The TWAIN blog

The last day of the TCEA Tech Directors Academy was three days ago and I am just now able to blog about it and post my reflection. I was really thrown by that day and it wasn’t a reach for me. It was a concept I am really familiar with but haven’t been implementing: facilitative learning.

As a classroom teacher, I was pretty good at this idea. I took the lecturn out of my classroom and provided differentiated, problem-based teaching with the basis that “I don’t have the answers” so students learned to find answers on their own. I implemented the “Ask Three Before Me” concept that had students ask three of their peers before asking me for help. Not only did this help them with collaboration, but it gave me time to consult my Dummies books for answers.:)

A stinging reflection has been that I feel I strayed from this method as a campus technologist and became the “expert” in my old job; thus leading to fast burnout. I became the expert in so many things that I didn’t allow people on the campus to become the experts. People called me for help in everything. They didn’t know how to find answers on their own. This isn’t an exercise in making me out to be something super. Nope. In fact, this is an embarrassment to me. This is a reflection on how poor I have been as a teacher the past 5 years.

As I prepare to start professional development next week, I see that I need to completely renovate how I develop training so that I don’t do this to myself in this new role. In other words, I need to change…..everything…..again. I need to go back to the basics. Each staff development program I offer needs to be about the audience learning to find solutions on their own; and not about me being the one with all the knowledge.

The truth is, I am not the one with all the knowledge! I really think the only thing I am good at is putting in the right terms in a search engine for the answers. This is what I need to show staff to do – show them how I find the answers and how they can find their own answers. Let them become their own search experts.

I know this sounds basic to some of you who are in this role and you probably do this very well. I want to say that I used to be doing this. I was good at letting go and letting the class take learning above the level I could teach. The frustration is that I did not carry this over with the adults I was teaching. As I look back on how I worked at WHS, I (embarrassingly) look back and see that the training was about what I was doing with technology.

Such a shame.

Thus the reason for not posting a reflection on the last day of the Tech Directors Academy. It was a hard lesson to learn and may be harder to put into effect. But I will try! I will adapt. I will let go!

Today, I took part in a webinar on Microsoft Live@EDU and their new Exchange Online services for school districts and I was blown away. I was given a preview to a system that changes how we manage information in our districts. The squeaky wheel lost to a cloud today.

If anything – watch their interactive website which includes animated films designed by students. Link is embedded or find here: http://my.liveatedu.com/

Here is what Microsoft says they will provide FOR EACH USER:
25GB of space on SkyDrive (their own individual home folder)
5GB of space in email
Ability to send 20MB per message
Instant messenger (which can be open for staff and not students)
Microsoft Sharepoint services – collaborative documents shared online
A website that includes blogging, calendars, document sharing, etc.
Microsoft Office Live access (Word, Power Point, Excel) online (no installers)
Microsoft Live Search

In other words, a teacher could upload their files to this system and then open rights up to students to view/edit. Teacher and administrators could create folders to share documents and files. The shared folders on our file server migrate up to this system and then we assign rights to the specific folders.

Microsoft Office Live is the web version of Office – Word, Power Point, Excel. Students and staff would have WEB access to these tools without having to install on their own computers.

Total cost for this: $0.00 for hosting. No advertisements on ANY student access service but staff may have Microsoft advertisements (only in top banner of screen). The advertisements aren’t commercials but a banner about a particular Microsoft service.

Positives:
Hosted off-site (no need for a second NOC….or a first NOC for that matter).
Free – and that is free forever (no fee later)
Web access means all materials are online all the time. No second upload for teachers wanting to post documents on their websites. They simply assign rights to their documents in their folders to who they want to view or edit the docs.
Microsoft availability online means kids and staff access Microsoft Office on any computer with Internet connectivity. Same version for everyone.
Built-in Spam and Virus scanner
Leave-ability: Graduates from district take email and info with them. Account goes from district address to @hotmail.com if they want it. All documents and files go with them and out of our control and management
Lots of space gives 30GB of space per user but may be up to 50GB once we get into the Office/Web apps
Private and secure
Collaborative work environments online
Instant Chat
Student websites – Students could make portfolios for classes and be able to share them with future employers/colleges.
Teacher websites – Teachers can generate websites with blogging, calendars, documents, document sharing, etc.
Syncs with our current Active Directory and setup (all current and archived emails with Folders migrate over)
Mobile phone access is built-in via the web
Low maintenance
Low migration issues
Offers ShareView which includes ability to link 15 users for screencasting

Negatives:
Hosted off-site so if the site is down or Internet is down, we are down.
Advertising on some areas (but it is for Microsoft products only)
25GB of space gives freedom to put music, games, etc. in the system. It will be hard to monitor it but we will look into that and how our network access control can help.
Microsoft – most viruses and hacks are targeted at them but in this day and age, we are all targets
Some migration issues. I think if we are to do this, we pay for the advanced migration tools and maybe hire an engineer to come help us migrate it all over. This could be our only cost.

My district uses Active Directory and Microsoft for everything so the migration will be simplified. The presenter in the webinar shared how universities migrate over 30,000 users in a week. We have 710 staff and have not opened up student accounts beyond the high school.

All this said, does the cloud beat the wheel? Do we migrate completely online? This changes cost dramatically but then the money for our own hosting goes to bandwidth. We open the pipeline!

I want to know from others out there who are experiencing this what their thoughts are. Districts, universities, businesses going Web 2.0 cloud – what do you think? Is it worth $0.00 for this??

