Digital Access

Digital access is a foundation, a prerequisite for digital literacy. I was challeneged by the web site's definition: full electronic participation in society. I must confess that I've never framed the debate over the "haves" vs. "have nots" of technology access quite that way before. I've taught urban kids my entire career, so the fight to help them acquire the tools they need to succeed has always been part of who I am. However, to think of limited-access individuals and groups as unable to fully participate in society was a new worldview lens for me. The more I ponder it, in the context of our 21st-century global world, the more I believe it fits.

“Digital Access” means different things to different people:

-internet availability of any kind

-broadband or other high-speed access

-hardware

-software

-training/education to use key programs

Schools, businesses, families, socio-economic groups, ethnic groups, rural areas, and individuals can all suffer from digital access limitations. If people or groups are cut off from information, communication, and business opportunities, then they are unable to achieve full electronic participation in society.

There are numerous studies and articles that demonstrate the reality and depth of this problem, and the effects it has on individuals and groups. There’s even a Digiteen project on it. It's not only an American issue, either. Many groups worldwide are raising awareness of this issue and tackling it head-on in creative ways.

In Asia, the Digital Divide Institute is working to provide “meaningful broadband” to “the next two billion” people, with a wide variety of projects, from the installation of large wireless networks to tablet distribution for school children.

**I love this one because it's a huge organization that takes each project and asks the community what they need to achieve digital access. Each solution has a global stamp, but is fitted to the local people's desires and needs.

In Central and South America, there's the Center for Digital Inclusion. The CDI is a network of 753 regional community centers throughout Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. They provide technology access and training to impoverished communities.

**My favorite thing about this one is that it started as a small, local initiative, but blossomed and spread across geographic boundaries to meet needs of the poor in each nation.

In the U.S., many heavy hitters are giving funds and creating programs to close the digital divide. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for instance, channels their grants primarily through urban schools and community centers. Our school has part of a Gates grant through Street School Network, one of our accreditation agencies.

**I love how the organization doesn't just throw money at a problem, but seeks to understand it in the bigger context of the community and seeks long-term solutions. That said, the most effective programs are still local initiatives that see a need and meet it.

The Technology Access Foundation is based in Puget Sound, and uses funds donated from individuals and an alliance of area businesses to strengthen STEM education in schools, online, and through community partners. Their programs now reach thousands.

Even larger is the Digital Access Project. This began as an 18-month initiative to bring free wireless to Minneapolis through the Digital Access + Equity Campaign. When they realized the scope of need was broader than just free wireless, the Community Technology Empowerment Project was born. This program now recruits, trains, and pays AmeriCorps volunteers to equip and train citizens at centers in the Twin Cities, focusing on new immigrants and low-income areas. What began as a response to a specific hardware and service need is now an onging regional program, all because some local business and education leaders took the initiative. (Minneapolis did get the free wireless, too!)

**Probably my favorite thing about DAP is that they now sponsor the Technology Literacy Collaborative, to share their experience and support similar efforts in other geographic areas.


Electronic participation is now an integral part of being a global citizen. The debate is no longer whether people need computers; it's what kind, what speed, and what access is needed. In order to adequately assess those needs, it is imperative that community groups work with local governments and businesses to make a plan and advocate for resources. The funding sources may be multi-national, or they may be the coffee shop and grocer down the street. You never know who will step up until the need is presented. We need brave, global thinkers who live next door, not just those in government. As Margaret Mead said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, commited citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Digital Literacy

Of the 9 categories of technology use, digital literacy jumped out as a no-brainer topic for a teacher geek like me. I like the website's definition: the process of teaching and learning about technology and the use of technology.

I. Some of the biggest issues are:

-when to teach skills (scheduling & time)
-how to teach skills (methodology)
-unlearning bad habits & solidifying good ones (time & repetition)
-students who have (or at least THINK they have) better skills than the teachers (teacher training)
-which programs and skills are most important to teach (an ever-evolving list)
-teaching information literacy, not just applications (research and critical thinking)
-acquiring adequate hardware and sofware (funding and upgrading)

II. As I searched for solutions, I found many great lists, blogs, and sites to read. Two of my favorite are:

A. Common Sense Media works to educate parents and students about positive, wise media use. Here are just a few of their blog and video titles: 7 Rules for Online Ettiquette, Teaching Kids Online Manners, and Beyond Internet Safety: Moving from Fear to Education.

B. The GoodWork Project from Harvard is performing and compiling studies, interviews, and other research into positive uses of technology among different age groups and sponsors projects with the goal of multiplying such positive applications. The two largest are “Developing Minds & Digital Media” and “The GoodPlay Project.”

III. These sites, which are wonderful, led me to a bigger problem: these resources are great for adults, but kids don't want to read and research to learn. They want to DO and Experience. Thankfully, there are many organizations and individuals working on interactive digital learning:

A. By far the coolest I found is the Digiteen Project (from the creators of the Flat Classroom). First, several classrooms around the world are connected by the project coordinators to do research and resource collaboration around a current digital issue. Then, they collaborate to publish their findings, primarily through wikis. Then, each classroom performs and documents training in their own schools to share what they've learned. It's an excellent model of students teaching each other, while growing the collaboration and digital skills they'll need in the workplace and in life.

