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Good TeachingiOS Tips and TricksOnline Tools and AppsProfessional Learning

bulb Digital Portfolio Offers Free Premium Accounts

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

As a professional educator, it’s a good idea to keep a portfolio of your best work. This can be a powerful tool for reflection on individual growth or a way to showcase your strengths when applying for a new position. But what’s the best tool to use for your portfolio? An old-time favorite was just announced as being free for all teachers, which makes it an even better resource.

bulb Digital Portfolios

bulb announced last week that their premium account, bulb+, normally valued at $30/year, is now free to teachers. With the free account, teachers can:

  • Create personal collections, curriculum, and resources.
  • Track professional development and display badges and credentials earned.
  • Establish professional learning plans to meet goals and standards.

There’s even a free iOS app that you can use with your free account to document fabulous lessons or strong student work. And, starting now, bulb will provide additional features for teachers:

  • Use and create templates.
  • Embed audio and rich media files.
  • Gather comments and feedback.
  • Showcase work in presentation mode.

To get started, simply create your free account here.

bulb

bulb for Students

Students can create a free bulb account to capture ideas, express knowledge, and display skills to get the most out of college, career, and life. The regular account is free for them, but the premium account is $3/month.

Other Reasons to Love bulb

bulb is ad-free, complies with global data privacy and security policies, and doesn’t sell user information to third parties. It has the ability to integrate with most LMS or SIS systems, including Microsoft Office 365, Google, Canvas, Schoology and Blackboard and partners with Clever and ClassLink to provide single sign-on functionality. They also have an excellent blog with great ideas and resources for using the tool.

What do you have to lose?

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learning strategies
Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Technology Is Only Part of the Picture

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

TCEA has been supporting the use of technology in education for almost 40 years now. As we get ready to celebrate that anniversary, we’ve spent time looking at the realm of classroom ed tech and how far it’s come. We know that the real power of any technology relies upon how it’s used. So how well is ed tech being implemented?

To our dismay, we found that we haven’t made the progress we had hoped for. Yes, there are pockets of excellence where the technology truly enhances student achievement. But in most cases, there has been little change in daily teaching and learning. Looking critically at today’s ed tech landscape can not only reveal flaws in current practice, but potentially inform better uses and better technologies in the future. After all, technology is only part of the picture. The other part depends on how we understand and shape our teaching. Tech moves fast, and our learning strategies should not only keep up, but drive the conversation around ed tech.

The Research Is Clear

Unfortunately, the research on the effective use of tech is not positive.

U.S. fourth-graders who report using tablets in all or nearly all of their classes are a full year behind in reading ability compared with peers who report never using tablets in their classes. Internationally, students who report greater use of technology in their classrooms score worse on the PISA exam, the major international student assessment, even when accounting for differences in wealth and prior performance. This is all according to a recent report by the Reboot Foundation. (source)

These findings align with prior research that found essentially the same thing three years ago: High levels of technology use in the classroom tend to correlate with lower student performance.

In the past when we heard this kind of research, we were quick to point out that the study may have been flawed or the students studied may not all have had access to devices or the broadband provided for their work wasn’t sufficient. But I think it’s time for us to really talk about technology and and learning.

What’s Really Happening

The question that we have to ask ourselves is not whether technology can accelerate learning, because there are lots of studies that show that it can. The question instead is why isn’t it doing so right now. What’s preventing us from making truly effective use of technology for learning?

And after studying this question for the past year, we believe that we have found the answer. We’ve been talking with dedicated CTOs and technology leaders and visiting lots of amazing school districts and campuses working very hard to implement tech and make things better for students. And throughout all of that, we’ve found educators having conversations and professional learning about powerful tools and apps and websites. The focus has been on what the technology can do and on how the students can use it. The problem with that, though, is that’s not the conversation we should be having. Instead, our focus should be on how student interaction with tech will improve learning. We have to talk about the teaching and learning.

Two Questions to Ask

As we plan for tech use in the classroom, we must begin asking two questions:

  • Is the technology linked to a specific learning goal? If the answer to this question is “no,” then why are we using it? We all know that there simply isn’t enough time each day to cover all the content that successful students must know. So if the devices and software aren’t directly tied to specific learning, we should abandon them. (Yes, you read that right.)
  • Does the technology follow research-proven methods of how we learn? I am afraid that most educators today don’t think about this question because we aren’t current on the latest research on learning. This again is a time issue. There have been huge strides in the past 25 years proving what works best for learning, but I rarely hear teachers or leaders talking about this. It is time for us to talk about what instructional strategies work best and how and when technology can support those strategies.

