Our Wicked Problem Project evolved into "Goobly." A project that has changed us as learners, teachers, and professionals.
Problem:
Technophobia Coupled with “Blocked” Accessibility
I began the MAET program in the summer of 2008 as an educational technology novice (Yes, this course is a bit out of sequence for me!). As soon as courses began, I wanted to implement absolutely everything I was learning. However, when I returned to school that fall, with lists of things to try, I quickly realized that so much of what I wanted tackle was impossible as our district’s technological restrictions in our district are incredibly tight. Needless to say, it was a huge disappointment to have so many new educational tools and not be able to use them due to district constraints. Despite the passage of a substantial technology bond, our district remains highly conservative with technology and its use. We have the technology, but the professional discretion of educators is not respected. For example, we have the ability to display our computer monitor contents on our classroom televisions, but we, the teachers, cannot access sites such as YouTube, which are blocked district-wide to avoid exposure to “inappropriate content”. Shouldn’t we, the adults in the classroom, be able to discern which videos or resources might not be appropriate for our student-viewers?
Also, in our district, technology integration is deliberate rather than seamless. Teachers are told they should use “tech A” or “tech B” rather than shown how those technologies might compliment their existing teaching strategies and systems. As a result, many teachers are hesitant when it comes to using and integrating educational technology in their classrooms and daily practices. Among our staff, both fear of the technologies themselves and phobias regarding perceived inadequacy with technology and/or straying from current habits exist.
(At the start of this Wicked Problem Project, I had no idea how spot on my conclusions were about my district and how it would impact my frustration with technology as I continued through my implementation! This is a perfect example of when “par for the course” is not a good thing!)
Rather than waging a technology war independently, my colleague (Wheatley) and I have decided to tag-team on a mini-battle with the goal of upgrading our archaic Homework Hotlink and relieving some of the technology fears of colleagues in our building, and if all goes well, move our efforts on to a higher level; maybe another school or possibly the district.
Our current Homework Hotlink is the epitome of “old school”. It has to be updated weekly and is an approach that does not show that we, as a school, embrace current technology, interactivity, or user-friendliness for all stakeholders involved. Our Homework Hotlink essentially utilizes Word documents as “web pages”. We have teachers who stress weekly over this approach as they regularly have to call web/tech support to assist them in their update. We are required to submit lesson plans weekly in our district and collaborative planning and best practice methods is highly desired. The sad truth is that our current method isn’t easy to use and it truly lacks depth for both teacher and viewer.
Solution:
Our combined efforts will utilize the cost-free web technologies of Google Calendar and Weebly to help solve the problems that lurk behind our current Homework Hotlink system. One general issue (that is not addressed by our Homework Hotlink as it stands) is that teachers lack time. With more on their plates than ever, teachers simply do not have the extra minutes or hours that are required to properly maintain their Hotlinks. Also, in our building there is a desire to maintain our Evergreen status as a Michigan Green School and show that we are more technologically forward. The Homework Hotlink wastes time and resources by requiring weekly print-outs to “save the assignments from that week” and in a single glance one can see that our “Word document web pages” are less than tech-savvy. With this implementation, we hope to guide our colleagues into the comfort of easy-to-use technologies that can be updated from anywhere that the Internet is available, avoid the need to print paper versions of teachers’ weekly tasks, and help us live up to the notion of being “technologically forward” as well as make voters proud of passing such a generous bond as it would substantiate our accountability in implementing technology.
The first step in our implementation has began with part 1: several colleagues created basic Weebly pages and are embedding their Google Calendars. Part 2 kicked off: More colleagues created Weebly sites into which they embedded their Google Calendars. Everyone commented how on the ease of editing, and others were able to appreciate the true interactivity that was possible between teachers, parents and students as a result. A change of plans due to a snow day or illness is a quick, simple fix from any computer with Internet access and the interface of Weebly is workable for even the most technophobic educator.
A classmate response to my part A post inquired as to how we would be teaching the teachers to use Google Calendars and Weebly along with a suggestion to create some type of supplemental material. Later we realized how right she was because our plan for one-on-one teaching the technologies worked but later fell through when people fell ill for extended times and became frustrated with their own technology self-esteem. If we were to do this again, or be able to continue it later, I think we should most definitely create both online Jinged tutorials as well as step by step “paper” instructions with screen shots to guide different types of learners through for when they need it to learn, remember, or when we cannot be present to teach.
Success will be a self-granted title if we manage to save some teachers' time, give them a more technologically advanced means to communicate, and if the users (teachers/parents/students) say that they like the new format more. These goals can be measured and evaluated with the creation and use of a survey. After evaluating the survey results, we can determine our future direction with our plan. I think that this is a remarkable opportunity to be technology teacher leaders in our school and model the effective use and integration of appropriate educational technologies.
