Defining The Digital Divide in my Community

EDUC 5353 - Week 1

For our Week 1 blog post in EDUC 5353, we are asked to introduce ourselves, make connections between readings, resources, and our community, and define the community we will focus our studies on for this course - Learning Technologies to Bridge the Digital Divide.

Introduction/About Me

My name is Haylee Carroll. I am currently an educator in Carrollton, TX, a suburb of Dallas-Fort Worth, and have been an educator for thirteen years. I've taught math, science, PE, health, and a variety of electives. I'm currently pursuing my a Master's in Education: Curriculum & Instruction - Educational Technology. This is my 2nd course in a series of ten.

The Digital Divide

The readings we were provided all focus on access (at home and/or at school) and use of technology (purpose and skill level) and the differences afforded to people based on location (urban or rural), age, gender, race/ethnicity, level of education (of parents for minors), and income. Van Dijk (2017) discusses how the digital divide was mainly an issue of physical access to a computer, software, and internet in the early years of digital divide research (1999-2002), and then transitioned more to an issue of how technology is used during daily life from 2005-2015. He uses the term "deepening divide" to describe this second level of the digital divide. Since most digital skill acquisition happens as a result of need and use of technology, if a user doesn't have access to current/relevant technologies they won't become skilled in its use. Van Dijk also found that those with higher education levels tended to use technologies more for work, career, and studying, while those with lower education levels tended to use technologies for entertainment, shopping, and messaging. 

KewalRamani, et al. (2018) reveal that physical access is increasing, with mobile device access is climbing faster than high-speed/broadband internet access. While lower-income families are making gains in having internet access, there was still a 33% gap in 2015 between those in the lowest income range and those in the highest income range, closing from a 51% gap in 2010. While Black and Hispanic families show the lowest access, it seems to be income that is the driving force to allowing access.

Turner-Lee (2018) focused on family location for her research, finding that those in more rural areas and with lower income have lower access. Again though, I feel that it connects back to income as the defining variable since people living more remotely tend to have lower incomes overall.  

I feel that if appropriate devices and high-speed internet access can be made more accessible, we will see an increase in technology use for educational purposes. Many people with mobile access only focus on using apps on their mobile devices - those tend to be for entertainment. Users with high-speed access tend to have access to a non-mobile device, desktop, laptop, or Chromebook and are more able to easily access educational information. Chromebooks provide an inexpensive platform to access high-speed internet. If we can make high-speed internet less expensive/more accessible, we can potentially help those in the lowest income levels close the gap in the "deepening divide" Van Dijk (2017) described.

My focus area for this course will include the campus/district where I currently teach 7th grade science - DeWitt Perry Middle School in Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (C-FB ISD). We are located in a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: Carrollton, TX. C-FB ISD spans parts of Dallas, Denton, and Collin counties. The Texas Education Agency report card provides the demographic and performance information that follows (2017–18 School Report Card 2018).

Student Population - 1,030

        Campus / District / State

• 96.4% / 95.5% / 95.7% Attendance Rate (2016-17)
• 79.7% / 56.0% / 52.4% Hispanic
• 8.2% / 11.5% / 4.4% Asian
• 6.6% / 12.9% / 27.8% White
• 3.2% / 16.4% / 12.6% African American
• 2.1% / 2.8% / 2.3% Two or More Races
• 0.2% / 0.3% / 0.4% American Indian
• 0.0% / 0.1% / 0.1% Pacific Islander
• 78.3% / 64.1% / 58.8% Economically Disadvantaged
• 45.7% / 29.3% / 18.8% English Learners
• 10.5% / 11.1% / 9.1% Special Education
• 7.0% / 15.8% / 16% Mobility

2018 Performance Rating

• Overall: Met Standard
• Student Achievement: Met Standard
• School Progress: Met Standard
• Closing the Gaps: Met Standard
• Distinctions Received in 7 of 7 categories: Academic Achievement in English Language Arts (ELA)/Reading, Academic Achievement in Mathematics, Academic Achievement in Science, Academic Achievement in Social Studies, Comparative Academic Growth, Comparative Closing the Gaps, and Postsecondary Readiness

Our campus is predominantly Hispanic and Economically Disadvantaged, and has over twice the percentage of English Learners as the state of Texas and over 50% more than C-FB ISD overall.

Community Profile 

The City of Carrollton claims a diverse local economy (City of Carrollton, TX) and boasts recognition in 19 different "Best of" and "Top of" type lists supported by local businesses, associations, and societies. While Carrollton holds several accolades that make it attractive to prospective residents, there is certainly a need felt by the large quantity of lowest socioeconomic status (SES) members - note 78.3% of Perry students mentioned above. 