One Solution

In order to see full-fledged and powerful use of technology to enhance student achievement moving forward, we must begin training all educators and leaders to answer the two questions above. Luckily, TCEA is here to help with that mammoth job. We are hosting a one-day learning event on Saturday, September 28, 2019. The Innovative Learning Strategies Conference is focused on helping educators answer the two questions above by providing hands-on, minds-on sessions tying research-proven instructional strategies to the effective use of technology. Bring a team and start learning how you can ensure that technology does make a difference in learning for all of your students.

Photo: Émile Perron

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Lunch and Learn
Professional Learning

TCEA Is Your Retreat…Step Away.

by Chance McKee
written by Chance McKee

“Wow, I’m so tired already. And it’s only Monday.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Every day, I’m sure all of you, just like me, are inundated with things to do and waves of new developments happening throughout the various aspects of our lives and the world. The lists are unbelievably long and the world so tumultuous, you truly aren’t sure how you’re going to hold it all together to make everything happen. Next week has been exhausting, am I right? 

Well, I’m about to give you one more thing to do, but stay with me, because this is ultimately something to help you relax guilt-free.

Time and Money

TCEA members are always asking us how we can give them two things:

  1. Time (because you’re swamped) 
  2. Money (because you work in education)

Well, this is how. 

Take a Break…

Once a week, starting in September, you are going to block time off on your calendar on Wednesdays from 11:45 am to 12:30 pm to:

  1. Step away from the stress of your day.
  2. Take a mental break.
  3. Close your door.
  4. Sit down.
  5. Open your lunch box.
  6. Login to www.tcea.org with your TCEA member username and password. (Email Chance if you’ve forgotten how.)
  7. Take a few deep breaths.
  8. And enjoy TCEA’s latest Lunch and Learn webinar while you learn something new and chow down on your food.

This is how TCEA gives you more time. 

As your go-to professional association for all things education and educational technology, we are carving the time out for you (just 45 minutes) in your week and creating a space for you to learn something new. As an educator, you know how powerful that is. And you get to do it while relaxing and taking a step away from the rest of the world to join other passionate ed tech professionals, just like you, working to expand their knowledge base. 

Free CPE! Free CPE! Free CPE!

“Ok, Chance,” you say, not quite convinced, “you can give me time, but how are you saving me money?” 

“Well, my dear member,” I say, “they’re free.” 

Yes, you read that conversation correctly! Not only is TCEA your educational retreat on Wednesdays from 11:45 am to 12:30 pm, it’s free, and every Lunch and Learn webinar qualifies for CPE credit (which you can then use when it comes time to re-up your certification). 

So, if you’re like me and you love to eat, and if you’re like me even more and you love to learn, then join TCEA on Wednesdays from 11:45 am to 12:30 pm to watch our Lunch and Learn webinars, which allow TCEA members to connect and share in real-time with each other on a broad array of ed tech tools and resources and research-backed instructional strategy topics that offer more than 80+ hours of free CPE credit each year.

Searching the Archive

Can’t attend the webinar live? Don’t worry. TCEA sends you a recorded link within 48 hours of the webinar so you can watch at your leisure. Simply pre-register for the webinar of your choice and receive a link to the webinar recording sent to the email address we have for you on file.

Additionally, if you have a lot of free time (haha) you can find an archive of TCEA webinars in the “Files” section of the TCEA Members group within the TCEA Community.

TCEA Time

Look, we all know the mental health benefits of scheduling time to slow down and remove ourselves from the stress of our lives and classrooms and colleagues and kids. So take a moment every Wednesday to sit, enjoy your lunch, and learn something new. Let TCEA be your retreat, and step away.

Be at peace, friend. 

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professional development
Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Professional Development: Make It Personal

by Matthew Crutcher
written by Matthew Crutcher

Think back to your last staff development event. Were you engaged the whole time, or was some of the material not quite relevant to you? Or maybe your admin team brought in a trainer to discuss the basics of OneNote, but you are already a OneNote genius. As teachers, we differentiate our instruction for our students to meet their needs — so why are we not practicing what we preach when it comes to professional development? As lifelong learners, we should be exposed to the same opportunities that we are providing our students. It’s time that we start personalizing our staff development! 

