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Advocacy

An Urgent Appeal for Virtual and Digital Education in Texas

by Matt Russell
written by Matt Russell

In the 88th Regular Session, transformative legislative proposals such as HB 681 by Rep. Keith Bell, SB 1861 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, and HB 4358 by Rep. Steve Allison would have had the potential to redefine public education in Texas, positioning the state as leaders in digital and virtual education. 

Headshots of Rep. Keith Bell, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, and Rep. Steve Allison

Virtual and Hybrid Education Options

The proposed legislation, although unsuccessful in securing final passage in the final weeks of the legislative session, offered an innovative framework for districts and charter schools to extend high-quality hybrid and virtual education options in Texas. By enabling parents to work with schools in selecting the most suitable learning modality for their child, this legislation broadened the educational opportunities available to students, without undermining the role of traditional learning environments.

Flexible Learning Models and Advances Courses

The legislation was also designed to empower students with flexible learning models that foster work-based learning and apprenticeships, augmenting the impact of early college, Career and Technical Education (CTE), and PTECH models. Importantly, it ensured equal access to advanced courses across the state, resolving current access and hiring challenges, particularly in rural areas.

Commitment to Quality and Accountability

The legislation carried a commitment to quality and accountability, promising high-quality options for all students, stringent safeguards for students with special needs, and strong accountability measures for student outcomes.

Consideration for Educators

It also respected the needs of our teachers, prohibiting pandemic-style simultaneous instruction and guaranteeing optional participation in virtual teaching.

TCEA also believes in the importance of a Digital Teaching Micro-Credential for educators, which would recognize their expertise in virtual and blended education and student success within the existing continuing education framework.

The Urgency of Prioritizing Virtual and Digital Education Legislation

Quote "We strongly encourage Governor Greg Abbott to consider adding legislation including virtual and digital education to any upcoming special session."

To develop an education system responsive to the future of teaching and learning, similar legislation to HB 681, HB 4358 and SB 1861 are vital, especially since there is a sunset date currently in the virtual education code that ends this school year. Without the aforementioned legislation, tens of thousands of students who have been choosing a virtual or hybrid option would immediately lose it. 

Therefore, on behalf of TCEA’s 80,000 member educators, we strongly encourage Governor Greg Abbott to consider adding legislation including virtual and digital education to any upcoming special session.

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CTO/CIOCybersecurityLeadershipTechnical Support

Checklist: Learning with Technology

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

When schools take a look at campus educational technology efforts and how the technology is being leveraged for learning, they need to keep a few points in mind. This checklist focuses on three key areas you can use to do that. Let’s take a quick look at each area.

checklist

Key Area #1: Impacting Growth

When discussing growth, it’s almost always student growth you need to consider. That is, are students able to show growth from beginning of the year to the middle and end of the year? How about from year to year? When adapting technology for use in the classroom, you need strategies that work. You can use this free app to get some insights and access digital tools. All strategies have an effect size. What you are looking for is the pairing of one digital tool that amplifies the positive effect.

Another key checklist component is ensuring that you have a well-established coaching program. Kickstart your coaching program with this easy to use multimedia text set.

checklist

Get a copy of this multimedia text set

Key Area #2: Supporting Technology

You’re not alone if you find yourself wondering, “How long will it take to get technical support?” This particular area of the checklist focuses on technical support and response time. What’s more, it addresses two sore points with end users.

The first is being able to check the status of an help request (a.k.a. trouble ticket). In one small urban school district, the help desk lead “improved” his numbers by assigning active tickets to an inactive technician account. This made them “disappear” or appear as closed in the help desk system. Ensuring that end users can check the status of their help requests can stop fraud like that.

checklist

The second sore point? Safeguarding sensitive data. It’s important that the district or campus have a process in place for protecting data. What’s more, it’s critical that all staff be a part of that process.

Key Area #3: Planning for Anytime, Anywhere Access

checklistWondering how to provide anytime, anywhere access for students and staff? It’s been a big issue for both small and large schools and districts. One of the most important ways to achieve this is to establish clear standards for all locations. In this way, you can ensure everyone has the connectivity they must have at the point of need.

