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EDUCATIONAL REFORM EMPOWERING STUDENTS AS THE AGENTS OF CHANGE

abstract

this presentation will illustrate an exemplary model of effective integration of technology into classroom teaching and learning and the power of the students as the resources in mobilizing the school and revolutionizing the process of schooling in the information-aged 21sth century. the focus of the presentation is to describe the significant roles of all members in school: teachers and students that contribute to the success of educational efforts in infusing technology into the process of modern classroom teaching and learning.

the north hudson electronic educational empowerment project (nheeep) funded with the technology literacy challenge grant awarded by the new york state department of education has been an educational reform initiative that seeks to transform the traditional 14th century classroom model into an information-rich learning environment that engages members of the classroom, teachers, students, and the greater community at large, as learners. the organization’s primary belief is that students are the agents who will affect a systemic change to the traditional learning environment.

the nheeep consortium currently has 12 different staff development and project-based learning activities that focus on results-centered, content-driven learning activities that require a project or lesson to be implemented in the classroom. as part of the model, teachers and students work collaboratively as project partners who plan, develop, and deliver these staff development initiatives. we believe that students, not adults will drive real educational reform.

this presentation will also reflect on the process of our efforts in transforming the culture, environment, attitudes, and behaviors and document significant factors that contribute to the success of the program. mistakes made and lessons learned through the process of the program implementation will also be visited.

introduction

the north hudson electronic educational empowerment project (nheeep) was created as a result of funding received under a new york state department of education (nysed) title iii technology literacy challenge grant (tlcg). the nheeep consortium spans 3500 square miles of new york state from southwestern saratoga county to northern washington county on the border of vermont. nheeep serves over 39,000 students and 3,300 teachers within the outlined geographical area. this area is primarily a farming region. the nature of this community has changed greatly in the past several years, as the “blue collar” job opportunities have narrowed due to industrial plant cutbacks and closings. given the need to “re-tool” our workforce, nheeep has embarked upon a mission to provide teacher training and the development of member schools’ technical infrastructure to better prepare our workforce for the new global economy. we believe the changes that need to occur in the classroom represent a change in culture and instructional methods. not since the publication of the bible by gutenberg in 1456 has there been such an information revolution in our society that affects how people learn and communicate.

nheeep prides itself on the diverse collection of activities and projects available to consortium members. all of our efforts are results-driven, focusing on student growth and learning through the creation of experiences that support state and national standards.

one practicing teacher from each of the 39 districts provides oversight and governance to the operation of nheeep. these “site managers” meet monthly to discuss future workshops, products, and issues involving the organization. unlike other traditional organizational structures that involve school administration to provide strategic direction, nheeep enjoys the grassroots support of those individuals most directly responsible for our children’s education, the teachers.

history

as the director of nheeep, my main focus has been on the process of engaging teachers into using new learning tools and methods. at the onset of the project i believed if we offered workshops by columbia university faculty, we would have more participants than we could accommodate. that was far from the case! our initial participation was low and i soon discovered the how difficult it was to provide meaningful, relevant workshops that produce sustainable results. universities don’t necessarily have all the answers, methods, or solutions for integrating technology into the traditional classroom. quite frankly, they have as much to learn from our experience as we do from theirs.

nheeep held its first two-day workshop in august 1998. since that time we have provided over 300 workshops, conferences, and summer institutes totaling well over 25,000 teacher/student contact hours. during the past three years nheeep has provided instructor lead curriculum-based workshops delivered by faculty from columbia university teachers college. the results of the workshops have produced modest sustaining effects. as a result of these experiences, i believe the following to be true:

“traditional instructor-lead staff development on the use of instructional technologies using the workshop model is ineffective resulting in little or no sustainable change in the classroom. the participants return to their schools with a shallow exposure to an instructional technology with limited follow-up to keep them connected and engaged in the learned activities.”

over the last two decades we have spent millions of dollars teaching teachers to use technology tools that have little relevance to their classroom. this teacher-to-teacher model of skills or tool based computer literacy training could be likened to calculator training. schools did not create calculator labs or do calculator training for the sake of the training. the mathematical problems that needed to be solved drove the use and understanding of scientific calculators.with this understanding why then have we insisted on teaching computers?

philosophy

reflecting back on the last four years i can honestly say that when we have engaged teachers with project-based, results-driven activities, changes in learning and behavior occur. when we have joined teachers and students collaboratively a dramatic change occurs in the classroom. teachers are no longer the sole custodians of knowledge. they begin to model the “life time learner,” a principle that we advocate. the students gain a greater sense of pride and confidence in their new role. teachers learn from the students on how to use technology; students develop their communication and organization skills, while increasing their self-esteem and confidence.

