Looking forward to your LoTi survey

In their efforts to meet federal requirements for improved student performance, the nation’s teachers say effective use of classroom technology is essential to conduct important administrative tasks and reach a new generation of learners weaned on technology. And key to the effective use of classroom technology, educators report, is adequate professional development. Although teachers report they are using technology more frequently for both instructional and administrative tasks, they also worry that obstacles such as a lack of access, time, and money are keeping them from integrating technology effectively into the curriculum, the study found.
Source: eSchoolNews

This study provides critical information. How are lack of access, time and money preventing SAISD teachers from integrating technology effectively into the curriculum? If one analyzes the Level of Technology Implementation (LOTI) data gathered for the last 3 years, one will notice that there has been a definite decrease in Level 0—perceived lack of access to technology. Yet, is this enough?

Consider that the study also makes the following point:

The number of teachers using technology to teach writing skills went from 64 percent in 2005 to 71 percent in 2006, while the use of technology to teach scientific concepts also increased significantly, from 51 percent in 2005 to 60 percent this year.

The High School Comparison

Let’s compare this data with the use of technology in SAISD schools, say at the high school level. Consider these statistics for Level 0 or 1 at SAISD High Schools. At level 0 of the LOTI, technology is NOT used at all because it is perceived to not be present.

• In 2003-2004 School Year, 53% of teachers were at level 0 (36%) or level 1 (17%).
• In 2005-2006 School Year, 42% of teachers were at level 0 (18%) or level 1 (24%).

LEVEL 4

At level 4, which is the target technology level set by the Texas Education Agency, one can see the following:

• In 2003-2004 School Year, 16% of teachers were at Level 4.
• In 2005-2006 School Year, 20% of teachers were at Level 4.

There is definite decrease in teachers level 0-3, a diminishment of 14% (55% in 2005-2006 down from 69% in 2003-2004). This is noteworthy and a cause for some celebration. However, target for Level 4 is 100% district-wide.

One question is, “Can we expect 71% of teachers to use technology for writing when 42% are at level 0 and 1 of the LOTI?” Perhaps, a more important question is, “How can we facilitate 42% of our teachers moving to the target technology level 3 and 4 where technology is more likely to be used to support writing, math and science?”

HOW DO WE GET TO LEVEL 4?

To achieve Level 4 of the LOTI, several things have to be done:

1. Require professional development—a minimum of 16 hours—for all teachers that addresses 21st Century Skills.
2. Provide monetary incentives for teachers and administrators to develop technology competencies along a learning path (e.g. English/Language Arts, Science, Math).
3. Merge the focus of both departments (C&I and Technology) concentrating on student achievement.
4. Summative evaluations for building principals demonstrating their staff accomplishments at LOTI Level 3.
5. Provide Technology Department access to the CICs.
6. Provide professional development to CICs to become “instructional” mentors of technology.
7. Train principals.

• Bold items in this list are taken from recommendations made and agreed to by Associate Area Superintendents in collaboration with Dr. Chris Moersch, author of the Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) framework.

Reflecting on Best Practices by Miguel Guhlin

"Last week, I heard Stephen Krashen (author of Power of Reading) and Larry Cuban (author of Oversold and UnderUsed: Computers in the Classroom)speak at two different conferences," I shared with a colleague.

"When did you go to TWO different conferences?" she asked in a shocked voice. "How can you afford to go to conferences and at the beginning of the year with all the budget cuts?"

"I didn't physically go to the conference," I replied. "I listened to a podcast, or audio recording, of their presentations. If that's impressive, I also listened to Mike Huffman from Indiana Schools talk about his state-wide, 200,000 desktop computer deployment--all 200,000 computers are running free software on Linux (which replaces Windows). It's mind-blowing to be able to listen to people that I never would have heard before!"

And, I had to add, "Later this month, there will be a K-12 Online Learning Conference for educators--and it will take place entirely online. Imagine doing an online conference for a District our size without having to bring everyone together in one place!"

