iPad Deployment and Teacher PD

I have been reading my fair share of blogs, wikis and other documentation as schools around the world are deploying iPads in their classroom. It is finally our turn at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School to welcome 20 brand new shiny iPad2s (no cart, just individual iPads)

In the spirit of passing on the trials and errors, as we get the devices ready to be used in the classroom by teachers and students, I am documenting our process.

Here are additional resources, I used to help us along the way:

• Moving at the Speed of Creativity – Here Come the iPads – Now What? iPad Deployment
• ipadschools – How the set up went
• How to set up class iPads and iPods

Here we go:

1. Took the iPads out of the box and attached a SmartCover to it.
2. Used a designated “mother” laptop to create a dedicated Apple iTunes account. I had created also a dedicated email account for the iTunes account on the school’s domain, since I did not want to have a specific person attached to the account with their email.
3. Once the iTunes account was set up on the laptop, I started downloading all the free apps, were mandatory (in my opinion) to start out with (see two screenshots below)
4. I plugged in the first iPad via USB to the “mother” laptop.
5. Registered the iPad
6. Used the same apple ID, that I created when I set up the original iTunes account
7. Noted the serial number
8. The first iPad that was set up, was set up as a “new” iPad.
9. We decided on naming each one of our iPads after a famous Jewish Person (Ex. Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Steven Spielberg, David Ben Gurion, etc.)
10. Subsequent iPads were set up by “Restoring from the backup of: “ex.:Albert Einstein”.
11. The iPads synced all the free iPad apps that I have on the “mother” laptop.
12. As I plugged in each iPad separately, I upgraded the iPad software, if it was not up to date.
13. Renamed each new iPad with a new name from our selected list of famous Jewish People
14. Created an e-mail address for each iPad identity on our school’s domain (ex. albert.einstein@ourschool’sdomain.org)
15. Connect each iPad to our school’s wifi
16. Added the e-mail account to each iPad. Example. Albert Einstein iPad was set up with his own email albert.einstein@ourschool’sdomain.org)

I created a Program Manager e-mail account and two Program Facilitator e-mail accounts under our domain to apply to the  App Store Volume Purchase Program. Take a look at these helpful links, that explain the program visually and a little more in detail.

• Tony Vincent’s App Store Volume Purchase Program Explained
• iPads at Burley: App Store Volume Purchase Program

Next steps will be:

1. Teacher PD-Part I: Introduction to iPads in Education
2. Teacher PD- Part II: Automated vs Transformative use of iPads
3. Get them into the hand of our students.
4. Test out the “fluency” of being able to consume, create, disseminate, integrate and work with shared iPads across nine different grade levels.
5. Decide on which paid apps will make the cut to be part of our app library.
6. Assess and document student learning, engagement and motivation when using iPads vs. laptops or no tech tools.

Enhancement-Automating-Transforming-Informating

I am constantly wrestling with the issue of using technology in schools to TEACH and to LEARN.

Long ago, I have resolved that teaching and learning DO NOT depend on technology nor are “not real”, good or effective without it (see Changing-Shifting a School Culture, Bringing in Experts.  Transformative Teaching and Learning? and It’s not about the Tools, it is about the Skills ). The best “tool” for good teaching and learning…is… a good teacher! That teacher can be a professional educator…it can be “yourself”… it can be a group of your peers… it can be a book, film, audio…(insert whatever media) or it can be… (insert whatever suits you, your learning or teaching style). What technology has done for me (it came naturally) is that it makes everything CLEARER!

