Monday, October 22, 2018

Instructional Technology Teacher Professional Development without Substitute Teachers

Like many schools across the country, our district often has a shortage of substitute teachers. Sometimes there aren't enough reserve teachers available to cover teacher absences due to illness, let alone cover trainings that take place during the school day. In the past we would offer teachers instructional technology trainings and staff development during the school day. Starting last year began eliminating this practice to reduce the overall need for reserve teachers and this year plan to use zero reserve teachers. 

As I've written about in the past, one of the reasons I believe our 1:1 program has been successful is because of our ongoing, sustained professional development. We are now in the eighth year of 1:1 and still providing all of our teachers with about nine hours annually of professional development related to technology. Whether teachers are in their first or eighth year teaching students with 1:1 devices, they attend multiple training sessions per year. The reason we provide continual staff development for our teachers is to help them use technology in ever new and innovative ways to deepen learning for students and make it more meaningful (see Beyond SAMR Ladders and Pools: A Framework for Teaching & Learning).

To make this happen without reserves, our instructional technology coaches are providing this staff development before and after school as well as online. Sometimes principals replace one or more monthly staff meetings with staff development sessions. This was the case last week at both our Middle School East and High School. At each site, teachers had the option to choose from a menu of options, including instructional technology sessions. Pictured are two high school mini-sessions last week, one on formative assessment with Pear Deck held in the newly remodeled Loft space and the other on Strategies for Improving Feedback in the Online/Blended Environment for teachers in our Tonka Online program. Last spring I wrote about 14 different technology mini-sessions from which high school teachers could choose in place of a staff meeting. Staff at all our sites are asked to attend about two hours of face to face meetings before/after the school day related to instructional technology staff development. 

In addition to face to face sessions this year we are expanding our online instructional technology staff development so all teachers will take two hours of training per semester equaling four hours of training this year. This past summer we increased our online technology related offerings for teachers to 18 sessions and had over 20% of our staff take at least one session using our learning management system, Schoology. Some of these same sessions will be offered once again and our instructional technology coaches are busy creating further sessions for teachers. 

We also offered extensive technology related face to face trainings in August. We have been providing these August trainings since 2005 and the options certainly have increased since that time. Teachers are asked to take at least two summer classes so they end up with about three hours of training in the summer. In the end all these training options add up to the same number of instructional technology training hours we have asked teachers to complete since our 1:1 iPad program began:
3 hours: August training classes online/face-to-face
2 hours: Face-to-face instead of staff meetings or before/after school
4 hours: Online training modules
9 hours: Total 
In addition to these nine hours of instructional technology staff development, teachers can and often do meet with their instructional technology coach or media specialist for additional help and/or to work further on a project. All of these options and work have made it possible to continue to support our teachers and advance their work with students helping to improve the ways that technology enhances learning and teaching. 

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                        Monday, October 15, 2018

                        Annual Big Hunt for Ideas: Starting with A Spark by Identifying Problems First

                        This is the eighth year that Minnetonka has had an annual Big Hunt for Ideas to find ways to make education better for students. Rather than developing a strategic plan with a few representative voices deciding district priorities, we use we use a crowd sourced software platform to gather input from all of our staff. Innovation is now our strategic plan. We also have student innovation groups that use this process to develop new ideas. Some major ideas over the past few years include our Vantage program, TonkaOnline, Minnetonka Research, Design for Learning program, and Tonka Codes program.

                        Gathering Sparks vs. Solutions
                        This year we are encouraging staff to simply post problems rather than jumping right to solutions. These problems are called "sparks" and are meant to get a conversation going in an effort to empathize with those affected by the problem and identify all stakeholders. From these starting conversations ideas will be generated in the coming months and possible solutions discussed, piloted, and as a result, changes implemented.
                        The video above was produced to highlight this process with a example scenario--a crowded hallway during passing time. The video showcases a wide variety of school employees participating in the spark discussion- classroom teachers, a counselor, a custodian, and a school principal. Together they collectively work to identify the issue and it's impact.   
                        All of our staff participate in this hunt--besides these staff positions highlighted in the video we also have paraprofessionals, food and nutrition services, office support, after school staff and all administrators involved. In just the past two weeks, almost 100 different sparks have been identified with hundreds of comments and views from staff. Pictured is an infographic made by our Innovation Coordinator, Nicole Snedden. The idea hunt is open for another week, so we will certainly have more added with more participation. It will be exciting to discover what new innovations and solutions result from this year's hunt!

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                        Monday, October 8, 2018

                        One to Watch: Center for Humane Technology- Realign Technology with Humanity's Best Interest

                        There are a number of organizations on the the topic of digital health and wellness I like. One is the Center for Humane Technology, formerly called Time Well Spent. A few years ago I wrote about one of its founders, Tristan Harris, who has a Ted Talk describing how our phones are like a pocket slot machine and offers up ideas on how technology could protect us from distraction. Tristan explains how some technology companies in Silicon Valley are often working to increase the use of consumers/end-users of their tool rather than design the tool to help us and/or improve our lives in some way. I also linked to a great overview video that was posted at the time called This Panda is Dancing which you should watch if you haven't already.

                        Their website does an excellent job of outlining the work that the Center for Humane Technology is focused on--why it’s important, as well as answering common questions (such as how today's technology affects us differently than older technology did such as TV or radio). I subscribe to their email list/message board and can see a variety of posts from people around the world who are cognizant of this issue and are working to help make a change for the better. It's a fascinating mix of people from all areas and backgrounds.