Reflecting on Best Practices

Often, we're expected to model best practices in training that we do, but have no idea what best practices look like outside of our experiences in the District. As a district administrator, I'm thrilled to observe classroom teachers working to publish student writing online through the use of blogs (View Example). However, both teachers and administrators can engage in reflection on the work they are about through the use of blogs.

In July of 2005, I embarked as a edu-blogger, or an educator that blogs about education topics. It has fostered wonderful dialogue, reflection on my own practices, and allowed me to construct a personal learning network that has brought me in contact with others across the Nation. Since information and events are moving so rapidly, the only way to stay up to date is to engage what is going on. A way to process this is to write in a blog.

Reflective Administrators

Administrators are beginning to blog, but here are three of five reasons Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) shares:

1. Information sharing and progress monitoring:
   1. Sharing news and events - Blogs are ideal for principals to quickly post news items for their school communities. View Example.
   2. Progress monitoring - Community members often are interested in the progress of a school's ongoing activities. View Example.
   3. Status Alerts - Another type of blog post might be a quick message to alert the community of a short-term problem, event cancellation, etc. View Example.
2. Marketing and public relations:
   1. Marketing - Because they're electronic, blogs are both faster and less costly than paper communications.
   2. Public Relations - A blog is a great way to bypass local media and get "your own version of the story out there and to get feedback."
   3. Community Building - Blogs can be an excellent tool for facilitating feelings of community within a school organization. View Example.
   4. Customer Relations - Principals who are actively and publicly interacting with school stakeholders, listening to their concerns, responding to those concerns and other questions, and generally being accessible (p. 56) are facilitating good customer relations and building goodwill within the school community.
3. Thought leadership and advocacy
   1. Thought Leadership - A blog can be a great place to put thoughts out there for the community to chew on. Is a school considering a new initiative or an important change? Does the school want feedback on a particular topic or issue? The principal could post some information and questions on the blog and solicit community participation. View Example.

Conclusion

We sometimes find ourselves inundated by a flood of new ideas, projects and activities. Reflecting on our reactions to these ideas, as well as how ideas impact teaching, learning and leadership in our specific concepts can enable us to take risks. Better informed with a deeper knowledge of what we're about, reflective blogging can transform our experience as mice in a treadmill to knowing how to find new sources of cheese for the children and the organization we serve.

Interested in getting started? Contact Miguel at 527-1400 or via email at mguhlin@saisd.net

Digital Storytelling Summer Academies

by Larry Stegall

During the summer most people visit family, go to a national park, or simply relax at home. Family trips to the beach can make a great story to tell the first day of school. For a group of Special Education teachers, a week of their summer vacation was spent in a computer lab. Special Education who participated in this academy learned new skills to integrate digital storytelling into their curriculum.

Most of the time people talk about digital storytelling as family history, recalling a major historical event, or even a local fable. The approach shared this summer with SAISD teachers focused on the work on Dr. Jo Anne Ollerenshaw. Her research is designed to have students develop a problem solution in a narrative structure. Teachers can review their content area TEKS and use them as the basis of the story structure.

Instructional Technology will be offering additional staff development throughout the school year on Digital Storytelling in the content areas. If you want to see examples of this approach, you can visit the Scribe website http://itls.saisd.net/scribe/ and search for Digital Storytelling July Cohorts. View examples online at http://itls.saisd.net/scribe/?page_id=16

Uncovering The TEKS:
Technology Applications Resources

by Sylvia Martinez

• Equip our students with the necessary skills and learning environments that provide rich opportunities for them to find and utilize current information and resources, and apply academic skills for solving real-world problems.
• Apply strategies for solving problems using appropriate tools for learning, collaborating, and communicating.
• Prepare teachers with the skills needed to truly integrate technology into the curriculum at the target technology level as measured by LOTI 4. This is defined as "using technology to identify and solve real life problems."

ACTIVATE or ACCESS YOUR 2006-07 SUBSCRIPTION TODAY by going to the TA:TEKS website at http://itls.saisd.net/tateks/ .

