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January 1, 2003
New Dimensions
By Barbara Bray
As the world changes around us, schools are taking notice. Business has restructured into more of a B2B model with an internal system composed of suppliers, distributors, service and infrastructure providers and an external system of customers that use the Internet for communications and transactions. (Tapscott, 2001) Businesses are creating teams that use new ways of working and learning. Schools, investigating integration, are following suit. Schools can use a similar Web model that encompasses the entire community and uses Internet tools for whole system change, including addressing how teachers learn. More than individual teacher professional development, we need to embrace whole school development.
Investigate Whole System Change
With the whole system communicating, school will become a learning center for the community, involving those concerned with school improvement issues. It will encourage ongoing partnerships with business, higher education, government agencies, and parents so students will have access to real-world situations and experts. Many of these resources will be available only online. To have dependable Internet access, schools will need ongoing professional development, and technical, curriculum, and administrative support.
Develop Unique Learning Environments
The Internet has changed from unconnected, proprietary computing networks; it now soars in reach, power and functionality. It's become a place where users collaborate to develop new knowledge and innovative partnerships to build on each other's strengths. Teachers will find that their students and partners may become expert resources, helping create unique learning environments.
Learners today need to be able to discern the validity of vast amounts of information and be able to ask engaging questions that allow exploration of topics in depth. A student may Email an author a question and receive an answer the same day. At no other time in history has the learner been able to connect with so many other learners and experts outside their classroom. The learner can be a real player, a collaborator, a producer of information, and possibly make a difference in the world. All of this is happening because the Internet precipitates broader thinking about how the infrastructure for knowledge creation is evolving. Learning and collaborations will take place anywhere and anytime. Yet to make this work takes lots of time and planning.
Design Real-World Activities
Teachers need help in designing real-world activities that meet content standards and improve academic achievement. Occasional one- or two-hour after-school technology workshops are not enough. The focus for professional development has to be on student learning and relevancy to the curriculum. The whole school should be involved in the design of purposeful professional development.
Only when schools re-think planning about what students need and consider possible solutions will they look different from what they do today. In fact, schools may no longer have divided by grades and/or subject areas, be regulated by periods of time, or even be held on one campus. One teacher may collaborate with other teachers in different areas of the country and design activities in which students work together to solve problems and create projects. Students will tackle problems that cover multidisciplinary areas and resembles real-world work. They will write a proposal to join a team explaining how their strengths can benefit them all. That team will consist of students and experts from all areas of the world who provide just-in-time support for each other. Professional developers will work alongside teachers and students as co-architects in the design of these activities. The teacher will be a project manager pulling the resources together, scheduling video or teleconferences, and facilitating discussions and project development.
Move to Whole School Development
It's not enough to just say, "That teacher had 20 hours of instruction, yet technology integration is still not happening." No teacher can do it alone. If one teacher creates an exciting project using technology, we cannot assume that another teacher can replicate it. Learning must be tailored to the individual: every classroom, teacher and learner is unique. Schools need to move toward whole school development so that everyone is learning and sharing knowledge, models, processes and strategies.
Email: Barbara Bray is president of Computer Strategies, LLC and My eCoach. She moderates the CUE techstaffdevelop listerv and writes PDQs for TechLearning.com where you can also submit tips.
Copyright 2002, CUE, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
Resources
Tapscott, Don. "Rethinking Strategy in a Networked World," Strategy and Business. Issue 24, Third Quarter 2001. p.35-41.
Tools for Growing the NSDC Standards. National Staff Development Council. 2001
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