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distractions
Leadership

Escaping from Distracting Co-Workers

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

In the grand scheme of the world, getting away from co-workers who are bent on distracting you is a very tiny thing. But if you’re in the middle of a daunting deadline or trying to solve a complex problem, it can grow into a very big deal very quickly. Luckily, one of my colleagues here at TCEA has found the perfect solution: the NOPE button.

What Is the NOPE Button?

The NOPE button is a free extension that you can add to your Chrome browser. Once installed, you tell it your phone number, either cell or office, depending on where you work. Then the magic is ready to happen.

When someone comes into your room or office or stops by your cubicle to chat for awhile and you really don’t have time, you simply and unobtrusively click the large, green “N” button in the top right of your browser screen as they walk up. Your phone will then ring, and you can escape the co-worker by “having to take the phone call.” Look apologetic as they walk away and then hang the phone up and get back to work.

Caveats

Needless to say, your peer might become suspicious if every time he walks up to you, your phone rings. So be judicious in when you use the NOPE button to eliminate distractions. Done correctly, though, this little extension can save you lots of time and help ensure that you meet your deadlines. One final caveat: this extension only works with phone numbers in the United States.

I can’t help you any more right now. I have a phone call coming in!

 

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Google Tips and TricksLeadershipMicrosoftProfessional Learning

Learn to Work Smarter, Not Harder

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

workplace study statsDo you find that it is hard to get everything done on your to-do list? That you don’t delegate some tasks because you want them done a certain way and you don’t have time to train someone? That anticipating a day off causes more stress because you know that it means there is less time for you to accomplish the same amount of work? Join the crowd. According to research, being stressed out at work may be more common than you think. Join us at the Productivity Tools for Leaders and learn how to make better use of your technology, time, and people so that you are more effective in your work.

TCEA is offering a full-day workshop that will help you with these very issues. The workshop is designed specifically for administrators at both the campus level and central office. Join us on June 15, 2017 at the TCEA headquarters in Austin for a day packed full of helpful information that you can implement the next day at work. You’ll be able to choose from a variety of concurrent sessions  to tailor your learning to best meet your needs. You’ll be inspired and motivated throughout the day, enjoy a good lunch, and  leave with handouts from all the presentations (not just the ones you attended). Our learning experience strands include:

  • Doing More with Technology – Sessions focus on features and tricks to help you make better use of technology that you commonly use.
  • Time Management – Sessions focus on best strategies and tools that you can choose from to help you better construct your day and accomplish the tasks on your to-do list more effectively.
  • Empowering Staff – Sessions focus on strategies and tools to deal with different personality types, improving customer service, and even how to work with “difficult people.”

This event is only $125 for current TCEA members and $174 for non-TCEA members. Fun and relevant learning, lunch, and continuing education credits are all included. Bring your favorite device and let our experts help you master the tricks you learn.

Register at this website today as space is limited. If you have questions or would like more information, contact me at bellis@tcea.org or by phone at 512-450-5396. We look forward to seeing you here and hearing the successes you experience as you start implementing what you learned!

 

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campus administrators
Good TeachingLeadership

Five Campus Administrator Myths

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Being a campus administrator today is quite different than it was just ten years ago. New tools, newer research on pedagogy and technology, and a different generation of students make being a principal and assistant principal more challenging. If we aren’t careful, it’s easy to neglect some things because they aren’t the way we used to do them; we may fall into patterns developed long ago without realizing it. Here are five myths that we need to avoid in order to build capacity in our staff with regards to integrating technology effectively.

Myth 1: I don’t have time to model effective technology use.

Yes, different parts of the year get busier than others and it seems like life somehow runs only on the chaos cycle. When that happens, it is easy to take some shortcuts. Be on the lookout though; this myth is likely to pop up while you are planning your next faculty meeting. Modeling effective technology use is important for teachers to see. How you use it, even in a faculty meeting, can give teachers a better understanding of how to use technology in their classroom, as well as grow their confidence in using technology. You may even use technology differently than they’ve thought of before, which broadens their understanding of the different ways that technology can be used to facilitate inquiry, discussion, research, consensus-building, voting, and follow-up.

Myth 2: My staff is skilled. I can just tell them.