When I was a classroom teacher, many of the staff meetings I attended were lecture style, sit-and-get sessions. The material was not always aimed at what I was teaching and there was an overall sense of inefficiency during the hour-long meeting. That is, until I had this one specific training. On this one occasion, I felt that the staff meeting met the needs of not only me and my team, but the whole school. We were given the choice as to what we wanted to learn, and this idea has stuck with me all these years. It has shaped and influenced my current teaching technique as a digital learning coach and personalized professional development.

Creating Choice

Let me walk you through that particular occasion. We all met in one room to review our norms, then we were given the menu. The menu was divided into two 20-minute blocks and a 10-minute wrap-up at the end. During those 20-minute blocks, we had our choice of four different sessions we could attend. Very similar to a conference you might attend, each session had a short description, so teachers knew what to expect going into that lesson. For each time slot, the sessions were different so that those presenting in the first block could attend something in the second and vice versa. 

The choices we had were sessions on: ELAR, math/science, technology, and special education. At 3:40, we were released to our first session. Then, 20 minutes later, an announcement was made to move to the next session and then the next one began. For our 10-minute wrap-up, we discussed the main themes of each session and as a ticket out, we posted our favorite things about the new method on a “parking lot.”

So, what did it look like behind the scenes? A few years later, after I had left the classroom, I asked my then principal how she organized that meeting. She told me that the administrative team met with several people weeks before the staff meeting and asked them to present something related to, well, whatever. Those staff members then prepared their  presentation. The people that she chose were those looking to move up into a leadership role or those currently in a leadership role. She said that it took some time and effort to plan the whole thing, but in the end, it was a very valuable learning experience for the entire staff. 

Blended Delivery

With the advancements in technology over the past several years, one idea for staff meetings is to make them blended or even flipped. With a blended delivery, students (or in this case, the staff) would conduct a short activity or watch a short video prior to the staff meeting. This front-loading of material allows the meeting host to begin right away, not having to use valuable time to introduce the material. For example, the professional development is on student motivation. Admin could send out a TED Talk or another video for staff members to watch, and once the meeting begins, staff immediately break into groups to discuss the video. This eliminates having to use the first 10 minutes of the meeting to watch the video.

With a flipped method, the entire staff development is conducted online. One great way to conduct flipped professional development is through a learning management system. When designing the professional development, you could set up a module that staff members move through with a quiz or discussion at the end for accountability.

With a flipped delivery, staff members are free to work on the program or activity when they want, where they want. If the entire third-grade team wants to get together after school to complete the activities, they can. Or, if someone is unable to attend a meeting, they can complete the assignment at home. The ability to work on the training when it’s convenient to them will help ensure they are engaged and the training is effective.

Conclusion

Traditional staff development still has its place. When it is time for STAAR training, or when new campus discipline programs are being implemented, the entire staff should be together. For many other concepts though, giving the teachers options when it comes to what they learn and how they learn is the way to go. You’ll have staff that appreciates the opportunity to pick something of interest, and you’ll be modeling what we expect our teachers to be doing with their students. 

Matthew Crutcher is vice president of TCEA’s Campus Technology Special Interest Group (CAMP-SIG) and a digital learning coach at Lamar CISD.

Photo: Headway

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Good TeachingProfessional Learning

Make Coaching Connections

by Diana Benner and Miguel Guhlin
written by Diana Benner and Miguel Guhlin

Do you know how popular instructional coaching jobs are? It was the most often job posted on TASAnet’s website. Of the 2,491 jobs posted in July, 2019, coaching accounted for 195 positions. That’s about eight percent of all jobs available in Texas public schools and charters. Why so popular? Let’s revisit a few facts about coaching, as well as discuss a few resources.

The Facts about Coaching

The facts about coaching are making their way into the educational community. Without fancy graphs or charts, you’ll want to pay close attention to the research.

This summer, thousands will take part in hundreds of hours of professional learning. Only twenty percent of those thousands of educators will transfer a new skill. That’s right, of the educators who get training, only a few will change their practice. Even if schools assign principals to offer feedback on lessons, it is an impossible task. Principal feedback is ineffective when sporadic and inconsistent. What’s more, it has the stigma of a job appraisal. Feedback offered in this way can create negative effects at a high rate (38%).

