1 to 1 Schools

Rethinking exams

Nick Sauers — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:36:18 +0000

A couple of weeks ago CNN aired a story that focused on how cheating had become common among dermatology and radiology students taking their certification exams. In the story they noted that next year the board will be rolling out a new exam for the first time in more than 10 years. I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on certification to be an MD, and quite frankly I don’t care about the process as much as I should. This story does however does generate some questions that could have implications for those of us in K-12 education.

Why would you not change your exam in 10 years? Even if, big IF, information doesn’t change in that time, shouldn’t your knowledge about your assessment tool change?
Why is the information on the test something that can be easily shared with others? Shouldn’t it be information that can only be understood from eight years of med school?
How important is it that students can memorize facts? Is that more important than demonstrating competence?
Why is it a secret what is on the test? Shouldn’t students know from the beginning of their courses the important things that are considered essential to their learning?
Should one exam at the end of an eight year degree be the most important assessment for candidates?

These questions could easily be altered to address K-12 educators. Assessment is always an important topic for educators. Those one-to-one schools that have focused on truly changing teaching and learning also need to think about addressing assessment differently. When students have access to unlimited information with the click of the button, educators are forced to consider new ways to address assessment.

Nick Sauers

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3rd Annual Iowa 1:1 Institute

Nick Sauers — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:16:37 +0000

I'm extremely excited to officially announce that the 3rd Annual Iowa 1:1 Institute will be held on April 11 at the Events Center in Des Moines. The conference was launched two years ago, and it was made possible through the help of the one-to-one schools in Iowa. Iowa's one-to-one schools contributed to the conference by providing presenters who had successfully implemented one-to-one. Those presenters along with the excitement around one-to-one have helped the conference grow from approximately 600 attendees in year one to 1300 last year. Although the conference consists of predominantly Iowa educators, we have had attendees from all of the surrounding states and even the east coast.

With CASTLE's move to the University of Kentucky, we did make some changes to the conference. However, our purposes have remained the same.

Help Iowa's 1:1 districts learn from each other about innovative teaching, learning, and administrative practices that are occurring in their districts;
Build excitement and 'buzz' around 1:1 laptop computing initiatives in the state; and
Help others who are interested in 1:1 computing learn more about how to get started and be successful.

On Tuesday of last week Iowa one-to-one schools were invited to sign up for the conference. That prelaunch has already led to nearly 300 registrants. If you are interested in learning more or participating, click on one of the links below:

We hope you will be part of what has become the biggest, and we hope best, one-to-one conference in the world!

Nick Sauers

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Everything I Need To Know — About Education — I Learned In Kindergarten

samgliksman — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:47:20 +0000

Originally posted on iPads in Education network website - http://ipadeducators.ning.com/profiles/blogs/kindergarten

Authored by Sam Gliksman, Twitter: @samgliksman

I had somewhat of an epiphany while doing a workshop at a local elementary school recently. Walking around and speaking to teachers and children it suddenly dawned on me that many of the “revolutionary” educational changes that many of us have been calling for have already been around for quite a while — just talk a stroll down to the Kindergarten classes.

If only the rest of school looked a little more like those classrooms. In fact, eight important pillars of a 21st century education can be found in most Kindergarten classrooms every day of the week:

1. PLAY

The first rule of Kindergarten is to have fun. Our youngest students love coming to school, and if any child doesn’t seem happy then we make it a high priority to find and remedy the problem. Play is a highly effective method of informal learning that requires imagination and creativity. Happy, playful children are not daydreaming and clock watching — they are engaged and absorbed in their activities. As children get older however, play starts taking a back seat to “academics” … which are usually priorities determined by people in offices far away from the students’ actual classroom environment.

2. CREATE

Creativity is becoming lost in the shuffle of the current “back to basics” school movement. While certainly required in any artistic endeavor, creativity is also a highly essential coping skill for our rapidly changing lives in the 21st century. Our toddlers are constantly being encouraged to think and play creatively. We even structure the classroom physically in an attempt to stimulate creativity — using bright colors, informal seating and allowing children ample room to move. Contrast that to the staid colors and fixed rows of desks found in most upper school classes where “follow the norm” has replaced “think out of the box”.

A couple of years ago I attended a lecture by American artist, Erik Wahl. As part of his presentation he splashed paint around a canvas while creating a portrait on stage. Afterwards he turned to the audience and asked, “How many of you consider yourselves artists?”. Out of an audience of several hundred people only a couple of hands were raised. He then related how he often goes into pre-school classes and asks the very same question. The difference is that almost every hand in the room immediately shoots up. The sad fact is that school squashes our inner sense of creativity as we get older. Instead of inspiring our students to be imaginative and create we tell them to follow the rules — “Do what I tell you to do … and make sure do it exactly the way I asked you to do it”.