Each staff member does bring a level of skills and talent to the table as they teach that you should be able to speak to. But, just like other professions, simply telling somebody something may not help them connect the dots on how to use the technology as effectively as if you took the time to share a video with them, demonstrated how to integrate a new resource, or pointed out another teacher’s proficient use of technology in her classroom. Just think what would happen if medical school interns were only told about medical procedures or read about them – no videos, no investigative studies, no cadavers. I think we would agree that we would not want a doctor that was just told about medicine. Don’t make the mistake of lessening the teaching profession.

Myth 3: I have to look like I have no problems when using technology.

As the instructional leader of the school, you do have a lot of people that are watching you. Instead of striving to be perfect, strive to be human. If you are using technology in a faculty meeting and something goes wrong, make it a part of the conversation, think out loud as to what you should do, and be willing to ask for help. Otherwise, when teachers go to their classroom and close their doors, they are likely fall into the same trap which prevents their students from seeing their teachers grow…and being a part of that growth. How freeing it would be if we were all able to admit that we each need help at times and unafraid to ask for it and give it.

Myth 4: It’s not that important.

Just like children mimic their role models, you will find that your faculty will mimic you. They’ll start reflecting the same values that you have for many things: children, testing, technology integration, etc. If you believe the myth that technology integration is  not that important, you have removed an expectation of your faculty that will negatively impact your students’ potential to compete in a digital world where knowing how to use technology as professional tools of learning can be a game changer.

Myth 5: Modeling effective technology integration is the job of my campus tech specialist, librarian, or computer lab teacher…not mine.

We do have staff members who are expected to possibly assume more technology integration and use than others. Abdicating your responsibilities to them, though, can be a strategy that can lead on a downward spiral to incompetence. Would it be okay if your teachers decided that teaching digital citizenship was the job of just the librarian or computer lab teacher? What if teachers decided to just teach review content instead of on-grade-level content? Soon, every teacher would be complaining about the teachers below them – “If they would just do their job, my job would be much easier!” Embrace your role as instructional leader and consider it a privilege that you get to learn and model effective technology integration along with your staff.

be awesome imageTake time to reflect on what myths you have bought into and the impact that you can make by changing your mind and believing what is actually true…not necessarily easy but true nonetheless. If I left you with one saying to challenge you, it would be with what Steven W. Anderson (@web20classroom) daily exhorts his Twitter followers to do: Be awesome! However you need to do it, work on removing those crippling lies and myths so that you can be awesome today. You do have the power to change lives and impact people beyond what you see.

 

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CybersecurityEducational TrendsLeadership

Managing Smart: 2017 Tech Leadership Summit

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

How are you managing smart technologies? Are you prepared for the Internet of Things (IoT) onslaught of fifty billion devices by 2020? That’s less than three years away! Forty-six percent of K–12 and higher ed Chief Technology Officers believe that smart technologies, including the IoT devices, will have a major impact on education. Join us at TCEA for a facilitated conversation with experts, vendors, and your peers regarding the Internet of Things, the management of smart technologies in schools, and planning tips to ensure successful implementation.

Managing Smart Technologies

Some of the smart technologies include interactive whiteboards, copiers, video cameras, tablets, smart HVAC systems, electric lighting/maintenance, temperature sensors, attendance tracking, and wireless door locks. These are just a few of the many IoT devices that will soon be appearing in your district.

Join the Conversation

Join us for a high-level discussion regarding the main roadblocks and detours to implementing the Internet of Things and smart technologies in K-16 schools:

  • Security
  • Cost
  • Privacy
  • Lack of interoperability
  • Distractions
  • Management challenges

How you are managing this technology is the key to how successful you will be with this initiative. Taking no action is not an option. So be sure to join us on May 12, 2017 and learn what you can do to prepare for this next challenge.

TCEA’s Commitment

TCEA is committed to creating professional learning and networking opportunities that address the specific needs of Chief Technology Officers and Directors/Coordinators of Technology in K-16 education institutions. Regardless of your district’s size, you will gain all of the information you will need to ensure that IoT devices work for your staff and students and not against you. Be sure to join your colleagues at the Friday, May 12, 2017 event.

