Technology in the

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• Technology in the
• Southeast
• Trends
• and
• Lessons Learned

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• Trends for instructional technology in the
  Southeast
• Factors affecting the use of technology in
  resource poor schools Lessons learned from the
  SEIRTEC intensive site schools

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Trend 1

• Policymakers and legislatures are demanding
  evidence that the money spent on technology is
  making a difference on student achievement,
  particularly that scores on state assessments
  will improve dramatically.

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Demanding Results

• States are linking technology to state curriculum
  standards.
• States are paying more attention to the nature
  and extent of technology use and integration.
• Educators are developing multiple measures of
  student learning.

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Trend 2

• There are still substantial numbers of teachers
  who are not using technology for instruction.

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Teacher Use of Technology

• Recent surveys indicate that about 20 percent of
  teachers frequently use instructional software
  (AEL/SEIRTEC, 1999).
• Although the Southeast states rank above the
  national average in terms of the average number
  of hours per teacher for professional
  development, many teachers still feel unprepared.

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Average Hours of Technology Training for Typical
Teachers

• Nationally (Technology Counts, 1999)
• 57 received both curriculum integration and
  basic skills training.
• 29 received 5 or more hours of training on
  curriculum integration.
• 58 or fewer had 5 or fewer hours of basic
  technology skills training.

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Average Hours of Technology Training for Typical
Teachers (Technology Counts, 1999)

• Alabama 9
• Mississippi 16
• North Carolina 21
• South Carolina 16

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Percent of 4th grade students whose teachers feel
at least moderately prepared to use computers
(Technology Counts, 1999)

• Nationally 88
• Alabama 85
• Florida 92
• Georgia 88
• Mississippi 81
• North Carolina 93
• South Carolina 87

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Percent of 4th grade students whose teachers feel
at least moderately prepared to use/implement
software for teaching reading (Technology
Counts, 1999)

• Nationally 58
• Alabama 69
• Florida 76
• Georgia 66
• Mississippi 61
• North Carolina 67
• South Carolina 68

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Percent of 4th grade students whose teachers feel
at least moderately prepared to use/implement
software for teaching writing (Technology
Counts, 1999)

• Nationally 59
• Alabama 64
• Florida 73
• Georgia 61
• Mississippi 46
• North Carolina 62
• South Carolina 61

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Trend 3

• The attrition rate for technology leaders is
  alarming!
• Five of the six states in the SERVE region have
  hired new state directors of instructional
  technology in the last 18 months.
• In some states, as many as 20 percent of school
  principals retired or left teaching last year
  (New York Times, 2000).

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Trend 4

• Very few schools and districts are evaluating the
  effectiveness and impact of their technology
  initiatives.

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Evaluation

• Not many schools and districts have staff with
  the expertise in both evaluation and
  instructional technology needed to design and
  implement high quality evaluations.

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Evaluation

• Traditional measures of student learning, such as
  standardized tests, seldom measure the benefits
  students gain through the use of technology, such
  as the quality of student products, critical
  thinking, cooperation, research skills,
  independent learning, product design, and task
  commitment.

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Evaluation

• Most districts would rather spend resources on
  professional development, technical assistance,
  and infrastructure than on evaluation.

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Trend 5

• The digital divide is getting wider in some, but
  not all, states in the region.

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Average number of students per instructional
computer (Technology Counts, 1999)

• National 5.7
• Alabama 7
• Florida 5
• Georgia 5.5
• Mississippi 7
• North Carolina 6
• South Carolina 5.6

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Average number of students per Internet connected
computer (Technology Counts, 1999)

• National 13.6
• Alabama 30.2
• Florida 15.7
• Georgia 19.8
• Mississippi 20.1
• North Carolina 24.9
• South Carolina 11.4

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Students per Internet connected computer in high
poverty schools (Technology Counts, 1999)

• National 17
• Florida 22
• Georgia 31
• Mississippi 25.5
• North Carolina 33.5
• South Carolina 13.9

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SEIR?TEC Intensive Site Schools

• 11 schools and one district
• Technical assistance
• Professional development
• Nine Lessons Learned

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Intensive Sites
www.seirtec.org
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Nine Lessons Learned
www.seirtec.org
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(No Transcript)
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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 1 Leadership is the key ingredient.
• Confirm research literature on school reform
• Promote a vision
• Focus, focus, focus
• Lead by example
• Understand teacher development (ACOT)
• Support the faculty
• Share leadership

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Nine Lessons Learned
www.seirtec.org
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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 2 If you dont know where youre going,
  youll end up someplace else.
• Plan your work and work your plan
• Three areas of weakness
• Professional development
• Evaluation
• Infrastructure
• Implementation requires teamwork

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 3 Technology integration is a
• s-l-o-w process
• Requires support and encouragement
• Takes longer in resource poor schools----longer
  than 3 to 5 years
• Technical assistance is a factor

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Nine Lessons Learned
www.seirtec.org
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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 4 No matter how many computers are
  available or how much training teachers have had,
  there are still substantial numbers who are
  talking the talk but not walking the walk.