Focus of Study

I plan to focus my Digital Divide study on the students served by the DeWitt Perry Middle School (DPMS) campus. In a previous course, EDUC 5373 - Innovative Leadership for the Digital Age Learning Environment, I focused my Technology Integration Plan on incorporating access to students of DPMS. I would like to continue my focus on the students I interact with every week and that we serve on my campus so I can help improve their quality of access. 

Citations

Human & Physical Resource Inventory

**I'm not sure how I managed to NOT post this with my initial Needs Assessment. I'm going to post it now, as my EDUC 5373 class is coming to a close. 

Technology Resource Inventory

As part of our Technology Needs Assessment, we also created a Resource Inventory. Again, I will focus on my campus for this initial information.

Human Resources

• On-campus Technology Specialist - responsible for device maintenance and repairs; may also assist with local connection issues
• Technology Integration Specialist - responsible for assisting teachers in small groups or one-on-one with selecting appropriate tools for instruction
• Digital Learning Project "Googler" - responsible for implementing Google's Digital Learning Project protocols to identify challenges, propose solutions, and implement strategies to close those gaps
• Librarian - responsible for cataloging technology devices and processing repair requests
• Teachers - responsible for designing curriculum and delivering instruction for their specific content areas
• Administrators - responsible for decisions about technology procurement
• Students - responsible for learning curriculum delivered by teachers and using technology to enhance and share that learning

Physical Resources

• Chromebooks - one per staff member and one per student
• Desktops - one per staff member and 4 computer labs (each with approximately 25 desktops)
• Document Cameras - one per teacher
• Interactive White Boards (IWB) - one per teacher
• Laptops - approximately 50
• iPads - approximately 50
• Calculators - approximately 350
• ProbeWare - 9 class sets

Reflection on Technology Integration for 21st Century Learners

As I complete my first graduate school course, my final assignment is a reflection about technology integration for 21st Century Learners. 

This course has certainly opened my mind to a broader view than my island of a classroom. I chose to develop a plan to integrate technologies into our whole campus.  I feel that my experiences in this course have better prepared me to discuss options and help implement a new technology integration on my campus. Diving into all the resources, professional development, planning, budgeting, collaboration, and assessment of the plan was a bit overwhelming at times but very educational. This process has shown me many of the intricacies that I had previously not even known to consider.

As a teacher, we frequently hear of a particular device or piece of software and wonder why our campus isn't using it. Now, I know that not only is cost a factor, but a long-term view has to be evaluated, as well as how much training it would take to implement. Since teachers need instruction and time to adequately plan, it's important to have enough time and resources to train teachers far enough in advance that they're comfortable using the technology and they have time to integrate it into their lessons. At the top of my list for successful technology integration: having engaging PD sessions with options that meet teachers' individual needs and allows time to practice and plan. We can also use this learning model for our teachers to guide instruction for our students - meeting their individual needs with the assistance of appropriate technologies and allowing time for them to practice and collaborate with their peers while their teachers provide guidance.


One piece of research I read by McKnight, et al., Teaching in a Digital Age: How Educators Use Technology to Improve Student Learning (2016), found six instructional strategies used by teachers when integrating technology:

1. communication and information management
2. direct instruction of content
3. access and accommodations
4. collaboration
5. research, exploration, and creativity
6. assessment and feedback 

These six strategies were found to be supported by five roles of teaching and learning:

1. improve access - This should allow students to have access to digital information anytime and anywhere and should differentiate their instruction to meet their level and needs.
2. enhance communication and feedback - This means timely feedback is given and instruction is adjusted to meet the needs of students. Multiple modes of communication can be used - email, chat, forum, face-to-face...
3. restructure teachers' use of time  - This transforms the teacher into a coach or guide instead of a source of information. Less direct instruction is needed and allows for more small-group and one-on-one discussion and assistance.
4. extend purpose and audience for student work - Students can now actively find information and share their creations with classmates and people around the world. Teachers that have their students write for a larger audience have found that their students seem to put more effort into their work, claiming that they want to look like they know what they're talking about.
5. shift teacher and student roles - Teachers shift to the role of facilitators instead of information sources and students shift to researchers and evaluators instead of consumers being spoon-fed information.

