The three short videos below were recorded in Denver at an ISTE session entitled “1-to-1 Laptop Program
Success Stories: Common Themes from
Diverse Implementations.” It was a panel discussion with three presenters with extensive 1:1 experience. Mike Muir, Cyndi Danner-Kuhn, and Sam Farsaii.
Mike Muir talks about some of his experiences with 1:1 programs.
We wish we could call it a “learning initiative” instead of a technology initiative.
What expectations do
teachers need to come with? How do you support teachers going into 1:1?
- Get rid of network Nazi’s who don’t have any business making curriculum decisions for teachers. (This comment received lots of applause!)
- Invest in staff development. That includes instructional and technical support.
- “Just in time training” available for teachers.
- Do not center professional development around software or hardware. The research is clear that teachers who are taught technology integrated with something else are more likely to use it that way with their students.
- Teacher prep programs need to forget doing a separate course and embed the training in all courses.
- Educators should have an openness to try something new and a willingness to fail.
What leadership
strategies are necessary for 1 :1?
- Administrators need to understand what the possibilities of 1:1 are.
- They also need to model 1:1 for their teachers.
- Everything should not be
top down. - Leadership is everything!
- Four things we saw effective leaders do.
- Build common vision together with the staff.
- Apply positive pressure and support.….set expectations.
- Provide opportunities for professional development.
- Celebrate successes!
Is this entire presentation online anywhere?
I’m not aware of the full presentation online. I didn’t see any recording equipment there.
I am sorry, but I am so offended by the 1st item on the list above “Get rid of network Nazi’s who don’t have any business making curriculum decisions for teachers.” I am a tech director, and to have a ‘blanket’ label of reference for the position that I hold that is compared to one of the most hated events of the history of the world. Maybe the network won’t allow for certain strains on bandwidth? No.. we all just get lumped into this reprehensible label. I can’t believe that professional of this caliber, who teach not to label kids, assign this terrible moniker to someone who is trying to do their job and keep the network healthy so it can be utilized.
You make a valid point. I’d like to carry on this conversation on a post in the very near future.…hopefully later this week.
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
I feel that tech directors have to be more intune to all sides of the risk benefit scenarios for virtually everything that our teachers are finding to utilize in their classroom. I totally admit that 5 years ago, I was a network Nazi. It made my job much easier if I strictly enforced what could come into the school via the network. Due to new tools available and support from our district and state, we view every resource as an opportunity first and then ask what we need to do to make it available to our students while protecting our network and computers. I know we will have bumps in the road but the lessons we learn will be passed along to the students as part of their education in digital citizenship
We are seeing 1:1 laptop initiatives more and more and schools need to make sure they have a robust enough wireless network to support the amount of users, traditional access points just cant handle the load. Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays are growing in a lot of school districts as they can provide greater user density, more coverage and bandwidth, with a lot less devices. They also offer active site surveys. Check them out!
we all just get lumped into this reprehensible label. I can’t believe that professional of this caliber, who teach not to label kids, assign this terrible moniker to someone who is trying to do their job and keep the network healthy so it can be utilized.