Making Technology Work In Schools

Making Technology Work in Schools is an easy-to-use guide for transforming your school into a learner-centered, tech-rich environment. School systems are increasingly adopting ambitious new educational technologies, but how do you make sure they are yielding effective teaching and learning experiences? The authors' proven, intuitive practices speak directly to academic coaches, school technology leads, district technology directors, and teachers on special assignment who are responsible for introducing new tools and programs. After reading this book, you will be able to better prepare the educators you serve to empower their learners, whether digitally savvy or not, to be engaged, collaborative, and better prepared for college and careers.

Making Technology Work in Schools is an easy-to-use guide for transforming your school into a learner-centered, tech-rich environment. School systems are increasingly adopting ambitious new educational technologies, but how do you make sure they are yielding effective teaching and learning experiences? The authors’ proven, intuitive practices speak directly to academic coaches, school technology leads, district technology directors, and teachers on special assignment who are responsible for introducing new tools and programs. After reading this book, you will be able to better prepare the educators you serve to empower their learners, whether digitally savvy or not, to be engaged, collaborative, and better prepared for college and careers.

First released in the Spring of 1999, How People Learn has been expanded to show how the theories and insights from the original book can translate into actions and practice, now making a real connection between classroom activities and learning behavior. This edition includes far-reaching suggestions for research that could increase the impact that classroom teaching has on actual learning. Like the original edition, this book offers exciting new research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. When do infants begin to learn? How do experts learn and how is this different from non-experts? What can teachers and schools do-with curricula, classroom settings, and teaching methods--to help children learn most effectively? New evidence from many branches of science has significantly added to our understanding of what it means to know, from the neural processes that occur during learning to the influence of culture on what people see and absorb. How People Learn examines these findings and their implications for what we teach, how we teach it, and how we assess what our children learn. The book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. This new knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our current education system. Topics include: How learning actually changes the physical structure of the brain. How existing knowledge affects what people notice and how they learn. What the thought processes of experts tell us about how to teach. The amazing learning potential of infants. The relationship of classroom learning and everyday settings of community and workplace. Learning needs and opportunities for teachers. A realistic look at the role of technology in education.

A step-by-step approach to help administrators develop and implement a vision for using educational technology more effectively.

This timely book shows how award-winning secondary schools and districts are successfully using technology and making systemic changes to increase student engagement, improve achievement, and re-invigorate the teaching and learning process. Through in-depth case studies, we see how experienced school and district leaders use technology in curricular, administrative, and analytical ways to meet the needs of 21st-century learners, educators, and communities. These cases reveal important details addressed by the leadership of these schools and districts that go beyond what they did with technology to include changes in school culture, curriculum and teaching, uses of assessment data, financial considerations, infrastructure, and involvement with the community. Book Features: Successful models from schools/districts experienced with using technology as a lever for school improvement.Case studies from diverse schools/districts across the country that show “what works” and “how it works.”A cross-case analysis that makes it easy to compare individual schools and identify common practices. Barbara B. Levin is a Professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education and Director of the Teachers Academy at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Lynne Schrum is Dean, College of Education and Human Services, West Virginia University. “Barbara B. Levin and Lynne Schrum offer their readers the distinct advantage of compressing into a single volume what it took me decades to learn. They not only present the big ideas of effective school leadership, but bring them alive through case studies that illustrate how those ideas manifest themselves in leaders’ day-to-day behaviors. . . . I encourage you to use the ideas and practices you find here to leverage technology to create schools in which all students and adults thrive.” —From the Foreword by Dennis Sparks, Emeritus Executive Director, National Staff Development Council (Learning Forward) Prepublication Reviews: “In Leading Technology-Rich Schools, the authors present a fascinating and exciting set of case studies that provide great insight into the ways leaders can support high-level innovation in schools. Importantly, their focus is on technology that enhances learning and teaching, rather than technology as an expensive school ornament. A must-read for those who study and practice educational leadership.” —Jeffrey S. Brooks, Associate Professor and Educational Leadership Program Coordinator, School of Education, Iowa State University, author of Black School, White School: Racism and Educational (Mis)leadership “This book is a precious gift for the vast majority of administrators who desperately need concrete examples of how to create, facilitate, and sustain technology-infused learning environments.” —Scott McLeod, Associate Professor and Founding Director, CASTLE, University of Kentucky “These rich illustrations of technology leadership in secondary schools show how a number of complex variables must come together to produce the key outcome of positioning educational technology as a support to teaching and learning. Examples of leadership practices that coordinate team members for interdependent work and invite teachers' involvement should prove to be a valuable resource to practitioners and also provide insight to policymakers for how they can create supportive conditions for such work.” —Sara Dexter, Associate Professor, Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia “Leading Technology-Rich Schools is a key advance in understanding how technology can best be integrated in today’s schools. These case studies of effective practice are sure to become required reading for those in leadership positions who are using technology for school improvement.” —Glen L. Bull, Samuel Braley Gray Professor of Education, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia “The rubber meets the road in this well-researched book with detailed stories of exemplary schools and school leaders that have leveraged technology as a key tool to make significant reforms stick. Through these vivid case studies, Levin and Schrum illuminate a dynamic and complex set of lessons learned to help all school leaders undertake transformations of their schools.” —L. Michael Golden, CEO, Educurious

Ninety-five propositions for creating more relevant, more caring schools There is a growing desire to reexamine education and learning. Educators use the phrase "school 2.0" to think about what schools will look like in the future. Moving beyond a basic examination of using technology for classroom instruction, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need is a larger discussion of how education, learning, and our physical school spaces can—and should—change because of the changing nature of our lives brought on by these technologies. Well known for their work in creating Science Leadership Academy (SLA), a technology-rich, collaborative, learner-centric school in Philadelphia, founding principal Chris Lehmann and former SLA teacher Zac Chase are uniquely qualified to write about changing how we educate. The best strategies, they contend, enable networked learning that allows research, creativity, communication, and collaboration to help prepare students to be functional citizens within a modern society. Their model includes discussions of the following key concepts: Technology must be ubiquitous, necessary, and invisible Classrooms must be learner-centric and use backwards design principles Good technology can be better than new technology Teachers must serve as mentors and bring real-world experiences to students Each section of Building School 2.0 presents a thesis designed to help educators and administrators to examine specific practices in their schools, and to then take their conclusions from theory to practice. Collectively, the theses represent a new vision of school, built off of the best of what has come before us, but with an eye toward a future we cannot fully imagine.

Learn how to improve instruction by * Collecting the right data--the right way. * Incorporating relevant data into everyone's daily life. * Resisting the impulse to set brand-new goals every year. * Never settling for "good enough." * Anticipating changes--big and small, local and federal. * Collaborating and avoiding privatized practice. * Involving all stakeholders in identifying problems, setting goals, and analyzing data. * Agreeing on what constitutes high-quality instruction and feedback. The challenge is to understand that data--not intuition or anecdotal reports--are tools to be used in getting better at teaching students. And teaching students effectively is what schools are all about. Following the guidance in this book, overcome uncertainty and concerns about data as you learn to collect and analyze both soft and hard data and use their secrets for instructional improvement in your school.

Education is the key to America's economic growth and prosperity and to our ability to compete in the global economy. It is the path to higher earning power for Americans and is necessary for our democracy to work. It fosters the cross-border, cross-cultural collaboration required to solve the most challenging problems of our time. The National Education Technology Plan 2010 calls for revolutionary transformation. Specifically, we must embrace innovation and technology which is at the core of virtually every aspect of our daily lives and work. This book explores the National Education Technology Plan which presents a model of learning powered by technology, with goals and recommendations in five essential areas: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity.