How does educational technology allow us to create a culture of innovation?

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The role of educator has changed significantly since the integration of technology. Teachers are not the esteemed holders of knowledge as they once were because students’ have a wealth of information at their fingertips.  There has been talk for years about how the skills of the workforce have changed and how educators are preparing learners for jobs that do not even exist. Friedman’s article, “How to Get a Job at Google,” highlights five attributes of hirable candidates.  These include cognitive ability, leadership, humility, ownership and expertise (Couros, 157). Education is about so much more than reading, writing and arithmetic.  Educators must now prepare learners to be creative, critical thinkers who flexibly solve real-world problems across multiple content areas and then communicate solutions to a wide audience. According to Forbes, 40% of U.S. jobs will be automated by 2030, “Today’s kindergartners are the graduating class of 2030, so while the challenge might seem far off, it is actually quite urgent.” Luckily, brilliant educators across the globe have felt that sense of urgency and are accepting this transformational challenge and making significant changes for learners. 

Equity, a key focus of educators, administrators, superintendents and school boards, isn’t about all kids – it is about each and every kid. Districts are investing time and resources to prepare students for college, career and life readiness. As part of that preparation, educational technology has significantly impacted our classrooms.  For instance, the 1:1 initiative ensures every learner has his/her own device during the school day.  In educational technology circles, personalized learning is the new buzz. The International Association for K-12 Online Learning, iNACOL, defines personalized learning as, “Tailoring learning for each student’s strengths, needs and interests–including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when and where they learn–to provide flexibility and supports to ensure mastery of the highest standards possible” (Abel, 2015).  Both 1:1 and personalized learning are excellent shifts in the direction toward equity and innovation. Technology is a tool and alone, technology will not make the necessary change. “Learners are the drivers; technology is the accelerator” (Couros, 2015).  The right educational approach is learner focused; these learners include both educators and students.

In the book, The Passion-Driven Classroom: A Framework for Teaching and Learning, the authors discuss the achievement gap in education as a reflection of a gap of passion rather than achievement. They state:

           Students are not falling through the cracks because our standards are low, or because our classrooms are ill equipped with the latest technology, or because we failed to use the right book or strategy. They are falling because we have not yet found a way to sustain the energy, excitement, and love for learning they came with when they first entered our classrooms (Maiers and Sandvold 4)

Educational technologies can support our work in reaching each and every learner and these tools can be transformational.

Couros references Porter’s three levels of integration: literate, adaptive and transformative (157).  At a literate level, you become familiar with the tool. Adaptation occurs when the tool helps you do something with the tool that you used to do without it. Transformation only happens when the tool allows you to do something new that was not possible without the tool. In order for learners to get to the transformative stage, it’s important to remember that less is more (Couros 157). With thousands of apps and technology tools out there, educators must choose carefully.  Simplicity and focus will help you achieve a true level of transformation because transformation requires time and creativity. “Creativity is where we start to think differently, and innovation is where creativity comes to life” (Couros 158). Being innovative and using technology tools in transformative ways, we begin to push learners beyond their own limitations to achieve their fullest potential.

Educational technologies have changed the face of education and rewritten the age old role of educators. These technologies are a tool, and yes, some can be transformative; however, technology doesn’t innovate, humans do. Innovation isn’t something that happens in a vacuum and it’s not a process to be rushed. Innovation occurs by fostering a culture of creativity, allowing time for teachers and learners to move from literate to adaptive to transformative levels of integration. Make the opportunity to innovate accessible to all. It is about simplicity, passion and equity. You have what it takes so take that first step. 

Article By: Ashley K. Leneway

Curriculum & Technology Integration Specialist

Morgen Owings Elementary, Lake Chelan Public Schools

lenewaya@chelanschools.org

ashleyleneway@gmail.com

Twitter: @mrsleneway

Works Cited

Abel, Natalie. “What Is Personalized Learning?” iNACOL, 25 Feb. 2016,

www.inacol.org/news/what-is-personalized-learning/. Accessed 31 March 2018

Childress, Stacey. “3 Biggest Education Innovation Questions For 2018.” Forbes, Forbes

 Magazine, 9 Jan. 2018,

www.forbes.com/sites/schoolboard/2018/01/08/3-biggest-education-innovation-que

stions-for-2018/#5ea698004b13.

Couros, George. The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a

              Culture of Creativity. San Diego, Dave Burgess Consulting, 2015.

Herold, Benjamin. “The Future of Work Is Uncertain, Schools Should Worry Now.” Education

 Week, 1 Mar. 2018,

www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/09/27/the-future-of-work-is-uncertain-school

s.html. Accessed 3 Apr. 2018.

Maiers, Angela, and Amy Sandvold. The Passion-Driven Classroom: a Framework for 

Teaching and Learning. Routledge, 2018.

How can your school’s library program boost student achievement?