What’s more effective? You guessed it! Coaching. As shown in the chart below, eighty to ninety percent of those teachers will apply learning from a workshop in a classroom (source: Joyce and Showers, 1995).

 

 

Now that you know the effectiveness of each approach above, take a moment to reflect. How many professional learning sessions did you attend at the start of the year? Of those, how many stopped short of coaching? What’s more, consider how important the other components are in support of coaching.  Many “trainers” do well with theory, demos, practice, and training. They often don’t do feedback or coaching. Practicing new skills isn’t often done either.

Coaching: Interpersonal Relationships

Thinking about going into coaching? The most important component is, hands-down, building a strong relationship. This reflects the data and trends in my blog entry, Embrace Lifelong Learning, or Else. The 2022 Skills Outlook from the Future of Jobs Report 2018 highlights the following:

  • Emotional intelligence. It is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions and includes the ability to handle interpersonal relationships. You must achieve this in a judicious and empathetic way. Some call emotional intelligence “EQ” or “interpersonal skills.”
  • Leadership and social influence. The ability to maximize the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal. It stems from your social influence (source).

Emotional intelligence is often included in the catch-all term “soft skills.” Soft skills reflect how you work, communicate, and problem solve as a part of a team. Interpersonal skills play a key role in this. Once you see the ubiquity of relationships, everything fades in significance.

Back to School Coaching Resources

As the new year starts, you’ll want to be aware of the following resources. Let’s take a look.

coaching connections

Resource #1 – Future Ready Instructional Coaches Framework

The Future Ready Instructional Coaches provides instructional coaches with research-based strategies. What’s more, you get protocols and resources that you can use to be more effective. Here are some places to look:

Get connected to other coaches and begin your learning journey.

Resource #2 – Videos to Watch

It may be a truism, but coaching trumps professional development. Now you know the research shows how ineffective “theory, demonstration, and training” are. Those beautiful materials you prepared? Worthless without feedback, practice, and most important of all, coaching. Check out these two videos on coaching:

Resource #3 – Collegial Coaching

Have you heard of collegial coaching? I discussed it in another blog entry, Coaching Made Less Difficult. Dr. Dawn Wilson and Dr. Katie Alaniz do a nice job of distilling instructional coaching wisdom. They are, of course, relying on Jim Knight’s work. But they are making connections for educational technology. Be sure to explore their resources featured in the blog entry above.

“Coaching means side-by-side planning and working together with the same end goal in mind – Learning!-Dr. Dawn Wilson (@drdkwilson)

coaching connections

Listen to the Podcast | Access Book Info

And don’t forget to review their coaching model.

Resource #4 – Adopt a Growth Mindset

Close your eyes. Take a moment to slow down and take a deep breath. Now ask yourself, how are you changing what you say to support growth mindset thinking? You will first need to adopt a growth mindset for yourself, and encourage others to adopt it as well. Consider the diagram below:

coaching connections

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities are fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed. This can be achieved through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

All great people have had these qualities.

Source: Mindsets

Why do this? Teaching mindsets (e.g. fixed vs growth) enhances relationships. And what’s the most important aspect of coaching? That’s right…relationships and trust.

Image Source: Adapted from Killion, J., & Harrison, C. (2017). Taking the Lead:
New Roles for Teachers and School-Based Coaches, second edition. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward.

Resource #5 – Coaching Tools

Want some coaching tools? You may need an overview of coach roles and help on allocating time. You may need a weekly lesson planning template. Be sure to check out these tools shared via Tools for Learning special issue.

Ready to make some coaching connections? Be sure to get connected to other coaches. Build your own coaching PLN via Twitter and social media. The sooner you find your tribe, the better off you will be.

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hyperdoc
Professional Learning

Hyperdoc Happiness: Transform Teacher Inservice

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Ready for start-of-the-year professional development? Inservice workshops may prompt a groan or two. That may be from the unforgiving cafeterias seats, the less-than-exciting lectures, or the lack of choice. That last item can be the most stifling for educators. After all, one of our most cherished values is the freedom to choose. In this blog entry, I’ll share some ways to get hyperdoc happiness going in your teacher inservice.

hyperdoc

Created by Rachel Marker (@rachelmarker)

Freedom to Choose

The freedom to choose, or the “pursuit of happiness,” is a regular casualty. Our expectations for adult learners may sometimes include “Learn what I have to teach you, even if you find it boring.” And educators seldom have the opportunity to choose how they learn. Not only do they have to sit through inservice trainings, they are often constrained by 20th century technologies. K-12 students, though, can exercise their options about the learning they are interested in.

