Dialogue that always occurs when discussing the proper use of technology and the impact it makes on the 21st Century learner, is how should schools provide the necessary professional growth for teachers to be able to offer a rich digital learning environment?

One of the major factors at play is the vast array of differences in where staff members are on the digital/technology learning curve. A one-size fits all system of professional development will not work where technology is involved (or any other educational subject for that matter). Lebanon High School has developed a process that has proven very valuable to meet this need. To eliminate the traditional “one-shot” professional development time, where information is thrown out to teachers with hopes that some of the material caught on, in the spring of 2009, our school implemented TALL (Tiger Academy of Lessons Learned).

This process was a product of the studies of Garvin (2000) in the area of the elearning organization. TALL is modeled after the U.S. Army’s Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL). It is a process with no hierarchy that involves teachers working in groups to learn new techniques. They all share similar interests and knowledge, research together, try new practices and technology, and read books. Groups meet formally in the morning each week, and have a reporting form on the school’s shared network file that can be broadcast to the entire staff, as well as using Ning (internet social network) forums. We are now also using Indiana’s new Learning Connection Network (Indiana Department of Education, 2009). Many groups meet outside the normal school day to work. Groups can start up and dissolve as necessary.

This strategy enables teachers to use the group genius created to improve teaching skills and gain best practices from each other, thus improving student achievement. These self-directed professional development groups provide for teacher-researcher-based discourse about teaching and learning (Weinbaum, Allen, Blythe, Simon, Seidel, & Rubin, 2004).  TALL teacher inquiry groups allow for both knowledge production and sharing (Weinbaum, et al., 2004).

As of the writing of this article, Lebanon High School has TALL groups specifically relating to technology including the use of computers, SMART Board interactive whiteboards, web 2.0, and teacher blogs and websites. When it comes to technology, many of our more seasoned teachers who were finding it difficult to move toward a more digital environment say that TALL has given them the confidence and skills to match the technology with their pedagogy. This will become even more important this fall when all classrooms will have SMART Board interactive whiteboards and other SMART products like the SMART Document Camera and SMART Response interactive response system.

A SWELL Vision for Providing Innovative Technology Solutions

Through the SWELL Classroom and other duplications of this throughout Lebanon High School, the Agriculture Department has become a leader in providing innovative networking and information technology solutions to student learning. By proceeding in stages, Lebanon will be able to develop skilled staff right from the start, so first round teachers will be able provide support and training, and share lessons (Fishtrom, 2009). The SWELL Classroom allows for designing each lesson to meet the individual student’s needs, and then deliver that lesson in such a way that is effective each student.

Students always come to class enthusiastic and ready to connect to a global society brought together through technology. The plans are to add 24/7 remote and self-guided learning through technology to further differentiate learning and offer an even wider range of classes.

Using SMART education solutions, we’re also be able to offer distance learning and connect with other schools. The idea of one-size-fits-all schools will not always work for all students because the same teaching techniques do not work equally for every student. But the SWELL Classroom model creates an inclusive environment that adjusts to meet the educational needs of all students.

References
Fishtrom, R. (2009). Best in tech 2009. Scholastic Administrator, 9(3).
Garvin, D. A. (2000). Learning in action: A guide to putting the learning organization to work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Indiana Department of Education (2009). Retrieved on August 13, 2010 from: http.//learningconnection.doe.gov.
Weinbaum, A., Allen, D., Blythe, T., Simon, K., Seidel, S., & Rubin, C. (2004). Teaching as inquiry: Asking hard questions to improve practice and student achievement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

About the Author

Byron Ernest is a multiple award winning educator and the Department Head for Agriculture and FFA at Lebanon Community School Corporation. Ernest was recruited to start the department in 2005, which now has four teachers and an enrollment of 586 students in grades 8-12, making it the largest Agriculture Department in the state of Indiana.

Ernest holds two Bachelor of Science Degrees from Purdue University in Agricultural Education and Animal Science, and a Masters in Science in Agricultural Education, also from Purdue. Ernest is currently finishing his Ed.D. in Administrative and Teacher Leadership from Walden University.

