for students to be defining “successful” in their own terms, in the contexts that they design instead of those designed by teachers, setting their own goals, and to be articulating:

• where they think the learning is going
• what they’re looking for from themselves
• what they’re looking for from their peers
• how they might reach – or get close to that
• who might guide them in that direction

But… guess what… they’re going to need their teachers to work with them on those things. They’re going to need to get good at doing those things… they are skills that are developed in steps (sound familiar?). Teachers will be need to be observing, noticing, assessing and giving useful feedback/feedforward about how the students are learning, the levels of autonomy or independence they are demonstrating, their ability to reflect on themselves and use those reflections to move forwards. But how will they make sure they’re using a common language? How will they make sure they have a shared vision of what “good looks like”? How will they ensure they’re consistent in their support and guidance for students? How will they make sure they appreciate the steps students take as they make progress? How will they help their students appreciate their own development?

Errr… umm…

Right now, I don’t see a better way to frame those conversations and decisions than in the collaborative creation of rubrics or continuums. Do you?

So, make your rubrics or continuums about that. And if you don’t like rubrics or continuums, come up with another way of communicating with students about their learning, share it and be a person who is part of the evolution of education, not a person who gets in our way while we try to do so.

I often hear people who are reluctant to talk about assessment tools use the very clever line about “thinking outside the box”… probably because (yes, its subtle) many of them look like boxes. It’s scary that creative people use this sort of reasoning as they seem to forget – almost instantly – how useful boxes are, how beautiful they can be, how many sizes, colours and shapes they come in and how they can be transformed into other things.

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Imagine you’ve been in education for 7, 11, 15 or even 25 years. In each of those years, you have grown as a professional, learned new technologies, shifted with the standards, had new initiative after new initiative started in your school, and seen the way you have been evaluated move from observations to data back to observations and data.

Over the years you’ve had constant turnover in your administration. New Principals,  new Superintendents, new Directors of Curriculum, and many Special Education leaders. You’ve seen some of your best friends and teachers leave the classroom.

Some have gone on to administration.

Some have left the school.

And some have left the profession altogether.

Your curriculum has been changed multiple times and you are starting another revision, complete with a shift to new standards.

The schedule has changed three times. You’re now required to have common unit based assessments multiple times a year. You are part of a school data team that looks at all of this “stuff” and tries to make sense of where you can make an impact.

And in the midst of all this change, you are actually getting excited because students are now able to bring devices into school, or maybe your school is giving them devices. Although many are worried because this is going to change everything, again, and it’s not going to be easier.

And you are exhausted.

Not so much by the students, although they have changed over the years.

Not so much by the parents, who have definitely changed over the years. But mostly by managing all of this…picking yourself up

But mostly by managing all of this, picking yourself up every day, and believing you’re doing good work, with good people, for the right reasons.

The Struggle Is Real…And Worth It

I asked teachers and school leaders what they were struggling with a few months ago, and this is a compilation of their similar story. The two words used most in email responses to my question were “frustrated” and “desperate”…

In the wake of a new year, I wrote about how pumped I am for education moving forward. But I can’t help to notice the sighs of desperation and frustration inside many classrooms.

Most of us got into education because we wanted to make a difference in the lives of our students.

Education is the bridge to so many opportunities in this country and around the world. We know as teachers and school leaders the avenues it can open up to any student, and we also know how hard it is for some students to overcome personal circumstances without the help of teachers who care and want to make a difference.

It seems that change (and there has been much of it in the last 5, 10, 15 years) frustrates many of us, and leaves us desperate for some consistency in the teaching profession.

I wouldn’t argue that point.

Yet, change (like anything else), is not all bad and not all good. It’s a mixed bag.

What is true is that change is constant. It’s also getting exponentially quicker. This is not only in education, but in many fields of work. It’s taken a while for change to pick up the speed with which we now see it in the classroom, but it has always been there.

