Four Reasons All Teacher Educators need to visit Neligh NE

Last week I traveled to Neligh NE to work with a group of early childhhod educators. It was a long drive made longer by road construction. As I was waiting for the road to reopen I sat in my car and quietly asked myself if this was worth my time. LaDonna Werth of UNL extension invited me. The professional development required traveling almost 3 hrs each way. In between I was to speak for about an hour and a half. Having some quiet time in the car I came to the realization that, no, this was probably not a good use of my time.

Promises had to be kept so I continued the last 45 minutes to ESU 6. I took a rickety elevator to the professional development room, it was packed with early educators from across the region. K-2 teachers, preschool teachers and paraeducators were all engaged in learning. As I drove home stopped on the other side of the same road construction- I stepped out of the car to chat with the guy holding the stop sign. As we were chatting my mind was tallying the ways this and other opportunities ARE worth it.

1. Taking in the landscape. It’s an opportunity for me to learn what is really happening in rural communities and their schools. I am a frequent visitor to urban and suburban schools. Visting with rural educators highlights the simalarities and the differences with urban and suburban educators. This makes my understanding of schooling in Nebraska more nuanced and enables me to serve all teachers and students better.
2. Impact. Last year we visited a school in Lynch Nebraska to capture an educator who was integrating technology daily with her preschoolers. This time the same teacher was presenting leading the group. In addition, the video we created helped convince the school board to invest in more devices for young students.
3. Reality check. Early childhood educators reminded me that devices are a nice addtion but that we need to emphasize all forms of play and learning. While I know that, the looks of caution in their eyes reinforced the need to remind mindself about the need for balance.
4. Learning. I pick up ideas from every group of teachers I meet. This group is no different. Last year Heidi showed me how to use the Starwalk app and a projector to create a classroom planetarium. It was magical learning about the universe. This time I picked up a slew of developmentally appropriate apps.

All teacher educators should find their own Nelighs, places where we teach and learn with other educators. I will be back.

Now and Next in Ed

"Maison tournante aérienne" by Albert Robida

I spent some time at the Early Childhood Summit this week. It was an excellent opportunity to hear some innovative research. Quite a bit of the research presented was incremental, based on past assumptions and deeply linked to education as it used to be. In a sense, I find that the incremental advances in much of the work are too tied to 20th-century conceptions of education. The problem is, as Berliner noted that much of educational research is related to context and time. Once the context has shifted significantly, it becomes irrelevant.

This led me to think about the now and next in education. The NOW includes two changes:
The shift towards individualized or differentiated instruction. Technology is poised to make fully differentiated instruction possible since it decouples curriculum delivery from its dependence on the teachers thus freeing teachers to focus on guiding students and managing complex information systems needed to support students moving from different starting points. This process is far from over. In fact, I would say that we have only begun. There is, however, an emerging consensus that this is the right direction. This consensus allows teacher education, curriculum providers, and professional development efforts to focus on the task.
The second shift is towards Open Educational Resources (OER). I have spent the better part of the last decade trying to promote these practices from the bottom up. Now with federal support and some states buying in it feels like this tide has turned as well. We can produce quality curricular materials that will be accessible to any teacher and student making the proposition of differentiation affordable for any school. The shift in costs can help education agencies focus on the development of teachers and their ability to deliver differentiated instruction.

The NEXT is linked to assessment. Our current assessment systems are slaves to pre-information-age technologies. In the past snapshot in time assessment technology was the only one available. We simply did not have the technology to capture student performance in-vivo. We had to resort to a weekly spelling test and annual achievement tests. We have perfected these snapshots and now use technology to better and more efficiently capture them. In essence, we are still captive to this thinking- there has to be an assessment event that counts, that we prepare for and then celebrate. Technology and big data have opened the door on a completely different assessment technology. One that captures everything our students do and can measure it in real time. The need for snapshots has passed. If my students writing is captured electronically, then every teacher can get a report of their students spelling without a need for a special event. Instead, they can know how their students are spelling when they are writing authentic texts. Real performance for the real world.

I know that charting potential does not guarantee it will happen. I just hope that researchers and funders and eventually schools can move beyond the practices of the past to recognize the shifts in technology go beyond a more efficient snapshot to describing authentic performance across academic tasks.

There are no Teachers in Trenches

World War I Trenches

I often see and hear about lessons from the trenches. This metaphor is used in education as much as any other field. And the concern I start with was raised a few years ago in this blog post. The insinuation is that  classrooms, the frontlines of education are very different from the theoretical discussions we have in conferences, academic papers, and administration halls. I agree that the lived experience in education is different, more visceral than an academic debate. What I am calling to change is the language of war (and football) when referring to education.