Byron Ernest can be reached directly at ernestb@leb.k12.in.us.

This article was originally posted at http://edcompassblog.smarttech.com/archives/5757

Let’s face it, picture books are expensive, both to manufacture and to purchase. The price of illustrations, color pages, nice paper, shipping (most likely from China), all add up. Parents can save a lot of money with an ereader and, just maybe, it keeps their child’s attention longer. And a happy, engaged child makes for a happy parent.

Children’s books are at a pivotal point in their evolution. Interactivity has always been something to strive for, to keep children’s interests going. Pop-up books and choose-your-own-adventure books are just two examples, but with the advent of digital ebooks, the interactive options are almost limitless. The reading experience can be personalized for each child. Characters can move, making it possible for kids to control what they’re reading and watching.

Bright colors, flashing lights, and moving images aren’t just for cartoons and video games. Now books can have the same effects, along with an interactivity that no paper book can compete with. Not to mention the tablets that can actually read the book aloud, no parent required. Books are not just books anymore, and the line between what is an ebook and what is interactive media is blurring.

But are kids and ereaders a good thing? There hasn’t been enough time to do in-depth research on the effect of digital media on the early development of eyes and brains, but one group that is starting to research the effects of the digital age on children’s learning. Years ago, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at the Sesame Workshop explored the possibilities of television as an educational tool. Now, the Center is looking at digital elearning tools and the effects on education. Just as it predicted television in the classroom to aid in education, the Cooney Center’s latest report (January 2012) iLearn II (an update to its 2007 study on apps in the Education category on iTunes) predicts the almost inevitable use of mobile devices as tools in the classroom of the not-too-distant future.

Two of the report’s key findings show a distinct trend on the marketing of educational apps. First, while the number of adult educational apps is decreasing, the percentage of apps for children has risen in every age category. Secondly, toddlers and pre-schoolers are the most popular age category in Education (at 58%) and experienced the greatest growth over the past four years, a 23% increase.

Are we raising a generation destined to never know what it’s like to gnaw on paper-over-board picture books? Will they need reading glasses by age 18? And perhaps more importantly, how will it affect their developing imaginations?

Cathedral’s decision to embrace digital elearning began five years ago when officials initially looked into acquiring notebook computers for students. The school shifted its focus to Apple iPad tablets about a year ago and purchased 200 of the tablets to test out this year in classrooms to make teachers more familiar with the technology and figure out teaching methods they’ll employ.

Parents at the private parochial school will be paying a $350 technology fee that will cover the cost of renting an iPad as well as service and support for their student, said Principal Mike Deely. At the end of the contract period, students will have the option of buying the devices at a discounted price.

The iPads will be used by the school’s 1,700 students as well as 110 teachers and support staff.

On average, Cathedral parents typically spend between $800 to $1,000 buying textbooks every year. Deely said the textbook expense likely will be cut in half because teachers plan to substitute less-expensive digital textbooks for many texts they now use.

“We figured out a way we didn’t have to add to tuition,” Deely said. “Instead of $100 for science books, they will spend $14” for electronic versions.

Several schools in the region are introducing iPads and digital tablets in the classroom, giving students the tools to access the Internet and explore digital textbooks. But none have introduced the devices schoolwide as Cathedral is planning, said Greg Ottinger, director of online learning for the county Office of Education.

Deely said teachers have been very involved in preparing for iPads during the year, picking out books they no longer are going to use in their classroom and doing lessons on the devices with their classes.

Cathedral staff members also have talked frequently with their counterparts at a Catholic school in Santa Ana, Mater Dei High School, which issued iPads to its students a year ago.

There were concerns about students losing or damaging the devices, but that hasn’t been a problem.

“We’ve had only one iPad broken out of 200. It was an accident; he dropped it and the screen broke,” Deely said. “Most kids are pretty safe with them, because they care and they are really excited to use it.”

Using iPads in school may help increase student engagement with subjects because students can watch videos or create presentations on subjects they are learning about, said Matt Baier, an American government and economics teacher who has helped train teachers on technology at Cathedral.

