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Making  Change:  Creating  21st  Century  Teaching  &  Learning  Environments  

 

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Making Change

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Loretta Donovan Timothy Green

Foreword by Jerry Michel    The  following  sample  pages  are  included  in  this  download:  

• Table  of  Contents  • Sample  chapter  selection  

     For  correlations  to  Common  Core  and  State  Standards,  please  visit  http://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/correlations.  

EnvironmentsEnvironmentsEnvironmentsEnvironmentsEnvironmentsTeaching & Learning

Making Change

TeachingTeaching LearningLearningLearningCreating

21st Century

Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0Web 2.0

AdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingAdoptingInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovationsInnovations

Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for Tools for MeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuringMeasuring

Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student Student CenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCenteredCentered

21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century 21st Century SkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkillsSkills

Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld Handheld DevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevicesDevices

SoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftwareSoftware

TechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnologyTechnology

StudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudentsStudents

ChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcessProcess

School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School School ReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadinessReadiness

ChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChangeChange

Loretta Donovan Timothy Green

Foreword by Jerry Michel

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Table of Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 1: Building a Foundation for a 21st Century Teaching and Learning Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2: Understanding the Change Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Chapter 3: Understanding the 21st Century Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Chapter 4: Understanding 21st Century Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Chapter 5: Understanding Your School’s Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Chapter 6: Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

References Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Appendix: Technology Readiness Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

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1

Building A Foundation For a 21st Century Teaching and Learning

Environment

Chapter Scenario: For the past three years, your school’s enrollment has been declining. Each year during this time period, you have lost on average 3 percent of your student population. This is a troubling trend that needs to be reversed. You and your school’s instructional leadership team have investigated why students are leaving, and through your investigation, you have found that a major reason that students are transferring to a neighboring district is due to this district’s focus on technology. It seems odd that students are transferring for this reason because your students are using technology as well. Your school has two computer labs. Students use technology to write Word documents, to create presentations, and to research information on the Internet. Students frequently use computers to practice and reinforce math and reading skills. There are interactive whiteboards in several classrooms. Teachers use these regularly in their teaching. Several teachers have document cameras on which they can project a variety of content to students. Every teacher has a computer in his or her classroom with access to the Internet. You believe that your school also has a focus on technology.

It is undeniable that computer-based technology is a pervasive part of our society. From communicating with friends, family, and colleagues to making dinner, withdrawing money from the bank, and checking out at the grocery store, computer-based technology plays a role. It is safe to say that rarely, if ever, will a day go by when you do not use some form of technology. Our students need to be able to live and work in a world that is not only filled with

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technology but that is also rapidly changing in many ways. We are preparing our students to be college and career ready by fulfilling the requirements of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The question we have for you is—how ready and equipped is your school to help prepare your students to live and thrive in the 21st century?

As you contemplate this question, consider the following statistics from Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up (2011) report. This annual report provides a summary of the level of access that U.S. students have to technology, and how these students are using and wanting to use technology for learning. Student technology access continues to increase significantly from year to year, especially when pertaining to mobile devices (e.g., cell phones, smartphones, laptops, MP3 players, and tablet devices). There has been a 42 percent jump from 2009 to 2010 in access to smartphones for middle school (33 percent ownership) and high school students (44 percent ownership). Access to laptops is significant as well: 37 percent for students in grades K–2; 42 percent for grades 3–5; 60 percent for grades 6–8; and 67 percent for grades 9–12. It is important to note that student access is not limited to a specific demographic. When the data is analyzed for differences in community type (e.g., urban, rural, or suburban) and socioeconomics, little to no difference can be found. This is extremely important to recognize—students from varying backgrounds do have access to technology in ever-increasing numbers.

Another key finding from this report is that in addition to K–12 students having access to a variety of technology, they also have the desire to use these tools to engage in learning in ways that many schools are not currently providing. When asked the question, “Is your school doing a good job using technology to enhance learning and/or student achievement?” more than half of high school students surveyed indicated, “No” (Project Tomorrow 2011, 15). What, then, do students want from school regarding technology use?