i first discovered the concept of using students as a resource to teach the use of instructional technology from dr. dennis harper of the olympia school district, olympia, washington. dr. harper has developed an instructional model called generation yes (). the success of generation yes (gen y) can be attributed to his philosophy of linking students and teachers together in a collaborative process, each using the strengths of the other. implementation of the 18 week gen y curriculum has transformed and restructured classrooms for many of our participating schools. when first observed, the gen y curriculum appears similar to any other skills-based technology curriculum focusing on such things as email and electronic communications, web browsers, internet search tool techniques, web development, electronic presentations, and video conferencing. upon closer examination one discovers topics that include improvement in verbal and written communications, organization and project planning, assessments aligned with state and national learning standards, and time management. at the beginning of the 18-week course, with the aide of the gen y teacher, the students invite one of their classroom teachers to work collaboratively on a lesson relevant to their core subject. at the end of the gen y course the teacher and student present the completed lesson to the teacher’s class. this process results in a “win-win-win” for all involved. the teacher learns how to use an instructional technology; the student develops communication, organization, planning, and assessment skills. the teacher’s class is exposed to a modern and innovative technology-based lesson that is more captivating and engaging than traditional lecture methods. if the participating gen y teacher is observant, the greatest opportunity lies with the teacher viewing a lesson constructed by a student. a lesson created from the perspective of a student offers valuable insight into how students learn. at the end of the 18-week course the graduated students “gen dids”, provide technology support and assistance to their education community. this base of technology-literate students adds a dimension to schools that until now has re

mained untouched.

this project is really about the process of building an organization that uses and supports instructional technologies. we do that by:

· empowering teachers (project managers) to be responsible for project participation and involvement
· using students as technology mentors for teachers and other students

the nheeep project is not solely about technology but rather the mechanisms used to bring about a systematic change to a 14th century model of learning. the ultimate goal is to create an environment where students and teachers become indistinguishable and form a learning community where both are able to grow.

partners

in addition to our consortium members, nheeep receives support and guidance from the following institutions of higher education: columbia university teachers college, syracuse university school of education, the new york institute of technology, the state university of new york at albany, and adirondack community college. nheeep also has a very active museum/library component, the educational enterprise zone (eez), which involves teachers partnering with a museum or library as a teacher-fellow. the museum/library curator and the teacher-fellow work collaboratively to create standards based curriculum that uses the content of the participating organization as the object of the lesson or project. additionally, nheeep has developed strong alliances with the following organizations:

black rock forest consortium (columbia university)
classroom connect
earth2class (columbia university)
generation yes (olympia school district)
girls in technology (olympia school district)
globalearn
the greater capital region teacher center (gcrtc)
hudson falls central school district (lead educational agency)
i*earn
institute for learning technologies (columbia university)
the living schoolbook (syracuse university)
skills tutor
princeton review
teacher universe
task stream (thompson educational consulting)
washington, saratoga, warren, hamilton, essex (wswhe-boces)
organization

much of the success of nheeep can be attributed to our organizational structure. all participating school districts are represented by one site manager. they collectively make up the governing board of directors (gbd). the gbd meet monthly to provide oversight and direction to the nheeep administrative team. the nheeep administration is comprised of the following: project director, grant coordinator, curriculum integration specialist, and grant secretary. on an as needed basis we employ a grant writer and public relations person who guide the organization in securing funds and information dissemination. each major project, such as gen y, has a project manager. the project managers are teachers, with student partners, who are passionate about their particular project or activity. their responsibility is to coordinate all aspects of the project as an advocate for project resources. these resources may include but not be limited to: skills and curriculum training, internet: product client licensing, hardware and software acquisition, and network infrastructure development.

project managers meet on a regular basis with their participants to develop curriculum, provide leadership, and serve as a liaison to the site managers and nheeep administration. all project managers are required to report member participation and progress tri-annually to the gbd, and submit a report for nheeep web publication every eight weeks.

projects

nheeep activities are categorized into three general areas:

· student centered
· teacher centered: skills and curriculum development
· project centered

student centered

with such an emphasis on state and national “high stakes” testing, nheeep has endorsed and funded the use of a variety of web-based student tools that focus directly on improving student test scores in math, science and language arts. the process of change in classroom culture, and the modes of instruction and delivery is as important as the content itself. these new web-based tools offer a new and innovative approach to addressing all the different modes and learning styles of our students. instead of teachers instructing to the middle of the class they are now able to design learning environments that fit all their children’s individual learning needs. some of the products are:

homeroom. com -
princeton review sat test prep - /
classroom connect - /
oswego school district regents test prep –/
skills tutor -

teacher centered: skills and curriculum development

many of our teachers lack the basic skills, and confidence necessary to be involved in the many project-based programs that we offer. to address this need we have partnered with the following organizations:

teacher universe -
taskstream –
classroom connect connected university – /
wswhe boces –
greater capital region teacher center – /

all of the above organizations are teacher-centered, requiring a project or lesson to be developed and implemented at the end of the course. each project or lesson must be standards-based with some form of student assessment that measures the success of the lesson objective.

