As the year winds down the work speeds up...at least at my school. One of the projects we are undertaking is the transitioning to 1:1 with netbooks for our 6th, 7th and 8th grades in the Fall of 2009. It is both an exciting and daunting task. Our school has worked for three years to build a vision for the importance of technology integration, connectedness, global awareness and the skills the students will need for their futures. We are a tuition based school and with 63% of the students living at or below the poverty level and therefore it is not easy for the parents or school to make this a reality but we believe it is a critical component in assuring the students an excellent and relevant education.

In brief we are committed to the idea that students:

Must understand how to function professionally in a digitally connected learning environment and workspace
Must be able to communicate clearly in the global arena
Must be able to find and use information not just memorize a textbook
Must be creative, collaborative, problem solver who use critical thinking to come up with innovative solutions

Among the many tasks this project demands of us over the summer months one is spending time refining our understanding of the paradigm shift in pedagogy that 1:1 requires, and building a set of curriculum resources which take advantage of this change. (We certainly do not want to use new technology simply as an expensive pencil or worksheet). . With the news of California moving toward online textbooks the discussion on the web have increased about textbooks , their relative worth and what the ideal scenario might be for such an online resource..In a live discussion on Friday with a number of people on this topic there were a few principals that resonated with me. In part, what I want for our students is access to primary sources, to multimedia, resources, interactivity, real time discoveries, connectedness with other learners and with experts ( locally and globally), and an opportunity to contribute. I realize that this is a tall order but in my opinion it is also supports authentic learning that will produce life long learners,

Building our set of resources is one of the fun parts of this project and so I freely admit, it is what I work on when everything else is overwhelming. It has lead me down some interesting paths and into a few very promising discoveries. Two of which I want to share with you. The first is Flexbooks which from CK-12. Their mission statement says it all.....
“CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-content, web-based collaborative model termed the “FlexBook,” CK-12 intends to pioneer the generation and distribution of high quality educational content that will serve both as core text as well as provide an adaptive environment for learning.”

The second resource is entirely different but very interesting because it harness the power of being connectedness. It is the Open Source Teaching Project. This site provides a platform for connections between business professionals and students from Middle School through College. It provides for dynamic interactions, real world connections and the assignments posted so far are al about critical thinking and application of knowledge.

Both sites are worth exploring , both have tremendous potential and both need our involvement to help them grow into the rich and flexible resources our teachers and students need. Exploring what it means to go 1:1 pushes us to consider more fully exactly what it means to be a learner in a connected world and it challenges us as educators to envision, locate and develop the best possible resources for our students.

Barbara Barreda
Cross posted to Dare2Dream

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When the twelfth of the month rolls around I always find myself wondering what is on the mind of other administrators right now. Does my little corner of the world reflect their reality? I have always found May and June to be one of the most difficult times of year from an administrative perspective. That is because I have my feet firmly planted in two realities. First is the immediate reality including final staff evaluations, graduation, final exams and all of the paper work that the end of each year brings. The other is a future but no less immediate reality, that is all of the planning and work that takes place to set budgets, staff, calendar, schedules and curriculum for the next school year. Sometimes I long to be back in the classroom with its definite endings and beginnings. There was something wonderful about the cyclical cleaning and closing of your room in June and then returning after summer to open your room and prepare for a new year. How can I bring that same mentality to my work which never seems to end?

It seems that this is good time of year to take personal stock of our work. It is time to really talk with our administrative teams and to be willing to let go of some of those "great ideas" and refocus our priorities. Many of us are visionaries and idea people who always are forging ahead to the point that we are exhausted and may not be making the progress we want with what is truly important. So I propose that we join our teachers in the ritual of closing down the school year by taking stock of our office and jettisoning the bottom 20%... the things that are good ideas but not great or critical. Drop those projects and ideas that would be “nice” to do some day. Will Richardson recently called for schools to have Chief Learning Officers. Perhaps that should help us define what we set as priorities. Will this project, this task improve our learning community? Will it facilitate or support excellence in teaching and learning?

So I challenge you to join your teachers by marking on your calendar that day they are closing their classrooms as your day to figuratively close this year in your office. Empty your inbox, re-do your files, clean out your drawers and re-evaluate your priorities and set a new agenda that will carry you into the 2009-2010 school year with fresh perspective and hope.

Barbara Barreda

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This week is the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) conference and several ideas have been running through my head as I have scanned my RSS feeds and worked on my presentation. As an educational leader and an occasional speaker I want to understand the dynamics of my own learning. The questions I am asking are: Why do I/we attend conferences? Do I/we lead by example? Am I an "Open Educator", whose professional, thinking, learning and reflecting are transparent? How does professional development support and encourage transformation?

