CTO Essential Skills

As described on the CoSN website, “CoSN (the Consortium for School Networking) is the premier professional association for school system leaders” (https://cosn.org). CoSN has 26 chapters representing 27 states. It can be a very valuable resource for technology leaders. One area they are known for is the Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO. This is a reference for everything a chief technology officer (CTO) needs to know. CoSN bases all of its resources around this framework:

The Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO is comprised of three primary professional categories that sum up the work you do in the education technology field. These categories encompass 10 specific skill areas which outline the responsibilities and knowledge needed to be a viable educational technology leader (https://cosn.org).

During my time as a technology coordinator I have had a direct role in many of the areas covered in this framework. I would like to review a three of the ones that impact my position the most.

Category 1 - Leadership and Vision – 1A - Actively participate with members of the Superintendent's cabinet (e.g., district senior management) to create a vision for how technology will support the district’s strategic and operational goals

I have been blessed over the last two years to have a superintendent who embraces technology. I have had the benefit of numerous meetings with him about the future of technology within my district. I serve as a district administrator and participate in all of the district planning meetings. Some of the areas we have discussed includes the districts virtual school option, wireless initiative, content filtering, data governance, future one-to-one plans, and online registration.

One area that continues to be developed, grow, and change is related to parent and community public relations. This category tends to be in all of our improvement plans and the district strategic plan. Increasing parent and community outreach will always be an area we need to focus and improve on. These meetings have included representatives from sports, special education, child nutrition, and others. The results so far have amounted to us redesigning our website, www.bibbed.org, and adding a district Twitter account, @bcsboe.

Our most recent discussions have related to our school call-out system. Our current system allows us to call parents for announcements, emergencies, and absent students. This is completely reliant on having a correct phone number for parents. We have been in discussion about moving to another company and implementing an app for our district. This would allow students, parents, educators, and community members to download the app on their phone and receive up to date announcements and news. This would increase our PR footprint and would not be reliant on a correct phone number. School apps help others access and engage with content (Interactive Schools, 2011). See more about the Blackboard App we are discussing here.

Category 2 – Understanding the Educational Environment – 6E – Effectively communicate using emerging technologies to reach stakeholders

It is no longer effective for educators to communicate with parents through a printed letter or a phone call. Letters rarely make it home and into proper hands, especially for older students. Phone calls often go unanswered or to a disconnected number. To effectively communicate with parents, educators have to be willing to use same resources the parents do. This is often done using email or social media.

The Bibb County Board of Education adopted a resolution recognizing and honoring @WBcheerleaders at the March 13 board meeting. pic.twitter.com/TDJlM4P2XT

— Bibb County Schools (@bcsboe) March 14, 2018

The Superintendent and I have been managing a district Twitter account for the last two years. Although we do not keep it as active as I would like, it is still a good method of communicating with those in the community. We get new followers each time we post. I am hoping that this increases even further when we get the smartphone app. This will allow a larger portion of our stakeholders to see our feed.

Category 3 – Managing Technology and Support Resources - 7A – Plan all tasks related to technical systems, network infrastructure, and technology device Management

As much as I love working with some of the other areas of the framework, I find that the majority of my time is spent within one skill area, Information Technology Management. It does make sense, none of the other areas of instructional technology would work without the infrastructure and integration of technology. On average of 70 to 80 percent of my week is devoted to evaluating, implementing, installing, and trouble-shooting.

Here are a few of the things accomplished in technology over the last two years:

·                     Upgraded all DHCP and Domain Controller servers from 2003 to 2012

·                     Planned and Implemented a virtual school option through Edmentum

·                     Added all students to Active Directory for PC login

·                     Issued school email addresses to all students in grades fifth through twelfth

·                     Migrated to G Suite email for all faculty

·                     Purchased over 900 Chromebooks district wide

·                     Implemented Clever SSO

·                     Upgraded to 1 Gbps managed switches across the district

·                     New district and school websites

·                     Moved CNP server to a cloud based solution

·                     Purchased iBoss content filter and reporter

·                     Online school registration

·                     District Twitter account

An average day has me checking and updating servers, answering emails, helping users with programs and accounts, transferring files, and implementing new services. I occasionally get out of the office to help with PC, network, and printer issues.

