The original innovation plan of fully utilizing iPads in the classroom is having a change in focus.  A new focus on the revitalization and refreshing of the iPad or personalized technology devices. I say either iPad or personalized learning devices, as I am not sure which direction my district is going to go when the 4-year refresh comes around. My original thought was that we are an iPad district and we will stay an iPad district, but it appears that there may be a shift to Chromebook instead. So the new focus is not so much focused on how to use and sustain the iPads, but how to fully utilize having classes filled with personalized mobile learning devices. The focus being on the pedagogical practice and less on the tool.

That being said, I am not looking at years of deployment anymore, but planned organized and deliberate shifts in the teaching and learning styles within the school. The shifts will be based on what best practices have been found (see my literature review here), and how best to use the devices that are available in the classroom.

Revise Refocus Retain on Biteable.

What doesn’t work:

♦    Delivering devices to solve a problem.

♦    Expecting one device to solve all expectations.

♦    Not creating a deep and measurable why.

What works:

♦     Determine the problems that a school or district is trying to tackle and then determine the skills or access students or teachers need to solve that problem.

♦    Developing a why statement that can be measurable and not just based on access to a specific tool or program.

♦    Prior planning that takes into account the thoughts, ideas, and feelings of early-adopters of the technology.

♦    Training that is specific, contains follow-up and is based on a collective of learning. Not all are expected to learn everything, but everyone contributes equally to the group’s knowledge.

Key takeaways from the learning:

♦     Give ample time to plan, train, and experience when new technology is being rolled out.

♦     Get the opinions of the users on what they expect from the devices. Keeping in mind that adjustments may be necessary as users become more experienced with the devices.

♦     Training cannot be skipped and needs to be on a frequent basis. Create training where teachers do not fear failure, and that they can share the little tidbits that they are learning as they use the devices more often.

To have a transition from years to shifts of teaching, this will entail a concerted effort to include more coaching and exploration time on a specific basis. Creating a stronger why statement will be the ignition for these shifts. My why statement is

to create a learning environment where students have a voice to demonstrate their learning in a manner of their choosing, utilizing technology integrated tools.

To generalize the shifts, I plan to look three shifts. These shifts focus on the iPad as the device in the classroom, although they wherever the term iPad is used any other devices could be substituted. It is the focus of these shifts to use the personalized mobile learning devices as an extension and further the learning process.

Utilizing the iPads on a daily basis

In this shift, it will be the expectation of the teachers, staff, and admin to use the iPad on a daily basis. This is to simply deliberately use the iPads in their classrooms for their work. This should include also the students using the iPads as well. The use of the iPads could include using them for QR codes, exit tickets, taking pictures and submitting their work through Google Classroom, or completing formative assessments. To support this shift, teachers will have an initial training, based on station rotation model, for many different uses of the iPad. They will also receive a list of ideas on how to complete this initial step. This will either be through a Google Doc, a website, or a Google Plus group. It will be delivered in this method so that as new resources are learned about, a teacher suggested, or discovered the list could be added to.

Continual support for this initial shift will be done in their PLCs. There will be a deliberate focus on bringing these simple uses of the iPads in their lesson plans. Having myself and our instructional coach to support the use of the new ideas. Also, I will offer to do model lessons, and co-teaching with the teachers. Giving them time to see how the lessons could be used in their classroom, and be there to support during the initial rollout.

Augmenting lessons with digital assignments

As teachers become more used to having iPads in the classroom on a daily basis, I plan to push to the next shift in the innovation plan. Having teachers shift the focus from just using the iPads for a simple task to using the iPads for a fuller learning experience. The iPad can assist teachers in gaining a deeper understanding of what their students do and do not understand. During this shift, teachers will be encouraged to shift what they normally do in the classroom to a digital based assignment. Examples of this could include where students create posters of a topic, to instead creating websites or infographics. Students could also go from writing definitions to vocabulary terms to creating their own vocabulary videos or annotated images of the terms.

To support this shift, again teachers will get an initial training of ideas and suggested ways to complete this shift. Although this time, pieces of training will be delivered or determined by early-adopters and those ahead of the curve. These same teachers can be used as mentor teachers to others. Based on what I found in my literature review, schools that supported their teachers with mentoring and group-based decisions were more successful (Foote, 2012). PLC time will also be used to continue a focus and deliberate shift to a using the strategies in their lessons.

Student directed iPad use

The final shift is to shift the role of the teacher from directing the use of the iPads, to facilitating the learning involving with the iPads. Lessons will be shifted from telling the students what apps to use and how to show their learning, to lessons that students get to decide how best they will be able to show they understand the standards.

I can see this being the biggest and most difficult shift for the teachers. As I am not only expecting teachers to fully utilize the student iPad, but I am expecting teachers to release control of every detail of their class and how the learning will occur. Coaching, mentor teachers, learning communities, and celebrating successes and failures will be of utmost importance during this shift (Gulamhussein, 2013). Showing teachers that they have support throughout the entire shift will help ease this transition.

Revising why the devices are in the hands of the students, and refocusing on what can be gained from their presence will help drive the focus of this innovation plan. Keeping the vision in the forefront of any shift, and reflecting back on this vision when making plans will be very important in the plan. Knowing that the shifts will help support the students on becoming more ready for after formalized schooling.

References

Foote, C. (2012). Learning together: The evolution of a 1:1 iPad program. Internet@Schools, 19(1), 14-18. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=e644e0f2-ef01-456d-bd2d-63527fb95cac%40sessionmgr4009&hid=4001

Gulamhussein, A. (2013). Teaching the teachers: Effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability (Rep.). Center for Public Education. Retrieved February 23, 2017, from http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/teachingtheteachers.