If you subscribed to Connected TECH last year, your username and password still work. If you have never subscribed, click on the How Do I Register link for step-by-step instructions.

Contact Sylvia A. Martinez, with the Office of Instructional Technology at smartinez@saisd.net or at 527-1400 if your campus would like to schedule an after hours training session on how to best utilize this resource.

Copyright 2006 San Antonio ISD. San Antonio Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability in providing education services, activities, and programs, including vocational programs, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

Es norma del Districto Escolar Independiente de San Antonio de no discriminar por motivos de raza, religion, color, origen nacional, sexo o impedimento, en sus programas, servicios o actividades vocacionales, tal como lo require el Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, según enmienda; el Título IX de las Enmiendas en la Educación, de 1972, y la Sección 504 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973, según enmienda.

Learn What You Need

At the recent NECC 2006 conference, there were many bloggers and podcasters. You can capitalize on their efforts. Here are a few podcasts worth listening to. You can find more online, including video!

The Role and Impact of Web 2.0 on Education

Man on the Street
Thursday, July 6, 2006
by Ryan Panchadsaram and Kevin Graham

A Web of Connections: Why the Read/Write Web Changes Everything
3:30-4:30 Thursday, July 6, 2006
by Will Richardson, Hunter Central High School

Savvy Cyber Teacher: Using the Internet Effectively in K-12 Education
2:00-3:00 Thursday, July 6, 2006
by Liesl Hotaling, Stevens Institute of Technology

Projects for Large K-5 Classes in a Computer Classroom
2:00-3:00 Thursday, July 6, 2006
by Elin Kordahl, Portland Public Schools

Choosing Your Own Wiki Adventure: Using Wikis with K-12 Students
12:30 - 1:30 Thursday, July 6, 2006
Dan McDowell, West Hill High School

Preventing Your One-to-One Dreams from Becoming Nightmares
12:30-1:30 Thursday, July 6, 2006
by Gary Stager, Pepperdine University

March of the Penguins: Linux Comes to Student Desktops
11:00-12:00 Thursday, July 6, 2006
by David Thornburg, Thornburg Center

Podcasting with a Purpose: Getting Your Message to the Masses
2:00-3:00 Wednesday, July 5, 2006
by Matt Gehrett, Fresno Pacific University with Kevin Silberberg

Electronic Constructivism: Compelling Ideas, Engaging Resources, A Dozen Ready-to-Use Techniques
2:00-3:00 Wednesday, July 5, 2006
by Maureen Yoder, Lesley University

Teaching Zack to Think
10:00-11:00 Wednesday, July 5, 2006
by Alan November, November Learning

Leading from the Edge: Moving Forward without Falling Off
8:30 - 9:30 Wednesday, July 5, 2006
by Chris O'Neal, University of West Virginia

selected as new
Digital Video Distribution System
by Greg Rodríguez

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then video must be worth a million. As teachers and students begin a new school year, they will also be introduced to a new and improved Digital Video Distribution System.

This school year, San Antonio ISD staff, students, and parents will have access to a new digital video distribution system. PowerMediaPlus.com, is the only standards-based digital media application offering a growing collection of more than 2,800 curriculum videos; 20,000 core concept clips; 4,300 audio files; 25,000 photographs, illustrations, and clip art images; and 5,000 print resources, as well as a databank of 15,000 quiz questions and 1,000 pre-made quizzes.

PowerMedia Plus allows teacher to effectively integrate media into the curriculum and provides students with resources to create multimedia presentations.

Users of the PowerMedia Plus system will be emailed account information for logging into the PowerMedia Plus system. For more information on accessing PowerMedia Plus, contact your school librarian or Campus Technology representative or visit http://itls.saisd.net/DVDS.

Claude Ascolese
cascolese@saisd.net

Miguel Guhlin
mguhlin@saisd.net

Sylvia Martinez
smartinez@saisd.net

Tonya Mills
tmills@saisd.net

Greg Rodríguez
grodriguez4@saisd.net

Josie Salas
jsalas2@saisd.net

Larry Stegall
lstegall@saisd.net