Observations and Reflections from the New England 1:1 Summit

Andy Marcinek is a thoughtful educator who served
on the panel at the New England 1:1 conference,
April 10, 2015. He is currently the Director of
Technology at the Grafton Public Schools.
Previously he served as instructional
technology specialist in the Burlington
Public Schools where he played a major
role in launching a 1:1 environment.

Here's what becomes readily apparent when you visit a school that is 'high tech' (ie-1:1): It's NOT about the tech. It's about Learning. Schools are places of learning, first and foremost.  This too: The device doesn't matter.  Tablets and laptops and Chromebooks facilitate learning and access to the greater world. They are in service of existing learning objectives. 

Here's what I observed at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington on Friday April 8 at the New England 1:1 Summit (in no particular order):

• A high level of awareness and social responsibility
• A high level of community engagement
• Students as problem solvers
• Students as leaders
• Students as teachers
• Students as fund raisers
• Students as engineers
• Students as innovators
• Students 'tuned into' the Big Picture of responsibility to the local and global community
• A respect and appreciation for the responsibility that comes with having tools to connect with the world at large.

• Technology Directors and Integrators that put access and learning front and center.
• An EdTech Team that solicits feedback from ALL stakeholders- students, teachers, parents, the community at large.
• Integrated, professional development (student-led)
• Teachers teaching subjects not 'technology'

• A cheery, respectful, upbeat school culture
• Password-free Guest WIFI with social media sites whitelisted
• A learning environment connected to the REAL world 

Some of the above touches on intangibles- those difficult to quantify aspects that can only be felt and observed. Every student-every single one!- that I and our group came in contact with was respectful, helpful and generous in sharing information. They were also enthusiastic when explaining their involvement with various activities that were connected to the community and real world outside of school (ie: fundraising for mental health awareness or developing a prosthetic hand for the son of a teacher born without a hand).

Ever since researching and writing 'Schooling and Student Perceptions' I've been interested in the ways students experience school and where and how they find relevance to their real lives within school contexts.  In the last few years as technology has allowed for more and better access to resources, people and places, the lines are effectively blurring between the real world vs. school(ing). Tablets, laptops, chromebooks, apps and ubiquitous WIFI are game changers.  More than that, they are culture changers when thoughtful educators use them as utilities to connect students to the real world, to real problems, especially when they challenge and empower students to find solutions to those problems.

That's what I saw in Burlington.  It was powerful.  And it should happen everywhere. It's not a stretch to say that our future depends on this kind of cultural transformation in our schools.  Thank you Dennis Villano and the BPS EdTech Team, Patrick Larkin, Andy Marcinek, etc for bravely leading the way and being the change we need to see in our schools. You offer a solid and successful example of how to integrate technology to accelerate and enhance Learning.

Schooling, Education and The Way Forward

Image created by Andrew T. Garcia @berkshirecat

Seth Godin got me blogging about 4 years ago. Though his rants relate to marketing and business, what he had to say had relevance in my field: Education. His sentences were direct, pithy and always filled with a sense of urgency, in a 'take it or leave it' kind of way. Good stuff and he's still at it. If I'm stuck finding something to write about, a little reading of Godin will start the juices flowing. One thought leads to another and then I just HAVE to write. That would be my advice to anyone stuck trying to write anything (a blog post, a memo, a short story)-read something related to what you want to write about. Or, if you are interested in change and not in maintaining the status quo, just read Seth Godin.

Public Education should probably be renamed Public Schooling. I have no reservations saying that. Because Schooling is what we do. It is a system, with standards and standardized ways of doing things. Education is a corollary benefit for some, maybe. My entire master's thesis written more than a decade ago dealt with this problem. In a nutshell, my question (for middle school kids) was: 'Is School Real?'. I was attempting to get at whether school and a kid's real world have anything in common. The lengthy title of the thesis was: Schooling and student perceptions: Understanding meaning and relevance of 'the place called school' in the lives of middle school students. Turns out that students saw a connection in the cafeteria, at recess, sometimes in PE, Music or Industrial Arts and in the hallways. Everyplace else in school required them to play a role-to 'check out' from their real world; to grin and bear it.