I have a long way to go to master all of the Essential Skills of a K-12 CTO, but I feel like I have a good grasp on the basics. I hope to one day become a Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) through CoSN. “Earning the CETL certification will demonstrate to your staff, superintendent, and other stakeholders that you have mastered the knowledge and skills needed to define the vision for and successfully build 21^st century learning environments in your school district” (https://cosn.org).

References

https://cosn.org. Accessed on April 26, 2018.

Interactive Schools. (2011) Benefits of a school smartphone app – access, engage, and advocate. Retrieved from http://blog.interactiveschools.com/blog/benefits-of-a-school-smartphone-app-access

Future Proofing

 “Future proofing means that a facility anticipates and supports educational change without expensive remodeling,” (Boschee, Jensen, & Whitehead, 2013, p. 200). In a system like mine, future proofing to meet this definition is impossible. With most of our buildings 40+ years old, we are well past any future proofing they may have had. With most facilities being outdated, I look toward other areas to try and future proof our system.

            I feel that G Suite has helped us future proof a lot. For my entire education career, we were on an old webmail system provided by Alabama Super Computer (ASC). This system was very simple and dated. It had very little functionality and even less threat detection. We also have a local file sharing server. With the introduction of G Suite, we are able to access the added functionality of Gmail and use Google Drive for file sharing. This also allowed us to increase the use of Google Calendar across the district. See more about the benefits of G Suite here.

Last year Bibb County had a unified wireless solution installed in all of our instruction buildings. "The direction is for schools to go wireless," 

(Boschee, Jensen, & Whitehead, 2013, p. 202).This solution allows us to connect up to 30 devices per classroom and many more in common areas. This solution can also be expanded pretty easily to grow with the demand. This solution is integrated with our Active Directory so that every student and teacher with a computer account can also securely access wireless.

Bibb County also recently finished replacing all of the switches within the district. Before making this change we had switches from four different manufacturers. Out of those switches some only supported up to a 100 Mbps connection. Now that we have made the transition, all of our switches are the same brand and they are compatible with our wireless solution. This will allow us to monitor and manage both solutions from one console.

            We are also in talks with AT&T about moving to a digital solution for our telephone service. Right now each school has two copper phone lines that connect with our VOIP system. Moving to the digital solution will not only remove the problematic copper lines, but will also save the district thousands of dollars per month on our phone bill.

            Another solution we are looking at is the Blackboard App for our district. This will allow us to communicate with parents without trying to keep up with phone numbers. The parents will also have the ability to check news from their student's school and also view their students grades and lunch accounts from a central location. "Other technologies are helping districts improve infrastructure efficiencies and reduce costs in functions like communication and alerts," (Dessoff, 2010).

References

Boschee, F., Jensen, D., & Whitehead, B. (2013). Planning for technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.

Dossoff, A. (2010) Making your schools future-proof. District Administration. Retrieved from: https://www.districtadministration.com/article/making-your-schools-future-proof

[Ruckus Networks]. (2015, September 18). Ruckus Wireless: Education in the 21^st century. Retrieved April 16, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9AaTk61WKw

Finding Technology Funding

   Technology seems to be evolving daily and parents, students, and teachers expect that schools will keep up with that evolution. The major sticking point for most of this comes down to funding. How are schools expected to keep up when the technology increases faster than the budget? In my school system the technology budget has not changed in four years. Within that same time frame we have upgraded 11 servers, added unified wireless, converted email to G Suite, added around 800 Chromebooks, and updated our website. This was all done while still having to repair and replace smart boards, computers, and projectors. Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead (2013) tell us that "Meeting the needs of school funding clearly requires a rearranging of priorities at all levels," (p. 192). This is exactly what I have had to do. 

Image retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/
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     One option pointed out by Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead (2013) suggests that "budgeting changes should involve cutting back or eliminating ineffective programs that will free up money for more promising approaches," (p.192). Since being in the position I have been amazed at the amount of waste that has been allowed to go on for years. Some of the areas I have been able to "find" money for other programs included licensing for underused programs, unused cell phones, and dead phone lines. In many cases upgrading to a better product has saved money. Moving all of our fire alarms over to cellular has saved $900 per month on our phone bill. That is after the increase in monitoring costs. When we make the final move from copper phone lines to a fiber solution we look to save an additional $3300 per month. These savings are multiplied by the loss of E-rate funding for phones. 

     I am always on the lookout for additional places I can save the district money. This might not lead to a direct increase in my budget, but it does give me ammunition when I meet with the superintendent over additional technology needs. 

