Archive for September, 2009

Transforming Schools for the 21st Century

Friday, September 25th, 2009

by Leslie Wilson

We know the imperative for schools to ‘build’ their 21st century teaching and learning environments. This change for schools is tough stuff. If you are a pioneer in the use of robust technology integration then you are likely familiar with the complexities. This isn’t the kind of mission you take on because it looks good or it is the ‘next big thing’.

You know that your school must transform to be a viable preparatory ground for today’s and tomorrow’s students. You know that these students will enter a rapidly changing global marketplace. They need to be prepared to engage and succeed.

It isn’t easy work. In fact, it is wrought with chaos, trial and error, adjusting, clarifying and problem-solving-much like the ‘real’ world. Those engaged in this work are overhauling education’s culture. It can be agonizing on many levels. Teachers, using a variety of technology tools and resources, are regularly learning new techniques and experimenting as they hone their craft. Administrators champion the vision. They must be visible supporters who model meaningful technology use, participate in finding resources, support and ensuring ongoing professional learning. Technology personnel work at a fevered pitch to ensure consistently functional networks, manage trouble-shooting protocols, hardware, and software. Success depends of the careful weaving of this team.

You are significantly changing the culture of education. You are guided by where schools need to go not by where schools have been. It’s a messy process. You can’t look back at ‘how things used to be’ (rearview mirror gazing). The speed at which information moves dictates your looking forward and forging ahead (the window of the future).

So what helps this process? How can you expand your critical mass? How can you help others ‘care’ enough to move their school into the future? Following are a few ideas.

  • Consistently communicate about education technology goals, at all levels.

  • Collaborate a shared education technology vision among stakeholders.

  • Include ongoing funding/resources as part of that vision.

  • Engage skeptics by listening to and addressing their issues.

  • Identify unfounded reasons for dissension and disapproval by providing facts and research about education technology and the global marketplace.

  • Help recalcitrant staff identify their fears and encourage them to take risks.

  • Provide opportunities for disbelievers to observe teachers and students who have successfully integrated technology, curriculum and instruction.

  • Create cadres of teachers who support and problem-solve with one another as they increasingly implement technology tools.

  • Provide for formative and summative evaluation of education technology efforts. Honestly report findings and adjust where needed.

Key considerations in the impact of culture change are: the kind of education technology being implemented, who and how many are involved, leadership capacity, stake-holder understanding and buy-in, short and long range planning, goals and sustainability. No one person in the school/district/state can facilitate these factors. It must be a collaborative, ongoing team approach.

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Technology Tools – The Need for Transparency

Friday, September 25th, 2009

By Leslie A. Wilson

“The most profound technologies are those that disappear, that weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable in it,” said Mark Weiser, 1991, in “The Computer for the 21st Century” in Scientific American. Today’s learners, tomorrow’s job candidates, will be assessed on knowledge and skills needed in an information-driven market. A focus on the development of high quality ‘information-age adept’ works is crucial to the country’s future. This helps us realize why ‘meaningful’ versus ‘low level’ technology application in the classroom is important.

Students exiting high school and higher education need to demonstrate proficiencies not only in technology tool usage but in relevant applications. That relevancy will come about only when teachers have seamlessly woven appropriate tools with curriculum and instruction. High quality, ongoing, scheduled professional learning in this focused area is essential.

Postman (1996) said that technology should be used as an object of inquiry. It is important to understand how we might use technology and also how we are used by technology. We need to embrace technologies that are specifically useful because the design qualities call on higher order thinking and problem solving….where students have reason to explore and to learn by discovery. Technology that calls upon students’ investigative, research and exploration can be well guided by the teachers. In the same sense, technology can be used to solve many difficult tasks such as data analysis, synthesis and program development.

Educators are fortunate to be honing their practice during the information age. It is a time of opportunity to facilitate remarkable student access to discovery and knowledge exchange, communication, self-directed learning and instructing. We recognize those as the ever-present and discussed ‘21st century skills’.

Applied to real-life contribution, these 21st century talents are key to the future of individual’s success and to our country’s competitive edge. There are ever emerging technologies that empower classrooms to be learner-centered and controlled, self-paced and directed, any time, and anywhere. These technologies provide the chance for ongoing assessments, interactions and teacher feedback to individual learners. These authentic learning environments are the foundation of education transformation.

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Really ‘Retooling’

Friday, September 25th, 2009


by Leslie Wilson

We educators throw around terms such as ‘transformation’ and ‘reform’ when discussing the need for meaningful integration of education and technology.  The heart of the matter is that those who are truly engaging ubiquitous technology had to rethink and REALLY retool their craft and skill set to successfully move into the 21st century market of expectations.  They have created innovative practices that run parallel to what they knew as past pedagogy.  Brain research tells us that when adults purposely develop ‘new’ habits, they cause new brain cells to emerge which brings about new, innovative thought processes. These are significant for 21st and 22nd century classrooms.

Consider the fact that traditional education settings and practices (those from the 19th and 20th centuries) had been indoctrinated across schools’ community boundaries.  Rote routine became a country-wide ‘habit’.  All that became comfortable and held anticipated routines. The introduction of technology, let alone seamless integration with curriculum and instruction, created discomfort and territory unknown.  The innovative practices brought about by the fusion of education and technology creates many possibilities.  Those lead to wonder and creativity which are crucial 21st and 22nd century skills.  One can understand the significance of teachers’ modeling of these qualities among their learners.

Researchers from the ’60s found that by puberty, humans’ brains shut down half of their original capacity for collaboration and innovation for problem-solving.  I believe that educators who have jumped into the education technology frontier have built their professional capacity to such a high degree that their new ‘habits’ around teaching and learning are truly compelling and moving the education profession by leaps and bounds.  It is this scenario about which educators speak when discussing ‘transforming’ and ‘reforming’ schools.  Retooling and building new ‘habits’ have been crucial to the education industry.

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