                        Realign technology with humanity‘s best interest


                        As I wrote in last week’s post, Apple’s recent addition of Screen Time and Google’s soon to be released similar tool called Digital Wellbeing are both good examples of how technology can be used can help us. It can inform us, help us make wise decisions and be aware of its impact in our lives. I’m hopeful that this trend continues and that other companies will develop similar tools, continuing down the path of the Center for Humane Technology’s goal to “realign technology with humanity‘s best interest.” I encourage you to take a look at their site, read through their explanations describing the problem, the next steps, and try out some of their suggested ways to take control of your own technology. 


                        It's great to see that Common Sense Media is partnering with them to create a national campaign on these topics-- learn more about that at Truth About Tech. Thanks to the staff at both organizations for their efforts to move this conversation and work in the right direction!

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                        Monday, October 1, 2018

                        Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!

                        About two weeks ago Apple released their new “Screen Time” feature and it is awesome! It is a huge win for everyone, providing you with personal data at your finger tips on your technology iPhone/iPad use. Fortunately for Droid users Google has announced their own comparable service will be out soon called Digital Wellbeing (great name!), but it is currently only in beta for Google Pixel phone users--hopefully it won’t be too long until it’s released and widely available. 


                        Value of Personal Data
                        I’ve written in the past that ability to have personal information is invaluable and eye-opening—it’s one thing to read statistics or advice on how much technology is a part of our lives, but until see your own data it’s pretty hard to fully realize the role that technology plays in your life. Not only can Apple users now see the minutes and hours of screen time used on their iPhone or iPad in the past 24 hours or week, they can also dig into this data by category of apps which will help users understand the difference between educational and entertainment screen time, see the number of times they pick up/turn on their device and the number of notifications they receive. (Read more about decreasing technology's interruptions.) Parents can set limits, block apps individually or by category, use Restrictions to filter explicit language and adult web content, and even use Family Sharing to monitor their children’s personal device and change these settings remotely.
                        Family Sharing
                        An additional win for parents is the ability to see the Screen Time data of each of your children's personal devices when you set up Family Sharing. You can also remotely set up Time Limits, block and/or allow certain apps, and all of Apple's Restriction tools possible beforehand are now part of this iOS 12 Screen Time feature. I tested this out over the past two weeks and initially it was great. Unfortunately viewing the screen time data for individual children stopped working about a week ago. I now have to look at each child’s phone to see these metrics--which certainly is doable--but not as good as it was designed to work. I have seen posts online from others with the same issue, so I would hope this glitch gets fixed in iOS 12.1. I also learned that viewing screen time only works for personal devices, not not for school managed devices like our 1:1 iPad program. I’ve given Apple feedback that parents would like to be able to use this feature-- you should, too!

                        Great Conversation Starters
                        I’ve also written about the importance of connecting with those around you--being where your feet are--rather than distracted by technology. Last night I sat with my kids as we compared our Screen Time statistics with one another, seeing how many times how much time we spent on our phones, which tools we use, who had the most or at least pick ups and notifications. Conversations like this before iOS 12 and screen time certainly were possible but wasn’t informed with the facts right in front of us. Now conversations can move from speculative to factual and we were able to directly talk about ways to change things, which is exactly what parents need to be talking about with their kids! (Another tip related to technology conversations with kids I’ve written about in the past is to begin conversations with “What if..?”)

                        No Third Party App Needed
                        Before this release of Screen Time baked right into the Apple operating system, users had to go through extra steps which could be quite cumbersome, such as installing a third-party app that required profiles and permissions in order to work properly, and even then the data wasn’t as accurate as one would like. A few years ago I recommended some of these third-party tools such as Curbi and Moment. More recently I’ve just been steering people toward viewing their battery usage to see how many minutes per day or week they’re using apps. Now with the launch of Apple Screen Time these tools are easily available and simply run in the background without the hassle of third party apps and accounts. I wish this had been available years ago—but better late than never! If you are currently using a third party app, take a close look at what value it still has to decide whether or not to continue using it.

                        Check out Apple's directions for Screen Time and Family Sharing as well as a review by Common Sense Media.

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                        Monday, September 24, 2018

                        Minnetonka Middle Schools Switch to Schoology Gradebook Increasing Clarity & Understanding of Learning

                        Parent Tutorial Video created by Instructional Technology Coach Sara Hunt

                        Parent Grade View
                        This school year all grade 6, 7 and 8 students’ current grades will be in Schoology. For the past eight years Schoology has been our Learning Management System (LMS), our daily space for learning. Until now we had our grades housed separately in our Student Information System (SIS). Now by using Schoology, all assignment details will be in the same place as the scores, making it a one stop shop for this information. Schoology offers much more detail behind each score than possible in our SIS, letting users actually view assignments, the students' work if done electronically, teachers’ comments and feedback, rubrics, view any missing homework or incomplete assignments, even see some assessment answers and more. Scores are posted in real time and questions about what has been graded or is missing will be greatly reduced.

                        Mobile App View
                        The easiest way for parents to stay informed of grades is to sign up for a daily or weekly email digest which pushes information to them without having to login to look for it. Parents can also access Schoology grades through the same mobile app available in both iOS and Android platforms that our students use on their iPads (which saves your login info), or on a computer through the district website (which requires a login each time). We encourage parents to use these tools to stay connected to their child’s learning in Minnetonka.

                        At the end of each quarter grades will recorded in in our SIS as well for each child’s transcript.  Students at elementary and/or high school will still use our SIS for grades and Schoology for learning information. Next year our high school will use the Schoology grade book, too. This year the instructional technology coaches at our high school are working to help teachers prepare for this transition.

                        During the second semester last year, students, parents, and teachers at Minnetonka Middle School West tested out the Schoology grade book to compare it to our SIS. Feedback was very positive and parents liked the depth of information they received through Schoology compared to the limits of our SIS. We know that this one location for all of a student's learning content and achievement scores will provide both students and parents with a greater insight and understanding of learning and look forward to the benefits of this increased clarity of information.

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