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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the September edition of the AALF newsletter. This month's issue is focused on student voice. Susan Einhorn, Executive director of AALF, writes about student voice as a means of practicing democracy; April-Hope Warham, from the Illinois Math and Science Academy discusses student computing support teams; and we also have insights from Sylvia Martinez concerning the importance of student input and participation. And, as always, there's an insightful editorial from AALF's President, Bruce Dixon, who focuses this month on professional learning. Also included in this month's newsletter are some of our regular features: What's on Your Nightstand, Survey Says, and a new Share Your Expertise. Just a reminder: you can read each article in its entirety on our website by clicking on the link at the end of the article. You can comment or add your stories to any of these articles. We would love to hear from you! Enjoy! |
AALF Announcements
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AALF ONLINE INSTITUTES
Focused, convenient, online format! Space is limited!
AALF NEXT STEPS INSTITUTE: Student-Run Help Desks- Where Do I Start?
Join Educational Technology Consultant Jane Metcalfe as she helps jump-start your student-run computer help-desk initiative! October 13- 20, 2009
Click here for more information.
AALF NEXT STEPS INSTITUTE: 'We've Got Laptops- Now What?!'
Join Karen Ward, experienced laptop teacher and coach, as you learn the best practices of highly effective 1-to-1 classes November 3- 12, 2009 Click here for more information.
21 STEPS to 21st CENTURY LEARNING ONLINE INSTITUTE- Implementation
Join AALF President Bruce Dixon, international pioneer of 1-to-1 learning, as he takes you through the steps you should follow to successfully plan and implement a student laptop program and tailor the program to your vision and your school's needs.
October 20- November 17, 2009
Click here for more information.
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AALF Announcement
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HELP BUILD THE AALpedia!
 Our AALpedia is a space where members can post, share and edit valuable information concerning 1-to-1 related topics. We need your knowledge and input. Help us grow this wiki!
Please click here to add information to a topic, or add a new one. We appreciate your help!
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AALF Leadership: Executive Director's News and Thoughts
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STUDENT VOICE, DEMOCRACY, AND 1-TO-1
By Susan Einhorn, Executive Director
Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation
 As anyone who's ever talked to a teen can attest, young people have strong opinions about many things, especially about school and their education. Why then is education too often something we do TO them rather than with them? Where is their "voice" in this process?
Recently I heard about a large-scale example of student voice being included in the process of determining what educational policy should be. In Ontario, Canada, every school board is required to include representatives from the local Student Senate, which is composed of student trustees from each high school in the board. The student trustees represent students and ensure that students' ideas and opinions are heard at the school board level. These student representatives have joined together to form the Student Trustee Organization which is, according to their website, "the largest student stakeholder in education and the voice for the student vision" and they act as consultants at the provincial Ministry of Education level. This is probably one of the most ambitious efforts in the world to listen to and heed "student voice" in the development of education policy, and over the years, they have impacted some major school reform efforts.
Click here to read more of Susan's thoughts on student voice. |
President's Message
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ANYTIME ANYWHERE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
By Bruce Dixon, President
Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation
One of the topics that heads many professional conversations
around 1-to-1 relates to workforce capacity. We've spent years creating the notion of Professional
Development, which I feel too often becomes something someone does to you,
rather than it being something for which you take responsibility.
Hence the rise of professional learning and learning
communities, which is rapidly becoming the more normal or natural means of
teachers building ongoing knowledge.
So this presents a continuum of learning opportunities for
teachers, which provides a diverse and continuous forum for their developments
as professionals.
Click here to read more about Bruce's take on professional learning.
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Resources
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WHAT'S ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND?
This month, we have asked Jim Gerry, Innovation and Intrapreneurship Director at the Illinois Math and Science Academy, to list the top ten books he'd recommend to the AALF community. In no particular order, here's what he said:  1. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein 2. Transforming Schools with Technology by Andrew A. Zucker 3. Innovation Nation by John Kao
Click here to read the rest of Jim's list. Jim Gerry is the Innovation and Intrapreneurship Director at the Illinois Math and Science Academy. He is currently in the process of setting up an online "place" for innovation in STEM education called 'CoolHub'. Through a combination of physical and virtual meeting spaces,
cool.hub.imsa will provide opportunities for collaboration and
resources that accelerate research, rapid prototyping and program
development. To learn more about Cool.Hub.imsa, click here.
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Global Storybook
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STUDENT COMPUTING SUPPORT TEAMS:
LEARNING REAL WORLD SKILLS THAT GO BEYOND THE CLASSROOM.
By April-Hope Warham
Graduate of the Illinois Math and Science Academy
 Working with and
managing the Student Computing Support (SCS) team at the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA) was the most beneficial part of my high school learning
experience. The SCS team was around
25-30 students who took care of the 650 10th-12th grade students' computers.