3. SOCIALIZE

We understand that young children are social by nature and encourage them to mingle. We don’t seat them alone in fixed desks facing the front of the room. Instead we allow them appropriate time to roam and socialize. Importantly, we recognize the value of getting them to work together in small groups. When they get older and try to work together we often label the activity “cheating”. They’re usually told to sit alone, face the front and work quietly on their own. Socializing is considered an extra-curricular activity that has no place in serious academics … well, not until you get out into the workplace!

4. DISCOVER

Children are curious and love to explore the world around them. They naturally observe, ask questions and demand answers. Kindergarten class might be spent exploring a bug brought in from the playground or listening to a story from a parent with an interesting profession. Their world is a playground that they constantly explore.

As they get older we tell them that their world is divided into nicely delineated courses with predetermined content. Important questions and issues that would normally require discussion and explanation are shelved because they don’t fit into some arbitrary course curriculum. How many times do you hear “we don’t have time for that today”? If coursework is completed then there might possibly be some time left to explore a topic of interest. In the meantime, exploration is put on hold.

5. EXPERIENCE

Effective learning occurs when children build new understandings based on experiences that help them construct new knowledge. Kindergarten teachers help provide a myriad of experiences for their students. We don’t read about hamsters — we keep a pet in class and observe how they eat. We might even allow each child to take the pet home for an evening. We encourage children to bring things into class so that others can feel, taste, experience and learn from them. Their experiences provide a scaffolding for the children to build upon and extend what they already know. We understand that children learn most deeply and effectively through experience.

However, content is king when they get to the older grades. It seems that the only valid experience for learning is reading from a text book or listening to a teacher.

6. EXPRESS

Mixing different forms of media and communication is an essential component of Kindergarten class. Children look at photos, listen to music, watch video, tell stories and of course, read books. We understand that people communicate in a variety of manners and we bring them into play in our classrooms.

In upper grades our entire world is expressed through text. For whatever reason, it seems that the only valid form of expressing knowledge is through text. Out of class they constantly interact and create video, music and more. In class, we have students read from textbooks and almost exclusively require them to respond in writing.

7. MOVE

Children need to move. We all need to move. It’s healthy for both body and mind. We understand that in Kindergarten. The furniture is arranged to facilitate movement and we often have children move around to different parts of the room depending on the activity. Outdoors, it’s essential to provide time and equipment for play.

The mantra of upper school is to sit still and face the front. Classes are designed for quiet, motionless, obedient activities. That can be excruciatingly difficult for many students.

8. RELATE

Finally, in Kindergarten we strive to make learning as meaningful as possible. Learning has meaning as defined by its relevance to the lives of students. If children can’t relate to it then it won’t hold their interest.

On the other hand, the vast amount of bleary eyed, daydreaming students in upper grades is testament to the fact that they don’t relate to much of what passes for learning in class. It’s usually a predefined package of content defined by an “authority” sitting far from the lives of our students — physically and emotionally. Just as importantly, this predefined content package is becoming increasingly inadequate in preparing our students for their lives after school.

So if you have a few moments I’d strongly encourage you to take a stroll down to the lower grades in your school. In fact, the lower the better. Spend a few minutes observing the dynamics in class. Note the energy, laughter and enthusiasm … the genuine thirst for learning. Then ask yourself why it can’t be that way throughout school.

Sam Gliksman
samgliksman@gmail.com
Twitter: @samgliksman
http:\\ipadeducators.ning.com

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What if or yeah but?

Nick Sauers — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:29:20 +0000

I spent the day on Friday working with a school in Kentucky that is actively seeking ways to enrich the learning experiences for their students. The superintendent kicked-off the meeting with other school leaders with a clear directive for the meeting. He wanted the group to think and talk about “what if” statements. The group discussed some possible “what if” statements, but more importantly they planned to do the same with their staffs.

As I sat in on the meeting, a couple of different thoughts came to mind. The first was that every school has staff members with ideas about how to change their school. My second thought was that schools all too often fail to “dream” about the possibilities for the school. All too often schools get in the habit of talking about ideas in “yeah, but” terms instead of “what if” terms.

Yeah, but the parents at our school won’t support that.
Yeah, but our students won’t do that.
Yeah, but our budget doesn’t allow for that.

I would be the first to admit that I certainly can be a “yeah, but” type of person. I am very practical at times, and I sometimes quickly dismiss ideas that don’t seem practical. Unfortunately, that attitude isn’t one that always harnesses creative and innovative ideas. As schools look for ways to change and transform, they should certainly take the time to have some conversations about the what ifs.

What if we involved students in important school decisions?
What if students were challenged with work that was relavent to them?
What if teachers routinely observed each others classrooms?

I have had the opportunity to learn from design thinkers Christian Long and John Nash, who is a colleague. Their work is extremely relavent to schools trying to redesign themselves. One major concept that I heard centers around the development of ideas. In that stage it is critical to focus on generating ideas, and not evaluating ideas (What ifs vs. yeah buts). A second idea is that we have to be willing to fail. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you gamble on one huge change for an entire district at the same time. It may involve pilots or phased implementation of an initiative.