Consider Dr. Chris Moersch’s H.E.A.T framework. Let’s take a look at each of the main components:

  • Higher-Order Thinking: Students learn/question at the Evaluating/Creating levels.
  • Engaged Learning: Students collaborate to define the task, the process, and/or the solution. Collaboration extends beyond the classroom.
  • Authentic Connections: The learning experience is relevant to students. It involves creating a product that has a purpose beyond the classroom. This purpose has a direct impact on students.
  • Technology Use: Task completion centers around student-directed technology (classroom or BYOD) use. It involves new and different ways of learning.

As you can see from the H.E.A.T. framework, what we are looking for is self-directed, relevant learning. This description of learning experiences, however, does not describe or define most teacher professional development.

How can we overcome that? How could we get closer to the potential of engagement and authentic connections? One approach might involve the use of a hyperdoc. Check out the excitement radiating from Kendra’s tweet below. Wouldn’t you like that excitement flowing from your inservice workshop?

hyperdoc happiness

Hyperdocs for Professional Learning

How could we get teachers evaluating and creating useful ideas about required school inservice content? This involves a level of engagement that grants teachers autonomy in how and what they use to create, and it offers teachers the opportunity to create useful content. Creating a digital, or even virtual, make-and-take session empowers teachers to design what their classroom needs most. Hyperdocs provide one way of accomplishing that, testifying to their popularity.

hyperdoc happiness

This is only a portion of Nadine Gilkison’s hyperdoc collection; see more. Follow @NadineGilkison on Twitter.

Explore the ISTE Standards via the EduQuest Hyperdoc

Curious about a hyperdoc to introduce teachers to the ISTE Educator Standards? Give this EduQuest Adventure a whirl. Grab a copy of the EduQuest Hyperdoc and modify it for your needs.

Get Started Now

Hyperdoc Happiness: Transform Teacher Inservice

As you gear up for teacher inservice this year, consider how easy it is to create hyperdocs. You have a wealth of resources and materials to draw upon. Nadine Gilkison’s hyperdoc collection is only one of many available. Here are a few examples Lisa Highfill, hyperdoc creator, has curated in her Back to School collection. Teachers will relish the opportunity to create content relevant to their work. If you’re worried that teachers lack the technical skills to build hyperdocs, make sure to set them up for success. Why not invite TCEA to facilitate our Google Educator Level 1 certification classes?

Photo: Mein Deal

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professional development
Professional Learning

Develop Yourself This Summer with TCEA

by Chance McKee
written by Chance McKee

“Summer break is finally here … THANK GOODNESS!”

– Every educator, everywhere

So now that you have a little free time, I’m sure you are looking for ways to fill it, right? (Because we know most of you simply refuse to rest … or maybe you’re unable to? The jury is still out.)

Summer Plans

When I recently asked TCEA members in the TCEA Community what their summer plans were, I received responses ranging from eight-day silent meditation retreats (jealous!) to rewriting eighth grade social studies curriculum (not so jealous) and everything in between. (As a side note, if you haven’t responded yet, please do so as I would love to hear what our members are up to this summer, whether personally or professionally.) I also noticed that almost every single TCEA member who responded to my question mentioned something about participating in lots of professional development.

Well, TCEA can help with that.

Live TCEA Professional Development

As your go-to professional association for all things education and educational technology, we strive to keep the learning opportunities going throughout the summer months because we realize that this is when most educators have the chance to take the time to further develop themselves as professionals and people.

Check out the TCEA blog or the below TCEA events and webinars to find resources and learning opportunities that appeal to you:

Anytime, Anywhere Professional Learning

If you’re in the mood to learn while lounging around the pool, or with your feet propped up on the couch, be sure to check out the many recorded webinars available to you as a TCEA member. You can find all of these, more than 80 of them that count for CPE credit, in the TCEA Members group in the Community. Once there, click on Files across the top. Each webinar is listed on a separate Word document with its title, description, and the date of its original airing. You can browse through them or use the Search feature to find webinars on topics of interest, like Google, ESL, or coding. Hover over the title of any document and you’ll be able to see the whole title, who else has downloaded it, and download it yourself.

professional development

We all know summer break will be over in a snap. So keep your learning going before to ensure you feel confident walking into a new school year with the knowledge you need to create real, lasting learning outcomes for your students, your staff, and most importantly, yourself.

