Classroom conditions & technology innovations (Week 2)

Leadership in Digital & Collaborative Learning (LDC) - Reflective practice and Key Competencies in leading

Week 2 Required reading: 'Conditions for Classroom Technology Innovations'

The primary purpose of this study (by Yong Zhao, Kevin Pugh, Stephen Sheldon & Joe L Byers) was to look at why teachers don't innovate when they are given computers. It also looked into why teachers don't integrate computers into teaching in more effective ways. 

School site conditions that influence successful integration of technology with classroom instruction was measured and teachers in Michigan were given funds to innovate with technology in their classrooms.

The success of classroom technology innovations was found to be:

1. influenced by teacher as the innovator, 
2. the project as the innovation, 
3. the school as the context.

An explanation of the three domains:

The Innovator/ The Teacher 

- Technology proficiency: is not only about having the knowledge to use a specific piece of hardware or software, but also means the understanding of technologies and conditions that enable the use of it.

- Pedagogical compatibility: is about the consistency between a teacher's pedagogical practice and the technology. When the technology to be integrated fits the content being taught and the teaching style of the teacher, odds are better to successfully implement a technology-based project.

- Social awareness: is when a teacher understands and is able to negotiate social aspects of the school culture. Projects are more likely to be implemented successfully by social savvy teachers.

The Innovation/ The Project

- Distance: this was found to be important in three areas; distance from the existing school culture (Degree to which the innovation differs from the set values, pedagogical beliefs, and practices of the teachers and administrators in a school), distance from existing practice (how innovation differs from previous practice) and distance from available technological resources (new technology or purchases needed for completion of tasks) . 

- Dependence: refers to the degree that an innovation relies on other people or resources beyond the innovator’s immediate control. (i.e., technologies that the teacher controlled in his or her own classroom) as less dependent than innovations which required the involvement of other teachers, administrators, or outside technologies (such as a computer lab or district server).

The Context/ The School

Three aspects of the school context were identified to be of central importance to the success or failure of an innovation:

- The human infrastructure (meaning the organizational arrangement to support technology integration in the classroom and a human infrastructure that would include a flexible and responsive technical staff, a knowledgeable and communicative group of people who can help the teacher understand and use technologies for his or her own classroom needs and a supportive and informed administrative staff) 

- The technological infrastructure (is technological resources, such as hardware, software, and connectivity of a school. These were in most cases inadequate) 

- Social support (is important for the level of degree to which peers supported or discouraged the innovator)

Summing up:

The study outlines the impact technology can have on teaching and learning when systematically incorporated into the classroom lesson/unit plans and how available hardware, networks, and content applications will be used to help carry out instructional objectives. 

Another point addressed was the impact of technology on teaching and learning as a function and the extend to which it is systematically incorporated into instructional planning to include curriculum, technology and teaching strategies matched to students' learning needs.

20th or 21st Century Skills (Week 2)

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - 21st Century Skills

Week 2 Task: Reflect how 20th century and 21st century skills differ? Do we need both?

One example...

and another one...

Reflection:
20th Century Skills were about knowledge and how to 'survive' in the industrial age whilst 21st Century Skills are all about collaboration, innovation, skilled communication, knowledge construction etc.

To put it simply, some stuff 'from the past' is still important, but the context needs to be different. Thanks for this insight Daniel Birch. (Mentioned in 'More than a beanbag' PL & D session.)

~ "Learning is more effective when it is an active rather than a passive process" - Euripides ~

Recognising and celebrating the Key Competencies (Week 2)

Leadership in Digital & Collaborative Learning (LDC) - Reflective practice and Key Competencies in leading

Week 2 Task: 

• Reflect: How might teachers’ strengths in developing capabilities in thinking, using language, symbols and texts, managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing, be recognised and celebrated?
• Reflect: How might students’ capabilities in thinking, using language, symbols, and texts, managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing, be recognised and celebrated?

Questions that need answering from the online form:
Personal KC strengths: 

• Relating to others
• Participating and Contributing
• Managing Self
• Using language, symbols and texts

Which KC's to develop:

• Thinking
• Managing Self (by creating a balance between work and personal life)

How does your own KCs have an impact on your leadership?

