State of the Union Wordle

I really love how you can use wordle to analyze speeches. Here is the State of the Union by President Obama on January 24, 2012. Notice the words that are largest; America, American and JOBS. What else does this tell us about the state of the union?

Here in 60 Seconds

I have so much I would like to say about infographics, but I felt I needed to put this infographic on my blog ASAP. I have just returned home from ISTE 2011 and my head is spinning. I always hate going back to work the day after this conference, because I am in quite a daze (good daze, but a daze all the same). There are ideas, people, inspirations, future creations all running through my head, and I really need to sort them out. OK, with that, I have used 60 seconds to type these words, and in that same time, so much has happened! For better and for worse, the world is moving faster than ever, and educators need to teach to generations of children who are accustomed to moving at this pace.


Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers

What is a SCHOOL CIO (Chief Information Officer)

One year ago I was hired as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and was not entirely sure what that would mean. Sure, I had a job description and there were goals set forth. My school was great about giving me all of the support necessary to make a smooth transition to a place that was rich in technology resources. The idea of a CIO in education has changed greatly since the title was brought over from the corporate world; therefore, that was the part about which I was unsure.

According to wikipedia: “Information technology and its systems have become so important that the CIO has come to be viewed in many organizations as the key contributor in formulating strategic goals for an organization. The CIO manages the implementation of the useful technology to increase information accessibility and integrated systems management. As a comparison, where the CIO adapts systems through the use of existing technologies, chief technology officer develops new technologies to expand corporate technological capabilities. When both positions are present in an organization, the CIO is generally responsible for processes and practices supporting the flow of information, whereas the CTO is generally responsible for technology infrastructure.” Wikipedia CIO Article.

What I am finding in schools is some variation of this. While in the corporate world, many CIOs have backgrounds in business or technology, perhaps my greatest asset was that I had a background as a classroom teacher. Mind you, many of the skills are the same; personnel management, project management, and copious amounts of multitasking among others. However, my personal success is dependent on my understanding of the nuances associated with education. When I look at the areas that fall under the umbrella of a school CIO, there is much more than technology involved. The major areas that are seen over by a school CIO should include Administration, Technology Services, Library Services and Educational Involvement. Each of these areas are not silos, nor are they interconnected islands that stand apart from other areas of the school. Rather, these are areas that intertwine with the very fabric of what makes the school what it is. A CIO needs to manage projects and people and understand technology, but one also must understand information, educational philosophy and pedagogy, must be involved with the school leadership and be seen as a school leader. A school CIO must have a a trusting relationship with the students, the faculty and the administration of their school. One must have vision and the ability to articulate that vision. An important skill is the ability to know and sympathize with the fact that your audience is not always in the same emotional or professional place while maintaining momentum towards progression and growth within the school and in particular the areas that fall under the purview of the CIO. To quote a great movie, “In the simplest words and most convenient definition” a CIO is a leader, a counselor, an educator, a visionary, a librarian, a technologist, and a human being!

In my next few blog posts, I will try to examine each of the areas mentioned: Administration, Technology Services, Library Services and Educational Involvement separately, with careful attention to where they overlap and interconnect with other areas of the school and other positions in particular.

Graphic from Emporia Public Library: http://www.skyways.org/library/emporia/services/services.htm

Infographics

Infographics, digital presentations, digital storytelling and others are all names for the act of visually presenting data or information to make it more appealing. As a visual learner, this is something of interest to me on a personal and professional level. Recently I was shown a video on youtube of a visual representation done by Cognitive Media in a style called scribing. The example I will show is of Daniel Pink speaking about Motivation in regards to his book Drive.



This is a very professional and high level infographic, but there are many other types that can allow students and teachers to use this very powerful display method to share ideas and information. Not having access to a group like Cognitive Media, students and teachers alike will need to find other tools and strategies to make their information POP!

The Wild Apricot Blog has a great post on Making your own Infographic. This article has links to strategies, examples and How-To websites. The Wild Apricot Blog quotes Wikipedia,

Information graphics or infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data or knowledge. These graphics present complex information quickly and clearly, such as in signs, maps, journalism, technical writing, and education. With an information graphic, computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians develop and communicate concepts using a single symbol to process information.

Like much of the information we access in today's educational settings, students need to have information readily available and the ability to quickly present complex information is essential for teachers of these types of students.

