Humbling experiences

 

There is nothing like an author book signing at a conference to induce humility.

 

While the children and YA author's have lines a mile long, those of us who write professional books are not so popular. In fact we are usually sort of lonely and embarrassed.

 

Being reminded that one is not the center of the universe a very good thing.

 

What humbles you?

People lining up to have a a book signed - not by me.

Men plan; god laughs

Men tracht und Gott lacht. (Men plan and god laughs.) - Yiddish proverb

The final meeting of the District Media and Technology Advisory Committee is this Thursday. Besides planning for the coming year and reviewing a proposed technology budget, we'll review this past year's departmental activities.

While we've stayed busy, met most of our objectives this year and made real progress in introducing Moodle to our staff, it still feels like we've been tinkering around the edges of how school is done rather than creating fundamental change.

Reading Bargasian's Mindshift post Amidst a Moblie Revolution in Schools Will Old Teaching Tactics Work?, I take cold comfort that fundamental changes don't seem to be happening anywhere, including districts that are spending a lot more on technology than ours does. 

For progressives who have been itching to use technology to deconstruct and redesign the current classroom model – one teacher parsing facts to 30 or more students quietly sitting at their desks who will be tested on what they can memorize – the idea of mobile learning holds great promise. Here’s an opportunity to reach every student in a meaningful way. But unless traditional teaching practices morph to adapt and fully take advantage of what mobile devices can afford, some fear the promise will go the way of all the technology collecting dust in the corner of the classroom. Worse, it might eventually lead to what everyone unequivocally dreads: the mechanization of teaching.

“I’m petrified that we’ll apply new technology to old pedagogy,”  [Elliot] Soloway said. “Right now, the iPad craze is using the same content on a different device. Schools must change the pedagogy.”

...

Soloway challenges schools to think about what they’ve gained in student achievement through the use of devices. “We are using new technology to implement old pedagogy,” he said. “We are not exploiting the affordances of the new technology to give kids new kinds of learn-by-doing activities. Flash card programs for the iPad are too numerous to count. What a waste!”

I am increasingly convinced that school change cannot and should not be "technology" driven. All changes must start from the teaching and learning side of the equation - with consultative services provided by the tech department. This is why I get very nervous when administrators and teachers go to "workshops" sponsored by Apple or Google or Microsoft or any company with a profit-driven mission. (Wouldn't that be all of them?

What district asks the important questions that Larry Cuban in Questions to Ask in Making Changes in Schools and Classroom lists below, especially when technology is involved?

I believe that it is the spirit of democracy to air and debate proposed changes in policies and practice for those affected. I believe that is practical in getting those who are expected to alter their work routines to understand the proposed change. I believe that is morally responsible for those engaged in seeking improvement to lay out answers to the following questions.

1. What are the problems you want to solve? What are your goals?
2. What assumptions are built into the change?
3. What strategies are you using to solve those problems? Are the strategies consistent with assumptions?
4. What capacities (knowledge and skills) are needed to carry out the strategies to effect change? Who has them? Where to get them?
5. What has to be done in the school and classroom for the desired policy to be completely implemented?
6. How will you know that changes worked in the short-, mid-, and long-term?

Good common sense. Man plans.

However, I do wonder if we have time to ask these questions with the rapid, often uncontrolled and uncontrollable influx of personal computing devices into schools. That may not be the sound of a smart phone, but of a god laughing somewhere.

Sorry for the ramble. Read both the articles/posts above. They're important.

BFTP: Twenty (five) interview questions

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post May 24, 2007. 

Running across this post was serendipitous since we are hiring again for this same position. Steve, Sue's replacement, is retiring this year. Much of what I wrote about Sue's and my relationship held true for the relationship Steve and I enjoyed as well. (I first worked with Steve in 1989!)

And no, I don't like hiring new people anymore now than I did five years ago.

The best indicator of future performance is past performance.

It is, hands-down, the least favorite part of my job - hiring a new person. Especially when one is replacing an old (figuratively speaking) person. Your chances of getting a bozo are real high if you aren't careful.

Sue, our Computer Coordinator, is retiring this year. I recruited and hired her the second year I was in my current position - 1992. My relationship with Sue has been one of the best and longest lasting ones I've enjoyed in my life. In a lot of ways, I suppose we are like an old married couple, knowing, accommodating and accepting each other's little idiosyncrasies. And boy, does she have a lot of them. ;-) We seem to complement each other in the department. For example, Sue really likes to work and I don't. It works out pretty well.

