Effective Professional Development and Assessment Using Digital Content and Web-Based Tools

Technology, Learning and Change: A Webinar Series

This webinar series, based on the new book Technology for Learning: A Guidebook for Change, provides information about the process of creating effective, robust technology initiatives based on real-life practitioners’ successes. The three webinars will focus on the issues that help educators to transform today’s schools into thriving digital learning environments. The goal is to help you to identify and plan for key success factors and strategies that will help you get started, expand your existing program, or take your program to the next level.

2nd in three-part series
Tuesday September 27, 2011 | 1 pm PST / 4 pm EST

Click here to register for this free webinar

Using digital media and web-based content has tremendous potential to transform teaching and learning. It offers students engaging learning opportunities that provide the right level of challenge. In order to get do this effectively, teachers need ongoing, collaborative, and integrated professional development that builds their capacity to transform classrooms, raise student achievement and create high performing schools. As part of the process, educators must assess student performance carefully and adjust instruction to meet learning needs. When all elements are in place, the result is a transformation in teaching and learning. This webinar will focus on using digital content and web-based tools, providing effective professional development, and assessing the impact of change. Leaders from districts that have shown success will discuss how they got to this point and where they intend to take their strategy in the future. 

Presenters 
Marianthe Williams, Director of Technology, River Dell Regional School District, NJ
Leslie Wilson, CEO, One-to-One Institute 

Response to Families and Technology

David Elkind, in his article "Societal Change and the Growing Divide between Knowing and Understanding," from the special 200th issue of Exchange states,

"...What technology has done, particularly for young people, is to widen the gap between what they know and what they can understand....

"Today, children fly radio-controlled planes, or sail radio-controlled boats, which they know how to operate but do not really understand how radio controls work....  And this is true not only for children’s toys, but for all facets of children’s worlds, from television to computers, to cell phones, microwaves, and much more.

"There are, I believe several possible negative consequences to this growing divide between what children know and what they understand.  One of these consequences is that it can discourage, if not kill, curiosity.  When it is really impossible to understand how something works, this discourages any sense of wonder at what is happening or any questioning of why it is happening....

"A second related concern is children’s willingness to accept things on faith and without questioning them.  Jean Piaget once wrote that the aim of education was to create children 'who think for themselves and do not accept the first idea that is presented to them.'

"Yet children today have to accept that much of their world, which is in large measure technological, is beyond their understanding. They know how to watch television, use a computer, and play on a computer or talk and text on a cell phone.  Yet they have little, if any, understanding of the technology that makes what they are doing possible.  This is bad enough for those of us who have not grown up with this technology, but it poses a threat of intellectual passivity in those who have."

Familes and Technology

Exchange Every Day Newsletter reports: A recent report from the Sesame Workshop, "Families Matter: Designing Media for a Digital Age, documents how digital technology is changing the rhythm of family life. The report finds that families are in a transition period, one in which parents recognize the importance of technology in their children’s learning and future success, but don’t always grant them access to the newer forms of media transforming their own adult lives. 

The report offers recommendations to bolster the development of media content that can support learning and encourage adult-child interactions:

• Tailor media platforms for children — Many media platforms are designed for adult use.  Media producers should examine how the features of new platforms (e.g., 3-D, touch screens) relate to children’s developing cognitive, social, and physical capabilities.
• Investigate co-viewing for new media — Research shows that children learn more from television programs when they watch with a parent.  Co-participation should be explored for video games, e-books, tablet devices, and other media that will encourage adults to engage with children in activities to further enhance their learning.
• Foster teamwork — Digital media are often faulted for children spending less time socializing face-to-face with peers and family.  Producers should design content that drives participants to interact and play together.
• Design for healthy development — Adults are concerned that digital media are superseding activities including outdoor exercise, imaginative play, and socializing.  Media producers should look to use technology to get children involved in these foundational activities.

Middle School Students Share What Learned in Blogs

Students at a Pittsburgh-area middle school are blogging about what they learn during lessons in science, art and other subjects as part of an effort to make 21st-century skills part of the classroom. "The power of classroom blogging is that students are not merely writing to their teachers, what they think the teacher wants to read, and only for a grade," one educational consultant said. "They are writing with the knowledge that at least their classmates will be reading what they are writing and responding to what they are writing." Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

State of the Blogosphere 2008 Report

Technorati has conducted their annual survey since 2004 to discover trends and themes in blogging. However, in 2008, they went beyond the numbers in the Technorati Index and surveyed more than 1.2 million bloggers who have registered with Technorati about the role of blogging in their lives, the tools, time, and resources used to produce their blogs, and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially. The Report was released over a series of days, covering these topics.

• Introduction
• Day 1: Who Are the Bloggers?
• Day 2: The What And Why of Blogging
• Day 3: The How of Blogging
• Day 5: Brands Enter The Blogosphere

Who are the bloggers?

Wikipedia defines blogs as:

• A Blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.
• The Blogosphere collective term encompassing all blogs and their interconnections. It is the perception that blogs exist together as a connected community (or as a collection of connected communities) or as a social network.. Discussions "in the Blogosphere" have been used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues.