Go Even Deeper: Become a Data Guardian

You can find the best ways to secure your data and device(s), as well as what you put in the cloud, plus even more, with TCEA’s affordable, self-paced Data Guardian course. Learn more here.

Learning with Technology Checklist

Here’s the learning with technology checklist which can be used to help you gauge how you are leveraging technology. The goal is ensure a positive impact on teaching, learning, and leading at your campus. Although the checklist has evolved since its creation, you can find the original in this Google Doc.

Get the PDF version for printing (Updated: 9/2/2021)

Feature Image Source

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

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legislative priorities
AdvocacyCTO/CIODigital LiteracyFundingLeadership

TCEA’s 2021 Legislative Priorities (Part 2)

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Last week, we took a look at some of TCEA’s legislative priorities for the 2021 session of the Texas Legislature. This week, we explore digital learning topics and policies.

Legislative Priorities for Digital Learning

Technology Planning

legislative priorities

Technology is ubiquitous in our society. Almost every aspect of our day is powered by technology. This is true for a school district as well. This has required many districts to quickly adapt as they strive to find personnel that have the level of technical expertise that is required to support sophisticated networks, teachers who can leverage technology to support student learning, and staff with the skills to analyze data that was once only needed in the corporate world. The network and equipment these staff members need must also be purchased and maintained in a safe and secure environment. All of this must be accomplished with limited funds. But none of this is possible without careful planning. Currently, Texas school districts are not required to create, follow, or update a technology plan.

Teacher Readiness

In a recent report written by Common Sense Media, it was noted that 56% of teachers felt that lack of training is a “significant or extremely significant problem.” The quick pivot to remote learning was taxing on many teachers. They were unprepared to adapt to the demands of knowing how to use the conferencing platforms, but also how to integrate the technology tools within their pedagogy and their content. In 2011, when districts lost the Technology Allotment, many schools disbanded their instructional technology training teams. These districts had used their Technology Allotment funding to pay for personnel to train their teachers. When that resource was eliminated, so were those positions. We are still reaping some of the consequences of the loss of that dedicated technology funding. 

legislative priorities

Digital Literacy

There is a mistaken assumption that since most children and teenagers have a smartphone, they must be digitally literate. Knowing how to use a consumer product and how to utilize digital technology for work and learning are two separate skill sets. The digital literacy skills that students need today are complex and require not only access to a variety of technologies, but also instruction and guidance in how to leverage digital resources in order to research, create, analyze, curate, and collaborate as they are acquiring new knowledge and skills. At the same time, they need to be taught how to protect themselves and their data since much of their life will be lived online. 

Technical Support

legislative priorities

School districts often have the largest and most sophisticated networks within a community. These networks must support the growing technical demands of the school district while protecting the student and staff personal information from cybersecurity attacks. These networks and the digital devices that access the networks require technical staff that can keep up with the demands of a large scale deployment of devices. They are often understaffed and underpaid, but they are committed to the core mission of the school district. These dedicated personnel are managing complicated networks and face many security challenges. Keeping them trained and staffed at a level that is manageable is a challenge. It requires funding for technical equipment, salaries, and training to provide the level of support required to ensure the technology is always available and is safe to use. 

Recommendations to address the various components of digital learning:

In the 85th Legislature, SB 810 required the SBOE to update the Long Range Plan for Technology at least every five years. The SBOE updated the plan and added it to the appendix of the Long Range Plan for Education in 2018. The Texas Education Agency brought together a group of stakeholders together to reimagine what is possible if we utilize technology within our educational environment. TEA then took this group’s ideas and built a plan that, if enacted, would address the barriers identified by TCEA. 

The plan has already been developed and approved. To address the barriers of digital learning, the state now needs to implement the plan. Below is a list of actions we believe the Texas Education Agency and the ESC’s should do to assist districts in implementing the Long Range Plan for Technology (LRPT). 