The job description has been revised. The candidate applications and resumes screened. The interviews scheduled. The interview team selected. Additional antacid purchased for my stomach. Did I mention this is the least favorite part of my job?

These are the qualifications I am looking for. Walking on water and turning water into wine are desired, but not required. 

1. Does the candidate have a master’s degree in library science or educational technology?
2. Does the candidate have a Minnesota teaching license license?
3. Does the candidate have three years successful teaching experience?
4. Does the candidate have school district-level job experience?
5. Does the candidate have a record of successful technology staff development experiences in K12 schools?
6. Does the candidate show knowledge of current best practices in staff development and knowledge of current technologies including Web 2.0 resources?
7. Has the candidate used technology and media resources in his/her own teaching?
8. Can the candidate articulate a vision and/or philosophy of how technology is best used in schools?
9. Does the candidate express passion/excitement about education and educational technology?
10. Is the candidate an active member of any professional educational organizations?
11. Does the candidate have a background in instructional design?
12. Has the candidate held a position in education that has required…?

•     planning
•     budgeting
•     supervisory responsibilities
•     team-building skills
•     interpersonal skills
•     communication skills
•     conflict management skills
•     working to deadline
•     initiative

In my dotage, I've come to value initiative more than any other qualification as a department manager. And in education, it seems in far too short a supply.

So that narrows the candidate field. How do we find out if our candidates have any of these qualifications? Ah, the interview questions. How do these look?

1. What do you see happening in educational technology in the next 2, 5 and 10 years?
2. How do you see your role fitting into the NCLB goals? With district goals? With building goals? With departmental goals?
3. What do you think is the most important technology tool available right now to aid teachers in improving student achievement?
4. Looking at the previous question, if you did not have this tool what process would you use to convince the school/district to obtain this tool?
5. How would you work with librarians, teachers and curriculum leaders to create a K-12 articulated information literacy curriculum that meets ISTE and MEMO standards?
6. What are the most important components to consider when evaluating a software program, app or online resource that you are considering?
7. Describe your ideal relationship with the network managers and technicians in the district.
8. Teachers need flexibility in use of computer technology.  What is your thinking on what should be readily available to teachers? How “locked down” should systems be?
9. Have you been involved in writing any grants to obtain hardware or educational software?
10. How would you to respond to in terms of solving the problems? A teacher requests that YouTube be blocked by the district filter. A teacher asks that ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) be removed from her computer. A teacher wants to use an email client other than Gmail for his e-mail. A teacher skips a required inservice. A department chair asks for new online resource that has a considerable cost.
11. What experience have you had with: MacOS, WindowsOS, Moodle/Blackboard, Interactive whiteboards, student information systems, Web 2.0 tools, iPad and other tablets, gradebook programs, datamining/data analysis systems, and web page creation tools?
12. What formal training have you had in technology applications?
13. What you do use to keep current in you area?
14. What would you like to teach teachers to do to cut down on “duh” kinds of calls? 
15. What kind of processes do you think is best in doing in-services for instructional technology?
16. Describe a technology inservice you have done recently. What things made it successful?
17. How do you deal with teachers who dislike or fear technology?
18. How does a school best determine whether is teacher is technology literate?
19. What process is most helpful to you in evaluating how well you are doing your job?
20. What do you see as your role in addressing the problem of the ethical use of instructional technology, i.e., plagiarism, copyright issues, cheating problems?
21. What ideas would you have for involving parents in the new ways students are required to do assignments?  How would you help inform parents about their student’s safety when it comes to blogging, e-mail, etc.?
22. What process would you use to keep in touch with building administrators in the area of educational technology?
23. What professional organizations do you belong to and what work may you have done for them?
24. Have you had experience in implementing 1:1 or BYOD initiatives?
25. How do stay organized?

 What else needs to be asked beside "Tell us a little about yourself" and 'What questions might you have for us?"

Personally I like giving people in interviews a chance to tell us about their successes, challenges they've faced and overcome, and show a bit of their personality. A bad fit of person with job is tough on everyone.  Did I mention this is the least favorite part of my job?

Sue will be missed, but it will also be fun having a new person on board, full, I hope, of energy, vision, and optimism about technology and education. Enough to compensate for his/her idiosyncrasies at least.