My take away from this article is that technology use without sound instructional methods embedded in lessons is just a digital babysitter. We must have sound pedagogy in place and support our learning objectives with technologies that are appropriate for the task to be completed. This is where collaboration is key. Nurturing our Professional Learning Communities and growing them to include sources from all around the globe can only give us access to more information and experiences that we can use in our daily instruction of students, which will benefit both us and our students.



Citation

Mcknight, K., O'malley, K., Ruzic, R., Horsley, M. K., Franey, J. J., & Bassett, K. (2016). Teaching in a Digital Age: How Educators Use Technology to Improve Student Learning. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 48(3), 194-211. doi:10.1080/15391523.2016.1175856

Technology Integration for Learning

Supporting the learning of teachers and students is the primary goal of technology integration in education. For our Week 5 post, I'm going to focus on providing answers to the prompts about teachers' professional learning.

Teachers' Professional Learning

What structures and practices are already in place in your community to support professional learning?

My campus & district already implement several practices that support the professional learning of educators. 

• Weekly PD on Thursdays given by peers; with a rotating schedule of literacy, AVID, technology, and a book study (Currently: Teach Like a Champion)
• Leadership committees - there are a variety to select from to join at the start of the year; at least 1 is required per teacher
• Summer PD with many choices for educators to select from
• Online PD to extend skills; most courses don't offer actual PD credits though
• Peer coaching
• Administrative support to investigate and implement new technologies

What practices show promise for adoption in your community to support professional learning?

• Teacher Technology Leaders - Some teachers have moved up to Digital Learning Specialist positions, but there aren't enough to have one on each campus. Allowing teachers to step into this role to have a person available throughout the day would be amazing!
• Getting feedback more often - either from peers or from administrators - would be helpful, especially for newer teachers. The more feedback we get, the more we can adjust our practices to improve learning.
• Learning Portfolios - Having teachers present a record at their summative conference of all the training they participate in throughout the year would be very revealing. Both the teacher and administrator would be able to reflect on the learning that happened and discuss what was effective and where there is more opportunity for growth.

Identify synchronous and asynchronous opportunities to develop or grow a professional learning community.

Synchronous - Many of these afford opportunities to grow your PLC face-to-face since you get to participate with people outside of your campus.

• Summer Training/PD Opportunities - the whole district participates
• Start/Mid-Semester PD Sessions - department & campus-level sessions
• Weekly PD - all participants share a planning time
• Committee Meetings - a mix of educators from the entire campus with a shared passion for the selected committee 

Asynchronous - While you can still grow your PLC with these, they require more effort to stay up-to-date due to their formats.

• Twitter - subscribe to content you are interested in; join live chats or participate after by responding to prompts; many great resources
• Webinar - can be done live, but some prefer to watch the playback so they can pause if needed; can still be involved with discussion after the fact
• Facebook Groups - a great way to build relationships with people; opportunities to join groups that have similar interests/goals
• Discussion Boards/Forums - easy to share and find information; many topics to choose from
• Blogs - a great way to see other perspectives and get feedback on ideas
• E-mail - can be used to communicate with one or more people; great for private discussions

How will you plan for successful professional learning activities and network development?

• Gather feedback from educators about what format and topics they'd prefer to learn about.
• Allow educators to choose what they attend, with the understanding that they must attend something and know they will walk away with tools to increase learning.
• Offer the same topic at different levels so beginners, mid-level, and advanced learners are all challenged.
• Offer sessions during designated PD time and before/after school.
• Record sessions or have presentations available for asynchronous use if needed. (Someone is always absent.)
• Ensure there is time for educators to practice their new skills while help is available.
• Offer information for who to contact if further help is needed after the session.
• Encourage teachers to use social media tools in a professional manner: Blogs, Chats, Forums, Hangouts, Twitter, Skype, Google+, Pinterest... 
• At the beginning of the year, ask educators to share the topic and presenter info for any summer PD they attended and enjoyed; same for any books they read. Create a PD Sharing Sheet (and share with all staff) by having educators complete a Google Form to populate the list with opportunities & brief summaries for others to look into for the future. Continue asking participants to update this list as they attend worthwhile events.
• Use information gathered on the PD Sharing Sheet to consider for potential PD ideas or presenters.

Citations

Technology Integration Plan - Moving Beyond the Vision

Last week, in my Innovative Leadership course, we were asked to compare and contrast Technology Integration Plans (TIP). We also started developing the Vision and Goals for our TIP. In week 4, we are asked to continue developing our plan.

What I have from last week:
Campus Technology Vision Statement
Campus educators will create a technologically rich learning environment to prepare students for a rapidly evolving global society through authentic learning experiences and seamlessly integrated technology in order to develop highly skilled digital learners.

