Apps Apps Apps, Apps!

First, find two or three good apps that you can master and really enhance student learning with. You’ll find that as you begin to use a few apps in class you’ll start to say, “I wish I/we could do X.” And that’s the gateway statement, from that statement you start your app search for the next app to integrate into your classroom. I highly recommend that you don’t limit yourself to the apps labeled education or the apps that are in the educational categories. Keep your searches open to all categories, you’ll have better chance finding what you are looking for that way.  

Second, don’t isolate yourself. Go to conferences and PDs where other like minded techy teachers gather. Start talking about what apps you’re using and they will do the same. I have found some of my favorite apps that way.

As a parting gift I will share with you an interactive graphic that I created a few months back that highlights some of my favorite Google Apps. Be sure to move your curser over the apps to get a little more information about each of the apps. Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoyed it. Dr. Roby I’m double dipping on this one the graphic is both an image and has hyperlinks. :-)



 (Hover mouse over for more info)

Creating Contagious Change

I often hear these teachers say things like, “the kids these days with their youtube and video games just aren’t as good as the students in the past.” I am almost happy when they say something like that because they at least notice that things are working and something needs to change. The hard part it convincing them it’s them and their teaching practices need to change. I found an amazing article that supports their, the teachers’, theory that the students are not the same by pointing out that it is partially because the proliferation of technology into the students’ daily lives has changed the way they learn. (READ THAT ARTICLE HERE PART 1 & PART 2). Don’t get me wrong it’s not all downhill from here change is very much an uphill battle all the way until it is done, but I have some tips for those of you who find yourselves trying to create contagious change.

Let’s face it bringing technology into the classroom for many teachers means CHANGE! And we’re not talking about a little change like going from overhead projects to document cameras we’re talking about the hard hairy changes that typically get a lot of pushback from teachers. That’s what makes my job so hard, some of these teachers who have been teaching the same way for the last 15+ years are very comfortable and rather set in their ways.

1. Get the teachers trust. I typically find a personal technology need that they can use some help with. This gets my foot in the door and helps me establish a relationship with the teacher.
2. Be intentional. Make sure you make it a point to stop by and see that teacher frequently just to check up and see if you can help them in anyway. Don’t forget to ask about that problem you helped them with to “make sure” that it is still ok. Really you’re just subconsciously reminding them that you care enough to help them.  
3. Convince them to let you model a technology lesson in their class. This is the most important step. You need to communicate with the teacher and find out what the students should be learning when you will be there with the technology lesson. You must use the technology to enhance the learning of the content, DO NOT JUST TEACH A TECHNOLOGY SKILL. You need to help you teachers see that technology isn’t a “pull out skill” to be learned from another teacher. They need to see it as a critical element that enhances their students learning.
4. Give them some homework! Help them design a lesson that integrates technology that they will teach. Offer to be there just in case they need technology help, but really, in addition to being tech help, you are there to give them feedback and encouragement after the lesson is over. Be sure to start with what was good and went right before getting to the constructive criticism.
5. The last step is to provide them with a support structure to help them to continue to grow in their technology use. I like to connect them to other techy teachers and I always point them to the list of asynchronous PD resources that I am creating.

Asynchronous and Autonomous Online PD... Astounding!!!

Ask any teacher what they do in their free time and they will look you in the eyes and start laughing. Why? Because once you get them to stop laughing they will tell you that they don’t have any free time. The truth of the matter is that many of them don’t. Now with the new Common Core State Standards being implemented they, the teachers, are most likely preoccupied with switching up their pedagogical practices. They definitely don’t have any free time to pursue professional development (PD), but is what they need the most. This is where asynchronous online PD shines.

Asynchronous online PD allows teachers to access learning activities and materials at anytime and anywhere they have an Internet connection. So how does this work in my district, well, it doesn’t yet. This is my summer project. I am going to sit down and design 12 modules/classes that teachers can work on at their own pace whenever they want.

These courses will be designed to help my teachers integrate technology into their teaching practices.  The courses will range from simple stuff like, “How the heck do I use Google Docs” to more intellectual pursuits such as, “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Evaluating One’s Self Using the TPACK model.”

I will be using our district’s online learning management system to host the courses so that I can track the time spent by my teachers on each course. I want to do it this way so that I can work out a deal with human resources to get my teachers paid for their PD efforts. Here is a link to one of my public pages that teachers can use to get “Just-In-Time” PD and other information.

Holy Heck Hangouts on Air is Happening.

Brought to you by:

Yep, today I am going to be talking about another venue that I use to deliver Tech professional development (PD) to my teachers, Google Hangouts on Air (HOA).

