D3 to expand in March

D3 to expand in March In January of this year, North Branch Area Public Schools (NBAPS) took the ground-breaking step of allowing students to bring digital devices to school. We took this approach because, unlike so many other school districts, NBAPS cannot afford to purchase devices for students.

Thus far, D3 (Discover Digital Devices) at the high school has been successful, though not without ups and downs. Those are part of any change though, and we are confident that any issues being experienced are short-term in nature. I can say that every student I have spoken to has given the program high marks.

And so we move onto phase two of D3, implemenation at the middle school. Middle school families were sent a letter late last week making sure they are aware of the coming change. The letter explains that students will be taught responsible usage not just in the lead-up to D3, but going forward as well.

The letter will be followed soon by a permission slip that articulates guidelines for using digital devices clearly. Not only must students sign the permission slip, but their parent/guardian must also do the same.

A concern that I have heard in the past has been that allowing devices allows students to bring things into school that don’t belong. In an expectations video that will be shown to middle school students, Principal Todd Tetzlaff makes it very clear that a device is no different than a backpack; if the school has reason to believe there may be something “in” that device that does not belong in school, school staff have the autrhority to inspect the device.

I am very pleased to report that concern has not been an issue at the high school.

D3 is another example how NBAPS is “returning to its roots” so to speak, creating a more “cutting edge” district willing to try new things for the sake of improving engagement and increasing efficiency.

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NBAPS as a business for easy viewing

The district now has "NBAPS as a business" available as a web page. Click here to view it without downloading.

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NBAPS on the map

The Minnesota Department of Education has a neat new feature at its website called "Minnesota Education Mapper". It allows users to view schools, districts and education regions and includes other useful map information. You can also identify schools and districts by location and view report card information and more.

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Where it's all headed?

Here's an interesting trend in post-secondary education:

Both the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system say they've seen double digit increases in recent years in the number of students taking online courses.

Online courses can take multiple forms. The article linked above talks about "hybrid" courses, in which students spend a portion of their time in class, and a portion learning online. North Branch Area Public Schools has something similar, its distance learning program, which blends classroom time with both offline and online learning.

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A podcast experiment

As part of the district's strategic plan, we are tasked with finding ways to bring school board meetings to a wider audience. With that in mind we are experimenting with podcasting meetings and making the audio publicly available. Here is a podcast of the Dec. 10, 2009 meeting:



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Forest Lake to start elementary Spanish

According to a recent press release, Forest Lake Area Schools is the latest district to embrace a world language option for elementary students:

A plan to establish an Elementary Spanish Partial Immersion program at Forest Lake Area Schools for the fall of 2010 was initiated Thursday night, as the district school board voted 7-0 to pass a motion to authorize the plan.

Congratulations Forest Lake!

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Leadership matters

Yesterday, I was fortunate to be invited to the corporate offices of Works Computing Inc. for a roundtable discussion with Mark Hurd, HP Chairman & CEO. Mark has been with HP since early 2005 and since then has strategically focused on establishing HP as a world leader in technology.The conversation included leaders from finance, higher education and small business.

Mark graciously outlined his strategy for moving HP to a top performer. What was clear was that “leadership matters.” Our administrative team will tell you that I often use that statement with them and Mark Hurd exemplifies that with high quality leadership; high performance follows.

I learned about the number of applications HP once had and how in order to reduce that number Mark assigned process owners who looked at all aspects of an application from bottom to top focusing on efficiency. Accountability by process owners, while not stated by Mark, was implied and that accountability must have been intense and consequently resulted in a much more efficient system and reduced applications.

As North Branch Area Public Schools begins its second year of implementing its strategic plan with me leading that effort, the conversation I was a part of yesterday, affirmed my belief that leadership matters…that accountability with directly assigned leadership is essential for results.

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Neat!

This sounds like a fun way to learn technology:

For the second summer, Mankato’s Community Education and Recreation Department is hosting a week-long video-game making class for kids 10 and older. The course was created by Michigan-based education organization All About Learning, whose goal is to use technology to stimulate math and science achievement.

Students in the course spend five mornings building several different video games. The software allows students to control every aspect of their creations, from characters and villains to scoring and restarts. Students can add sound effects and multiple levels, and they can even program their own in-game cheats and secrets.