Our students want a learning environment where they can use technology in meaningful ways to explore digital content (e.g., e-textbooks, online resources), communicate with their peers and teachers, collaborate with their peers and others throughout the world, and learn anywhere at any time. Our students crave a technology-enabled learning environment that empowers them with choices as to how and when they engage in learning experiences (Project Tomorrow 2011).

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Picture This!

We are going to assume that because you are reading this book, you have a strong desire for your school to be a place where students feel empowered to use technology to engage in learning. You want to equip your students with the content and skills they will need to be successful in the 21st century workforce. Accomplishing this requires your school to be a place where 21st century skills are at the core of what goes on. For some schools, getting to this point may require a fundamental shift in what is taking place. This book was written to help you establish this type of environment at your school no matter what your current situation may be.

Starting with a Plan

Think back to the scenario that opened this chapter. Although technology was being used in the school, technology was not being used in ways that promoted 21st century skills or the Common Core State Standards. How can this school (or any school, for that matter) transform into a 21st century teaching and learning environment where students learn 21st century skills? It begins with a plan. To start, talk with others who have successfully changed their school. Read about what other schools have accomplished. You can even visit schools where educational technology innovations are taking place. These are all excellent activities. However, until you thoughtfully examine your own school and then develop a clear and detailed plan based on what you have found, your school will not transform into an environment where 21st century teaching and learning will take place. Furthermore, students

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will not be prepared for college and career readiness will fail to take place. A plan is essential in helping build a solid foundation that will support 21st century teaching and learning that engages and empowers students.

Creating a plan for transforming your school is like remodeling a house. A homeowner wanting to remodel will typically start with the idea of what the house will look like, and what the changes to the existing structure will be—a master bedroom suite, an upgraded kitchen, an additional bedroom, and so forth. The homeowner might discuss the remodeling idea with family and friends. She may read magazines or books about home design. She may even drive through various neighborhoods to see different examples of homes that have been remodeled. However, until the homeowner consults with building professionals—an architect, a contractor, and a banker—to create blueprints and set a budget, the remodel will not become a reality. It will remain just an idea.

Developing a plan for your school is the purpose of this book. The book provides a systematic method for creating a plan that can help move your school from where it currently is to a place where educational technology innovation becomes part of the culture. The method we have developed and advocate is based on our years of experience working with schools throughout the world. The various components of our method are based on proven, research-based practices. Following our method will assist you in developing a plan that can be followed to transform your school into an environment where 21st century learning takes place.

Developing a PlanThere are four major components that make up our method: understanding

the change process, understanding 21st century students, understanding 21st century technology, and understanding 21st century school readiness. To help you gain an understanding of these components, we devote a chapter to each. Our concluding chapter, Chapter 6, demonstrates how all of the components fit together. We discuss how to interpret all the data you collect about your students, your colleagues, and your school’s readiness for 21st century teaching and learning as your plan is created and then put into action.

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5

Understanding Your School’s Readiness

Chapter Scenario: You just received an email announcing that you have been elected to be chair of the technology committee at your school. Even better, your administration has decided that it’s time your school joins the 21st century, and has allocated funds for educational technology and educational-technology professional development. Your job as chair is to determine the best way to get things moving. First, however, you need to determine if your school is even ready for what’s ahead. It’s showtime!

Up to this point in this book, we have examined and explored the change process, 21st century learning, 21st century students, and 21st century technology. Hopefully, you are starting to recognize the potential for a 21st century learning environment and what it looks like. How do you know, however, if your school is ready for all of this? The purpose of this chapter is to provide insights into processes and free tools that you can use as a school or district-based technology leader to determine if your school or district is ready for 21st century teaching and learning.

Readiness

According to Dictionary.com, readiness means “the condition of being ready.” What the dictionary definition doesn’t tell us, however, are the different levels of being ready and the different forms of readiness. Think about the teaching and learning environment at your school or district.

