January TLI Presentations Focus on New Learning Landscape

Preparing students for a world that has been transformed by technology should be top of mind for educators these days, noted Jeff Utecht and Shelly Sanchez Terrell, presenters at the LHRIC’s Jan. 8 TLI event held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor.

Jeff Utecht presenting at the recent TLI event

Both experts stressed the importance of engaging students through the appropriate use of the Internet, using social media channels as a learning opportunity and being accepting of the various tech channels that young people subscribe to these days.

In his talk titled, “A New Learning Landscape,” Mr. Utecht, an educational technology consultant, educator and author, recalled his travels across the globe and the various uses of technology that have cropped up in the most unlikely of places.

The Washington State native remembered the time he was riding on a camel in the Saudi Arabian desert a couple of years ago, and when the person leading the way pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, Utecht was in awe since there was no cell phone tower to be seen.

During a visit to a small community in Laos, where villagers often band together to purchase one cell phone, Mr. Utecht was taken aback by the entrepreneurial spirit of one young man who had set up ink jet printers outdoors and was printing pictures from cell phones.

Utecht said technology has become so ubitiquous that most of us can no longer mark the dividing line between our work and home lives. “In an always on world, we are seeing that line completely fade away, and as a result, we expect people to manage their own time,” Mr. Utecht added.

Knowing that students are also heavily invested in this “always on world,” Mr. Utecht wanted to know what local school districts are doing to maintain social networks in their school buildings.

Connection is crucial

“The foundation of the Internet is to connect people,” Mr. Utecht noted. Even the new Common Core State Standards encourage students to write online, he said.

Teachers shouldn’t worry about the tools and technology platforms their students are accessing. “The important thing is that we get technology into their hands, because we want every kid to have an app called the Internet.”

In addition, he said that school-wide wireless access should be a given in every district. “In fact, every school should serve as a public hotspot, providing open Internet access to the public after 5 p.m. and on weekends.”

As well as that, every teacher should have a computer that gives him or her administrative rights, and if schools do not allow students to use school-owned devices, they should be able to bring their own to school, he added.

How much time a child is allowed on the Internet at home is completely up to parents, Mr. Utecht emphasized. “But really, it shouldn’t be whether or not they are on a computer, but how much time they spend creating versus consuming.” Creating content, like the activities that Minecraft encourages, is good for students. “We have to consume before we create,” he added.

Mr. Utecht urged participants to examine what they’re teaching in schools and to tailor their instruction to the tools and applications that are available on the Internet. Teaching digital mapping skills, showing students the various parts of a Google search webpage, teaching them online reading strategies and how to highlight words, use sticky notes and other strategies are all skills they should know as they prepare for the new computer-based testing.

“I encourage you to continue to push forward,” he told the group. “We need to find the walls and keep tearing them down, move past our fears, educate our students for the future and not their past, and just do what’s right for the kids.”

In her presentation titled, “Byte-sized Potential in a Digital World of Possibilities,” Terrell talked about giving students the responsibility to accomplish “practically anything in the world” using technology.

Having traveled the globe training students and teachers, Terrell knows that technology can be accessed by anyone, no matter where they come from. Some examples include students she taught in refugee camps who have taught themselves English through YouTube and Minecraft.

“When you are working with students and technology, there may be times when they will screw up,” said Terrell. “But if students never messed up, how could they correct their behavior?

Setting goals day by day

Terrell is someone who is not afraid to try something new. In 2009, she signed up for Twitter and a year later decided to start blogging. As the blog matured, she kept coming up with a list of goals and ideas she could write about on her blog. When 2011 rolled around, Terrell decided to plan her goals with a support group and that’s when the 30 Goals Challenge began.

Today, there are 10,000 teachers from around the world who have joined Terrell and accomplished at least one goal. Some goals might be as simple as giving a student a high five, others might entail writing a note to a parent praising his or her child's performance in the classroom, while another might focus on the decision to let students choose their own topics for learning on any given day.