  • The Texas legislature should provide appropriate funding to accomplish the goals and strategies in the LRPT. These funds would support the following activities: 
    • Create a task force made up of district and state stakeholders to establish benchmarks that districts can use to measure their progress in implementing the LRPT. 
    • Require districts to write and adopt a three-year technology plan that demonstrates how they will align their district’s goals with the LRPT. 
    • Establish a Digital Teaching and Learning grant that districts can use to implement their technology plans once they are approved by the state. These grants should be available for all districts that submit an approved plan. 
    • TEA, ESC’s, and educational technology nonprofits should provide districts with support as they implement their plans. This could be in the form of, but not limited to: 
      • Technical support and advice
      • Professional development for both administrators and teachers
      • Workshops on best practices for implementing digital instructional materials 
      • Technology planning advice
      • Exemplar districts who exhibit best practices are identified so that other districts could contact and visit them. 
  • The Texas legislature should also: 
    • Replace the outdated time-based system (Carnegie unit) of awarding credits and funding with one that is based on a student’s competency.
    • Allow school districts to create their own full-time or part-time TxVSN school, if only within their own district boundaries. 

In Conclusion

After reviewing our legislative priorities, you can see why we see 140 days as the biggest barrier to making these priorities a reality. Our enemy is the clock, not our policies. Throw in a pandemic that has negatively affected the state budget and will decrease our access to legislators and their staff members and you can see why it is imperative that we focus on a few of our major priorities. Broadband has been a priority of TCEA’s for more than eight years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the chances that it will also be a priority of the Texas legislature. We are hopeful that some meaningful legislation will be passed on broadband policy.

We will look for ways to move all of our legislative priorities forward, but the clock, the budget, and access will make this a difficult session. If you are interested in following our progress and you are a member of TCEA, be sure and join the Advocacy group in the TCEA Community. If you are not a member, consider joining and/or come back to the blog for updates and check out my Twitter feed @jbergland. And finally, if you want to get more involved in TCEA’s advocacy efforts, email me at jbergland@tcea.org.

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digital learning day
Uncategorized

Digital Learning Day Is Turning 10

by Kristen Loschert, Guest Author
written by Kristen Loschert, Guest Author

This post was sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education. Join the Alliance for Excellent Education’s All4Ed’s Future Ready Schools® Digital Learning Day Network because together we’re better, together we’re Future Ready.

Now, more than ever, digital learning no longer is confined to a school or classroom. Instead, learning is mobile and should be available to students anytime and anywhere. As we prepare for Digital Learning Day’s (DLDay’s) tenth birthday on February 25, 2021, the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) invites educators to join our Future Ready Schools® (FRS) DLDay network because together we’re better, together we’re future ready.  

When All4Ed started DLDay, many districts, schools, and educators felt uncertain about the role digital learning could play in their classrooms. Now, almost ten years later, digital learning has become a lifeline as districts leverage high-quality research-based strategies to teach students remotely and in hybrid environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Admittedly, current circumstances are not ideal. Nonetheless, they offer district, school, and classroom leaders an opportunity to transform the policies and daily practices that guide teaching and learning. Through collaborative leadership, educators are redesigning the school experience and delivering on digital learning’s potential.  

As we mark DLDay’s tenth anniversary, we are leveraging All4Ed’s FRS network to celebrate successes, acknowledge challenges, and share stories of educators overcoming adversity. Much has changed since the last DLDay, so we are embracing new ways to celebrate. Here’s how you can join us:

  1. Visit digitallearningday.org/join/ to join All4Ed’s FRS DLDay network. 
  2. Spread the word and share your membership on Twitter and Facebook.
  3. Share the digital learning strategies you use inside and outside your classroom on Twitter and Instagram. Use the hashtags #DLDay2021 and #DLDay.
  4. Create a video for the DLDay film festival that highlights how your school or district demonstrates a growth mindset, perseverance, innovation, and collaborative leadership. All4Ed will feature the winning films on the DLDay website!
  5. Plan a DLDay activity for February 25, 2021, and join thousands of educators celebrating nationwide. 

This school year is unlike any that students and teachers have experienced previously. But by working together, we still can connect, share, and grow as a community of educators to ensure every day is a high-quality, engaging, exciting, and interactive digital learning day!

Join the FRS DLDay network today!

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remote learning
AdvocacyDigital LiteracyEducational TrendsLeadership

Blended, Flipped, and Remote Learning: What’s the Difference?

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

Words have meaning. The question is do we all have the same understanding of the meaning of a particular word or phrase. We have been using technology in schools for 40 years, and over this time, we have used different phrases to describe its use.

