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"The problems, goals, teams, and student and teacher experiences are much more important to tackle first. Too often schools lead with the technology rather than with these considerations (Blended pg. 191)." This opening quote really solidified my feelings towards the integration of technology within our county. We are fortunate to be a 1:1 county, however there are some major struggles for students that break, or lose of the privalege of, technology. The community wants the students to have access to innovative learning, but (some) do want to take the (financial) responsibility if a device is broken. I would love to use a flipped model in my mathematics classroom, however digital homework is not recommended and advised against. Maybe I can implement a flip and have students use their personal technology - if they don't do the homework, oh well? The climate of the teachers in implementing the 1:1 devices is varried. While some teachers want to implement all the technology, others are unsure, or against the implementation completely. If there are four different people on a collaboration team, that feel four different ways about technology, the culture is unbalanced. The tables provided throughout chapter eight offers valuable analysis of which blend to implement, but mostly the implementation is happening within a classroom, therefore it isn't happening as cultural shift. And, looking at the table above, you can clearly see the magnificent undertaking of figuring out the best blend for the culture/community/needs/wants/experience/setting/student/teacher of a given lesson.
While the district is promoting the implementation of the blend, there is no real direction, or requirement so the culture is more, "just do it" than "here's the support". Perhaps some professional development, or time set aside for collaboration groups to really discuss and analyze and implementation would be best. The culture would be much easier to shift if there was time for teachers to work on the digital components of their lesson. Lacking confidence in these "new" methods would shift to excitement if the teachers had the ability to truly understand the technology or the style of blend they were working to implement. The culture is as supportive as it could be because teachers have fear of the unknown. For example, station rotation could be introduced without technology. Teachers who get comfortable with this style of teaching, then may find it easier to release one of those stations to technology. Students already comfortable in this learning environment, may be more apt to stay on task since they have already been held accountable for autononamous learning. Administrators, who have often not taught since the implementation of 1:1 would have experience with classroom visits in the model before technology and can see the differences in the technology implementation stations. With the use of our traditional classes, the flip and blend are the two primary blend styles, although more are possible with a cultural shift in the school.
Currently, there is a big push for working in small groups, and blending can be an integral part of providing small group success. The culture in our school is great, we have a great relationship with our community, but the 1:1 shift was swift, and no one had time to acclimate. Now, in year three, teachers are finding more comfort in the set-up and finding ways to implement technology into old lessons, and make new lessons that better serve our students. We are seeing a shift in the culture, and students are (mostly) becoming more responsible with their devices. In the beginning, students were not affected if they were without a device, but as more and more digital content becomes implemented, the need for the device increases and students (mostly) want to ensure they are able to participate in the digital option. Helping the community understand the digital shift and integration is a key element in blending successfully. Perhaps educating our parents on the pros of digital learning, and taking some of the responsibility off of them (financially), we could get more on the same page, in regards to its importance.
The culture of the school community is the primary indicator of success for any implementation (in my opinion). Our school culture is phenomenal, but we have to do a better job of educating our communities on the importance of the changes we are implementing. There are a lot of shifts in education right now, and it is easy to place the blame on technology, but educating all stakeholders will play an integral role in the success of all the shifts, not just the technological ones. All things considered, a county of our size is doing a great job with implementation, with a slight learning curve. Our teachers are starting to have a better understanding and are becoming more proactive than reactive with technology. Our administrators and curriculum coaches are releasing the responsibilities to the teachers to decide when the best times, and which are the best lessons for digital integration. And, the community is starting to see that the digital literacy component of learning is here to stay, and imperative to student success in future college and career fields.
While the district is promoting the implementation of the blend, there is no real direction, or requirement so the culture is more, "just do it" than "here's the support". Perhaps some professional development, or time set aside for collaboration groups to really discuss and analyze and implementation would be best. The culture would be much easier to shift if there was time for teachers to work on the digital components of their lesson. Lacking confidence in these "new" methods would shift to excitement if the teachers had the ability to truly understand the technology or the style of blend they were working to implement. The culture is as supportive as it could be because teachers have fear of the unknown. For example, station rotation could be introduced without technology. Teachers who get comfortable with this style of teaching, then may find it easier to release one of those stations to technology. Students already comfortable in this learning environment, may be more apt to stay on task since they have already been held accountable for autononamous learning. Administrators, who have often not taught since the implementation of 1:1 would have experience with classroom visits in the model before technology and can see the differences in the technology implementation stations. With the use of our traditional classes, the flip and blend are the two primary blend styles, although more are possible with a cultural shift in the school.
Currently, there is a big push for working in small groups, and blending can be an integral part of providing small group success. The culture in our school is great, we have a great relationship with our community, but the 1:1 shift was swift, and no one had time to acclimate. Now, in year three, teachers are finding more comfort in the set-up and finding ways to implement technology into old lessons, and make new lessons that better serve our students. We are seeing a shift in the culture, and students are (mostly) becoming more responsible with their devices. In the beginning, students were not affected if they were without a device, but as more and more digital content becomes implemented, the need for the device increases and students (mostly) want to ensure they are able to participate in the digital option. Helping the community understand the digital shift and integration is a key element in blending successfully. Perhaps educating our parents on the pros of digital learning, and taking some of the responsibility off of them (financially), we could get more on the same page, in regards to its importance.
The culture of the school community is the primary indicator of success for any implementation (in my opinion). Our school culture is phenomenal, but we have to do a better job of educating our communities on the importance of the changes we are implementing. There are a lot of shifts in education right now, and it is easy to place the blame on technology, but educating all stakeholders will play an integral role in the success of all the shifts, not just the technological ones. All things considered, a county of our size is doing a great job with implementation, with a slight learning curve. Our teachers are starting to have a better understanding and are becoming more proactive than reactive with technology. Our administrators and curriculum coaches are releasing the responsibilities to the teachers to decide when the best times, and which are the best lessons for digital integration. And, the community is starting to see that the digital literacy component of learning is here to stay, and imperative to student success in future college and career fields.