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Pillars of Digital Leadership Series: Rethinking Learning Spaces and Environments

Posted by Unknown Minggu, 22 Desember 2013 0 komentar

This post is the sixth in a series that will outline the foundational elements of my new book, Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. It is set to be published by Corwin Press on January 14, 2014. Currently there is a pre-publication discount of 15% for any orders before this date. Over the next couple of weeks I will introduce what I have come to identify as the Pillars of Digital Leadership, a conceptual framework for leaders to begin thinking about changes to professional practice. My book will focus on each of these elements as part of a change process. It will illustrate them in action through the work of practitioners and provide implementation strategies. To view the entire series click HERE.

Pillar #6 - Rethinking Learning Spaces and Environments

Digital leadership looks at societal trends as inspirational elements and potential catalysts for change in the structure of the schools themselves as well as the designs of programs. It is a call to action challenging leaders to critically reflect on the learning spaces and environments that embody a school. Do they meet the needs to learners today? Do they foster and inspire creativity, provide flexible opportunities to learn, and address unique and specific interests? Are they reminiscent of what students will expect in today’s world? I will be the first one to admit that the learning environments and spaces at New Milford High School looked nothing like this prior to 2009. Our goal now is to try our best to create a physical space and overall environment that offers flexibility, choice, and tools that our learners will experience upon graduation. With the pedagogical shifts outlined in the last post in this series our success will be determined by the transformation of learning spaces and environments that support these instructional changes.

Clark Hall at GAHANNA LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL (Columbus, OH)

Digital leadership drives school leaders to look past traditional constructs and incorporate trends embraced by Fortune 500 companies to transform learning spaces and environments. When energy and time are spent in this area, school will not only authentically engage students, but also better prepare them for success in today’s dynamic society. The end result will be opening the door to learning while creating global scholars. Chapter 10 of my book provides leaders with a look into how Principal Dwight CARTER spearheaded such change to create Clark Hall, a model for how schools should function and be structured in the Digital Age. Dwight provides invaluable insight on the journey and processes involved to create an environment that students and teachers alike want to be a part of. Schools today need to focus on creating environments and spaces that:

provide an open, bright, and flexible space for learning
provide student choice
integrate technology to engage students
are flexible with time to focus on learning
provide students with the opportunities to express their natural creativity
utilize teachers as facilitators
promote interdisciplinary and interconnected projects
make learning fun

Digital leaders develop a vision and strategic plan to create schools that engage and drive learning. Thanks to social media and the real-time Internet we all have access to design elements and ideas to transform schools into institutions where students use real-world tools to do real-world work. This is were the foundation was laid for the evolving Makerspace at NMHS. In addition to the successes that Dwight has had in this area the rest of the chapter will look at how schools can create their own Academies as well as create pathways to individualize and personalize learning for all students. How have you worked to redesign learning spaces and environments at in your respective district or school?

If you have any specific questions in regards to the Academies @ NMHS, IOCS, or our Makerspace (hyperlinks in the above paragraph) feel free to reach out to me.

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Empowering Students to Be Self-Advocates

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 15 Januari 2011 0 komentar

Right before the holiday break I was contacted by Dwight Carter, the Principal of Gahanna Lincoln High School in Ohio. He wanted to pick my brain about technology integration strategies that I have used at New Milford High School in New Jersey. Somewhere in our conversation that spanned multiple areas of educational leadership, we talked about how we regularly meet with groups of students in our respective schools. The goals of these meetings are to challenge the students to be catalysts of change and work to make their school the best it can be for them.

Suddenly the light bulb went off in my head and I asked Dwight if he would consider holding a joint meeting between our student groups using Skype. Even though he had never used Skype before, the idea was immediately enthusiastically embraced. Upon our return to school in January, Dwight and I set up a few Skype test calls to get him acclimated to the tool, set an agenda, and prepare our students for the meeting on Friday January 11, 2011. We originally had the meeting set for Wednesday, but my school was closed due to heavy snow. After all of the preparation and excitement there was no way we were going to let Mother Nature ruin this genuine learning experience that we had been working on for weeks.

Our meeting was held yesterday and the dialogue between the students of our two schools exceeded our expectations. As facilitators, we challenged the students to openly discuss and develop strategies that addressed increasing academic rigor/accountability and improving learning environments. The student voice is crucial in school improvement efforts and most often this group is excluded entirely. One of the overriding theses that both Dwight and I stressed to our students is that they must not be afraid to advocate for themselves if they feel that they are not being challenged or learning is not taking place.

It was difficult to listen and take notes at the same time as I was thoroughly engrossed in the student discussion, but I did mange to jot a few main points down in Evernote. In terms of rigor and accountability our student groups had this to say:

Having a passionate teacher who makes the course challenging from beginning to end is essential. We want higher expectations set.
Relationships between teacher and student are key.
Instruction caters to all types of learners.
Homework needs to be meaningful, regularly assessed, and directly linked to class content. Too many teachers give homework that is not relevant to the lesson and does not tie in at all.
We learn more through interactive projects and our own successes/failures than through traditional means of assessment (i.e. note-taking, quizzes, tests, etc.).
The learning process is a partnership between teacher and student. The students want and need a voice in how they learn and how they demonstrate their learning.
An interesting sidebar that came out of this was how the teachers dress impacts how seriously students take them.
Students have to see a purpose to using technology tools in the classroom. They want to create content using technology.

For the last 20 minutes of the hour long meeting, the students from Ohio and NJ discussed learning environments. One thing they all agreed on was that classrooms need to move away from desks to more open, collaborative spaces. I actually threw in that if I could have my way all of the classrooms in NMHS would look like a Starbucks lounge (they really liked this idea). One issue they were split on was technology. As the conversation began, there were those students that stated they didn't want technology to be integrated into instruction because of their immersion in it outside of school. Then there were others who felt exactly the opposite, that technology plays such a huge part in their outside lives that in order to motivate them it should be widely integrated. Well students never let us down! By the end of the conversation they came to the same consensus that all of us in education have and that is that there needs to be a balance between research-based instructional techniques and technology.

GLHS is in the process of building a state of the art, three story learning environment that will blend traditional and contemporary (Starbucks) learning spaces, high powered wireless connectivity, project-based learning, and student voice/choice. The facility will house up to 350 juniors and seniors who choose to select classes that offer creativity and project-based learning opportunities. The conversation that took place between the New Milford and Gahanna Lincoln students describes perfectly what Dwight expects to see in the new building.

The student-driven conversation left Dwight and I inspired to continually seek out the student voice in an effort to transform the teaching and learning cultures of our schools. As we learned, students want to be challenged, have high expectations set, and be provided with meaningful learning opportunities. These are challenges that both Dwight and I are ready to address head on. Once our time came to an end, we in turn challenged all of the students that their role is vital in this process and that they must become self-advocates to assist us in school improvement efforts. Based on the overwhelming positive feedback both Dwight and I received, we plan to continue facilitating conversations between our students while looking to expand the dialogue to other students in schools across the country and world.

Do the students in your school have a voice? Are their ideas respected and acted upon?

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