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 4
• Begin with teaching and learning, not with
  hardware and software
• The training-of-trainers model means more than
  providing a workshop to a few people and
  expecting them to train their colleagues on what
  they learned

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 4
• Staff development credit is a motivator
• A little bit of positive attention goes a long
  way

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 4
• Use teachers as coaches New
• Its a waste of time and energy to provide
  technology training when teachers dont have the
  resources, opportunity,and support needed to
  apply their new knowledge and skills
• Professional development must be substantial and
  ongoing

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 4
• Good professional development comes in different
  sizes and shapes
• Best professional development is designed for and
  provided to core groups of teachers
• Half-day workshops have better attendance than 90
  minutes after school
• Sessions on software MUST provide time to explore

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 5 Effective use of technology requires
  changes in teaching the adoption of a new
  teaching strategy can be a catalyst for
  technology integration.
• Teacher behavior is a factor
• Effective use of technology requires improvements
  in teaching
• Start with a believed teaching strategy

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Effective teaching with technology (Mississippi
Department of Education, 2000)

• Learning is student-centered rather than
  teacher-driven.
• The teachers role is one of guide and coach
  rather than deliverer of knowledge.
• Technology is used in myriad ways to engage
  students in the learning process.

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Effective teaching with technology (Mississippi
Department of Education, 2000)

• Technology is used to adapt the learning process
  to students learning styles.
• The classroom culture is collaborative.
• Students have some control of content and
  assignments.

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Effective teaching with technology (Mississippi
Department of Education, 2000)

• Students use a variety of extensive and
  diversified resources to access information and
  to communicate.
• Activities are often project-based and relate
  directly to real-world problems, issues, or
  themes.

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 6 Each school needs easy access to
  professionals with expertise in technology and
  pedagogy.
• Educators need on-site and on-demand technical
  assistance
• Few professionals have expertise in both the
  technology and the integration of the technology

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 7 While many of the barriers to using
  technology to support learning are the same for
  all poor communities, some populations have some
  additional issues.
• Adult educators need to repurpose K-12 learnings
  and resources
• Educational software in Spanish for various
  subjects is just appearing

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 8 In some schools, infrastructure remains
  a serious barrier to technology adoption.
• Lack of security
• Buildings will not accommodate infrastructure for
  expanded electrical and telecommunications wiring

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 9 Educators can benefit from tools that
  help them gauge the progress of technology
  integration over time. --Revised
• Evaluation is a small aspect of technology
  programs
• Evaluation needs to be seen as a tool for
  planning or a means of building a case for
  funding
• Rule of thumb 10 of project budget should be
  spent on evaluation

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 9 Educators can benefit from tools that
  help them gauge the progress of technology
  integration over time.
• Evaluation is an art and a science
• Evaluation is not the same as research!
• Few educators have expertise in technology
  integration and program evaluation

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Nine Lessons Learned

• Lesson 9 Educators can benefit from tools that
  help them gauge the progress of technology
  integration over time.
• Standardized tests seldom measure the things
  technology most likely effects
• Critical mass for technology integration is
  reached when 65 of the teachers are effectively
  using technology for teaching and learning
  (BellSouth)
• Success begets success!

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Nine Lessons LearnedTracking Progress
www.seirtec.org
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Nine Lessons LearnedTracking Progress
www.seirtec.org
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SEIR?TEC Lessons Learned

• Conclusion The Lessons Learned for the
  effective use of technology on teaching and
  learning will make a difference only when we
• acknowledge that leadership must play an active
  and supportive role
• stop doing long enough to reflect
• work as a team with a shared vision

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SEIR?TEC Lessons Learned

• Building on the Lessons Learned
• Make sure technology plans are continually
  updated
• Develop and support leadership in technology
• Break issues into problems to solve as teams

www.seirtec.org
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SEIR?TEC Lessons Learned

• Building on the Lessons Learned
• Conduct staff development with a purpose and a
  plan
• Establish sustained technical assistance
• Document and evaluate for gain not pain
• Tell your story

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Web Sites

• www.seirtec.org/leader.html
• www.nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/index.html
• www.edc.org/LNT/overview.htm
• www.daggett.com
• www.ga.unc.edu/pep/rppatl.html

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SEIR?TEC Contact Information

• Elizabeth Byrom, Principal Investigator
• ebyrom_at_serve.org
• Margaret Bingham, Director
• mbingham_at_serve.org
• 800.755.3277