Jared's Module 5 Post

Grant Proposal Idea:

My grant proposal and my TI initiative are integrated.  As I expressed in my last blog entry, a couple of teachers and I have gotten together to try to open our school to some positive attitudes on Blended Learning.  This will be done through an initial class, followed by the establishment of an online PLC for teachers who want to participate.  Throughout the semester (Fall 2015) we will share ideas, and examples, and visit each others’ digital classrooms.  We will also meet at least twice to work together as a group, and share ideas in person.  I am sort of doing this a little out of order.  We have already come up with a basic structure for our initiative, and we have already applied for the grant (since it was due March 27).  Now we are continuing our research on Blended Learning to make sure that our professional development concept is up to date and informed.

The grant was for a little less than $5000, and was requested from Fairmont State with which we have a PDS relationship.  The money will mostly be used for teacher stipend, which I would argue is important, because to really kick-off something like this in a school you will get very little volunteer participation.  Many well-meaning, and respectable teachers still see technology as a “frill” and “Blended Learning” as just one more crazy idea thrust upon educators who just want to be left alone to teach.  There is still a mistrust of computer use in the classroom, and moving standardized testing to the computer labs hasn’t helped at all.  Offering an experience like this can help create some more positive attitudes toward a type of learning that is necessary in this century.

Chapter 9: Do you agree that schools should reflect real life?

“Sorry, the 21^st Century is blocked.”  I find myself saying that each week as the teachers in my school report to one another the new blocking of a website or app.  Some sites become blocked and unblocked on a weekly basis.  The status of Youtube each day is anybody’s guess.  Chances are the web-based lesson you created with ease on your own network at home will encounter several roadblocks when you bring it to school.  This only serves to illustrate the mistrust that school boards have for all things internet.  There is still a sign on my school’s library wall that says, “NO Facebook MySpace E-Mail or Games.”  The WVDE policy number that bans these things is referenced at the bottom.  The reason Twitter is absent from the list is because the policy was created years before Twitter was widely known, and it hasn’t changed since.

I would say that my county, as a whole, is still in the beginning stages of technology acceptance the author described for the Burlington School District: “They used to deny the changes that were happening outside their school doors because they could not deal with what might happen if they were to allow students to have the internet at their fingertips while sitting in classrooms” (Sheninger, 2014, p. 148).  We are still there.  The attitude is that communication technology is a danger and distraction, and that only by banning it can real learning begin.  There is still a “lack of trust shown by administrators who would not allow staff to utilizer mobile devices, even when they had concrete educational tasks tied to their lessons” (Sheninger, 2014, p. 149).

However, I do think that the page is about to turn.  I have noticed that attitudes toward social media are slowly shifting.  When I started teaching in 2008, teachers were warned again using social media even for personal use.  “You’ll get in trouble… Teachers have been fired for what they’ve said online!”  The policy was, just stay off of social media, and their was a stigma for teachers who had a Facebook profile.  I remember being ridiculed (just a little) because a Spanish teacher and I alluded to being “Facebook Friends.”  Now the stigma is no longer their.  In fact, most clubs have some kind of official social media page.  It’s a slow journey, but I have noticed that administration has been %100 supportive of Blended Learning and Flipped Learning efforts in our school.  That part of social media they like.  Now if we could only gain access to Youtube.

So, yes, school should reflect real life, and these days real life is integrated with digital technology.  Smart phone, computers, and tablets are as a part of our lives as cars and radios.

Chapter 10: Summarize the story of Clark Hall and reflect on your workplace or learning environment.  What are you thinking now after reading about Clark Hall?

 Due to overpopulation of students, combined with a lack of money and desire from the public to build a completely new high school, Gahanna District leaders worked with the public to build Clark Hall, a multi-purpose building that focuses on use of a wireless work to conduct education.  It has everything from open spaces, to classrooms, to a workout room.  It has colorful walls and furniture, and looks like an inviting, fun, modern facility.  To hear it described, I think of the type of building they might add to a college campus when enrollment is high.  The facility was not a success overnight, because the administrators of Clark Hall overestimated the power of their wireless network when BYOD use was allowed. 

After reading about Clark Hall, I can say that I’d like to work there.  I wish my school district had a facility like this.  I think it’s a great “happy medium” between the “brick and mortar school” and the completely “online high school.”  I think this is the type of solution I most support.  A place to meet, a place to be, but a place that is different from traditional schools.  I think this can work for many students, especially for those who need more than a day at home alone on the internet.  We can still reach students who need IEPs, and we can still demonstrate the use of technology in leading by example. 

A Note on BYOD:

I support the use of personal devices in schools, both for classroom and personal use. However, I do not agree with author when he says that we should just do it. I still believe that public education should be totally free.  Remember FAPE?  Sheninger acknowledges that some respected educators do not support BYOD because of reasons of equity (p. 152).  Will the kids with Smartphones have more access to school programs?  Sheninger does not, however, explain how to get around this problem.  He moves on without hinting at a solution.  Colleges can require students to buy virtually anything.  Public schools cannot. 

I think the solution is a Clark Hall type of environment where technology is provided, but where BYOD is permitted.