The Dynamics of Change and Fear

Carly Fiorina, former HP CEO, was the featured speaker for Stanford's Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Lecture May 2, 2008. This is a short snippet from her lecture that I found appropriate to remember when I am working with early and late majority technology adopters.

1) We are all afraid of something. What distinguishes those who are successful and those who are not is what they do with their fear. Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is acting in spite of fear.

2) Change involves risk-taking. What people are most often afraid of is something new. As people grow older, they become afraid of trying something new; therefore, change is always resisted. The only way to help people overcome their fear is to give them a vision of something that is worth striving for, worth taking the risks for.

3)It is momentum for any organization (family or institution or government) to seek to maintain the status quo. People become invested in maintaining their current position. This is simply human nature.

4) Change has to have enough power (vision) to overcome fear and status quo.

HBCUs and Online Learning

I have decided that I want my population for my dissertation to be 4-year, liberal arts HBCUs--I'm thinking in Georgia and/or South Carolina. I had been tossing that around last year when I took my qualitative class. I went to Academic Search Premier and ProQuest Dissertations to start. I typed in variations of HBCU, technology, adoption, online learning, distance education, course management system, Blackboard, WebCT. I found very few empirical studies utilizing HBCUs. In fact, I found very few discussions period. I did a Google search and search in Questia also. With similar results. Therefore, I sensed a gap in the literature.

In one blog (HBCU-Levers) I found the discussion of DLL (Digital Learning Lab) sponsored by Howard University. Among other things, DLL tracks HBCU participation in distance education. I found a report (2007) where they compared information from HBCU websites to the data gathered by Sloan-C surveys (which I used in my literature review to discuss the development of online learning over the past five years). I added the information about HBCUs to my lit review. In general HBCUs have been slower to adopt. In 2007, 40/103 HBCUs offered online courses—39%. However, I wonder at the penetration. How many courses are offered? How many online programs are offered? DLL did note that too many HBCUs still tend to ask their faculties build too many components themselves—even though all of the institutions employed a course management system (usually Blackboard or WebCT).

One thing that I had not paid attention to originally was that the Sloan-C surveys (and the DLL report) only looked at totally online courses. They didn't measure the level of adoption of web-based technologies (i.e. hybrid/blended learning or web-facilitated courses). I tried to see if there was information on this but ran into a semantic problem. What keywords would be used?

One of the questions I'm thinking of looking at is how the course management systems are used. That would deal with what features are used as well as what teaching practices are incorporated into their usage. I'd like to know whether the CMSs are simply used as document repositories (and essentially duplicating the in-class lecture format) or whether instructors are taking advantage of the various technologies to facilitate the class and then going the next step to integrating the technology into their assessments, etc. Several articles I've read decry the rigidity of course management systems. How does the integrated approach impact instructor's pedagogy? Limited research has been done on the influence of online learning on teaching practices in general. This takes it one step further.

Why Technology Integration?

Today’s students grew up with technology; it is a part of their everyday lives. Technology is revolutionizing how we think, work, and play. Many homes have computers and Internet connections. Technologies such as MP3 players, cell phones, and laptop computers have the ability to empower users in a whole new way—especially with user-created Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and YouTube. The way we interact with the Web has changed from a pull-down model to an interactive, push model. Our students EXPECT technology to be used in the classroom and as a part of their learning experience.

More and more studies show that technology integration improves students’ learning processes and outcomes because students become actively engaged in the learning process. George Lucas’ Educational Foundation, Edutopia, the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) found that, "when used in collaborative learning methods and leadership that is aimed at improving the school through technology planning, technology impacts achievement in content area learning, promotes higher-order thinking and problem solving skills, and prepares students for the workforce.” reported that “

Another reason for technology integration is the necessity of today's students to have 21st Century Skills. The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory defines Digital-Age Literacy as the following:

• Basic Literacy: Language proficiency (in English) and numeracy at levels necessary to function on the job and in society to achieve one's goals and to develop one's knowledge and potential in this Digital Age.
• Scientific Literacy: Knowledge and understanding of the scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.
• Economic Literacy: The ability to identify economic problems, alternatives, costs, and benefits; analyze the incentives at work in economic situations; examine the consequences of changes in economic conditions and public policies; collect and organize economic evidence; and weigh costs against benefits.
• Technological Literacy: Knowledge about what technology is, how it works, what purposes it can serve, and how it can be used efficiently and effectively to achieve specific goals.
• Visual Literacy: The ability to interpret, use, appreciate, and create images and video using both conventional and 21st century media in ways that advance thinking, decision making, communication, and learning.
• Information Literacy: The ability to evaluate information across a range of media; recognize when information is needed; locate, synthesize, and use information effectively; and accomplish these functions using technology, communication networks, and electronic resources.
• Multicultural Literacy: The ability to understand and appreciate the similarities and differences in the customs, values, and beliefs of one's own culture and the cultures of others.
• Global Awareness: The recognition and understanding of interrelationships among international organizations, nation-states, public and private economic entities, sociocultural groups, and individuals across the globe.