Through the technology lens, I am:

• amplified… I learn amplified…I can teach amplified..not only to physical bodies that I happen to share time and space with at the moment…
• reachable… I reach and can be reached whenever I choose to
• worldwide… I am in contact with people from around the world… I disseminate, ask, receive, share, publish to a worldwide audience
• connected… to information, an audience,  a personal learning network, etc.
• collaborative…I am collaborating with educators from around the world to figure out “this thing”…how to best prepare the citizens of the future, so they can solve all the problems of the world awaiting them…
• available…I am available to others asynchronously via my online presence. Limitless information, opinions, experiences, expertize from others are available to me anytime, anywhere in whatever media and platform I prefer to learn with/through…
• exposed to multiple teaching styles… I am stretching my own teaching style by exploring and experimenting with media and platforms beyond my normal comfort zone…
• exposed to multiple learning styles… I am able to differentiate multiple learning styles by giving students choices that allow them to demonstrate their learning in multiple ways…
• networked… I am part of a network…I am not alone…a network of peers, experts, learners… a network that helps me be fluent in accomplishing tasks, solving problems, being inspired by ideas, remixing of information…

Without the lens… teaching & learning seems fuzzy… uni-dimensional…monolingual…not reaching its full potential… to me…

When I became a “Technology Integration Facilitator“,  I wanted to use and help teachers use technology in their classroom NOT as an add on, but as a way to support their teaching. As I grew in my own learning process and became a 21st Century Learning Specialist , I realized that it was not enough to integrate technology. There had to be a change (an amplification) in what learning and teaching could be in the 21st century. Technology was merely the tool, not the end in itself.

In the article Creating a New Culture of Teaching , Alan November points out the difference between AUTOMATING a task for learning (“using a $2000 pencil”) and INFORMATING teaching and learning (“think about information systems, whole systems of the flow of information and communication”).

It has been hard…I have not always been successful… in trying to help teachers see beyond the technology and the logistics of how to use it in order to TRANSFORM the way we teach and learn. There seems to be the need of keeping the change (that needs to happen) wrapped up in a “technology bow” in order to have excuses WHY the paradigm shift can’t happen. It seems easier (and more acceptable) to say “I don’t do computers” than “I don’t know how or don’t care to prepare my students for a different future than I am used to and adapt MY teaching to THEIR learning needs”…everything is fine the way it is…it has worked for the past 20 years…!

Technology integrationists, computer lab teachers or whatever the title , still seem to serve as the crutch some teachers want to/ need to lean on, instead of taking responsibility of becoming “21st Century literate“.   If classroom teachers are taking their students to the lab to “do computers”, then they can CHECK OFF the use of technology. If a 21st century coach/facilitator/specialist/resource is in a classroom to co-teach with them, then they can CHECK OFF the use of technology integration… no matter if the classroom teacher physically leaves the room, checks mentally out or grades worksheets in the back of the room…

How can we support the paradigm shift in teaching and learning if teachers and administrators are still hung up on the logistics and basics of technology use? How can integrationists, facilitators and coaches best use their time in moving forward and supporting TEACHING and LEARNING when they are asked to hold hands with AUTOMATING tasks that have been done with paper and pencils before? They are asked to :

• fix printers to print out worksheets
• upload and edit images and videos that will be forgotten on hard drives
• help students type their book reports to be displayed on the bulletin board outside classrooms
• be on call for teachers to help them when students need to take computer based tests
• supervise students with kill and drill math and vocabulary games
• bookmark Internet resources to be accessed by students
• help students with digital drawings to be printed out
• help with basic tasks like text formatting and file management

I had the pleasure of meeting and listening to Maggie Hos-McGrane at ECIS in Frankfurt, Germany last month. Her presentation The Role of ICT in the PYP was an incredible eye opener. Maggie mentioned The SAMR Model, which immediately caught my attention.

SAMR, a model designed to help educators integrate technology into teaching and learning , was developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura.  The model aims to enable teachers to design, develop, and integrate digital learning experiences that utilize technology to transform learning experiences to lead to high levels of  achievement for students.

Maggie explained how she is using the model to move teachers from substitution, where “technology acts like a direct tool substitute, with no functional change” to a redefinition, where “technology allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable”.

The SAMR model seems to perfectly align with Alan November’s Automating and Informating distinction.

Maggie and her team are deciding what skills their teachers will need to start taking on:

In the case of substitution we felt that teachers themselves should be able to lead lessons that involve simple data handling – adding information into spreadsheets to produce graphs for example. They should also be able to support students using a simple graphics programme, have students take photographs and transfer them onto the computer, use a digital microscope to view images, access the internet for research and use word processing software.