The idea, she said, is to inspire teachers and students as well as help them build valuable relationships. “You can’t expect your students to see their byte-sized potential unless you do that too,” she noted.

This year, Terrell expects to continue with the project, but is also going to focus on the stories that came out of the various goals and the effect they had on teachers and students.

Growing online education discussion

Three years ago, Terrell and fellow educators Steve Anderson and Tom Whitby created the hashtag #Edchat on Twitter. The idea was to create a collaborative tool for educators to debate and evaluate solutions focused on teaching and learning.

Terrell said there are now approximately 500 teacher conversations under the #Edchat hashtag. Even Education Secretary Arnie Duncan has followed the discussions, she added.

“I think it’s really important that our students see we are willing to jump in there,” said Terrell, referring to the activities of instructors online. “We don’t have to have the answers, but if we are daring them to do something, we have to be daring ourselves.”

TLI - Tech Summit 2014 Highlights Trends in Education

An array of inspirational talks, workshops and networking opportunities provided local school district leaders and instructional technology professionals who attended the LHRIC’s Tech Summit earlier this month with much to discuss.

The annual event, which was held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor, is designed to highlight the outstanding technology vendors who work with the RIC throughout the year as well as focusing on the various products and services that are transforming learning.

Dr. Maria Langworthy delivers the keynote presentation.

Dr. Maria Langworthy, founder and principal of Langworthy Research, kicked off the day with a keynote presentation on the emerging new trends in education that are bringing teachers and students into a partnership that fosters deep learning and leverages the digital technology tools that many schools are currently using.

Dr. Langworthy, who has co-authored a new book with Dr. Michael Fullan called, “A Rich Seam: How New Pedagogies Find Deep Learning,” said young people are becoming increasingly disengaged as standardized testing and other pressures take their toll.

“Outside of the classroom there are tremendous opportunities and tools for students to use, which creates this kind of push and pull on their minds,” said Dr. Langworthy.

But purchasing more tech gadgets is not the answer to this challenge, she noted. “No device will fix the problem; something much deeper, much broader needs to happen.”

Through their research in classrooms across the globe, Doctors Langworthy and Fullan discovered that schools were lacking in certain areas, including a shortfall in adequate professional development for teachers, an insufficient teacher performance strategy and the outdated practice of layering technology on top of traditional teaching practices.  

In an effort to address such issues, Dr. Langworthy said the research team decided to “go beyond the numbers and dig down to see what was happening.” Their efforts were focused on what new pedagogies look like in practice and how a system of deep learning could be implemented in a school system-wide.

“We saw many examples all over the world of how this concept was starting to explode,” Dr. Langworthy noted. One example was an entrepreneurial project that involved a group of middle school students in Michigan. The initiative, explained Dr. Langworthy, not only taught them about fundraising for a good cause but how to develop a sustainable relationship with groups on the other side of the world.

Dr. Langworthy suggested that to create that type of learning in schools, students must have mastery in a topic as well as the ability to handle projects on their own with little guidance from teachers. 

“It really boils down to a somewhat different model of leadership,” she added, with principals and others willing to learn alongside students and teachers and to share a common vision with other members of the school community.

“Our argument, and lots of research supports this, is that technology won’t solve the problems we see in schools today,” stressed Dr. Langworthy. “But what we have found is that when pedagogy shifts, there is a transformation in student engagement.”

The day’s other keynote presentations included “Creating Your Google Apps Classroom” and “Moving Forward in the Face of Change,” both from Catlin Tucker, a Google certified teacher and English Language Arts instructor based in California.

For over an hour, Ms. Tucker described the tools she uses in her classroom, including Google Plus communities, Google Hangouts, Google’s Blogger, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Search, Google Drive and much more.  

Paige Johnson, an education strategist at Intel, led the day’s other spotlight presentation. In “Leading Edge: Key Traits of Ed-Tech Visionaries,” she talked about the leadership qualities that are needed to successfully provide students with a 21^st century education.

