Summary
Constructing a technology integration vision is the way to build cohesion and support an innovative school climate. In this activity, participants will explore the needs of the school and their pedagogy to develop a vision for the school site or district.
Essential Questions
What do we want teaching and learning with technology to look like in our school in three years?
Learning Goals
Develop a culture of collaboration
Reflect on technology and instructional practices
Develop a school-wide technology integration vision
Develop a personal technology integration goal
Materials List
Poster Paper
Markers
Post-it Notes
Copies of ISTE Standards
Copies of Practices descriptions
Copies of Practices worksheet
Engage
Provide introductions of yourself, the objectives, and the reason why we're meeting for visioning.
The activity starts with participants constructing Word Clouds. Tell participants to get at least five sticky notes. Display slide #4, showing the five questions for the Word Clouds.
What is the number one characteristic you want your students to exhibit in your classroom?
In order to be successful in the future, my students need to be able to ______________________________.
In order for my students to have these skills, teaching and learning needs to look like ________________________.
What resources or support do I need as a teacher to make this happen?
What is the number one thing you think is most important to be as a teacher?
Direct the participants to answer each question on a different sticky note (so they will end with five sticky notes with a unique answer on each). Once they are done answering, have them go and put each answer on the corresponding poster paper. After they do that, advance to the next slide, with the questions about feelings with technology.
Again, direct the participants to answer the two questions:
What are you most excited about when thinking about more technology resources in your school and classroom?
What are you most nervous about when thinking about more technology resources in your school and classroom?
As participants turn their responses for those two questions into you, number them from 1-5 and send them to the corresponding poster paper. Advance to the next slide (slide #6), which has directions on how to make their word cloud.
Categorize and count up the responses
The most frequent word is the biggest and in the center
The size of the word is based on its frequency
Be creative in color and position as you make your word cloud
While participants are working on their word clouds:
As the facilitator, gather and sort the responses received for the questions related to feelings about technology. Go to wordclouds.com and create two virtual word clouds. Save the clouds as pictures, and insert them into the PP on slide #8.
Once all of the groups are done with their 'analog' word clouds, have them present their cloud, hanging them up after each presentation. After the presentations, show the technology word clouds and explain how they were made.
Finally, allow participants to process and reflect on the word clouds using the I Notice/I Wonder strategy. Prompt participants to look at all of the word clouds that were created based on what we (collective 'we' of the school) want and need. Have them finish the prompt of "I notice _______________, I wonder _________________." Have participants share with those at their table.
Explore
Pass out a laminated ISTE Student Standards sheet and dry erase markers to every participant.
With the dry erase markers, the participants will CUS & Discuss, where they:
Circle exciting words
Underline the details that support the circled words
Star what you think is the most important standard in each category
After the activity, have the participants look back on the word clouds, and write the standard number/letter that supports the results of the word cloud. Point out that the ISTE standards are not more content to teach, but rather the standards support the consensus wants and needs.
Explain
Progress to the next slide. Review the bullet points with the staff, and add the caveat that these are not destined, but rather need to be considered in implementation plans.
The next slide is the word cloud from a research article about technology implementation in education and schools. Allow a few moments for participants to notice the most frequent words in the article, and point out that this is the focus when making a technology integration plan.
Progress through the PowerPoint, sharing the definition of vision and the components and restraints of visions.
Extend
Provide participants with the two questions:
What does teaching and learning with technology look like in our school today?
What do we want teaching and learning with technology to look like in our school in three years?
These questions should be answered and turned into the facilitator.
Distribute an ideal handout to each participant, so that each participant has only one ideal, and there are a variety of ideals at a table. Also pass out a copy of the ideals worksheet to each participant. Participants are to Jigsaw the reading, so read their ideal, use the worksheet to organize what they've learned and how it applies to technology integration at their site. Then, they will report back a summary of their reading and worksheet to their table.
While participants are working on their ideals Jigsaw:
With the answers to the questions that were turned in, the facilitator groups the responses into themes. Then, the construction of the technology implementation vision will happen and inserted in the blank slide available.
Evaluate
Reveal the technology integration vision to the participants. Allow for participants to offer edits to refine the vision. Once the vision is agreed upon, the participants construct a personal goal for how they will utilize the vision.
Encourage them to use the words that mean the most to them throughout the entire PD to construct the goal.
Follow-up Activities
Although there are currently no follow-up activities specific to this activity, enforcing the stewardship of the vision would be the next steps at the administrator and school staff.