Sustainability is an interesting topic that seems to be getting a lot of airplay at the moment. I have commented on this previously, but the recent One-to-One Computing Conference in Pennsylvania in April highlighted some of the real issues of which we need to be mindful.
 
Sustainability has several dimensions, the first and most obvious being, what is it that you are trying to sustain and why? Sadly, some might answer "our existing program" without questioning the value of the learning experience being delivered to students, i.e. 1-to-1 versus anytime, anywhere learning. As the vision of every child having access to his or her own personal portable computer becomes more real, and common, not enough questions are being asked about the vision for learning that should underpin any initiative.

Answers to the following questions might be a good starting point to determine the impact such an initiative is really having on your students' learning, and whether it is truly worth sustaining.  Are current learning activities simply replicas of those done before, but done now with technology?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the questions below, as well as any additional topics you might like to add:

Lifelong Learning

By Susan Einhorn, Executive Director

Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation

 

 

 My column this month is designed to be an introduction of sorts.  The first introduction (or renewed introduction) is to the AALF website tools and some of the resources available there.  

 

I had an interesting and lively discussion recently with a young man who is studying to become an architect (maybe it was more of a 'lively listen' on my part).  While his enthusiasm for his chosen career path was obvious, one of his comments was particularly interesting when he compared the job of an architect to that of a teacher. "I think architects must be like good teachers.  Both design something that offers support, have the opportunity to change lives but may be taken for granted, and should be around for a long time."  This young man comes from a family of teachers and he has listened to 'teacher talk' for years, so his comment, when put in context, was quite appropriate.  I recognize that his comparison is not unique or the result of living in the Web 2.0 world, but it did get me thinking about the tools architects and educators use and the resources on which they depend in carrying out their work. 
 
Our AALF website is designed to be one of the tools on which 1-to-1 educators can depend.  A wealth of resources are available by clicking on the 'Resources' link.  Several more clicks on the left navigation bar (Education Topics) will lead you to resources that will help you in designing your mission, vision, goals and objectives, becoming more knowledgeable about 21st century learners, or learning about the relevance and need for 1-to-1 learning environments. The AALF website will change in upcoming months so that we can offer more support to all Foundation members.
 
The second introduction is to one of our AALF coaches.  AALF coaching and consulting is designed to provide ongoing support for educators and policy makers at the school, district, state or country level.  AALF coaches and consultants represent a broad range of experts who are knowledgeable and experienced in designing and implementing highly effective 1-to-1 learning programs.  Joe Hofmeister, one of our coaches, embodies these qualities.  Be sure to read his article below to find out why he is such a great support provider for educators.  You can also learn more about AALF coaching support in our April Newsletter and on our website. 

 

Have a great month!

 

Karen

 
When we launched our 1-to-1 program at Cincinnati Country Day in the fall of 1996, there were no footprints to follow and there were plenty of people to say it couldn't be done. We were the first school in the country to institute a large-scale program, one that involved all students in grades 5-12 and all teachers. Families were required to purchase a new laptop at the beginning of fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades. Looking back now, it is difficult to even imagine the way life was then.  Princess Diana was alive and well, laptops were rare and in the hands of top executives only, no one had ever heard of an iPod, and 802.11 was just a weird series of digits. 
 
It was this last piece that now looks earthshakingly absent to me.  Imagine a world where the term wireless was just an old fashioned way of describing a radio.  Networks were all hard wired, if they existed at all. And though 'hard' was the term used to describe the wires strung throughout a building (and a very few schools), it was also a hard life for the teachers making the effort to integrate the new laptops into their classes by connecting them to the network.  Picture this classroom: 20 students each equipped with a laptop and a 15 foot Ethernet cable. In the center of the room there is a 24 port hub and spread around the room are three homemade power strips each holding eight electrical outlets.  The lesson plan included connecting everyone to a particular internet site, one that the teacher had researched and found valuable to their lesson.   So students dutifully connected their Ethernet cables to the hub and their electrical cords to the outlets, trying hard not to trip over all the wires now on the floor.  It took courage and a belief in the inevitability of technology-fueled change that led teachers to deal with what now looks like a nightmarish scenario. But deal with it they did, and the school is now reaping the rewards of their innovative spirits.  

 

After we survived our first year with the 1-to-1 laptop program, I remember being asked by our head of school, Dr. Charles Clark, to summarize the changes that were taking place in the school because of the 1-to-1 program.  Always a visionary pedagogue, Dr. Clark said he wanted the big picture, the overall changes, and the changes that were affecting the intellectual life of the school. Many conversations later, I outlined what seemed to me the most important changes that had occurred in the school's learning landscape.  The two most significant changes had to do with information and communication, two critical learning areas in any school. 
 
When a 1-to-1 program is in place, information takes on new dimensions.  It is more easily accessed, its evaluation becomes more critical, its sources are much more diverse, and the perception of its meaning changes.  Ownership of the information is democratized and its validity is no longer simply a matter of trust in a text or an authority.  The canonicity of text disappears as the credibility of information is no longer simply dependent on its appearance in a textbook. 
 