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stress
Good TeachingLeadership

How to Keep a Healthy Mind and Body When You’re Busy

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

Making time to take care of ourselves is never easy, especially when our days and nights are full of work, responsibilities at home, and more stress than most of us know what to do with. However, it’s important to know how to ensure your mind, body, and soul are well taken care of no matter how much free time there may be, so looking for ways to practice self-care each day in some small way is imperative.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start small and think of ways you can make yourself happy. If your days are long and you’re feeling your shoulders ache from tension, ask for help from a partner, spouse, or friend, and request a quick shoulder rub, or treat yourself to a massage or pedicure when the stress starts to take over.

From there, it’s simply a matter of planning out your days to fit in ways you can stay healthy and happy. Here are a few of the best tips on how to do it.

Plan Your Meals

Setting aside an hour or two on Sunday night to prepare several meals will not only save you time throughout the week, it will also allow you to benefit from healthy, home-cooked fare rather than grabbing fast food on the run. Check out Pinterest for fresh ideas, invest in some resealable plastic bowls that can spend time in the freezer, and get to cookin’.

Limit Alcohol

A glass of red wine with dinner once or twice a week is fine; it may even help your heart. But limiting your alcohol intake is a good idea for lots of reasons. Not only can it make you feel bad physically; it can also leave you in a fog mentally and drain your energy. Stick to a glass of something with dinner only every now and then and drink plenty of water the rest of the time.

Schedule in Some Exercise

It might be hard to find time to work out, but if you commit to waking up twenty minutes earlier than usual or taking the dog on a longer walk at night, you can get in some daily exercise without a ton of effort. Making the time to do it can boost your energy, your metabolism, and your mood, so carve time from your schedule to get it done. You’ll thank yourself later.

Talk to Someone

Life’s daily stresses can take their toll, so make it a point to find someone to talk to. A counselor, a therapist, or just a trusted friend can make a world of difference when you’re feeling overwhelmed. If you don’t feel you have someone to vent to, consider finding an online support group.

Get Organized

Living in a cluttered, disorganized home–or having an overfull desk at school–can lead to a feeling of chaos and keep you in a state of stress even when you’re making an effort to get a handle on your life. Make it a point to de-clutter, clean your home or workspace, and get organized, and get your family on board so you aren’t the only one taking charge of the mess.

This is a guest blog post by Julie Morris, a life and career coach. You can learn more about Julie at her website.

The photo is via Pixabay by Cuncon.

 

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CybersecurityDigital LiteracyLeadershipProfessional LearningTechnical Support

It’s Not the Phishing, It’s Your Lack of Influence

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Why did he click on that email attachment?” asked one technology director I spoke with recently. The click led to a ransomware attack that expanded to the business department’s server, resulting in frantic data-saving actions.  For many technology directors, the problem is not the phishing or the ransomware. The real problem is their lack of influence to bring about change in the organization. Consider this problem in light of a common occurrence in education today.

Knowing vs Doing

What is Known:

  • Hackers, phishers, and scammers want our personally-identifiable information. They can sell it for $10 or more on the darknet, where illegal transactions happen (think “Silk Road“).
  • Bad people send out emails to educators. These emails appear legitimate. They invite district staff to surrender their username and password and then send decrypted sensitive data and/or ransomware that use staff’s machines as a beachhead to infect the rest of the network.
  • Staff know NOT to fall for these traps, but do so anyways.

What is Done:

In spite of knowing these things, staff continue to click on phishing links where they happily share their username and password via an insecure website, send copies of confidential documents to complete strangers, or click on ransomware that encrypts their computer, then spreads to everyone else’s. These actions by a few individual wreak havoc on the whole network, and small districts especially are overwhelmed.

The Traditional Response

The traditional response involves disciplining staff, even terminating them in severe data breaches. They should have known better, right? Oh, but wait, your district does not have a safeguarding sensitive data policy in place! (Many districts do not, which is why I offer this one as a start). It involves buying and issuing hardware (e.g. Chromebooks, iPads, Macbooks) that malware (e.g. ransomware) can’t work its dark magic on (YET…you just know hackers subscribe to growth mindset, right?).

problem

It means locking down Windows computers with Active Directory policies: Deep Freeze so that technicians don’t have to spend a lot of time fixing user errors. This has been standard practice for years. Here’s a roundup of advice that should help districts who want to keep closing the gate after the livestock has made its getaway. That is, mopping up the mess after someone has been hacked, phished, or taken.