Having the devices in class also will allow teachers to instruct students — many who already use such social media tools as Facebook and Twitter — on how to be good digital citizens and use technology appropriately, Baier said.

Read more here.

Blended learning is a combination of classroom training along with online learning. Training that takes place in the classroom is done with the help of a teacher. In this type of learning the student –teacher interaction is direct and face to face and the teacher handles the content and the speed of the class going on. In spite of many misunderstandings, online learning can also be directed by the teacher. Through the online learning or digital learning the teacher can instruct her students through the webcast where they can see and interact with their teacher through the projector screen or the computer screen. Teachers can also post classes and make projects that learners complete on their own. The trainer still handles the content of the lessons and sets up the final time limit, but in online learning students are independent to choose how, when and where they want to learn.

Through blended learning, students get the opportunity to benefit from the type of learning i.e. classroom learning and as well as online learning. In classroom learning student gets direct training, he/she participates in various activities and learns to socialize with other peers in the class. At the same time in online learning, students have the opportunity to work in relaxed surroundings of their choice, they can learn at their own speed, and they even learn the importance of managing their own time. Thus Blended learning allows students to get personal attention through eLearning or digital learning and learns the importance of discipline in classroom training along with this they become independent through online learning.

The most reported benefit of online learning is that it allows learners to learn place. It has helped many universities rise who are offering online learning solely. There are many more traditional universities that are offering their health science classes and management training through the online learning strategy. As a result, online learning or digital learning courses help save money by avoiding travelling for the classes unnecessarily. The best part of online learning is that students have the freedom to study the material provided as per their convenience. The students can schedule his class as per his personal, academic or professional planning for the day, week or month.

Thus Blended learning gives students the exposure to work online and allowing them to enhance their computer skills. With the help of the syllabus, students are able to use the computer on regular basis to be a active part of the class, quiz, exams and be able to communicate with their teacher and other students of the online learning class. With the help of such tools students learn the course book but also the computer skills that is very important part in building their future.

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More than 10,000 teachers and 1.5 million students have signed up in support to “celebrate innovative teachers and highlight instructional practices that strengthen teaching and personalize learning for all students,” according to the AEE.

To that end, a repost of Adam S. Bellow’s Golden Rules of Technology in Schools, as he stated them at the ISTE 2011 conference.

1) DON’T TRAP TECHNOLOGY IN A ROOM. “When I went to school, computers were put in a room called The Lab,” Bellow said. “‘What are they experimenting with in there, I thought.’ Technology wasn’t built into what we were doing. It was farmed off in a room, like it was special. Like we were learning how to code, and in case the Russians came, we’d know what to do.” Technology should be like oxygen, Bellow said, quoting Chris Lehmann, the founding principal of Science Leadership Academy: Ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible.

“We’re doing kids a major disservice if we don’t teach them good digital citizenship.”

2) TECHNOLOGY IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Bellow emphasized the importance of making professional development a priority, the importance of time and money being spent to educate teachers on not just an hour-long how-to session, but ways to integrate technology creatively into educators’ daily teaching practice in meaningful ways. He told the story of an interactive-whiteboard training guide who made one quick appearance at a school, never to return, leaving teachers still unsure of how to use the technology. There’s a world of professional development on YouTube and on Twitter, ironically sites that most schools block (see Number 4.)

3) MOBILE TECHNOLOGY STRETCHES A LONG WAY. “You can get much more out of mobile tech than out of most other technology,” Bellow said. Kids bring it to class everyday, but we tell them to turn it off as soon as they walk in. In New York City, Bellow said he watched as an agonizingly long queue of students waited for 45 minutes to pass through a metal detector and hand over their cell phones, which were then placed in individually labeled manila envelopes. “Can we do something better with those 45 minutes?” he asked. Cell phones can replace expensive reference books, Flip cameras, old calculators, and the list goes on. “Instead of buying those tools, buy an iPod Touch and it’ll be all of those things,” he said.