The war metaphor reminds me of the standup routine by George Carlin- about the way we use language to describe football and baseball. What I would like to suggest is that using war or combat metaphors sets a false sense of our daily lives. Yes, as educators we sometimes struggle, yes we have some difficult days. But, for most educators, life is not threatened, and the sum is more positive than negative. I think that the combat laden language sets up conflict lines. Conflict with whom? Who are we shooting at as we emerge from our trenches? Students? Administrators? Families? The Community? Politicians?

I think that the language of war emphasizes zero sum game thinking and increases teacher loneliness. It sets up a feeling of us vs. them. The war metaphor leads to negativity. This sense of war may very well contribute to teachers dropping out. If you define education as combat eventually the soldiers get tired they want to go home. We might lead a brilliant charge and Teach Like their Hair's on Fire, but that cannot last for a full career.

We need better metaphors. Ones that admit the challenges and obstacles but also admits the positive, the possibility of collaboration. Metaphors are powerful in orienting our dispositions and choosing the right ones can change the way we see the world.

What my Ski Accident Made Me Learn about Ed Tech

It is the last day of spring break, and I hobble around on crutches. Our family travelled to our favorite spring skiing spot in Park City Utah where we had a fantastic time, and where I had a skiing accident.
I was skiing down the slope on the last run of the day. My skis got caught, and suddenly I found myself on the ground facing the wrong way with one string of thought flooding my brain: "pain, knee, stupid." Someone came to my aid (thank you whoever you are) undid my skis and called for help. Ski patrol took me down the mountain, and an enthusiastic intern at the clinic informed me that I had an MCL injury.
Having gone through this delightful experience has been an opportunity to think about what I can learn from the accident beyond being more careful when I ski. So, here are some of the lessons I came up with that are relevant to my daily life.

1. The affordances of technology. The first two items I got from the clinic were crutches and a knee brace. The crutches are ancient technology, effective and crude. The knee brace, though, is fantastic. The treatment for my torn MCL in the past would have been a cast for an extended amount of time. It being my right knee it would have prevented driving and exercising for a prolonged period. Instead, this knee brace is hinged, flexible and removable, allowing me to function more normally and start walking within days instead of weeks. We sometimes focus on the downsides of technology and the burdens it adds that we forget the joyful affordances it introduces into our lives.

2. The power of partnership. I was on the slope on my own. There were other skiers around but none that were with me. My dad (78 and till skis better than me) lamented that had he been there this would not have happened. After joking about the way we parent at any age, I started thinking that he was right. Having a partner that helps you have a perspective on the path if he is in front of you, on speed if he is by you, or the responsibility of leading, if he is behind, would have probably caused me to slow down and be more aware of my environment. The parallel to innovating with technology is evident. When we innovate with colleagues, we can prevent burnout (or ski accidents) by working with others. That someone else has to be on the slope with us to help us pace, consider our surroundings, signal when to slow down and rest and help us when we fall. Without this kind of collaboration may be doomed to refuse to put on skis ever again.

3A. Fear is good. A healthy amount of apprehension is good. It keeps us from making catastrophic mistakes. Yes, I fell and got hurt, but I up and about and will be able to do most things within a few weeks. Fear kept me from going much faster and kept me focused on the path.

3B. Fear is bad. I cannot let my recent experience dictate that I will never ski again. I will do so cautiously, but I will certainly try. It is common to fail the first few times we use new technology in teaching. These failures increase apprehension in many practitioners; we must make sure that it does not paralyze us from trying again. As teachers, if we model giving up, how can we foster a "try, try again" attitude in our students.

Tech EDGE Reflections. The end?

Laurie Friedrich and I have been doing Tech EDGE for 6 years. We have just finished our 16th! conference. Each conference has served on average between 100-150 participants. Our channel on youtube has about 40,000 views and over 600 subscribers we are also watched on iTunesU as a podcast on iTunes, on YouKu (in China) and on UNL's media hub. On all channels, we are approaching 200,000 views.

What have I learned? I learned that it is hard work. As soon as we finish one event we start nailing down details for another. We are constantly looking for great presenters who live meaningful technology integration not just talk about it. I learned that there are many dedicated educators who are looking to do well by their students and are craving support, ideas, and recognition. This is a simple process in a way. Simple does not mean easy, though. The trick is to keep on going, to find ways to motivate yourself and others as you keep going.

This week Laurie asked me if I was sad. Sad?I asked. Not really. Just tired. Many things piled up, and for a moment, I thought: Maybe, we're done? Perhaps, I've ran out of gas? It's hard to let go of a project you've poured your mind and soul into for 6 years, but I need to know to walk away. 

Participating yesterday, hearing classroom teachers sharing their moments of triumph, learning and sometimes failure gave me energy. The interaction with practicing educators working hard reminded me that I am not doing this alone, nor am I doing it to satisfy my need to be famous. I am doing it because this way I am helping shape the way we educate. Hopefully coming a bit closer to the vision of a creative, caring and competent citizenry.