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• Do you have the appropriate tools for a 21st century learning environment as outlined in Chapter 4?

• Do your students represent students described in Chapter 3? • Are your colleagues/teachers ready for technological change? • How do your colleagues currently use technology? • Are the community members and students’ parents a source of change,

or will they be resistant? • Will your administration (school and district) support the

technological change? • Are you ready to be a change agent based on what you understand

about technological change from Chapter 2?

This chapter is dedicated to sharing free tools with you that are available to help you answer these questions. There are also other tools available at a cost; however, we focus on free tools you can easily access and use. In Chapter 6, we describe how to interpret the results of administering these tools and make the first active step to becoming a 21st century teaching and learning environment.

Back in Chapter 2, we introduced you to some well-known change theorists and experts. No matter which theory you feel most strongly about, they all have a common message when placed in the context of 21st century readiness. The message is that in order to be “ready” for the 21st century, your teaching and learning environment must have:

• the necessary infrastructure and tools in place. • a group of teachers who will support the bottom-up approach to

making change. • an administration that will provide the top-down support

and structure. • a clearly defined professional development system with a 21st

century focus.

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By the end of this chapter, you should have skills and materials that allow you to gather important information about your school and colleagues’ readiness to move forward in transforming into a 21st century teaching and learning environment.

Tools for Measuring Readiness

Our experiences as teacher educators, consultants, and program evaluators have exposed us to a technology readiness range of tools for self-evaluation about technology readiness. Most of these tools are available on the web free of charge. In this section, we describe the tools and how to use them. Chapter 6 guides you in using what you learn from these tools to get started.

The tools shared have a range in their focus and complexity. We share them in no particular order; however, we do recommend that you use all of them. We start with technology and readiness charts that provide insights into infrastructure, technology access, and instructional readiness. Technology and readiness charts are also well suited for examining existing professional development practices. Next, we share tools for determining staff and administration readiness. We recommend that you modify the different tools as needed to make the questions relevant to your unique technological innovation and to your unique school population. While there is overlap between the different tools, the tools inform each other and should be used together to gain an understanding of your school’s readiness for 21st century learning.

Technology and Readiness ChartsWe are assuming that because you are reading this book, you have chosen to

or have been charged with facilitating change at your institution. Hopefully, you feel you have a good sense of what is expected of you as a change agent after Chapter 2, and as a result you are ready to jump in and be an agent of change. As we discussed in Chapter 2, change can be daunting; however, it can also be understood if you have a systematic approach. When initiating a change involving large technology initiatives, the first question you might want to answer is “Do we have the appropriate tools and infrastructure in place?” If you have a technology plan for your school, you should already

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have a developed description of the available technology (hardware and software). You should also have an understanding of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure such as wireless networks, servers and storage space, Internet services, technical support, and professional-development networks and opportunities. If you do not have a clearly defined technology plan, this is your first step.

We are going to assume you have a technology plan or a solid understanding of the current technology (including equipment, infrastructure, and support systems) and at least a general understanding of how technology is being used (or not). If you do not have a technology plan, some of this information should be available in your school accountability report. You may also “just know it” because you have been an active member of the school staff, and the whole reason you are reading this book is because you are frustrated with the lack of technology integration at your school site. More specifically, we are going to assume that you were able to determine common uses of such technology, the learning needs of students, and the technology needs of the school as well. The key reminder is to focus on how we can best use technology to promote authentic student-centered learning as we describe in Chapter 1. But what do you do with all this information to determine if it’s sufficient or appropriate? Revisit the scenario that introduced Chapter 1—having technology doesn’t necessarily mean your school is a 21st century teaching and learning environment or even ready to transition into one. Technology and readiness charts are a great tool to help you determine this.