Campus Technology Mission Statement
Campus administrators and educators will facilitate the seamless integration of technology into all areas of the campus, including student learning, the learning environment, operations, and interactions with the community.

Goals for Technology Integration Plan
Goal 1: Each student will show growth toward their individual goals.
Goal 2: Educators and administrators will ensure students and educators have equitable access to technology and the supports necessary for success.
Goal 3: Administrators will ensure appropriate technologies are utilized to support the efficient operations of the campus, especially concerning student data and communications.
Goal 4: Administrators and educators will encourage support and participation of community stakeholders as it relates to technology initiatives.

I'm working on my action plan now, and hope to start on the Professional Development Plan and Budget soon.

Guiding my work are several readings that were shared with us - cited below. The 10 Practices for High Achieving Schools and IDEALS discussed in Networking for Professional Learning Communities (O'Hair et al, 2005) overlap each other quite a bit. Three of the 10 Practices resonate with me immediately: #1 Shared Value System, #2 Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, and #5 Teacher Collaboration. These overlap with the Leadership (shared), Authenticity, and Discourse in IDEALS.

The 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update considers Learning, Teaching, Leadership, Assessment, and Infrastructure to be the areas of focus when integrating technology in education.

In chapter 10 of Renewed Accountability for Access and Excellence, (Shannon & Cate, 2015) discuss technology support for teachers being a sticking point as some teachers resent being pulled from class for technology PD while others don't want to show their skills for fear of their time being consumed by those wanting help. They also address how important it is to have support available on campus, as close to on-demand as possible.

There is SO MUCH to consider when implementing even a small change in technology. These resources certainly provide a good start!

Citations

Technology Integration Plan Options

In week 3 of my Innovative Leadership course, we are asked to compare and contrast Technology Integration Plans. We were provided 5 samples to examine:

• Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust/K20 Partnership - 2019 Grant Application Guidelines
• California K-12 Education - Technology Plan Template, Criteria, and Guiding Questions
• NYSED - 2018-21 Instructional Technology Plan Framework and Guidance
• Scientific Learning - District/School Technology Plan Template
• Hanover Research - The Digital Divide: Technology Integration in School Districts

The OETT/K20 Application, CK12 Template, and NYSED Framework are all comprehensive and very detailed. The OETT/K20 Application provides a list of guiding questions and lists requirements and the process for application submission. OETT/K12 also offers a scoring guide for the 11 criteria by which the application is evaluated. The NYSED Framework provides a step-by-step guide on completing their online application, including what the options will be for specific questions with drop-down menus or multiple-selection items. NYSED also provides additional guidance about where information might be found and what information appropriate responses might include. The CK12 Template provides gridded examples of adequate and inadequate details in a plan. CK12 goes into further detail by providing more specific questions and examples of what might be included in each response category.

The Scientific Learning Template provides a very basic fill-in form and checklist to self-evaluate the proposed plan. I feel like this form would be appropriate for a teacher to use to submit a proposal to their principal, or for a team to have individuals complete before comparing thoughts on a plan - overall a great starting point.

The Hanover Research Brief provides a succinct 5-step process and a diagnostic tool: 

1. Set Vision 
2. Develop a Technology Integration Plan
3. Provide Tailored Professional Development
4. Integration into Daily Instruction
5. Evaluate Technology Integration
   
   Diagnostic: 21st-Century Digital Learning Model Assessment

The infographics used by Hanover Research make their Brief easy to read and make it more friendly than the text-heavy guides developed by others. Hanover Research also provides exemplars and makes sure to include acronym explanations, that other developers assume readers already know. The 7-question diagnostic tool is also very user-friendly. This Brief would be a great way to engage stakeholders with the process.

When developing a Technology Integration Plan, we must involve a variety of stakeholders and maintain their engagement throughout the implementation of the Plan. Sheninger (2014) shares that 2-way communication is now the preferred method of communication and is elevated over paper mail, paper or digital newsletters, websites, and even email. He recommends using free social media applications to engage stakeholders and to direct them to resources that provide more details. Developing and sharing how-to documents and infographics for stakeholders to have guidance on the use of the social media tools of choice is also critical since not all of them already know how to create or use accounts for the wide variety of social media tools available. Interacting in this hyper-digital format requires leaders and organizations to have professional accounts with each provider. In addition to creating professional accounts, Sheninger (2014) also recommends holding workshops for stakeholders, sharing accomplishments of both students and teachers, curating resources for stakeholders, and dedicating a phone line for stakeholders with a service like GoogleVoice.