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Defining the future

ISTE President Helen Padgett had this to say at this year's NECC conference:

"Schools have made progress" toward meeting 21st-century curriculum goals, she said, but the results from the most recent Speak Up survey reveal how much work still remains: Students in the national survey said they "step back in time" when they go to school.

"We won't be doing our job until students say they're stepping into their future, instead of our past," Padgett warned.

Like everyone and everything, educators are desperately trying to determine what that "future" looks like when it comes to technology. Will technology simply be a wonderful tool that allows us to deliver services more efficiently and to an ever-expanding audience? Or will it transform the foundation of the educational model.

The current educational model is the result of generations upon generations of trial and error and best practices. It is what it is because it works. While there are myriad things that can be improved in education through the use of technology, educators need to be cautious they don't mistakenly throw good after bad simply for the sake of doing something new.

What we do know, and what will not change, is that technology is playing a larger and larger role in people's personal and professional lives every day, and the ability to not only use technology, but the ability to adapt to technologies as they become available will be key to students' success in life.

It is very exciting to be an explorer navigating this frontier, in which, once again, all is possible.

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World language in day care?

WCCO had a wonderful story last night about kids learning world language in day care. Here's a snippet:

Research has found that a second language comes very easy for children. In fact, the younger, the better. Unfortunately, our country's schools are cutting back in this area.

The Center for Applied Linguistics has published preliminary survey results on its website. It found in 1997 one-fourth of elementary schools offered foreign language instruction. Last year, only 15 percent did.

We are so thrilled we are moving in the opposite direction. That, despite budget cuts we were able to add world language at the elementary level while districts nationwide are being forced to cut it. Learning a world language at a young age has a host of additional educational benefits beyond just language and parents are seeing the value. One day care mentioned in the WCCO story has a waiting list of 350 kids!

Adding Spanish to the curriculum here at NBAPS will not only expose kids to language at the most opportune time, and improve their ability to learn in the long run, but also provide an opportunity to attract new families to the district.

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Laptop initiative in Stillwater protected for another year

An update to the story I posted on yesterday, Stillwater has found a way to protect its laptop initiative for the next year:

Addressing a roomful of ardent technology supporters and critical school board members, District 834 Superintendent Keith Ryskoski said laptop computing initiatives at the school system's two junior highs will continue in their present form next year.

That is great news for students. But the question still remains how districts will consistently provide technology to all students in the future. If it is left to local levies to fund, there will be further inequities in education state-wide, based not on need or the advantages of having technology but subject to the whim of existing tax burdens.

So, for instance, district residents' decision whether to fund a technology initiative could be based more on a reaction to an existing tax burden outside the district's control - like a county or city tax increase - rather than a desire to support technology.

There is coming a time when student access to technology will be as necessary as their access to pencils and notebooks. Under the current system with all its inequities, students attending school in areas with a high tax burden will have less opportunity, and therefore will be less prepared, compared to students attending school in areas capable of affording technology.

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Sea change in Stillwater?

This is big news out of Stillwater:

The Stillwater schools superintendent said Wednesday he "dreamed of ways" to expand a successful laptop computer program at Oak-Land Junior High to the district's other secondary schools. Instead, he is recommending the program be discontinued for lack of funds.

Instead:

Ryskoski instead suggested the district focus on staff development, improving the phone system and enhancing existing networks to support students who bring their own computing devices to school.

I think Stillwater's decision could be viewed as a sea change in the way we look at providing technology to kids. There is nothing to suggest school districts will suddenly be flush with funding to supply each student a device. Nor, based on how things have changed since Stillwater began its laptop initiative, will it necessarily be an efficient use of funds in the future.

Laptop prices are already dropping significantly, and they enjoy much increased usage in our society. Plus, ideas about how to deliver technology are changing. For instance, it may be that most things normally stored on a hard drive will, in the near future, be stored in an information "cloud," alleviating much of the need for hard drive space on an individual unit and further dropping the cost of a school-ready laptop.

Each year, school districts are finding new ways to use computers to enhance education as well as make it more efficient. We're not there yet, but I foresee a day when a laptop or compatible device, rather than something that is provided by school, will be something that goes home on a school supply list.
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A realistic approach to kids and the internet

This is a really great idea:

Josephson Institute accepts as an irreversible reality that kids will send text and video messages wirelessly and use the Internet extensively -- and will do so more and more. Its strategy is to become so proficient in these new technologies that it can harness them in the service of its mission to improve kids' lives by strengthening their character and decision-making skills.