Resources:
Youtube- Weebly for Education
Tech Crunch- Weebly Launches New Managed Site Builder for Educators and Students
BrightHub- Using Weebly for Education ro Create Classroom Websites and Student Blogs
Embed Google Calendar in Weebly tutorial
Edutopia-Finding the Time, Part 1: Teachers Must Preserve Their Most Valuable Resource
http://www.edutopia.org/time-school-resource-part-one?page=8
CBS- BNet- Panel: Teachers Overworked
http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/maryland-gazette/mi_8145/is_20050604/panel-teachers-overworked/ai_n51382507/
TPACK
”The beauty of TPACK is that it is a great framework to embed our technical knowledge into our preexisting content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. It creates a sense that technology needs to be ubiquitous with education, not a separate entity.” This Step B of the Wicked Problem Project was a bit confusing. I really had to think about what was being taught, who was teaching it, how it was being taught., in addition to how technology would be effectively embedded into the plan. By identifying that we (Wheatley and myself) are teaching teachers (the “students”) how to use two web 2.0 technologies (Google Calendar and Weebly) to create and share their lesson plans with one on one tutoring (pedagogy).
The technical pedagogy for the solution of saving teachers time with lesson planning means that the effort a teacher puts into our current system, Homework Hotlink”, can be greatly minimized. For example, See Mr. B’s lesson plans for this week. He has clearly put in some time creating columns, adding color and creating his lesson plans within this document. If he had to change Monday, for example, because of a snow day, he would then have to re-do his entire week and do so from school. If he had his lesson plans on a Google Calendar and embedded it in Weebly, he could do so simply by logging in to his Google account a within a few clicks, be completely up to date and do so from home, his phone or anywhere. As a matter of fact, Ms. C,one of our current “students”, noted the ease and joy of editing her lesson plans after the snow day. This also addresses the technological accessibility concept.
Although our “Homework Hotlink” doesn’t necessarily represent this, lesson planning is different than ten years ago. It was literally a pen and book with squares option only! Next it went to the ridiculous “Homework Hotlink” form mentioned in part A. Now, with our plan, it will evolve into its next phase which is very technologically driven and in a more user-friendly format.
Technology has to a tool that makes teaching easier, this possible solution is just that. As a teacher that teaches 8 sections of two different classes each year, as well as others, I really appreciate the ability and savings on my time to have a Google calendar created to simply re-date my lesson plans rather than do them again and again and make copies and put them in appropriate mailboxes and substitute folders. Time is saved not only in that I don’t continually have to do them, but when a student is absent, they can be responsible for going into the site, which I have created, to see what they’ve missed and do it. They don’t disrupt my class time with ‘What did i miss?’ questions or ‘Where’s my make up work?’ Additionally, parents can easily add teachers’ calendars to their own to be cognizant of important due dates and study times. In a perfect world, students with their own cell phones and/or Google accounts can do the same and use it as a digital agenda, in turn saving paper and the school tons of money on student agendas.
Technology, content, and pedagogy work together seamlessly with our solution. Simplicity inundates all stakeholders. Our current method is embarrasingly out-of-date and makes us seem technologically inferior... thus doing a disservice to our learners.
Implementation Surprises, Bumps and Delights
In the podcast for my Part C of the WPP where we shared our surprises, unexpected bumps in the road, and delights, I expressed my loss of hope for success in my project due to the insurmountable surprise of having Weebly blocked by our district in the middle of the project’s implementation. Incidentally, this event became more than a "bump in the road" and I considered it was potentially a major freeway closing. As I see now, and believe, it was just a forced and temporary, detour. The bonus outcome of this is that it helped me gain perspective of what is important in the grand scheme of things here... Our district technology restraints. It's a trickle effect or just the start of a snowball...
Pod cast recap:
Surprise: Sudden blockage of Weebly: “breech of tech policies”. ext time communicate more in advance with tech higher ups.
Unexpected bump in the road: Extended absences by staff members in training. Revision- Create online/scripted tutorials to supplement our teaching.
Delights: Social Studies teacher loved our project so much she created a second calendar/site for student council.
Youtube unblocked.
Creating awareness that teachers want and need more technology access and innovative solutions for teaching.
Teachers are saving time so we are reaching our goal even if it is on a smaller scale than we hoped for... for now!
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?Absolutely not! We began our project knowing that communication would be a huge part of our success, and technology “allowances” within our district a potential threat to our plan. We first approached our administrators within the building and they immediately gave us support, followed by fellow colleagues who were willing to do anything to save some time! We began immediately and quickly learned that we may also need to communicate with the head of the technology department. We explained our plan for our project and requested that he allow us access to Blogger so that we may collaborate our work and findings for the implementation of our project. We explained that it was all for educational purposes and that everyone involved would benefit directly. This began the downward spiral of access to what was already, to say the least, limited.
