Chapter+5+Reflections

Chapter 5 pp. 115 -138
== **-In Chapter 5, the authors have listed four areas (hurdles) that school districts need to get right in order to ensure success of learning networks: 1) Money, Politics, and Technology;** **2) Technical Support; 3)School Policies; 4) Resistance to Change. Discuss each of these and how your school district is c**hanging to help support network learning. == My school is going through a wealth of change as we become completely technologically immersed this next year. Money and politics always come into play, but being from a fairly well-off small farming community where, quite literally, everybody knows your name, people are very quick to support our school and provide money when it is needed. Through the use of a PPEL vote and other SILO funding, we were able to completely pay for our 1:1 computer initiative out-of-pocket. We have a very "tight" business manager who has done very well for our district over the years. It has been a stretch for him to write these new, very large checks, but it has been well worth it. Technical support has been added in that I have been hired as a full-time technology integrationist next year. This will take some of the "heat" off of our IT guy, whose main focus is fixing computers and working on network issues. My technical support will come in the way of curricular help, troubleshooting, teaching the teachers, and helping students with computer questions. With this, our school policies have changed greatly, too. Our 2 paragraph acceptable use policy of the past is now replaced by a 10 page document-in-progress that includes our 1:1 "rules" and "expectations". Also, we are experiencing a little resistance to change. It is mostly with our older, more experienced staff, but not entirely. Some of our biggest nay-sayers are people who shouldn't be. I believe once they see how powerful these tools are and have help learning more ways to use them, they will jump on board eventually.

Epilogue pp. 139 - 141
== -How do you think you can change from being a content specialist who dispenses knowledge as a commodity to a classroom facilitator who helps students grow the skills for their own learning through worldwide learning networks? == This has definitely been my biggest shift this year. While I haven't always taught with students in straight rows like some, I went this entire year with "pods" of desks to foster collaboration. Each quarter, I changed the groups. It gave them long enough to get really comfortable in sharing, but also provided for some variety and allowed for each student to be everyone by the end of the year. It was funny, the other day, I overheard a student who asked another student for an answer say, "Now, that is not collaboration. We are supposed to be working toward a solution together!" This was AWESOME to hear! I continue to roam the room, listening and looking for confusion, troubles, or a-ha moments. They see me as a facilitator now, and have learned to "ask 3 before me", which is my rule to get them talking to one another about educationally-based things. It was a big struggle at the beginning of the year, as they were pretty used to being spoon-fed their information. Now-you should see them! I am so proud of their progress and the fact that they are thinking about their own learning. I will continue to help foster this as I enter my new role, introducing teachers and students to the benefits of Twitter and other social sites. I will also continue to use ePals with various groups so they can expand their knowledge far beyond the classroom walls. We, as a district, are also focusing on AIW (Authentic Intellectual Work), which has us thinking harder about our lessons and assessments to make sure they are real-world applicable. Part of this means connecting with our community and world by sharing what we create.