project centered

as an organization that promotes new and innovative approaches for staff development, effective learning occurs when project-based tasks are coupled with modern digital instructional tools. these tools, placed in the hands of students and teachers, produce immediate results that are measurable. we also require that all activities be results-driven with a lesson or project implemented in the classroom. currently we have 12 active projects with managers directing the day-to-day operations of each.

teacher: skills and curriculum development

another of our flagship activities is taskstream . as gen y provides the overarching structure, purpose, and philosophy for the organization, taskstream provides tools to produce standards-based content and assessment. taskstream aids in uniform lesson creation: providing structure and process that follows sound pedagogical practices. the following is a description of taskstream:

taskstream is an innovative, subscription-based suite of knowledge management and staff development tools and resources. these tools are accessible through the world wide web for all learning environments k-12. taskstream features flexible methodologies and unique collaborative tools, which allow teachers to assemble, manage and support project-based classroom environments as well as the creation of a standards based learning activity. taskstream is designed to enable teachers to meet educational standards creatively and dynamically with a built-in standards wizard that provides seamless integration of all state and national learning standards. with the use of taskstream’s project-based model of lesson building, all curriculum and skills workshops develop standards based web content thus stimulating a collaborative learning community with shared resources. with the use of taskstream nheeep provides a standardized process for lesson creation that establishes purpose and results for all workshops and projects. following is a brief description of other project-based activities that use taskstream as a tool for curriculum and lesson development:

weather station

in may 1999, with the help of the black rock forest consortium, nheeep members installed a weather station on west mountain in glens falls, new york. the weather station captures such data as: ambient and soil temperature, wind velocity, barometric pressure, rain and snow depth, relative humidity, etc. the data is transmitted via radio frequency to a local college, adirondack community college, where the information is aggregated and posted on the nheeep web server. students and teachers use the data in math and science for modeling, forecasting, and statistical analysis.

seismograph project

in spring 2000, with the aide of lamont-doherty cooperative seismographic network (lcsn), nheeep began the installation of a professional grade seismograph at adirondack community college. the new instrument has been operating since june 20, 2000, with a new station code - accn. the primary objectives of the station are:

· to monitor earthquakes in the northeastern united states for evaluating earthquake hazard in the region.
· to provide material for earth science curriculum activities for k-12 students, teachers, and public to learn more about earthquakes around the area they live and other parts of the world.
· to acquire high-quality data for studies of earthquakes and earth's internal structure.
additionally, nheeep consortium members have access to other lamont-doherty cooperative seismographic network (lcsn) earthquake monitors which consists of four sub-networks with internet nodes:
· palisades (node at lamont-doherty earth observatory, palisades, ny)
· delaware (node at delaware geological survery/univ. delaware, de)
· st. lawrence (node at potsdam college of art & science, suny, ny)
· lake champlain (node at middlebury college, vt).

nheeep watershed project

the consortium purchased pasco scientific probes for seventeen school districts interested in the watershed project. students are using probes to measure various biological and chemical variables from the hudson river or from other local tributaries. the data is being posted to a web site designed by the living school book, at syracuse university’s school of education, where comparisons can be made and scientific theories and questions posed. the students can then develop solutions to real life concerns relating to the river's environment. this interconnectedness between schools and students allows for the community of participants to become larger and to be productive in addressing real life problems. the group’s primary goal is to actively involve our students in the acquisition of scientific data, using the new pasco probes, and to compare that data to other schools' data within the consortium.

global learn and iearn

global learn –
iearn –

both of these projects are run by non-for profit organizations that provide opportunities for children to work collaboratively with other children from countries around the world. the projects span curricular areas from art to yoga. the activities are well documented with a variety of curriculum available to the participants.

conclusion

over the past four years nheeep has enjoyed both failure and success. one failure of the project was trying to teach educators how use web design tools such as microsoft frontpage. we spent hours teaching teachers how to create a web page. what about curriculum? what about content? by the time one masters the use of the web development tool a new tool comes along. there are now many internet sites that offer free templates that make it easy for teachers to place content on a web page such as: homework assignments, web links, discussion areas for their students and students’ parents, calendars, and other collaborative tools that encourage learning and participation. nheeep now focuses its efforts on curriculum with technology as one of the tools available to develop curriculum. this so-called technology revolution is really an information revolution. we are an organization that involves its members in the governance of the organization. we are about the process of that involvement. how do we get teachers to participate in new learning methodologies? how do we get them to attend workshops or communicate via the web for dialogue and information? we have discovered that their students’ involvement in the process is key to change in the classroom. convincing teachers to allow students to be co-teachers in their classroom is no easy chore. educators are used to being the sole authority and owner of information. the gen y concept is pure heresy for some, but we have seen that this model works!

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