Technology and readiness charts have been in existence for almost 40 years. Started initially by NASA in 1974 as a way to formally introduce innovations, the NASA Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) focused on research and development, with the last stage being full implementation. Although the impetus for determining technology readiness for military operations is more

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complex (looking at risks associated with defense technologies, for one), the premise is the same—to have a procedure in place for adopting an innovation. From the TRLs have come different forms of Technology Readiness Assessments, all of which have been designed to help determine the status of a project or innovation adoption. Below, we describe a few that we have used with different degrees of fidelity at both the school and district levels. What we recommend you do is preview the different tools and then modify them based on what you determined to be the greatest areas of need. For example, if your preliminary research or personal experience has identified that your school does not use the computer lab for authentic learning, perhaps this might be an area you adjust on the readiness chart. Keeping in mind what you learned from Chapter 2—change doesn’t happen overnight—it is best to focus on one area at a time rather than try to implement too many changes in too short a time span.

School Technology and Readiness (STaR) ChartsThe original STaR chart, developed by the CEO Forum on Education

and Technology, is a matrix that, when completed, gives a school technology and readiness profile. The CEO Forum on Education and Technology was a five-year initiative whose goal was to have a system for strategically increasing technology in education. The CEO Forum included representatives from America Online®, National Education Association©, the National School Board Association©, Sun Microsystems®, Verizon©, IBM®, Hewlett-Packard©, Dell™, Compaq©, and other technology and educational agencies. Their five-year plan included the development and promotion of the original STaR charts. The original STaR chart is somewhat outdated in that it asks the user about technology such as dial-up or broadband access. However, there are many more current readiness charts available for you to preview.

We know from our experience with completing and analyzing technology readiness charts that it is immediately apparent where the strengths and gaps are. We do not consider anything to be a weakness, because any use or access to technology is better than none. Knowing where gaps are, however, allows you to see where to focus your time, budget, and professional development efforts in order to meet your goal of being a 21st century school.

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Below is a snapshot of three columns from our latest STaR Chart used with a local school district to provide a snapshot of 21st century learning environment readiness. There were additional columns that asked about access to desktops, iPads®, and computer labs. We created our own levels because this was conducted at a district with a well-established laptop program situated within the broader district population. To complete the chart, a user (e.g., grade-level chair, grade-level team) circles the row within each column that best represents their grade level. By doing this, we are able to get a quick view of their level of access for each item on the chart. For example, by circling 1 in the column labeled Student per Laptop Ratio but 6–10 in the student per iPod touch® ratio, we can see this grade level is 21st Century in some areas and high level of access in another. A complete version of this chart can be found in Appendix A.

Level of Access Student per Laptop RatioStudent per iPod touch®

Ratio

Low 21+ 21+

Mid 11–20 11–20

High 6–10 6–10

Target 2–5 2–5

21st Century 1 1

We used this readiness chart with a smaller school district to help them determine their 21st century learning environment’s next steps and professional development plan. Other readiness charts are larger scale and are used by state and county departments of education to provide a big picture of the state of technology readiness. Our suggestion is that you look at some of the different readiness charts that are available and then do what we did—create our own, based on our working knowledge of this particular district.

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Despite their unique features, all the School Technology and Readiness Charts we have previewed and used in our work are very similar. They consist of a matrix divided into focus areas or different sections critical to a technology-rich teaching and learning environment. Some of the variations we recommend you consider as you preview charts with an eye to developing your own include the following:

Texas has two versions of their STaR chart—one for the campus and one for teachers to complete.

Both the Texas and Massachusetts charts have four areas: Teaching and Learning, Teacher Preparation and Development, Administration, and Support and Infrastructure.

The Texas teacher chart has the same four areas; however, the scenarios described are slightly different and focus on first person.

The Massachusetts chart labels the different levels Early, Developing, Proficient, and Advanced Technology, whereas Texas uses labels of Early, Developing, Advanced, and Target Technology.

As you develop your own chart, you will need to add directions on how to complete the chart. To complete the STaR chart, have teachers or administrators highlight the scenario on the matrix that best represents their current technology situation. Each scenario is representative of a level or degree of technology readiness.

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