If you work at a one-to-one school, someone at some point certainly dreamed of innovation and change. Beyond implementing one-to-one, has your school continued to have real conversations about the “what ifs” for your school? If not, it may certainly be time to have those conversations!

Nick Sauers

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Keeping Students Engaged in a 1:1 Project-Based Classroom [guest post]

Scott McLeod — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:54:32 +0000

Image approved for copy by Creative Commons.

Source: http://bit.ly/vYUkXB

When laptops first arrived in my classroom, I worried about classroom management. How could I create an environment where students used their computers as tools rather than toys?

I was worried for nothing. The following are suggestions for keeping students engaged in a project and accountable for their time with computers:

Students make a plan.

Students are most tempted to open widgets, games, and social chats when they are faced with a blank screen and have no plan.

Much of the time, students think they have a plan. If you ask them What are you going to do?, the answer is usually I'm gonna make a Power Point about... or I want to make a movie about... Those answers indicate that students are thinking of technology before content.

Instead, ask What are you trying to learn? or What are you trying to communicate? or What are you working on as a writer? Those questions get answers like I want to know more about the horses that Civil War generals rode or I want to convince people that Justin Bieber is the best singer ever or I'm trying to describe the character's actions.

When you ask about learning and communication, you are signaling that the content is more important than the technology. Pull aside those who are struggling with plans. Let them talk together and encourage them to sketch their ideas with diagrams or bullet points and return to the computer later. Students with a plan tend to stay on task.

Students set time-bound goals.

Once students have a plan, they break the project into smaller tasks that can be finished in 10- to 15-minute chunks of time. Have students write the specific tasks on Post-it notes. Post-its are set beside the computer. On their Post-its, students finish the sentence, "In the next [x-amount of] minutes, I plan to..." They generally write things like...

Create an outline for my essay
Write my introduction
Find three pictures about...
Do my voice recording
Finish four slides of my Power Point/Keynote
Find at least three database articles on...
Draft at least three paragraphs
Use Google docs to peer-edit so-and-so's essay
Upload my story to Voicethread

Tasks should be specific. I'm gonna work on my project is not specific enough. At the end of class, Post-its become "exit slips". Students tick off the tasks they have completed and hand the Post-its to the teacher so the teacher can see the progress.

Laptop screens are "fisted" or "put at half mast".

Teachers don't lecture much in a project-based learning environment. However, sometimes student work time is interrupted so the teacher can give reminders or clarify directions.

Ask students to "fist" their computer (or "put the screen at half mast"). Screens should be gently lowered so that students' fists fit between the edge of the track pad and the screen.

When screens are fisted, students are not distracted by items on their screen nor can they type. At the same time, students do not lower their screens to the point that the computers go to sleep. In an iPad environment, students might carefully face their screens down on the desk.

Fingers indicate the amount of time students need to complete a shorter task.

Some tasks are shorter and need to be completed within a few minutes of class. After students have worked for a reasonable amount of time, ask students to show fingers for how many additional minutes they need. Fisted computers signal completion.

If a student is far behind the rest of the class, try to determine whether the student got distracted or if the student needs reteaching. Have the student take a screenshot of his or her progress. Screenshots are helpful to guide future conversations.

Circulate the room, conferencing with students.

Walking and talking with students is important with or without computers. In her article 10 Ways to be a Terrible Teacher, Vicki Davis describes the terrible teacher as one who is working on his or her own computer and not paying attention to students.

Students welcome teacher conversation. They are eager to share their progress and request advice when they're stuck. You build relationships with students when you talk to them about their work.

Rather than banning chat, teach students how to use it for collaboration.

Chat features are programmed into Gmail and Google products. The first year, I banned chats. Then, I realized that chats can be used for student collaboration.

I glance at the chat windows as I circulate the room. Since students have specific, time-bound goals, most chats are used to ask peers to look over a paragraph or help with another aspect of the project.

Don't be afraid to have tough conversations with individual students.

Each year, I have to pull aside one or two students to talk about time management. It's not a punitive conversation. The conversation goes something like this:

I've noticed you haven't made much progress on...I need to know what's getting in the way of your progress. I'm not asking because I want to get you in trouble. I'm asking because you're now x-years old and I'm worried that, if you get in the habit of...,then school will be really hard for you in the future.

Many of the suggestions above apply to project-based learning environments both with and without computers. The trick in a 1:1 environment is to maintain focus on learning and communication. Then let technology naturally enhance those outcomes.

What tricks do you use to keep students engaged?

