This is going to be thrown down as a bullet list and I will admit it's going to be done in a hurry.  Right now I feel like Santa must feel like on Christmas Eve.  Hey, it's his fault right?  Leaving present delivery until the very end.

• Colin, I love how you write.  The quote used in Colin's "Collaboration vs. cooperation segment is important to restate.  Leaders should steer a clear path but should also represent a collection of willing minds that take part in developing great ideas.  I commented on Colin's mention of innovating how we grade students.  As a former elementary teacher (in many ways, I still am an elementary teacher) I feel strongly that grading scale on a report card that goes home four times a year does not pay dividends and now I can honestly point to tools that can revolutionize the way we share progress with students and parents.  I have been doing some R&D with an app called Doodlecast Pro which allows students to create short screencasts of whatever.  As a teacher, I can now have a student explain the steps necessary to achieve a standard or sketch out a concept as the screen records.  The student then saves the image to the camera roll and uploads it to their Google Drive.  They may even email the video using their Google Email that only allows them to send to their teacher.  I then forward the screencast to the parents who receive it before their child arrives home.  I can honestly see a day where the parent/teacher conference as we know it becomes obsolete.  Now if we comes to terms with that sticky digital divide.
• Thomas' nailed one critical piece in applying meaningful leadership.  His experience with the projectors happens in our district at times when little consideration has been given to the voices on the front lines.  I remember watching technicians installing new flat screen tvs in the upper corners of classrooms AFTER teachers received digital projectors and smartboards.  I spent some time attempting to contemplate a reasonable explanation for this so I could better understand but I ended up thinking about something else.  (I attribute this to delayed attention deficit)  Giving committees the environment to research sound practices and applications while surveying the field of tech users would make for great leadership but at a risk and if I was told explicitly that "risk" is upon us then I would be at the ready to apply everything I could to mitigate my leader's risk.
• Andrea brings out great points in her blog and I am in awe at how thorough her posts are.  The post referenced how great leaders incorporate creativity by those who relying on the leader to empower them.  I specifically grabbed the notion that "playfullness" be brought back.  I started to consider the possibility of using a game-show theme to motivate teachers to better understand the connection between standards and essential questions and "i can" statements.
• Tiffany's blog was one of the most thought provoking for me.  I started to consider how embedded leaders can realistically innovate.  I know this can be done and thought of precedents to this.  My list was short as it included how Finland closed down it's own teacher training universities and how Gorbachev enacted such reforms as perestroika. However, my list of passionate citizens who granted themselves permission to develop a better way was much longer.  As I write this reflection I ponder how Michelle Rhee attempted to innovate (reform or call it what you will) the Washington D.C. school district and how unpopular she was for doing what she did. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22)
• My post simply attempted to map out some goals I will follow as I progress through my career.  I would to one day lead a new academy that does not recognize a summer vacation and incorporates structures from every aspect of researched based instruction using instructors that incorporate a philosophy of differentiating for every student.  I will achieve this through economics more than anything else.  I will pay a salary that is worthy of great teachers and then let their abilities take over.  There won't be much money left over for text books.  That's okay because we won't need them.  There won't be money left over for technology.  That's okay because the staff will help write the grants and reach out to the community to offer this.  If I get the chance to apply this, it will be at great risk to my own reputation but as I read all of these wonderful posts, one thing stood out.  An effective leader will leverage risk instead of skirting it.

created by Chris Carlson using Inspiration Maps (Inspiration Software, Inc.)

The next slides represents evidence of student or staff creation, collaboration, and/or self actualization.  Within the Tech Plan are Standards in the form of "Technology Guidelines".  These are integral to the Tech Plan but were not evaluated as I decided to categorize these as specific tech standards.  They do incorporate the three attributes I'm focusing on.  For this evaluation, I'm specifically looking at the plan's goals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment as it got me thinking about redesigning a school around technology and it's transformative nature.  I have included a reflective video using some of Tiffany's youtube video of Ethan Young laying down the hammer on CommonCore.  Thanks Tiffany!  I need to get some sleep!  For Colin, I wish for all the bandwidth in the world.  

