E.W. Dijkstra, the Dutch computer scientist, once said that, “Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.” If one takes this line of thinking and applies it to computers in education, one can assert that the use of computers in education is not about the computers; it is about education. More and more, people of widely varied backgrounds – educators, technology experts, education policy makers and futurists – are in agreement that technology should be used to help students achieve learning goals. I hear less often that students should be learning about technology for the sake of “knowing technology” and having marketable skills. That means that there is a great challenge for educators to be “able to integrate technology into the curriculum to improve student achievement” (www.nclb.org).
Meeting this challenge well, will take practice and professional development.

“Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.”

The NCLB Act refers many times throughout the 670 pages of the act to professional development for teachers and administrators, and encourages states and school districts to support and offer technology professional development. Professional development is a necessary component in working toward the goals of NCLB. “It’s not enough simply to have a computer and an Internet connection in the classroom if they are not made part of the learning process. Technology is a tool like any other, and the value does not come from having access to it, but rather how it is used” (www.nclb.org). This reminds me of an analogy that I heard Chris Dede make at a conference about ten years ago. He said that a computer in the classroom is not like a fire. You can stand near a fire and get warm and reap the benefits of the fire simply by proximity to it. You can’t simply huddle around a computer and reap educational benefits from being near to it. It has to be used and used well.

When I think about bringing the power of technology to bear in our teaching in all subject areas, planning, and assessment, I automatically think about professional development – constant learning. The kind of professional development is a deeper level of professional development (PD) than the simple “how-to” of a software tool. I don’t think schools should offer any how to workshops or courses and envision that it will substantially change teaching and learning. I think instead, that we should be weaving technology into every single professional development activity we offer. By this I mean that whether the workshop is about teaching math at the elementary level or developing units around essential questions and problem-based inquiry or creating rubrics, the workshop should have technology as an essential component.

One successful way to offer such PD is something I will call a “hybrid model” of teaching technology integration. The “hybrid model” calls for a focus on a content area or pedagogical skill that is not in the technology arena, but also calls for the course or workshop to use technology seamlessly to achieve the goals of the course. A “team” of teachers, one with a stronger content knowledge and another with stronger technology expertise might work together to facilitate such courses. If you have had success in your district with a “team-teaching” approach, a content expert paired with a technology expert who will help to include an essential technology dimension to the class, I’d love to hear from you – would you be willing to share your successes? If so, you could share by a comment on this post, or you could write a guest blog post that you could send to me and I could post for you.

I have been working with a group of educators on a position paper about leadership for technology. Our paper is based on the premise that leadership for technology must be distributed among many roles, each having an important part in leading the charge. It will outline the leadership responsibilities for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, School Committees, Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents, Technology Administrators, Principals, Teachers, and Students. (Have we missed anyone?)

Since working on this, the topic that has been swirling in the back of my mind is the difference between the leadership that teachers bring to the effort versus what technology administrators need to bring to the table.

At one level, classroom teachers need to be concerned with technology that helps them create learning experiences and assessments that reflect 21st century learning. At the CTO level the concern should be creating a climate and culture that helps students and classroom teachers to succeed. The CTO puts into place the infrastructure, policies, and support that make it possible for the classroom teacher to succeed at meaningful technology use in teaching and learning.

But doesn’t the leadership role of the teacher also extend beyond their own classroom? I think that teachers who are successful technology leaders are those who:

• Actively participate in technology planning and strategic planning that has a strong technology vision
• Create learning experiences and assessments appropriate for the 21st century
• Model proficient use of technology and risk-taking in using new technologies
• Understand, promote, and model safe, ethical, and legal use of technology
• Model life-long learning
• Share their best practices with their colleagues
• Look outside of their classroom experiences to evaluate current research
• Contribute to a professional dialog to improve and renew teaching practices in their school and in the wider educational community.

Do you agree? Is there anything missing? I’d love to have input about this to help us on our position paper.

Terrific conference day at NECC 2009.

We started the morning at a 7:30 breakfast hosted by Polyvision. Attendees got an advanced look at some of their new developments. I continue to be really impressed by the Eno board.

We raced right from the Grand Hyatt back to the convention center to attend a preparation session for our visit to Capitol Hill tomorrow. I look forward to meeting with staffers from the offices of: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and James McGovern. We will be talking about the importance of technology in education, funding, erate, and 21^st century skills.

From the Storm the Hill session we went directly to a CoSN CTO Leadership Forum , How 2 B a Disruptive Technology Leader! This was an interesting session examining how web 2.0 tools are (and will be) disrupting schools.

After a quick lunch I picked up my advocacy packet and t-shirt (to wear to the hill) and then visited the exhibitor’s floor. It is so big I was overwhelmed. Every exhibit I visited had something interesting to share.

At 2 pm, I attended Leslie Fisher’s Gadget Class: Now with Web 2.0 Freshness! I saw more new software tools, useful web 2.0 sites, and cool hardware in ONE hour than I could have researched and found in weeks. Favorite things I learned? The turntable with the USB port (digitizing your old vinyl); jott.com; smugmug.com; and iPhone apps like Shazam, SmugMug, Yelp, and AroundMe. BONUS – it was lots of fun. Go Leslie!

From there I went to Scott McLeod’s session, Effective Leadership in an Era of Disruptive Innovation. I thoroughly enjoyed Scott’s interpretation of Clay Christensen’s work. Check out his writing on this at bit.ly/neccmcleod1 .

After such a busy day spent taking in new ideas and racing from one thing to the next, it was nice to visit School Wires reception and then to have dinner with a couple of MassCUE friends, Tom and Annamaria.

Tomorrow looks to be just as jam-packed, starting with a 7:30 am breakfast presentation. <yawn. . must sleep>

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