Josephson invited the Character Counts community to vote on a name for a new positive Web site that would be designed by and for kids. They selected www.Mylife24-7.org.

Now, with the aid of a national cadre of student ambassadors, Josephson is building a place in cyberspace where kids can connect, reflect and evolve in a safe and positive setting -- a place you'll want your kids to go because they'll grow.

With social networking becoming such an integral part of our society, and with no sign the trend is going to change any time in the near or far future, this is an idea waiting to be embraced. As it stands, education as a whole has too little involvement with teaching kids responsible online usage.

As I noted in Just the beginning, the ramifications of not providing that guidance could be staggering in the future. Hats off to Austin Public Schools for being a leader in helping kids manage the online minefield toward a better future for all.
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Help us serve you

It's been well over a year now since NBAPS started the Key Communicator network. Since that time it has grown, and we have received positive feedback about the information the service provides.

Because it has been a successful initiative, we are now offering online Key Communicator registration at the District website.

As a Key Communicator, you will be high on our priority list any time a situation warrants immediate communication. The goal of the Key Communicator is to address topics that are being talked about in the community, and provide the network accurate information on those topics.

You will also receive "Board Brief," a short summary that follows regular School Board meetings, and many important date reminders as we move through the school year.

If you are interested in District news, I think you'll appreciate being a Key Communicator. We promise not to flood your inbox with e-mail either. We try to use our Key Communicator network only as needed, and won't take advantage of your desire to be informed to overload you with District "spam."

What have you got to lose?

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Transformative

eSchool News has an interesting page highlighting how online instruction is transforming education.

Check it out.

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It's in the demographics

CNN today has demographic information regarding the Hispanic population in America:

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that the minority population reached an estimated 104.6 million - or 34% of the nation's total population - on July 1, 2008, compared to 31% when the Census was taken in 2000. Nearly one in six residents, or 46.9 million people, are Hispanic, the agency reported.

Even more telling for the future: 44% of children under age 18 and 47% of children under the age of five are now from minority families.

According to the article, real estate agents can be added to the list of careers that will likely require some Spanish in the future.

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Just the beginning

This article from eSchool News serves as a valuable reminder that what goes online is available to the world, and that colleges and universities are adapting and using social networking as an evaluative tool:

About a quarter of the colleges and universities polled in a recent survey by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) said their admissions officers research prospective students' social-networking profiles before extending admission or scholarships. That means a Facebook picture from a weekend party might cost a student a spot on a premier campus.

In years to come we will likely see years buried social posts used to scrutinize political candidates, prospective employees, and even potential partners. Teaching our kids to be responsible users now could save them all kinds of potential issues down the road.

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Preparing for the future

There was a very important editorial on the need for global education in Friday's Pioneer Press. Author Dana Curran Mortenson:

The global reach of the two biggest stories of the year to date — the H1N1 flu virus and the economic crisis — has highlighted in a powerful way that many of our most pressing issues transcend national borders. From the economy to the environment, terrorism to health care, 21st-century challenges require leaders who are globally aware and informed.

Regrettably, most American students are not adequately prepared for this reality.

Mortenson goes on to write that we need to stretch students' world view and enhance their technological skills in all areas of curriculum. Why? She goes on:

In today's global economy, businesses are looking for graduates with advanced global and technical skills at younger ages. Students without access to advanced programs that help them build these skills are at a significant disadvantage in the competitive global marketplace.

Mortenson captures, as well as anyone, why we are thrilled about the additions and changes made to NBAPS curriculum for next year. World Language not only increases students global awareness at a younger age, it sets them up to be more receptive to it through their entire education.

Spreading technology through the curriculum will give students access to more tech tools more often, and make them more adaptable to new technologies as they come on line (which is just about every day nowadays).

If our end result is graduates with a better understanding of global issues, prepared for, and comfortable with, technology as a tool, we are preparing them to succeed in a global marketplace.

I will end this post with Mortenson's conclusion:

Parents and communities must also understand the importance of global education and support programs that provide students with more opportunities to explore global issues. Global education is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity, and we must work to ensure that our students feel connected to the world at large and are prepared to tackle the global challenges of the 21st century.

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The Latest Tools

North Branch Area Public Schools is now on Facebook and Twitter. You can sign up for either one or both and get updates from the District.

We're still studying the potential for using these communication tools. If you have suggestion, leave it in comments. Thanks!

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