So, how do we handle this as teachers and school leaders? How can we keep the frustration and desperation from boiling over and hurting all potential progress? More importantly how can we make sure the frustration and desperation does not trickle down to our students and impact their learning experience in a negative way?

Well, we can start with these guiding beliefs:

1. Change is constant, let’s focus on how we manage it

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude – Maya Angelou

We may not be able to influence what types of changes are made in schools. Some we are going to love and support. Some we are going to disagree with and oppose. Regardless, the one thing we do have control over is how we manage change as an organization, team, and individual.

Start with yourself. How are you talking about change? How are you managing the process? What can you do to help colleagues through the change?

2. Don’t wait for training, be a learner, go out and seek it

If we accept that change is constant, we also have to realize learning is constant. Professional development and training can only take you so far as an individual. If you want to be successful through times of change then go out and seek new learning opportunities and training.

The internet has changed how we learn forever. Anything you want to learn (or need to learn) is most likely available online for free… This is not to say that organizations should not provide training. Of course they should. But how can we seek out learning opportunities (and share those opportunities with colleagues) that can help all of us in times of change?

3. Focus on the important things (many of these do not change)

Are students engaged? Are they empowered? Are we challenging students and supporting students through various learning activities? Is the classroom a student-centered experience? Are we focusing on the whole child?

I get that curriculum changes. Technology changes. New initiatives are always around the corner. But the best practices of “how we learn” are focused on student-centered experiences with the right amount of challenge and support for all of our learners.

What can we focus on in the midst of all the change?

Our students.

And consistently focusing on what is best for them.

If you are feeling frustrated in your current situation, or desperate for some help in managing all of this change, take a step back.

Or maybe you are frustrated because you are changing, innovating, and doing creative work, yet can’t seem to get others to buy in and join the movement.

In either case, take a moment to breathe and look at the big picture.

The Silver Lining: Innovation Can Come Out of Frustration

I was frustrated as a teacher a few years ago when I thought all my 11th grade students cared about was their grades. Out of this frustration came the 20% project in my class.

I was desperate for a new way to teach students about human rights violations and genocide. Having them read articles and watch a few videos wasn’t cutting it, because the students needed to “do something” about these issues. Out of this desperation came a collaborative project that my students helped create: Project Global Inform.

As a K-12 Technology staff developer many of our staff members were frustrated that they had to learn about a new tool with the entire staff during an in service when they already were using it. Why have the same training when everyone was on different levels? Our game-based professional development missions came out of this frustration.

Last year, a fantastic teacher I worked with was frustrated with how “Industrial Arts” still looked for the most part like it did when he was in high school. After a lot of hard work, this frustration turned into a new 9th grade course (Creative Design & Engineering) and a reworking of the entire scope and sequence to create a true Maker Department.

A group of teachers in my district were frustrated that our students weren’t getting some of the same opportunities and experiences as those students from other neighboring districts. That led to the creation of a CentennialX: a summer internship and human-centered design program where students work with real companies to create products, pitch those products, and present their work at conferences (like Stanford’s MedX) around the country.

If we choose to let frustration and desperation get the better of us…then we choose to miss the silver lining:

Innovative ideas come out of frustration. 

We tend to think of creativity and innovation as something that happens outside the box.

But I would disagree.

The most creative and innovative work comes from circumstances that force a new type of thinking for solutions inside the box.

It reminds me of the scene in Apollo 13 when the carbon dioxide is building and they have to make a filter using only the materials inside the shuttle. There is pressure. There is frustration. And there is a group of desperate people working to create an innovative solution…

Put all the circumstances out on the table. Embrace the feelings of desperation and frustration. And then create something inside the box that is going to benefit everyone.

Because the only other option is to give in and give up. And that sure wouldn’t be any fun!

Start by getting the FREE Innovative Teaching Toolbox by signing-up below. It’s filled with articles, resources, and videos to jumpstart the journey out of frustration and towards innovation.