In the early stages of implementing our project, we learned that many of the high school teachers were already using Weebly for their teacher sites to communicate with students and parents as well as to share their lesson plans. Initially, this was exciting as we assumed it meant the district would support our endeavor! Whether by coincidence or not, just before our mid-winter break, Weebly was inexplicably and suddenly blocked! This “Oh-no-you-don’t” wave of the hand made completing our project cumbersome. Personally, I was thrilled to have a week off of work so that I could have some more of that resource I am so short on as a teacher; Time. I was going to have time to complete graduate work and further help other teachers in our building save on their time in addition to bringing them more up-to-date technologically. The rug was pulled out from under our feet. We inquired why this would happen and were only told that Weebly “violates district policy”, a meeting was planned, and all we could do was wait. Upon return from our break, a district wide email from the head of technology was sent out. It addressed
a complaint received that there was inappropriate material on the web site Weebly.com. After review of the content, he determined that site indeed had inappropriate material that students should not be exposed to. Further investigations found many additional pages on Weebly.com which contained inappropriate material. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was sited and all in-district access to that Weebly was blocked.
Teacher backlash began as many were using Weebly to support their classroom pages and district administrators saw these pages as superb resources for additional guidance and support. However, the District is obligated to protect both students and teachers online activity. Preference that all pages be stored on a secure server which can be verified not to contain inappropriate material was sited and credit was given to our current school web server as being capable of storing individual teacher web pages.Then the email admitted that “the interface, setup, and display of those pages are not as "user friendly" as it needs to be for easy updating and viewing.”
While I understand and respect that students need to be protected, I don’t think that I, as a teacher, need that “protection”. I even felt that this so-called need for teacher protection was a slap in the face of our professional judgment! In most cases, the Weebly sites created by teachers, would be viewed by students and parents at home! Nothing is blocked when students are online at home, and according to the online survey I created earlier this semester, students say they spend more time “learning” new things on their computers AT HOME! How is this district blockage protecting them there?! I think that the students checking these teacher created pages from home should be commended for their technological resourcefulness, self-discipline, and diligence for their value of education! I also beg the question of are we really protecting them by blocking Weebly at school or are teachers just being hindered in so doing?! Until a more user-friendly solution is found, why can the district not just add a not that by clicking on a teachers site, students are leaving the district web server and is not responsible for inappropriate content within?!
The district’s solution to “continue supporting teacher pages” was this:
“until a time that the district can obtain a web server which has an easy to use, friendly, and flexibly interface similar to Weebly.com, it has been decided to open only the individual teacher pages on Weebly. Please send an e-mail with your full site name (i.e. mrsjones.weebly.com) to weebly@wcskids.net we'll put an entry in our firewall exception table to allow full access to your teacher page.”
While, at a glance, this “solution” seemed appropriate, it only allows teachers to view their pages because, of course, in order to edit a page, one must log in from the Weebly home page.
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
In the time we did have implementing our project by teaching our colleagues how to create lesson plans on Google Calendar and embedding them in Weebly sites, I believe that we did have some success. Our problem of practice were the following: lack of teacher time, limited communication to the home, especially outside of school hours, and an embarrassingly out of date system for lesson plans that was in no way one that was user-friendly or forward thinking use of technology! I have no doubt that we eased these problems for teachers who implemented our plan. Below is some feedback from one teacher trained in our initiative:
Pros about Google Calendar:
-easy to maneuver through the steps to create events/ lesson plans
-I like the fact that only a brief descriptions shows, but when you click on it, more info can be edited in
the option to view day/week/month is helpful
-long term viewing (month) works well when planning units
-the fact that we can share calendars is awesome! Essentially, we could have one calendar per subject -area per grade and then the individual teacher could adjust the description as needed.
This same teacher is one who has little time as she heads our student council. She saw our plan as one that could streamline her approach to communication with students, parents, and the entire school community by also creating a calendar for student council activities! The beauty in this whole implementation, especially with this teacher, is that it is a perfect example of re-purposing of a technological tool that was likely not ever intended for educational use. It is a fluent molding of form, function, and the art of being an educator.
