Category: Education

EdTech Thought Leaders To Follow In 2017

Post author By North Navigation
Post date January 30, 2017

[fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]If one thing remains the same in educational technology, it’s change. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of visionaries and mavericks to follow for thoughtful insights into trends and advances in the EdTech world.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Tom Vander Ark

CEO & Partner: Getting Smart

Tom Vander Ark is an EdTech writer, speaker and influencer. He is CEO of learning design firm Getting Smart and previously served as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Vander Ark has published thousands of articles and white papers, authored books such as Getting Smart: How Digital Learning is Changing the World and Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning.

Below is Tom Vander Ark addressing innovations in education at TedX Manhattan Beach.

Vander Ark’s passion for personalized digital learning inspires us to stay on the forefront of benefiting students through a variety of opportunities for learning.

Follow Tom Vander Ark on Twitter.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Audrey Watters

Troublemaker: Hack Education

Audrey Watters is a self-described education writer, independent scholar, serial dropout, rabble-rouser and ed-tech’s Cassandra.

Watters’ essays can be found in countless outlets and her published works include The Monsters of Education Technology, The Revenge of the Monsters of Education Technology, The Curse of the Monsters of Education Technology, and Claim Your Domain.

What Happened in Ed-Tech in 2016 (And Who Paid for It)? https://t.co/tDXKqjOYjX pic.twitter.com/dkUqTmc6Lz

— Audrey Watters (@audreywatters) December 31, 2016

Our team looks forward to getting insightful email and social media updates from Watters’ Hack Education. Her approach to analyzing and observing EdTech trends is thought-provoking and often laced with our kind of humor.

Follow Audrey Watters on Twitter.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Steve Midgley

CTO Technology Consulting: Learning Tapestry

Steve Midgley offers CTO technology consulting and development through Learning Tapestry.

Previously, Midgley consulted with the Federal Government to develop approaches including the Learning Registry and Race to the Top.

Steve has worked extensively within leading for-profit companies and within non-profit and bureaucratic organizations. He doesn’t mind stirring the pot when it’s necessary, but always as a means to move the technology and conversation forward.

Follow Steve Midgley on Twitter.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Richard Culatta

Educational Innovator

In 2012, Richard Culatta was appointed by President Obama as the Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education.

Culatta currently serves as Chief Innovation Officer for the State of Rhode Island. He has also served as an education policy advisor to U.S. Senator Patty Murray.

Below is Richard Culatta addressing personalized learning at TedX Beacon Street.

Culatta’s commitment to improving access to education and closing the achievement gap inspires us. He is driven by a personal passion for helping students succeed, and his willingness to try new things helps countless teachers and students.

Follow Richard Culatta on Twitter.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Susan Van Gundy

CEO & Founder: Eduvate

Susan Van Gundy is the former Director of Technology for the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (the PARCC Assessment Consortium), was Director of Education and Strategic Partnerships for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and Deputy Director of the NSDL Resource Center.

Susan serves on numerous educational technology and science education advisory boards and speaks frequently at conferences and workshops.

We originally partnered with Van Gundy to share NSDL resources to California teachers through Digital Chalkboard. This collaboration lead to the beginnings of the Learning Registry, a nation-wide resource repository of open educational resources. We look forward to working with Van Gundy in the future!

Find Susan Van Gundy on LinkedIn.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” gallery_id=”” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Douglas Levin

Founder & President: EdTech Strategies

Doug Levin is a trusted adviser to federal and state policymakers and education leaders. He was instrumental in developing and implementing the nation’s first education technology plan and strategy in 1996 under President Clinton, as well as its subsequent updates in 2000 and again in 2004 under President George W. Bush.

Previously, Levin held positions with the American Institutes for Research, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Amazon will now send your kids tech and science toys for $20 a month as part of new STEM club service https://t.co/DtKYz8kj06

— Doug Levin (@douglevin) January 25, 2017

We recently ran into Doug at the Open Ed Tools Symposium and it reminded us how much we value his honest approach to EdTech development and will always look forward to sharing ideas with him.

Follow Doug Levin on Twitter.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container][fusion_builder_container background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]The leadership team at Navigation North also shares current happenings and insights into education and technology on Twitter: @joehobson & @bausland

Follow @NavNorth on Twitter for industry updates and news!

Did we miss someone you value following? Let us know in the comments below.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Company News Education Industry

What Supports EdTech Project Success?

Post author By North Navigation
Post date January 25, 2017

EdTech projects can be different from standard education or technology projects. What are steps clients and firms can take for best outcomes? How do we determine if a project has finished successfully?

Education, as a culture, is informed as much by ritual and tradition as by research and data. Paying attention to the numbers is important, but not understanding education’s cultural adherence to non-quantifiable inclinations can cause critical missteps. And in a field that has not historically embraced innovative technology, inclusion of all vested parties is a critical part of the success formula. Inclusion does not occur by accident, it is created with transparency, constant clarification on how the technical work product will impact existing processes, and providing clear roadmaps for participation.

Our VP and Director of Education, Brian Ausland, and Director of Creative Services, Chris Bordeaux, clear up a few account and project management myths and practices and share how Navigation North aligns their work with current EdTech needs to connect educators, students, and leadership to improve outcomes in classrooms.

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1. Schedule

Chris Bordeaux:

Every client is different and every timeline is different. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about timelines, it’s they are rarely 100% accurate at project start, which isn’t a bad thing. Some flexibility on the part of the firm and the client are required to complete any project of larger scope.