That said, I am happy next week is spring break!

Binge Learning?

Binge had a negative connotation for a long time. We discussed binge drinking and worried about the impact on our systems.We have this sense that high-intensity short duration behaviors can lead to negative outcomes. The advent of Netflix has transformed the notion of binging into a less destructive more socially acceptable behavior.

In fact, we have been advocating this behavior for years, calling on students to get a lost in a book. We discuss books we cannot put down, or have to read in one sitting. It speaks to a motivation that leads to a very focused behavior.

Right now I am binging on history podcasts. It started with History of the English Language then transferred to History of Byzantium. Yes, I know I am a history geek. But listening to 3-5 podcasts daily (when I walk my dog or drive on my own, I do listen at 1.5 speed) I have started to have questions about learning. I caught my first serial history podcast about 3 months ago. History of the English language has been a deep and joyful experience because by the time I found it it had over 60 episodes. As I listened I enjoyed the level of detail and the build up of facts and ways of thinking. Once I caught up with the podcaster, however, I find it much harder to engage with episodes released once a week or less. I thought I just got tired of the subject so I switched to History of Byzantium, the effect is identical. Once I caught up with the podcasts and have to wait, I find myself a lot less engaged and need a lot more scaffolding to remember where I am in the story.

I argue that binging on content can be a powerful way to experience learning. Intensely sinking into a topic can be powerful and motivating which is exactly the opposite of the way we engage kids in schooling shifting our focus every 20-48 minutes in most cases. Binging on content is of course not enough but it can provide an exceptional starting point for deep understanding. If we follow binge consumption with an attempt to organize the information and then to creating an original product we might have a much better chance of learning. I think this notion fits well into the ideas of project-based learning (PBL) but not limited to it.

As for me, I will keep binging and enjoy learning intensely.

The Digital Writing Gap or Let's all switch to Pencil

Photo by mpclemens CC

The 2012 NAEP look at student achievement composing on computers were published recently (December, 2015). The results are not surprising but crucial for our next step.

The key finding is straightforward:
" While fourth-graders had similar overall average scores on the 2012 NAEP computer-based writing assessment and on a paper-based pilot writing assessment administered in 2010, an analysis of 15 writing tasks common to both assessments revealed a different story.  The average score of high-performing fourth-graders was higher on the computer than on paper, whereas low- performing students did not appear to benefit from using the computer.  This finding suggests that low-performing fourth-graders did not fully demonstrate their writing ability on the computer in the 2012 NAEP computer-based pilot writing assessment, and that the use of the computer may have widened the writing achievement gap."
The growing gap is scary stuff. The results mirror the work by Don Leu that found similar effects with reading digitally. One response can be, so let's just assess kids without technology. The logic is that is technology in assessment widens the achievement gap then we should just go back to pencil and reduce the gap. Switching to pencil, however, is a short-sighted response. Assessment strived to approximate real world knowledge and skill. Writing in our world is done on devices more than any other way. One might argue about the value of note taking by hand, but the composition of personal, public, and professional communication is done electronically. Keeping the assessment to pen and paper would hide the much bigger gap that exists and divert us away from the main challenge- early access to digital technology for all children.
My claim here is that the language of the report makes it seem like the method is the culprit- "the use of the computer may have widened the achievement gap" I would argue it just exposed it.

I hear teachers and administrators worry that the tools embedded in the software/ internet provide "cheats". Children will use editing, dictionary, and spelling tools in a way that would reduce their learning.
This, however, is what the study found:
"In the computer-based pilot assessment, students’ actions on the computer were captured and analyzed for the lowest performing 20 percent of students, the highest performing 20 percent of students, and the middle-performing 60 percent of students. Compared to the middle- and high-performing students, a higher percentage of low-performing students:

• used key presses less frequently;
• did not use the spellcheck function;
• did not accept any automated spelling corrections; and
• used the backspace key less frequently to edit their work.

Overall, students who accepted spelling corrections and used the backspace key more often were also likely to write longer responses. "

Less capable students seem to be using tools less, partially explaining their lower achievement. Our problem is not that the tools are a crutch for low achievers, it is that they do not use them enough.

It is about access:

"The 2012 fourth-grade writing data indicate that students with access to the Internet at home were more likely than those without access to:

• write longer responses;
• use the spellcheck tool more often;
• use the thesaurus tool more often; and
• use bold and italics for emphasis more often. "

And who doesn't have access?

"The percentage of fourth-graders without access to the Internet at home was higher for Black students, Hispanic students, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, English language learners, and students with a disability."

To solve this problem of wider gaps in the information age, we must first provide constant access to tools- not an occasional one but habit forming access. Then we must teach digital strategies for using these tools for all students NOT just those who we deem ready.