Other trained teachers have found this to be a perfect collaboration method as many same grade/subject teachers complete their lesson plans together. Another time saving bonus is that both teachers don’t have to update their individual site more than once as embedding it feeds directly to the calendar. Also, collaborating teachers plan together, only one has to enter the information on the shared calendar. Thus freeing time for other teachers in the same grade and subject area.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
While a tough question considering all that we’ve been through in this process we must remember that where there’s a will, there’s a way... Right? My MACUL tip/trick, as required by class, reminded readers to expect glitches in technology. I thought that in communicating with and attaining support from administrators early on in the project would be all we needed as we found sites within our district allowance to use to implement our project. I did not plan our technology glitch to come in the middle of our project and be so monumental within the district. However, I think that some things I would do differently in a similar project are 1) Better familiarize myself with district tech policies. 2) Neverunderestimate the power of people. TPACK is a valuable resource in planning the Wicked Problem Project but does not take into account the value of people skills. 3) Even with “people skills”, they don’t communicate the same via technology as they do in face-to-face interaction. While I know that time is valuable to everyone, especially in education, I think I would attempt to meet with people such as the head of technology to present and discuss our plan with him opposed to technology methods where I am simply another name/email in such a sizable district.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
The most important lesson I learned is that nothing comes easy and perseverance is a must! As much as we’d like to change the world, we have to remember that change is work because it makes people think differently and actually have to do something instead of their comfortable some old routine. It’s unfortunate that change is viewed by some as a power struggle and that so much of what anyone does as a career is overburdened by liabilities to protect us from the ignorance of the general public. I learned that implementing change should come with a warning label, “This will be hard”.
In feedback on this post from one of my classmates, it was suggested that I try to utilize wikis. However, and this should come as no surprise, most wikis are blocked as they may contain inappropriate content!
Another potential solution here would be to use Wix instead of Weebly to build teacher sites. However, until we attain more access and respected technological rights, this site too would likely be blocked within time. Our hope of changing policies would be fantastic and then allow teachers to use Weebly or Wix (or any other site builder for that matter). Weebly is simple and user friendly and perfect for new web designers. Wix too is user-friendly but offers so many more choices for page design. Wheatley and I spoke about Wix and concurred that it would be better for more tech savvy users ,who have comfort in tech use opposed to seeing more options as overwhelming and deterring.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again?
Complete this one first! While our original plan stated a goal that was specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound, we did not realize that our time frame would undergo such a change or that our plan would become unattainable due to our support tolls being taken from us. Although we have not trained all staff members and gone to the district wide level we hoped for, we did save some teachers time and began something bigger. Conversations occurring thanks to this whole Weebly blockage fiasco have stirred ideas that our policies governing technology use may need to be rewritten. We know technology out dates itself quickly, I think that inevitably, written policies for it, so too become out dated and need to be regularly revisited. If schools want to be reaching and engaging their digital native learners as well as support their digital immigrant teachers, policies and expectations of pedagogy have to evolve or we are doomed by fear of liabilities. Honestly however, is the liability from the world wide web greater to us than that of potentially not effectively teaching our learners and preparing them for a world that sees past it?!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Wicked Problem Project Part C: Implementation Podcast
This is the podcast for my Part C of the WPP. More than a bit tardy, but I lost a lot of hope in my project with having the rug pulled out from under me by the district, mid-project! Which, incidentally, turned out to be more than a "bump in the road" and I thought it may have ended up being a major freeway closing. As it turns out now, I believe, it was just a forced and temporary, detour. The bonus outcome of this is that it helped me gain perspective of what is important in the grand scheme of things here... Our district technology restraints. It's a trickle effect or just the start of a snowball... and that's NOT a request for more snow! Thanks for patience and understanding!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
My Professional Learning Plan
Here is a screencast, using Jing, to share the Professional Learning Plan I've created for myself using Prezi. Everything within this screencast are actual goals I really hope to achieve in the near future.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Group Leadership Project- Fun with Wordle!
To deliver the Wordle tutorial we used a combination of tools. We used Wordle (duh), Google Presentations, screen shots, email and chat to communicate, Jing, Garage Band, and of course, YouTube. Google, as a whole, was a great tool as it allowed us to create, share and communicate quickly and effectively. We used Jing to narrarate but realized it had a five minute time limit. While I like the ability to start and stop in Jing, I dislike the inability to delete and re-do a specific section in case of verbal stumbling. The time limit on Jing and need to edit verbal mishaps forced us to use Garage Band and create a second tutorial to combine together in Youtube. The ten minute project requirement was acceptable, however also needed to be a ceiling as it is also the limit on Youtube.
In the development process, I learned that group work among five women can flow and feel effortless. In the past, I feel that I’ve been placed in groups where it was extremely difficult to have similar meeting times simply due to radically different lifestyles, time zones, and placement in the family life cycle. I think that the introductions we are asked to provide at the beginning of a class are often a basis for grouping considering grade, subjects taught, and tech interests. I believe this occurs with the best of intentions, but does not take into account so many other important factors that make good group work possible. However, as I said, I feel like our group was well matched because the work flow seemed close to effortless. We were able to communicate well and trust each other enough to let go while others were working on their part. Everyone pulled their own weight, took on a sense of ownership, and we were even done early! Fortunately, in effect, I learned that online collaborative work is possible contrary to my previous, more difficult and frustrating, experiences.
