How can my colleagues and I move away from "SUBSTITUTION" and towards "REDEFINITION" through our use of technology in the coming school year?

It's that time again. As I post this blog entry, it is officially the last day of my summer break. As any teacher knows, even "vacation" time is often spent reflecting upon the previous year and gearing up for the next. In my case, this has meant frequent meeting with colleagues, flurries of emails and text messages that increase in frequency as each day draws us closer to the beginning of the year and Pinterest boards filling up with possibilities. As a result of my R685 technology class (Technology Integration in Theory and Practice), my summer has also been filled with reflection upon the ways in which my colleagues and I are using technology and how we can grow in this area over the coming school year and beyond.  I have found the SAMR Model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura ( http://www.hippasus.com/) especially helpful in this reflection. 

While I do believe that my school is already using technology in many innovative ways that would qualify as "redefinition" (check out this for example), I think that we have not yet met our potential in this area and would like to explore possible next steps to get us there.

To begin, it makes sense to look at the possible barriers that currently exist. According to Ertmer (1999) there are two types of barriers that impact teachers' use of technology in the classroom:

1st Order/External Barriers

• resources (hardware and software) 
• training
• support

2nd Order/Internal Barriers

• teachers' confidence
• beliefs about how students learn
• perceived value of technology to the teaching/learning process

(Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59(2), 423-435.)

Resources

 We are incredibly fortunate to have access to many resources in our school including desktops, mobile labs containing class sets of MacBooks and iPads, document cameras, AppleTV, projectors, digital cameras and even a maker's cart complete with a 3-D printer. For the most part, I do not believe that resources are a barrier in our school. However, according to Becker (2000), he believes that in order for computers to serve as "valuable and well-functioning instructional tool[s]" that the access should also be "convenient."  

Barriers: Unfortunately, mandated state testing often negatively impacts our convenient access (and sometimes our access altogether) to computers and iPads as they are used to give various tests throughout the year. Last year we calculated approximately 9 weeks of the year, in which our computers and sometimes iPads were tied up with state testing and were therefore unavailable for other uses. This means that teachers are reluctant to build technology use into regular parts of their workshops and projects as its availability is not always reliable. 

Potential Enablers: 

• Make technology integration a more visible and integral part of year-long unit planning so that the sequence of units can take the state testing schedule into consideration at the onset of the school year. 

• Develop menus of student outputs that use a variety of technological tools so that when some are not available, students are aware of and comfortable with other options. This draws on a belief described by a teacher quoted in Ertmer and Ottenbreit-Leftwich's 2012 article "Teacher beliefs and technology integration practices: A critical relationship" who strongly values student choice in the classroom and states: 

We really have to create choice for the kids. [I am] trying to create menus of learning outcomes to say, "here is what we want to learn, this is the end result... I'd like  you to show me how you learned. You can use a blog, podcast, video, slide show program. And they apply and practice, discuss and share and create. And the teacher just goes around and facilitates.  (p. 429)

Training & Support

Our school has a technology coordinator who works in our school approximately half the week. While I do not know the full extent of his job description, I do know that he spends a lot of time troubleshooting and maintaining hardware, software and our network and is largely responsible for dealing with state testing as it relates to preparing our existing computers and iPads to administer tests. We are also fortunate to have a relationship with Indiana University in which we often host undergraduate and graduate students who offer elective classes and support us in other ways as well through an Indiana Department of Education Innovations Grant

Barriers: Teachers who are not confident with their abilities in using technology and/or who have had a number of previous experiences with malfunctioning or unreliable hardware or software are fearful of implementing something with a large group of students and being unable to troubleshoot on their own if our technology coordinator is not in the building that day or not available. This can lead to lost time for teaching and learning and loss of student engagement as teachers struggle to try to make things work. 

Potential Enablers:

• Identify teachers at each grade level or area of the school who are willing to assist with technology on an as-needed basis. These teachers could also work directly with the technology coordinator as a liaison for their team. (This process has already begun over the summer!)
• Help teachers learn methods for creating screencasts for demonstrations for large groups so that any glitches can be dealt with before stepping in front of the class. 
• Increase teacher confidence and self-efficacy (see below) 

Teachers' Confidence

This is an area that is difficult to ascertain without interview or gathering specific information from the individual teachers in my building, but my anecdotal observations from weekly faculty meetings and professional development experiences would indicate that teacher in our school vary greatly in their confidence levels as indicated by concern or reluctance to try new technologies or a general self-identification of not understanding or "being good at" using technology. 

Barriers: Anecdotally, this seems to be a large barrier among some of the teachers in our building as expressed by their concern in being able to take on new technology tools. This can prevent colleagues with different levels of confidence from collaborating effectively as their means of communication and creation can be at odds with one another. All teachers in my school co-teach with one another, so this can be a critical concern.  

Potential Enablers:

• More time for teachers to informally experiment and play around with new technology tools in a supportive environment conducive to risk-taking. This may mean working in small groups or in partnerships with colleagues with whom they already have rapport with and with whom they feel comfortable asking questions. 
• Websites or resources created specifically for our school (taking into account content and pedagogy) in which there are resources and tutorials set up for teachers to use and play with on their own time. 

Beliefs About How Students Learn

Barriers & Enablers?

This is an interesting aspect to consider as our small staff already shares a common set of beliefs about teaching and learning which is often what drew them to our school in the first place. We already spend a lot of time discussing these beliefs with one another, but rarely do so with a technological lens. This could be an interesting avenue to explore in our staff development throughout the year.

Perceived Value of Technology to the Teaching Learning Process

Still Looking and Learning...

I have thought about this a great deal over the course of the summer and am often reminded of teachers (and many others too) who feel like they just need the feeling of pencil and paper or need to hold a notebook in their hands or have something tangible that they don't feel is represented by technology (this often comes up when I espouse the virtues of various technologies in helping us to become more paperless -- a value-driven desire). I remember then, that I used to feel the same way about reading books. I couldn't imagine ever giving up "real" books in favor of an e-reader. I thought I would miss the feeling of the pages turning, the cracking of a spine, the smell of paper etc. Then... I had a baby. I love to read and discovered that I actually had some moments throughout the day when I was feeding or holding a sleeping baby and could read, if only I could do it with one hand. I had a Kindle within a month of my son's birth and can hardly imagine wanting to read any other way anymore. 

I think that a large part of my continued learning and searching for information that will help me and my colleagues, and my school as a whole, to use technology in more innovative ways and to extend ourselves further away from substitution and towards reinvention is to recognize the potential for those moments like I had with my Kindle -- the times when you realize the potential and are willing to overcome preconceived notions and try something new.