Janet Moeller-Abercrombie is the author of Expat Educator. She has 16 years of teaching experience and currently works full time at Hong Kong International School. Janet is a doctoral candidate with the University of Minnesota and has begun curriculum consulting with administrators and teachers. She is certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. @jabbacrombie

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Creating a welcoming web presence

Nick Sauers — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:27:58 +0000

I have worked the past couple of weeks on getting prepared to distribute a survey to teachers throughout the state of Iowa. Part of that work included visiting school websites and collecting teacher emails. With the help of a friend, I ended up collecting approximately 4,000 emails from 140 different schools. As you can imagine, the look and feel of those school websites varied greatly. My experience visiting those websites brought forward the following issues.

When I visited websites, I often wondered what the purpose of the website was. I would guess that the purpose each school had for its website would explain some of the differences between websites. Most of the websites seemed to fit into one of two categories.

Static repository of information-These websites were obviously updated or changed very infrequently. They contained forms and various resources about the school. This would by far be the larger category.

Fluid information source-These websites were updated frequently, and they contained current news about the school. Some included videos, pictures, and even twitter feeds.

This post isn't intended as a criticism of schools, but rather as a conversation starter. As a school, you need to decided where to spend your time and resources. Keeping an up to date website certainly takes time. With that in mind, I'm going to end with a list of potential reasons to invest in updating your website and a list of the common problems I found on websites.

Why invest time to keep an up to date website?

Your website is the first place outsiders see when they look for information about your school. This includes potential employees, new families, and community partners.
Your website can serve as a great way to share all of the positive things happening in your school with community members.
The school can control the information on their website, and it can be a great way to address challenging issues.
Members of the school community do want to be able to visit your website as a one stop information warehouse.

Common problems and frustrations with school websites:

Outdated information! This was extremely common.
Broken links were also quite common.
Lack of information-It was difficult to find information and contact emails for staff members.
Information that was challenging to access-Most community members will be frustrated if a click doesn't get them to the information they need.

Visit your own website and click around on various resources. What message does your school website send?

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Characteristics of 1:1 Schools and Communities

Nick Sauers — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:22:34 +0000

This is my first blog of the New Year, and first post for some time. I'd like to say that my departure from blogging has been due to a trip to warm Phoenix to see my Hawkeyes play in the Insight Bowl, but unfortunately that isn't the case. I've instead been working on my dissertation, which will attempt to analyze the impact of one-to-one schools across the state of Iowa. Some of my initial findings have been very interesting, but I share them with a disclaimer. These are very preliminary findings, and I may be oversimplifying them a bit. I am still working to clean-up the data, but I thought these very crude results may be of interest to some of you. If you'd like to find out more, feel free to send me an email so we can chat (nck0208@gmail.com).

The initial part of my study attempted to analyze the characteristics of one-to-one schools. The goal was to identify characteristics of one-to-one schools that were very different (statistically significant) from non-one-to-one schools. Because I didn't want the characteristics to be impacted as a result of a school going one-to-one, I used data from a year that schools were not one-to-one (2007). Here are some of those characteristics that were very different between one-to-one and non-one-to-one schools.

It is important to stress a couple of points with these data.

I didn't report items above simply if one group had a higher median. They were only reported if there was a statistically significant difference. I actually compared schools on nearly 100 different characteristics, most of which didn't show differences between the two groups.
These results are NOT results of 1:1! These data were collected prior to one to-one implementation in an effort to describe the "type" of schools that were the first in Iowa to transition to one-to-one (41 schools).
I have oversimplified these results a bit, and they aren't yet finalized!

Characteristics of 1:1 Schools/Communities in Iowa

School and district enrollment-One-to-one schools were smaller.
Pupils per computer-Even prior to going one-to-one, one-to-one schools had more computers.
11th grade proficiency scores-One-to-one schools outscored non-one-to-one schools.
Student to teacher ratio-They were higher at one-to-one schools.
Teacher salaries-Salaries were lower at one-to-one schools.
Revenue from local sources-One-to-one schools received a greater percentage of their revenue from local sources. (This may be a bit confusing to those of you not familiar with Iowa's funding formula.)
Percent of community members with a college degree-The percent in one-to-one communities was lower.
Percent of community members in the labor force-The percent in one-to-one communities is less than their counterparts.
Median family income-Family income was lower in one-to-one communities. (Housing values were also less.)
Age of principal-One-to-one principals were younger.
Superintendent experience in the district-One-to-one superintendents had less district experience, BUT no statistically significant difference in overall experience.
Diversity-One-to-one schools were less racially diverse.

Even with those disclaimers above, I have found these results EXTREMELY interesting. There are some I certainly would have expected, and others that were more surprising.