A good project management tool (I’m an unpaid advocate for Teamwork) will notify stakeholders of upcoming deadlines automatically. As a helpful account person, it’s a good idea to review upcoming milestones at regular touch-points.

Flexibility in schedule and timeline is beneficial for both parties of any development project, yet sometimes it isn’t possible. If you know there is a 100% fixed deadline for your project completion, reiterate this to your consultancy partner. A good development leader will push for accelerated beginnings to a project in hopes that bumps in the road can be accommodated.

Brian Ausland:

In addition to flexibility, timelines for EdTech projects also have to take into account certain nuances unique to education’s structure and culture. Once we have worked with a client to establish a clear set of deliverables, and used our vast experience across an array of projects to create a precise design and development schedule, it is critical to make sure your timeline leverages some of education’s long-standing rhythms.

The start and end of the school year, summer break, state testing schedules, or local professional development initiatives are just a few elements that need to be sync’d with a project timeline. Attention to these details ensure your project timeline allows for adequate access to testing groups, can strategically involve key stakeholders at various benchmark points, and aligns product release dates optimizing your users’ orientation, adoption, and implementation.

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2. Scope

Chris Bordeaux:

Detailed scope documentation minimizes flexibility in deliverables, which protects both the client and the firm. If there are vague portions during initial discussions, I would recommend providing a list of optional deliverables at the end of a statement of work (SOW) for approval.

I am also an advocate for paid discovery. When selecting an experienced, viable technical development partner, tap into their expertise and background. Include budgeted time to have them engage in a discovery process to clarify needs and validate approach options. While it does involve directing finite dollars and time to initial work, often not seen as direct product development, consider it one of the most important ways to hone your budget for maximum effect. Stretch every dollar as far as it can go.

If you’re nearing the end of a project and there are still items which are being questioned in regards to scope, I highly recommend the MoSCoW method to guide clients in determining the most important items to them.

Brian Ausland:

Education leaders we’ve worked with have a fairly clear sense of the educational needs they are attempting to address. However, there is less initial clarity on the types of solutions available to them and how to assess the relative effect, size and cost of each. In the field of education most leadership teams bring a diverse education background with strong roots in areas like curriculum and instruction, site/district leadership, or personnel management, but limited experience in technical product development.

It is important to set a clear scope of work that makes best use of available time, available budget, and existing assets, while also remaining consistent with current industry standards. However, it is equally important the full scope, along with deliverables and benchmarks, can be articulated to all team members in a way that is operationally comprehensible and connected to the core educational needs being targeted. Everyone should be able to understand and validate how the resources being created directly tie to the programs, outreach, and support that defines the agency’s work on a day to day basis.

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3. Budget

Chris Bordeaux:

As a client it can be helpful to volunteer a range of budget you’re looking to spend. Providing a “low” and “high” to your consultancy partner will help guide them to solutions which could be the most accommodating to your needs. Let them know up front you’re interested in reviewing multiple options and to provide optional items and cost estimates.

I would also recommend giving yourself some padding. Estimates are only estimates, after all. Giving yourself wiggle room provides the flexibility you may need when making hard calls down the road.

Brian Ausland:

There are always challenges in aligning education cost-centers to mitigate common technical project needs such as ongoing research and development, maintenance and support, or scaled growth investments spanning across fiscal years. Our colleagues at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) have created a bundle of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) tools to help agencies better assess the fiscal reality of technology-related projects.

However, as more projects identify solutions involving online software and application resource development, budgets must further evolve to include flexible licensing agreements, ongoing OER curation and distribution, and feature sets which can be updated as new tools and initiatives take hold within states and districts. Some of the most creative work a consultant firm can expect to perform on EdTech projects will not have anything to do with UI design or intricate data frameworks, but will involve talented definitions of work and product descriptions to align contemporary innovation design with outdated budgeting mechanisms within education.

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4. Stakeholder Satisfaction

Chris Bordeaux:

Not every stakeholder has the same level of interest or responsibility in a given project. Some will be at a kickoff meeting and you will never hear from them again. Others may not even be identified until after a project has begun. Make every effort to recognize which stakeholders this project will most greatly effect. Also keep in mind conflicting priorities which could throw a wrench in your schedule.

Begin your project by briefly interviewing stakeholders to uncover their motivations and key performance indicators. What are the base motivators for doing this project? What are expectations they are aware of? Mold your expectation management along the way to remind them of goals laid out to begin with.

While the color of a button may seem like the most important thing at a given moment, pleasantly remind stakeholders this is not of top-tier importance. And if it is, what are they willing to give up to get it?

Communicating with stakeholders is the key to any project success. From the consultancy side, identify preferred communication methods and ways to streamline decisions and status updates. From the client side, request weekly, bi-weekly or monthly meetings to keep track of project status.

Don’t forget stakeholders who are “in the weeds” may not be taking a step back periodically to evaluate overall project status. Assign someone from both parties responsible for asking the “big picture” questions. Always notify each other of obstacles which might extend deadlines or put the project over budget, as soon as possible.

Brian Ausland:

Stakeholder participation is critical to the success of many types of projects across various industry sectors. However, in education projects, particularly those involving significant technical product development, soliciting stakeholders and their input can present unique challenges. While we urge our clients to start early in compiling a list of known stakeholders, we also want to surface potential input from audiences that might initially not be considered by the core team.