You see, a student can only learn so much sitting behind a
desk and doing repetitive homework problems.
An A in an AP computer science class means nothing if you don't have the
experience of an annoyed IT customer knocking on your door at eleven at night
with no knowledge of how her computer "just stopped working". Ilya Nepomnyashchiy, who I worked with for
two years and who was a manager of the SCS team for a year, explains that even though
he'd helped people in a one-to-one environment before, "I learned a lot about
processes in an environment where you have to serve 600+ customers."
Click here to learn more about IMSA's student computing support teams.
April-Hope Wareham was class of
'08 at the Illinois Math and Science Academy and just finished her
freshman year at the University of Tulsa studying computer science and
Russian studies. An SCS team member for all three years at IMSA, she
was a manager her junior and senior years.
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Polls and Results
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SURVEY SAYS
Ideally, in what grade(s) do you think a laptop program should be started? Let us know your responding to a 10-second poll we have posted on our new site (scroll down the homepage).
We will share more survey and poll results in upcoming issues, so stay tuned!
Thank you for participating!
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1-to-1 Teaching and Learning
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STUDENTS AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
By Sylvia Martinez, President
Generation YES
In m ost schools, laptop initiatives start
with a vision of improving student achievement, supporting 21st
century education, and providing new opportunities for student-centered
learning. However, when implementing a laptop program a large percentage of
time, planning and consideration often surrounds the purchasing decision. It's
important to remember that these aforementioned changes cannot be purchased.
Strong leadership, vision, and - as I will discuss here - student participation, are key to any successful laptop initiative.
In our most recent GenYES whitepaper, we discuss how students can be agents of change in any laptop
initiative, and outline ways this can be achieved. In this article, I'll share a
selection of these practical tips on including students in every aspect of your
laptop initiative.
Click here to learn more about students as agents of change.
Sylvia
Martinez, President of Generation Yes, is a veteran of interactive
entertainment and educational software industries.
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Questions from the Community
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SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE
 Do you have an example of a 1-to-1 vision statement, or advice/tips on how to construct such a statement? If so, please click here, and share your knowledge with the AALF community.
Are you implementing a 1-to-1 laptop program and struggling with a specific issue? Do you have questions about policies, communicating with parents or the community, AUPs, professional development, or any other issues that you are facing in implementing anytime, anywhere learning in your school or district?
If your answer to that question is yes, let the AALF community help. Send your questions to AALF, and we'll post them both in our newsletter and on the AALF web site. Although we may not be able to post all your questions, we'll try to post as many as we can. |
PRE-CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
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COME JOIN US AT ASB UN-PLUGGED FOR OUR PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP!
 We invite you to join AALF's pre-conference offering for schools who are interested in initiating,
building, and launching 1-to-1 Laptop/Tablet programs at the ASB Un-plugged conference on February 24, 2010 in Mumbai, India.
Bruce Dixon, 1-to-1 pioneer, and Susan Einhorn, the Executive Director
of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, will guide participants
through the complex process of envisioning and deploying a 1-to-1
program at your school. This pre-conference will help set the ground
work for building a program at your school as well as setting a context
for many of the sessions at the Un-Plugged Conference.
Registration is now open. Please click here for further information, or to register.
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| Coaches' Corner |
AALF COACHING
AALF coaches provide support for educators at all levels and, working either individually or in expert teams, coaches and consultants support educators and policy makers at every phase of their 1-to-1 initiative. This includes creating a vision, designing appropriate goals, translating plans into action, choosing the most effective technology tools and designing technology support, providing professional development opportunities, and using data to reflect on the effectiveness of their program.
Working with individual leaders and teams of educators, AALF coaches incorporate:
- Face-to-face and additional communication sessions
- Online learning opportunities
- The use of Web 2.0 online collaborative communication tools such as blogs and wikis
- Professional development support with AALF associates who are currently working in highly effective 1-to-1 schools.
For additional information regarding AALF coaching support, go to the Coaching and Mentoring Services page of our website, or contact Susan Einhorn at seinhorn@aalf.org
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AALF Next Steps InstituteS
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 NEW! AALF NEXT STEPS INSTITUTE: Student-Run Help Desks - Where Do I Start?
October 13- 20, 2009
Have
you considered
initiating a student-run help desk for your school 1-to-1 program but
don't know where to start? Are you interested in learning the benefits
of having a student-run help desk? Do you want to learn the basics of a
successful student-run
help desk? If so, come join Educational Technology Consultant Jane
Metcalfe and the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation for this virtual
course as we help you develop a student-run help desk for your school!
