The shifting roles of the Librarian and the IT Facilitator…

Once upon a time (in what seems like a faraway land, in another lifetime) students went to the computer room and the library for isolated weekly lessons.

When we acquired laptops, the roles of Linda and Fiona, eLearning Facilitator and Librarian respectively, changed. They shifted to flexible timetables, going into classrooms, as required, to deliver specific lessons, team teach or support teachers and students with resources or tech trouble shooting.

This year, every student in Year 4- 6 has their own iPad and it’s clear that the traditional Librarian and eLearning Facilitator roles are shifting again. Resources are at the learners’ fingertips, devices are easy to use and apps are intuitive. It’s evident that iPads, by their very nature, promote inquiry learning. As Linda points out, there’s no need for the e in eLearning any more. And the once distinct roles of librarian and technology teacher have blurred, resulting in a dynamic partnership of overlapping skills and ideas.

In this week’s meeting, I ask the Learning Team Leaders –

What’s the most obvious way to eat these biscuits (cookies)?

With that out of the way, everyone writes down as many other ways as they can think of to eat them. Once we’re past the obvious, the ideas get more creative and, the more time people have to think, the more unusual the ideas they come up with. I love this exercise, borrowed from Heidi Siwak’s recent blog post.

The group notes that-

• creativity takes time
• looking at things from different angles helps generate new ideas
• we need to be prompted to think beyond obvious solutions
• hearing others’ ideas can spark creative thinking

At this point I ask everyone to think creatively about Linda’s and Fiona’s roles. 

Initiatives already in place

• Active participation in collaborative planning sessions with teaching teams
• Curation of online resources to support learning (Netvibes)
• Working together to develop understanding of how to evaluate online resources
• Establishment of e-book, audio-book and video-book libraries
• Responding to teacher needs individually, in groups or whole school sessions as required
• Leading whole grade level collaborations
• Expanding the use of blogs to promote global interactions
• Introduction of Twitter, supporting kids and teachers in developing global PLNs
• Collaboration with the music teacher, using Garageband
• Animation (collaboration with the art teacher) and film-making workshops for Y6 PYP exhibition groups

Once we’re ready to spend some time looking beyond the obvious, a range of new ideas are generated.

Suggestions

• Dropping into classrooms and responding to learners at point of need
• Introducing new projects for small groups of students
• Becoming involved with learning in other contexts, such as the kitchen garden
• Working with individual students on personal passion projects
• Promoting trans-disciplinary learning by building connections with specialist teachers
• Helping students define and refine inquiry questions
• Integrating learning in ever more organic, authentic ways, not isolated out-of-context lessons

What’s next? 

Fiona would like to collaborate with the Art and Music teachers on a unit of inquiry exploring multimodal texts and the way eBooks incorporate video and music.

Linda’s next project is to meet with the new Year 4 and 5 tech minions, see what needs they perceive and develop their program with them accordingly.

We’ve only begun to look at new possibilities and we’d love to hear about how these roles are developing and shifting at your school…

And, while we’re thinking creatively, who else in the school has knowledge and skills that can be drawn upon in new, different and innovative ways?

iPads in the classroom… a no-brainer

How would you respond to a parent who is convinced that having an iPad in the classroom will make her child less smart?

‘What’s to stop him just looking up answers instead of using his brain?’ she asks.

I explain that education isn’t just about ‘knowing the answers’ any more, since ‘answers’ tend to be readily accessible to all.  It’s more about learning how to ask questions and to find, interpret and critically analyse the answers. It’s less about remembering facts and more about conceptual understanding. It’s less about knowing stuff and more about knowing how to learn...

Half an hour earlier, my presentation had, I thought, included wonderful examples of ways technology has enhanced learning; kids ‘using their brains‘ not just to ‘find answers’ but to apply their knowledge creatively, such as…

• videos created by kids demonstrating their understanding of mathematical concepts.
• animations in which learners have applied knowledge and skills in a second language.
• connections with classes in other parts of world, via Skype and blogs.
• an exciting inquiry in which images of plants growing in different environments were gathered from contributors around the globe.
• students writing, creating and sharing their own iPad books. (link to simple version)
• a host of images showing learners engaged in a range of trans disciplinary skills.

But this parent remains unconvinced.

What more can I say?

Below: Some images of kids ‘not using their brains’…

Kids not using their brains?

Embracing technology…

It was another great tech session with @lindawollan at our Year 4-6 campus on Friday. This time the topic was effective internet searching, equipping teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to support their students in the inquiry process. We’ve been having similar voluntary sessions for a couple of years, exploring web 2.0 tools, setting up class blogs, discovering alternative presentation tools, learning about copyright and the like. The group has grown to the point where almost every member of staff participates.

We used to have:

• Computer labs with desktop computers.
• An ICT teacher teaching a computer lesson each week.
• Teachers afraid of technology, teachers who lacked expertise, actively resistant teachers.
• Lots of notebooks, ring-binders, posters.
• Learning limited to the classroom.

Now we have:

• Sets of laptops that students can use anywhere, carry around, get when they need.
• An ICT facilitator with a flexible timetable, available as required to work with classes or groups
• Teachers blogging and collaborating on googledocs, comfortable to have a go and willing to learn.
• Less paper, more on-line presentations, class blogs and wikis.
• Learning via Skype with people in other places.

A little more than a year ago, we set some goals:

• The implementation of technology across all learning areas to support learning and inquiry.
• The use of technology to support creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
• The use of technology for global connections to promote authentic learning, not limited to the classroom.
• Familiarity with a range of tools to document, share, organize, create and present.