I look for the conference experience to be an inspiration and catalyst for change. For me, a conference is most powerful when it creates personal network connections and carries learning beyond the confines of the space and time of the conference.This is critical to effective professional development because isolated talks without reflective conversation rarely produce change. Research by Linda D.Hammond of Stanford tells us that in order for professional development to be effective it must be focused and ongoing (a minimum of 50 hours) to effect change. The same study talks about sending a team to professional development opportunities to reap the full benefit. This can easily be extrapolated to suggest the strong benefit of focused professional networking like Classroom 2.0 on ning or the other personal learning networks. In addition I have come to expect my conference experience to be dynamic and interactive. But what about when it is not interactive and dynamic; can I by my response, by bringing my reflections online make that happen?

What do you look for from professional conferences? What responsibility do we have to use these opportunities and make them effective opportunities for growth? The conference experience certainly goes much deeper than attending sessions because often the conversations are at least as important as the sessions.

The session I am preparing for this particular conference will focus on a 21st century classroom as one that is not about tools but rather is a classroom with very ThinWalls and which emphasizes the pedagogues of connectedness, global awareness, digital literacy,and innovative and critical thinking. I am sure one could argue about this definition but for the sake of focus and clarity the topic had to be limited. The more I delve into the topic however the more convinced I am that a lecture style session can, at best, only skim the top of the waves ( this is not a tech conference and there will be little or no connectivity). Therefore, I struggle with the question of how do we effect change? How do I motivate and entice others to explore these concepts? And how well do I am embody these concepts? Today however I read a great blog post from Ewan McIntosh in Scotland that put it all into perspective. (You really need to read the whole post and watch the video). I can agonize over encouraging and coaxing forth change in myself and others or I can embrace change as dynamic, exciting and engaging. I want the audience to walk away believing that "Change is fascinating, challenging, interesting. Making your [school/classroom] interesting will make people want to work there more and better."

I want to face change and new ideas with these questions and I want all those who attend my session to ask these questions.

"When you're faced with a challenge, a potential outside change, a new idea, ask yourself the following questions, and ask those around you, too:

1. What does this challenge?
2. How can I participate/play?
3. What is the offer in this thought for me? (not if they're right or wrong)
4. Where do these things suggest things are going? and what can I do now?
5. How might engaging with this make [our schools/clasrooms] more interesting [and more effective]?"

[...] my adaptations of content
Barbara Barreda
Picture b Leo Reynolds http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/105283580/

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Last week I attended the Computer Using Educators ( CUE) Conference in Palm Springs California and so I thought I would post a few of the ideas that caught my attention. It is always good to meet with other educators and discuss the needs of today’s students, best practices and unfolding developments, especially in the area of technology integration.

One of the things I noticed at this year’s conference was a subtle shift in the conversation. Most of the sessions I attended which spoke about technology tools did so from the perspective of the pedagogy and learning application instead of being “how to” sessions focused on learning the tool itself. This is a very important shift because it underscores the concept that the technology needs to be transparent and that the Web 2.0 revolution in education is not about the tool it is about learning. As one presenter stated “technology is the way to achieve the learning goal where the kids live.” This year there was also more discussion of data and research. eg. Robert Marzano presented data on the integration of technology and student test scores, and Hal Davidson spoke about a study from BYU on the use of video/media in Math instruction. While there is still need for more researched based data to support the anecdotal evidence on technology integration and best practice it was nice to see this data included in the presentations.

While there were many great ideas from the conference there are three that I want to focus on here. First is the book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton Christensen , Curtis W. Johnson and , Michael B. Horn . Perhaps you have already heard about or read this book but I encountered it for the first time at the CUE conference and I believe it is an essential read for all administrators. We know change is needed, we know change is coming but this book pushes the envelope and can be the catalyst for some deep thinking and conversation. It also reminds us that the change that is coming will be anything but business as usual.. I have not finished the book yet but I hope there will be future posts and conversations here about its message. One thing is certain the revolution is not about how much technology we can put into our classrooms but it is about how we meet the needs of our students. in addition to this book you may want to take a look at the authors blog of the same name, Disrupting Class, here.

Next, if you have not already done so, take time to review the International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE). current draft of the National Technology Standards for Administrators. While I was at CUE I attended a discussion of the draft for these standards and if they are to be effective it is important that we all take time to read them , reflect on our role as technology leaders and offer our ideas and insights to clarify that role.. If you do not have the opportunity to attend a live session to discuss the draft of the standards there is an online survey which you can fill out to share your ideas and reflections ( or you can offer to organize a discussion in your district).