After throwing the proverbial “broad net,” a project leadership team should be asked to consider categorizing stakeholders into specific groups. We ask our clients to minimally identify within their list of potential stakeholders, who represents:

Targeted Audience Members who are the key recipients of the resources being developed
Early Adopters and Advocates who will provide the clearest pathway for project resources to reach the targeted audience
Political Champions who can help clear bureaucratic hurdles and streamline necessary agreements and foster agency buy-in

Finally, and perhaps most tricky, who represents:

Impacted or Displaced Personnel who might have traditional responsibilities, roles, or processes affected by the implementation of new methodologies and assignments that typically come about with new technology.

Obviously, it is important to assemble and listen to these groups individually at first if possible as a means to fully understand their needs. But soon after initial fact-finding with these groups, the project team needs to assimilate the information and conversely determine what the project specifically needs from each of these groups.

We like to bring these stakeholders back together as a group, and verify what was recorded as their core interests, but also outline for them what the project requires from each of them in order to address their needs. When we provide stakeholders an intentional role and course of action we help to prevent all parties from feeling marginalized and potentially becoming obstructionists. This is particularly important for those who see the new resources and strategies as having a direct impact on their roles and perhaps on the ways they’ve successfully conducted their duties in the past.

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5. Quality Of Work

Chris Bordeaux:

In my humble project management beginnings, it was drilled into my head:

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scope + time + budget = quality

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Since those days long ago, I’ve watched both project managers and clients dilute the quality of projects due to insufficient building blocks and communication. Don’t let anyone tell you quality isn’t the most important thing without questioning them!

In general, clients can have things cheap, fast or good; but they only get two of these choices at any given time. Taking a holistic approach to managing any project allows for quality to take precedence.

Brian Ausland:

In education, there exists long-standing debates about what constitutes “high quality” in terms of teaching strategies, instructional content or materials, and even in interpreting student performance or work. So it is no wonder that, when agencies historically-steeped in education embark upon large, technical work product development, getting everyone on the same page can be a challenge.

The critical work, in supporting these teams, involves creating clear connections between the technical work products, features, and tools we develop and known areas of expertise and quality. Yes, we can work to create specifications and timelines that clearly fall into known, adopted, and scalable technical frameworks, but it is important the quality of work is seen as underpinning quality teaching, effective assessment of student performance, or best-practices in educational leadership and professional development.

These types of topics represent the capital language of education. Resources created within the scope of the educational technology environment must correlate the quality of products developed to the quality it can bring to the classroom through improved teaching, learning, and outcomes central to education’s primary mission.

Whether helping provide more diverse and engaging open educational resources for the classroom, or the tools to help skilled educators better assemble and distribute those resources, or distribute the support strategies to help leaders expand and accentuate the competencies of their staff, high quality technical work must be judged according to how it ultimately helps increase opportunities for every learner to succeed.

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Bring us your story. Bring us your dreams.

For over a decade, Navigation North has participated on every level of educational technology project management. Our principals and staff have served as lead team members for many of the very agencies we now support. We have lived and breathed the steps, strategies, and processes outlined above.

While our newer clients regularly come to us having been told by others – “NavNorth will walk through the door already knowing most of what needs to be done.” – we never let our history stand in the way of engaging a full process of discovery and detailed planning. We keep our experience available to ensure outcomes and anticipate solutions to long-standing challenges within education, but never allow past project trends to blind us to new and innovative approaches.

We are genuinely intrigued by each project’s promise and possibilities: bring us your story, bring us your dreams.

Allow us to partner with you in extending your skills, content, and expertise farther than ever thought possible. Regardless of size or scope, Navigation North is interested in improving education for all students and working with anyone dedicated to this effort.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Digital Learning Design Education Open Educational Resources

4 Reasons Students Love The Smithsonian Learning Lab

Post author By North Navigation
Post date January 11, 2017

The Smithsonian Learning Lab was created to connect students to over 2 million digital resources available from 19 Smithsonian museums and the Smithsonian National Zoo. Partnered with this is the adoption of new state and federal policies calling for curricula to include digital materials and resources, including open education resources.

But let’s not focus on the stuffy adult whatnot. There are fun and interactive ways students of all ages can enjoy learning with the Smithsonian Learning Lab! Students who don’t have financial or geographical access to Smithsonian resources can now replace a field trip with digital experiences.

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1. Collections Are More Fun Than “Sit and Get”

Students can save, sort, edit and recall resources from the search function, creating their own collections. Building collections allows kids to learn based on their interests and can challenge them to make connections between disparate resources.

If students find interesting items outside of the Learning Lab, they can also add non-Smithsonian resources from any web link.

Famous Pharaohs Collection

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2. Personalized Learning

The new Sorting Activity Tool allows students to arrange items in a linear order or group items into buckets. This example asks participants to sort presidents by the year they were in office. Students find these activities more engaging than dull instructional alternatives.

The Last 100 Years, In Order

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3. The Variety Of Resources To Engage Students

From space exploration to insects, from old books to ruby slippers; there are over a million unique resources for students to explore.

Smithsonian Insect Resources

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4. This Is Not Yesterday’s Technology

The Learning Lab is continuously being improved with features added. New 3D objects allow students to move resources as if interacting with the physical items!

Abraham Lincoln 3D Mask

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Check out the Smithsonian Learning Lab today! Click here to read about Navigation North’s support and to view press and features of the project.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Education Open Educational Resources STEM

How To #GoOpen Using The Learning Registry

Post author By North Navigation
Post date January 5, 2017

#GoOpen Campaign

The U.S. Department of Education’s #GoOpen Campaign encourages states, school districts and educators to use openly licensed educational materials to transform teaching and learning.

