Probably the most learning I’ve done since I hit the road full time almost two years ago now (dang…has it really been that long?) is around how diverse individual districts are in this country when it comes to access to technology, having a vision for its use, and understanding the transformative nature of what the Web is offering these days. And I’m not talking so much here about the real inner city schools that are struggling mightily just to make AYP. I’m talking about schools that “pass the test” so to speak. A couple of districts that I’ve worked with in recent months provide representative examples:
The first district is in a middle class suburb of a major city that serves about 6,000 students. Teachers and students have very limited access to technology. There is one LCD projector per school in the lower grades, computer labs are being disbanded to provide at least one station per classroom, and Internet service is not much better than dial up. (There is limited wireless.) In the last seven years, exactly zero dollars have been allocated for administrative professional development, and technology budgets have been capped at 1987 levels. A new administration is trying to start some conversations about technology, and the group I met with for a day was interested and worked hard to grasp the ideas and the tools, though many were reaching for the Advil before it was all over. (By the way, two of the administrators who were supposed to be at the session, however, took personal days rather than attend what I assume they felt would be a waste of their time. Oy.)
The second district is in an upper middle class suburb of a different major city and serves a much smaller K-8 population. Here, technology is ubiquitous. Every teacher has a MacBook as do all students 4th through 8th. The superintendent has a plan for technology integration that, despite feeling like he’d gotten “a wake-up call” the day I was there, calls for the deep integration of collaborative tools into the curriculum. The teacher workshops were filled with probing questions, creative ideas and conversation. It was a very different place, and it was a place where I just had the sense that technology was becoming simply a way they do their business. (Yet, here’s the rub: kids move from this district to a high school where there are no laptops and where an “anti-technology” faction in the community holds sway over much of what the school board does. Oy.)
These types of contrasts are everywhere I go and what I find most striking about all of this. There is just so much inconsistency from district to district, place to place. It’s really unsettling on some level to see the vast disparity that our kids have to deal with.
All of this, of course, is framed in the EduCon weekend sense where we saw something that I think most of us would agree we want for our own kids yet don’t quite know how to make happen in our own places. And I talked about this with Chris and Gary for over an hour right after the Sunday morning panel. What are the things that SLA does that are replicable? What needs to be in place for systemic cultural change to occur? I tried to use the domino metaphor (apparently without much success) as in what does the first domino have to be that tips all of the others? And what is the second domino and the third? If we had to create a general roadmap for change, a recipe of some type, I think we could probably do a good job of identifying the ingredients (and technology would be down the list.) But what would be the order? Is there one?
My own impression after visiting hundreds of schools is that the first, key ingredient is leadership, that nothing happens without someone who can inspire serious conversations about what can be, regardless of the roadblocks. (Yes, read Chris Lehmann.) But what after that? Money? Autonomy? Parental support? Technology?
I know that, as is my wont, I may be grasping for something that by it’s very nature resists a clear process. I’m also sure much has been written on this that maybe I haven’t read yet. (Links please.) Maybe we need a wiki…
(Photo: “School’s out for Summer!” by Conspirator.)
Technorati Tags: schools, learning, education, educon
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There is also another problematic sub-group. The schools that have acces to all the technology they need, but do nothing meaningful with it. We have at least 2 computers in each classroom, an LCD projector in every classroom, 2 carts with 24 laptops each, a computer lab, and Cisco IP phones. We even have a technology teacher, being a Title One School in Maryland. LCD carts gather dust and IP phones are only used to answer phone calls. When computers are used, students do mundane programs that are 10 years old.
I agree that the first key to this transformation is leadership. In staff meetings, we hear the same words every year about technology… “Make sure you are integrating technology into your curriculum, our Superintendent loves that”. This is said without any idea of what meaningful “technology” actually is. This goes along with doing technology, just to do technology.