Inside the school, communication blossoms like spring flowers (and sometimes like spring weeds!).  Communication between students and teachers as well as between students and other students grows quickly as the convenience and availability of email make these kinds of connections important in the school's daily life.  Teachers are able to give and receive assignments electronically, and the bar rises for expectations of all written work. Communication between members of the school community and the world outside the school opens relational possibilities that simply didn't exist prior to the 1-to-1 program.  Far-flung relatives seem much closer and Grandma is no longer someone students talk to only on holidays. Information sources and other schools are now collaborators of far greater potential, for students as well as teachers.
 
These changes, sparked by the implementation of a 1-to-1 program, are themselves changing and deserve much more discussion.  The changes tend to occur without administrative mandate and almost develop a life of their own.  It's fun to work in a 1-to-1 school, but a challenge as well.  Nothing is ever final.  Rather it is a continual rehearsal, followed by rounds of tweaking and improvements. 

 

~*~*~*~*~

 

Joe Hofmeister is a highly experienced educational technology consultant.  He has particularly been involved with schools that are either starting a 1-to-1 program or that find themselves needing to get their laptop learning program back into high gear.  As long-term technology director at Cincinnati Country Day School, he led the school's pioneering efforts with one of the nation's first immersions into a laptop program in which every student from grades 5-12 was required to purchase a laptop and have it available at school every day. Cincinnati Country Day was one of the first groups to be honored by Microsoft as a "Center of Excellence" and hundreds of teachers and administrators have attended three-day workshops at the school to see firsthand how the school has integrated ubiquitous technology on campus.  

Joe has spoken at many conferences and seminars and has been on advisory boards at Apple, Microsoft, Toshiba and the Bertelsmann Foundation.  He has co-authored eight books for classroom integration of technology and has contributed chapters and articles to a number of other publications. Along with serving as an AALF consultant and coach, he is presently a member of the NAIS Technology Task Force and recently was invited to take part in Ohio's Institute on Creativity and Innovation in Schools.

 

 

It's all about perspective, that personal view one brings to every situation.  Consistent and constant access to one's own personal laptop computer coupled with internet connectivity changes the perspective one brings to the learning environment.  Unlike desktop computers, laptops are about transparency.  The individual determines when, where, and for what task the laptop is best used.  It becomes one's paper and pencil; a tool for recording thoughts, manipulating data, doodling with ideas, and transmitting information to another person.

 

A laptop with internet connectivity changes the nature of collaboration.  No longer restricted to a physical location, group projects can take form in a virtual space with information transmitted among the group members.  Add a network to the picture and now we have a common space for 'class' to occur.  Truly, no longer constrained by the traditional four walls of the classroom, class meets in a virtual location-asking questions of classmates electronically, downloading lessons, submitting homework, engaging in electronic discussions-each individual 'arriving in class' based on their own schedule. 

 

 

In the course of my technology-learning journey, it has become apparent to me that four factors are essential in order to sustain meaningful change.

The third is professional development for teachers that focuses on using these tools within the context of curriculum and individual needs. Our professional development model has evolved over the years to include a combination of 'just in time learning' and 'just in case learning', a descriptor borrowed from Peter Crawley.  The 'just in time' sessions address an immediate need; the 'just in case' sessions provide an opportunity to seed ideas for the future.  Regardless of the type of session offered, we have found that professional development which is led by fellow faculty members is a powerful motivator for learning.  Each of these professional development sessions follows a common model.  The focus is on the curriculum and the creation of new possibilities for learning, communicating, and/or accessing information.  The sessions begin with a hands-on introduction to an aspect of an application or digital tool.  Faculty are then given time to explore and/or experiment with this new possibility.  Questions for help are answered by anyone in the room.  Before the end of each session, the participants brainstorm potential uses of these new tools within their respective disciplines.

 

The fourth is administrative and parental support for teachers and students engaged in discerning new ways to interact, to exchange ideas, to communicate, to grapple with ideas, and to access information.

 

The infusion of laptops into Forest Ridge has changed the way in which we communicate, collaborate, and access information.  It has changed our perspective about how we see ourselves as a community of learners.  Every day offers a new discovery, a new insight into learning.  School, no longer contained within four walls, has added a virtual dimension that offers new possibilities for teaching and learning.  Our teachers now work in a global classroom.  It's just a matter of perspective, that way in which we view the world around us.

 

Anytime Anywhere Learning and Teaching Academy

The Anytime Anywhere Learning and Teaching Academy will help you build your in-school digital pedagogical coaching team.  The AALT Academy focuses on developing and supporting peer coaching skills and exploring curriculum in new ways in order to develop a 1-to-1 pedagogy. Designed for schools that already have or are beginning 1-to-1 learning and for those who have had 1-to-1 in place for a few years and want to re-ignite the pedagogical fires, the Anytime Anywhere Learning and Teaching Academy is also an excellent first-step when initiating an AALF coaching plan. The next AALT Academy will be held  October 22-24, 2008, in New Hope, PA. For more information and online registration for the Anytime Anywhere Learning and Teaching Academy, click AALTA - PA.