A few more quotes from the staff I took to TCEA:

“…I found that becoming immersed with other professionals in the digital world was exhilirating! Just watching everyone move about the conference with their various devices communicating and recharging gave me a true sense of what our students have been born into. After 20 years of attending various conferences in education, I found myself rediscovering the joys of connecting with others who are excited to try new ways of engaging their students. But that’s where the similarities between conferences from then and now end because today’s methods go “outside the box” in EVERY direction! What an eye-opener!! So many news ideas swirling around in my head!”

“I would tell [my campus staff] to get on their comfy slippers and commit some time to traveling through a few Web 2.0 links, so they can begin to see all of the possibilities for connecting with their students and colleagues (even parents) in new ways. I also believe the library can act as a “medium” for promoting Web 2.0 and supporting the staff/students.
I think that [our principal's] persistence in starting the school news broadcast has been a great catalyst for getting our teachers and students to get their feet wet with potential for podcasting and vodcasting.”

“I learned so much I am about to explode. I can’t get it all out of my head and use it fast enough.”

“TCEA is great. You can go and see new technologies that are coming out as well as current technology you have. You can attend the sessions or visit the booths of various companies and find new ways to use current equipment and well as get a chance to talk directly to the vendors to get answers to questions you may have. No matter who you are, there is something of interest to go to and new things to learn.”

“I felt that my brain was totally saturated with new ideas by the time I left. The excitement for using technology in my classes was very elevated and it was well worth going.”

I posted an online form for my crew from Kerrville to fill out about their experiences at TCEA this year. The form is available online through Google Docs at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pcJ_EAVrg90uwhN_UriPRUw.

Responses so far:

“Great wealth of information teachers, technologists and instructional integration. Don’t let time scare you away from integration. As many of the presenters share, these tools are free and easy to use and your students will love them.” This person also added that when I get ready to offer training, she would be willing to help offer some ideas and training too.

“There are so many sites for information and resources out on the internet for teachers and students that it is mind boggling. We haven’t scratched the surface in KISD. Other districts and teachers are doing some incredible teaching through websites, blogs, wikis; going paperless during meetings and other administrative types of activities; organizing information through paperless,searchable software (like ONE NOTE) that could save the district $$ in binders and paper as well as increase productivity and save time. I thought I was knowledgeable about technology and I realized how little I really know.”

“Wow! The amount of technology and resources that are available to educators is awesome and continually increasing. It is up to us who went to this conference to share our knowledge of the resources with others who can use it in the classrooms. Thanks to everyone who made it possible for us to attend!”

“This has renewed my creative energy in technology integration in my classroom.”

“It was invigorating! What a refreshing change to see all the integration being used. I would love to see our elementary school try some of the great integrations ideas that are out there.”

I think they liked it! And this isn’t everyone! Will post more as they come in.

Now….can you see why I have the greatest job in the world???

Can I tell you how excited I am about TCEA this year?

This is my 11th year attending this conference. My dad was one of the founders of the organization back when there were a handful of people meeting in a tiny conference room. They weren’t technology directors. There wasn’t technology yet in the classrooms. These were people in different districts who thought the concept of the computer could be of use in schools.

I remember my dad going to the conference and bringing back all sorts of toys and pens from all the different vendors that my brothers would fight over. I remember one hammer-headed pencil from a company that I took to school only to have it stolen during lunch. I still have a coffee mug he received from Apple Computers back in 1985 and it sits close to my desk at work.

When I started teaching, I would drive down to Austin and stay with friends so I could go to the conference. I would take a sick day and pay my own way to get there. I would mostly spend the evenings out on the town and attend a few sessions. I would spend most of my time in the vendor area looking for something cool to take back to school to share with my students.

Most of the time at the conference, I would tag along behind my dad only because I didn’t know anyone except the people he worked with in his career. For years, I would attend the conference to be introduced as “Bill Adkins’ son”. No name. Just that title. And people who knew my dad shared how much they respected him and enjoyed his company.

A few years ago, my dad retired from education. He attended the conference a few times and the roles reversed a bit. He was introduced as “Joel Adkins’ dad” to a few of my friends. I think he might have enjoyed this a little bit more than I did – though I enjoyed it very much!

His last year of attendance marked the 25th anniversary of TCEA and his 25th time to go to the conference. I remember him telling me at that conference that it would be his last. I told him that I would get him to the next one somehow. Sure enough, I received the Instructional Technology Specialist award and I invited him to attend the banquet for all honorees. I came through on my promise.

A lot has changed with technology over the years. Education has changed in some ways and stayed the same in other ways. The conference gets bigger each year with more attendees and more offerings of training.

I look forward to this conference more and more each year because of what it represents for those of us on the frontlines. It’s a time for us to refocus, refresh, and connect with others in the same boat all over the state and now the world. Twitter is great for posting those quick little bits of info and questions but there’s nothing like like seeing that person in real life for the first, second, or next time.

This year, I am taking 10 staff from my district to this conference. Over half of them have informed me that they have never attended a conference before; much less professional development that takes place over several continuous days.

I am excited about not only visiting with old friends from all over the world, but for the week after the conference listening to what these newbies will experience. I am looking forward to them sharing what they saw, experienced, grabbed (free pens!), and heard.

Blogging is a new concept for them. The wiki is something I started them on when I arrived and they are still figuring it out. Most of the district doesn’t understand YouTube or the relevance of why I unblocked it (for staff only). Some of our computers at the campus level don’t even have Microsoft Office on them.

And all this seems foreign to some who will read this.

But to me, it is the most exciting thing about my job. I am so excited for them to go! After 11 years, I can get jaded about a conference or session and how it “wasn’t anything new”. For this crew, the entire experience of a conference of this magnitude is new. And that is the start of their history with TCEA.

If you are going, give me a shoutout! You can find me via Loopt, Facebook, Twitter, this blog, and just by finding me in the crowd. I would love to see you and shake your hands!

See you in Austin!