Open data is the idea that data should be freely available to the public—both technically and legally—to use and redistribute without limitation. When high-value data sets are publicly available practitioners, researchers, and the public can use the data to inform their work in classroom and communities across America.

Open data follows the following principles:

Public – available to all in accordance with the law and the Office of Management and Budget’s Open Government Directive.
Accessible – available to the widest range of users in a machine-readable format that is non-exclusive and usable without restriction.
Remixable – available under an open license that allows others to use, share, and add to data without restriction.

The GoOpen campaign goes beyond traditional data, actively urging participants to share learning resources and curriculum. As more and more states are approving the use of digital tools and texts, educators need to be able to easily locate and use those resources with their students, and the Learning Registry provides the network infrastructure to handle those exchanges.

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#GoOpen Success

Learn how the Williamsfield School District leveraged education technology to save families and taxpayers money while providing unique, targeted learning opportunities for each student.

At today’s date, 19 states and 107 districts have enjoyed the benefits of #GoOpen status according to Kristina Peters, K12 Open Education Fellow at the Office of Educational Technology.

#GoOpen Using The Learning Registry

Whether you are a publisher, developer or educator; there are resources online to guide you on becoming a #GoOpen state or district!

There are a variety of tools and methods to find, collect, and publish resources to and from the Learning Registry, depending on the size and technical capabilities of your organization. Navigation North‘s President, Joe Hobson, has provided documentation on publishing using the EZ Publish Tool, one of the easiest ways to quickly get your resources out there. For large-scale implementations, there are a variety of open source libraries and custom scripts that can be tailored to your specific needs.

Anyone can link up with other contributors and get the latest news and updates by subscribing to the Collaborator Mailing List. Simply send an email to learning-registry-collaborate@googlegroups.com to register.

You can also attend one of the regularly scheduled community phone conferences regarding development, publishing and using the Learning Registry. More information about these meetings is available through the Learning Registry Developers Google Group.

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Digital Learning Design Education Educational Partnerships Open Educational Resources

6 Reasons Teachers Love The Smithsonian Learning Lab

Post author By North Navigation
Post date December 16, 2016

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The Smithsonian Learning Lab provides an online toolkit for teachers to discover Smithsonian’s digital resources and create personalized learning experiences for themselves and others.

Educators can visually explore more than 2 million resources from across the Smithsonian, so it’s easy to find something of interest. The website’s tools enable users to easily organize and customize the resources to make them their own.

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As teachers share their work with others – whether it’s one person, an entire classroom, or the world – the Learning Lab becomes an ever-richer source of knowledge and ideas and a more collaborative community.

Here are six reasons teachers love using the Smithsonian Learning Lab!

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1. Bring millions of Smithsonian resources to your students.

Teachers can help students engage in deep examination of an image by using image annotation. Describe details and highlight notable information from your lesson.

Minimize resource information to just what your students need to know by adding an item to your collection, selecting the information panel, and clicking the description to edit to your liking.

The Hotspot Tool allows you to pinpoint areas on an image or document and provide further information.

2. Digital resources from across Smithsonian in a variety of media formats.

There are now over 2 million digitized resources with new ones being added constantly, including 3D scans which are available for download. Read more about Smithsonian digitalization efforts.

No one is limited to only Smithsonian resources. You can also add resources from your own website, a YouTube video, or any document into your collection for student review.

Check out this 3D replica of Abraham Lincoln.

3. Bring collections to where your students are.

Likewise, instructors can find items from the Smithsonian collection and embed them where learners already like to connect, be that a class website, Google Classroom, Moodle, or other tools.

Embed codes are easily found in the options of the Share button.

This is a collection about the Apollo 11 crew:

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4. Teachers build collections, share resources and expand the Learning Lab.

There are a wealth of resources and activities to introduce students of all ages to the Smithsonian Learning Lab, including over 1,400 collections shared by users and the Smithsonian Staff.

5. Adapting collections for instructor needs is easy.

Using another teacher’s resources for your own is great, but adaptation is even better! If you like a collection another instructor has created, but want to add items such as a quiz, that’s no problem. You can also update the language used to better speak to your own students.

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6. Test Subject-area knowledge and encourage critical thinking.

Assignments and quizzes are a great way to track student engagement with the content you’ve created.

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For more detailed information on getting started with the Learning Lab, click here.

Don’t wait, explore the Smithsonian Learning Lab today!

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Interested in how Navigation North helped develop this educational technology tool?

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Career and Technical Education Communities of Practice Education Educational Leadership Industry Open Educational Resources Professional Development STEM

California’s Blended PD/Curriculum Project Works To Explain Growing Popularity In Other States

Post author By North Navigation
Post date December 12, 2016

California has been experimenting with an online model that blends professional development with collaborative curriculum design to help promote improved instruction and use of digital open educational resources. And in an era when current data shows billions of dollars annually spent on professional development has yielded little measurable improvement, California has instead been wrestling with the accelerated success of their program statewide. What has been a bit more perplexing though, is the unexpected impact of 300,000+ educators annually wanting to access the resources from states outside of California.

Dan Weisberg, Chief Executive of The New Teacher Project, states, “There is no doubt that there are initiatives that are probably producing positive impacts. But it’s not helpful if you don’t know what they are.”

