Video Conferencing Videos & The Power of Technology Integration--Technology Integration III

There is a great deal of confusion and apprehension surrounding the notion of technology integration in the classroom. Some of the confusion and apprehension is understandable. Technology use in the classroom has been over-hyped, oversold, and misapplied. Here are examples of technology use that does NOT reflect technology integration.

Not Integration:

• Computer labs and courses in programming, using software products, etc. Computer labs are valuable but do not constitute integration. Relying on computer labs as a form of technology integration is akin to you going to your office with no computer. You would then go down the hall to an administrator's computer lab to do email, conduct research, type memos, etc. That is not integration.
• Laptops or other electronic devices for taking notes in class. While this may or may not be acceptable and useful, it is not effective integration and has minimal to zero ROI.
• Students creating PowerPointless presentations. Using PowerPoint for student presentations CAN REFLECT effective integration, but not in isolation from more substantive uses. Moreover, PowerPoint presentations can very easily elevate form over substance.
• Internet research is not integration. Again, Internet searches can reflect authentic integration, but not when an isolated activity.
• Using a word processor to write a report. Who doesn't do that?

The above activities are all valid and useful but do not reflect effective integration in and of themselves. So what then is effective technology integration?

Authentic Technology Integration

Authentic integrated technology is the seamless infusion of technology in both instruction and learning so that technology becomes a ubiquitous tool used by both students and teachers. It goes beyond computer labs to the natural incorporation of technology into teaching and learning as naturally as a white board and notebook. Using technology for the sake of using technology is not the objective.

The objective is to use technology when it is the most effective way to teach and to learn and to enhance teaching and learning. Technology is not the end; it is the means.

Example I

The following abridged example[1] for a high school class may help illustrate the concept. Although designed for high school, this lesson could be easily modified for junior high students.

Lesson objective: Students will deepen their understanding of the relationship between social and human capital to the creation of wealth and to educational levels in a first and third world country.

Lesson Content and Assignment:

The teacher will provide background reading and lectures on social and human capital, biblical concepts of economic justice, fundamental principles of economics, and the impact of educational attainment on the creation of individual and national wealth and reducing poverty.

• Students are to use library and Internet based resources to research economic, demographic, and educational data for both a first world and a third world country using resources just as the CIA Fact Book, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Census, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, etc.
• Data is to be collected using an Access database. Student will export the data to an Excel spreadsheet. Graphs are to be created depicting important data. Working with the math department, students will run a simple correlation analysis using Excel or a program such as SPSS.
• Students will use Word to write an eight-page research report. The report is to include embedded Excel charts and graphs. The report is to be in MLA format using Endnote for the citation of references and the creation of the reference section. This written report is to provide a discussion of biblical principles of social justice, a summary of research findings, and conclusions regarding the relationship between social and human capital to the creation of wealth and to educational levels in a first and third world country. Students will use e-Sword or similar software to conduct biblical research, in addition to online and library resources. Students are then to answer the following question:
• “What does this mean to me?” An internal blog will be created for use by students for reacting to the findings and implications of the research.
• Students will use PowerPoint to present a five-minute summary of their findings.

Assessment:

• Students will be assessed using both a traditional assessment (test) and an authentic assessment. The authentic assessment is the quality of the research, the quality of the written report, the quality of technology use and integration, and the quality of their presentations. A rubric is used for the authentic assessment.

Example 2

A useful middle school example is Was It Murder? The Death of King Tutankhamun: The Boy King. This lesson can be found at the following Internet page: http://www.pekin.net/pekin108/wash/webquest/.

The above two examples represent mature integration efforts. Obviously there are simpler ways to effectively integrate technology. The above examples are provided to illustrate that effective technology integration means that technology tools are fully unutilized if and when appropriate. Technology tools are leveraged but do not displace effective use of traditional instruction and resources.

Example 3--Video Conferencing

Video conferencing offers tremendous opportunities for enhancing instruction, exciting students, extending the classroom beyond the school and raising achievement. An exciting video conferencing resource is called Global Nomads. The following two videos give an excellent overview of this particular program.

