Education Week - April 15, 2015 - S18

S18 |
EDUCATION WEEK n
April 15, 2015
Blended Learning: Breaking Down Barriers > www.edweek.org/go/blended-barriers
CONTINUED FROM PAGE S16
with dry-erase markers on floor mats, clipboards, an
8-foot magnetic wall, and plexiglass panels mounted
on cinderblock walls.
A key piece of the lab is its separate observation
room, framed by mirrors the students can't see
through. On the other side of the glass, administrators,
teachers, school board members, parents, community
members, and other guests can talk freely
about what they're witnessing without distracting
students or interrupting the teacher.
In the early days, Jeremy Shorr, the district's director
of innovation and educational technology, spent
time in the lab with Ridge Middle School Principal
Megan Kinsey, watching 7th grade math teacher
Tommy Dwyer at work using Chromebooks and software
such as the learning-management system Schoology,
as well as the video-editing tool Camtasia.
"Tommy would teach while we sat there and
watched, and at the end of the day, we'd tear apart the
entire lesson and rebuild it from scratch," Mr. Shorr
recalled. "It was tiring for him, more so than for us.
[But the experience ultimately became] a testament
to the ability of a teacher's willingness to change and
grow. We can't do this without that."
Mr. Dwyer now learns from sitting on the other side
of the glass and watching other teachers experiment
with new tech tools. "It's one thing to read about something
online, but seeing someone using it gives it more
credibility," he said. It provides "more comfort to teachers
when they go to implement it."
Some observers familiar with educational technology
say iterative approaches such as the one used
in Mentor are desperately needed, at a time when
many teachers are under pressure to master the use
of new digital devices and tools quickly, and to improve
students' academic achievement.
Programs like Catalyst can help educators, but only
if they're created in collaboration with, and continually
supported by, district administrators, said Susan D.
Patrick, the president and ceo of the International
Association for K-12 Online Learning, in Vienna, Va.
"Empowering teachers as the designers of the future
of education is wonderful and required to make
the shift to dramatically advancing what is possible
with technology," Ms. Patrick said. If learning labs
are going to be replicated in other districts, she said,
it requires "shared vision [that allows for] innovation,
continuous improvement, and sharing new instructional
methods."
Other Labs Taking Hold
Other districts are using peer-observation to help
teachers gain skills and confidence with technology.
In December, the 480-student Grant Beacon Middle
School in Denver opened an "Ideation Lab," in which
teachers experiment with blended-learning in an environment
that can easily be reconfigured depending on
the day's goals. Like the Catalyst program, the Denver
classroom has drawn visitors from around the country.
"Part and parcel for our space is a belief in 'design
thinking,' [and our belief that] it's cool to take risks,"
said Kevin Croghan, Beacon's site director of blended
learning and learning environments.
Mentor district representatives researched 22 districts
using 1-to-1 student-to-device programs while preparing
for Catalyst's launch. (The district is 1-to-1 in multiple
buildings using iPads and will be 1-to-1 in grades 6-12,
with MacBooks for grades 9-12, in 2015-16.) They then
set up a model of the Catalyst program, turning Mr. Dwyer's
7th grade math classroom into an observation area.
The Mentor district's experience makes it clear
that teachers, contrary to popular belief, are eager
to acquire new skills using technology, particularly
if doing so helps their instruction, said Shiang-Kwei
Wang, the associate dean at the New York Institute
of Technology's school of education.
In a study published last year, Ms. Wang found that
middle school science teachers were more likely than
their students to use technology in and out of the
classroom.
The idea that most teachers are less capable, or
less willing, than so-called "digital natives" to become
adept with technology is a fallacy, she said. The challenge
is to support teachers' use of tools in ways relevant
to their day-to-day work.
Many teachers "don't know how to use technology to
meet instructional needs," Ms. Wang said. "We need to
design systems to support them."
In an effort to further help teachers, Mentor is building
a nearly 16,000-square-foot professional-development
center, scheduled for completion in August and
including lab and observation space to further enhance
teachers' ability to use technology in the classroom.
Superintendent Matthew Miller said the $3.5 million
center, named Paradigm and paid for with state
grant money, will be a valuable training tool as the
Catalyst concept extends into more classrooms.
John Watson, the ceo of the Evergreen Education
Group, a consulting and advisory company in Durango,
Colo., said the fact that an established, traditional
school-not a new or charter school-has
embraced an unconventional and job-embedded approach
to professional development for technology is
"particularly interesting and important."
"What they're doing is far more than we often see in
terms of the dedication and resources spent for necessary
levels of professional learning," Mr. Watson said.
Ms. Dunn, the kindergarten teacher, advises other
districts interested in following the Catalyst model to
start small, tailor their approach to school and teacher
needs, and-in keeping with the spirit of the lab itself-be
prepared for missteps along the way.
"You can't make sure everything is going to work," she
said, "so you have to be willing to try and see." n
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Education Week - April 15, 2015

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