The recent pandemic has required schools to respond quickly to school closures to ensure the continuity of learning. In many instances, technology was used to bridge the gap from school to home. Therefore, I thought this was a good time to refresh our understanding of these terms, especially since this crisis has produced a new term (remote learning) related to the use of technology in education. 

A Short History of Ed Tech 

Tandy Color Computer 3

TCEA was founded in 1980 by teachers who were beginning to explore how to use computers in the classroom. At the time, computers for student use were usually located in a computer lab that was primarily used to teach students basic computer literacy.

In the late 1980’s, districts began to explore ways teachers could use computers and other types of technologies to support their instructional goals. In order to do this, the teachers first had to be trained on how to operate a computer and various software applications. When the goal expanded from basic computer literacy to integrating technology into the instructional process, teachers’ professional development changed from learning how to operate the technology to the best way to use the technology to support the student learning. 

Terms Evolved to Describe Technology Use 

Because technology has been used in a variety of settings and in different ways to support the instructional process, different terms and phrases have been used to express the different models of technology use. Sometimes these terms are misunderstood and misused. In order to try to provide some clarity, I would like to provide some descriptions for the different types of technology used to support student learning.

But I need to provide a disclaimer. Nailing down an agreed-upon definition has not been easy. I reviewed definitions used by associations and entities, as well as reviewed the Texas Education Code to see if some of these terms have a legal definition. And although most of the definitions are similar, there are some differences. 

I decided that the best way to understand these terms is to place them in a Venn diagram. On one side of the diagram are the uses of technology that are used within a brick and mortar building where both the teacher and student are present. The other side of the diagram is where the student and teacher are not in the same physical space. The shared portion of the diagram are the uses of technology that are often used in both face-to-face and virtual interactions between the teacher and student. 

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous 

Before you review the diagram, you need to know the difference between synchronous  and asynchronous learning. Synchronous learning is when the teacher and students participate in learning activities at the same time. Asynchronous learning is when students and teachers are learning the same material but at different times.

Definitions:

Digital Learning is any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student’s learning experience. It emphasizes high-quality instruction and provides access to challenging content, feedback through formative assessment, opportunities for learning anytime and anywhere, and individualized instruction. It is important to note that digital learning may be used in all of the other models except courseware. (Source: Digital Learning Day)

Courseware refers to any instructional software that is delivered on a computer. This is typically used to describe a self-contained course. A student receives all of their instruction via the computer and the software application. There is little to no personal interaction with a teacher. This could be done within the school building or at home. (Source: The Learning Coach) 

Blended Learning is an instructional approach that includes a combination of online and in-person learning activities which provide some element of student control over the time, place, path, and/or pace of their learning. At least some of the instruction is supervised in a brick-and-mortar location away from home. (Source: The Learning Coach, Raise Your Hand Texas, The Christensen Institute, and the Texas Education Code)

Flipped Learning is when students are introduced to the learning material before they come to class through video lectures, readings, or labs. Classroom time is used to deepen understanding through discussion with peers and problem-solving activities facilitated by the teacher. (Source: Advanced HE and Project Tomorrow)

Distance Learning occurs when students and their instructors are in two different locations. It usually involves a digital device and the internet. The learning can be synchronous or asynchronous. The following are types of distance learning: 

  • Online/Virtual Learning refers to a digital learning environment that takes place over the internet rather than a physical classroom. The teacher and student are not physically in the same location. The instruction delivery is primarily asynchronous, but could include some synchronous instruction. Courses provided by the TxVSN are an example of online or virtual learning. (Source: The Learning Coach)
  • Remote or At-Home Learning is a new term that describes distance learning, but has been closely associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Spring of 2020, this term described a school district’s attempt to help their students remain connected and engaged with the content while working from their homes. In a remote learning setting, a student receives instruction through online learning and/or via paper packets that are distributed to the students. People are now making a distinction between what transpired in the Spring of 2020 (Emergency Remote Learning) and what districts are preparing to offer their students in the 2020-2021 school year. Remote Learning is now being used to describe a class that intends to meet face-to-face in a traditional format, but may be transitioned (or started) online due to unforeseen circumstances. The difference between now and the Spring, is that districts have more time to prepare curriculum and teaching strategies to assist in this new learning environment. Remote learning is different from virtual or online learning. The latter typically refers to courses intentionally designed from the beginning to be delivered online. It was never intended for these courses to ever meet in-person, and students were never intended to work on these assignments in the same space. .