I don’t think I would do anything differently if I were to complete this project again. Everything worked well and I learned from it. I may not have necessarily ever learned garage band, or been effectively reminded that while some tools such as Jing and Youtube are free, they definitely have their limitations, such as time restraints. I think that if I did this assignment on my own, I would have stayed within my comfort zone of creating a “movie”, doing the narration with windows movie makes, and not had the opportunity to try new tools. I like our Wordle tutorial and hope that other educators on Youtube actually find it to be of use!
In the development process, I learned that group work among five women can flow and feel effortless. In the past, I feel that I’ve been placed in groups where it was extremely difficult to have similar meeting times simply due to radically different lifestyles, time zones, and placement in the family life cycle. I think that the introductions we are asked to provide at the beginning of a class are often a basis for grouping considering grade, subjects taught, and tech interests. I believe this occurs with the best of intentions, but does not take into account so many other important factors that make good group work possible. However, as I said, I feel like our group was well matched because the work flow seemed close to effortless. We were able to communicate well and trust each other enough to let go while others were working on their part. Everyone pulled their own weight, took on a sense of ownership, and we were even done early! Fortunately, in effect, I learned that online collaborative work is possible contrary to my previous, more difficult and frustrating, experiences.
I don’t think I would do anything differently if I were to complete this project again. Everything worked well and I learned from it. I may not have necessarily ever learned garage band, or been effectively reminded that while some tools such as Jing and Youtube are free, they definitely have their limitations, such as time restraints. I think that if I did this assignment on my own, I would have stayed within my comfort zone of creating a “movie”, doing the narration with windows movie makes, and not had the opportunity to try new tools. I like our Wordle tutorial and hope that other educators on Youtube actually find it to be of use!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Mobile Learning...
I enjoyed exploring the links shared in the mobile learning lab, especially “10 Ideas of Using Cell Phones in Education, K12” and “25 Practical Ideas for Using Mobile Phones in the Classroom”. I think that cell phone use in the classroom is potentially a concept that could save school districts tons of money in technology as most students have cell phones and their parents foot the bill! Incidentally, our district has an extremely rigid policy on cell phone use for both students and teachers. As a result, the zero tolerance policy restricts me from taking this poll. I spoke with an administrator to inquire about this assignment to see if it was ok to complete if students texted out of school. A resounding ‘no way’ is what I got. I despise feeling like I am doing something wrong when I try to implement technology. At any rate, I can appreciate and understand the concept of polleverywhere thanks to a day during the MAET summer cohort that we experienced it as students.
A way that I have been able to integrate mobile technology in my classrrom, that doesn’t break any rules, that I know of, is by uploading video clips from the Internet (that are blocked at school) to my Zune and connecting them to my classroom tv and showing them to students. It’s just an example of how more of my time is wasted and could be used differently, if I was allowed to make technology work for me and use it as a tool in my classroom.
In a perfect world, I could could use cell phones and polleverywhere on a daily basis in numerous ways. I could use it as a class starter: How many siblings do you have? Then use the information to discuss family size, birth order and how it has changed over time. I could also ask did you pack or buy lunch today? Then discuss that. Additionally, as the yearbook advisor, it would make polls for the yearbook way easier to compile. Unfortunately, until the technology policies are reviewed and revised, polling in such a way is unattainable. I can do Google Spreadsheets or survey monkey in its place.
A way that I have been able to integrate mobile technology in my classrrom, that doesn’t break any rules, that I know of, is by uploading video clips from the Internet (that are blocked at school) to my Zune and connecting them to my classroom tv and showing them to students. It’s just an example of how more of my time is wasted and could be used differently, if I was allowed to make technology work for me and use it as a tool in my classroom.
In a perfect world, I could could use cell phones and polleverywhere on a daily basis in numerous ways. I could use it as a class starter: How many siblings do you have? Then use the information to discuss family size, birth order and how it has changed over time. I could also ask did you pack or buy lunch today? Then discuss that. Additionally, as the yearbook advisor, it would make polls for the yearbook way easier to compile. Unfortunately, until the technology policies are reviewed and revised, polling in such a way is unattainable. I can do Google Spreadsheets or survey monkey in its place.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wicked Problem Project Part D: Findings and Implications
Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
Absolutely not! We began our project knowing that communication would be a huge part of our success, and technology “allowances” within our district a potential threat to our plan. We first approached our administrators within the building and they immediately gave us support, followed by fellow colleagues who were willing to do anything to save some time! We began immediately and quickly learned that we may also need to communicate with the head of the technology department. We explained our plan for our project and requested that he allow us access to Blogger so that we may collaborate our work and findings for the implementation of our project. We explained that it was all for educational purposes and that everyone involved would benefit directly. This began the downward spiral of access to what was already, to say the least, limited.