Nick Sauers

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Addressing issues with reality

Nick Sauers — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:15:52 +0000

Education Week recently reported on a study that looked at the prevalence of sexting among youth ages 10-17. That report cited two distinct studies that indicated a surprisingly small percentage of students were involved in sexting as they defined it. My point in highlighting their article isn't to weigh-in on the issue of sexting. Rather, my objective is to stress how important it should be for schools to use REAL numbers and data when addressing some very tough issues. If you spend much time watching traditional news venues, you quickly observe the negative portrayal of technology use on children. I don't want to belittle serious issues such as cyber-bullying, sexting, and online predators, but I think it is important to genuinely address those issues using facts. Many parents and schools have made anti-technology decisions because of those fears. Unfortunately, their students suffer because they miss out on many of the affordances provided through technology. That approach could be compared to an overprotective parent who never lets their child leave their side. Schools need to instead address these very real and serious issues with numbers and reports which do exist and are available. Students should be taught about RESPONSIBLE use rather than simply blocking technology. Real issues around technology should be addressed and become part of the culture rather than a thirty minute lecture about digital citizenship. Schools also need to work to help their students create a POSITIVE digital footprint. As a school administrator, one of the first things I did with candidates who made the first cut was do an internet search of their name. It wasn't done with the purpose of finding negative things about candidates, but rather in an effort to find information about the great things candidates had done. If candidates aren't "googleable" in 2011, I wonder what in the heck have they been doing!

Nick Sauers

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PD in a one-to-one environment

Nick Sauers — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:04:06 +0000

I was recently emailed the following question from an educator considering the move to one to one.

What have you seen as an appropriate/adequate/effective amount of PD for schools that have implemented 1-1? (Before the students received the computers and thereafter.)

Professional development is certainly one of the key factors for success or failure for one-to-one schools. My thoughts on this question are presented below.

There doesn't really seem to be an easy answer to this question. The best way to address this is really through a shift in mindset. All PD should really strive to address ways to find the best tools than can enhance whatever the PD focus is. It is pretty easy to argue that technology is one of the very most powerful tools to do this. For example...

If your staff is focusing on project based learning, think of all of the ways that can be enhanced with technology tools. The ability to create grows exponentially with technology.
If your staff is focusing on rigor and relevance, technology can also serve as a tool to provide a much richer experience for students.
If your staff is focusing on student engagement, there are all kinds of technology tools that can help engage students. (If you don't know what they are, ask your students to help find them!)

These are just a few of the many ways that technology can connect to professional development. There are other features that are important to consider when designing PD. I would recommend differentiating PD. This should be differentiated by skill level, but there also needs to be a time for content alike teachers to converse with one another. The Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework describes the overlap of those three areas to achieve truly high levels of technology integration. Without those content alike conversations, some teachers may have a difficult time bringing new tools into their specific classrooms. Although differentiation is key, it is also important to develop a set of tools that are applicable to all educators. One way to think of this is as building a common foundation or knowledge for all teachers. In What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media, Pamela Livingston and Chris Lehman posed a question with that theme in their one-to-one chapter.

What are the essential technological tools that all teachers should know how to use?

A final focus I would stress for PD is to develop leaders within your building who have the capacity to help lead PD and problem solve with other teachers. Send those teachers to a conference or two each year to stay ahead of the curve. Give them some time, maybe a half-day each month, to explore and play with new technologies. Although there is a time and place for "outsiders" to come in and help, your district will be money ahead by developing their own experts.

Schools failure to invest in PD once they have moved to one-to-one is one of the most common mistakes I have witnessed at one-to-one schools. That lack of investment can certainly make the transition to one-to-one a poor investment as well.

Nick Sauers

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1:1 questions to consider

Nick Sauers — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:35:01 +0000

As I was flying back to Kentucky from my Thanksgiving break in Iowa, as well as a side trip to an ugly Hawkeye football game, I had the opportunity to read parts of Scott McLeod and Chris Lehmann’s new edited book. The book, entitled What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media includes a chapter about one-to-one computing written by Pamela Livingston and Chris Lehmann, who are both certainly leaders in the one-to-one community. The chapter is packed full of information for current one-to-one educators as well as those considering the transition. One section in particular struck me as extremely important for teachers and school leaders to ponder. That section focused on how teachers will need to investigate how their teaching will change. The following questions are presented in the text.

How should teaching and learning change to reflect the new shared vision of school?

What assumptions and behaviors will teachers release in terms of their instructional roles in order to achieve a more student-centered model?

What are the new structures of teaching that should be implemented to achieve the vision?

How will teachers collaborate to enable innovation to spread from class to class?

What are the essential technological tools that all teachers should know how to use?

What are the curricular tools (unit planning devices, rubrics for grading, and so on) that can help teachers reach their goals?

How will teachers assess the new artifacts of learning that students can create?

How can teachers use the 1:1 laptop experience as a way to create a shared language of teaching and learning across the entire school?

These questions are great conversation starters for anyone involved with one-to-one. Along with this set of questions, there are other questions focusing on various aspects of 1:1 programs.

Nick Sauers

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Great Lakes 1:1 Computing Conference

Nick Sauers — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:41:20 +0000

I'm excited to be on my way to my third Great Lakes 1:1 Computing Conference which will be held at Lake Geneva this year. The sessions for the past two years have been fantastic. Breakout sessions are generally fairly small and personal.The conference is small enough that it is extremely easy to network with other one-to-one educators. I met many of the experts I turn to when I have concerns or questions about one-to-one issues at this conference.

