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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the March edition of the AALF newsletter. This month we are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of 1-to-1! The story of 1-to-1, like any good story, has an interesting cast of characters. It includes a visionary school leader, Principal David Loader, and a few daring teachers, such as Steve Costa and a year later, Adam Smith, who, believing that technology would empower their students, began a laptop program with the girls in Year 5 at Methodist Ladies College (MLC) in Melbourne, Australia. They were guided by the vision of Seymour Papert of MIT and received invaluable support from educator-turned-entrepreneur Bruce Dixon who figured out the model for 1-to-1 and how to support it in the school, and who eventually brought the idea to North America. Along the way, they were helped by other educators willing to take some risks in order to bring about substantive changes in education. To read the whole story, check out Never Mind the Laptops, by Bob Johnstone. This issue reflects upon the developments of the past twenty years. It includes an insightful editorial from Bruce Dixon, now AALF's President, who focuses on the 20 year journey of 1-to-1 , and an article by Susan Einhorn, Executive Director of AALF, who writes about what has and hasn't changed over the past two decades. There are also articles by one of the first 1-to-1 teachers from MLC, Adam Smith, who shares his thoughts on the conditions set by MLC that led to success; Leon Guss, current Director of Computing and Multimedia at MLC, who discusses 20 years of 1-to-1 computing at the school; and by Joe Hofmeister and Charles Clark who share their thoughts on the necessity of risk-taking. Also included in this month's newsletter are some of our regular features: Survey Says, and Share Your Expertise.
We are collecting stories of 1-to-1 laptop learning from the last 20 years. To share your story with the AALF community send it to us by clicking here.
Click on the link at the end of each article to read it in its entirety on our website. You can comment or add your stories to any of these articles. We would love to hear from you!
Enjoy!
Follow us on Twitter @AALF
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Institute Announcement
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TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO REGISTER FOR AALF INSTITUTES!
NEXT STEPS INSTITUTES:
'We've Got Laptops- Now What?!
April 13- 22, 2010
Laptops + EL Students = A Winning Combination
May 11-20, 2010
21 STEPS to 21st CENTURY LEARNING ONLINE INSTITUTES:
Implementation
May 4- June 8, 2010
Click here for more information on any of the above AALF Institutes.
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President's Message
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REPOSITORIES, RUBRICS AND PORTALS
Bruce Dixon, President of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, reflects upon and celebrates the 20 year journey that individual leaders have taken in regard to 1-to-1 education. He shares how this realization of Seymour Papert's vision would not be possible without the hard work and sacrifice of true believers. Click here to read his thoughts.
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AALF Leadership: Executive Director's News and Thoughts
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TWO DECADES OF CHANGE
Susan Einhorn, Executive Director of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, discusses how quickly 20 years can pass by. She asks how has the spread of ubiquitous access to technology over the past 20 years changed our view of learning? How will these new tools and the changed expectations of today's youth - tomorrow's parents - change our vision of what school should be? Click here to learn more about Susan's take on 1-to-1's 20th anniversary.
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1-to-1 Teaching and Learning
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RE-THINKING EARLY LAPTOP EXPERIENCES
 Adam Smith, one of the teachers from Methodist Ladies' College who led the first 1-to-1 classes, asks what can be learned, 20 years later, from his experiences in the first 1-to-1 classrooms. He touches upon three points concerning the conditions at MLC that enabled such an innovative classroom culture. With the benefit of hindsight, he outlines certain outcomes and behaviors that were not foreseeable, but were beneficial to the development of the program. Click here to read Adam's unique 20 year perspective.
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1-to-1 Leadership and Learning
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REFLECTIONS ON 20 YEARS OF 1-to-1 AT METHODIST LADIES' COLLEGE
Leon Guss, Director of Computing and Multimedia at Methodist Ladies' College in Melbourne, Australia, provides a view from today, discussing the origins of 1-to-1 computing in 1989 at his school; in addition to a number of changes the program has had to make in the wake of burgeoning technologies and innovations, MLC has also maintained various key, successful structures. Click here to read more about the history of the 1-to-1 program at Methodist Ladies' College.
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Polls and Results
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SURVEY SAYS
Although we realize you may have several reasons for this, what is the main reason you have or will be providing each of your students with a laptop? Let us know by 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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Questions from the Community
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SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE
 If you have any experience or thoughts on the question below, please respond by following the link to the discussion boards!
If your school is conducting research around your 1-to-1 initiative, what type of research is it? How can you use your research to help develop innovative pedagogy?
Click here to share your expertise!