As always, if you would like more personalized resources, simply reach out to me directly at cmckee@tcea.org and I will be happy to help tailor your membership experience to ensure you receive the best resources TCEA has to offer.

Enjoy your summer break (please do try to actually get some rest!) and remember that with TCEA, you’ve got this.

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Legislature
AdvocacyCoding/Computer ScienceCTO/CIOCybersecurityDigital LiteracyProfessional LearningSTEM/STEAMTechnology Applications

86th Texas Legislature Wrap-Up

by Jennifer Bergland
written by Jennifer Bergland

All good things must come to an end, but only someone who loves politics would consider the legislative process a good thing. I’m one of those people. I love every minute of it, even the ones that go past midnight! Looking back over the past four months, I am happy to report that TCEA was able to move our vision of education forward through legislation and have some promising opportunities to help shape the future of Texas schools. I have created a 2019 Bill Analysis document that include the specifics about the bills that will impact digital education, but below is a quick summary of the more important bills.

Computer Science and Coding

LegislatureWe had some huge wins in the area of computer science and computational thinking this session. Our six-year goal of providing weighted funding for the 9-12 Technology Application courses has finally been achieved. In HB 3, the school finance legislation, the weighted funding for CTE was changed from grades nine through twelve to grades seven through twelve. In addition, the bill specified that CTE courses and programs include Technology Application courses. This means that Technology Application courses from grades seven through twelve will receive the same weighted funding as CTE courses, which is 1.35 (instead of the normal 1).  HB 963 requires the SBOE to consolidate the 9-12 Technology Application courses with similar courses found in the CTE curriculum. The goal is to eliminate duplicates and identify the purpose of each of the courses. Finally, HB 2984 requires the SBOE to update the K-8 Technology Application standards to ensure that they include coding, computer programming, computational thinking, and cybersecurity. It also establishes a committee to create a strategic plan for K-12 CS education to increase computer science instruction and participation in public schools.

Broadband

LegislatureThere are two pieces of legislation that are going to impact educational broadband. The first is HB 1960 which creates a Governor’s Broadband Council that will advise the governor on issues related to broadband access to unserved areas. This is progress, but not as much as we hoped for. There are few, if any, areas of Texas that are unserved. The original bill included underserved areas, but heavy lobbying by the large telecommunication companies eliminated that language from the bill. However, we consider this progress because we finally have some entity at the state level that will look at the state’s needs for broadband from a strategic perspective. For too long, all state entities have tried to provide affordable, scalable broadband for their own purposes when it would be much more cost efficient to survey the needs across agencies and entities and design a plan to meet all the needs. HB 1960 at least establishes a council that could do this in the future, if given the authority.

The second bill that may help with broadband is HB 3906. This is an assessment bill that requires online testing by 2022-2023. The bill requires TEA to evaluate the availability of Internet access for each school district and identify changes to state law or policy that are necessary to improve the availability of Internet access. This may open a door for more aggressive action in parts of the state that are “served” but are underserved.

Digital Learning

HB 3 established a Blended Learning Grant program and then funded it at $6 million a year. TEA’s Math Innovation Zones are how the agency is fulfilling this requirement. It is good to know that the agency has funding to continue these types of grants.

Legislature

I have already mentioned that HB 3906 requires TEA and the SBOE to implement online testing by 2022-2023. Before this can happen TEA and the SBOE must devise an implementation plan that is approved by the legislature. The planning for this type of implementation will require heavy district input, which will largely come from their technology departments. This has the potential to finally focus some much needed light on what the state must do in order ensure that all students have access to technology, not just for assessment, but for learning throughout the year. In order for students to be successful on an online assessment, they must first be technically proficient and familiar with the type of device they will be using when taking the assessment. This translates to more access to digital tools for all students.