Global Nomad Overview

Actual Video Conference

Early on the morning of February 2nd, before the World Forum program began for the day, ten members of the YDP representing all the countries attended a videoconferencing hosted by JAMS in partnership with Global Nomads Group and Facing History and Ourselves. Connected to four high schools across the country from San Francisco to Sun Valley, Idaho to Virginia Beach, Virginia, classrooms of seniors engaged in dialogue for ninety minutes. Differences on the Iraq War emerged and a discussion on how to communicate those differences so that others' perspectives were heard was valuable for everyone involved. High school classrooms in ten other schools were participating as "view only" sites in the videoconferencing.

The Status of Technology Integration in ACSI and CSI Schools:

Unfortunately, there is little evidence that Christian schools are integrating technology in a manner even close to the lessons described above. In a national study designed to assess the current level of technology access and integration, defined as Technology Level, in CSI and ACSI schools, Mosbacker (2005) found that the majority of CSI and ACSI schools are not characterized by the level of technology integration required to prepare students with the 21^st century skills needed in an information-rich, global economy.

The majority of CSI and ACSI schools are at a relatively low technology level as measured by the CEO STaR Chart[2] definitions:

• Seventy seven percent (77%) of the schools are rated as Low to Mid Technology.
• Twenty two percent (21.9%) of the schools are classified as High/Advanced Technology schools.
• Only one school was classified as a Target Technology school.

Most CSI and ACSI Christian school administrator are providing access to technology but with limited curricular integration. Given the conservative culture of most evangelical Christian schools, it is not surprising to find that most administrators are not adapting school programs to the realities of the global-information based economy of the 21^st century nor to the rapid pace of change and exponential growth in knowledge and information.

Now What?

How do we get from where we are to where we need to be? Technology is expensive, most teachers are not well trained, time is limited, funds are limited, and IT support is limited. How do we plan for, fund, and effectively implement technology in our schools? These are difficult questions, but it can and must be done. We will tackle some of these issues in upcoming posts.

Response:

It would be very helpful at this point to have input from the readers of this blog.

• What do you consider to be the biggest challenges to integrating technology in your school?
• Do you really believe in the importance of the integration or do you believe that there is too much hype and little actual educational benefit for the money and time required?
• Do you have good examples of effective integration from your school? Bad examples (no names please)?

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[1] The scope of this blog does not permit the presentation of a comprehensive lesson plan.

[2] For more information on the STaR Chart definitions, see http://www.iste.org/inhouse/starchart/index.cfm?Section=STaRChart&CFID=4488963&CFTOKEN=37864196

Mosbacker, B. L. (2005). An investigation of technology and school leadership in Christian schools in the United States. Charlotte, NC, University of North Carolina (Charlotte).

Technorati Tags: Technology Integration,Staff Development,21st century skills,leadership

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Did You Know?

Did You Know?

Response?

• What implications does this have for our staff training?
• What implications does this have for our students?
• Does this really matter at all?

Technorati Tags: 21st century skills,technology,Pedagogy,Internet,Globalization,world-class,excellence

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What the Best Schools in the World Do

“A school is only as good as its teachers!” I have made that declaration hundreds of times in hundreds of forums. Not exactly rocket science. It is akin to making the obvious observation that the success of

one’s heart surgery is dependent on the quality of one’s surgeon. Nevertheless, it is encouraging when a major study of the world’s best school systems echoes the same sentiment. In How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come-Out on Top, (Barber & Mourshed, 2007) published by McKinsey&Company, a South Korean policy maker asserts: “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.” Teachers matter—a lot! In addressing the importance of teachers in creating world-class schools, Barber and Mourshed outline the three things that matter most in producing top performing school systems: 1) getting the right people to become teachers, 2) developing them into effective instructors, and, 3) ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.

To get the right people to become teachers and in the classrooms, the top performing school systems in the world focus on three strategies. First, they develop strong processes for selecting and training teachers. Second, they pay good, not great, starting compensation. Finally, they carefully manage the status of the teaching profession (p. 26).