I can’t say enough good things about Hangouts on Air. It’s easy to use, allows you to have an unlimited number of viewers, viewers don’t have to have a Google Plus account, and if your viewers do have a G+ account they can even submit questions in realtime to the presenters. Oh, did I mention that HOA also records your transmission and stores it on Youtube so that if someone misses the PD they can watch it whenever they want! CLICK HERE to see our first HOA.

So what are PUSD’s Tech Tuesdays? They are an hour long technology PD on any technology topic that applies to our district. Teachers can participate in the PD three different ways:

1. They can signup to view it in person here at our office. Yes, we record with a live audience!
2. They can view the PD live remotely via our Google Plus event page. While the event is being broadcasted our remote viewers are able to submit questions, give thumbs up (and down), and applause to the presenter(s).
3. After the PD is over HOA records the entire broadcast and posts it to our YouTube account where we can go back and edit the video and repost it for anyone who would like to watch the PD later.

As of right now it is just myself and my colleague Harmony doing all of the presenting, but I have built a Google Form that is live and as soon as I open it up people can sign up to present on tech that they are using in their classrooms.

Recommendations

1. Test, test, test, and then test one more time before going live with a HOA PD. Our first broadcast went off perfectly, but we had practice a lot before going live. Our second Tech Tuesday wasn’t so lucky. We had a feedback loop that caused a really annoying echo, which leads us to the next point.
2. Have a second (or fourth in our case) computer setup that is running as a remote viewer so that you can test the audio that your audience is hearing. Don’t forget the earphones!
3. Get yourself a good microphone. Nobody wants to listen to a baseless tinie voice for an entire PD.
4. Make your lower-third in the toolkit. They just look cool and up the production value.

Pitfalls, Premonitions, Pluses, of All Staff PDs

If you don’t have time to read the backstory, or if you already know it, you can skip down to the “good stuff” below “The Pluses”.

Well, it has finally happened, we have just finished out final Phase 1 Training. It only took us nearly an entire school year to accomplish this task, but our final school has finished their Phase 1 PD and has been trained on the basics of the Chromebook and Google Apps. Does this amazing fear mean that they, the teachers, understand what Google apps are and will begin to integrate the technology available to them into their classrooms, not necessarily.

I am sad to say it, but at some point in the year I began to feel that the entire staff PD model really wasn’t producing the results that I was hoping for when I designed them. In my district there are only two instructional technology coaches for over one thousand employees, so in an effort to train everyone on the basics of Chromebooks and Google Apps, I designed a large-scale PD that was to be given to every school site at the all staff meetings that occur every other Monday. It seemed like a good idea and for the smaller schools it was, however at the sites that had more than 30 staff members we could not differentiate enough to meet everyone’s needs and get through all the content in one hour.

Seeing this problem we created an online calendar where the staff of PUSD could book 1:1 time or small group time with us, the technology coaches. This took our somewhat effective PD and made it much more effective. We were able to raise awareness and get people excited about technology in the large meetings and then support them in their efforts to implement it.  

The Pluses

1. All-staff-large-scale PDs help ensure that everyone is on the same page and aware of district technology policies. ( I really wish this could have been accomplished quicker)
2. These PDs raised the teachers awareness of the technology available for the classroom.
3. It got the teachers excited to see some of the things they could accomplish using tech.
4. By having the PD be a top down push made everyone aware of how important tech integration is becoming.
   

Pitfalls

1. Don’t cover too much. Your goal should be to get the teachers who are on the fence about tech to make the jump to use it. If you go too fast or cover too much they may never give it a try. CLICK HERE to see what we covered. (A tiny bit too much)
2. Don’t worry about your tech proficient people. This PD is not made for them, they are already integrating. If you put in stuff for them you might scare away the less tech savvy teachers.
3. Don’t forget to provide your teachers with some sort of support. This PD is more propaganda than true PD. It only becomes really effective once they start to book time with you, the coach.

Premonitions

I have a feeling that the president of these large scale PDs has been set and although they did some good I think that they turned some people off of the idea of using tech in their classrooms. We are having to work twice as hard to reach those teachers now. What is really working for us now is word of mouth from the teachers that have booked time with us. I also fear that some teachers will expect to receive all their tech PD this way and it may cause issues with some of the asynchronous learning opportunities we are starting to roll out.

Summary

Do I think they were worth it, oh-yeah! I think the negatives I talked about were for small a small population of the teachers we reached with the PDs. We have seen SO MUCH growth in the use of tech in our district this year, it has been an awesome ride. I can’t wait to roll out the stuff we have planned for next year! (read the later blog entries for more details)