4) THE NEW ‘F WORD’ IS FEAR. Not Facebook, and not the other expletive you might have expected. Schools fear everything from being replaced by gadgets (“Any teacher who can be replaced by a robot should be,” he said), to kids knowing more about subjects than they do, to collaborative Web tools that are blocked because of a slew of acronyms that haunt administrators. On one hand, “teachers are frustrated because they feel like they’re being handcuffed,” Bellow said, due to crude filters that block out all kinds of useful websites. On the other hand, kids already come to school with phones that have access to everything. “We could block Facebook, but who are we kidding? They’re already on it,” he said. “The world is not a sterile place. Kids need to learn how to deal with it.” And because kids have access to every kind of information at any time, they need to learn about things like Creative Commons and copyright rules. “We’re doing them a major disservice if we don’t teach them good digital citizenship,” he said.

5) TECH TOOLS ARE NOT JUST A PASSING FAD. Bellow said he’s heard countless times from those who don’t want to take risks by finding and investing in new tools. And even when they do, they use only a fraction of the tools’ potential purposes because they haven’t invested enough time to figure it out (see Number 2). Bellow told the story of a school administrator who was able to buy iPads for his teachers, but is only using them to take attendance. He showed a video of a 100-year-old woman learning how to use the iPad to browse the Web, to read books, to watch videos, and how excited she was about it. “We are natural lifelong learners,” he said.

6) MONEY IS NOT THE PROBLEM. Teachers have access to thousands of free Web tools. And even if the free ones do decide to start charging, others will crop up to replace it. The point is not to be afraid of diving in (see Number 4).

7) INVITE EVERY STAKEHOLDER TO THE CONVERSATION. “Who’s at the table?” Bellow asked. “Mostly administrators, some ask teachers. But here’s a novel idea. Let’s have students come to the table, and parents too!”

This article was originally posted at http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/02/on-digital-learning-day-7-golden-rules-of-using-technology/

For Wednesday, the inaugural Digital Learning Day, a “nationwide celebration of innovative teaching and elearning through digital media and technology,” we’ve combed The Times’s archives to find articles from 1970 to 2002 on the impact of the digital revolution on education.

Just a quick glance at the quotes we’ve pulled from each piece will be enough to show you that the questions we grapple with today — on the “digital divide,” the educational value of the Internet, whether machines can replace teachers, if computers are changing the way we think, how teens are making the Internet their own, and even whether to “flip the classroom” — are the same ones we’ve been worrying about for at least 40 years.

One idea? Choose a piece to share with your students and have them guess in what year it was written.

Meanwhile, to further celebrate the day, we’ll be enthusiastically lending our voice to the call of the originators, the Alliance for Excellent Education, and our partners The National Writing Project, Figment and Edutopia, to encourage everyone, regardless of previous experience, to explore learning with digital technology by doing three simple things:

• Starting a conversation
• Trying one new thing
• Showcasing a success

(Follow the links above for simple ideas anyone can try.)

We also have our own ever-growing resource page on Teaching With and About Technology, which includes lessons, links to more recent Times articles and multimedia, and a list of more than 25 still-open Student Opinion questions about the digital lives of young people, in and out of school.

So spread the word about this occasion on Feb. 1 by following some of our suggestions and links and joining the conversation. You’ll find us on Twitter @nytimeslearning, where we’ll be tweeting (and re-tweeting) about #DLDay all day long.

Some Times Articles on Education and Technology, 1970-2002

1970: Time To Teach Those Teaching Machines (PDF)

There are many reasons why the world’s most technologically advanced country has remained so backward in the uses of educational technology.

1972: Electronics Seen as Education Key (PDF)

Contending that higher education “now faces the first great technological revolution in five centuries,” the commission said that it expected such instructional tools as videotape cassettes, cable television and computers to be in general use on college and university campuses by the year 2000.

1982: Computers Alter Lives of Pupils and Teachers

Mrs. Mattingly of Lamplighter agreed. “It would be hard to keep students toeing the mark,” she said. “You’d have an underground group that would be hitting the keyboard early in the morning before classes started.”