In the early stages of implementing our project, we learned that many of the high school teachers were already using Weebly for their teacher sites to communicate with students and parents as well as to share their lesson plans. Initially, this was exciting as we assumed it meant the district would support our endeavor! Whether by coincidence or not, just before our mid-winter break, Weebly was inexplicably and suddenly blocked! This “Oh-no-you-don’t” wave of the hand made completing our project cumbersome. Personally, I was thrilled to have a week off of work so that I could have some more of that resource I am so short on as a teacher; Time. I was going to have time to complete graduate work and further help other teachers in our building save on their time in addition to bringing them more up-to-date technologically. The rug was pulled out from under our feet. We inquired why this would happen and were only told that Weebly “violates district policy”, a meeting was planned, and all we could do was wait. Upon return from our break, a district wide email from the head of technology was sent out. It addressed
a complaint received that there was inappropriate material on the web site Weebly.com. After review of the content, he determined that site indeed had inappropriate material that students should not be exposed to. Further investigations found many additional pages on Weebly.com which contained inappropriate material. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was sited and all in-district access to that Weebly was blocked.
Teacher backlash began as many were using Weebly to support their classroom pages and district administrators saw these pages as superb resources for additional guidance and support. However, the District is obligated to protect both students and teachers online activity. Preference that all pages be stored on a secure server which can be verified not to contain inappropriate material was sited and credit was given to our current school web server as being capable of storing individual teacher web pages.Then the email admitted that “the interface, setup, and display of those pages are not as "user friendly" as it needs to be for easy updating and viewing.”
While I understand and respect that students need to be protected, I don’t think that I, as a teacher, need that “protection”. I even felt that this so-called need for teacher protection was a slap in the face of our professional judgment! In most cases, the Weebly sites created by teachers, would be viewed by students and parents at home! Nothing is blocked when students are online at home, and according to the online survey I created earlier this semester, students say they spend more time “learning” new things on their computers AT HOME! How is this district blockage protecting them there?! I think that the students checking these teacher created pages from home should be commended for their technological resourcefulness, self-discipline, and diligence for their value of education! I also beg the question of are we really protecting them by blocking Weebly at school or are teachers just being hindered in so doing?! Until a more user-friendly solution is found, why can the district not just add a not that by clicking on a teachers site, students are leaving the district web server and is not responsible for inappropriate content within?!
The district’s solution to “continue supporting teacher pages” was this:
“until a time that the district can obtain a web server which has an easy to use, friendly, and flexibly interface similar to Weebly.com, it has been decided to open only the individual teacher pages on Weebly. Please send an e-mail with your full site name (i.e. mrsjones.weebly.com) to weebly@wcskids.net we'll put an entry in our firewall exception table to allow full access to your teacher page.”
While, at a glance, this “solution” seemed appropriate, it only allows teachers to view their pages because, of course, in order to edit a page, one must log in from the Weebly home page.
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
In the time we did have implementing our project by teaching our colleagues how to create lesson plans on Google Calendar and embedding them in Weebly sites, I believe that we did have some success. Our problem of practice were the following: lack of teacher time, limited communication to the home, especially outside of school hours, and an embarrassingly out of date system for lesson plans that was in no way one that was user-friendly or forward thinking use of technology! I have no doubt that we eased these problems for teachers who implemented our plan. Below is some feedback from one teacher trained in our initiative:
Pros about Google Calendar:
-easy to maneuver through the steps to create events/ lesson plans
-I like the fact that only a brief descriptions shows, but when you click on it, more info can be edited in
the option to view day/week/month is helpful
-long term viewing (month) works well when planning units
-the fact that we can share calendars is awesome! Essentially, we could have one calendar per subject -area per grade and then the individual teacher could adjust the description as needed.
This same teacher is one who has little time as she heads our student council. She saw our plan as one that could streamline her approach to communication with students, parents, and the entire school community by also creating a calendar for student council activities! The beauty in this whole implementation, especially with this teacher, is that it is a perfect example of re-purposing of a technological tool that was likely not ever intended for educational use. It is a fluent molding of form, function, and the art of being an educator.
