Digital School Solutions

Blog entry posted December 3rd, 2009 by Victor Aluise

Over the past few decades, schools across the country have invested heavily in building their technology infrastructure, ranging from broadband connections and connected computer labs to 1:1 computing initiatives and interactive white boards in every classroom. But are our educators effectively leveraging these hefty technology investments to improve teaching and learning? As we travel from district to district, partnering with PreK-12 schools across the country, we are finding that many of our instructional leaders and classroom teachers are not effectively integrating their technologies into regular instructional practices. In most cases, technology is viewed as “separate and apart” from core instruction in the classroom. “We ‘do computer and the internet’ once a week,” is a statement that we hear a lot. As a result many of our students are not developing the 21st Century learning skills – to use technology as a tool to sharpen critical thinking, solve real-world problems, and create digital work product.

Research and education policy work (Kirsch 2007, NCES 2007) indicates that these “21st Century Skills” are essential for college and workplace success. And college and workplace success often means that our graduates will be able to make livable wages. To be ready requires that not only must students master the basic skills (literacy in reading, math, science, and social science) but they must also be fluent in information & communication technologies (ICT) and digital literacy. We believe that what’s needed is a Whole-School Innovation Culture where education leaders have a clear vision for using and evaluating the effectiveness of technology to improve academic achievement, and teachers have research-based models for effectively integrating the technologies into classroom instruction, according to their standards and curricular goals. To get there, schools need sustained, ongoing professional development programs.

To help leverage their investments in educational technology, Digital School Solutions is offering School Innovation Solutions,  sustained professional development programs – offered onsite and online --  designed to help teams of educators design, document, implement, evaluate, and widely communicate a core set of innovative school-wide “teaching & learning with technology practices.” Through processes facilitated by educational technology consultants, teams will ultimately create (or dramatically improve) an ed tech curriculum and assessment rubrics for accelerating student achievement in the targeted areas of instruction (language arts, math, science, and/or social studies). These tools will ensure that teacher can work with confidence to equip students with the skills and competencies they need for success in the classroom and, eventually, the competitive global economy.

 A DSS Technology consultant will lead schools through the following:

• Conducting Needs Analysis for each school based on school technology inventory, school performance data, and teacher usage data
• Creating a School Innovation Action Plan, based on the Needs Analysis and interviews with school team members
• Implementing a Customized Professional Development Program focusing on the one or more strands of work

Our question to you:

what is the “right” combination of onsite (in-school, job embedded professional development) and online facilitation and mentoring? Please post your answer in the comments section.

 

A)    Weekly onsite support with monthly online facilitated sessions

 

B)    Monthly onsite support with weekly online facilitated sessions

 

C)    Quarterly onsite support with weekly online facilitated sessions

 

D)    All online facilitated sessions that occur once a week or more

 

E)    Other: _____________________________