Making History

Since I started out the week thinking about the humanware excerpt, it seemed logical to read the rest of the chapter tonight.  I want to start out just recording some quotations that jumped out at me as significant for Castilleja.  I have put the quotations in bold so that it is really clear what comes from our big green book and what are my comments.

“Faculty learning must precede classroom implementation, or else you’re going to have a mediocre program.” (57)  Those of us who are here this summer know this, but how do we harness our enthusiasm and have more and more faculty who want to take advantage of opportunities to learn and then integrate technology?

“To be alienated from the computer is to be disenfranchised in our society.  People should learn whatever they have to learn to feel that this thing belongs to them.  The most important thing that computer literacy programs can do for people is to give them the sense that they can be empowered by the machine.” Sherry Turkle, The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. (68) This fits in with issues of gender too.  I want our girls to feel like they own this thing, that they can learn to make it do what they want to do, not just do what someone else things they should do with it. 

This comment comes from the consulting analsys of another school, but it seems to hold some resonance for Castilleja, even though we probably are not this extreme anymore:  ”Everyone seems to be on his/her won regarding computer use.  What software matches what grade level, which packages are to be integrated with what curriculum topics seems to be for the most part based on individual choice.  Addressing this situation is the key next step for the school to move beyond phase 1.” (71)  Can I put in another plug for curriculum mapping here?  We need to see the big picture to figure it all out.

When Lynn was talking about the technology wiki for tech help at another school (it had a super cute name, which of course I can’t remember now), I was thinking maybe we (the Summercore 2008 group) should start a technology integration wiki to show the project and uses of technology in our classes.  We could put things together both by grade level and by software application, and give examples, discuss successes and problems, and generally put our own work out there to start the discussion.  What does anyone think?

The “personal trainer” program (starting on 120) seems interesting, and it would fit really well with the faculty leadership ideas that came out of the faculty advisory committee this year.  We had talked at some point about having people in different departments (or maybe at different grade levels) who were the “go to” faculty members on technology issues.  This seems to be exactly the kind of leadership we should be encouraging (and rewarding financially).  What would Castilleja’s 10 topics be?

We are a girls school, and the issue of gender equity should be part of our technology integration philosophy.  “gender equity means using technology proactively, being able to interpret the information that technology makes available, understanding design concepts, and being a lifelong learner of technology. The new benchmark for gender equity should emphasize computer fluency: girls’ mastery of analytical skills, computer concepts, and their ability to imagine innovative uses for technology across a range of problems and subjects.” (128)

Out of the many important points made in the section on “An Attempt at 20 Critical Questions (CQ)” two struck me as the most interesting to comment on here.

“F = Faculty training … this may well be the most important single step in moving a school forward… CQ: Has your school embraced any of these “out of the box” ideas: faculty incentives, faculty support, faculty pioneers, a dedicated computer faculty trainer?”  (130) Are we thinking about all the possibilities here?  Are we going to have enough tech skilled teachers when we move to the 1-1 program?  How many is enough? How will we know?

“K = KIS.. CQ: Yes, this is an oversimplification, but the KIS (”Keep It Simple”) paradigm for transforming a school involves four principles: budget, curriculum, shared leadership, and prioritizing faculty…CQ: Do the students graduate from your school as normal students (e-mail usage, Web usage, marginal skills with word processing, PowerPoint, etc.) or do they uniformly graduate with the computer proficiency skills that will allow them to be tech savvy citizens of the 21st century, i.e. typing at solid speeds, being able to manipulate the basic tools skillfully, acquiring visual and media literacy, creating Web pages, and understanding ‘big picture issues’ regarding honesty and Internet Safety?” (130)  Well, if this is not a LRP (long range plan) issue I don’t know what is!  As we define what we want to make sure our girls know for the 21st century, how are we making sure that the technology part is front and center for some of the discussions?

I think I have rambled enough now.