1984: Computers in the Groves of Academe

A senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., says he has “never written a paper onto a piece of paper.” Instead, he has done his writing on the word-processing terminals scattered around the campus. Armington has also used computers to study philosophy, create random geometric patterns in a course on art and technology and brush up on his French. To keep up with current events in a banking course, he spent $20 an hour for an electronic clipping service…

1985: Functional Illiteracy in the Age of Technology

Despite the fact that we live in an age of technology – when every new car has a small computer to control the ignition and every newspaper contains articles about toxic chemicals and nuclear safety – most people are essentially unequipped to read and understand these articles. And most people are fashionably proud of it. It is no shame to say, ‘Well, I really don’t know anything about science.’

1987: Computer Programs as University Teachers

Computers are likely to supplement, rather than replace, textbooks and lectures. Right now, “we’re in a cusp where we can see it developing, but it’s not quite there yet,” said Douglas Van Houweling, vice provost for information technology at the University of Michigan.

1990: In the Mind of the High-Tech Child

Want to program a VCR to record the news every night for five nights? Ask an adolescent. Want to set the digital watch alarm to go off at 6:30 a.m.? Ask a 10-year-old. Literacy may be endangered today, but not electronic literacy.

1991: Classes Once Removed

…as more schools try to teach the subject in practical and sophisticated ways, educators say that some attempt to improve technology instruction is better than none.

1993: The Keyboard Becomes a Hangout for a Computer-Savvy Generation

Sixteen-year-old Jon Leger, a high school student in Port Arthur, Tex., does not consider himself a computer whiz. In fact he doesn’t see himself as particularly special in any way.

“People at school treat me like I’m nothing,” he said. But on the Internet, the network of networks, accessible to anyone with a personal computer modem, he has found his place in a world that extends far beyond his home city in southeast Texas. “On the net,” he said, “people are willing to talk to me. It’s a huge self-esteem booster.”

1994: In North Carolina, It’s Full Speed Ahead Into the Digital Age and New Lessons in Ethics

She put on a skit that she’d written, using two stuffed bears wearing sunglasses who were into software copyright infringement. She showed them a slick, 16-minute educational video that BellSouth has distributed free to thousands of schools in the Southeast, featuring Damon Johnson, the lead singer for the rock group Brother Cane. On the video, Mr. Johnson, who has hair like Cher and wears an earring, greets buddies by saying things like, “I see you finally went all digital,” and makes speeches about the dangers of bootlegging software.

1996: A New Gulf in American Education, the Digital Divide

The digital divide between these two schools in the heart of Silicon Valley provides perhaps the most striking example anywhere in the nation of a widening gap — between children who are being prepared for lives and careers in the information age, and those who may find themselves held back.

1997: Internet’s Value In U.S. Schools Still in Question

A little more than two years from the January 2000 target date set by the Clinton Administration for having every American school linked to the Internet, nearly 70 percent of the nation’s schools now have at least one computer with an Internet connection — even if fewer than 15 percent of individual classrooms have network access.

But the educational value of the Internet — once taken as nearly an article of faith — is being called into question at a time when so many of the nation’s students cannot solve basic math problems.

1997: High-Tech Teaching Is Losing Its Gloss

…much of what passes for education on computers is a far cry from the well-crafted programs of Scholastic. Most of it is akin to glorified video games offered in the vague but firm belief that access to endless information, regardless of quality, must be good.

1998: Virtual-Classes Trend Alarms Professors

With the arrival of the World Wide Web, video streaming, multimedia CD-ROMs and computer-assisted research, students now have easy access to more facts than scholars a few decades ago ever imagined, and those changes have made some administrators and taxpayers view a classroom lecture as an inefficient mode of imparting knowledge from one brain to many.

2000: As Computers Idle in Class, Training for Teachers Becomes Priority

The teachers who gathered on Thursday in Room 313 at Public School 122 in Astoria, Queens, for the first day of a workshop called Introduction to the Internet were model students. They studied their list of vocabulary terms like “home page” and “modem.” They raised their hands. And when the workshop leader asked a question, they tried to answer:

2000: A Day in the Life of the Wired School

Down the hall, third graders in Ashley Schuck’s class were learning how to scan photos into the computer and waiting to use the three digital cameras that float from class to class in the school.

