Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship: appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use, is extremely important to what is happening and will happen with education.  We can no longer ignore or avoid the technology opportunities being presented to our 21st century learners.  As educators we have to find ways to stay current and help our colleagues move forward to meet the technology knowledge our students are bringing to the classroom.  After reading Mike Ribble's article "Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship" (from the Digital Citizenship Using Technology Appropriately website) I have identified two themes to focus on:
1. Digital Access: full electronic participation in society.
~understanding that everyone does not have equal access to technology and how to allow more opportunities for technology use.
5. Digital Etiquette: electronic standards of conduct or procedure.
~understanding that everyone needs to follow digital etiquette and understand how the rules of digital etiquette apply to different situations.

courtesy of :digitalfamilysummit.com

From researching Digital Citizenship through other educational technology sites, I found the most important element to reinforce and teach about is our digital footprint. Which according to technology expert Will Richardson, is an online portfolio of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know, as defined in the article Digital Speaking / Positive Digital Footprints. This article identifies how we can help everyone create a positive footprint, which benefits all those using the internet and social media outlets at all age levels.

A website designed by Med Kharbach, A Great Guide on Teaching Students~Digital Footprints, illustrates how to help students understand their digital footprint through all their social media and website applications.  The site provides four different videos to share with students, educators and family members to help them understanding and discuss their digital footprint. As I watched the videos, I really wondered how many adults truly understand how they can be tracked by all that they do on a computer.

One solution I believe public institutions could provide to the community, is to offer classes for parents and their children to understand digital citizenship throughout all nine themes identified by Mike Ribble and to help them develop a positive footprint.  Most importantly to reinforce a solid understanding that everything they do now and in the future, will be able to be tracked by employers and universities.  As public institutions we need to inform all the generations how technology does not have to be a negative impact on education and our 21st century learners will be experiencing a different way to learn and share their knowledge with teachers, peers and others across the nation and world.

One additional website I found interesting to explore was The Digital Footprint of 3 Generations, which showed how the boomers, millinnials, and Generation X interacts with the digital world and how each group is leaving different levels of digital footprints.

Michigan Online Learning Requirement for K-12 Students

The Michigan Online Learning Requirements for K-12 Students,and the Companion Document has a descriptive explanation on the technology requirements for those students in grades 6-12. I believe if we start introducing these ideas at the elementary level as whole class projects, then when students get to middle school the teachers can focus on content exploration versus learning how to manipulate the technology. Unfortunately, working at an elementary school I do not have access to training provided to our 6-12 teachers on technology integration and the projects in their curriculum.  I am aware that at the end of each trimester throughout our Middle schools, the 8th grade students in the computer class complete the MET's online assessment.  After exploring our District website I noticed we have links to a Moodle account and Student Webmail for teacher and student access.  

Next year, we will be integrating more technology at the elementary level within our Reading/Literacy blocks, as we have just adopted a new reading curriculum that has multiple technology opportunities through whole class, individual work and home connections.  Each student will receive a login to their account (which will be linked to math and reading) where the teacher can individualize the activities according to the students ability levels.  Teachers will be able to use Smartboard activities to discuss and share the weekly story either in whole group or in small group.  Students will be able to complete literacy work station sessions according to their level and there is even an opportunity for research and exploration according to their interest around the weekly story.  Parents will be able to read the stories at home with their child online and complete comprehension activities to be sent back to the teacher for review.

In a small step we are making technology more accessible for our students and touching on some of the standards highlighted within the MI Online Learning Requirements. After exploring more to find all the PK-12 Michigan Educational Technology Standards I now understand why technology has to be a primary focus with all teachers from PK-12 grade.  There are a lot of skills students need to be able to understand when they get to middle school, and not just starting to explore the skills as they move into 6th grade.  As a teacher leader at the elementary level I need to help teachers integrate and introduce technology to all students across all content areas.

