District Administration - April 2010 - (Page 40)

Reaching Digital Natives on Their Terms devote an hour every week—either on “Tech Tuesday” or “Wi-Fi Wednesday”— to technology-related training, including how to create hyperlinks or use applications and how to incorporate or create e-curriculum materials. Further, each Auburn junior high and high school has its own full-time instructional technology coach, who works with teachers as needed. For example, says Rice, a math teacher doing a segment on fractions might ask that school’s instructional technology coach for help in finding online resources to support what is taught. Starting this academic year, in a program that the North Kansas City (Mo.) Schools school board approved in May 2009, 100 of the 400 teachers in the district will participate in intensive training every year that focuses on applying technology to the curriculum. The number of participating teachers, who meet one day a month for 60 hours of training, is limited only by the capacity of the program, including the number of available trainers, says Janet Herdman, executive director of information and technology services for North Kansas schools. Staff development coordinators from the central office visit with classroom teachers to offer additional support as they implement new teaching strategies “so the teachers are not left there to flounder,” Herdman explains. North Kansas City Schools principals also are trained for two hours every month in a condensed version of what the teachers are taught. “Principals need to know what to expect when they go into a classroom where teaching strategies are changTrick Them into Learning Pedagogy is key to digital learning. While many districts have state-of-the-art technology, many educators say it’s only the beginning. “It’s not about the technology. It’s what we are doing with it to change what is going on in the classroom,” says Herdman. The district last year won the Consortium for School Networking’s annual TEAM award for successfully leveraging technology to impact teaching “principals need to know what to expect they will see when they go into a classroom where teaching strategies are changing and there’s a lot of noise with kids up and moving around.” —Janet Herdman, executive director of information and technology services, north Kansas city (mo.) Schools ing and there’s a lot of noise with kids up and moving around,” Herdman says. For some teachers and principals, working in a digital environment takes some getting used to. “All they know is traditional teaching—standing in front of the room, lecturing, maybe throwing in a PowerPoint here and there. We think taking part of the staff at a time and leading them through is the best way to do it,” she adds. Some ADminiStrAtorS AnD outSiDe eDucAtion expertS Are concerneD About how transforming to a digital environment can provide the type of teaching and learning students need to pass mandated tests that measure their academic achievement levels. these tests are mandated by the no child Left behind law, which the obama administration is reworking. “i don’t feel it is necessary to teach to the tests. i always use the required standards in my lessons, but i don’t feel tests are always the most effective way to assess students. i am trying to move toward more problem-based or project-based assessment,” says Sarah Demaria, who uses technology extensively in her 10th-grade english class at Hempfield (pa.) High School. “the frustration most educators have with those tests is that they don’t allow teachers to teach the important stuff about their subjects, the ‘big ideas,’” says Alisa berger, co-principal of the iSchool in new York city. the school’s students spend about 20 percent of their school time in online “test prep” courses, with material that comes from vendors such as compassLearning odyssey, rosetta Stone, pearson education and Aventa Learning. the courses are “primarily for knowledge acquisition, where our kids learn what they need to know to take the tests,” she says. teaching them that way “frees up the classroom teachers so they don’t have to worry about teaching this type of content. they can teach the big ideas instead,” berger explains. Don Knezek, chief executive officer of the international Society for technology in education, is calling for a change in the accountability system under ncLb that rewards districts for achieving adequate yearly progress by meeting what Knezek terms “minimum traditional academic standards.” He maintains that the system doesn’t reward districts that “give the average student great globally relevant and competent experiences.” TesTing vs. Teaching and learning. Educators also agree that the digital environment builds on the interests and needs of students. With ready access to computers and a wide range of mobile devices, many students already are familiar with available technology tools and use them all the time, particularly for entertainment purposes. Hempfield (Pa.) School District English teacher Sarah DeMaria is having her 10th-graders use various Web sites to network socially, bolster listening and speaking skills, and mix images and music. “I’m trying to immerse my curriculum in the technologies students prefer to use,” says DeMaria. “I use more social networking since that is so important to them right now. I feel like I am tricking them into learning because the way they analyze the literature that they read goes above and beyond what I could ever push them to do in a discussion or worksheet. I think they absolutely love it that way. “It puts them in the driver’s seat. They have to present the information in a way that shows they have learned it,” she adds. “I think they absolutely love it that way.” Replacing Textbooks One significant change that many teachers are adopting is learning how to teach without textbooks. In its Beyond Textbooks Initiative (BTI), which began two District Administration 40 April 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2010

District Administration - April 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Health
Standards
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Sports for Life
Reaching Digital Natives on Their Terms
RTI Goes Mainstream
Double Duty: Schools as Community Centers
Online Edge
Tech Disruptions
Product Focus
New Products
Student Counsel

District Administration - April 2010