With recent research from Weisberg’s New Teacher Project citing traditional professional development’s limited effect on teacher improvement, a big question many were asking at this year’s national Association for Career and Technical Education Vision 2016 Conference in Las Vegas was, “How do we create and sustain effective communities of practice that retain teacher’s interest and ongoing growth?”

Luckily, California’s CTE Online project was ready to share data to show precisely how this work can be accomplished on a statewide and even national scale when combining a robust community of practice platform with a focused model curriculum development and sharing project. In reflecting on the ability to collaborate and then share in a single online environment, Project Director MaryRose Lovgren shared, “We had to have some kind of a model that is online and accessible to the teachers, to the team-leads that we have working with the teachers, as well as the curriculum specialists…so that we can give them feedback and help support their progress in writing all of this curriculum. Being able to not just create, but to share their curriculum adds another level of relevance to their experience.”

With teams from every state in attendance, the CTE Online project shared the fact that over 66,000 educators have full accounts to California’s CTE Online community platform to access and copy their own modifiable versions of the model curriculum that is generated as part of the PD program. Additionally, teachers access professional development modules, and engage in discourse around instructional strategies, standards, and methods to engage students. However, hundreds of thousands more come to simply access the open educational resources as guests, leaving California to determine how far they should go to support accounts and full access for teachers from beyond the golden state, that now make up more than 2/3 of that traffic.

This has led some California state leadership personnel to ask how a project developed expressly for California educators, and not promoted to any degree beyond its borders, finds itself with 25,000 visits a month from non-CA educators. A quick glimpse at traffic to the site from the ’15-’16 academic year through to this December shows collectively a pattern of growing use across all states. Pronounced access in states that share similarities with California such as Texas with over 44,000, New York with over 18,000, and Florida with over 14,000, correlates to known trends. But states such as Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Illinois, and Virginia each has over 10,000 visits as well.

It will require a bit more examination to clarify all the reasons for the growth of this type of program, but what the project’s leadership team is seeing is nothing more than meeting a specific need in supporting strong, collaborative professional development. When asked about why he thought this model was gaining so much traction with educators, a participating Science/STEM teacher shared, “Having this designated time to make awesome lessons while we are all sitting next to each other, focuses us on something we really care about. Ultimately we’re creating resources for teachers everywhere to utilize, while also bringing these skills back to our own school sites.”

When current reports show that teachers are largely feeling disconnected from their traditional, site-based professional development, the fact that they are voluntarily flocking to a blended system that focuses on helping guide their curriculum development, reflect on high-quality standards of practice, assess their curriculum in terms of student engagement, and increase use of rich Open Educational Resources to diversify content is worth documenting and sharing.

In presenting this information last week at a national conference focused exclusively on CTE and Career and College Ready programs and talking with leaders from many of the regional CTE initiatives and national projects, many were interested in and appreciative of the open access the California Department of Education’s Career & College Transition Division has made readily available online. Clay Mitchell, project monitor with California’s Department of Education, isn’t surprised about the growing interest from other state leadership teams. “Like many states, we had many programs and projects doing similar work with teachers from district to district and struggled to connect these efforts in a unified approach. We made a decision to fund and support a system that allowed those projects to still retain their own methods and strategies of outreach and support, but committed them to a common set of outcomes and tools in order to optimize returns on our PD and curriculum efforts statewide, and that is precisely what has happened.”

As one pragmatic participant said in passing, “If all the various statewide curriculum development projects I saw here at ACTE committed to the digital development and sharing of their resources and processes in this way, none of us would need to buy another piece of curriculum or guess at what valid, blended PD looks like.”

—

Brian Ausland leads education and research initiatives as Director of Education at Navigation North. Click here to read more from Brian and find him on LinkedIn.

Activities Company News Digital Learning Design Education Innovative Instruction Open Educational Resources

Recognition For Research: Navigation North Keeps Development Connected To The Classroom

Post author By North Navigation
Post date November 18, 2016

Navigation North is proud to receive recognition for the research-based work we have conducted with our colleagues at the Smithsonian in developing and shaping the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Digital Promise convened experts at Teachers College, Columbia University to review and selected one exemplary company and two honorable mentions in each category. EdSurge reported on the findings, identifying Smithsonian Learning Lab for its work with extensive nation-wide teacher testing and prototyping to inform development and design.

While many teams lean heavily on marketing trends reports or committees of experts to understand classroom needs, we have found the need to balance those types of approaches with regular work directly in classrooms with teachers and students. Here is a recent snapshot of this work around digital tools and resources designed specifically for teenage learners.

Working in coordination with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access (SCLDA) researchers, Navigation North examined strategies, processes, and tools that engage students and promote deep, sustained inquiry.

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Persistent scaffolding and questions, student notation and annotation of resources, visual indicators of student progress, and peer to peer collaboration, were a handful of the elements we observed as generated from both a survey of over 120 pieces of contemporary literature and studies on teen-use of digital learning tools and systems, and an inventory of the features contained within the top 10 predominant learning management systems and social media platforms actively used by teens across the U.S.

Distilling this information down allowed the Navigation North team to create a specific testing regimen using the Smithsonian Learning Lab as the primary environment for organization and distribution of learning resources and content for the student-testers.

All information collected is being organized into a report coming out soon as part of a Smithsonian Youth Access Grant in which Navigation North is contracted to lead and complete as part of their ongoing work as the lead design and developer of the Smithsonian Learning Lab.