Inspiration App & Reflector for iPad Mirroring*

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My apologies for missing this week's posting.
As you will see, I had some difficulty with this new presentation App.  The concept of add virtual apps into the presentation is great but it didn't seem like there was enough room to run both video and full screen vApps.  vApps are what they called online web elements.  I used one photo and the others were web pages.  
My apologies for the choppy video.  Without further delay... 

Why wouldn’t it be reasonable?  Everyday I support teachers and administration with technology.  I can’t tell you how often I’m beckoned to fix a printer and everytime this comes, I sense a hint of futility rising up through my morale.  Here we have amazing tools that allow us to create media rich content and apply it to real problems but most of us just want to be able to print something and hand it out.  I compare the printers in our school to an assembly line.  We create an original and then mass produce it through print.  More often than not, our laptops, and iPods become a really expensive typewriter.  It is rare that I observe teachers connecting knowledge, imagination, and creative works to other learning communities. Ken Robinson points out that, “Conventional academic programs are not designed to develop them and often value the opposite approach; encouraging solo research rather than collaboration, preferring data to be presented in an accepted format, measuring success according to academic merit.” (2011) I think I know why we are still not connecting with our peers in a new way because we are not provided with a supportive environment.  The new tools allow us to build content in ways only the most experienced digital editors could.  An eight year old can create a movie trailer or a video tutorial about the use of fractions in music.  Yet, our Standardized tests mandate we teach to a curriculum that is based on rote learning.  I am encouraged with the new State Standards but we have not kept pace with how we learn and we learn in ways that are so different to the ways I learned in school.  

Some believe that our system is not ready to allow mobile devices in the classroom and I understand there concern.  Digital ethics is a concept lost on some but not most.  Those ethically impaired will make adverse choices whether they’re using a smartphone or a dodgeball.  I hope I can one day hand over the keys of my car to my son even though I know there are those in the community that are negligent because he is equipped with defensive tactics.  We might be holding back with offering the freedom of digital creativity not because we worry about how it might under-mind the growth of our students but how it might effect our place in the classroom.  Students are learning in a way that is difficult for us to filter.  They are mining for new ideas and connecting in ways in which we fear.  Ken Robinson points out a historical pattern which we should ponder when we decide how technology should be used in the classroom.

“Some skeptics argued that it was waste of public resources to attempt to educate the children of the working  classes: such children were essentially uneducable and would not benefit from these efforts.  They were wrong about that.  Others feared the social and political consequences: educating the working classes would give them ideas above their station and lead to a social revolution.  They were not wrong about that.”(2011)

Creative Tech Plan Appendix A:
Student Supply List - K Through 12
iPad
Stylus
Skype Headset
headphones.
Google Account

Here is a story developing as we speak showing the inherent value of transformation.

“Educational researcher Dr. Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest. In 1999, Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.” (TED, 2013)

The struggle is not with our students but with ourselves. Students would adjust to the new world because they already have.  They do not fear apps or touchscreens.  They are native to this new world.  We are the immigrants that continue to speak our old native language and dress in the way we are accustomed to.  How many teachers would have to adjust to a new life as an instructional technology teacher.  Its a mouthful for sure but it is a scary endeavor to many of us.  However, if we were to visit our teaching philosophy we would all certainly find an overarching similarity.  We are in this to help students succeed.

Click Here -> Girl dubbed 'The Next Steve Jobs' captivates Mexico
By:  Carola Sole

There is a human connection to learning and memories.  Does the absence of learning from those who we love create a hollow definition of knowledge.

Building a Professional Community

A quality tech plan must incorporate a recipe for tech integration that includes the community members who will be affected by such a plan.  Larry Anderson and John Perry Jr.  make the case for “involving all stakeholders” (1994) in the process.  This offers the school district supervisor to delegate responsibilities to the appropriate experts in the fields.  Embedded in this process should also be peer review with realistic guidelines that reduce applications that are too lofty in practice.  The team should set realistic time frames and target dates (1994) for writing their part of the plan.  It’s easy to want to impress with short time frames but when considering length of time, variables affecting the outcome should be recognized and taken into consideration.