TCEA’s Roundup of Ideas for Safeguarding Sensitive Data

CTOs and superintendents should also register to attend the upcoming May, 2017 TCEA Technology Leadership Summit, as well as pay a small fee to access the audio and notes from the 2016 Technology Leadership Summit.

But what if there was another approach, employing motivation, influence, and authority?

A Fresh Approach: Influence

In their book, Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, the authors suggest identifying vital action(s) that can be taken. These vital actions start with the desired behavior(s) that must change. Rather than try to change twelve or more behaviors staff exhibit, focus on one or two that will have the greatest results. For example, try to encourage adoption of this behavior:

Assume emails with attachments are suspect, so verify the source of the email. This can be as easy as sending a new email to the person who contacted you and asking, “Did you send me a file attachment that says, “burnbabyburn.exe?” Wait, you can even get more done. Walk over to the person who sent you the email attachment and ask them “Did you send me a file I didn’t ask for?” Or just call them or text them on your mobile phone. This ONE behavior change would stop 99% of the issues technology departments complain about (e.g. ransomware, viruses, malware as attachments, AND sending sensitive data to complete strangers).

Changing behavior

When seeking to change behavior, the authors of Influencer recommend recognizing that there are six sources of influence. Often, we take into account only the first two when trying to bring about change:

Source 1 – Personal Motivation

Make the undesirable, desirable.
Example – Do you really care if your computers gets infected with malware and you lose data? It’s not that big a deal, after all. A technician will come fix it eventually and most of your work is done on paper anyways. Instead, you must passionately care about protecting your data and that of your students. If someone tried to take one of your students hostage, you wouldn’t be so passive.

Source 2 – Personal Ability

Surpass your limits.
Example – Do you have the skills and knowledge to know when you’ve encountered an email that is intended to do you and yours harm? You probably have an idea that you shouldn’t click on bad emails. Learn what you need to be better on guard.

Source 3 – Social Motivation

Harness peer pressure.
Example – Do others on your team or your department really care about email and email attachments? Maybe they go through their spam folder looking for problematic emails because they need a break? What if everyone on your team was motivated to help each other NOT open spam emails with attachments or to practice the desired behavior?

Source 4 – Social Ability

Find strength in numbers.
Example – Who could you speak to in the district who could help you obtain the knowledge or resources you need? Maybe there’s a SafeSchools or EduHero eCourse you can take or a free ebook you can read.

Source 5 – Structural Motivation

Design rewards and accountability.
Example – When you check your email, are there a ton of emails waiting for you, so that you despair about getting through all of them and just click on anything? Maybe you can adopt Inbox Zero strategies so that email isn’t so overwhelming. Avoid sharing your confidential data (username and password) anywhere online since it can be so easily taken.

Source 6 – Structural Ability

Change the environment.
Example – Maybe your district could adopt a different communications medium that isn’t susceptible to malware email attachments, like Slack or Microsoft Yammer or Teams.

Conclusion

While this has been a lighthearted attempt to address the challenges end users face every day, it is important to realize that changing ONE behavior can result in significant change. When you go about changing it, realize that asking people to do the right thing and training them is not going to get it done. Unleash all sources of influence to bring about the change you want.

 

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LeadershipOnline Tools and Apps

Saving Time and Sanity with Web 2.0 Tools

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

saving timeAsk any administrator what he/she needs more of and the first answer will always be “time.” When the technology is invented that will allow us to cram 28 or 30 hours into every 24-hour day, then we can all rejoice and relax. But until then, here are some apps and websites designed to help us be more productive and efficient (and maybe keep us sane). They’ll run on any device with Internet access and are all free.

 

Web 2.0 Tools for Administrators

Boomerang for Gmail – This Chrome extension allows you to schedule messages to be sent or returned at a later date. Write a message now, send it whenever, even if you’re not online. Track messages to make sure you hear back, and schedule reminders right inside Gmail.

Doodle – This is a free group scheduling tool that allows you to connect with others to arrange the best time to meet. Post several dates/times, and people can respond on your doodle to let you know which works best for them. It’s much easier than emailing back and forth to find a time that works for everyone.

Dotstorming – If you need your staff to make a quick decision, try this fun resource. Create a board with a question, invite participants, and then see how the vote goes.