Data Warehousing (DW)-DataWise

Data Warehousing (DW) in our district is driven by the DataWise product from Measured Progress, which is an online, password protected web based "All-in-one classroom assessment platform". The DataWise Platform allows teachers to collect data points, analyse data across assessments, group students according to like ability and/or skills, and to create and administer assessments in line with the Common Core State Standards. Each teacher was provided a login and password to access DataWise, teachers are only able to see students their current students and their previous students, within a building the principle, coach and specials teachers have access to the entire building. DataWise contains data from standardized tests for the past 3 years (ITBS, EdPerformance/Scantron, MEAP, DIBELS). 

As we were developing our School Improvement Plan and analyzing our data, we used DataWise to look at our scores and the trends over the last few years.  Then we were able to disseminate the data according to race, gender, and economical status to complete the SIP's individual reports. In addition to school reports, teachers are able to take their class information and compare one assessment to another and student group to student group within a school year and across multiple school years.

As stated from the Measured Progress website: Measured Progress Partnership press release McREL (a private education research and development corporation that specializes in turning knowledge about what works in education into practical guidance and products for educators) and Measured Progress (who operates on the belief that assessment is more than just a score; it should be a roadmap that gives educators the guidance they need to adjust instruction and improve outcomes for both students and teachers) have developed a partnership to help districts ease the transition for teachers to instruct and assess according to the Common Core State Standards. As this element is explored more with our teachers in the district, our instruction across all content areas will become individualized and targeted to all our students academic needs.

As we have only begun to explore our new Data Warehouse-DataWise with 4 mini training sessions this past year, I am excited to learn more about the various reports and how to develop assessments according to CCSS. This technology advancement will allow our teachers to prepare our students for the new assessments coming in 2014-2015 with hands-on examples and test items in relation to current content.

Internet Evaluation and 21st Century Literacy

After reviewing the Critical Evaluation of a Website by Kathy Schrock, I was surprised at how much I did not have any idea what the evaluation was talking about, or where to look to find the information within a website. The evaluation was very overwhelming because of all the technical information and how little I know about the mechanics of a website. This was a huge eye opener to me about what we are asking our students to do at school and what they can be exposed to, because I do not currently have the knowledge to know what makes a good vs. bad website. Asking students to explore the web to find information has always been a concern for me because of how easy it is to find inappropriate information, I now have another worry that students can find inaccurate information that is presented to be believable.

I know that in different ways students are skilled at searching the Internet, because when our district has blocked various websites (gaming, radio stations, videos, facebook) they are able to maneuver through other sites to get to the site that is blocked.  But when teachers assign specific searchers to find information the students type in their search and take the first 2-3 sites that come up and go with the information there to find what they need.  I have also watched my 5th grade daughter search the web for information and stay at one site the entire time to get all the information she needed, without cross checking it to see if the information matched other sites.   

To meet the 21st Century Technology Literacy Skills educators and administrators need to become knowledgeable about the design, organization and reliability of the web.  We need to have more (yes I said more) Professional Development on the use and implementation of technology across the grades, the most beneficial PD is where teachers have computers in front of them completing the tasks as they complete the course.  After seeing my limited knowledge, and knowing what the Common Core Standards are expecting in the areas of research and technology, schools have to rethink what teachers need to successfully met the standards and to stay current with what their students know and are able to do.  

Reflection on IES What Works Clearinghouse

As I explored the IES What Works Clearinghouse I had a tough time staying in just one topic area to explore the research.  As I explored the different sections I felt justified in seeing that the strategies we have been using at our school have made the list and are considered to have effective results.  Other strategies I read about are strategies that can be implemented without “buying” a program, or having to obtain training and resources to begin an intervention known to make academic gains.  4 interventions I read about were from the English Language Learners section, the Literacy section, the Early Childhood Education section, and the Student Behavior topic areas, the interventions can be modified to span all abilities and several grade levels for literacy and math achievement.  The interventions included Interactive Shared Book Reading, Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs, Project CRISS, and Reducing Behavior Problems in the Elementary School Classroom through Character Education.  As part of our School Improvement Plan we are focusing on providing a common strategy to use with all our tutors throughout the building, these interventions are easy to implement and will be easy to share in a basic training session.  