Funding

HB 1 is the budget bill for the 2020-2021 biennium. Listed below are some of the appropriations that were made that will impact digital education:

  • Technology and Instructional Materials Allotment – $1,101,430,204
  • OER curation – $20,000,000
  • Blended learning teacher training – $2,000,000
  • Blended learning grants – $12,000,000
  • TxVSN administration – $800,000

HB 396 allows districts to use their TIMA on software that will help manage instructional resources, including the usage and effectiveness of digital materials. HB 4611 stipulates that 50% of the funds that the Texas General Land Office sends to the legislature for education must be appropriated to the TIMA. If this had been in place this biennium, there would have been $3 million more placed in the TIMA. In addition, the budget stipulates that the SBOE should restrict instructional material proclamations to 75% of the TIMA and should consider school district’s technology needs when determining the size of the percentage of the Permanent School Fund sent to the legislature. 50% of this distribution goes into the TIMA. In translation, this means the SBOE should be sending the legislature enough money from the PSF to fund both the instructional material needs of school districts and also their technology needs.

Cybersecurity

SB 820 requires each school district to establish a cybersecurity policy that determines the cybersecurity risks to the district and a plan to mitigate those risks. The district will also be required to designate a cybersecurity officer who will oversee the policy. In addition, the district will be required to report to TEA any cyber attack that breaches the system security and notify the parents of the students whose information has been compromised.

Professional Development

LegislatureThere are several opportunities in the bills mentioned above that will provide professional development in digital learning. The Blended Learning Grants are largely designed to provide professional development for educators in blended learning, not to mention the funding provided to UTeach to continue to provide this type of training to Texas teachers. Also, this is a good chance to remind districts that the TIMA may be used to provide professional development on the use of technology. In addition to these bills, the legislature passed HB 2424 that requires the SBEC to establish rules to create microcredentials in fields of study related to an educator certification class. This was one of TCEA’s legislative priorities, so we are excited to see this bill pass.

What’s Next

The legislative session has come to an end, but  the hardest work is ahead of us. Enacting legislation is the first step in changing things. Now we begin the process of working with the different agencies and entities to ensure they are enacted well. Stay tuned for more blogs about many of these legislative initiatives and how you can provide input.

Credits

Photo of the computer code taken by Sai Kiran Anagani on Unsplash. Photo of cables taken by Jordan Harrison on Unsplash. Photo of teacher interacting with students taken by Mimi Thian on Unsplash Photo of teachers taken by Kylie Haulk on Unsplash.

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personality test
Professional Learning

Personality Test for Professional Development

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

As a professional development provider, TCEA prides itself on ensuring that the learning we offer is engaging. After all, the research is clear that someone has to want to learn in order to begin learning. One of the ways we do that is to provide ice breaker activities at the beginning and throughout the day. Ice breakers serve to “warm” the participants up and get their brains going. They help to establish a sense of belonging in the training and can help educators connect and network with each other.

The Personality Test

I recently discovered a new activity that I’ll be using in the future (thanks to TCEA President Holli Horton). It’s a free, online personality test that is pretty insightful. Although it is free, it offers a lot of sound information and features.

The framework for the test incorporates the latest advances in psychometric research, combining time-tested concepts with robust and highly accurate testing techniques. The test is trait based instead of type based. This means that instead of creating an arbitrary number of categories and attempting to fit people within them, a trait-based model simply studies the degree to which people exhibit certain traits. They do then group your traits into a personality type (because that’s what we are used to). They have four personality types:

  • Analysts
  • Diplomats
  • Sentinels
  • Explorers

personality test

The assessment is valid because, since it’s free to take, more than 40,000,000 people have taken it thus far, giving them a huge pool of data.(Note: Because they have had so many people from all around the world complete the assessment, they have a ton of data organized by country. You can view it here. I can see some excellent activities for students in examining this data in teams and drawing some conclusions that they can then test through research.)

How It Works

I took the test myself to see how it works. It takes less than 12 minutes to complete as you answer questions using a standard Likert scale (shown below).

personality test

Once I completed the test, I received my results immediately and, to be honest, they fit me to a tee. I am a Defender, which means I have Sentinel traits. According to the results: “Defenders are the backbone of the modern workforce. Altruistic and well-rounded, no other personality type is so well-suited to be of service of others.” My profile included detailed information about for me in several areas:

  • Strengths and weaknesses
  • Romantic relationships
  • Friendships
  • Parenthood
  • Career paths
  • Workplace habits

The company promises that it will not sell any personal data to other companies, advertisers, political parties, etc. And again, there is no charge for the test or the results. If you provide an email address, they will email your results to you. But this is not required. They even offer a free “members area” community where you can talk with others about your personality. (So, if you’re like me, you have to be wondering “Why do they provide all of this for free?” Well, the answer is that they do offer premium services at three different levels if you want to know more about your personality type. This includes a much more exhaustive profile — 208 pages — and interactive courses for an entire year. But they are not pushy about this. I have yet to receive any marketing emails from them.)