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As is usually the case, students delighted us with their intuition, instinctive aptitude for exploration and discovery, and direct feedback on what worked and what did not:

“I like all the information connected to what I’m looking at so I can add my own notes to understand later.”

“I prefer to have a way to type up what I am finding or even what I don’t fully understand when looking at the online videos. Then I can check that against what I’m reading later in the lesson.”

“If I could take what I typed directly on the picture and then use that in my answers on the test at the end, that would be what I would change.”

“I was hoping to find more information on light sabres… I mean, come on man.”

One activity had students selecting contemporary applications for some of Emerson and Thoreau’s quotes, so it was fitting when we saw one student select the following Thoreau adage, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

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Whenever we go into the classroom, we always see more. A big THANK YOU goes out to the teachers who opened their classrooms to us and our colleagues from the Smithsonian, and the willingness of the students to expose their thinking, their processes, and candid feedback so we may learn from them.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Communities of Practice Digital Learning Design Education Educational Partnerships Innovative Instruction Open Educational Resources

Where Exquisite Summer Content Begins to Bloom

Post author By North Navigation
Post date June 28, 2016

The seeds all looked more or less the same as did the work to plant them. Now there are tomatoes, wildflowers, peppers, sunflowers, and corn well on its way. A convergence of exquisite and diverse flora from a common environment of soil and water, experience and effort.

We have been involved in some interesting conversations around what’s working for schools and districts and what’s not. As of right now, we can’t share much more than that however we will offer this. Its always amazing how clear and strong and impassioned the voices become when you start to hear from those close to classrooms who are introducing real solutions. Too often we end up engaged with teams so far outside of that reality that different types of clarity, strength, and passion dominate the conversation. In those instances, people are clearest about their titles, personal opinions run strong, and passion most-readily mirrors profitability.

But this week has been different and refreshing as a garden of sorts suddenly began to take bloom from last year’s efforts.

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Smithsonian Goes Full In

At the nation’s largest EdTech Conference this week, ISTE 2016…we have the satisfaction of watching the database of users quickly close on 5,000 on only the second day of the Smithsonian team’s official launch of the Learning Lab. We look forward to seeing what teachers create when given specially designed access to over a million resources with features specifically for them and the learners they support all over the world. A year of tediously milling over research findings, design schemes, mockups, and UX flowcharts along with the requisite meetings, testing, UI interpretations…finally our latest system breaks soil and begins to sprout.

Here’s what media outlets are saying about it:

The online toolkit allows users to both find and create collections for their lessons by drawing from teaching materials and digitized Smithsonian objects via the “Discover,” “Create” and “Share” tools. (Article) –Education Week

With many teachers emphasizing real-world applications to their lessons, the Smithsonian’s free collection represents a massive database of potential course content and artifacts. (Article) – Education Dive

Molte di queste caratteristiche dei siti sono pensate per rispondere alle necessità di insegnare di insegnanti e di studenti in classi fino ai 12 anni, nell’educazione di più alto livello e in altri ambienti di apprendimento misto. (Article) –Archeomatica

Teachers Design Exquisite Content

While involved in some current research, we overheard this statement during an interview on transitioning from textbooks, “In some real ways, the proliferation of streaming media has provided consumers access to more diverse and exquisite content…teachers and students deserve no less in the classroom.”

Just a few days later, we set about publishing this year’s teacher-developed curricular projects for one of the online programs we support. In reflecting on what we saw, the term exquisite content came to mind over and over again.

One of the activities engages students in deep analyses of immigration through the lens of attitudes, facilities, laws, and induction processes as compared across various eras in America’s history.
Another project asks students to examine the concept of identity through the perspective of personal narrative, social and consumer media, genetics and biology, and culture.
With another team, the work of a Music Production teacher, an English teacher, and a Special Education instructor who shrugged off the traditional, departmentalized disciplinary construct, came together to create an integrated unit where students with special needs work side by side with their peers to create stories based on mutual challenges all students face in life and at school in the form of produced radio broadcasts, professionally mixed and edited and published to NPR.
In yet another, learners use engineering design software combined with plant and soil science and combine it with the study of psychological effects of trauma and PTSD through personal accounts of war to create a local “Healing Garden” for returning veterans and their families in a partnership with local VA services agencies.

The list goes on and on… exquisite all.

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And now as we watch the number of teacher-authored Learning Collections begin to grow right alongside Smithsonian specialists’ created collections, we get to witness how the new platform will help the Smithsonian realize the formation of a new, authentic, global learning community where teachers’ creativity and learners’ imagination can flourish far beyond the walls of the 19 museums.

Other great Learning Collections

Where there was once soil and sand, there now blooms exquisite content…feel free to wander in and pick what you like.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Digital Learning Design Education Educational Leadership School System Reform

The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same

Post author By North Navigation
Post date May 20, 2016

The phrase was coined by French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Aside from writing a number of novels and serving as the editor of Le Figaro, he was a former teacher, known for his keenly satirical tone and bitter wit, and loved educational reform and going fishing. Go figure.

I was recently sent a folder of instructional documents that I had collected in 1997 by a former colleague. He found them for me on an old computer. Looking through materials I had created or assembled then as a young teacher was an experience similar to stumbling upon an old yearbook, or maybe reminiscing over a series of letters between friends from long ago.