We wanted teachers to understand that:

• Learning is not limited to the classroom. Technology provides opportunities for meaningful global learning outside of the classroom.
• Technology is an integral part of learning.
• Integration of technology is not optional. The school is educating for the present and future in which our students will live. Each teacher needs to take responsibility for their own learning and that of their students.
• Literacy today includes the traditional literacies such as reading and writing, as well as technological literacy.
• Implementation of technology should always be driven by learning requirements.
• There is a wide range of tools available to share, organize and present learning.
• Web 2.0 allows for communication with and feedback from a wide-ranging authentic audience.
• Web 2.0 provides opportunities for practicing trans-disciplinary skills such as communication, collaboration, creativity
• Technology can provide access to a broad range of sources of information, through both primary and secondary sources.
• Technology creates opportunities for natural differentiation and multiple learning styles.
• Technology provides opportunities for student choice and facilitates students taking responsibility for their own learning.

We thought they should be able to:

• Use word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software  tools efficiently
• Read/use email regularly. Know how to set up a group in email.
• Use the school intranet proficiently.
• Use the multimedia tools that come with the interactive whiteboard. Make it a student tool as well.
• Be confident users of hardware and peripherals such laptops, printers, scanners, photocopier, still and movie cameras, flip cameras, iTouch/iPads.
• Download and manipulate images and digital movies.
• Be confident web users
• Be able to search efficiently.
• Understand copyright issues on the web, and make sure students are copyright aware.
• Know how to locate the wide range of tools available for learning.
• Use a wide range of web 2.0 tools to create, share, organize and present learning.
• Create a class wiki or blog and use it to support learning, including reflection, communication with and feedback from a wide-ranging authentic audience.
• Be able to embed from web tools.
• Make global connections and collaborate with people outside the school, using eg Skype or Voicethread.
• Use digital technologies as part of the information process

It all seemed a bit out of reach at the time and it’s rewarding to see just how far we have come, without ever creating a formal plan of how we would get there. Not everyone is at the same level. Some teachers (and students) are more confident users than others. We all still have a lot to learn and the rapid advance of technology means we will always be learning.  But it’s exciting to see that every single teacher has taken steps forward to embrace technology and change the way we think about teaching and learning at our school. I wonder where we’ll be in another year…

Click here for some idea of how we achieved it.

PS. Participating in #elemchat this morning and hearing how teachers are using Google docs in their classrooms, I was momentarily overwhelmed by both the possibilities and the obstacles. But then I remembered that we got where we are through an approach of trying one tool at a time, working with one person at a time, having one conversation at a time, overcoming one obstacle at a time… slowly but surely… it’s the only way.

 

10 steps to successful tech integration…

It’s an expectation that every class at my school will have a blog by the end of this year. We thought it best to invite people to start when they are ready, offering individual support as required. We’re only three weeks into our school year and it’s exciting to note how many teachers already have blogs up and running, even if some are still at the stage of learning how to post. It was also great, during planning sessions last week, to hear several previously tech-resistant teachers suggesting ways to incorporate new tools to support learning. While we still have a long way to go before technology is seamlessly integrated into the learning throughout our primary school, it’s encouraging to realise how far we have come.

Here are some tips, based on our experience:

1.  Start with two people.

Ideally you need a technology facilitator and another teacher whose focus is more on learning and pedagogy. That way, it’s never lonely when there’s resistance, there are complementary outlooks and more hands are available to help.

2. Invite volunteers.

Don’t try and force anyone to implement technology before they are ready. Work with a small group who’s willing to give it a go. Gradually others will come on board, when they see what’s been achieved by their peers or when their students initiate it. Don’t even think about presenting tech PD to large group of teachers all at once.

3. Offer plenty of support.

Once teachers have seen a tool demonstrated, they will need support practicing and applying it. Don’t be judgmental. Differentiate. Everyone can learn, but we all learn in different ways and at our own pace. It looks like this. Allow for it. Team teach. Offer to go into a class with a teacher who’s ready to give it a go. Demonstrate. Solve problems. Be there.

4. Aim for ‘just one thing’.

Don’t expect teachers to be experts. They just need to be willing. Make them aware of that. Aim to get teachers to try just one new thing. The concept is expressed really well here!

5. Get teachers teaching teachers.

Once teachers have used a tool to enhance learning in their classes, provide an opportunity for them to show others what they did. Have a show-and-tell session where ideas and examples are presented by teachers for teachers. Invite teachers to show others how to use tools they have already mastered.

6. Start from the learning.

This one is the most important. Tech for tech’s sake is a waste of time. Teachers are far more likely to integrate technology if they see the educational purpose. Begin with your learning goal, then plan your learning experiences and see what tools might support or enahnce the learning. See an example here.

7. Bring Admin onside.

If the heads are not leading the way themselves, invite them to training sessions. Invite them to classes. Show them what’s happening. Talk about what’s possible. Tell them what you need in order to move the school forward. Share examples from other schools. Share examples from yours.

8. Involve the students.

Teachers don’t need to know how to do everything. Kids will readily and enthusiastically help both the teacher and each other. Encourage teachers to release control to their students and become learners themselves. Here’s one teacher’s take on it.

9. Follow-up.

Create a wiki for teachers to refer back to. Add the tools they have learned. Include examples of how the tools can be used for learning. Add written instructions to which they can refer back if they are stuck. This is our wiki, maintained by the inimitable Linda (@lindawollan)

10. Be persistent.

Never miss an opportunity to suggest a way in which technology could enhance the learning. Offer to take care of the tech side yourself, if it means teachers will try something new in their teaching. Never, ever give up.