Update: This paragraph was updated on July 10, 2020 to reflect the changing nature of the term remote learning.

In Conclusion

These are not the only terms that have been used to describe the use of technology in schools. However they are the most popular terms that are in use today. 

Hopefully this helps clarify the different models of technology use as we grapple with how to plan for the future. Technology has never been and will never be a silver bullet that will fix the education system. However, if used effectively in the hands of a good teacher, it has the potential to assist students acquire a deep understanding of the content while preparing them for future careers that will be dependent on the use of technology.

This blog was updated with additional content on July 10, 2020.

Images:

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worksheets
Good TeachingWeb 2.0 Tool

Ramping Up Those Old Worksheets

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

When I first began teaching, the mimeograph machine was all the rage. I well remember rushing to the teacher’s lounge to copy my worksheets, smelling the delicious (and slightly euphoria-inducing) smell from the blue ink and thinking with great delight of the peace and quiet there would be in my classroom while my students busily filled in the blanks. What I did not want to think about was the fact that, most of the time, worksheets do not really enhance learning and they are rarely engaging or empowering.

Move ahead to 2020 and the tech age and, at first glance, it would appear that worksheets are even less inviting and useful today. But with the help of a free resource for teachers, the much-maligned worksheet has a new and more powerful role in learning today.

Welcome to Wizer

Wizer gives teachers the ability to provide engaging learning through worksheets that are digital and interactive. The worksheets can include video, audio, images, and a variety of question types (multiple choice, fill in the blank, draw/label on an image, matching, and open-ended ). The worksheets can be assigned to students through Google Classroom, OneNote, or any learning management system. If you don’t use one of those tools, students can access the worksheet by going to this link and entering the pin number you give them.

Wizer worksheets can be created and completed on any computer, tablet, and device connected to the internet. Once students can access the worksheets, they have a number of tools that they can use to complete them. These include adding text, image, video, link, and audio, which means that they can record their answers, even to the open-ended questions. That’s especially useful for ESL and special needs students. And more tools are in development and will be added soon.

worksheetsworksheets

Wizer Features that Teachers Will Love

You can tell that Wizer was designed with teachers in mind as it has several features that are guaranteed to save you time. The teacher can create learner profiles and then assign different worksheets for each profile easily. That allows for powerful differentiation by just clicking a button. And worksheets can be automatically checked and graded, saving you even more time. You also have the ability to provide individual feedback where needed or modify the automatic grading if necessary. There’s also a very large gallery of shared worksheets already created and ready for you to use.

Students can sign in to Wizer using Google Classroom, Edmodo, or Microsoft. They can also sign in with an email or even with just a name and password.

Pricing for Wizer

Did I mention that this fabulous tool is free to teachers??? If you want additional features like automatically importing your entire student roster or Learner Profiles Reflection questions, it’s just $69/year. The paid version also includes automatic grouping of students based on their profiles and their past performance and allowing students to select which question(s) they want to answer out of several alternatives (voice and choice).

While worksheets are not the be-all-and-end-all of great learning, they can be a useful tool. With Wizer, they can also be more engaging for students. Take a look at it today!

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Digital Learning Day
Digital Literacy

Celebrate Digital Learning on Feb. 27!

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

If you use technology almost every day in your classroom, why should you make a big deal about it one day each year? Primarily, to spread the word about all the amazing things you are doing every single day with your students. Digital Learning Day is designed to amplify your story. By highlighting your students’ use of technology, you are helping others know how technology is helping your students to research, create, collaborate, and present in ways that are not possible without the digital tools you have in your classroom. 

DLDay Graphic

This year’s Digital Learning Day is February 27. Alliance for Excellent Education started Digital Learning Day in 2012 and it has been growing ever since. The day is designed to celebrate all the great work that you are doing in your classroom, school, and district. You can do this by letting others know how your students are using technology on this specific day using social media (#DLDay @OFFICIALDLDAY), adding your DLDay event to their map, and contacting your local media. Don’t be shy! Let others know all the great things that are happening in your classroom! 