Amen to that! I also work in a district where the technology is ubiquitous, yet “due to a lack of funds” the only “Professional Development” that occurs is when you report as a teacher day#1 of school only to find new icons on your desktop!
Would we start “Driver Ed” by guiding “New Drivers” to a parking lot full of already running vehicles? Without any “roadmap” or guidance as to the true benefits, (or dangers) of having the “opportunity” for that “driver” to go anywhere they need to go? If only they KNEW HOW TO DO THAT!
No, we hand the new “drivers” the keys & then tell them
to meet AYP they have to be “efficient” with their
“gas mileage” & as teachers we are told “not to crash” any of the “New Automobiles”! Who are we kidding! We end up driving in circles, and even those of us who are determined to “drive” the great new cars really don’t know where we are going, or how to get there! Yikes!
Excellent post, Will. It is frustrating to me that while consultants like yourself get to see a lot of different schools, it is difficult to simply blog about what you observe for fear of offending clients. Maybe you need a little program that will hold posts for a random length of time so it is harder for schools to tell if you are writing about them.
Anyhow, one question I would have is how often you run into schools that seem to be well-functioning learning communities (both for teachers and students) that are resistant to technology? From your description I would guess that the first school has a weak learning culture overall and the second school has a strong one.
Put another way, if the question you are running into is “How do reform existing schools, in general?” That’s much different than “How do I bring technologies into reasonably well functioning institutions that could nonetheless benefit from more technology?”
Wow, Tom. Thanks for the kind words. I try to low key my travels as much as possible, and obviously, I’m taking pains not to make these two schools too identifiable. I’m hoping that if people who I write about recognize themselves, they take it in the spirit it is intended which is not to criticize but simply to make plain some of what I see.
In answer to your question, it’s rare in my experience that the schools who embrace technology don’t also have a strong learning culture. The two go hand in hand, as they should.
“Reasonably well functioning institutions” are almost always open to new ideas. My question is more along the latter: How do we reform the vast majority of existing schools which may be passing the test but who don’t have the culture or the vision necessary to really think about technology and learning in a different way.
Will,
As you know I’ve spent some time in public and private schools, and I also have the perspective–still fresh in my mind and heart–of SLA. I agree with you that leadership ‘at the top’ is really important; yet, what makes the telling difference at SLA is that it doesn’t stop there. I don’t in any way want to take away from Chris’s role, and what I’m going to say is in deep respect because he’s guided this: There is a culture in that place that is owned and nurtured by all the stakeholders, notably the faculty and students. And that shared vision, that SHARED STORY, makes all the difference. Because it is shared it is owned and therefore is sustainable. (Mythic factor here Christian Long?)
There is an architecture here that needs to be defined–a strawman that we can add flesh to. I like your idea of using a wiki and other collaborative tools to begin working on it. Your questions at SLA about scalability are important ones…I am looking at two teenagers of my own who have been caught in this changing world, in a “reasonably well functioning institution” but who are missing out on what really “could be”. That’s what I’m after.
THANK YOU for taking the time to say this. I completely agree the inconsistency is leadership. In my own district I see the same things from school to school. If the leaders do not expect classrooms to transform learning with technology then it won’t.
Thank you for speaking what is on my mind.
Laura: You are right; it takes more than leadership. But I wonder if it can be done without it.
MaryAnn: It’s really striking. And I know in my home state we are really in a crunch to find upper level adiminstrative candidates that have the vision and the consensus building ability to really bring about the changes that are needed.
Will,
Can’t do it without leadership of some kind…
Hmmm…I wonder…since leadership isn’t consistent “across the system” (let alone across the street from one school to the other) perhaps leadership and change will have to come “from the outside.” We’re testing that model in some respects with my consulting/contracting role with this K-12 independent. Moving between the reporting lines and working with the different constituents within the school I seem to be finding levers that by being “in the system” I couldn’t have. Too early to tell what the result will be. Just thinking that more often than not significant change requires someone/something from the outside to serve as a catalyst.