School libraries have changed a lot over the last 15 years. They are still the number one place students have access to pleasure reading materials, but they also hold a big opportunity to shift school culture toward student achievement. Twenty-five national studies have proved that having library with an updated collection, staffed by a certified teacher librarian who is both an educational technology evangelist and a bibliophile can increase student achievement in a school.  In 2015, a study was conducted in Washington State that showed a 35.6% increase for the five-year graduation rate in high poverty schools, that staffed a certified teacher-librarian. A study out of Colorado saw an 16% increase in advanced reading scores for schools that kept their teacher-librarians, then in schools that lost librarians during the recession. South Carolina found that schools who had a full-time certified librarian and a part-time clerical assistant, had students that scored better on their state writing exam than schools that did not have a librarian with clerical help.

It’s not just simply staffing a certified librarian, it’s what they are doing in your school that will make academic impact.  There are national school library standards teacher-librarians must teach in all grade levels. However, these standards teach students processes for learning, not content. Teacher-librarians teach media literacy, inquiry process, and digital citizenship, but to truly effect student achievement their standards must be co-taught with content teachers. The instructional partnership of content teachers and teacher-librarians is what leads to deeper learning of both process and content.

If students visit the library once a week for a thirty minute “library time” and checkout is included in that time, librarians are only able to teach each class for 18 hours a year. These lessons are often very low level and cannot include the level of rigor reflected in the new national library standards. Therefore, a flexible schedule, not a coverage model is needed to increase time for students to dig into research. Students should be able to come every day for a week in different lengths of time with their teachers as needed to finish a project, using the library in an authentic manner. This helps teachers too! Research is in all our Common Core standards, but is usually taught by the teacher, not following any inquiry process and giving students a few websites and books to use as sources. If students don’t learn how to vet their sources, curate the best sources, or use the information they find ethically it can have long lasting consequences into their adult lives. In these rigorous lessons, they also learn how to use informational text authentically and for a purpose. The more continuous time students are using informational text the more skillful they will become at skimming, using text features, and finding evidence to back up their claims.

According to OSPI, Washington State has a 16% chronic absentee rate. It is even higher for students of color. If students need to be in school to achieve.  Many of chronic absent students don’t feel like school is a place they can be themselves. They don’t feel successful or a sense of belonging in school. The school library can be that third space for students. A place to create shared experiences that merges the student’s home life and school life.  The school library creates a conduit for student’s everyday life experiences and an echo chamber of their social, emotional, and physical needs.  Students who find a place in the library are given the opportunity to embed themselves in a supportive community can become leaders schoolwide. Even Bill Gates attributes some of his success to his teacher-librarian who helped him feel a sense of belonging. Teacher-librarians ask about students’ interests and gives students one-on-one attention they often have trouble finding in our large public school classrooms.  The library in many cases is the only place schoolwide that is directly a student space that reflects the student population and their interests.  Libraries are a sanctuary and a life line that can help get students to want to come to school.

The most important way schools can help teacher-librarians make an impact on achievement is to let them do their jobs. So often administrators don’t understand what teacher-librarians do, so they invent jobs for them or overload their schedules. Teacher-librarians teach, manage a space and materials, budget, and design engaging programs for students. More and more are also running makerspaces, coding clubs, and training students and staff on the latest technology. Respect their role in the educational ecosystem and your students (and their achievement scores) will thank you!

Article By: Suzanna L. Panter

Program Manager, School Libraries

Tacoma Public Schools

spanter@tacoma.k12.wa.us

Twitter: @slpanter

Washington State ASCD thanks YOU for your membership!  For recent news visit www.wsascd.org

Works Cited

Coker, E. Certified Teacher-Librarians, Library Quality and Student Achievement in Washington State Public Schools. Edmonds: WA: Washington Library Media Association, 2015.

Gates, Bill. “A Teacher Who Changed My Life.” Gatesnotes.com, 16 Aug. 2016, www.gatesnotes.com/Education/A-Teacher-Who-Changed-My-Life.

Lance, K., and L. Hofschire. Change in School Librarian Staffing Linked with Change in CSAP Reading Performance, 2005 to 2011. Denver, CO: Colorado State Library, Library Research Service, 2012.

Lance, K., B. Schwarz, and M. J. Rodney. How Libraries Transform Schools by Contributing to Student Success: Evidence Linking South Carolina School Libraries and PASS & HSAP Results. Columbia: SC: South Carolina Association of School Libraries, 2014.

“National School Library Standards.” National School Library Standards, American Library Association, Nov. 2017, www.standards.aasl.org.

Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “Data.” Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 14 July 2017, www.k12.wa.us/attendance/Data.aspx.

“School Libraries Work! A Compendium of Research Supporting the Effectiveness of School Libraries.” School Libraries Work!, Scholastic, www.scholastic.com/SLW2016/thanks.htm.

Sun, Carolyn. “Washington Study Further Ties Quality Library Programs to Student Success.” School Library Journal, Media Source, 27 May 2015, www.slj.com/2015/05/research/washington-study-further-ties-quality-library-programs-to-student-success/.