Using the Personality Test in Professional Development

I can see that this quick activity would be of interest to almost everyone, even those who have done other types of personality quizzes. It was incredibly simple to fill out, even though I had to stop and think a few times about my answers. Once people have had a chance to read over their results, I think it would be great to put them into small groups by type and let them discuss what they have in common. I might then ask the groups to discuss if having a particular personality type/traits leads to having a particular teaching style. And I would also ask them to consider how their personality can better work with their colleagues.

One Other Use

Joel Davis with Follett shares how he has used the information from the personality test professionally. “I’ve created a user manual for myself that I can pass along to co-workers and collaborators. It acts as a sort of quick start manual like you get when you are setting up a new computer or printer.” The information allows co-workers a quick way to learn about him and how they can best work together. This is a great idea for the start of the school year to help new staff members learn more about their colleagues. Thanks for sharing, Joel!

I think this type of activity is powerful and should be included in professional learning experiences that we provide. What do you think?

This blog was updated on August 29, 2022.

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elementary technology
Professional Learning

Island Time: Previewing the Elementary Technology Conference

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Educators know that the end of the school year doesn’t mean the end of their work. In fact, crucial elements of planning and professional learning happen during the summer break. It’s often a time to catch up on things you missed during the semester, like new trends in elementary technology integration or the latest tips for using the apps and devices in your classroom. But professional learning doesn’t have to be tedious — it can even be fun.

That’s the notion behind the Elementary Technology Conference (ETC), formerly known as Tots and Technology, June 9–11, 2019 in Galveston, TX. The conference is designed for teachers, technologists, librarians, administrators, and more, all united by a mission to explain and exchange the latest and best ideas for integrating technology into the elementary classroom.

No More “Sit and Get”

elementary technology“Most presenters try to have a collaborative atmosphere in their sessions,” says Janet Corder, half of the duo known as J2 Training, along with Joan Gore. Janet has spent more than 30 years in education, including many years on the TCEA board. “Probably too many to count,” she notes.

Corder and Gore will be featured presenters at this year’s conference. What makes ETC different, she says, is the small-scale, collaborative atmosphere. “A lot of times, professional learning is just ‘sit and get,’” Corder notes. But with 80 fun-filled sessions at ETC, there’s a “freedom of choices.”

In addition, the focus on elementary education means sessions better-tailored to the unique needs of PreK–5 educators. “You’re not in there with calculus or algebra teachers,” she says. “All the sessions are geared toward a younger grade level.”

Learning on Island Time

It’s hard to make professional learning feel stuffy with a group of energetic, inventive, elementary technologyand excited elementary educators. It’s even harder when you’re in Galveston. Corder calls it “a whole lot more relaxed” than your typical professional learning scenario.

Having a small range of grade levels and a manageable-sized group of attendees fosters the summer-camp vibe, she says. “This conference is so much more fun, and I think it’s more applicable. They offer such a variety.”

Not only do interactive, cutting edge sessions make it feel like summer time fun, so does the beach. Here are a few reasons outside the conference halls that may inspire you to register and rejuvenate.

Adventure: The island offers a bevy of action-packed activities. From speedboat tours to helicopter rides, the thrill of skydiving to the calmer joys of exploring Galveston’s historic Pleasure Pier, there’s no shortage of options for thrill-seekers.

Beach life: Make new friends on a dolphin tour or explore the island from horseback. Enjoy harbor tours or just lounge in the sand. No matter your style, Galveston is saving a spot on the beach for you.

Historic treasures: Galveston, at one time the most populous Texas city, boats an array of historic architecture alongside unique museums, like the Galveston Naval Museum or the impressive new Bryan Museum.

Intrigued? Check out more info on our typical attendees (and why we think you should attend) on our ETC page. Ready to register? Click here.

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