RTI - Reinventing Technology with Instruction

(Pictured above: High School Assistant Principals exploring Digital Citizenship)

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts about the topic of Reinventing Technology with Instruction (RTI) (note that the link will get you to ALL the materials shared, including the Digital Citizenship Webquest, slideshow, etc.). I'm grateful to the ECISD District Leadership Team (DLT) for being such great participants during my presentation as well as the Digital Citizenship . We managed to capture some videos of action statements that each group participating in the Webquest developed...those will be shared in a future blog entry!

Image Source: District Leadership Team members exploring Digital Citizenship Webquest. I love this picture because it highlights how all of us can take advantage of ALL technologies to achieve instructional objectives.

The acronym "RTI" has come to mean something else in education, primarily, Response to Intervention. As wonderful a term this is, I thought it might be fun to flip the way we usually approach teaching, learning and technology in schools. Instead of focusing on "integrating technology into instruction"--which veteran technologists acknowledge has been a profound failure--the term "redefining technology with instruction" forces us to rethink how we use technology in terms of instruction. Perhaps, the difference is simply semantic, but oh so much fun to consider.

One of the neat aspects of the session was the backchannel conversation, which was facilitated via TodaysMeet web site. Some of the comments included the following (I've bolded my favorites):

Very nice story about how working together and tapping into each others strengths can lead to new ideas and greater opportunities for success.

Technology expands your collaborative group. (Source: Denise at 14:11 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

@ Go Baylor - Technology is the "yellow brick road" and student achievement is the "Emerald City" (Source: Mary Ray at 14:12 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

what if we used our curriculum as the context to practice and improve the 4c's...those being the skills that matter most (Source: Roland at 14:13 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

We underestimate what our students can do. (Source: Denise at 14:18 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Lali and I think as people we are creative and innovative. Technology is the natural outlet for this most basic need. (Source: Debbie at 14:19 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I would love to learn more...I'm hungry for technology. I can see how technology can transform all levels of our school community...(Source: iris at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

To use technology comes with the fear of how to teach technology - but the irony is that majority kids already know the technology and those (Source: Go Baylor at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I love that technology dept. is finding ways to remove barriers that kept teachers from using tech. in classrooms. (Source: Denise at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I like the idea the project is not "finished" in the eyes of students---literally the sky is the limit---or is it? (Source: Patty R at 14:23 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

How do teachers of young kids balance the need to teach HOW to edit without technology with the need to use technology for publishing stages (Source: Arnold at 14:36 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

@ Arnold - Good question. There needs to be a balance. Once suggestion is to teach the editing piece in the preplanning stages. Before they move into the publishing stage. (Source: Mary Ray at 14:40 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Thank you for breaking the process down into a simple step by step method that can be applied to almost any type of learning (Source: Jim at 14:41 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Look at us as administrators, we can't leave our technology alone and most of us aren't digital natives. Think about our students. (Source: Stephanie at 14:43 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web

That final remark--thanks, Stephanie!--is just a wonderful insight. Human beings are incredibly social and anything that gets in the way of us connecting with each other is doomed to failure. Let's take advantage of our innate social nature to better learn together what we need to learn to be successful in schools, and ultimately, life.

 

WRITING AT A DISTANCE

In response to the writing question--which Mary Ray responds to above--I pointed out Digitizing the Writing Workshop. We all often compose, edit and there's no reason why these efforts can be done online. Consider how this process happens at a distance with businesses. Is on-site reading, editing, revising acknowledging a globally connected world, as described in books like Wikinomics that emphasize the idea that "Mass Collaboration changes everything?"

Another point to keep in mind is how we offer feedback to students. It is possible to go paperless and these points are shared in the Digitizing the Writing Workshop article.

While listening to the STAAR related presentation, I was struck by the advice to "Read/Think/Write/Be sure to..." Wow, what a neat way to introduce blogging into the school curriculum, shifting from augmentation (where we're using a word processor) to modification, and possibly, redefinition. In the Technology Department, we'll be offering some webinars that address writing and this approach.

 

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