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. |
1-to-1 Leadership and Learning II
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IN PRAISE OF RISK-TAKING
 In this article, Joe Hofmeister and Charles Clark, who initiated one of the first 1-to-1 programs in the US, look back upon the years of 1-to-1 in the United States and discuss how risk, though messy and challenging, has been a necessary and vital step in seeing real change in the classroom. Specifically, Hofmeister and Clark point to a decisive risk taken by the Cincinnati Country Day School to carry out a 1-to-1 program back in 1996. Click here to read about the outcomes and effects of this risky decision.
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Online Institute Announcements
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 REGISTER NOW FOR AALF ONLINE INSTITUTES
AALF and CRSTE are happy to announce an AALF/CRSTE collaboration. Any member of CRSTE registering for an upcoming AALF Online Institute will receive a 10%
discount.
AALF 21 STEPS INSTITUTE 21 STEPS TO 21st CENTURY LEARNING ONLINE INSTITUTE- IMPLEMENTATION
If you have decided to implement a 1-to-1 student laptop learning program in your school, start by participating in the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation's 21 STEPS TO 21st CENTURY LEARNING Online Institute - IMPLEMENTATION, a 5-week virtual institute for school leaders ready to implement a 1-to-1 laptop program in their schools.
Laptop programs are part of an international move towards personalized learning, designed to increase independence and self-initiated learning in students and extend their learning beyond the classroom. Institute leader Bruce Dixon, international pioneer of 1-to-1 learning and president of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, will take you through the steps you should follow to successfully implement a student laptop program and tailor the program to your vision and your school's needs. Based on the experiences of thousands of laptop schools around the world, the 21 STEPS TO 21st CENTURY LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION steps range from building pedagogical capacity through policy decisions and deployment.
In the US/Canada: Weekly 1-hour sessions will be held every Tuesday, starting May 4th and ending June 8th, from 4 - 5 pm ET/1 - 2pm PT (US time).
(For participants in Australia, times for these same sessions would be: Every Wednesday, starting May 5th and ending June 9th, from 6-7 am EST)
Click here for more information or to register.
AALF NEXT STEPS INSTITUTES
WE'VE GOT LAPTOPS NOW WHAT?!
Registration is closing soon, sign up today!
So your school has just begun its laptop program. Now what? Where do you start and how do you begin to use laptops in your classroom? Join veteran 1-to-1 teacher and teacher coach Karen Ward and the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation as we help you answer the question "We've Got Laptops - Now What?" - a 4-session virtual course for middle school and high school educators in laptop schools.
Designed for beginning laptop teachers and school leaders, this online course provides participants with essential frameworks to organize, manage and design the learning and teaching culture for 1-to-1 classes, reflecting many of the best practices of highly effective 1-to-1 classrooms.
In the US/Canada: Twice weekly 1-hour sessions will be held on Tuesday and Thursday, starting April 13th and ending April 22nd from 7 - 8 pm ET/4 - 5pm PT (US/CAN time).
In Australia: Twice weekly 1-hour sessions will be held on Wednesday and Friday mornings, starting April 14th and ending April 23rd, from 9-10 am ET.
Click here for more information or to register.
LAPTOPS + EL STUDENTS = A WINNING COMBINATION
The laptop is a powerful tool for supporting EL students as they develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. This online institute focuses on the best practices of effective 1-to-1 teachers - practices that support EL students in their learning and achievement. 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 this online course, you will:
- Learn about 1-to-1 pedagogy and accompanying practices that result in highly effective instruction for EL students.
- Examine 1-to-1 teachers' best practice models that ensure success.
- Apply the tools provided during the session to your work.
- Apply what you learn to answering the following questions:
- How will 1-to-1 affect my EL student achievement? What changes should I make?
- What types of EL student engagement activities work best for 1-to-1 classes?
- How can I design lessons and student engagement activities that will build my EL student English language skills and understanding?
In the US/Canada: Four one hour sessions, to be held on Tuesday and Thursday starting May 11th and ending May 20th, from 5-6pm ET/2-3pm PT.
Click here for more 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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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!
MARCH 28-30, 2010
NSBA School Site Visit, Magog, Quebec
APRIL 13- 22, 2010
Next Steps Institute- We've Got Laptops Now What?!
MAY 4- JUNE 8, 2010
21 Steps to 21st Century Learning- Implementation
MAY 11- 20, 2010
Next Steps Institute- Laptops + EL Students= Winning Combination
MAY 14-15, 2010
Evolving Schools for a Whole New Mind, Munich, Germany
JUNE 27-30
June 28 is the SIG 1-to-1 forum: Supporting a 1-to-1 Environment Through the Content Areas
JULY 12-15, 2010
JULY 18-20, 2010
Lausanne Laptop Institute, Memphis, Tennesse
OCTOBER 29-31, 2010
European Laptop Institute, The Hague, Netherlands
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. | |