Finally I would like to share a tool that is new to me and which makes the top ten in my list of technology tools for administrators. It has a very easy learning curve and it has made my work easier. Do you have to transfer files between computers? Do you ever use email files or a flash drive to transfer files from home to work, or from you laptop to your desktop Do you email files to a colleague or work collaboratively on documents? If so, take the time to look at Dropbox . It is free, and it automatically syncs all types of files, from spreadsheets and documents to photos or pdf files between computers. It is a very simple download and now all of my documents are on each of my computers and also stored on the internet. Yesterday a colleague wanted a copy of a lengthy document and with one click of a mouse I shared my folder with him through dropbox. I know I sound like a commercial but I can’t resit a free tool that actually makes me more efficient because both time and money are rare commodities in my world.

*PS For those Kindle folks like me there is a Kindle edition available of Disrupting Class
Barbara Barreda

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What happens on a daily basis in the classrooms of a school committed to 21st century learning? What would you expect to see? Students in most every room busy with computers or handheld electronics?

All too often I think that many people equate the equipment like interactive white boards, and new state of the art computers with a good technology program. Don’t get me wrong having good equipment is always nice but it is just the window dressing. Likewise visiting classrooms and seeing students busy on computers can be equally deceptive.

The heart of a quality program is much deeper than either of these outward signs. A recent experience with some visitors on campus made me realize that it is difficult to clearly give voice to the deepest levels of transformation that are foundational and formative for a school curriculum that is focused on 21st century skills like researching, validating information, using information to construct new meaning and becoming effective communicators in a digital world. On the surface a lot of this kind of learning can look much more traditional than many might expect. It is the underlying assumptions, the goals and the applications of learning that is radically different but not always the delivery. For example, an eighth grade class embarked on a two and a half week project with a partner class in another country. Each student was going to make a photostory about why their country was important to them. The project started with a skype video call- an easily observable application of technology. For the next 2 weeks however an outside observer would see little classroom use of technology because the students were engaged in a whole host of critical thinking activities, learning about storyboards, making drafts and discussing ideas for concepts and pictures, writing scripts, discussing copyrights, imagery, writing styles and a host of other things. Finally, time would be spent producing the photostory another easily observable application of technology. These students were actively engaged in 21st century learning even though they were only using technology tools a very small percentage of the time.

So here is the challenge. What is a meaningful measure of a schools integration of technology and/or of a schools commitment to the kind of learning I defined above as 21st century skills.? And the corollary question How do we create an understanding among the stakeholders in the educational community that effective technology integration is not measured by the amount of time students are using computers but rather by the framework and context of learning?

Barbara Barreda

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Recently a colleague posted a link to an article from the denverrpost.com, a Colorado newspaper site. The headline reads “Adams 50 skips grades, lets kids be pacesetters.” The concept is pretty straight forward but its underlying model and the actual implementation of the program require us to really stretch our thinking about teaching, learning and school itself.

The concept is to do away with age as a determining factor in school placement, teach to the standards and use student mastery levels rather than traditional grades to determine placement. I hope you will take time to read the whole article but here are a couple of quotes to get you started:

"In a standards-based system, time becomes the variable and learning is the constant," Selleck said. "When a kid can demonstrate proficiency of a standard, they move on. There is nothing magical about a quarter, semester or the end of school. That becomes blurred. Learning becomes much more 24-7."

"Credit hours and grade levels were replaced with tailored lessons. Students were grouped by proficiency, not age. To advance, they had to show mastery in 10 standards from academics to personal skills."

In our digitally connected world where knowledge and learning opportunities have become almost ubiquitous this model may be very timely indeed. However, rather than seeing it as a solution for underachieving schools I see it as addressing the needs of all of today’s students.

We know that the assembly line method of education does not work well. We also know that all students can learn but in different ways and at different times. With the ever changing information landscape, and our limited ability to predict the skills our students will need or the future jobs for which we are, preparing them there is one constant. All of us must have the ability to access, evaluate, and use information. We have to be able to adapt to new situations and to think outside the box. A model like the one described in the article is well suited to this kind of learning. One caveat however would be that in my opinion, mastery must focus not on the knowledge itself but on how that knowledge is applied.

Another model, which also embraces many of the same ideas, is the idea of multiage classrooms, which has recently re-appeared. One of the best articles on multiage classrooms can be found at the North Central Regional Laboratory (NCREL). Both the idea of multiage classrooms and the "no grade" concept at Adams 50 represent ideas we have ponder in our school community for the last several years. It will be interesting to follow the unfolding reality of the program in Adams 50. In the meantime, I think there are some essential conversations, which need to take place. What is mastery? What knowledge and skills would we choose as the “10 standards” per level? How can we facilitate 24-7 learning? How can we extend this kind of learning outside of the walls of our traditional brick and mortar classroom?

Barbara Barreda

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