Texas Digital Learning Day Activities

To help you see what others are doing, I looked at some of the activities that are posted on the Texas map. 

In Dayton ISD, all teachers (Pre-K through 12th grade) are encouraged to do at least one digital activity. All staff members are encouraged to visit the classrooms doing digital activities and record their thoughts using Flipgrid. They are having a friendly competition between campuses to see who has the greatest participation. All participants have the chance to win great prizes!

Garland ISD is celebrating DLDay in a big way. Below are some of the activities their schools are planning for February 27. 

  • Cisneros Pre-K students will learn how to virtually juggle (balloons, scarves, and balls) during their gym classes. I’m pretty interested in learning how they do this! 
Digital Learning Day
  • The third- and fifth-grade classes at Hillside Academy will be paired with kindergarten through second grade classes to go on a Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham adventure using a Sphero robot. Students will be coding their way through the story.
  • One school will be reading books on Flipgrid so that students in another school in the district can listen to them. 
  • Beaver Elementary’s first grade will be working on fractions and reading stories aloud using interactive PowerPoint presentations, Epic! books, and Google Classroom.

La Joya ISD is using Digital Learning Day to encourage their parents to log into Imagine Learning, a digital resource the district uses with their students. They are trying to build a school-to-home bridge for 24/7 access. 

The Harlingen High School South will be hosting a technology-rich playground in which students and teachers can interact. They will be featuring Osmo, Merge VR, Oculus, Cubelets, Ozobot, and Little Bits.

New Braunfels ISD is declaring that every day is digital learning day in the classrooms at New Braunfels High School. Every student has an iPad, content is delivered via Canvas and/or Google Classroom, and students use a wide variety of apps to complete projects in every class from math to history. One government classroom recently completed a “Create-a-State” project using the presentation app of their choice. 

Lubbock-Cooper ISD has been interviewing students from the district to create a video depicting how technology has changed their educational experience. They have implemented a 1:1 iPad model from PreK-12th grade. The video will be posted on their district’s YouTube channel for Digital Learning Day.

Robinson ISD will use LEGO Education Ev3 kits to engage their students in computational thinking as they create a forklift. The students will be using the engineering design process to envision, construct, code, and transport cargo. Teams will complete tasks based on the objectives to carry a specific load. 

As you can see, there are all kinds of ways you can celebrate the great things you are doing in your classroom on Digital Learning Day. So put on your thinking caps, design how you can participate in DLDay, then go to the map and proclaim to the world all the great things you are doing with your students everyday.

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gauges for assessing conditions
Digital LiteracyLeadership

Effectively Assessing Digital Learning

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“I’m working on a technology grant. We have to assess students in grades 5-8. I need a free, cheap digital literacy assessment for 5-8th grade,” Janet said. “Do you have any ideas?” The question made me pause for a moment, casting back over time. Where had I seen such an assessment before? Mankato Public Schools had one, a simple listing of technology skills for students. That had been over twelve years ago. Learning.com has such an assessment, but it costs money. Then, I had a flash of insight. Was a list of digital skills the best way to approach this?

In this blog entry, we’ll explore a few of the challenges with digital skill lists. The road to digital assessments is fraught with good intentions.

Good Intentions

The reason why is simple. The question make some suppositions. It suggests that student technology assessments center around digital SKILLS. Instead, digital learning is the desired focus.  I’m tempted to offer a list of digital skills/tools that students need to be familiar with. We achieve effective digital learning when students exhibit control. That is, control over time, place, path, and/or pace (Source: Digital Now report as cited by Dr. Chris Moersch). This suggests that students must have control over their own learning.

How Students Learn Best

When you consider how students learn best, you are not alone. We know how they learn best. This Adobe Education Report highlights best learning strategies. It suggests that students learn best when teachers:

  • Use digital media (videos/podcasts)
  • Engage learners with hands-on experiences
  • Scaffold team-building skills
  • Pose real-world problems for solution development

Assessing Student Learning

As you might imagine, assessing student learning is not a spectator sport. Rather than administer a survey, walk the campus to see what is happening. Use an observational framework, like HEAT or Triple E, to gain insight. You can’t assess students’ digital learning without considering how teachers teach. You could plan a survey with simple list of technology skills, but how effective is that? This will gain you a self-reported, invalid, and perhaps unreliable instrument.