Other trained teachers have found this to be a perfect collaboration method as many same grade/subject teachers complete their lesson plans together. Another time saving bonus is that both teachers don’t have to update their individual site more than once as embedding it feeds directly to the calendar. Also, collaborating teachers plan together, only one has to enter the information on the shared calendar. Thus freeing time for other teachers in the same grade and subject area.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
This is a tough question considering all that we’ve been through in this process. I know that in my MACUL tip/trick, I reminded readers to expect glitches in technology. I thought that in communicating with and attaining support from administrators early on in the project would be all we needed as we found sites within our district allowance to use to implement our project. I did not plan our technology glitch to come in the middle of our project and be so monumental within the district. However, I think that some things I would do differently in a similar project are 1) Better familiarize myself with district tech policies. 2) Never
underestimate the power of people. TPACK is a valuable resource in planning the Wicked Problem Project but does not take into account the value of people skills. 3) Even with “people skills”, they don’t communicate the same via technology as they do in face-to-face interaction. While I know that time is valuable to everyone, especially in education, I think I would attempt to meet with people such as the head of technology to present and discuss our plan with him opposed to technology methods where I am simply another name/email in such a sizable district.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
The most important lesson I learned is that nothing comes easy and perseverance is a
must! As much as we’d like to change the world, we have to remember that change is work because it makes people think differently and actually have to do something instead of their comfortable some old routine. It’s unfortunate that change is viewed by some as a power struggle and that so much of what anyone does as a career is overburdened by liabilities to protect us from the ignorance of the general public. I learned that implementing change should come with a warning label, “This will be hard”.
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again?
Again?! Goodness! Complete this one first! While our original plan stated a goal that was specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound, we did not realize that our time frame would undergo such a change or that our plan would become unattainable due to our support tolls being taken from us. Although we have not trained all staff members and gone to the district wide level we hoped for, we did save some teachers time and began something bigger. Conversations occurring thanks to this whole Weebly blockage fiasco have stirred ideas that our policies governing technology use may need to be rewritten. We know technology out dates itself quickly, I think that inevitably, written policies for it, so too become out dated and need to be regularly revisited. If schools want to be reaching and engaging their digital native learners as well as support their digital immigrant teachers, policies and expectations of pedagogy have to evolve or we are doomed by fear of liabilities. Honestly however, is the liability from the world wide web greater to us than that of potentially not effectively teaching our learners and preparing them for a world that sees past it?!
Absolutely not! We began our project knowing that communication would be a huge part of our success, and technology “allowances” within our district a potential threat to our plan. We first approached our administrators within the building and they immediately gave us support, followed by fellow colleagues who were willing to do anything to save some time! We began immediately and quickly learned that we may also need to communicate with the head of the technology department. We explained our plan for our project and requested that he allow us access to Blogger so that we may collaborate our work and findings for the implementation of our project. We explained that it was all for educational purposes and that everyone involved would benefit directly. This began the downward spiral of access to what was already, to say the least, limited.In the early stages of implementing our project, we learned that many of the high school teachers were already using Weebly for their teacher sites to communicate with students and parents as well as to share their lesson plans. Initially, this was exciting as we assumed it meant the district would support our endeavor! Whether by coincidence or not, just before our mid-winter break, Weebly was inexplicably and suddenly blocked! This “Oh-no-you-don’t” wave of the hand made completing our project cumbersome. Personally, I was thrilled to have a week off of work so that I could have some more of that resource I am so short on as a teacher; Time. I was going to have time to complete graduate work and further help other teachers in our building save on their time in addition to bringing them more up-to-date technologically. The rug was pulled out from under our feet. We inquired why this would happen and were only told that Weebly “violates district policy”, a meeting was planned, and all we could do was wait. Upon return from our break, a district wide email from the head of technology was sent out. It addressed
a complaint received that there was inappropriate material on the web site Weebly.com. After review of the content, he determined that site indeed had inappropriate material that students should not be exposed to. Further investigations found many additional pages on Weebly.com which contained inappropriate material. The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was sited and all in-district access to that Weebly was blocked.
Teacher backlash began as many were using Weebly to support their classroom pages and district administrators saw these pages as superb resources for additional guidance and support. However, the District is obligated to protect both students and teachers online activity. Preference that all pages be stored on a secure server which can be verified not to contain inappropriate material was sited and credit was given to our current school web server as being capable of storing individual teacher web pages.Then the email admitted that “the interface, setup, and display of those pages are not as "user friendly" as it needs to be for easy updating and viewing.”
While I understand and respect that students need to be protected, I don’t think that I, as a teacher, need that “protection”. I even felt that this so-called need for teacher protection was a slap in the face of our professional judgment! In most cases, the Weebly sites created by teachers, would be viewed by students and parents at home! Nothing is blocked when students are online at home, and according to the online survey I created earlier this semester, students say they spend more time “learning” new things on their computers AT HOME! How is this district blockage protecting them there?! I think that the students checking these teacher created pages from home should be commended for their technological resourcefulness, self-discipline, and diligence for their value of education! I also beg the question of are we really protecting them by blocking Weebly at school or are teachers just being hindered in so doing?! Until a more user-friendly solution is found, why can the district not just add a not that by clicking on a teachers site, students are leaving the district web server and is not responsible for inappropriate content within?!