One of the best guides to help anyone create an effective infographic is an article by Sneh Roy, The Anatomy of An Infographic: 5 Steps to Create a Powerful Visual. With a working knowledge of the 5 steps a student or a teacher could create an easy to navigate informational visual on almost any topic.

Two of my favorite tools for engaging info graphics (this is just two of many) are Wordle and Prezi. Wordle is a word cloud creator that is easy to use, customizable and allows the user to cut and paste any text into it. prezi is a unique presentation tool that instead of using traditional slides, allows the information to be placed on one single workspace and then the user can navigate, zoom and rotate the view from piece of information to piece of information to make an interactive visual presentation.

While this post only shows a few of the tools and resources for infographics, it is meant as an introduction to the topic and how it can be used more effectively in educational settings and in particular for those involved with Media and Technology within education.

Secrets of Change: Secret 2

I have now finished the second secret in Michael Fullan's book, The Six Secrets of Change. This chapter is on Secret 2: Connecting Peers with Purpose. In my new position as CIO I have a vision of an integrated Library and Technology Departments into one Information Department. Right now in theory, we are all housed under the guise of "information services", but in reality each department functions independently of the other. When I was reading this chapter, I tried to envision how to utilize what was said in the effort to unite the two information families into one united information hub.

Initially in the opening statement for this chapter, Fullan talks about the nuance of connecting peers with purpose. "The nuance is that connecting peers with purpose does not require less leadership at the top, but rather more -- more of a different kind. (Fullan, 2008, pg.41) This, much like secret one, does not see exceptional leadership as top-down, rather with the leader being able to skillfully navigate the potentially choppy waters of interpersonal interactions.

Fullan does set forth three conditions that positive purposeful peer interaction effectively occurs with:
1) When the larger values of the organization and those of individuals and groups mesh.
In our school environment I feel that everyone in the information services department loves the school, and that was a strong draw for me to take this job. When everyone is there for the good of the students and the good of the school, you will have step one in the bag. Not having to create a foundation is a plus, though if this step is not already in place, a good leader must start from scratch. The way that I look at it is, if step one is not in place, you will need to examine what each of your group's members have in common and build coherency around like elements.

2) When information and knowledge about effective practices are widely and openly shared.
This is something that I feel happens among members of PLN's but within schools this is something that is at times reticent to happen. I am not sure why, but I find that those that work in schools are most apt to keep their cards close to their vests when it comes to things that might gain accolades. What everyone needs to know is that best practices and sharing of knowledge and information raises the bar and standards for every member of the team and the team as a whole. When step 1 is in place and people begin to feel responsibility for the school, the team and themselves, everyone wins!

3) When monitoring mechanisms are in place to detect and address ineffective actions while also identifying and consolidating effective practices.
Step 3 can only happen when steps 1 and 2 are solidly in place. There is also the underlying need for trust. If a team does not trust it's leader then monitoring mechanisms and efforts to unite best practices will be met with animosity and second guessing. If you are at the point where step 3 is in the queue and you are setting up monitoring mechanisms, you should also have the trust of your team. Remember, these mechanisms cannot and should not be developed in a vacuum and not only should a good leader be transparent, but a team should be united by best practice to collectively create and use the monitoring mechanisms to continually evolve.

While Peer to Peer purposeful interaction can be used as a common thread within a team, it is much more than simply that. Beyond purposeful, there needs to be higher level interactions that can align a team to continue along those paths indefinitely.

Secrets of Change: Secret 1

It has been a long time since I have posted about what I have been reading, but the one that I am reading now has begun to resonate deeply with me and the new position that I will be starting in about 8 weeks. The current book that I am reading right now is The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to help their Organizations Survive and Thrive, by Michael Fullan.

Secret One: Love your Employees

While this might sound a bit "hippie-dippy" the idea of loving your employees is as timeless as people. Most of us know it as the golden rule. When we look at education within this paradigm, we need to know that we are talking about how administrators work with their faculties and staff. The best schools will have administrators and leaders that value their employees as much as their students. "the quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers" (barber & Mourshed, 2007, p.8). If this is truly the case, then we need to have high quality teachers to have a high quality education. If our teachers don't feel loved, then they will not want to be there. If a teacher does not love being at his or her school, then they will not stay motivated to be great, if they are not great, our system is in failure.

Fullan says that one of the ways we can love our employees is to create the conditions they need to succeed (p.25). When a teacher can feel like they are simultaneously able to fulfill their own goals and the goals of the school they begin to love what they do and want to do it better.

