Workshop Week

We completed our "workshop week" on Thursday, which consists of a number of formal activities, professional development for teachers, as well as much needed time in classrooms as they prepare for the school year.

NHS staff use iPads during their photo scavenger hunt

The transformational technology plan was in full view during these workshops. We held two additional iPad I training sessions for staff who had not been able to attend yet. At this point, we have provided iPad I training for nearly 300 Northfield educators over 13 sessions!

In addition, we saw building principals leading the charge - using the devices for increased professional efficiency as many meeting agendas and materials were distributed electronically -- some as large as 42 pages. The saving in paper and the time needed to reproduce the materials for staff meetings is an important step forward. As staff see principals modeling this strategy, they will be able to foresee how they may do that with students should we choose to move forward with a student implementation.

A couple of well-conceived strategies were evident during Northfield High School's workshops. Staff used their iPads to simultaneously complete a building climate survey and were able to use the data in discussions about their school. Another activities required the use of the iPad's camera. Staff worked in teams completing a "scavenger hunt" to familiarize themselves with changes in the building at NHS. These activities are examples of how staff are learning to use the devices in a way that is accelerating their understanding of how they might have students use them in the future.

We also saw staff problem solving technology issues, which is an important opportunity for them! NHS staff took dozens of photos and videos during their scavenger hunt and then had to find an efficient way to get them off of the iPad and into a shared folder on our network. It isn't terribly efficient to email a large number of photos to yourself, though some staff teams went down that road and were successful. Since our PCs don't have iPhoto, we learned the iPad is recognized on a PC in a similar way to a USB flash drive and were able to copy and paste the photos/videos to the shared network folder. Other staff used their Dropbox accounts to synchronize photos with their PC. For tech-savvy folks, this may seem pedestrian, but it is the exact kind of problem solving that teachers do with their students. I was incredibly proud of how our NHS staff handled those issues and my understanding is that the photo slideshow that was shared later went very well.

We'll continue to highlight how staff use their iPads and the progress we make on our investigation of a potential student implementation. As of now, we are moving on the right path and we have a staff that has embraced this mobile technology even more than I had anticipated.

Update 8.11.2012

We completed the annual Tech Boot Camp a little more than one week ago and worked with more than 200 Northfield teachers to begin our transformational technology project. We offered two different iPad-oriented workshops over eight sessions. During the iPad I session, teachers:

• Checked out their iPad. We are using the Northfield High School library circulation software to maintain our inventory and track who has which device. Thanks to NHS Media Specialist Rebecca Glassing and district Technology Specialist Cindy Samuelson for their work in developing this process.
  
• Learned about the device itself, specifically about its operation. We practiced all sorts of techniques for efficient use of the device. This included using pinch-to-zoom, multi-touch gestures, using the different varieties of iPad keyboard layouts, and others. Much of the initial training focused on leveraging the context teachers currently have with their desktop computers. One example of this is comparing the iPad Safari web browser to Internet Explorer. While very simple, this illustrates how we tried to connect the new device to their current technology skills.

• Completed Apple ID registration. This was our biggest challenge! Some folks already had Apple IDs tied to their school email address and, at one point, Apple's servers didn't care for 50+ people trying to create IDs from a single location. At the end of the week, we had everyone registered with their ID. 

• Explored the built-in Apps, paying specific attention to the camera applications. Many teachers immediately made connections to how they would make use of this capacity with their students. For example, one teacher shared how she planned to project science lab experiment progress so the rest of the class could see how their classmates we approaching the lab. That probably isn't what Apple had in mind when it added a camera, but is certainly a logical thing to do - turn the iPad into a mobile document camera. Smart!
  
• Began looking at different productivity apps. The district purchased two apps for teachers -- Quick Office HD and Notability. Using our discount through the Apple Volume Purchasing Program, we secured 50% off on these two apps. 

During the iPad II session, we:

• Modeled some additional skills - such as how to use the keyboard more efficiently and how to get characters used in foreign language, such as the ñ, ü, é. These kinds of things are important to our foreign language and Compañeros program faculty.
  
• Provided in-depth training on Notability, one of the apps the district has purchased. This app, which cost 49 cents after our 50% discount, has the ability to take notes via typing and digital ink as well as the ability to record audio while taking notes. You can also insert photos from the iPad camera or web clips. It also allows the user to open a PDF document and annotate it.
  
• Performed live demonstrations of the built-in FaceTime video conferencing app. We've done a number of video conferences in the past using Skype in our classrooms. FaceTime makes that ability even easier and more user-friendly.
  
• Began sharing apps to change instruction -- such as ShowMe. Immediately our teachers began thinking of ways to use this free app - ranging from recording teacher demonstrations of skills to having students use the app while solving mathematical problems and asking them to narrate what they are doing. This would allow the teacher to "hear" as well as "see" the student's thought process and assist them in providing personalized instruction for that student.
  
• Broke into groups by grade level to begin discussing ways to use the device to modernize and personalize learning and researching apps that could fuel that goal. 

I want to extend my personal thanks to the following faculty and staff who assisted during our iPad sessions:

• Karl Viesselman, High School Math
• Rebecca Glassing, NHS Media Specialist
• Ann Hehr, Sibley Media Specialist
• Amanda Heinritz, Greenvale Park Media Specialist
• Nancy Antoine, Bridgewater Elementary Principal
• Matt Nohava, Middle School Workstation Specialist

Special thanks to Technology Specialist Cindy Samuelson for assisting with all eight iPad sessions!

