Continued Thoughts on Every Child, Every Day

There are certain key drivers of student engagement that come with a 1:1 rollout.  These drivers are part of the instructional transformation.  They include relevance, personalization, collaboration, and connectivity.  Relevance makes learning more fun for students because it connects students with the outside world.  Personalization gives students the opportunity to learn based on their own interests.  Collaboration builds motivation because students are able to work together and learn from each other.  Finally, connectivity drives inquiry-learning and discovery. 

Teaching in a digital learning environment is more important than ever because the success of the digital conversion classroom depends on the talent, initiative, and skills of the teacher.  Edwards said it was their goal to make teachers more like "roaming conductors" of learning which reminds of the "sage on the stage" concept we discussed in the DDLS class.  It's more about evolving the way teachers design methodology and pedagogy.  "Teachers need to orchestrate a variety of activities and use a variety of digital resources."  But again, it's a joint effort.  Students are learning from teachers in a classroom environment that portrays a much different level of teacher proximity, but teachers are also learning from students.  In a 1:1 classroom, teachers have to be open to adjust their thinking and teaching strategies accordingly.  The impact on students, due to this mindset, is what Edwards calls a "productive hum" and "cognition ignition" within the classroom.  These are both excellent phrases to describe the amazing and purposeful engagement levels in a 1:1 classroom where good design, appropriate teacher facilitation, and student focus all come together. 

Chapter 7 focuses strictly on data.  Of course, being in a digital conversion classroom means that teachers and students and principals have unlimited access to formative students data.  There's a certain level of accountability that is provided to students and teachers who have this information at their fingertips on a regular basis.  Students can reinforce this accountability and embrace it by monitoring their own progress, with the help of a teacher, in order to discuss their strengths and weaknesses.  There are a variety of ongoing activities mentioned on p. 121 that drive the overall commitment to data analysis in a digital conversion school, all of which aid in the development of a more clear, in-depth picture.  Progress has been on the rise ever since, there's no more guess work, students are informed to succeed, and parents are in the loop more consistently. 

Some of the other highlights that I took away from the digital conversion model in MGSD were the dramatic level of savings involved.  From paper and copying, to online assessment savings, to disciplinary actions, the involvement of computers has led to less money being put into other (less impactful) areas.  With a change this big, the overall philosophy of the district changed.  An "all in" attitude has impacted students and the "Students in" approach has meant that each student "has taken responsibility for his or her performance and has contributed to the success of others and the community at large."  I've learned that you have to be "all in" because everyone is accountable for certain aspects of the program along the way and if one piece doesn't do its part the entire body may not operate as smoothly.  Each part of the system is essentially a gear that keeps the others spinning and moving.  This includes the students, teachers, administration, support staff, and parent community.  I'll end my thoughts with the chart on p. 171.  This chart summarizes the digital conversion critical success factors.  It's a nice way to wrap up the important concepts from the book in order to remember the replicate digital conversion successfully and to sustain it over time.  It includes things such as a commitment to every child, ongoing professional growth, deep transformation of instruction, and creative resource alignment.  These are only a few of the tremendously important pieces, but they all matter.  They all contribute to the overall level of success.