Instead, use a research-based instrument such as the two observational frameworks mentioned. Still want something your students can pass out? Brightbytes’ Clarity has a student survey that provides some insight. Or, if you are gathering information, consider using the Speak Up Survey questions. These would provide some information, and you might mix-and-match the following:

You will want to check with the Speak Up Survey developers due to copyright.

Want to try something else?

Create Your Own Survey Instrument

If you want to create an instrument that is not researched (valid or reliable), you can try this approach for fun. Take the HEAT Lesson Scoring Guide. Develop questions based on that framework, which will result in a shorter survey. This may focus less on digital skills and more on digital learning taking place.

You can use a tool like Microsoft or Google Forms to collect data. This would capture the results and then summarize them in graphical format. In the next section, you will find sample questions you can customize for your own use.

Sample Student Assessment

Below, please find an unscientific assessment keen on measuring digital learning.

Question #1 : What kinds of things do you create with technology? (Check all that apply)

  • Videos
  • Audio/podcasts
  • Slideshows with audio or video
  • Typed documents I share online via the web (e.g. blogs, wikis)
  • Typed documents I turn in to my teacher or are printed for sharing
  • Information with numbers and graphs
  • I don’t use technology to create anything

Question #2: How do you show what you know?

  1. I decide what problem I’m going to solve and I work with others (outside my classroom).
  2. I decide what I am going to do when working on a project with others (inside my classroom).
  3. I decide what and how I’m going to work on something using technology.
  4. I do what the teacher tells me to do.

Question #3 – Does the work you do as a student impact a real life issue, theme, or problem?

  1. Yes, I use technology to create solutions for real problems.
  2. Yes, I use technology to explore real-life problems to solve with my teacher’s help.
  3. My teacher tells me what real-life problem I will solve.
  4. My teacher tells me what to do; I don’t know if it’s a real-life problem or not.

Question #4 – How do you decide what technology to use?

  1. I decide what technology I will use to learn something.
  2. I decide what things (not technology) I will use to learn about something and do it.
  3. My teacher decides what technology and/or things I will use to learn something.
  4. Technology and/or things are not needed to learn something, but they are nice to have.
  5. Technology and/or things to help me learn are not available or used.

Assessing Digital Learning

Don’t like these questions and responses? They may work for fifth graders and above.  That aside, how are you assessing digital learning for students and staff in your organization?

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Announcements/Important DatesProfessional Learning

Find the Right Tools for Your School at the Innovative Learning Strategies Conference

by Susan Meyer
written by Susan Meyer

As a reader of the TCEA TechNotes blog, chances are you are an ed tech news maven. That means you likely hear about at least five new trends that are going to “transform education” every day. But therein lies the problem. We live in a world where new technologies and resources are coming out at lightning speed. Some tools and strategies really will provide incredible opportunities for learning and engagement while others will be style over substance and will disappear as soon as the next shiny robot, app, or software comes along.

They all promise the world. Students will be the most engaged they’ve ever been. Critical thinking skills will abound. Classroom management will become a breeze. It’s as if your curriculum was written just to be correlated to this new product. But how do you separate the true innovations from the flash-in-the-pan fads?

Enter: The Innovative Learning Strategies Conference

TCEA is here to help you figure out what technologies and strategies will best benefit your schools, classrooms, and libraries. We designed our new Innovative Learning Strategies Conference to provide the research-backed answers you need to select the best technologies and resources for your students.

The conference will tell you more about a number of hot topics from adapted teaching and blended learning to augmented reality and Future Ready Schools. Informative, interactive sessions will answer questions about the topics you want to know more about, such as:

  • What’s the real value of edcamps, Open Education Resources, and PBL?
  • What does leading research tell us about the effectiveness of Minecraft, makerspaces, and gamification?
  • How are Skechnoting and 3D printing best utilized in the classroom?
  • What barriers to implementation might you face with authentic assessment and globalized learning environments and how might you overcome them?

You’ll get the answers to these questions and more for all the tools and strategies at the forefront of education. Overall, you’ll leave with a concrete road map for what will work best for your school and environment and how to effectively implement those technologies and ideas.

Are You Ready to Spread Innovative Ideas?