Along with instructional materials, there were items that I don’t recall having or reviewing; A link to a teacher community on GeoCities, a Lord of the Flies “cyber-guide” from a teacher in San Diego, various articles. I also found instructions that lead my students in creating their own Hot Mail accounts (they, nor I, had email accounts provided through the school back then). In those instructions, there was even a note to myself warning me to write out www.hotmail.com on the board next time so they didn’t accidentally put in www.hotmale.com instead. Lesson learned.

There was also photocopied chapters from the recently published book Learn & Live that I had ordered from the glef.org site (now Edutopia). It looks like I had made handouts to give to my colleagues, I’m sure, at an upcoming staff meeting. And on one particular photocopy, I had highlighted an excerpt that read,

“With the growing number of computer networks, teachers are able to connect with others from around the world and access information globally…work together to research and develop curriculum…These teachers report that they no longer feel isolated in their classrooms and enjoy their jobs more.”

I had notated in the margins, connect with other teachers online and share our best lessons.

At that time, I was the only full-time English teacher at our little high school of 235 students. My “English Department” was just me and two other teachers who both split duties between English and History classes to round out their positions. And in looking for more curricular models for my own classroom, I had marveled at how teachers in other parts of the United States were starting to develop lessons and projects online, not as html-published word documents or pdf-based lessons written to other teachers like those I had used in college from the ERIC database…but as full websites for their own students to engage and use to guide their classroom activities. You could actually get a more comprehensive sense of their instructional thinking, their tone, where they stepped up support, slowed down the instructional pacing, went deep, moved fast, etc…So I gave it a try with my own unit on Animal Farm.

Of the activities and projects for each chapter I had designed, and the vocabulary lists I had tied to merriam-webster.com, (Check it out but beware of potentially seizure inducing animated gifs) I will never forget getting an email from an 8th grade teacher in New Jersey who sent me a grainy realPlayer video of her students signing their made-up Animal Farm National Anthem based on one of my activities and thanked me for posting the project.

So thanks for taking that walk with me down memory lane, but in the “bitter wit” spirit of Alphonse Karr, and his famous adage, I will share the real reason I’ve included this montage.

A kid, that might or might not live in my home, came home last week and said, “Animal Farm is so ridiculously stupid.” Those are fighting words to a former English teacher. But upon a bit of calm inquiry, I started to see the reason.

“Ok, how did your teacher introduce the story?”
“Did you get any background on George Orwell or the political environment of Europe at the time this was published?”
“Are you clear on why this is considered an allegory and how it relates to the Russian Revolution?”

He responded, that they were given 4 worksheets and were told to watch a short video on the Russian Revolution and to take notes on these “study-guides” and then review at home before starting the novel. “Then the next day, we started reading the book in class…and it has talking animals.” In looking at the “worksheets / study-guides” I found 3 typed (as in type-writer…pre-word processor) photocopied lists of historical characters and a correlation sheet (shown) photocopied from a 1991 workbook.

And that is why I made some inquiries to see if someone could dig up my old materials on an old off-line server for Animal Farm. A few days later, I sat a young man down at the dining table and said, “Give me 10 minutes, and I will make the remaining 7 chapters of your book somewhat comprehensible if not maybe even palatable.” We discussed Orwell’s tumultuous life, idealistic view of Communism, his time in Spain embedded with communist rebel forces during their civil war, his growing concern with fascism and how communism was potentially being used to forge even more totalitarian regimes across Europe…we went over the 3 pyramids of political transition that framed Russia’s move from Czar Nicholas II to Stalin that an incredible History teacher helped create for me to use. How Orwell’s novella was originally rejected by publishers who feared it would upset the delicate alliance between the UK, US, and the newly formed Soviet Union. As my 10 minutes wrapped up he said, “So Squealer IS the newspaper Pravda…and Snowball IS Trotsky, because he was part of the animal movement, but now he’s gone and its easy for the pigs to blame him for everything going wrong, and is probably actually dead, but they aren’t going to say that, because then they can’t blame him for everything and….ok, ok, this makes more sense now.”

[irp]

Looking back at another item in that old folder of materials, there was also an article by Linda Darling-Hammond from 1999, which holds the following concern regarding the need for teachers to network and share strong instructional practice and the growing promise of technology to serve as a vehicle to enable that process:

“After entry, teachers are typically expected to know everything they will need for a career, or to learn through occasional workshops mostly on their own, with few structured opportunities to observe and analyze teaching with others. As one high school teacher who had spent twenty-five years in the classroom once told me: “I have taught 20,000 classes; I have been ‘evaluated’ thirty times; but I have never seen another teacher teach.”

The article frame out the hope that the new millennium and ensuing decade (the 2000’s) would enable vast sharing of exemplary curriculum. I was ignited with this notion, and had no way of knowing that I would be invited within the next year to join a statewide team doing precisely this work. I have since worked in many capacities on the very notation I scribbled 19 years ago on an article about, “connecting with other teachers online….and sharing our best lessons.” That was a long time ago. Yet here, today, among the files in this old folder, I saw at the top of one of my “political pyramid” handouts for students the heading question of The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same?