“I’m not comfortable with technology” or “this is the way I was taught,” or “this is how I’ve taught for 10-15-20 years,” or “I don’t want to seem dumb in front of the students” can no longer be viable excuses. As society changes, the skills needed to negotiate the complexities of life also change. At the turn of the century (1900s), a person who had acquired simple reading, writing, and calculating skills was considered literate. There is an information explosion. Our students must learn HOW to access the information, HOW to analyze and evaluate it, HOW to use it to make personal and socially responsible decisions, HOW to communicate across cultures for interpersonal and presentation needs. Education can no longer be expected to disseminate a discrete body of knowledge and we must change our view of what it means to be “literate” and “educated.”

Interaction Economy meets Interactive Education?

In searching for information on personalized homepages today, I came across the following information on Tim Leberecht's blog iPlot: According to a McKinsey & Company study of US economic activity, "Raising the productivity of employees whose jobs can’t be automated is the next big performance challenge." The study argues that "as more companies come to specialize in core activities and outsource the rest, they have greater need for workers who can interact with co-workers, partners, and vendors," supported by highly personalized organizing and communication tools. 40 percent of labor activity, says McKinsey, comes not from making things or from traditional transactions but from what the consultancy calls the "Interaction Economy," which it defines as the "searching, coordinating, and monitoring required to exchange good[s] or services."

Think of how this impacts higher education! It boggles the mind. The whole purpose of education must change. It's not about defining a set body of knowledge that every learned individual must know. It is more about how we enable students to efficiently/effectively access information and collaborate in solving problems. The traditional behaviorist model worked for the industrial age, but today's service-driven economy requires more. Students must be allowed and encouraged to create their own meanings--based on their experiences and interactions with others. We also need to make sure that they have a wide variety of experiences--exposure to alternative ways of thinking and approaching problems. I am reminded of Taco Bell's slogan "Think outside the bun" and now Wendy's new promotion which suggests that just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean that it is right. Just because this was the way you or your parents were taught doesn't mean that it is the "right way" or only way to teach/learn.

Higher education (especially the 4-year institutions) has been the bastion of tradition--changing slowly. The technical schools and 2-year institutions have seen the need to change to meet the needs of their student population. Most adopted technology in teaching and learning years ago, offering online programs (not just online courses). 4-years institutions held out--sticking to chalk or dry erase markers and the lecture model. The professor was hired for his/her content knowledge, right? Then it is up to him/her to pass on that knowledge to students passively waiting to receive it. The problem comes when the students are passive--learning is active/interactive. Students must be involved in the process. Web 2.0's user-created content tools (blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, etc.) allow that interaction--in a public sphere. No longer must students create, synthesize, and produce for just the instructor or classroom. Instead, their ideas can go out into cyberspace for others to read, comment, and digest. There is an authenticity to this kind of publication.

CAVEAT: This also means that we, as instructors, can no longer "control" what and how our students learn. How does this affect assessment--what exactly are we assessing, then?

I'm still working on getting more stuff on the blog. As I mentioned in the blog, I'm trying to get a Faculty Learning Community centered around technology going. Time has been the greatest barrier--both in getting the FLC going and in blogging. Its frustrating. The FLC falls into my KAM I and KAM III application areas. For KAM I, I am looking at Rogers (Innovation Diffusion Theory) and Hall and Hord's CBAM model. I developed a faculty development proposal based on the faculty technology survey implemented last year and plan to submit it to the Interim President next week. Our Technology FLC discussed that we need a paradigm shift in how our instructors "teach"--to be more student-centered and focused more on learning. This would definitely be an organizational change. As one way of at least exposing the instructors to alternative ways of teaching and learning, we hope to present short 30 minute interactive presentations on adult learning theory, teaching the millennial generation, using technology in the classroom, Web 2.0 tools, etc. As Rogers indicates, they have to be aware of the innovation first and then begin to see its relevance. With a graying faculty, we're chipping away a little at a time.

Best Laid Plans and Good Intentions

One of my favorite sayings is that sometimes life interferes with life. We have good intentions. We really want to accomplish our goals. However, something always seems to get in the way. Since the beginning of the semester, I have intended to go to the gym and work out. I know I need to do this. I have even encouraged my students to build time into their schedules to exercise at least 15-20 minutes a day. However, there always seems to be something that I need to do during that time period. Research has shown that those people who exercise have just as crazy lives as those who do not. How then do I motivate myself to go?

I am finding the dilemma true in our Technology FLC. We developed the Blackboard component so those who were unable to meet on a regular basis could still interact with others in the team. To date, only three out of the eleven have even logged in and reviewed some of the resources. We agreed that we would create our own blogs so we could experience that activity from the student's perspective. We are to discuss this process and how to incorporate blogging in our teaching practices at our next meeting. Only one other faculty member has created her blog. When we signed up to participate in this endeavor, we all recognized that we needed to incorporate technology into our teaching practices. We all recognized that Web 2.0 tools are what are being used by cutting-edge teachers to reach their students. Just like I know that I need to exercise--So, how do we commit to spending that extra time? I don't know what the answer is.