Easel.ly– Easel.ly is a web tool that allows you to create visual graphics. Register and begin creating with the user-friendly interface to custom build your infographic. (BTW, if you want to communicate information quickly, like for a board or parent meeting, an infographic is your best bet, according to this source.)

Flipboard – Flipboard is a customized magazine that can help keep you current and save you time. It is available as a free app for Android and iOS or on the web. Tell it what you’re interested in, and it will find and return current articles about your favorite topics. Free registration is required.

Google Alerts – Have Google monitor the web for you and automatically send you an alert when new information gets posted about you, your campus, or your district. Choose from news, blogs, videos, discussions, books, or everything. Have alerts sent when they happen, once per day, or once per week.

Padlet (formerly Wallwisher) – Build a Wall and invite staff to collaborate with you. Use it for noticeboards, bookmarking, discussions, brainstorming, note taking, planning events, making lists, watching videos, collecting feedback, and more. Free registration is recommended.

ScreenLeap – ScreenLeap allows you to share your screen instantly to any device with a browser, including laptops, netbooks, computers, smart phones, iPads, Android tablets, and more. There is no software to download or install, but free registration is required. With the free plan, you can share with up to eight devices. Your device that is shared must be capable of using Java, but it is not required on the other devices. After clicking to share your screen, processing for about 20 seconds will occur, and then you will be given a unique URL to give to those who need to connect with you. This is a great tool for quickly showing someone how to use a piece of software or where to find information.

Smore – Smore is a web tool used to create flyers and newsletters. The basic version is free and provides for up to four documents. But with the paid Education version for $59/year, you can use your own custom backgrounds, find out if your reports are being read, and create unlimited documents. What I like most about Smore is how easy it is to use and how professional the results are.

Today’s Meet – This website is a great tool for creating a back channel for discussions. No registration is required. Simply name your room, determine the length of time the room will be open (from one hour to one month), and click “Create your room.” Then share the link to your staff. Posts in Today’s Meet are limited to 140 characters, which helps focus the conversations.

Trello – With Trello, you can create boards to organize anything you’re working on. Use them solo, or invite colleagues, friends, and family to work together.

 

 

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LeadershipOnline Tools and AppsProfessional Learning

Align Your Social Media

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Don’t wait for the stars to align, reach up and rearrange them the way you want,” says Pharrell Williams. “Create your own constellation.” Want to rearrange your learning experiences with social media? Bridge the gap between face-to-face community efforts and online? Then read on to discover tips on how to shape the social media flow. Grab a friend, your mobile device, and let’s go!

Manual Approach to Social Media

If you’re like most people, you probably have been cajoled into creating a social media account. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, YouTube, and LinkedIn are the most common ones that people start with. But how do you create a community around what you share? Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Tip #1: Mix-and-Match Your Social Media

Combine audio and video tools. Instagram and Facebook make it easy to post links to other social media tools, such as Twitter. That means you can start a Facebook Live session, record audio using Voxer (or use the YouTube Capture app on your phone) and share the link out via Twitter. This is great because it allows you to “liven up” Twitter with audio and video. Imagine recording a student explaining his/her solution to a problem or thinking process. Here are some Voxercasts that I shared via Twitter. If participating in a Twitterchat, try responding to a question with audio or video. It will leave participants “mind-blown.” And, if you’re feeling adventurous, use Voxer and/or Flipgrid.com to kick off audio or video reflections respectively.

Tip #2: Decide on a Content Curation Tool

Content curation involves finding great stuff, stowing it somewhere for safe keeping, and then sharing the relevant information with other interested parties. How the sharing happens is usually through social media. Here are a few tools that I use for content curation. They make sharing with others via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook easy.