B. In addition to such large-scale initiatives, there are thousands (maybe millions) of individuals and schools working to train kids to be better digital producers and consumers. One of the best I found is Marianne Malmstrom, a middle school teacher from New Jersey. Her simple but powerful site Knowclue seeks to share the projects she has her students do in regards to digital learning, provide resources for students, teachers, and parents, and to share the experiences of her “second life” as a digital learner.


IV. Conclusions
A. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to digital literacy; that's the problem. The best training comes from teachers who are passionate and equipped to teach THEIR kids in THEIR school, meeting THEIR needs.

B. Students learn best when they're doing something real. One major challenge we educators must overcome is making our projects applicable not only to our content, but also to big ideas, questions, and problems that engage our students. The good thing is that online publishing for a real audience has never been easier, and the tools to do it are, by nature, engaging to our digital natives.

C. To solve the "what" to teach, we educators must be good researchers and listeners. What are area businesses saying? What is the global marketplace demanding? What do our kids lack? Though there's much diversity, there are core competencies that all students must master. Come to think of it, the 9 categories of technology use would be a good place to start.

MI Online Learning Requirement

The Online Learning Requirement is something that we all LOVE when someone else is managing it! This is a regular topic of discussion in our building, and we do have an official plan, but here's the gist of what's actually happening:

Front line = Tech Apps class, which is required for 1 semester of 9th grade (or for any transfers that don't have a tech credit). This class is teacher-led, but students retrieve and submit all materials on his Moodle page. It more than meets the state's time requirement, and it's gotten better each of the 3 years he's taught it, but feedback and experience with the upperclassmen tell us that it's not enough to build online learning competence.

Everything else is teacher-driven:
+Our senior Theology teacher has a blog requirement.
+Several different classes use Webquests.
+We use Google Docs, so an electronic portfolio is an option.
+All high schoolers participate in regularly-scheduled Career Cruising portfolio building.
+Every grade level from 2nd on up as at least one required research project, and online source evaluation is built into each.

So, we're doing quite a bit, but not in a very coordinated manner. My favorite idea (if I can ever take the time to really get it off the ground) is a hybrid Civics class. Mark Raffler has the shell of a Moodle course, and we keep dreaming and talking about its development. So far, one lesson is complete, and it's really cool! I need to make this a priority this year, because I believe Civics would be the perfect course for a hybrid. Theoretically, we can automate a lot of the boring content stuff to be more interactive with digital bells and whistles, and then weave in the simulations that I love to teach, like mock election. It seems to be the perfect core course to play with. Now, just finding the time to DO it.

SIS Compare and Contrast

So . . . STI's Information NOW and Pearson's Powerschool were the two options left on the table in late June, 2010. Our school, PK-12 plus Advancement, Business Office, and Administration, were all making the leap together to a significant SIS upgrade. Both programs offered the following services, to name a few:

Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Admissions Management
Alumni Management
Assessment Management
Attendance Management
Class Scheduling
Donor Management
Enrollment Management
Gradebook
Parent & Student Portal Interfaces
Reporting
Student Database

Powerschool offered more customization options (which appealed to me and other techie staff), as well as a VERY cool calendar option. InfoNOW, however, had a big lead in the data transfer (importing and exporting) because we were already using their older system. This, in the end, was the tipping point.

As I researched these two programs more, security was a very interesting side I had not considered. STI's site was very specific, listing fields that can be made read-only or hidden, various security levels, usage permission only for the students you impact, and strict administration/permission controls. Pearson's site mentioned different levels of access, but was much more clear on the privacy end. Their website has a built-in privacy policy that is a link on every page. The language here was very similar to FERPA, except that it allows release of some info. to affiliates and promises “commercially reasonable care.” In other words, their privacy rules aren't as stringent as schools'. As to how to get access, both of these programs (and the others I've found) are fee-based. The district pays a fee (usually per-student, not per-user) and then the company gives them the power to set up user accounts.

So, all in all, STI was a good choice for our school. It's used for all of the tasks listed above, but the daily jobs I use most focus on tracking attendance and grades. The nicest part of using the same system for everyone is that I can go back and look at previous years' grades and attendance for students I teach. I can also see their standardized test scores without having to go dig up their cums. For 2011-2012, these records will only be one year deep (we opted not to hand-enter all of the old records). However, as we use the system longer, this will help us to see trends for individual students and for groups/classes, right alongside their current grades and attendance. That part is very exciting, and will ultimately be well worth the year of frustrations in getting to know and manage this new system.

Student Information Systems (SIS)

I chose SIS, with gritted teeth, because it's the only one of the three options that I use with regularity at The Potter's House. We have done some discussion and experimentation with data warehousing and learning management systems, but I wrestle with our SIS every day of the school year, and often lose. I wanted to learn more and hopefully ease my latent frustration. The research helped, as I learned more about our system and its competition.

