TLI - Tech Expo Highlights Innovative Technology Practices

Over 350 educators from across the region turned out April 17 to attend the LHRIC’s popular Tech Expo 2015 and to learn from some of the nation’s leading experts on the growing influence of technology in the classroom and in students’ lives.

Now in its ninth year, the event continues to grow as school district representatives savor the opportunity to learn from the best, to network with their peers, to learn something from the more than 35 breakout seminars and work sessions and to meet face-to-face with some of the nation’s leading technology companies and sponsors of the daylong event.   

Dr. Tony Wagner speaks to a packed auditorium.

In his keynote presentation, Dr. Tony Wagner, expert-in-residence at Harvard University’s Innovation Lab, urged his audience in the packed auditorium to put a larger context on the work of improving test scores and Common Core requirements.

“The world no longer cares about how much you know,” he said. “It’s about what you can do with what you know and how you prepare young people for innovation.”

Understanding the role of teachers, mentors and the larger school setting in an innovation world is crucial, he noted. For his book, “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World,” Dr. Wagner interviewed groups of highly motivated twentysomethings from various schools and different backgrounds around the country in an effort to discover the skills of successful innovators and why they are important to the future.

He wanted to find out if their parental, teaching and mentoring influences were any different from other students. Many of them attend top schools like the MIT Media Lab; the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Boston; High Tech High in San Diego, a network of charter schools spanning grades K-12, the Regio Emilia network of schools abroad and others.

What was evident in many of these schools was that students were encouraged to pursue real interests versus merely achieving academically. In the younger years, parents and teachers encouraged more exploratory play, such as using fewer toys without batteries and integrating “whimsy” into every project.

“We have been talking about getting kids college-ready for years,” said Dr. Wagner to the audience, many of them superintendents from across the region. “But guess what, it’s not enough, not even by half.”

Dr. Wagner explained that many of today’s employers are seeking different criteria from their prospective employees. Fifteen percent of the new hires at Google don’t have a college degree, and the word “college” does not appear on the jobs section of its website, he added.

To better prepare students for this new landscape, Dr. Wagner suggested that schools teach the skills that matter most. “No Common Core can begin to do that,” he said. “We’ve got to be clear about the competencies that matter most, including creative thinking, collaboration, communication and creative problem-solving.”

Dr. Wagner contends, however, that no innovation can take place without a certain amount of research and development. “Does anyone have an R&D budget?” he asked. In one Westchester school district, Dr. Wagner said he is working with administrators to develop an “innovation fund,” to which teachers can apply.

The key to successful innovation is ultimately student motivation, he explained. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy as an example, Dr. Wagner suggested that schools create their own pyramid and tap into the top tiers of it, primarily those that include technology for communication, technology for collaboration and at the top, technology for creation.

Some in the audience wondered how school districts could achieve such a thing knowing the constraints and obligations many of them are under to comply with state mandates.

“You’re not going to flip this overnight,” Dr. Wagner replied. “The first challenge is to understand that the time we are spending on test prep is entirely wasted. Kids don’t remember what they don’t connect to in some way. We should reduce test prep, but I don’t think we can’t eliminate it.”

Dr. Wagner encouraged his listeners to see the film Most Likely to Succeed, which he collaborated on. The documentary is a powerful account of the current crisis in the American educational system and is currently showing in select New York movie theaters.

In response to questions from the audience that spoke to parents’ approval of a traditional education system, Dr. Wagner advised them to have conversations with their communities that can ultimately help them understand the merits of an education that is more geared toward the 21^st century workplace.

“Leaders rarely spend enough time helping communities understand why the education system should change,” he said. “You need an understanding and an urgency around change before you start to see it.”

A wide variety of breakout sessions took place throughout the day, including workshops on coding, Microsoft’s free tools for classroom use, interactive ebooks for learning, Google Apps, the Maker movement at the elementary school level, social media in education, instruction with iPads, the benefits of blended learning and more.

Additional keynote presentations included “The Power of Google Apps for Education” by Jaime Casap, senior education evangelist at Google, Inc., and “Using Social Media in Education” from Dr. Alec Couros, a professor of educational technology and media at the University of Regina, Canada.

To see photos from the event, check out the LHRIC/SWBOCES Flickr page at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/swboceslhric/sets/72157652074051896/

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 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.”