While this concept seems to have been designed for business, the translation to education is not that far off. In the business model Fullan talks about five stakeholder groups; customers, employees, investors, partners and society. When you move this model to education we look at our stakeholders; students are our customers, teachers are our employees, parents are our investors, many groups such as pto's, vendors, and community groups are our partners and well, society is still society. Using this model we are beginning to look at the symbiotic relationship between our teachers and students, but we are also looking at being the best we can be.

Loving our teachers, with respect, encouragement, top notch working conditions and resources to be the best they can will allow both teachers and students to flourish together. This is not about pay, rather human nature.



This image has been licensed by Getty Images as stock photography.

Google Chrome: good but not for me

For the last month, as part of my personal experiment to use only "cloud" based applications on a netbook, I made Google's Chrome my primary browser. There were both pros and cons that came with Chrome and I thought I would highlight both.
On the positive, Chrome was everything that it was billed to be. It was quick to load pages and apps. It was small and efficient and was very simple. There were not a multitude of toolbars, too many drop-down menus and there was nothing too extreme in the realm of add-ons.
On the flip side, this scaled down browser was a bit too scaled-down for my taste. While it worked great for all of the Google Apps, the loss of some of the interactivity that I found in Firefox was missed. Some of the ease of bookmarking, some of the add-ons that I have been accustomed to using were missed.
Keeping in mind, this is my end user opinion, based on my use in one particular situation, I would not say that Chrome is a bad browser, and in fact I would recommend it to those that are using their browsers to surf the internet, and do some basic applications. However, due to my intense internet use for almost everything I do on this computer, I don't think this was the browser for me. For my internet-heavy cloud computing, I think that I will still defer to Firefox to be my default browser.

Library Transformation

Let me begin about 18 months ago. I took the position of Director of Educational Media and Technology at an Independent School. In plain English, that means that I am in charge of the technology and the library of the school. In the first 12 months, I have been working with teachers and faculty to transform the way that technology is used in the classroom, but in the last 6 I have changed my focus to the school's library.

To give a simple picture, our school library is in a new building (4+ years old) and we have a good sized collection of books, that include reference, fiction, nonfiction and graphic novels. Our librarian keeps our collection up to date. Over the summer we converted our catalog system to Follet Destiny, with the add-on of Destiny Quest.

Other than that, we were using the model that had been at the school for over 10 years. PK- grade 2 classes would have scheduled library time, the teacher would drop them off and leave them for the librarian to read a book to and maybe start a discussion. For grades 3-5 teachers still have scheduled time, but they stay with their classes and use the space as they see fit. Some use it as computer time, others as silent reading time, some use it for regular class time in a "new" location.

This signaled to me that there was a need for a transformation, a way to re-frame the library space and give people extended options for its use and the use of its print, electronic, and human resources. The beginning of the transformation was a meeting with the library staff to develop a shared vision of what a library should be. While our ultimate goal was to get to the library to a 21st century library model, we knew this would be a process. Our first step was to market the library as a HUB of learning. We needed both students and teachers to see that the library is more than a space with a lot of books.

Our first change was to show that the library was a home for all types of resources. Our librarians began to offer their skills as information gatherers. We shared with teachers that we would help gather resources for class projects and units. For this we use a handy web 2.o tool called fur.ly (http://fur.ly).

This tool allows multiple URLs to be compiled into one tiny url that gives access to all of these resources. The advantage of this for our library was to enable our librarian to research any number of websites on a given topic and return one single url to the teacher. The teacher can then publish this to their website or any other resource list for students.

As we add transformative practices to our school library, i will be adding them to this blog.

Digital Citizenship: Digital Communication

Where do you start when talking to students about Digital Communication? Our students are so much more adept than the average educator at using methods of digital communication in most aspects of their life. While most teachers use e-mail, some probably text or IM in their jobs or personal lives, some are parts of social networks and even some have their own blogs and wikis. The dilemma arises not with how to use these technologies, but the clarity with which they are being used.

There are many articles that speak about digital communication as a hybrid of written and spoken communication. What happens is that digital communication has the speed and ability to converse like the spoken word, but lacks the "in person" ability to read facial expressions and body language as well as with digital communication there is no volume to hear inflections in a speakers voice. It is unlike the written word, in that digital communication can be reactionary and does not give the receiver of the original message time to think about a response, write it down and then deliver it. Because of the speed in which digital communication can be sent, it can, at times be too quick.