  • Get Pocket.com: This remains my favorite content tool. Anything I find on my mobile device or on my computer, I promptly save to Pocket. Since it is everywhere and works well with other tools, it makes saving content easy. Getting content out is also straightforward. More on that later.
  • Diigo.com for Educators: An oldy but goody, social bookmarking with Diigo is a cinch on computers, not so much on mobile. Still, the benefit of Diigo is that you can turn every item you save to it into a tagged item. Tags in Diigo come with RSS feeds (learn more about RSS), which make it easy to share to Twitter and other places. Using the free for Educators account comes with additional benefits.
  • Flipboard.com: A fantastic curation tool since anything you “flip” into a digital magazine (ezine for short) becomes an easy-to-share resource with others. People can subscribe and leave comments. Imagine creating a flipboard ezine for your class on a particular topic or having students collaborate and contribute to a shared ezine. Flipboard makes it possible, and viewing is a pure pleasure.
  • Storify.com: This is a helpful tool since it makes capturing tweets and sharing content easy, although to access some of its more esoteric features will require payment. Storify is often used to archive Twitterchats, even though there are more comprehensive tools. Storify makes finding and sharing content for a classroom of learners simple.
  • Paper.li: Want to create a newsletter that curates itself? Paper.li makes that possible and can auto-publish itself via Twitter with new content daily. It can be hands-off or you can spend time updating it. Like Storify, full feature access costs money.

Tip #3: Master Those Twitter Chats

social mediaEvery day, there are thousands of educators like you connecting and learning from each other. This network of professional learners, open to anyone and everyone willing to learn, is known as a “professional learning network” or PLN for short. You can find a wealth of hashtags, such as #tceachat, that boast robust conversations on days or nights. Here are several tools you can use to make navigating and participating in Twitter chats easier:

  • Tweetdeck: Tweetdeck allows you to set up multiple columns, as opposed to Twitter’s single column of content. You can follow multiple hashtags simultaneously, as well as see what you are tweeting and what others are tweeting at you. What’s more, as you get more proficient and want to manage your own Twitter chat, you can schedule your own tweets days in advance at anytime. Great for tweeting during a presentation and wowing your audience.
  • Participate Learning: This is a must-have tool to take advantage of since it provides a concise schedule of hashtags for Twitter chats and when they are taking place. What’s more, you can search hashtags for relevant conversations, as well as add your own chat. This makes it easier to find other’s chats, as well as sharing your content.
  • Twubs.com: Straightforward interface aside, Twubs is intended to help you get to know who is participating in a Twitter chat. A unique feature includes your ability to get an embed code so you can place the results of a hashtag search on your web page.

Tip #4: Create Image Flyers to Hook Twitter Chat Participants

social mediaDecided to facilitate a Twitter chat for your school or district? Create a landscape flyer with Adobe Spark, Pixlr, Powerpoint, or Google Slides that includes pertinent information, as well as a link to more content. In addition to creating a way to advertise your Twitter chat to the world, you will also want to solve the archive problem. For small Twitter chats, you can use Storify or simply copy-and-paste into a GoogleDoc or IFTTT recipe to feed tweets into a Google Sheet. However, for larger chats (>1000 tweets), consider using a more robust solution like TAGS.

Tip #5: Automate Your Social Media Sharing

“Share once and done!” Avoid having to share information via multiple outlets. Some school districts embarking on social media domination move to post the same piece of information on each social media outlet, but that can be a big waste of time. Use one or both of these tools to automate your social media sharing. Create a blog post and then see it shared automatically to Twitter and Facebook, post images to Instagram and email them to others, and more.

  • IFTTT.com: If This Then That allows you to create mini-apps, or recipes, that execute when a trigger action occurs. For example, if I add a tag “2tweet” to a web article I save on one of my content curation tools, Pocket or Diigo, that item appears as a tweet within thirty minutes. If I add a tag “tceamie,” the item is posted to a Slack group for technology directors and coordinators.
  • Microsoft Flow: A newcomer to the scene, Flow works like IFTTT, yet it works hand-in-hand with Office 365 tools. Visit their website to see some sample “flows.”
    social media

Tip #6: Create a Virtual Sharing Space

At a certain point, you will want to archive all the great things that are being said or happening. One way to do that is to save all chats to a virtual space, such as a OneNote Online notebook (see example, Google Plus Community (see example), or Facebook group. You can, of course, also use popular blogging platforms like Blogger and/or Wordpress.
Use tools like Remind.com to share daily updates via mobile phones. This helps keep your community connected to you, enabling easy, non-intrusive sharing. My favorite example is Dr. Scott Mcleod’s Dangerously Irrelevant daily reminders that arrive via SMS text message every day.

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid to grasp the stars and rearrange them! Social media tools like those discussed in this blog entry make shaping the flow of social media a joy, not a chore.