Gura (2018) provides there are ten roles of a Digital Change Agent: evangelist, advocate, great explainer, myth buster, coach, praise singer, vision quester, grand organizer, leader, and change agent. Being all of these sounds exhausting, but the TEACH method, shared by Julianne B. Ross-Kleinmann in (Gura, 2018), and the guiding question, "What technology can enhance this lesson?" (Gura, 2018, p.68) will be helpful to anyone filling any of the above roles. Add the idea that digital leadership "focuses on finding innovative solutions to deliver authentic learning experiences and support to continuously provide the best learning opportunities for students" (Sheninger, 2014, p.177), and I believe we have great tool-set to use when trying to initiate and implement digital changes.

Build Trust

Create Equity

Advocate on Their Behalf

Collaborate with Them

Be Humble and Infuse Humor

Citations

Technology Needs Assessment Thoughts

Technology Needs Assessment - I feel I need to start small, and build from there. I will focus on instructional staff and students on our middle school campus to start.

Things to consider:

• Time teaching/Age of student
• Time teaching varies 
• Age of students - 11-15 
• Current hardware used & suitability for instruction/learning
• Teacher desktops & connected Interactive White Boards (IWB)
• Chromebooks (teachers & students) 
• Current software used & suitability for instruction/learning
• Microsoft Office (teacher desktops only) and Google Suite 
• Variety of apps and other software 
• Connectivity available on campus for devices
• Mostly wireless; few hard-wired labs; teacher desktops hard-wired

Time teaching/Age of student

Our innovators are typically our more experienced teachers (5+ years teaching), most teachers in their 1st or 2nd year of teaching are trying to stay afloat for the first few years. A few of our most experienced teachers (15+ years teaching) are happy to keep doing the same as they have have been for the last many years. Fortunately, most teachers are willing to try new technology, and many welcome it. We need an advocate for new technologies that can clearly explain, demonstrate, and help teachers try it so they can experience how it can be utilized in the classroom. Having a teacher on every campus, willing to continuously learn and share new technologies, and dedicated to providing that support to teachers would be amazing. 

Some students coming to the middle school setting consider themselves pros when it comes to technology, and others have hardly had access to devices. One thing I've noticed that most students can work on is their typing skills. They're so used to typing with their thumbs that they haven't bothered to learn how to use a keyboard. With students, we also need to be concerned with accessibility and privacy since some sites require students need to be 13+ or have parent permission.

Hardware

Our campus could use more devices capable of photographing student work - hand-held devices like phones or tablets. Many of our students don't have personal devices. Also, we frequently have students that use one assignment for more than one class. If they turn it in for one class though, it's not available for the other. If they could take a decent photo of the assignment they could turn in a digital copy and keep the original for themselves, or vice versa. Each students could also use earbuds/headphones with mic and a mouse. It would also be helpful to have charging stations available in common areas. 

Our 10-15 year-old teacher desktops are ancient in technology terms! I reboot my computer each morning and it slows to unresponsive almost daily. Since it's so unreliable I tend to use it only for projecting to the IWB - which isn't really all that interactive because of the slowness of my desktop. 

Software

Do we really need to pay for Microsoft Office or Canvas when Google Suite is available for free, and it auto saves? Surprisingly, some teachers don't even know about Google Suite and that it is free and accessible anywhere! If we are going to have our students working in Google Suite, our teachers need to learn it too.

App use varies by department and teacher. The most frequent complaint of teachers is that students are off-task, playing games. Monitoring software has been discussed on our campus. Our hard-wired computer labs have software so the teacher can monitor use and even close tabs/windows on student devices from their teacher desktop. Something like this could certainly be useful in ensuring students are working on assigned material instead of playing games. However, would it end up making the teacher a desk-jockey and inhibiting face-to-face interaction with students?

Connectivity

Most days, our connections are sufficient for those of us that consistently have students use their Chromebooks in class. The only times I've noticed any problems are when we are doing school-wide testing or surveys online. We may need a bit of an upgrade to be sure we can consistently accommodate all 1100 students and staff on our campus simultaneously.

Summary of Needs

• Advocate willing to train teachers on new technologies
• Students to be taught/practice keyboarding 
• Photo-friendly student devices
• Efficiency accessories for students
• Teacher desktop upgrades
• Transition to Google Suite
• Solution ideas for off-task behavior
• Increase bandwidth to accommodate 1100+ full-time users

I will also be conducting a Technology Survey with stakeholders on my campus. I'll post those results later.