Blog Post 4: Project Management

While listening to the podcast with Matt, there was one major point that came to mind: the idea of a project manager and having a clear vision of project management seems to be an incredibly valuable asset for schools.  The issue that came to mind is: COST.  How much does it cost to have people managing your project for you.  After working through a passed millage and having a company provide a project management service, I can say that some aspects seemed to be worthwhile, while others were done incorrectly or were things we could have done ourselves (set up visits to schools with a wealth of technology, order to correct server so we could iPads, schedule training with another MDM company in an efficient manner).  Perhaps my experience was tainted by an unprofessional experience, but the cost of it seemed to outweigh the benefits.  Additionally, the project management company had no focus on the educational impacts; simply on the installation of updated networks, the ‘backend’ of technology and helping to purchase the devices.

Now that that’s out of the way…

One of the ironic things during the podcast was when Matt mentioned that typically project management began once a project was approved.  I thought that was interesting as the buildup to the project being approved can potentially be a huge ordeal so it seemed somewhat oversimplified to begin project management only once the project was approved.  Perhaps what Matt was referring to was when to bring in a project manager from the outside?

When Matt was discussing the issues about rolling out technology, there were a few things to which I could relate.  The first was underestimating the impact on individuals.  First, we tried to accommodate for teachers getting multiple new devices by rolling them out at different times.  So the first things teachers received were iPads in January when students did not yet have them.  We provided training on those and had hoped that teachers would familiarize themselves with the iPads throughout the remainder of the school year and into the summer.  Then, we gave teachers their new MacBooks in August (the soonest we possibly could roll them out), provided training and again hoped that a few weeks would help them get used to the newer system.  This was, however, a large issue for many teachers.  Many asked for their old desktop PC’s to remain in their classroom or come back to their classroom.

Furthermore, one of the biggest things we underestimated was the impact of the iPad at home.  While some students and their parents used them responsibly, there were certainly some struggles.  Many parents were hesitant to take the iPad away from their child since it was a learning device and they were not sure if their child was still doing ‘homework’.  This became a situation where we were fortunate to have three administrators with students in the district who could talk about setting boundaries.  In addition, we had teachers work to communicate more actively, but bringing a device into the home that many parents were not familiar with had a huge impact on many families.

I think the most difficult part of my proposal to manage is teachers utilizing and maximizing the online learning community.  If there is not enough actual buy-in, teachers will probably not receive the benefit of participating in the online professional development.  The other issue with my proposal is whether or not we can measure and truly monitor whether or not its implementation is successful.  One of the biggest downfalls in the research I was reading for my proposal was that much of the research out there is based on teacher self-evaluations, which obviously has its limitations.  So, it would be important to create or decide on a measure for student achievement or other methods of measurement other than solely relying on teachers to reflect on their experience.

Blog Post 3: Digital Divide

The digital divide is certainly something that is prevalent in Boyne City Public Schools.  One of the biggest differences for the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ is access to the internet.  Because many of our students live in rural areas, they simply don’t have access to wifi or internet at all.  However, by implementing a system where each student has an iPad, there is less of a divide between those students who would struggle financially to provide some sort of device.  One way in which our administration has worked to alleviate the issues that arise with the internet divide is by encouraging teaching staff to utilize apps that allow students to do work offline and/or online.  One app that has been extremely useful for this process has been iTunes U because any document, video, podcast, photo, etc. that is downloaded on wifi can be viewed without wifi as well.  This has helped us to overcome a huge hurdle of parent and student frustration about limited access to internet.  We have also used apps like Pocket or Safari tools like ‘Reading List’ to help students be able to read articles when they are not connected to the internet.

BCPS also does a great job of creating equitable classroom setups for teachers.  For example, every single classroom is equipped with a short-throw projector, sound field system, and Apple TV.  Each teacher has a personal MacBook Air and iPad 2.  By creating equitable situations, I believe the administration frees themselves from unwanted frustration because some teachers have more technology than others.  

Dr. Barrons mentioned one of the largest issues in the digital divide was the lack of females in the STEM field.  While I think this trend is certainly changing (I’ve heard mention that MSU offers scholarships specifically geared towards women in their engineering programs), our district certainly does not seem to be affected by this trend.  Our administration have offered technology leadership positions to those people who are most qualified.  In fact, of the six technology mentors in our district last year, four were women.  Additionally, the two technology coaches that have worked in our district were both women.  

While my technology proposal does not specifically address a gap, there are a few considerations that I now realize I need to be aware of.  The first is that some teachers do not have access to the internet outside of the school day and may struggle to participate in an online learning environment.  Perhaps a good option here could be providing choice - either stay for traditional after-school PD or log the hours on one’s own time.  

Blog Post 2: Funding for Educational Technology

Funding in today’s educational system is tough.  There’s no way around that.  While listening to the podcast, that was reinforced.  The other important takeaway for me was that finding ways to creatively fund technology for education is an important skill for any administrator, technology director/coach, and even classroom teachers.  Lynn Wietecha makes great points that as many schools used to use money from their general funds to help purchase technology, that simply is not available anymore.  When it comes down to funding a computer lab versus a teacher, it is not hard to understand why many districts choose the latter.  

However, I think there are creative ways to seek funding.  Wietecha mentions that sometimes to seek, earn and maintain grants, you need someone who is at least at a part-time position.  I would agree with this statement.  As a former technology coach who was employed for ¾ of the day, I had time to seek additional funding for purchases that could not be covered by technology bonds like applications.  After this position was reduced and the new technology coach’s job demands increased, though, this was a difficult thing to do.  Now, seeking grants or creative funding falls to our classroom teachers who do not always have enough time to seek out funding opportunities.  