 

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balance scales with curriculum and technology
Content AreasLeadershipProfessional Learning

Which Comes First, Curriculum or Technology?

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

As I work with leaders (technology directors, curriculum directors, and administrators) around the state, I find it interesting to hear their answer to the question, “Which comes first, the curriculum or the technology?” Sometimes the answer I get is a reflection of the role they play. Sometimes I’m likely to get someone trying to straddle the fence and give a non-committal answer. More interesting than the actual answer (“curriculum” or “technology”) are the reasons that are shared to justify the positions. So, which do you think comes first: the curriculum or the technology?…and why?

When the Technology Comes First

There is no argument that a robust infrastructure is a necessity for today’s work. With everything and everyone needing to do something online as part of their job duties, bandwidth is always a growing need. But, for our argument, let’s consider that infrastructure is a given. What happens when all the other technology comes before curriculum?

Technology plans are made, many times in isolation of the curriculum department, so that quotas are met, refresh cycles can continue, and a better student-to-computer (or student-to-device) ratio can be touted. In and of themselves, these are not bad. But, in light of relevant student use, administrators may be frustrated to find that these processes lead to distributing dust collectors – expensive dust collectors – that are proudly put out of sight by meaningful educators who have either not been trained in their use or see no value in the learning curve that may need to be invested to make use of the technology.

I can count too many districts that have made aggressive efforts to increase their technology without considering curriculum goals and outcomes; many times making use of bond funds specifically designated for technology. “Designated for technology” shouldn’t mean “divorced from the curriculum.” Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that technology isn’t important. But it should be identified after the curriculum goals and outcomes have been clarified.

When Curriculum Comes First

Curriculum directors and administrators need to have discussions to determine what the outcomes of the curriculum should be. I’m not talking about stats for the district improvement plan or the latest stakeholder newsletter. I’m talking about what it should, or could, look like for students to demonstrate mastery. When we take the time to identify those possibilities and think about how students may have to demonstrate mastery (communicate, produce, collaborate, etc.) as working adults, it becomes very easy to identify which technologies should follow these outcomes.

Identifying the curriculum outcomes also provides a framework as to what professional development should look like. We are quick to demand more than just “seat work” from students, but don’t carry those same expectations to teachers. This dichotomy hinders our teachers’ growth and reinforces the notion to other teachers that technology is “just a fad” or is unimportant.

A Close Second

When I say that curriculum should come first, I should probably follow that up by saying that relevant technology should be a very close second. When district leaders, specifically technology and curriculum directors, work together, a more robust curriculum and relevant technology integration is likely to occur. This can be easily seen in districts where the technology director and curriculum director are having continuous robust discussions and planning how to best utilize their budgets, including IMA funds.

So where do you stand? Which do you think should come first, the curriculum or the technology? And, more importantly, are you able to justify your position in a way that promotes student learning and prepares them for their future?

If you would like to know more about how we structure authentic training that emphasizes curriculum over the technology or details on having TCEA provide professional development in your district or at your campus, contact me at bellis@tcea.org. I’d love to talk with you and discuss how we can create amazement with your teachers and/or staff.

 

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art aprons hanging on hooks in classroom
CybersecurityLeadership

Safeguarding Student and School Privacy

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Safeguarding student privacy and the security of networks remains a key priority for education leaders. In December, 2016, school leaders came together to match answers to tough questions as they heard from industry experts on ways to protect what is most important to them. In this blog entry, learn how to get access to the powerful presentations and conversations that took place.

How Do I Get the Summit Resources?

You can access the audio, presentation slides, and more of the sessions online now for a nominal fee ($49). You will need to have a TCEA log in.

What Exactly Will I Get?

Presentation slides, pictures, and  audio recordings of the high-level speakers will be yours to explore and reflect on. In addition to Bill Fitzgerald’s (of Common Sense Media) keynote, critical areas addressed include:

  • Understanding DDoS Attacks,
  • Securing Single-Sign-On (SSO)
  • Security/Privacy Legislative Panel

TCEA’s Commitment

TCEA is committed to creating professional learning and networking opportunities that address the needs of Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and Directors/Coordinators of Technology in K-16 education institutions. Be sure to join your colleagues at the Friday, May 12, 2017 event.

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