• 'Relating to others': Positive relationships are essential to interact effectively and to go beyond the traditional bounds of leadership. To me the key to connecting with others is dialogue. I think it is important to genuinely listen to someone else's point of view. Most importantly you have to remember that you are working with a person. (A previous post 'Don't take it  personally' - Really? explained this more).
• 'Participating and Contributing': Many, many years ago, my Personal Learning Network (PLN) used to consist only of school staff. Now I am actively involved in communities like Educamps, Education Conferences, the Virtual Learning Network, Twitter, Google+, N4L Pond and many more. I found all these tools to be valuable for making connections with others and can't imagine a more creative way to discuss the needs for future focus learning with fellow professionals and cherish the opportunity of having teachers and school leaders working together locally as well as globally.
• 'Managing Self': I not only use my PLN to help me with my wondering, to help me grow as a leader and also as a LEARNER, but also find that setting personal goals and high standards are essential for self-motivation.
• 'Using language, symbols and texts': By using technologies, I do think that I am providing information and communicate with others by expressing my personal view and ideas.

How does your own KCs help you to create an environment and activities that foster your students' KCs?

Being a role model and by modelling a 'Growth Mindset', I show that I am always learning.

Related Media:

• Mary Anne Murphy links the key competencies with the skills and qualities of leadership.
• The 8 Mindframes John Hattie think we all need.

Now for the reflection...

• Reflect: How might teachers’ strengths in developing capabilities in thinking, using language, symbols and texts, managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing, be recognised and celebrated?

In one of Dr Vikram Murthy's 'Voyager: Collaborative inquiry and Collective wisdom' sessions [that I am also involved in] we learnt about 'Signature Strengths' (which refers to those character strengths that are most essential to who we are). So, when you 'transform' your job to use your strengths and virtues more often, your work becomes more enjoyable and it will transform into a calling (which is the most satisfying form of work, because it is done for its own sake rather for the material benefit it might bring) Therefore, it should be quite easy to celebrate and recognise the outcome of how capabilities are being developed when using the Key Competencies and their impact on teaching and learning when all this is taken in consideration [I think].

• Reflect: How might students’ capabilities in thinking, using language, symbols, and texts, managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing, be recognised and celebrated?

Recognise students with awards in assembly, celebrate achievements, praise by using positive phrases and even a thumbs up accompanied with a smile.

~ "Learners are most likely to develop and strengthen their capabilities for living and learning when they learn with teachers in a school whose leadership creates conditions that stimulate key competencies." - NZC online

21st Century Skills (Week 2)

This week's topic was 21st Century Skills and one of the tasks from week 1 was to Prepare for the Week 2 session by watching the video "What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills".

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - 21st Century Skills

Week 2 Task: Think about what skills do our learners need in this Knowledge Age and time of Hyper Change?

• What are the most important skills in our classrooms (My thoughts: growth mindset, communication, critical thinking, collaboration, asking more questions than having/giving answers, curiosity) and how do they align with the ITL (Innovative Teaching and Learning) research?
• What skills do 21st century learners need to thrive? Immediately my thoughts went to: citizenship, global awareness as classmates/ co-workers may live across the globe, critical thinking, communication, creativity, collaboration, creativity (but with only room to identify 5 skills, I opt for: Growth Mindset, communication, critical thinking, collaboration and global awareness).

Here are the 21st Century Skills chosen tonight:

Think of how the 21st century skills match up with the Key Competencies:

21st century skills	Key Competencies
Collaboration Knowledge Construction Self Regulation Real World Problems/Innovations ICT for learning Skilled Communication	Thinking Relating to others Understanding language, symbols and texts Managing Self Participating and Contributing

We were introduced to film making and looked at the structure of what makes a good movie. Tip: Good FREE music to add to movies: http://freemusicarchive.org/

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - 21st Century Skills

Week 2 Group Task: Film, edit and publish a 21st Century Skills related short film

Our group (Clare, Graham, Brigitte, Liz and I) were given one of the ITL research 21st century skills and an activity rubric to create a video. Our set topic: ICT for Learning.

Here's our group, feeling relaxed after planning, designing and creating our video collaboratively.