Could the collective “we” (those who get it and want to see the change) be that catalyst on a bigger scale. How do we collectively do more?
Laura: Right…but…someone in leadership saw fit to bring you on board. Many would consider that a threat.
Good point…but do you really think change is going to happen within the system we have? There are incredible teachers and some incredible administrators out there. But, to have any kind of consistency in a system that’s been stuck for so long? The major shift needed “to scale” as you note is going to require a lot of leadership that is backed by parents, faculty, students (?) and a shared strategic vision. I just wonder if the leaders are going to come from outside…in order to keep the wonderful folks on the “inside” from burning out (as so often happens).
I’m sure I don’t have any answers for the community at large, but I’ve been thinking about these questions for my district. Here are my thoughts:
http://mmaloy.wordpress.com/
I agree with Will that it will take leadership. We have leaders who understand and actively endorse the use of technology. But I think real system wide change will come when teacher leaders emerge and inspire their colleagues.
I’m new to this blog and love the conversations. I am taking an educational technology course and this site was recommended and I’m glad. My experience had been that teachers drive the change in our district and it’s hoped that the administrators get out of the way and support the changes. Thankfully that is happening in my district. I am hopeful that it continues beyond the purchasing of technology and extends to providing training and opportunity as well.
Laurie
You are exactly right Will…leadership is the key. And, unfortunately, it cannot come from teachers in most places. I am a leader teacher in my building and while it is acknowledged that what I am trying to do is important and worthy (and my integration ranges from sort-of-integration to much more hard core, depending on the class), I really get no support in terms of professional development, equipment or scheduling…
I am pleased to say that I am the leader at my school. I came in three years ago, saw we had nothing – and set out on a mission for a three year initiative to integrate technology into the classroom. I came up with a proposal, checked out what some other schools were doing, put together a tech committee of teachers and admins at my school…presented the proposal to the board…and boom – we’re in business.
So it’s complete. The three years is up and we are booming with technology. Faculty laptops…SMARTBoards & projectors in every classroom…Blackboard for student access….etc. I didn’t realize how ahead of the curve we are, but am quite pleased with it.
I make a huge effort to offer training for faculty, and they have responded very well to the in house mini conferences we have once a semester.
I am writing this not to brag, but to throw the other side of the coin at you. We are a school that has leadership, has all the technology in place, and use it well. So as teachers we hear what you struggle with, as a techie here’s what I struggle with – what about faculty who don’t want training and who don’t want this technology – are they out?
Melissa,
I truly appreciate your comments. I’m the Teacher Center director in my district. My job is to make relevant meaningful professional development available. I know I’m doing that with technology offerings, which are after school and optional. The problem is its the same faces at most of the classes. I’m not worried about the people who are attending the workshops. I’m worried about the people who aren’t.
My only answer (to date) is to model great teaching with technology and hope they somehow get caught in the wave. We’re supporting the heck out of the early adopters. What about the laggards?
Mike-
It’s great to hear that you can relate, and I’m sure there’s others who can as well. You’re right – we are supporting the early adopters. So why not reward them? As techies we do have some pull right? Next time we want to try something new out, upgrade equipment, etc – let’s offer it to one of the people who are making the effort! They feel rewarded, and maybe it will encourage the others to hop on board as well.
We actually make our faculty tech training mandatory. But whether you force them to come or not, it is of course what they do with it once they leave.
If a teacher is refusing to adopt to this technology wave in the classroom, I don’t think they’re going to be able to stay afloat much longer. I recently gave a presentation to encourage our teachers to try using Wikis/blogs in their lessons – with the reasoning that this is the world we live in, and this is especially the world our students live in (social networking, itunes, wikipedia, etc). I had a teacher come up to me after and tell me that he disagrees – which I found incredibly frustrating because there is nothing to agree or disagree with! This is where it’s heading…you’re either on board…or you’re out (as far as I’m concerned!)