     Another option that I rely on heavily is E-Rate. "The Federal Communications Commission provides virtually every school and public library with a specially discounted "educational rate" (E-Rate)," (Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013, p. 193). Without E-Rate our district would not have 90 percent of the equipment we currently have. We would also not be able to get broadband speeds.

    We also leverage a lot of our Title 1 funds for the purchase of technology. Title 1 "provides financial assistance to local educational agencies and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families," (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). The problem with relying heavily on these funds is that they are not guaranteed each year and the amount changes each year. It is also in place to enhance your current funding not to supplant it. This means that you cannot purchase items that would normally be purchased with state or local funds. 

Image retrieved from https://giphy.com/gifs/sponge
bob-squarepants-money-fNvXkjC50ywBW

    Beyond these options, I am always on the lookout for grants and fundraising. We made full use of our Alabama Ahead Act (AAA) funds. This allowed us to leverage money from the state with our E-Rate funding to complete our unified wireless solution. We were also able to purchase additional Chromebooks and replace numerous outdated computers. We have also just been informed that we were awarded a Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant through the USDA. This was in partnership with our local hospital and will allow us to purchase $100,000 of distance learning equipment. Some of our teachers also use sites like DonorsChoose.org. These sites allow teachers to request help purchasing items for their schools and classrooms. You never know when you will get lucky like the 35,000+ requests last week that were "fully funded thanks to a single $29 million donation," (Chokshi, 2018). 

     We must remove limitations that have traditionally been placed on teachers and administrators and allow them to take charge of their schools, classroom, and technology (Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013, p. 193) This will allow us to continue to evolve with technology to ensure we are preparing our students for the advance future they face. 

References

Boschee, F., Jensen, D., & Whitehead, B. (2013). Planning for technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.

Chokshi, N. (2018) How to get $29 million for classroom projects? Just ask. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/us/donors-choose-donation-ripple.html

U.S. Department of Education (2015) Programs. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html

Leading for Technology Change

Retrieved from:

www.imgrum.org/user/dicedotcom/

271408098/979772536716816161_271408098

     What makes a technology leader? Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead stated that "the school superintendent, principal, and district technology coordinator will take on technology leadership roles" (2013, p. 34). This is a good start, but it still leads to other questions. Are these the only people in a district with leadership roles? What happens when one or more of these positions are not technologically inclined? I currently serve as a technology coordinator and would like to answer these questions and others related to technology coordinator leadership.

     According to Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead there are 16 key tasks for "district technology coordinators who effectively lead integration of technology" (2013, p. 37). Technology coordinators need to align technology goals with instruction and ensure all programs are using relevant, modern programs and practice. They must create opportunities and resources to ensure stakeholders are making the most of the technology resources. They must research, collaborate, and model good practice with district staff and with others in the field. They must offer financial and physical support for all stakeholders. They must watch, review, and adjust programs and strategies continuously. They must ensure that everyone, including themselves are informed and following all guidelines set forth by the state and other governing bodies. (Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013)

     Technology coordinators must be able to perform all of these tasks, but they must also be able to perform the tasks of the other leaders. Coordinators must be able to work with a school leader who does not necessarily possess all of the technology awareness needed in today's fast changing schools. There are principals who are not capable of using "a variety of media and formats" (Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013, p. 36). There are also superintendents who may struggle to "communicate expectations consistently for the use of technology to increase student achievement" (Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013, p. 35). Technology coordinators must be able to work with these individuals to help them get where they need to be without alienating them or making them feel inferior to peers. Coordinators must not only provide training on the latest and greatest equipment and software, but must also be willing to take time out of that to help someone sign in, or navigate to the correct site.

  

Cartoon © Randy Glasbergen, used with special permission from www.glasbergen.com

     All technology leaders must be willing to work as a team. They must look beyond the three obvious leadership roles and help develop teacher tech leaders. They must work with them and get them on board before rolling out new initiatives with everyone else. Overall effective technology leaders must hold all of the same qualifications as a leader for any other activity.

     "Experience has found the most efficient way for educational leaders to evoke change is through providing relevant support and direction for faculty and staff to be their best rather than exerting power and authority over them" ((Boschee, Jensen, and Whitehead, 2013, p. 70).

References

Boschee, F., Jensen, D., & Whitehead, B. (2013). Planning for technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a Sage Company.

Glasbergen, R. (n.d.) Leadership Cartoon. [Cartoon] Retrieved from: http://www.glasbergen.com. Copyright by Randy Glasbergen. Posted with permission. 