~ "Investing in education and providing 21st century skills for students are fundamental components to the nation's continued growth and prosperity." - Craig Barrett ~

The Revised NZC - Implications for School Leaders (Week 1)

Leadership in Digital & Collaborative Learning (LDC) - Thought Leadership & Epistemology

Week 1 Required reading: 'Reconceptualising Leadership: The Implications of the Revised NZC for School Leaders

Extracts from the case study:

The theoretical framework of this project draws on the work of Gilbert (2005) with reference to the ‘knowledge society’. Gilbert challenged long-held views about education and knowledge, making a distinction between knowledge conceptualised as a noun and a verb. Knowledge conceptualised as a noun tends to enable autocratic and bureaucratic styles of leadership, while knowledge conceptualised as a verb may enable democratic, distributed and transformational styles of leadership, which are necessary for the effective implementation of the NZC,

Beachum and Dentith (2004) identified the structure of the school and school system leadership as the first obstacle that needs to be examined. Therefore, for the qualities of teacher leaders to be cultivated, a shift in leadership practices is also necessary (Wynnem, 2001). Crowther, Kaagan, Fergusson, and Hann (2002) have examined the role of principals in fostering teacher leadership through distributed leadership and collective ownership of visions and processes in schools (Table 1).

The revised NZC required a significant shift for many schools. It required much greater collaboration amongst teachers, leaders, students and parents. I felt strongly that the notion of knowledge as a verb (Gilbert, 2005) could be enacted in robust curriculum leadership that broke disciplinary silos. If the idea of knowledge as a noun is what creates separation between disciplines, seeing knowledge as a verb would imply seeing each discipline as a community of practice (Gilbert, 2005) which could establish links with other communities of practice. This space of linkages would give teachers a perfect opportunity to perform their leadership, to see their disciplines, themselves and their students differently, which would in turn enable more equitable practices.

Distinctions between an understanding of knowledge as a noun or a verb (Table 2).

 Focus towards the principles of the revised NZC (Table 3).

The many changes in schools appear to have overwhelmed teachers and leaders and many felt insecure. 

A change of culture goes hand in hand with a change of conceptualisations of knowledge and of leadership. Leaders not only need to see their role differently, but engage and relate differently with their day-to-day realities. This transition requires safe spaces for thinking and coming to terms with these new relationships. 

Although one cannot change another person, a person may change as a result of something you do. Effecting change in others is an explicit part of the job of an adviser and a leader.

Key goal: improving my ability to effect change (i.e., provoke learning) in others.

A test was: to develop patience and understanding, to think about best way for me to challenge people’s thinking and methods and to interrogate my own views that there was a ‘way’ things should be done.

Conclusion:

- The NZC challenges us to think very deeply about core values and beliefs and how these might look in practice. 

- There is evidence that distributed leadership is emerging as a desired goal. 

- We need to question the long-held views of the centrist role of the principal (Crowther et al., 2002). Principals are trying to do this but they need more support because it involves changing identities for them and teachers (Alsup, 2005; Bendixen, 2010). Such shifts can sometimes conflict with expectations about leadership that emerge from boards of trustees, communities and government agencies. It will be interesting to observe how traditional hierarchies of leadership in schools will be renegotiated in the future.

- Most schools had developed their ‘visions’ for what they wanted graduates to be, but few had gone the next step of asking what those visions meant for programmes and plans in any comprehensive way. The emphasis has been largely on components of NZC.

- While distributed leadership could bring about more cohesive and collaborative curriculum development, existing traditional and hierarchical modes of leadership (supported by accountability processes) create a strong constraint.

- A change of perception in school leadership could help principals and middle leadership to share leadership and ownership of curriculum development.

Reference: CASE STUDY - Towards Reconceptualising Leadership: The Implications of the Revised NZC for School Leaders (Wayne Freeth, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand)

Personal View:
- As  a transformer a school leader should help people grow and encourage them to speak out and share their view.
- School leaders should go beyond the traditional bounds of leadership and understand that dialogue is the key to connecting with others
- Have a 'Growth Mindset' to show colleagues, parents, students and community members that you are always learning.

What hamper us most in life, is the picture in our heads of how it is supposed to be. You do not have to be in a leadership position to lead. In being a role-model you can lead and inspire people from where you are.