2002: To the Liberal Arts, He Adds Computer Science

…at a time when the corporate world and Wall Street are in the funk of a technology hangover, the students in Mr. Kernighan’s class have a perspective that seems a levelheaded antidote to the prevailing gloom, based on conversations with a few of them. They have no illusions that computing is a silver bullet for the economy or a sure-fire path to riches. 

The SMART Board and SMART Notebook software collaborative learning software are tools that can be used for whole class, small group and individual learning. The below list includes creative ways I have seen the SMART Board used.

1. Small Group/Center Formative Assessment

The best SMART Board is a “sticky” SMART Board. Sticky because it has had kid’s hands all over it. Students working in small groups at the SMART Board as part of a rotation of learning centers in can be used for practice and reinforcement. Notebook software’s Lesson Activity Tool Kit includes customizable flash-based templates that can be used as check for understanding and guide instruction.

2. Virtual Experiences

Some experiences are too expensive or too dangerous to do “for real.” Within Notebook there are 3D objects and virtual manipulatives that allow “hands-on’ish” exploration. There are third-party websites such as Energy Skate Park where students can learn from and with each other and the experience is enhanced by the SMART Board.

3. Reteach/Enrich/Remediate

SMART Recorder is a tool that allows anything that is shared on the board, including voice when a microphone is present, to be saved as a video file. Making these files available can help not only students who may miss class, but also those who may be struggling with certain concepts.

4. Flip the Classroom

Several creative instructors are experimenting with flipping the class whereby videos take the place of direct instruction, allowing students to get individual time in class to work with their teacher on key learning activities. It is called the flipped class because what used to be class work (the “lecture” is done at home via teacher-created videos and what used to be homework assigned problems) is now done in class. SMART Recorder allows teachers to capture direct instruction with one-touch simplicity.

5. Abstract Made More Concrete

SMART Notebook software has an available Math Tools plug-in to quickly create visual representations of a wide range of concepts from elementary school fractions to algebraic functions in AP calculus & HS science courses. These visuals can help students understand abstract concepts by representing them more concretely. Similarly, Notebook has the ability to display 3D objects, some of which are included in the gallery, others available for free download from the Google 3D image library. These images, when paired with a mixed-reality ready document camera, like the SMART Document Camera, allow the manipulation of objects in space from all angles.

6. Enhances Concrete, Representational, Abstract (CRA) Instructional Approach for Mathematics

There is an elegance and agility as the SMART Board accommodates all three with phases without having to change presentation tools as you would in more traditional spaces.  In this model of instruction, young mathematicians use concrete materials to manipulate to solve problems, the SMART Board with the SMART Document Camera help teachers use those materials in their true form vs. overheads which require special transparent objects to do the same.  Kids are using the same materials at their seats that teachers use beneath the document camera. In the representational phase, virtual objects such as drawings and pictures are used. The Notebook Gallery has thousands of virtual manipulatives teachers can use with students as they begin representing equations. Finally, the abstract phase involves the use of operational symbols and written equations.  SMART Notebook Math Tools software includes an equation editor that allows teachers and students to manipulate numbers and see these graphically represented. Please visitTeaching With SMART Board and Harvey’s Homepage to see some examples. 

7. This Board is Your Board…Not So Much My Board

Students learn by doing. Having teachers get out of the way and let the students use the SMART Board and Notebook software to demonstrate understanding of a concept or problem should be at the center of pedagogy. Granted, perhaps only a few students can be directly engaged at the board at a given time, however there is value in peer-teaching and the opportunity to develop presentation skills and sharing with a group. Cooperation and collaboration are fostered and enhanced when students can work with one another versus being passive participants. 