Once you have the best people in the profession, you have to effectively develop them. There is a tendency for educational reform efforts, including efforts at producing positive change in our Christian schools, to focus on school structure, policies, and programs rather than on what matters most—what happens in each classroom. We can confuse sound and fury with systemic change. The sad reality is that the noise we make about excellence and sustained change may signify little. Cuban provides a provocative analogy to a common experience in our schools--a storm’s effect on the ocean:

The surface is agitated and turbulent while the ocean floor is calm and serene (if a bit murky). Policy churns dramatically creating the appearance of major changes while deep below the surface, life goes on largely uninterrupted. (Cuban, How teachers taught: Constancy and change in American Classrooms, quoted in (p. 35)

To put this into perspective, think back over the number of in-service training sessions, conferences, workshops, and seminars that your teachers have attended over the years. Now, ask yourself a hard question; how much different are my classrooms today than they were 10 or 15 years ago? How much different do my teachers teach? How many of the ideas, concepts, and skills presented and discussed at all of these training sessions have actually taken deep root in my classrooms? How much of the research is actually practiced in my classrooms? In describing the priority of ensuring systemic change in the classroom, one very effective principal declared:

Being a teacher is about helping children to learn. Being a principal is about helping adults to learn. That’s why it’s tough…I walk the halls, walk the halls, and walk the halls…I only look at my inbox after everybody leaves. (p. 34.)

Ensuring that the school delivers the best possible education to each child is the third major finding. The top performing school systems focus on setting high expectations. They monitor and intervene against these standards at both the school and student levels. For our schools, this translates into monitoring and intervening at the classroom/teacher level as well as for individual students.

Response:

What challenges do you face in recruiting the best people as teachers? What strategies have you employed to get professional development to “stick”?

Reference:

Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the best performing school systems come out on top: McKinsey&Company.

Technorati Tags: World-class schools , World-class education , School Reform , World-class teaching , School culture , Academic Excellence , Best teachers , Hiring teachers , Retaining teachers , Professional development

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How Would our Seniors Do?

THE primary aim of most Christian schools is to teach their students to think biblically, to development a biblical worldview. Central to that mission is preparing them to "defend The faith." The arguments lodged against Christianity by Burrus (click here for PDF) are not particularly sophisticated. Nevertheless, here is the question: Can our seniors provide intellectually honest, logically coherent, and theologically sound responses? If the majority of seniors who have attended our schools for at least four years are not able to effectively respond to these attacks against their faith, I would argue that we are failing in our primary mission.

As the leaders in our schools, we have the responsibility to know to what extent our students are intellectually competent to defend their faith--for the sake of their own souls as well as their witness to the Gospel. How do we know if they can respond to these and other arguments against the Christian faith? If we don't know, why not? How can we find out?

I suggest the following responses for consideration and discussion:

1) Map the Bible curriculum (there are several good tools for mapping the curriculum including, Curriculum Mapper and Rubicon Atlas) from K-12th grades to determine what is taught when and why,

2) Develop an essay or series of essays to measure your seniors' ability to respond to The 10 Reasons Why Christianity is Wrong, or similar attacks. Read the essays--are the seniors largely "clueless"? Do they respond simplistically, in so many words: "God said it, I believe it, that settles it?",

3) Discuss the results with your teachers. What is their reaction? Assuming your seniors performed poorly on the essays, how will the curriculum, teaching methods, and assessments be changed?, and

4) Initiate intensive in-service training to focus on developing teaching and assessment methods designed to dramatically improve our students' knowledge, understanding, and ability to articulate the intellectual, philosophical, and theological foundations of their faith.

Response:

How do you think your seniors would do? If poorly, why? Our schools spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the pursuit of our core mission of helping students develop a biblical worldview. If they cannot adequately respond to relatively weak attacks, what are we doing wrong?

Do you believe any of the suggestions above have merit? If so, are you currently implementing any of the suggestions or if not, would you consider doing so? If so, which ones? What challenges do you anticipate? Do you have other suggestions to share from your school's successful experiences and practices?

Technorati Tags: Worldview , Leadership , School Culture , Christian , Christianity , In-service Training , Bible , Mission , Apologetics , Christian School Leadership , Curriculum Mapping , Assessment , Professional Development

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