One of the biggest ideas I took from Wietecha was the idea that sometimes implementing technology can help to save funding elsewhere.  Her printing example is one that resonates in my district.  Our former elementary school principal said that printing in that building was cut in half because some of the practice of the basics such as letters, numbers, addition and subtraction could now be done with the iPad.  This is not to say that handwriting is not important (especially at the elementary level), but there were times when students could complete a similar task on the iPad.  I can see this as being true at the secondary level as well where students can submit work via Google Drive, rather than printing a paper or teachers can share handouts through applications like iTunes U, Edmodo or Google Drive again saving multiple pages from being printed and potentially lost and printed again.

While listening to the podcast, I had one major question: how many K-12 schools are moving to BYOD?  I can see the benefit in regards to financial savings.  There’s no question in the sustainability of BYOD.  However, I still struggle to understand how they can be easily managed at a K-12 level both from a safety standpoint, but also from an applications standpoint.  I worry about the ease of implementation from a teacher’s perspective who struggles with technology when there are multiple devices in the room that may or may not have similar applications.  

The last thing that I took away from this podcast (and perhaps the most important) is the importance of demonstrating that the technology being implemented was effective in supporting and improving student learning.  Using programs that help to track student growth, like Wietecha mentions are important, but I also think it is important to show the other ways students are growing as a resulting of implementing technology into the classroom.  Our district has done a “Technology Night” that helps to showcase how we integrate technology and what students can do with it, but also to teach members of our community about their devices.  Student growth as a result of technology integration can be shown in many ways and we need to show our community and parents those results.  

EDT 634: Blog Post 1 - Response to the Podcast

The podcast was insightful in some aspects and also brought on moments where I thought to myself “I can relate to that”.  One of the things that I really enjoyed were some of the ideas the participants had about achieving buy-in.  I like the concept of creating a promotional video that includes some key stakeholders such as the one they mentioned with the school board president, superintendent and teacher who was also a key union representative.  I also like that they mentioned that some new projects or initiatives will take time and some can be accepted and implemented quite quickly.  The last piece that really struck a chord with me in terms of implementation and getting buy-in from stakeholders was the use of the term initiative.  When they mentioned that ‘initiatives’ are such a buzz word and a phase that comes and goes throughout education, it was as if I had an epiphany.  Here I was calling our 1:1 iPad adventures an initiative, when really, we’re working to help prepare students for their future by gaining and using technological skills appropriately.  It’s not a phase that will go away, but rather will grow.  I had never considered the term ‘initiative’ to have a negative connotation to it, but given the ‘latest, gotta try it’ phases/books/buzz concepts that so many veteran teachers have been through, I could certainly see how it could be interpreted as such.  

While listening to the team in the podcast, I noticed that they seemed to have a good grasp on who the stakeholders were in their building.  They pointed out the usual ‘suspects’ such as lead teachers and principals and spoke about how starting with one or two teachers can sometimes have a snowball effect.  However, there were three significant stakeholders that they pointed out that had not really occurred to me before: school board president (or the school board in general), parents, and union members.  When you think about it, these make perfect sense.  We need parents to buy in to whatever change the school is trying to make.  Sometimes the more proactive and open we are, as schools, the more parents see the benefit of these changes.  But it’s also critical to have the school board on ‘board’ too.  Our district currently works to have a teacher and students from different grade levels attend every board meeting to showcase how we are integrating technology into the classroom.  After all, our board members are directly connected with our community and so it’s imperative to keep them aware and informed about what and how we are utilizing technology in the classroom. 

The one that struck me as odd at first, but then started to make more sense as they discussed more about it in the podcast was the involvement of some key union members.  As mentioned in the podcast, teachers are being asked to do more with less, in terms of classroom funds, teacher salaries, and planning hours.  When there is a plan to add something more to teacher’s already full plates, I can see the value of having union representatives weigh in on the topic.  A few years ago when I was serving as the tech coach, some teachers were asked to share how they were integrating technology into their classrooms during professional development times and sometimes at ‘sharing sessions’ not required by contract.  This brought up some contradictory opinions on whether or not teachers should feel pressured to share at these situations.  

This district really seemed to have a grasp on how to motivate teachers by providing incentives or stipends for completing programs/trainings or even conducting the trainings themselves.  I think another key advantage was that they worked to utilize their local teachers to provide the training rather than bringing someone in from the outside.  There is a level of trust and familiarity that comes from using in-district teachers rather than out-of-district presenters.  Plus the ability to follow up or continue learning with the presenters is certainly an option when they teach in the same district.  

One point mentioned in the podcast that really stood out to me was the need to separate your tech integration specialist from your tech support staff.  This one hit home.  Most likely because I served as one of 6 ‘tech mentors’ in my district last year.  Much like they described in the interview, this person often is the first one people to turn to for tech support (my iPad won’t mirror or my internet’s not working).  While I agree with the statements in the podcast about ‘just in time’ tech support, when you are serving as a full-time teacher with tech mentor status on top of that, it’s difficult to provide and not entirely what our districts had envisioned in the first place.  
        While listening to the podcast, I really enjoyed hearing from individuals who worked cohesively as a team to create a positive environment for change and progress in terms of technology in their district.