If you are unable to attend the conference, you can still benefit from their wiki which will continue to get more robust throughout the conference. You can also follow the conversation with the hashtag #gl121. I'm also going to attempt to ustream a session from 2:00-3:00 on Friday at this link. If ustream and bandwidth cooperate, the session will also be available to view at any time. The session will be a Q & A session with one-to-one educators.

Nick Sauers

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Online learning in education

Nick Sauers — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:38:03 +0000

A recent report that was released entitled Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning focuses on the impact of online learning around the country. That report along with a 2009 Department of Education report are possibly the two largest as well as most current studies analyzing the impact of online learning. Two findings jump out at me from those studies.

The number of students taking online courses is growing quickly, and it will continue to do so.
Student performance in online learning is similar to performance in face-to-face courses.

The first finding is certainly not surprising to any of you involved with education. The second finding may actually be a bit understated. A 2009 study from the U.S. Department of Education that analyzed a large number of online learning studies indicated that classes with online learning, whether completely online or blended, produced stronger learning outcomes than classes with solely face-to-face instruction. Other studies have found similar results. Certainly, this doesn't indicate that simply creating online courses produces superior results. It also doesn't indicate that online learning produces WORSE results as many would argue. Like many forms of instruction, it isn't about the medium for delivery of instruction, but rather the strategies and methodologies used for instruction. I have actually spoken with many veteran teachers who have reflected that online learning has really made them think closely about their delivery and pedagogy. Those reflections have forced them to become very deliberate at creating online environments with certain components that they viewed as powerful teaching techniques. In turn, they created very meaningful learning environments.

The Keeping Pace study is certainly worth taking a look at. Although the report is quite long, it provides a short assessment for each state. I'd recommended taking a look at your state, and comparing it to others. As a one-to-one educator, how are you involved with online learning? Do your students participate in blended learning environments?

Nick Sauers

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1-to-1 and Creating/Publishing Something New

Pam Livingston — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:09:33 +0000

There is so much power and potential in having every student have a digital device available for school or home use. It means having at the student’s fingertips nearly any resource for writing, publishing, researching, planning, graphing, editing, sharing, and collaborating. It also means all these resources along with the files and work created by the student are completely mobile and available as needed. Teachers in 1-to-1 environments no longer need to distribute resources and collect them later, and therefore can relinquish their roles as the sole disseminators of knowledge. Nothing jumpstarts student-centered learning like 1-to-1.

Unless 1-to-1 happens to be solely about having a device to follow along with a teacher.

There are schools where 1-to-1 is about a teacher using a projector and bringing up a worksheet while students, using their own digital devices, follow along at their own desks with their own electronic copies of the worksheets. Where students do not have the opportunity to explore or collaborate but still face front in desks in rows, albeit desks with laptops or tablets on them. Where teacher-centered learning is automated and facilitated so that worksheets aren’t handed out anymore but still are integral to learning. Where students aren’t asked to be part of the planning or the ideas of the school, in spite of being the stakeholders with the most at stake in terms of their futures.

But there are also schools where students create something new and different and where teachers have adapted to the role of co-learner and where thinking and projects and collaboration flourish.

It’s the nature of schools that material and content must be learned so there is a place for different delivery and methodology. Sometimes students do face front and there is whole class instruction needed even in the most effective and student-centered spaces.

But if 1-to-1 is totally and completely, without exception, in every learning space about teacher-centered instruction — is it truly worth the time, energy, and cost?

- Pam Livingston

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One-to-one research brief

Nick Sauers — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:17:19 +0000

A research brief that I co-authored with Scott McLeod was recently released as a CASTLE brief. The brief can be found here, and it summarizes much of the relevant research around one-to-one. It is a fairly quick read at just over five pages. Enjoy!

Nick Sauers

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WOULD THIS ARTICLE MAKE YOU WANT TO LEARN IN A 1:1 SCHOOL?

Blair Peterson — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:16:16 +0000

Alan Schwarz's New York Times article, Out With Textbooks, in With Laptops for an Indiana School District highlights the the new 1:1 laptop initiative in Munster, IN.

I'm a bit shocked by the focus of the article and the way that the program is portrayed. Take a look at a few of the quotes from the article and you tell me what you tell me what you think.

This is the quote from Ms. Stafford that ends the article. “This wasn’t a technology initiative — this was a curriculum initiative,”

OK, but look at these other ones.