Due to these gaps in communication, there have been accommodations that have been made to digital communications that help the author to convey emotions. There are acronyms, emoticons and the use of "all caps" to show vocal levels. I must admit, that these accommodations do not solve the problem in professional communications and are rather colloquial in nature. While these tools may make social interactions more clear for participants, it does not, in my mind, help clarity in professional communications.

In teaching this to students, I have taken the definition of Digital Communication" from Baily & Ribble's book, Digital Citizenship in Schools. I have put together some information on my school's digital citizenship wiki, including some types of digital communication and links to acronyms and emoticons. My goal will be to heighten awareness of the dangers of digital communication, to think before speaking/writing and to remember that there will always be a record of what is sent. Much like we teach our students to think before speaking, to not be mean or hurtful in their personal interactions, to write with purpose, we need to continue these tenets into their digital communication. Until we can begin to treat all of our digital communications in the same vein as we treat our "real life" communications, there will continue to be gaps and confusion in all forms of Digital Communication.

Design

I have begun reading Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind and have started into Part 2; the six senses. The first of the senses described is Design. Pink says, "Design is a high-concept aptitude that is difficult to outsource or automate-and that increasingly confers a competitive advantage in business." (pg. 86)
What does Pink mean by this? I must admit that to me the answer is really nothing new, in fact he is just bringing us full circle to a time long ago...the Renaissance. Once upon a time, there were people who excelled in a multitude of areas, business, art, theology, science, architecture and much much more. These people were the premiere thinkers of their time, agents of change in a rather unchanging world. These men are now aptly dubbed Renaissance men (society was quite patriarchal then). Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Socrates, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and the list goes on were these types of people, and yes, most of them facilitated change.
More recently (within the last century), skill specialization, along with a focus on what Pink calls L-directed thinkers put a premium on those that were number crunchers, business minded and the like. Those with Renaissance skill sets were less valued for those that could specialize in a highly touted skill. However, the world is now saturated with these specialized worker bees and many outside the US offer these skills at a cheaper rate than those in the US. More to my point, and to Pink's is that this L-directed thinking is no longer a commodity, so what is going to set those that will be agents of change apart from the crowd? One of the answers is Design.
I heartily agree with this point. Creativity was once seen as the things of dreamers, but as so many now understand, dreaming and making dreams come true are the things that we really do value. Apple's poster campaign "Think Different" is a perfect example of how this sense of "design" really is one of the qualities that will make our future brighter.
Pink's book gives some exercises to help develop and hone one's design sense. One of the ideas I was able to put right to action was reading design magazines. I do most of my reading online, and therefore I am going to share two sites that Pink shares. The first is Ambidextrous, a magazine put out by Stanford university. The second is Metropolis, with emphasis on construction and materials. I am always looking to increase my knowledge base.
With my renewed interest in developing my Renaissance persona, I will be adding Design to my repetoire of skills to infuse in my classes, lessons and professional development delivery. With all of the educational technology tools available, there should never be a shortage of creative design.

Teachers and Web 2.0

This great slideshow from Sacha Chua (www.livinganawesomelife.com) is a wonderfully simple way of looking at learning new technologies. She takes an easy look at some of the reasons teachers give for not learning the technology, and adds a retort that challenges their current paradigm. The bottom line that I took away from this is that teachers are the most important component and that we need to open ourselves up to learn and change!

A Teacher's Guide To Web 2.0 at School

View more documents from Sacha Chua.

Did you know 4.0

This video, the fourth in the series lays out what we need to be aware of! The big question for me is..."HOW IS THIS IMPACTING OUR STUDENTS AND HOW SHOULD THIS IMPACT OUR TEACHING?"

interactive white boards: The Beginning

Interactive white boards are becoming standards in the classroom arsenal for teachers, but the question is; are teachers using these tools effectively with students. I am beginning my second year at a school, which had no interactive white boards when I arrived. During my first year I brought in two SMARTboards (I personally like these boards). The boards were located in the school's two computer labs, and received very little use. I needed to ask myself why? I sat back and had to take a mental inventory of what my teacher's opinions were in regards to interactive white boards, and how I could inspire them to use them.

Sparing you the boring details of what went on in my head, I decided that I would not take steps backwards and began to plan a strategy on how I could motivate teachers to move their practices from standard white boards onto interactive white boards.