I liked the idea of the model to illustrate and formally outline for teachers the different stages. By pointing out their responsibilities in taking on the roles of leading and supporting their own students in the Enhancement/Automating stage of substitution and augmentation, the “crutch role” of the facilitator in the classroom should be diminished, limited and even eliminated. Classroom teachers take on the responsibility of these tasks. If they need help to learn the tasks for themselves, they receive training outside of the classroom without students. When teachers are ready to redesign and transform tasks (not automate) to create learning opportunities that previously  would not have been possible, the facilitator becomes the co-planner, collaborator, co-teacher, connector and coach.

I wrote previously about the issue of teachers relying on coaches/ facilitators too much in 2009 in a post titled Interested? Supported? Let’s move on to taking the Reigns.

How do we keep moving from one stage to the other? How long do we “allow” teachers to stay in one stage? How do we make sure we don’t enable teachers and get stuck? How do we increase the chances of sustainability? How do we prepare teachers so they are able to take the reins and enjoy the ride?

Almost 18 months later, I am still contemplating the issue…I have not found a solution yet… I believe  the SAMR/November model/idea can give us a roadmap.

I will be working with Andrea Hernandez on creating a customized chart with example tasks to illustrate for our teachers  what stage their “technology use” in the classroom falls under. We will formally outline what kind of responsibility we are expecting teachers will assume in leading and supporting 21st century teaching and learning through technology.

Here are a few more of Maggie’s blog posts describing how she is using the SAMR model at her school:

• The SAMR Model – From Theory to Practice
• Moving from S to R
• Moving from S to R part 2

What kind of task do you see in your own school, classroom or work that would fall under the 4 stages outlined in the model? What stages/tasks do you support directly? Which ones are classroom teachers’ responsibilities?

Updating & Upgrading Our School’s Media & Publishing Release

I remember when I placed in the top three of an international writing contest for students in German schools abroad. My essay “What is typical German” was published in a magazine. I was  proud as I could be to have my work “published” for the first (and only) time as a student.

Times have changed…

We are pushing teachers and students to blog , wiki, podcast, and video conference. We are upgrading our teacher toolbox to include web based tools to engage, motivate and connect our students locally and globally. We are asking them to create, produce, share and collaborate online. Publishing students’ work can be as easy as hitting a button.

But…

…we can’t forget to update our policies at school to reflect these changes.

As the 21st century learning team was looking at the current Media Release of our school, we realized that it did not address any of the media creation and publishing concerns associated with these new tools nor the philosophy behind sharing, authentic audiences, collaboration and anytime/anywhere accessiblity. It “only” addressed permission to have:

• images of students used as marketing and promotional purposes
• photos of students published in a school newsletter  or bulletins (paper version)
• video by the local news media
• images published on the school website

The media release clearly did not address the school’s move towards cloud based storage and digital creations to be shared with an authentic global audience.

I started to research other schools’ media and publishing releases.  There was clearly a trend that most of them were outdated and  addressed Internet access, images and videos published for traditional media outlets and  possibly for a school website. Very few addressed the use of digital portfolios, blogs, wikis, video conferences or other web based tools with content created and published  in the cloud.

See some examples I came across below.

Internet, "media coverage", images and videos published on Internet

Published in print, media, broadcast or video

Traditional media and website

Traditional Media & Internet Resrtrictions

Mentions website and podcast

In order to be transparent and to comply with what we ask our parents to sign, it was time to craft a new Media & Publishing Release for our school.

I sent a request on Twitter to share the releases others had put together to address the shift towards publishing students’ work.

Richard Byrne pointed me to an Internet and Media Publishing Consent and Waiver Form by  Tim Landeck, Director, Technology Services from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District

These templates can be downloaded, modified, and printed to obtain parental consent for students who publish their work and/or photos and videos online. A signed consent form allows the school or district to also publish photographs and videos of students.

• English template (Word®)
• Spanish template (Word®)

The above template was the one, that addressed the most points we wanted to cover in an updated media release. Take a look, download if you want to, edit and in the end share back by publishing and making it accessible to others. You can leave a comment with a link to your media release on this post. Media & Publishing Release