In the US/Canada: Twice weekly
1-hour sessions will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, starting October 13 and ending October 20, 2009, 5- 6pm EDT (US/CAN)
In
Australia: Twice weekly 1-hour sessions will be held on Wednesday and
Friday, starting October 14th and ending October 21st, 2009, 8- 9am
(AUS)
Over the course of the three, one-hour sessions, this Next Steps Institute will:
*Define your goals, both technical and pedagogical, for setting up a student help desk.
*Explore tried and true models that have addressed the goals of successful student help desks.
*Survey products that support the goals of the student run help desk.
*Identify the physical and cultural resources needed to support the help desk.
Click here for more information or to register.
AALF NEXT STEPS INSTITUTE: 'We've Got Laptops- Now What?!'
November 3-12, 2009
This
virtual course will provide participants with the opportunity to learn
about the best practices of highly effective 1-to-1 classes with a
focus on organization, pedagogy, and learning culture. The course is designed for
beginning laptop teachers and leaders, as well as for those experienced
laptop educators who want to expand their 1-to-1 knowledge and skills.
It will be led by Karen Ward, experienced laptop teacher and coach for
AALF, Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute (CVELI) at
California State University Fresno, and Springboard Schools, a
California non-profit educational organization.
In the US/Canada: Twice weekly
1-hour sessions will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, starting November
3 and ending November 12th, from 7 - 8 pm EDT/4 - 5pm PDT (US/CAN
time).
In Australia: Twice weekly 1-hour sessions will
be held on Wednesday and Friday mornings, starting November 4th and
ending November 13th, from 11- 12 am (10- 11 am Queensland) ET (AUS).
Click here for more information or to register.
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Conferences, Institutes, Academies and Events |
UPCOMING EVENTS
Check Events
on the AALF website regularly to learn of other events at which AALF leaders will be speaking or leading workshops. We look forward to seeing you there!
OCTOBER 13-20, 2009AALF Next Steps Institute: Student-Run Help Desks: Where Do I Start?
OCTOBER 20- NOVEMBER 17, 2009
The 21 Steps to 21st Century Learning Online Institute- Implementation
NOVEMBER 3- 12, 2009
AALF Next Steps Academy: 'We've Got Laptops- Now What?!'
FEBRUARY 25-27, 2010
ASB Un-Plugged: International One-to-One Learning Conference, Mumbai, India.
Organized in collaboration with the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation (AALF), the Near East/South Asia Center of Overseas Schools (NESA), and The Laptop Institute. AALF will be hosting a "21 Steps for 21st Century Learning Workshop" on February 24, 2010.
21 Steps to 21st Century Learning Online Institute Series
AALF will be hosting a 5 week online institute based on the 21 Steps to 21st Century Learning framework. For more information or to register for an institute, please click on the date below. The 21 Steps to 21st Century Learning Online Institute - Implementation provides you with a clear understanding of how to put your laptop plan into action. It covers topics such as pedagogical capacity and learning spaces, essential 1-to-1 policies, learning devices and software, preparing for parent questions and concerns, support and service, deployment, and more. This Institute is being offered one time in 2009:
October 20- November 17, 2009
4pm-5pm EDT/ 1pm-2pm PDT (US)
This institute runs one hour a week for five consecutive weeks. In addition, a one hour optional Conversations & Questions sessions will be held each week to answer any questions, and discuss ideas raised during the weekly sessions. All sessions will be held in Elluminate.
Who Should Participate:
The online institute is designed for Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Principals and other School Leaders who have made the decision to start a 1-to-1 student laptop program and are at the early stages of the planning process.
Do you have an upcoming 1-to-1 event you would like to share with other newsletter readers? Contact Justina Spencer for information on posting these events.
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| AALF Worldwide Networking |
CONTRIBUTING TO AALF
Our AALF worldwide newsletter readership continues to grow. In the past year our foundation enrollment and readers have grown to over 2,500 members. This is exciting news and certainly provides evidence about the relevance of 1-to-1 learning across continents! As our audience and support continues to grow, we are anxious to provide timely and relevant information regarding 1-to-1 learning and schools around the world. With this in mind, I would like to invite foundation members to get involved with the production of this monthly publication. There are several ways you can contribute to this important work:
- Get involved with a RTA group (Research-to-Action); these groups will continue to contribute to the '1-to-1 Leadership and Learning' column which explores 'best pedagogical practices'
- Volunteer your school to be a '1-to-1 Global Storybook Spotlight School'; this column provides an in depth look at 1-to-1 schools from the perspective of leaders, teachers, and students
- Volunteer to submit an article to an upcoming issue of the AALF newsletter.
- Volunteer your unique suggestions; suggest columns or ideas you think would benefit 1-to-1 educators around the world
Please contact Susan Einhorn (seinhorn@aalf.org or 425.223.3763) if you are interested in any of these opportunities. | |
