Noelle Kreider's List: Educational Reform

• A new medium does not add something; it changes everything.
• The way news can be instantly delivered from anyone with one of these devices and a social media account, is changing how we live our lives
• the way people use technology is important, but again, when used in a certain way, it transforms.

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• The U.S. Department of Education (2010) asserts that a revolutionized education system requires that every teacher be a connected teacher.
• educators must be brought up to speed with high-quality professional development.
• educators must be brought up to speed with high-quality professional development.
• "ensure students and educators have broadband access to the Internet and adequate wireless connectivity both in and out of school"
• defines "adequate" as having the ability to use the Internet, high-bandwidth resources, multimedia tools, and collaborative environments in school, on the surrounding campus, throughout the community, and at home
• "ensure that every student and educator has at least one Internet access device and appropriate software and resources for research, communication, multimedia content creation, and collaboration for use in and out of school…. [T]hese devices may be owned by the student or family, owned by the school, or some combination of the two. The use of devices owned by students will require advances in network filtering and improved support systems" (p. xix).
• Educators need to be purposeful when designing curricula that meet students' needs with or without the latest gadgets.
• Before allowing students to bring their own devices to school, administrators must consider relevant legal issues, the educational benefits that students will gain, and the potential for great embarrassment for kids who bring outdated equipment or have nothing at all bring. What about kids who bring cell phones to a class filled with iPads? What then for these students? Also, students must purchase accessories and data plans and incur the long-term costs of subscriptions.
• What are the school's responsibilities for personal devices, and what are the student's responsibilities for school-owned devices? What happens if equipment borrowed from the school is stolen, damaged, or corrupted? What cost would be put back on students who might not otherwise have had the means to own such devices? As technology becomes more integrated into every school, what can schools do to lessen the liability for families when accidents happen?
• digital divide is actually more complicated than previously thought.
• Because of the high rates of cell phone usage, many experts assume that, across the board, access is no longer an issue and that young people understand and are proficient in the use of technology. This assumption masks a skill differential between youth who are consuming media and those who are producing it.
• it's less about access to technology and more about participation. That is, the quality of engagement, what people are doing with the technology they have access to" (NPR Staff, 2011, para. 7).
• While it is fair to say that the young people are using technology, it's not accurate to say they are all using technology at a high level to perform complex tasks.
• Schools are finding that tech funding is going to have to come through competitive federal grants, foundation grants, or partnerships, which is where the Education Department suggests they look.
• one of the biggest obstacles to acquiring, implementing, and maintaining the technology infrastructure in schools includes staff professional development
• The real question isn't whether teachers can use technology, but rather what are they using it for? Are students being asked to do new things or address new challenges? And how does technology require teaching practices, instructional designs, and pedagogy to change?

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• the digital divide within school buildings
• there are still strands of students who barely access the technology in meaningful ways.
• two similar students in the same school could progress through several grade levels together, yet each could receive drastically different exposure to technology use during their school careers -- in some cases, just by random teacher placement: One student happens to get teachers who aren't big technology users several years in a row, while others get someone who integrates it seamlessly
• Some kids are getting a double whammy -- no technology at home and little at school. How do we address this version of the digital divide, inequity of access within a school -- either because some teachers still aren't using technology much, or because some still use it in a way that might prevent certain students from having much direct exposure?

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• urban districts tend to have greater distance between the chief technology officer and those who actually use instructional technology
• common themes--like buy-in, flexibility, professional development--emerge as essential elements to achieving success
• four-year strategic initiative that would provide every full-time classroom teacher with a state-of-the-art, dual-platform MacBook
• In developing the plan, Dodd and her colleagues collaborated with key stakeholders
• There has to be a vision and strategies for implementing technology in the district, and then you have to align budgets to those core strategies so that everyone is supporting them
• find ways to bring staff from disparate district departments together in a way that supported the broader technology vision. She used the development of a district technology plan as an opportunity to promote such cross-departmental teamwork
• online assessment survey
• ensuring that everyone operates from the same playbook
• San Diego Unified School District as it launched its ambitious i21 Interactive Classroom initiative in 2009. The initiative, which is being rolled out over five years, provides 1-to-1 computing access in grades 3 to 12 for every school in a district that has approximately 130,000 students and 7,500 teachers. The program also provides interactive whiteboards, document cameras, laptops, audiovisual systems, student response systems, and other tools for teachers, all as part of an effort to transform the learning environment.
• by grade level rather than all at once
• adopt pilot projects to explore emerging technologies in a small number of classrooms as a way of learning about best practices before expanding them across the district
• "internal competition innovation" strategy, creating incentives for principals to innovate, for example, by rewarding schools that save on utility bills with dollars that they can use for technology investments
• fostering innovation based on autonomous control of programs and decisions at the schools
• variety of new technology-centered approaches popping up throughout the district
• a seamless platform of software programs, called Links to Learning. The program provides supplemental online curriculum content to support individualized student learning beyond the end of the school day. Tools in reading, mathematics, and science are targeted to students based on needs.
• Access and equity are equally important, particularly in districts where there is great socio-economic diversity.
• plans are currently underway to take i21 to the next level in its third year through Learning on the Go, which will provide students with 3G broadband connections for their mobile devices, ensuring that they have 24/7 high-speed access. The program is being made possible by a $1 million grant from the Federal Communications Commission--the largest such award in the nation.
• Teacher training is critical to the success
• Teachers were required to attend a two-hour orientation on the educational software that was installed on their laptops
• provides ongoing professional development on the use of the technology in the classroom, and works with curriculum departments to include use of the technology in their own professional development efforts
• Technology Integration Project, in which all 6,000 teachers receive Tablet PCs, digital projectors, content-specific professional development, and ongoing support from education technology teachers
• observe a colleague putting them to use in the same content area and are able to discuss with the teacher, both before and after, how the technology supports curricular goals
• bond measure passed by San Diego voters
• Boston Public Schools pursued a lease model
• held a Techno Expo. "We invited parents, school board members, and others in the community to come see what our kids are doing with the technology that they have invested so heavily in
• -departing from a one-size-fits-all approach and utilizing technology to provide opportunity for acceleration, remediation, and empowerment
• Miami-Dade has restructured its capital debt, back-loading some of its liabilities
• maximize interest-free bond opportunities to the federal government, and maximize E-Rate reimbursements
• need to have a strong, visionary leader who recognizes changing student needs and instructional styles, is able to convey these changes in a way that inspires staff to follow, has aligned resources to deliver professional development, and has gotten buy-in and support from parents, voters, and business partners

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