A number of breakout sessions were also held throughout the day on a variety of topics, including data analytics solutions for schools, installing the proper surveillance systems, evaluating technology use and success with the software program Clarity, as well as information on the Smart Schools Bond Act and more.

Vendors who participated in the Tech Summit included A+ Technology & Security, Achieve3000, Aerohive Networks, Annese, Aruba Networks, Atlantic, Castle Learning Online, CDWG, Centris Group, Custom Computer Specialists, Inc., Day Automation, Dell, Edgenuity, Forecast5 Analytics, HP, K12alerts, Infinite Campus, Pearson Education, Renaissance Learning, Stratagem Security, Sungard, TTM (Think Through Math) and Vandis.

TLI - Tech Forum 2014 Recognizes Changing Digital Landscape

A day full of workshops, industry spotlights and breakout sessions provided the region’s technology leaders, including several from the LHRIC, with much to think about Oct. 24 during the annual Tech Forum convention.

Eric Sheninger delivers keynote speech at Tech Forum 2014

It was Eric Sheninger’s keynote presentation “Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times” that set the tone for the day.

The former award-winning principal of New Milford High School in New Jersey is now a senior fellow and thought leader on digital leadership with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE) and Scholastic Achievement Partners (SAP).

While he served as principal, Sheninger said he didn’t embrace the kind of leadership traits he now espouses. Spending countless hours eliminating electronic devices from children was just part of his job.

“I was the one who made sure the environment was sterilized,” he recalled. “I blocked and banned everything, maintaining the status quo. Essentially, I was in control.”

But all of that changed when Sheninger realized the merits of integrating digital tools as a way to engage learners.

Despite the lack of funds and the building’s aging infrastructure, Sheninger said the high school achieved “impressive results” within five years of embracing the new, more modern channels of communication. It helped engage families, inspire staff growth and bring new relevance to the classroom for both teachers and students, he explained.

“We got rid of all the excuses and focused on the solutions,” he said. “We made a conscious effort to create a school that worked well for kids.”

Sheninger, the author of “Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times,” said his staff was able to empower students, engage them in productive dialogue and guide them as they conducted research on their own devices, part of the school’s BYOT initiative.

Sheninger said he did not “preach Common Core” to his staff, but instead focused on a particular skill set that would set his students apart from their peers.

Today, New Milford High School is a “Makerspace” of sorts where students work in the high school library with Lego pieces, motherboards and a 3D printer.  Sheninger refers to it as a “culture that’s different.”

Under his leadership, the school created learning academies that are open to any student regardless of GPA as well as teacher incentives, part of the school’s digital badge platform for those who embrace the new technologies.

Sheninger, the creator of the Pillars of Leadership, a framework for driving sustainable change in schools, suggested that educators interested in change should form their own personal learning networks.

“Connecting myself to the smart people and the doers has pushed me to become a better leader, educator and a better person,” he said.

Sheninger suggested to his audience that they lead by example. “Make the conscious decision to share your vision, to have conversations with other educators, to be transparent, support change and model the expectations that you have for others,” he said.

The day’s other events included presentations on Google Apps for Education; coding, making and learning; creating a positive digital footprint and telling stories with help from digital media, among others.

Canadian Principal Sees Technology as Opportunity for More Personal Learning

There’s nothing impersonal about George Couros. In fact, everything about his recent Technology Leadership Institute presentation spoke to relationships, both personal and professional, and this philosophy has helped the Canadian division principal of innovative teaching and learning transform the way learning takes place in his own school and in schools across Canada and beyond.

George Couros delivers keynote presentation at TLI event

The affable educator and international speaker was the keynote presenter for the LHRIC’s Annual Pioneer Awards Celebration, which is hosted each year by TLI and are held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor.

In his presentation titled, “Create, Innovate and Voice,” he talked about the need for educators to use technology as a way to make learning more personal and engaging for students.