Formulate and Embed the Plan into the Curriculum

A quality Tech Plan will apply technology throughout the curriculum.  Adopted technology and the professional development that goes with the technology can and should be implemented at different times as not to overwhelm those that must deliver it (teacher).  

Establish Effective Professional Development

Here is where tech plans most often fail.  Teachers of all tech level abilities will be implementing this plan and will need comprehensive training and the pace at which technology evolves complicates this matter.  Without ongoing support and adequate funding, technology will sit on the sidelines.  As long as teachers are isolated in their classrooms and are not connected with appropriate role models within their own school, technology will not be used in the way the tech plan intended it to be used.

Assessing The Plan’s Effectiveness - Are Change Orders Possible?

An effective plan allows for itself to evolve.  This will be researched based and driven by a strict philosophy that, “there is no such thing as a failed student...only failed instruction”  I know this is a large generality but it should remind those who design the plan that if a teacher is failing to implement the plan, then the plan should adapt to incorporate the teacher’s learning needs.  Of course this philosophy relies on every teacher meeting the professional standards set out by the institutions that train aspiring teachers and the districts and schools that hire them.  There will always be teachers that do not apply to these standards once hired and this philosophy would not apply to them.

Ethical and meaningful action research will be built into certain elements of the plan.  Any results that demand modification will be honored and the appropriate personnel will begin designing the amendment.  If at all possible, independent research outside of the district will be commissioned.  This is dependent on cost since contractual consultation can be more expensive.

The Plan is Built Around SUSTAINABILITY and Ethics

That’s right, it’s in all-caps.  A successful Technology Plan must provide adequate funding and teacher training that is adequate.  Many district plans have goals that are designed with good intentions but do not take into account adequate funding and the need for sustained leadership.  What happens to the plan when Superintendents come and go?  Will there be enough Instructional Technology Teachers to support the classroom teachers. Is there enough funding or substitute teachers to support professional development?  How can we effectively design a culture that puts a great emphasis on meaningful PLCs?  

For example, a tech plan can incorporate “lesson studies” where teachers observe other teachers delivering a particular lesson with embedded technology. The teacher group (plc) critiques and revises the lesson until a quality lesson has been designed and each member of the plc can deliver the lesson with great accuracy.  This might not be explicitly stated in the plan but the plan should offer room for decisions such as this to occur.

Ethics will play a large role in foreseeing the future use of technology.  There is an opportunity to see the classroom differently.  There is also an opportunity to redefine the role of the classroom teacher.  I could make an argument for replacing the grade level system with a Response to Intervention (RTI) system where every student receives differentiated instruction based on their learning style.  Rather than having grade level teachers, we would have content standard specialists.  How many students sit in a classroom unchallenged or confused?  If they can soon design prescription drugs based on our unique gene makeup then we can deliver education in a way that is optimized for every student.  Many educators see this as a threat to our culture of learning.  They might be right.  A great deal of philosophy and ethics should carry into all decisions when delivering knowledge.  

Designed to Support Students and The Common Core with Common Language and Computer Literacy Applied in a Cost/Benefit Comparison

Technology can respond to some of our most difficult challenges.  Many of our schools are growing while our budgets are shrinking.  This is a cultural and political problem that our tech plans should not have to tackle but we are too often cradled with this burden.  We should have twice the teachers in our schools and there should be no want for resources designed to uplift and support our future employers, employees, parents, leaders, and perpetual learners.   Our culture should be based on this preventive philosophy.  Instead, we react to changes created by a culture that is based on an archaic industrial-based learning system. We wonder why our jails are overcrowded all the while defunding early childhood education.  Until we can address fundamental flaws in our political and cultural decisions, we must as educators make plans to contain this problem.  

A heroic tech plan will find ways and means to increase the success of students even if the student-to-teacher ratio widens.  Not to find ways to reduce the amount of teachers we have in the schools but to combat the cultural degradation of knowledge, concentration, ethics, and early childhood learning.  

Reference:

Anderson, L. S., & Perry, J. F. (1996). Technology planning: Recipe for success. Informally published manuscript, Mississippi State University, Retrieved from http://www.nctp.com/tp.recipe.html



  

I'm happy to announce the birth of 670blog.  However, my wife isn't too thrilled.  Either way, it's on.