Intend of learning and visibility in my classroom (Week 1)

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - The Purpose of Education

Week 1 Task: Reflect on how your understanding of the purpose of education is visible in your classroom.

The purpose of education (in my perception) is to empower my learners to embrace the 4 C’s (Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity) which will enable them to:

• use sources of information to share thoughts, questions, ideas and solutions
• actively participate with other learners,  to enable them to work and learn effectively
• ask questions to feed their curiosity, to develop their understanding and to make links to their learning
• come up with new ideas and trying to do things differently

Positive relationships, knowledge of individual learners, giving learners a voice and choice (learner agency) and a happy and safe learning environment is crucial to facilitate learning.

How is education visible in my classroom?

• Learning is prominently displayed in the classroom
• Our learning is shared locally and globally by using our class blog and individual blogs
• Class Wiki with Individual Learning Plan for learners (and many other learning areas)
• Participate in KidsedchatNZ discussions using our class twitter account
• Being involved in Quadblogging Aotearoa

The purpose of ‘why’ we are learning something should be very clear to all and learners should be able to be thinkers and risk takers in a sheltered environment.

~ "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." - Albert Einstein ~

Change: Hard or Uncomfortable? (Week 1)

Digital & Collaborative Learning (DCL) - The Purpose of Education

Week 1 Task: Prepare for the Week 2 session by watching the video "What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills".

The rate of change in the world demands that we re-imagine and restructure the foundational learning relationship among students, teachers, and knowledge. In September 2012, pursuing a decades-long passion for transformational education, Grant packed up his Prius and set off on a solo, nationwide research tour to discover what schools are doing to prepare students for an evolving future.

Notes:
We are on a journey to disrupt...

Bad news:
Schools are not very good at innovation. Schools are not ready to take risks. They struggle with change and innovation.

Good news:
For every problem you encounter, there is a school right down the road who have solved that particular problem even though they have another problem.

Institutional change is really hard. Change in most of our schools is uncomfortable, it’s complicated, it’s messy. Look deeply inside and think about the difference between hard and uncomfortable and get beyond that. Schools are becoming dynamic, noisy and messy. Empathy is embedded in our goals and we're taking the time to think about bounds between constant innovation and strengths and cores of tradition that make us strong. Schools are becoming creative spaces.

What good performing schools have in common is that they are: 

Adaptive, Permeable, Relevant, Self-correcting, Dynamic, Creative 

These are the characteristics and drivers of a natural ecosystem, the same characteristics and drivers that determine the success or failure of a choral reef, rain forest, grass land or a pond. They are fundamentally different than the drivers and characteristics of our current and past industrial age model.

One of the real frustrations is that we keep trying to put that square peg of the industrial age model into the round circle of the ecosystem that we know represents great learning.

Right now we are living through the explosion of the 'Cognitosphere' (the system of knowledge creation and management). This is the network that our schools, teachers, students have to participate in and be active in, because this is how we are going to connect in the world going forward as we are a knowledge based industry.

Where do we want to be as educators? What is great learning look like? Dewey (who believed that students should be involved in real-life tasks and challenges) and Montessori told us what it looks like.

Three things to keep us from getting back to Dewey:

1. Adults have conducted a series of anchors, based on ego (my time, my space/classroom and my subject) and our control or intent to control education, rather than that being controlled by the students. 
2. Dams we build by beating out innovation and creativity and then putting students into packets of time, space and subject. 
3. Silos that we constructed around ourselves prohibit us and keep us from communicating, collaborating, networking which are the key to innovation and change.

When schools break these three things down, innovation is exploding.

What do we have to do in this time of rapid change?

• Teach into the unknown (which is difficult, messy, uncomfortable and unfamiliar)
• Self-evolving learners (we don't know the skills student will need in their future so we need to teach them to meet challenges in their 'future world')
• Self-evolving organizations (in order for us to teach students to be self-evolving learners we need to embrace constant change)

What is education innovation?
Preparing our students for their future, not our past.

Challenge for us:
We have to stop talking so much about what great learning and great education looks like and just start doing it by aggressively start to implement innovation in our schools. We should not wait for another generation of students to miss out on great learning opportunities and engagement that we know define great learning.

~ ... if we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow..." 
- John Dewey ~