This was 11 years ago. Before Apple invented the i-pod. Before MySpace, Friendster and Facebook. Before social networking. Before Xbox, Wii, World of Warcraft. Before cell phones with apps and wireless everything. So, 4 years ago, when I saw all these things that evolved quickly and were here to stay, I began to realize that the Schooling System was being left in the dust. I began reading Godin. His sentiments fit what I saw in Education as a problem. I began writing about it. Don't know if all the ranting did any good but in the last 4 years others were thinking the same thing. Thus, we now have Classroom 2.0 where Educators interested in using technology for change can share ideas. We have Thomas Friedman urging us that the World is Flat and we better wake up. We have Daniel Pink saying the same only different--we must become Artists and Creators in the Future because the routine jobs will be left to robots or will be outsourced. There is a modest and growing group of Educators using Twitter to advance change and share information about better ways forward. And now we have State Department's of Education recognizing that, indeed, there is something new afoot and that kids are growing up different (digitally, creatively, expressively).

This something has been termed '21st Century Skills'. Standardizing and then prescribing those skills will not work because the new way is not about memorization and testing, it is a way of BEING. The whole manner in which young people go about getting things done has changed. And Public Schooling needs to change, now, too. For Real. No more pretend change. No more going through the motions.

So Godin got me started and he still inspires me to think and do and change and grow. With Linchpin, his latest book, he offers a solid premise as to WHY we are where we are in Education. He doesn't blame good teachers or even good administrators. He blames the Schooling System. But he does challenge teachers (YOU) to change things, to be extraordinary, indispensable. I think, if you're a teacher now, that means leading by example (using new tools, creating, connecting, collaborating) and fighting to change the current Educational Paradigm of schooling.

NCLB Accountability Illusion

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute just released a report finding that academic standards vary widely from state to state under the No Child Left Behind Act, creating an “accountability illusion.” 

To Grade or Not To Grade

In a recent article in NEA Today, Paul Barnwell makes the case for classrooms without grades. His website and blog is called Questions for Schools.

The Questions for Schools blog promotes the thoughtful critique of educational status-quos. It is Paul's belief that challenging conventional wisdom, as it relates to classroom structure, philosophy, homework, curriculum, and discourse--among other issues--will result in positive changes in our public school classrooms.

Educational Paradigms agrees. Questions for Schools can be found here.

What If We Didn't Speak?

So, I was watching some films over at Cause Global and it prompte these thoughts:

1-A big criticism of today's learners is that teachers "talk to much".  The old paradigm has the talking head at the head of the class with students sitting in rows supposedly "listening".  Charles Schulz parodied this perfectly with his trombone "wah-wah" voice representing Charlie Brown's teacher.

2-So much "instruction" can be delivered non-verbally.  Actually,  nearly anything that needs to be learned can be delivered non-verbally....and creatively.  Or, the "talking" can be pre-recorded and put into a"fun" package connected to either a podcast or a film/video or slideshow or some other format.

3-So, what if we didn't speak? What if we tried to deliver instruction in a completely different way?  Can the classroom call to attention be something other than "listen up, class...."? Isn't it about getting student attention and sustaining it in the first place?  What if instruction was compelling, non-verbal, web-based with meaningful, enagaging expectations and assessments?  What if students had to e-mail a question/problem instead of speaking?

How would this change the atmosphere for learning?  It might take time but my gut feeling is that things might be better.  Instruction can be tailored to the individual as problems/issues arise and as we teachers point students toward potent web-based, media-rich resources.  But the most important point is that we would be slowly weening students from dependence on the voice in front of the room and redirecting it to the voices in their heads-an  empowering shift in attention.  

Where Is Education Now?

Students can either be passive receivers of media messages or they can be digital content creators and creative thinkers.

Students See Digital Divide in Schools

Is there a digital divide playing itself out in schools? Many students say, "Yes". Which begs the question whether schools are really setting students up for the 21st century.

There are new data indicating that the digital divide is alive and well in schools with Principals thinking their schools do just fine and students thinking school is behind the times. E-School news covered the story:

Project Tomorrow surveyed more than 370,000 students, teachers, parents, and administrators about their views on technology and education during its Speak Up 2007 research…

Students who took the survey said the major obstacles to their use of technology at school include filters that block the web sites they need and administrators who impose rules that limit their technology use.

“The ‘digital disconnect’ is alive and well,” Evans added. “Kids tell us they power down to come to school.”