Education Today: Blending the Old and the New

I had the great fortune of spending last week--my spring break--in Europe.  Three days in Paris and three days in Rome.  I saw some interesting things that seemed to relate to my quandary about getting teachers to use data.  We must encourage them to blend the old and the new.  I was on the tower climb at Notre Dame Cathedral, "oohhing" and "aahhing" over the workmanship of the building and the gargoyles (and the view of Paris).  As I was coming out of the staircase at the end of the tower climb--of a building constructed over the period of the twelfth century--an electronic door swung open to let me out.  I am convinced that the electronic door was not part of the original construction.  But it did serve an important purpose.  No one has to "man" the door, and no one has to worry about the door being left open.  This is a great blend of using existing knowledge to create a contemporary solution to a problem.

Isn't this what we want teachers to do with technology and data?  We don't want or need them to throw out what they do well.  There will always be a place for "best practices."  However, we need them to understand that new technologies can help them gather information that can help redirect their teaching efforts productively, and it can help them engage students, who are growing up using technology on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis.

Oftentimes, teachers focus either on the technology or on the curriculum, not really understanding that they need to blend the two.  Though there is a "typo" in this animated demonstration chart, I still think it's quite an interesting model:  A Model of Technology Adoption

There is no doubt in my mind that technology can never and will never replace a teacher.  However, we need to encourage teachers to become comfortable with the technology that--if they only realized it--would make their jobs easier.


Consider the following quote from an article in T.H.E. Journal: 

"While technology has changed what is possible and how students can be supported and resourced in their learning, the principles of effective instruction never really change. The technology is not what drives learning but simply what mediates and supports the process; therefore, it is vital that professors, instructors and teachers remain focused on the overall process of learning and their own teaching strategies and methods throughout. What has significantly changed is the way in which these effective teaching strategies can be achieved at a higher level using new technology."

This kind of thinking represents what I'm talking about.  It's not about teachers doing more--it's about doing, more effectively what they already do.  If you'd like to read the entire article, here is the link:

Technology's Impact on Effective Teaching Strategies

One last point--and this one is just for a bit of fun--we all need to remember that the technology that seems so hard to us today will be what we fondly laugh about tomorrow.  Watch below.

Data rich but information poor?

What does it take to lead teachers toward using technology?  One might think that serving as an example would be a step in the right direction.  And it might be, but if it is, my steps are definitely slow ones.  This is my third year as an assistant principal.  The faculty at my school was used to an administrator who distributed paper calendars to everyone with the month's upcoming events.  That seemed like a waste of energy to me because I put everything on my Outlook calendar.  So I would "invite" them as "attendees" when something was going on, which would put the event on their Outlook calendars.  It didn't work or I caved too easily.  After a year of having teachers tell me they were frustrated because they never knew what was going on (REALLY?), I started year two with double the work--creating a paper calendar for them and putting everything in my Outlook calendar, so I could get those handy pop-up reminders.

To me, this phenomenon of having information readily available but not being able to use it is much like how teachers engage with student data.  They have a lot of information--standardized testing, common formative assessments, classroom assessments, etc., but they, oftentimes, don't know what to do with it.  Thomas and Huffman (2009) state, "It is imperative that principals . . . employ processes to help teachers examine various types of data and think about how data can be used to inform instructional decisions that lead to increased student achievement" (p. 94).  The process that they describe in their article employs use of teacher collaboration.  See below to read the full article. 

 Thomas & Huffman's Article

To me, nothing offers a greater model of collaboration than the DuFour's model of Professional Learning Communities (PLC).   From the beginning, we have to get teachers engaged with what it means to be a PLC.  We know it's not about discussing field trips and who's been creating classrooms disruptions lately, but teachers are more engaged when they are part of the process.  Here's a good place to start.  Send your teachers to All Things PLC, a great resource of the DuFour's organization, Solution Tree.  (By the way, I've added them to the Twitter list from my last post.)

All Things PLC

 If your teachers are more visual or if you need something to use as an introduction, consider this short You Tube video (also from Solution Tree):

Information, where art thou?

If we want to be effective in using data, we need to be informed about what is going on in the world of education.  To that end, I have been working on a Twitter list--some reliable resources that might keep me up to date as to what's happening in the world of education.  In creating my list, I took a global perspective or top-down approach.  I first added links to sites such as the U.S. Department of Education, the National Education Association, and the Alabama State Department of Education.  Though we may not have gotten into the business of education with politics in mind, it doesn't take long to realize that it is a part nonetheless.

From there I added sites to educators, administrators, and organizations that, I believe, have value for us as educators and educational leaders.  Among my favorites are Todd Whitaker, Mike Roberts, and Ron Clark.  They consistently tweet about useful topics and information. I also included a link to my school system's own technology coordinator, Susan Poling, as a way of closing the loop. 

In deciding whom to include, I used those people and groups, first, that are considered experts and/or who are widely known.  I also looked at followers of those I follow.  Finally, I looked at what the people or groups were tweeting about to see whether or not they had relevance to me and my interests.

One of the things I learned in creating this list is what kind of tweeting is helpful.  While posting comments about what is happening may be informational, it is not nearly as helpful as including links to direct sources of information.  I also learned that one great way to find others who share our interests is to look at who's following those whom we follow.  Sadly, the last thing I learned was that everyone I love doesn't have a Twitter account.  I believe strongly in the power of Professional Learning Communities but could not find the DuFours anywhere on Twitter.  I did, however, find people who tweet about PLC's, so it will be interesting to see what they have to say.

I hope you find this list useful and helpful as you think about your own goals.  If you know of great sources of information, please share!  Sometimes the most effective professional development is collegial sharing.


ED 529 Twitter List