8. Interactive Canvas in Notebook

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) is vitally important, but I like to think of it in terms of “STEAM” and the A stands for Arts. In the Art classroom, the SMART Board becomes an interactive canvas using another tool called ArtRage.  Since the SMART Board is not pen-dependent, students can use a wide variety of real brushes coupled with the software brushes to paint, draw, explore color, etc. These paintings can be the illustrations for original books. Notebook software allows students to create and author stories to compliment their art as it is ideally suited for both text and drawings. Notebook software also allows direct import into PDF format so their books can now be read using any computer, such as Kindle, most eReaders, iPads and iPod touches. Students absolutely love the fact that their work is digital and can be shared with readers across the world.

9. Enhanced Lecture

As a predominantly constructivist teacher, there were times I suffered from “lecture guilt”. However, there are times when – dare I say it – the best way to help students learn is to actually teach them explicitly, via direct instruction. There are tools within Notebook software such as SMART Video Player that enable the SMART Board to become a media hub of sorts. The seamless integration of third-party audio and video resources can serve to differentiate instruction and appeal to multiple intelligences for those times when direct instruction is appropriate.

10. Electronic Professional Learning Communities

Admittedly, this suggestion appears to be out of place in a list of creative ways to use a SMART Board. However, I like a quote from James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of Crowds; “And much of what we’ve seen so far suggests that a large group of diverse individuals will make more intelligent decisions than even the most skilled decision maker.”

Put another way, there are brilliant, creative educators who are doing incredible things with their SMART Boards. However, the skill and expertise of any one SMART Board guru is dwarfed by the collective wisdom of the crowd. Technology blows the walls off the school and makes professional sharing possible. Visit the SMART Exchange website and search thousands of lessons created by classroom teachers and well-known education publishers that you can use whole cloth or customize to use with your students. The Exchange also contains a forum where you can connect and create your own User Groups.

There are other terrific resources such as SMART Board Revolution that allow you to collaborate by sharing ideas, and tips in an effort to maximize our students’ learning. Whether it be in your building, your district or an on-line community, connecting with other educators and having the confidence to share and the humility to learn is essential in moving teaching practice forward.

Please note the above list is not meant to be exhaustive nor prescriptive. Hopefully you find it helpful.  I would love to hear other examples of creative ways you’re using your SMART Board.

—

Brady Phillips began working with SMART in 2007 as Manager, North American Education Consulting, and is currently Manager, Education Practice.

This article was originally posted at http://gettingsmart.com/news/10-innovative-practical-applications-of-smart-tech/

Students at Presidio Middle School use the HMH iPad algebra app.

As Apple pushes out its new education products, new information about whether using the iPad gives students an advantage over using print books is starting to surface.

Results from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s year-long study comparing students using the publisher’s iPad algebra app are in from Amelia Earhart school in Riverside, Calif., and it’s largely positive, according to the company.

The study showed that 78 percent of students who used the HMH algebra iPad app scored “proficient” or “advanced” on the California Standards Test, compared to 59 percent of students who used the textbook version. “As students were randomly assigned to use HMH Fuse, the results indicated that use of the app was the chief cause behind the improvement in student test scores,” the report states.

Some of the advantages of the app, according to the report:

• Allowed parents to provide more support to their children: “Parents could watch the videos or review problems with their children to help them if they did not understand.”
• Students were much more motivated during class and were more interested in the subject.
• Changes in student learning outside of the classroom. Students reported reading more and trying to work independently outside of class when completing homework. Also, students were coming to class explaining that they had watched the video multiple times at home.

MindShift covered the pilot project when it first launched last year at the Presidio Middle School in San Francisco.

Algebra teacher Jeanetta Mitchell, who piloted the app in her class, said at the time that there was definitely an adjustment period and different levels of expectations, both on the part of students and administrators.

She said that when the pilot first launched, test scores for the class using the iPad were actually lower than those using the traditional textbook.

“I had a conversation with the class explaining to them that the iPad was not the panacea of all ills.It wasn’t going to do everything for them, that they still had to think,” she said. “You have to beengaged. It’s not giving you the answers; it’s helping you get the answers.”