My teeth were gritted because last summer we upgraded to a VERY different version of our SIS, InformationNOW from Software Technology, Inc. (STI). We've used STI products since before I joined the staff seven years ago, but 2010-2011 was THE upgrade. We went to a fully web-based, fully interactive system that includes parent and student portals. The basic programs are fine, but all of the bells and whistles we were promised with this upgrade were far more trouble than they were worth. In addition, at the end of first quarter we LOST all of the grades that had been inputted, right before report cards (of course) and had to do some MAJOR clean-up after STI restored the day-old backup. In short, our SIS did NOT make my life easier, though things did go more smoothly as the year progressed.

As I looked into the different SIS available to me, my favorite site quickly became Capterra.com, which is a software warehouse with over 300 SIS options. I love it because there's a filter with a range of different options to check, from how many students you're serving to whether you want to integrate donors to where you're located geographically. As I played with it, I was able to whittle the huge list down to just a few choices that would meet our school's needs. That was a very cool option!

Just to be spiteful, I decided to compare and contrast Information NOW with Powerschool, a Pearson product. It's spiteful because I was on the committee that researched and voted on last year's upgrade, and I voted for Powerschool over our current program. I was out voted, mostly because the transition would be easier with an upgrade rather than a complete change. Too bad the transition people weren't the ones who had to re-input their grades . . . Clearly I'm still a little bitter. To view my hopefully-honest comparison, read my next post.

Critical Evaluation of Websites

Octopi in trees? DHMO, the mystery chemical? Rennets are little rodents chopped up and put in cheese? These articles cracked me up, but the thought behind them is sobering: this is the material that so many of our kids take at face value. This is the content that they'll use in their research papers if we don't teach them how to think and evaluate material critically.

We, as educators, MUST get this one right. We must teach students, from the very youngest to the very oldest, to think critically about the media they consume, especially websites. If they cannot do this, I shudder to think about the future of our nation. This may seem melodramatic, but I honestly believe that critical media consumption is THAT important.

I've always had students evaluate sites and then submit the evaluations to me before using them for research, but this super-specific form is SO much better than what I do! It looks at everything about a site, from the URL tag (generally we guide kids away from .com) to the images to the author and the text layout. Most importantly, it drives students to complete several authenticating/comparison searches to validate the info. This is key, and not difficult to do.

By performing a few simple background searches, students can rule out bogus info. quickly and find reinforcement for good sites. If we can get them to do this up front, while in the information gathering stage, they'll be lightyears ahead when they get to actually researching. Not only will they have ruled out a number of unnecessary sites, but they will find more keywords for better searches, and they'll build their background knowledge to boot. Initially, most students are resistant to this, but if you can tell them a few good stories (or get testimonies from their peers) about students who've fallen prey to bad information, their motivation will increase.

Unfortunately, an open Google search is the default for most kids. They think all information is equal, and they just enter their topic and start clicking, from the top of the list downward, and usually printing before even skimming the text. In short, they let Google do the thinking for them. Don't get me wrong; I love Google, but there are SO many great tools and other options that they don't even know about! If we can convince them that using Google Scholar, specific, varied keywords, and advanced searches will actually SAVE them time, then we'll have won at least one battle.

As to the whole critical thinking and critical media use war, we have to take it in project- and paper-sized steps. Ideally, each building (and ideally each district) needs a scope and sequence for teaching ever-increasing levels of critical media skills. These can SO easily be built into the curriculum as we integrate reading and research across the curriculum. This is one of those places where we need to work smarter, not harder. By combining search and thinking skills into our pet projects, we'll end up with better assessments and better thinkers, all in one!

RSS Feeds and Alerts

WOW -- I've been looking for a web management tool like this one. I've heard the phrase "RSS" in passing at a few workshops, but never knew what it does. I love it for several reasons:

1) The information comes to me, instead of me going out to find it.

2) I can scan a lot of info in a short time.

3) I can keep up (at least a little) with movement on topics that are of interest and/or necessity for me.

4) I can feel informed and smart, not lost and dumb. ; )

5) This helps keep me "in the loop" with updated info, especially research, which is often hard to find and even harder to sort through.


I'm not quite as impressed with the alerts. The few I chose are pulling a lot of info that's not pertinent to what I'm looking at. It would be nice if it had an advanced option that would focus the search more. For instance, there's more than one Potter's House School in the nation, so it would be nice to be able to specify Grand Rapids only.

Despite that, I'm enjoying playing with these new tools. The RSS video is right -- it's addicting to have so much info at my fingertips. For my classroom, I anticipate most using this to find current events articles related to History topics I'm teaching. For myself, I plan to focus on articles about Common Core and competency-based teaching, which are key goals for me this year. Finally, with colleagues, I anticipate sharing the tool so that they can play with it, and I know I'll find powerful articles to discuss. Thank you, RSS!