The Innovative Learning Strategies Conference is intended for campus and district administrators, curriculum specialists, department heads, and other educators in leadership positions. We want to provide valuable information for thought leaders and influencers to share with their schools and departments. Because of your participants in this learning event, you will be able to gather great information and resources and spread it far and wide to have a huge impact.

The learning experience will take place in the TCEA Conference Center in Austin, Texas on September 13 – 14. For full details on how to register, hotel offerings, and a detailed schedule, visit the Innovative Learning Strategies website.

We hope to see you in Austin this fall so you can get the information you need to find the right technologies and learning strategies to transform your school!

 

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CTO/CIOEducational TrendsLeadership

Digital Learning Trends

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

The Speak Up 2016 survey results are starting to come in, and they’re showing some interesting trends in digital learning. Below are the seven concepts that are bubbling up to the top right now.

Trend #1

No surprise here. Superintendents are reporting that funding, bridging the achievement gap, and staff morale are their top concerns. These are the same concerns that have topped their list for the past six years. However, the level of concern on these topics has increased this year.

With the attacks from the media recently on the teaching profession, it’s certainly understandable why staff morale is low. And with reduced funding at both the state and national levels, there is even more reason for teachers to be unhappy right now. The achievement gap, despite the best efforts of our educators, seems to be growing as the digital divide across our country grows.

Trend #2

There is some good news, however. Campus leaders are reporting that data-informed instruction, social media communications, and online assessments are making a difference with today’s students. Other technology enhancements that seem to have a positive ROI include videos, simulations and animations within instruction; cloud-based applications and tools; student access to mobile devices in school; and online professional development for teachers. These might be good trends to investigate for your district this next school year. (If you need help planning for and implementing any of these, TCEA can help. Just email Dr. Bruce Ellis to get started.)

Trend #3

Online videos and online games top the list of digital content being used in the classroom now, with online curriculum and online textbooks following closely behind. The key takeaway from this result is that school districts (and their technology staff) must be planning for and providing greater bandwidth and more WiFi access as the need for online learning continues to grow. This is a trend that will only continue to grow over time.

Trend #4

Student use of devices shows some interesting changes. 58 percent of high school students and 25 percent of middle school students are now bringing their own devices to school for classwork. But how they choose to use those devices on their own is different from how their teachers are directing them to use them. When teachers direct, students use them to:

  • Do Internet research (81%)
  • Play educational games (60%)
  • Take online tests (50%)
  • Read online articles (37%)
  • Use online textbooks (32%)
  • Watch teacher-created videos (29%)

But when self-directed, those same devices are used by the students to:

  • Check grades (74%)
  • Look up class information (54%)
  • Email teachers (41%)
  • Receive reminders (39%)
  • Take notes (39%)
  • Take photos of assignments (29%)

This seems to indicate that the learners are using the technology for more productivity uses on their own, which may mean that they have internalized and adopted them more completely than their teachers. This would be a good discussion topic for future educator inservices.

Trend #5

This is a continuation of the previous trend, which shows that the four main groups surveyed (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) all remain on different pages when technology use for learning is discussed. According to the report, “Few teachers say they regularly assign Internet-dependent homework, more principals think Internet-dependent homework is being assigned, but students say they regularly use the Internet to help with homework.”

Trend #6

The report shows that social media is playing a larger role in learning for all surveyed.

  • In 2011, 50 percent of students in grades 6-12 said they could not access social media tools at school. In 2016, only 38 percent of students had the same complaint.
  • Nearly half (45 percent) of teachers said that they pinned a lesson on Pinterest in the past year and 19 percent use Twitter to follow education experts or fellow educators.
  • Eight of ten school principals say they are using social media to communicate with parents and students – 61 percent said it has a positive impact.

There continues to be a divide between social media used by students (Instagram and Snapchat) and that used by adults (Facebook). But 44 percent of students do say that social media is a must-have for their learning.

Trend #7

Parents more than ever prefer receiving a personal email from their child’s school. Face-to-face meetings and text messages were a distant second, as you can see from the chart below.

digital learning tools

From a report by Project Tomorrow

The results of this extensive survey with its longitudinal data should be shared and discussed at district leadership meetings and professional development sessions in every district. What are your students telling you?

 

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