I took the plunge and purchased 8 more SMARTboards, putting 7 in classrooms and 1 in a new computer lab! Teachers began to show interest when they found out that they were getting the boards. Questions about what books to read, what websites to look at, and most importantly...who to speak to!

This posed a challenge to me; how can I give my teachers the resources that they will need without overwhelming them and making those resources easily accessible? I needed to prioritize, so I began with a website. The SMART website is a great repository of information and lesson plans, tutorials and samples http://www.smarttech.com . The only other resource I am giving them off the bat is membership to a diigo group I have created specifically for SMARTboards. This is a grouping of sites, that we choose (myself and the smartboard users), that we will have easy access for. With these two resources at the start, I feel that my teachers will feel comfortable to begin the learning process.

Interactive white boards are, as I said, becoming standard tools in the teachers arsenal. However, it is becoming more and more obvious that teachers are not being trained to use the tools that are available. I have a school full of teachers and I would guess that 90% have never used a board! Some of them have just begun using a projector and I even have some that swear that technology in the classroom is unnecessary! The future is here and I need to begin guiding and leading my teachers to it. Interactive white boards are just the beginning, but you have to start by taking the first step. One step at a time is the motto for professional development at my school this year.

How close to the 21st Century are you?

Lately I have been doing a bit of reading about the definitions of 21st century learning skills and realize that there is a lot out there, with many varying definitions. What I have gleaned from all of it was that no matter what the definition, no matter what the criteria, there is agreement that we have a long way to go to get there. I find it a bit ironic that we are almost a decade into the 21st century and we still haven't come to consensus on what the skills are yet!

So in my search, I came across a website for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Their website says that they are "the leading advocacy organization infusing 21st century skills into education. Now, I cannot confirm or deny this claim, but it does give you an idea of the motivation behind the website and any slant that might be found on its pages. What I can say is that it is a well organized website, with a plethora of information and resources that are easy to navigate. The language is well crafted and concise as well.

But I am not here to talk about this website or to give a review, I am here to talk about one of the assessment tools that I found on this site. One of the online tools offered is the MILE guide. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills developed the Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE) Guide for 21st Century Skills to assist educators and administrators in measuring the progress of their schools in defining, teaching and assessing 21st century skills. The assessment was designed to help educators and administrators gauge their school's effectiveness in integrating 21st century skills into the learning process.

I took the 23 question assessment and found that the assessment was pretty close to howI would have described my school. The questions look at 3 areas of development; learning and teaching with 8 areas, Leading and Managing with 7 areas, and Partnering with 5 areas. Here I am posting my results.

As you can see, my school is mostly in the transitional phases. This could not be more true. I joined the staff a year ago with the idea of moving the school forward and further into the 21st century. As with any transition, it takes time and patience, training and willingness to change. My school is showing that it has that willingness and some great staff members who will undoubtedly lead that charge.

What this assessment does show me is that we are on the right path and that we are on the right track and do have a way to go. I think that I will take this assessment at the beginning, middle and end of each year and that I might have my fellow administration team members do the same to account for different perspectives on our school. Either way, I do recommend this highly and feel that it will help guide any school toward the 21st Century.

New Learners

"Education -- at school and on the job -- needs to be revamped to cater to young people who have grown up digital."

This quote, in the conclusion of this article is a conclusion that have come to in my life as well! Teaching is the one profession where it is NOT always mandatory to improve one's self regularly. Especially in the area of technology. In the article referenced earlier, the author talks about the need for a paradigm shift from the sage on the stage model of teaching. I could not agree more, but I seem to see the most resistance to this type of change!

Another article talks about how new technologies might be actually re-wiring the pathways in the brain and the ways that we learn. Could this be true? Should it really matter to educators? I guess on a scientific level it matters, but the reality of it is, that no matter the reason, we have generations of new learners coming through our doors. The second article likens what is happening now with the information revolution to the one that Socrates predicted with the introduction of the written word. The education world was no more ready for this revolution than it seems to be for the one we are in the midst of right now.

More than ever information is being published that talks of how digital natives learn differently, yet educators seem to be divided as to whether or not this is a real issue! How can those that promote education turn a blind eye to progress? Throughout history we have seen, mocked and lamented at how short sighted those in prominent positions in education were in the past with forward thinkers, yet there are still so many of us (educators)who still don't embrace change! It seems contradictory to me.

There is a new breed of learners out there and we as educators are obligated to change the paradigm along with these learners. We need to rise to the challenge and show that as learned individuals we are ready and able to accomodate new learners.