"The day all have seen coming — traditional textbooks being replaced by interactive computer programs..."
“The material we’re teaching is old but everything around it is brand-new,” said Pat Premetz, chairwoman of the math department at Wilbur Wright Middle School
"Uncuffed, Angela Bartolomeo’s sixth graders spent a recent Wednesday rearranging terms of equations on an interactive Smart Board and dragging-and-dropping answers in ways that chalkboards never could. (In between, a cartoon character exclaimed that “Multiplying by 1 does not change the value of a number!” in his best superhero baritone.)"
"When Ms. Norman told the students to take out their ear buds to watch a video, two in the back yelped, “Cool!”"
“With a textbook, you can only read what’s on the pages — here you can click on things and watch videos,” said Patrick Wu, a seventh grader. “It’s more fun to use a keyboard than a pencil.

Are these the main reasons that we advocate for providing students and teachers with access to technology? Are these examples of higher level learning in a 21st century classroom? I applaud the efforts of the school district and teachers. I just think that this article fails to capture the real reason why the district decided to go 1:1.

Cross posted at Creative Tension.

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The Use of Educational Video Games in Knowledge Retention

Nick Sauers — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:24:34 +0000

The following post was prepared by Elaine Hirsch, and it provides a quick overview of some of the research around gaming.

Elaine Hirsch is a jack-of-all-interests, from education and history to medicine and video games. This makes it difficult to choose just one life path, so she is currently working as a writer for various education-related sites and writing about all these things instead. She can be reached at elainehi86@gmail.com.

Research has shown that educationally modified, computer-based video games have the potential to increase players' basic knowledge retention. This directly contradicts the prevalent assumption that video games are merely a distraction from “proper learning.” Moreover, these findings suggest games can be used as powerful tools to advance learning from online PhD programs to kindergarten classrooms.

The University of Kansas conducted research that suggested games can be used not only for the purpose of advancing learning, but also to impart very specific knowledge in their players. Three groups were administered a test of their ability to recall certain historical events. One group prepared by viewing a PowerPoint presentation and the remaining groups prepared with the aid of video games.

The two groups that used video games to prepare demonstrated a marked increase in knowledge retention. The increase was attributed to the psychological effect of participants being able to engage their minds to a greater degree than that of the group that passively observed the PowerPoint presentation.

Andrew Moshirnia, the author of the study, concluded that when video games are designed to include specific educational formats, they can be effectively used by educators as learning tools for their students. His study showed students who were exposed to these types of educationally modified video games improved immediate knowledge recall.

Meanwhile, Boston students have found video games played on mobile devices reinforce information learned in biology classes. Similarly, a group of New York City 8th grade students who played Nintendo DS were able to overcome misconceptions about the processes of photosynthesis. Students in Texas have also been shown to visualize physics concepts better when they were exposed to a library of online simulations.

The National Research Council explored the potential of educational video games for science learning. The study was presented to a group of educators, one of whom was Daniel Schwartz, a Stanford University professor of Education. Schwartz suggested the use of educational video games in an alternative way when he remarked about how the games can collect large amounts of data about their players, and how those data can aid educators in understanding how students learn.

At present there is insufficient empirical evidence to demonstrate a definite improvement in long-term learning retention through the use of educational video games. However, scientists attribute this more to the fact that video games are still too newly an object of scientific inquiry for adequate long-term studies to have been conducted. Many short-term studies have produced positive results, with students responding very favorably to the video game format. Chances seem good that video games, once considered only an obstacle to getting homework done, may take on an important role in education in the near future.

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Nick’s Top Ten

Nick Sauers — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:42:49 +0000

This morning I read a post from Educational Technology Guy focused on the technologies he uses on a daily basis (If you don't subscribe to his blog, you should!). His post inspired me to do the same with a little twist. I'm going to focus on those tools that I use when leading workshops. My list includes ten tools that I use in many of my presentations. You'll notice that the tools I use with participants don't require memberships.

Wiki's-Wiki's are an extremely easy place for me to store resources for participants. I always like wiki's because they are easy to change, and mine typically change with the needs and requests of the group. At the completion of a workshop, the group's wiki has almost always been changed.
Google forms-Google forms are a fantastic way for me to collect data from my group easily and quickly. Like most of the tools I use, participants don't need a password.
Wordle-So yes, some think Wordle is a little cheesy. Personally, I often use it as a way to visually represent the views of a group. I will frequently ask a question on Google forms, and copy and past the responses into Wordle.
Titan Pad-Another tool without a sign-in required. It is my favorite tool for collaborative note taking between participants.
Google Docs-I also frequently use Google spreadsheets with open public access. I prefer Google spreadsheets when I have multiple groups working on different tasks.
TodaysMeet-Again.....no sign-in password required. This tool can be a great way to introduce a back channel to individuals.
Skype-I frequently Skype others into my presentations. Nobody wants to hear me all day!
Flickr-When designing presentations, I work hard to find visual images to strengthen my message. Unfortunately, I often spend way too much time searching once I get to Flickr!
PowerPoint-Personally, I haven't become a fan of Prezi, and I still prefer powerpoint. I try to adhere to the guidelines in PresentationZen when developing my powerpoints. I would strongly recommend the book to those of you who present frequently!
Twitter-I often post questions on Twitter when seeking resources for my presentation. I'll also post participant questions on Twitter. Those not familiar with Twitter are amazed that it can actually be used in positive ways!