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And given the perspective of almost 20 years now, and all the change that has occurred in that time with technology and with education…I reflect on the fact that teaching a classic novel such as Animal Farm, that has to have been done by so many teachers in so many ways, with such creativity and flair still eludes many. How many times have skilled educators in classrooms all across the United States honed versions of activities related to this story that help kids unlock the meaning and the application of the themes, that can then be extended into other disciplines, and used to stimulate thinking about propaganda and power and representation and information, and can be applied to any number of contemporary events, in ways that have even the most marginalized youth attentive and engaged? Yet here we are in 2016, and a student is given a stack of 25 year old photocopied handouts as part of an Honors English Class, in a shiny nice suburban high school, with far more instructional options and resources than most…and I think the answer to Mr. Alphonse Karr’s satirical assertion, The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same, is quite clear, at least in the field of education.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Communities of Practice Digital Learning Design Education Innovative Instruction Open Educational Resources Professional Development

Transforming Rich OER Into Instructional Music Will Take More Than a Kazoo

Post author By North Navigation
Post date April 13, 2016

By rip (originally posted to Flickr as Al 'Kazoo' Doyle) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

OER sometimes looks like millions of random musical notes at its most granular level. They can be organized in many different ways by different practitioners to create entirely different songs…and at times, some projects choose to do a bit of assembly and organize the notes into certain kinds of songs or sheets of pre-constructed music to lend more structure and focus. I find this diverse ecology of growing, available, unstructured to fully-structured OER incredibly valuable to an education system starting to finally legitimize its practitioners as important curators of curriculum and not just distributors of selected textbooks, worksheets, and test prep. activities.

It is absolutely wonderful to observe skilled educators taking seemingly disparate resources and through a deep understanding of their learners’ needs and a sense of how to blend traditional materials with new content, create a tapestry of harmonious learning activities and experiences. I marvel at how they weave in moments of reflection, connect to prior knowledge, and push for extended application through use, inspection, and analyses of resources sometimes designed for learning, oftentimes not.

I liken highly-effective teachers to talented musicians. There is a place for the notes, and the sheet music…but in the end, the actual music is a product of the musician’s interpretation. And most musicians use any number of instruments by which to organize those notes into melody. The instrument is what they use to sequence, and deliver the notes as interpreted by their own intonation and emphasis, moving quickly through some sections, while lingering with long and focused intent on others.

Consider this selection by Miles Davis entitled So What.

With some focus and effort, we are doing a better job in Ed Tech of getting more notes, more scores, and more sheet music accessible to more educators. And this was and is a big, initial piece of work that needs to be continued as more and more education-funded resource development initiatives embrace the value of sharing the derivatives of their work, more teacher teams are given the opportunity to author materials, and the growing efforts of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) result in shared, rich, digital repositories released for formal and informal learning use. As innovation goes however, crossing one threshold often brings the innovators to the next series of big challenges. One such emerging challenge is providing the right instruments by which teachers are asked to organize new resources into instructional music for their learners. To date, by and large, the digital learning industry has provided educators the equivalent of a Kazoo. Imagine that piece above with Miles Davis lips pursed around a Kazoo. We know that it can certainly produce a sound and even given notes. But given the limited sophistication of this instrument, there is no way it will adequately reflect the complexity and layers of music capable of any musician, let alone our most talented artists.

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This week I received 3 separate announcements about projects that have done an incredible job integrating diverse resource repositories and now want to showcase some of their new instruments for “creating instruction” or “blended curriculum”. These are all projects in the national spotlight and have significant funding and traction. In addition to sharing extensive OER repositories, they’ve all adopted variations on the “content playlist” solutions that’s been so popular with eLearning designers since iTunesU and Gooru Learning created some initial approaches to this archetype borrowed heavily from common media playlists underpinning iTunes and YouTube. But as Victoria University’s then Vice Chancellor Lindsay Tanner cautioned about the state of eLearning in 2011 when addressing fellow university leaders across Australia,

While we’ve made great progress in eLearning, there’s been an awful lot about ‘e’ and not much about ‘learning’. Plenty of tech, very little ped(agogy)…we need to do better.

Have we done better in the last 5 years since 2011?

Researcher Stephen Downes, through years of contributions to this field, refers regularly to a transition from static technology – which allows central agencies to document, store, and organize learning content – to haptic technology meant to support collaborative, interactive, and creative learning experiences. Just this last year, no less than 11 entire state platforms have either been introduced or gone through massive redesigns along with digital curriculum collection and sharing systems created by SBAC and PARCC at the cost of tens of millions of dollars per project. Some have integrated playlist-like resource organizers, but most still move educators through a series of grade level or standards browsing manipulations only to deliver them to a static series of pdf-based lesson plans. Regardless, teachers need a way to create relationships between seemingly disparate resources for their learners much like a musician blends notes and alters pacing. Teachers can not readily inject connective annotations, direct a learner’s focus to specific elements of a resource to help scaffold from micro to macro concepts, draw up parallels relating to contemporary issues, engage in constructivist activities while embedding social, reflective exercises to help the learner monitor personal progress and relate to how others are experiencing the information and formulating responses. That would be music. But sadly, we seem to still be handing out kazoos, and what they produce is vaguely recognizable as such.

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We have been working on prototyping some new instruments. The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access invited us to assist in some new research on this topic as an extension of their 2-year Carnegie research project. As such, we are engaged in a deep examination of existing literature on digital learning environments and tools with a particular focus on what works for kids. We are also extending our analysis to compare popular online learning systems with everyday social media tools that seem to intrigue youth-users in creating content, looking up information, and generally engaging their peers beyond mitigated learning exchanges. So if you happen to get an invite from one of us to join Kik, Instagram, Snapchat, or Whisper, now you’ll know why. We hope to distill this research down to some common principles and features and then vet it with in-class observations and student interviews across diverse communities and school sites. Stay tuned…an until then, enjoy a sweet kazoo version of Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]