“Educators are becoming irrelevant to kids,” he said. “And school looks irrelevant to the rest of the world. “ However, Mr. Couros contends that if schools give students the ability to create something meaningful, allow them to be innovative and empower them with a voice, they will succeed long after they graduate.

Mr. Couros said three areas are essential to building a learning organization that fuels such a process. They include:

Creativity – students should have the opportunity to “create” and be active in their learning. Examples include the creation of blogs, various media-related presentations as well as the traditional forms of literacy.

Innovation – the opportunity to share learning openly with each other and the world.

Voice – because we live in a world where everyone has a voice that reaches far and wide, it is imperative that students know how to capitalize on this.

Mr. Couros said the biggest shift that educators must make is not a shift in skill set, but rather a shift in mindset. “Seventy-year-old teachers have done the most innovative things, so it’s got nothing to do with age and how you grew up. It’s your mindset and what you are willing to do to create,” he added.

To promote inspiration within the classroom, Mr. Couros suggested that teachers think about learning as “meaningful creation,” not consumption.”

“The biggest game changer in education is in social media and the use of iphones, Google Apps and the like,” said Mr. Couros, who considers himself an innovative leader who can get teachers and students motivated to change. “We need to get educators to think of themselves as innovators and to grow and take risks.”

LHRIC’s Pioneer Awards Celebrate Region’s Innovative Educators

An innovative community gardening project, a trailblazing group of instructional technology leaders and a hardworking director of technology were among the winners of the 2014 Annual Pioneer Awards handed out May 16.

The ceremony, held at the Edith Macy Conference Center in Briarcliff Manor, is a chance for the Lower Hudson Regional Information Center to recognize the advances that teachers and others are making with technology in the region’s school districts.

The half-day event also included a keynote presentation from George Couras, a division principal for the Parkland School Division located in Alberta, Canada.

Mr. Couras, who is also an innovative teaching, learning and leadership consultant, travels the country and the world inspiring teachers and others to make effective leadership changes and to create more transparent environments within schools.

Before deciding on the winners, a group of judges review each candidate’s application, including information on their innovative use of technology among colleagues as well as in the classroom.

Port Chester's Pioneer Award Winners

This year’s winners included Adam Schoenbart, a high school English teacher in the Ossining School District, who was celebrated for his innovative use of Google Apps for Education, and Craig Mantin, an instructional technology specialist in the North Rockland School District, for his professional development efforts with teachers and as the district’s resident expert in technology matters.

Two new Pioneer Awards were handed out this year for collaborative efforts in technology. The recipients included a team of fourth-grade teachers from JFK Elementary School in the Port Chester School District (Kate Albero, Jenn Curti and Kara Purcell), who helped spearhead a community garden project that involved the use of digital technology.

The “Special Recognition for Collaboration and Innovation Initiatives” was also presented to Jennifer Cronk, an instructional facilitator for the Clarkstown Schools; Jesse Lubinsky, chief information officer and technology coordinator for the Irvington Schools; and Sabrina Rich, director of instructional technology for the Ardsley Schools, all in honor of their trailblazing leadership efforts.

Jennifer Cronk, Sabrina Rich and Jesse Lubinsky

This year’s Director of Technology Pioneer Award was given to George Brady of the South Orangetown Schools for providing leadership and vision in relation to the district’s server and desktop virtualization platforms as well as its mobile learning offerings, among other accomplishments.

The Yorktown School District was chosen for its ability to connect students, staff and community through what Superintendent Dr. Ralph Napolitano referred to as “this one YCSD digital world,” making reference to the 3,600 students in kindergarten through 12^th grade along with the 500 staffers who connect and collaborate through the Google Apps for Education platform.

The district integrates various technology tools into daily learning, including interactive Whiteboards, Smart responses, iPads, Chromebooks, Google Apps for Education, in addition to other smart devices, part of its Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) initiative.