We have scheduled additional iPad sessions for late August in order to accomodate faculty who couldn't make the Tech Boot Camp sessions. These workshops are scheduled for August 17, 20, and 24.

Tech Boot Camp wasn't all about iPads. We offered eight other sessions for teachers to hone their skills with other technology skills. All of these sessions were led by our own staff:

• Mark Thornton: Google Apps 
• Cindy Samuelson: Cornucopia of Web Apps
• Allison Otte: SMART Board
• Melissa Spitzack: SMART Board
• Danielle Amundson: SMART Board
• Eric Sandberg: Personal Learning Networks
• Curt Mikkelson: School Center (web page development software)
• Roger Jenni: Viewpoint (data warehouse)

Our next task involves getting our various task forces, looking even more deeply at possible student implementation, up and running. This week, we are meeting with our task forces surrounding:

• Content and app selection
• Policy and procedures
• Professional development
• Communication

We are off to a very good start with Tech Boot Camp and look to take that momentum to continue to move the project forward!

Tech Boot Camp -- here we go!

After a month of preparation and anticipation, we begin our training with staff this week. We have nearly 200 staff registered to attend this week and it is going to be excellent!

We have conducted a couple of "practice" trainings over the past couple of weeks to try and work out the agenda and pacing of the introductory three hour workshop. This proved worthwhile as we learned some things that will be very helpful as we move into training sessions with as many as 60 teachers involved.

Many thanks to Northfield High School Media Specialist Rebecca Glassing and Technology Specialist Cindy Samuelson for their work to inventory and prepare our iPads for distribution. Network Manager Nate Knutson has done a fantastic job of installing our new wireless solution and we are excited to see it handle these devices this week.

As I was preparing for the sessions this week, I came across former Tech Boot Camp schedules and documents. This will be the 17th Tech Boot Camp that I have had the fortune of leading across three school districts during my career. It is always a great week and it is clear proof that Northfield educators are life-long learners. This is such an important thing to model for students -- that learning is a continuous effort that should never end.

In addition to our iPad sessions, we are also offering workshops about using SMART Boards, Google Apps, personal learning networks, and others. You can see the entire list of offerings by clicking here. These workshops are all taught by our own teachers. Over the years, I have found colleagues teaching colleagues to be one of the most powerful professional development tools we have as a district. I am sure there will be challenges this week, but we will learn from them and move on.

So -- here we go!

Update 6.29.12

We've made some significant progress this week in our implementation planning! Our iPads arrived on Monday, which is awesome since we could get to work right away on developing our "intake" strategy. Special thanks to Northfield High School Media Specialist Rebecca Glassing and Technology Specialist Cindy Samuelson for their work on creating the inventory strategy we'll be using. Their careful planning is already paying off!

I have contacted our Transformational Technology Task Force members and am beginning to set up meetings for early August. In addition, this week we have had more than 70 teachers and other staff register for Tech Boot Camp and almost everyone of those for the iPad I and/or II training.

Keep those Tech Boot Camp registrations coming in!

Update 6.22.12

We received confirmation yesterday that our iPads have shipped and will hopefully arrive sometime next week. Once they arrive, staff will be tagging the devices and entering them into our inventory system. Thanks to our Rebecca Glassing, our awesome Northfield High School Media Specialist, the iPads will be entered into our Destiny management system so we can check them out to staff just like a book!

We also have scheduled our Tech Boot Camp sessions - this was sent to District staff today. The iPad sessions offered initially will be focused on the general use and operation of the iPad. We'll continue throughout the year with additional professional development - focusing more on teaching with the iPad rather than operating the iPad itself.

We've had 22 staff sign up for our task forces and will begin to set those meeting schedules next week.

One of the projects taking place this summer to support the transformational technology initiative is the improvement of our wireless networks. This week, we have some data cabling being installed to prepare for the addition of several higher density wireless devices at the Middle School and High School. This is an important component of this project that we hope to have completed in early August.

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the project. You can contact me by phone at (507) 645-3458 or by email at matt.hillmann@nfld.k12.mn.us.

Recent media coverage

Over the past week, there have been two newspaper articles and a radio interview that have covered our transformational technology project. I've shared them below:

• 6.12.2012 KYMN Radio with Jeff Johnson
• 6.9.2012 Northfield News article
• 6.6.2012 Northfield News article

Board approves Phase I

The School Board approved Phase I of our transformational technology project last evening. We now begin the process of ordering the equipment for staff and preparing training sessions for them. We'll also be setting up six task forces to get into even more detailed planning for our potential Phase II student implementation.

You can watch the Board meeting, shown below. The transformational technology discussion begins at 8:05.




There have been many people involved in getting this project going -- literally hundreds! This project started with 35 teachers and then involved more than three dozen community members. It included presentations and feedback at each school and several Board presentations. Thanks to all who have assisted in formulating our approach to this project.

We will use this blog to continue to provide updates throughout the summer, approximately once per week.

As always, please feel free to contact me by phone at (507) 645-3458 or by email at matt.hillmann@nfld.k12.mn.us.