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Quotes I hate!

Nick Sauers — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:50:25 +0000

Like many of you, there have been times that I have heard someone say something that has really left me frustrated, angry, or absolutely bewildered. Over the past three years, I’ve also heard those same types of statements in reference to one-to-one schools. My list of things that make me scratch my head are listed below in no particular order. These quotes certainly don’t necessarily represent common beliefs, but they do exist. My short commentary is beneath each quote.

The iPad (or insert another one-to-one device) combats the physical burden that students suffer from having to lug around textbooks on their backs.

I actually don’t disagree with this quote, but I still hate it! If schools are making the move to 1:1 to literally lighten backpack weight, it is a REALLY bad investment!

I worry that I will no longer be the center of the class if we move to 1:1.

Ugh! I can’t believe I heard this comment in a public meeting with 40 other educators. I hope, and believe, this remark came from someone in the very small minority.

Students are going to be very distracted with one-to-one.

Schools across the country are currently doing a very poor job engaging students. One-to-one by itself isn’t the solution, but it sure has the potential to help in numerous ways.

The technology really doesn’t matter.

I don’t think we can fulfill our role as schools in 2011 without adequately educating our students about how to use technology appropriately and effectively. In order to do so, schools need technology that students can access on a regular basis!

Good teaching is good teaching.

I understand the thinking behind this statement, and agree with it to a point. However, I don’t believe technology can any longer live as something separate that classrooms can choose to ignore. I’m not arguing that technology needs to be used every minute of every class, but ignoring it shouldn’t be an option either! Students WILL be expected to leave schools and know how to use technology in their personal and professional lives.

My point in posting this list is more than just venting (although I won’t deny a bit of venting). Hearing these statements reinforces how important it is that schools communicate their message. Do all of your stakeholders know WHY you went one-to-one?

Are there any quotes that you could add to the list that really get under your skin?

Nick Sauers

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1 to 1 resources

Nick Sauers — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:46:25 +0000

I recently created a 1 to 1 resource wiki that I hope may be helpful to some of you . The wiki has the following three pages of resources.

1 to 1 Resources

This page contains websites, organizations, and conferences as well as additional resources pertaining specifically to 1 to 1.

Teaching with Technology

This page links to resources from various sources. It is designed so that educators can first select the skill they want to teach and then find technology tools that will help teach those skills. The resources linked from this page are amazing!

Video Tutorials

This page contains links to video tutorials of how to use various tools.

PLEASE feel free to add resources to the page! My hope is that the wiki will become more robust through your help.

Nick Sauers

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What is one-to-one?

Nick Sauers — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:22:45 +0000

Unlike many other initiatives, one-to-one is not a canned program. One of the most challenging things when talking to those not familiar with one-to-one is communicating how differently one-to-one can look at different schools. In actuality, one-to-one simply speaks to access to technology and not other changes that may occur in a school. When touring one-to-one schools, these differences also become very apparent. Penuel (2006) identified four outcomes that most one-to-one schools identify when implementing one-to-one. Those outcomes include:

Improving academic achievement
Increasing equity of access
Increasing economic competitiveness of a region
Transforming the quality of instruction

I would add that under each of these points, there are still many more outcomes schools have sought. For some schools improving academic achievement has been a focus on one content area while others have focused on different content areas. For still other schools, increasing academic achievement has meant the adoption or implementation of another strategy to increase academic performance in partnership with one-to-one.

So what does this mean?

Well, for starters it means that there isn’t a cookie cutter plan to lay out for educators considering the move to one-to-one. More importantly, it hopefully means that schools need to start or at least tie their conversations to something other than one-to-one. Schools need to first identify exactly what they want to focus on, and what they want to do exceptionally well. Once they have done that, I would guess that one-to-one will certainly help them do a better job reaching their goals. I repeatedly tell educators that the things students can do with one-to-one technology are often unimaginable or not easily done without the technology. With that in mind, schools must continually come back to what their goals are. They can then ask whether one to one will or has helped them meet their goals. They may ask themselves one or more of the following questions depending on the goals they established.

Is one-to-one a tool to increase the amount and quality that students are writing?
Is one-to-one a school’s tool to help level the playing field between the haves and the have nots?
Is one-to-one the tool to help drive project based learning?
Is one-to-one part of the school’s plan to increase graduation rate?
Is one-to-one part of the process to transform instruction in the school?
Is one-to-one part of the school’s focus on 21st century skills?

Whether you are at a current one-to-one school or considering the move, the process described above should be essential. In order to use one-to-one to move our schools forward, we first need to clearly identify exactly what direction we need and want to move!

Penuel, W. R. (2006). Implementation and effects of one-to-one computing initiatives: A research synthesis. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38(3), 320–348.

Nick Sauers

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