The district’s solution to “continue supporting teacher pages” was this:
“until a time that the district can obtain a web server which has an easy to use, friendly, and flexibly interface similar to Weebly.com, it has been decided to open only the individual teacher pages on Weebly. Please send an e-mail with your full site name (i.e. mrsjones.weebly.com) to weebly@wcskids.net we'll put an entry in our firewall exception table to allow full access to your teacher page.”
While, at a glance, this “solution” seemed appropriate, it only allows teachers to view their pages because, of course, in order to edit a page, one must log in from the Weebly home page.
Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
In the time we did have implementing our project by teaching our colleagues how to create lesson plans on Google Calendar and embedding them in Weebly sites, I believe that we did have some success. Our problem of practice were the following: lack of teacher time, limited communication to the home, especially outside of school hours, and an embarrassingly out of date system for lesson plans that was in no way one that was user-friendly or forward thinking use of technology! I have no doubt that we eased these problems for teachers who implemented our plan. Below is some feedback from one teacher trained in our initiative:
Pros about Google Calendar:
-easy to maneuver through the steps to create events/ lesson plans
-I like the fact that only a brief descriptions shows, but when you click on it, more info can be edited in
the option to view day/week/month is helpful
-long term viewing (month) works well when planning units
-the fact that we can share calendars is awesome! Essentially, we could have one calendar per subject -area per grade and then the individual teacher could adjust the description as needed.
This same teacher is one who has little time as she heads our student council. She saw our plan as one that could streamline her approach to communication with students, parents, and the entire school community by also creating a calendar for student council activities! The beauty in this whole implementation, especially with this teacher, is that it is a perfect example of re-purposing of a technological tool that was likely not ever intended for educational use. It is a fluent molding of form, function, and the art of being an educator.
Other trained teachers have found this to be a perfect collaboration method as many same grade/subject teachers complete their lesson plans together. Another time saving bonus is that both teachers don’t have to update their individual site more than once as embedding it feeds directly to the calendar. Also, collaborating teachers plan together, only one has to enter the information on the shared calendar. Thus freeing time for other teachers in the same grade and subject area.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
This is a tough question considering all that we’ve been through in this process. I know that in my MACUL tip/trick, I reminded readers to expect glitches in technology. I thought that in communicating with and attaining support from administrators early on in the project would be all we needed as we found sites within our district allowance to use to implement our project. I did not plan our technology glitch to come in the middle of our project and be so monumental within the district. However, I think that some things I would do differently in a similar project are 1) Better familiarize myself with district tech policies. 2) Never
underestimate the power of people. TPACK is a valuable resource in planning the Wicked Problem Project but does not take into account the value of people skills. 3) Even with “people skills”, they don’t communicate the same via technology as they do in face-to-face interaction. While I know that time is valuable to everyone, especially in education, I think I would attempt to meet with people such as the head of technology to present and discuss our plan with him opposed to technology methods where I am simply another name/email in such a sizable district.What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
The most important lesson I learned is that nothing comes easy and perseverance is a
must! As much as we’d like to change the world, we have to remember that change is work because it makes people think differently and actually have to do something instead of their comfortable some old routine. It’s unfortunate that change is viewed by some as a power struggle and that so much of what anyone does as a career is overburdened by liabilities to protect us from the ignorance of the general public. I learned that implementing change should come with a warning label, “This will be hard”.In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again?
Again?! Goodness! Complete this one first! While our original plan stated a goal that was specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound, we did not realize that our time frame would undergo such a change or that our plan would become unattainable due to our support tolls being taken from us. Although we have not trained all staff members and gone to the district wide level we hoped for, we did save some teachers time and began something bigger. Conversations occurring thanks to this whole Weebly blockage fiasco have stirred ideas that our policies governing technology use may need to be rewritten. We know technology out dates itself quickly, I think that inevitably, written policies for it, so too become out dated and need to be regularly revisited. If schools want to be reaching and engaging their digital native learners as well as support their digital immigrant teachers, policies and expectations of pedagogy have to evolve or we are doomed by fear of liabilities. Honestly however, is the liability from the world wide web greater to us than that of potentially not effectively teaching our learners and preparing them for a world that sees past it?!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Group Leadership Project Part B: Storyboard and Script
Here is a link to our storyboard and script for our Group Leadership Project. We worked a bit backwards as a result of my excitement and extra time early on to do some work with students and on the Powerpoint. Wheatley then added to what I started. Leslie, Amanda and Allie created the storyboard and script. Allie will be adding deaf examples to the presentation. I’ll be doing the narration of the script followed by working with Wheatley on any final touches of putting the presentation together. Things are coming together well and our group seems really motivated to be involved and create something we all can be proud of!
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