Strategies that were a surprise from John Hattie's research on "Teaching and Learning Strategies"

Within the School Effect rankings I noticed an interesting ranking of classroom controlled effects vs. out of classroom effects.  An element that has been a struggle in my building recently is how the principal is expected to manage, control and direct classroom behavior throughout the whole building and in every classroom.  I found the rankings interesting that the school leader and/or principal ranks lower than overall effect of classroom behavior and classroom management, which is a control of the teacher in the classroom.  The numerous guests throughout the last few months, to the Teacher Leadership Academy, have indicated that everyone in the building needs to take ownership for all the students in the building and be part of the development of all the skills.  The behavior cannot just be one person’s initiative, everyone has to agree and enforce the expectations in all areas, at all times.

Another area I found to be interesting within the Teaching and Learning ranking was how low inquiry based teaching was on the list, but questioning (which is a large element of inquiry) was so much higher on the list.  It would be interested to explore the definition and explanation of Hattie’s idea of inquiry based teaching in comparison to the work recently published by Harvey and Daniels in Comprehension and Collaboration.  Our school completed a book study on this book and the research throughout the book indicated how beneficial inquiry is to engage students and to expand their prior knowledge. 

The research findings would be interesting to give to our staff and have them rank the building on what they believe is the effective means toward student achievement.  Then compare the rankings to Hattie’s list and see where we have discrepancies in our understanding, then plan our yearly PD in reference to what has proven to be effective teaching and learning strategies that improve student achievement. 

UDL~Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning Guidelines

© 2011 by CAST. All rights reserved. www.cast.org, www.udlcenter.org

APA Citation: CAST (20011). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.0. Wake eld, MA: Author.

                   When Teachers:                                              Students will be:
1.  Provide Multiple Means of Representation---Resourceful, knowledgeable learners
2.  Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression---Strategic, goal-directed learners
3.  Provide Multiple means of Engagement---Purposeful, motivated learners

My thoughts on Universal Design for Learning center around the 3 Guidelines(as listed above) established to allow equal access for all students to a district's approved curriculum.  As I read the current reports on the  upcoming Common Core Assessments and that Performance Based Assessments will incorporate a large portion of the assessment, classroom instruction will need to be viewed in a different way. I believe that as instructional leaders, we need to help teachers look at lesson planning and delivery in a new light.  Student interactions will need to be very intentional and purposeful in all areas across the content areas.  I see the Universal Design for Learning framework as a wonderful tool to help teachers, principals, and instructional leaders in making the switch to providing instruction that is rigorous and engaging for all students. 

When teachers provided and allow students to understand their learning through multiple means of representation, we are allowing the students to learn through their strongest learning styles.  We know from years of research that students primarily learn visually, auditory or kinestheticly, by presenting information in these and other ways we are able to help students increase their depth of knowledge across all content areas.  When students are expected to be involved in their learning, through their conversations and actions, students are more engaged because they are accountable for their learning through their classmates interactions.  Student's high levels of engagement, deter off task behavior because the learning is meaningful, purposeful and the students have helped direct and guide their learning though personal inquiry and interest.

When teachers begin unit planning with the end results in mind, the planning is intentional because the students prior knowledge, struggles and roadblocks can be identified.  Backwards planning allows a teachers to map out their unit with stopping points for further research and inquiry, time for re-teaching or deeper investigating and mid-unit assessment of growth and understanding.  When teachers know the goals or standards the students need to be able demonstrate by the end of a unit, a teacher can incorporate stages of knowledge development that continue to deepen their knowledge throughout the unit to have a solid vs. surface level understanding of the material.  

As I learn more about Universal Design for Learning and compare the framework to the PLC framework I am excited to see how the two ideas can mesh together nicely to support and educate all our learners.  We have worked with PLC teams a great deal in the last few years at our school, I see Universal Design for Learning as our next step in continuing to improve our student achievement.