QLC: Death by Digital Documents

Something I am grappling with at the moment is how to balance the use of technology in my classroom. I have come from a 1:5 ipad environment to a 1:1 chromebook environment. The students are comfortable using the tool but I haven't quite found those systems that fit my teaching and my routines. For example, giving feedback on writing in books that get handed in... something I thought I wouldn't miss, well it is much easier to read and comment and be organic with writing in the paper form.

So discussing this issue with my colleagues allowed me to see some possible next steps and to give myself permission to provide that balance that will meet the needs of both myself and my students.

• Not all work needs to be done digitally (permission granted!)
• Get them to print stuff out - blend digital with pen
• Have a look at what other teachers are using to manage so many online documents
• Use the Hapara workspace 
• Try out some tools like kaizena for voice notes.

There is no quick fix or perfect solution but I am interested in how other teachers manage the constant online viewing and storing of google docs?

NB: this is part of my ICT goal for this year around "What exactly does blended e-learning look like in my classroom?"

He Kaiwhakarite

Post #2 of my unpacking of the 7 principles of Tū Rangitira (Leadership) as part of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

My current "Kaiwhakarite" (Manager) job at school is managing digital technology and library resources.

This year I have rolled out 36 ipads to the Junior School and 40 chromebooks to the Senior school.  It was almost a year in the making so I did a lot of work behind the scenes to get them ready.  I have also helped implement GAFE (Google Apps for Education) and provide professional development and ongoing support to both staff and students.

The learner is always at the centre of what I do.  I wanted to implement change around digital technology and e-learning practice to benefit my learners.

Tū Rangitira states that:

The key word here is transform.  Transformational leadership is about inspiring others and "walking the talk".  I like to think that I have put in the mahi (work) required to make digital technology successful for everyone and without the need for praise.  I see myself as a role model for e-learning by demonstrating it my classroom practice and I always give my time to help support others.

With the library I have one clear goal for myself and that is to share my love of reading with others.  I manage the library with another teacher and we have split the role up so that my focus is mainly around books (the best part!!). We manage the library in the sense that we facilitate things like purchasing books however the ownership of the library we have put back on to the students.

The library since our takeover this year has become a community hub.  We have craft clubs, book clubs and a code club running out of it.  At one stage some students even started up an "Ocean Life" club for a term.  These clubs are run by students for students.  The aim for them to claim ownership of how they use the library and show leadership at the same time.  Our student librarians have been asked to take ownership over different sections of their library and think about how they want to display books and take care of their area.  I find myself attracted to just hanging out in this space because now there is a (quiet) buzz.  I usually end up engaged with a student about books I have read/they have read and talking about books.  I buy books with specific students in mind.  The library is a place for everyone to come to and for everyone to be part of.  So I guess with the library my management style is more distributive leadership with a student focus.

The fear of (perceived) change

This year the staff at my school will take a huge shift towards using digital technology in the classroom. Despite being a high decile school, the technology being used (or should I say not used) is dated and dying (literally, like one netbook a week dies). Teachers use the existing technology for mainly accessing the internet for student research. There has been some use of forums (third space) to help create an audience but only 1 or 2 teachers still continuing with this.

As you can see, the term e-learning is slightly dangerous, unknown, threatening and scary for some.

It was evident in a discussion yesterday as part of a session I ran, that some teachers thought they they would have to change their practice and their beliefs in order to have digital technology in the classroom. I had to reiterate that with such strong pedagogy underpinning everything at our school why would this change? They say that successful integration of digital technology requires a sound pedagogy. But does it have to be an e-learning pedagogy? Can it just be pedagogy? Can it just be about learning?

Yes!

Digital technology enhances our teaching and creates multiple possibilities for communication and connectivity. However that is also how the world operates now. It would be archaic to keep doing what we've always been doing and not keep up with the rest of the world. Ultimately it has to come down to what dispositions we want our learners to have. The ones that resound with me the most are Resourceful, Resilient, Creative and Persistent. I'd probably chuck Playful in their too. Digital technology opens up possibilities to develop these dispositions in a real world context. A real world context because the reality is that most students will start school knowing more about iPads than their teachers, are exposed to digital technology everywhere they go. It is their world.

So coming back to the fear of change... perhaps taking the e out of e-learning makes it less threatening and allows teachers to build on their teaching philosophy rather than destroying it? So that they see the change as a natural progression because isn't that what technology is?

The times are a changing