But even more importantly than scores, Mitchell noticed that some students who’d showed no interest in math in the past are hooked. “I have students who are participating in this class who did not participate in their previous math classes, so it does engage them,” she says. “Is it going to make them all brainiacs and straight A students? No it’s not going to do that. But it will keep them engaged.”

This article was originally posted at http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/01/study-shows-algebra-ipad-app-improves-scores-in-one-school/

Schools that ignore this step, said Issac Herskowitz, director of New York-based Touro College’sinstructional technology program, will wind up with smart classrooms that fall short of their goals. “Designing classrooms for today’s learners requires a different approach than what’s been traditionally employed in K-12 settings,” said Herskowitz.

Here are six design elements that should be incorporated into the 21st Century classroom.

1. Desks and furniture that support collaboration. The days of the single desk and chair are gone, according to Herskowitz. He said he envisions a time when all K-12 classrooms are developed around the concept of collaboration–between student and teacher and among the students themselves.

“You want students to be able to do discovery learning and to work together on projects and problem-solving,” said Herskowitz.

To support that concept, he said, furniture should be able to accommodate multiple learners and then be repositioned for independent learning (such as testing). “When you start with this foundation,” said Herskowitz, “the collaboration comes naturally.”

2. Ample electrical outlets. Not all students will come to class with their iPads and laptops charged up and ready to go. To make sure 21st Century learners have the power they need to engage in classroom activities, Amber Golden Raskin said her school uses a combination of electrical outlets, some of which are integrated into the classroom furniture, and power strips that are distributed through the classroom.

“Think about your students’ current and future power needs early in the design phase,” said Raskin, executive director of business development and operations at SCVi Charter School in Castaic, CA, “and you’ll avoid the hassle of having to add more at a later date, post-construction.”

3. A “smart” teacher lectern. Teaching in a smart classroom requires a “smart” lectern, said Herskowitz, who advised schools to put time and money into the structures that teachers will use as their home bases. USB ports that allow for easy document camera connections, interactive whiteboard equipment controls, and other features should be incorporated into the fixtures.

“You really want to make everything accessible for the teachers that are using the technology,” said Herskowitz. “If instructors are comfortable in the space and able to use all of the tools that you put in front of them, half the battle is won.”

4. Lighting that’s easy to control. With audiovisual technology becoming more advanced and even more useful in the K-12 classroom, the need for lighting that’s easy to dim or enhance is imperative. The student sitting furthest away from the projection screen, for example, must be able to see the workspace clearly and without interference from shadows.

“Factor in the natural lighting, the fixtures, and the controls,” said Herskowitz, “and focus on accessible lighting controls that allow the teachers to adjust quickly.”

5. Physical space that goes beyond the single classroom. Who says the 21st Century classroom has to be a single room? At SVCi, a four-year-old charter school, Raskin said holes were intentionally punched in classroom walls to help create a collaborative environment that expands beyond a single room. “Students and teachers can go in and out of the openings, which are covered by curtains when not in use,” said Raskin.

The strategy works particularly well when teachers collaborate on interdisciplinary projects. “Being able to share across classrooms is a big deal here,” said Raskin, “and something that we strived for when designing our learning spaces.”

6. Fewer expansive gathering areas. The traditional, campus-wide auditorium didn’t have a place at SVCi. Instead there are several mid-sized gathering areas designed to accommodate three or four classrooms full of students who need to come together to share, collaborate, or watch a live presentation.

“We went with smaller common areas rather than just one big assembly room,” said Raskin. “Our goal was to get students exercising the ‘expression’ muscles in smaller groups that lend themselves to more participation and collaboration.”

At its core, Raskin said, the modern-day classroom’s design should revolve around the idea that students should no longer be sitting alone at desks “spitting out answers” to a teacher who stands behind a podium. “In the last century we were a factory-driven society and schools were designed around that concept,” said Raskin. “Today we must create spaces where students can collaborate and participate in real-life environments where they can learn how to work on teams; that’s what they’ll be doing in the work world.”

This article was originally posted at http://thejournal.com/Articles/2012/01/18/Designing-the-21st-Century-K12-Classroom.aspx?Page=2

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