Network Control - Free Range or Big Brother?

The Child Internet Protection Act (2000), requires all schools and libraries that receive E-rate funding to protect students from pictures that are obscene, pornographic, or harmful to minors. This has led to a very broad scope of what is considered obscene or harmful to minors. Some school systems take this to the extreme and block everything not directly tied to an educational purpose, while other systems block the obvious and wait on issues for further restrictions. According to a 2016 article "The fundamental question has been how schools are interpreting the law-and whether districts are acting in the best interests of children or simply functioning as online overlords" (Anderson, 2016). 

Who exactly determines what is harmful to minors? There are many out there that would consider YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and many of the other social media and media sharing sites to be harmful. Some may only consider pornography, guns, and violence to be harmful. How does a school system make those determinations?

With input and opinions coming from parents, students, teachers, laws, and community members, those in charge of internet filters can have a tough time deciding what to block and what to allow. This gets even more complicated when you start monitoring bandwidth usage and trying to balance educational use versus personal use. Network administrators have a tough time balancing all of this into a working solution that meets the definition of the law and district policy.


Within my district we have very limited filtering powers. The portal we are provided by Alabama Super Computer gives me the option to block certain categories or specific URLs. This leaves me at the mercy of whoever places sites into categories. I have had educational sites blocked on numerous occasions because they were placed in a category that I am required to block. I have to explain that I do not set those rules and am required to manually whitelist the site.

I have loosened other restrictions tremendously in recent years. We now allow Twitter and Facebook through wired connections, (wireless is blocked for usage reasons). I also block Netflix for usage and bandwidth concerns. I personally feel that more should be opened up and the education of the teachers and students needs to improve. I also feel that supervision should be a little better within our labs and mobile carts.

By the time students reach high school they should be given higher expectations of how to behave on the internet. They should be monitored, but also be taught what is appropriate in a school setting and allowed a little self-regulation. "Without question, students need to become digitally literate (having the knowledge and ability to use information and technology for varied purposes) because ultimately they live in an unfiltered world" (Anderson, 2016).

References

Anderson, M. (2016) How internet filtering hurts kids. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/internet-filtering-hurts-kids/479907/

 Engage for Education (2011). Of course, internet safety is VITAL. Online image. Flikr. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/engageforeducation/6263161391

Goofus and Gallant

     In the introduction of their book Coaching Classroom Instruction, Robert Marzano and Julia Simms told us that "the primary purpose of an educational coach should be to help teachers increase their effectiveness," (2013, p. 1). While most educators will tell you that they were called to teach, it takes a special educator to be able to effectively coach instruction. In my current position as technology coordinator I find myself in positions of coaching much more often then I did while serving as a school assistant principal. It can be a very intimidating position to be in and I constantly have to remind myself that I am dealing with adults and not students. I am going to examine a couple of scenarios from the standpoint of the old cartoon Goofus and Gallant. I would like to bring to you the good and the bad of coaching from the perspective of Meany and Mentor.

     Mentor does an excellent job in his classroom. His students are well behaved and he gets great results from his dedication. Meany thinks he is the best teacher. He would be teacher of the year if it wasn't for the lousy students he is stuck with each semester. "The coach is a master teacher with the proven ability to increase student achievement in his or her own classroom," (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 212). We are all familiar with the grumpy educator that wants to always blame the students, parents, or administration for all of the faults in their classroom. They seem to be always willing to depart their "wisdom" on everyone else, especially the new teachers. Master teachers are often the ones who focus on their job and very rarely speak out unless they are told to do so.

     Mentor greets everyone with a smile and is always willing to listen and talk about all matters not just education. Meany only talks about himself and his problems. He wants you to think and do just like he does and doesn't react well to other suggestions. "The coach has a wide knowledge of curriculum and instruction and the interpersonal skills necessary to interact with others respectfully and professionally," (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 212). Just being knowledgeable in your subject area does not qualify you to be a coach any more than it qualifies you to be a teacher. All of the book knowledge in the world cannot help you if you cannot interact with well with others. The basic principles of coaching include equality, choice, voice, dialogue, reflection, and reciprocity, (Devine, Houssemand, & Meyers, 2013). This allows for a partnership not a dictatorship.

     Mentor understands that change is needed and is willing learn new things themselves in order to help others. Meany thinks he is the expert and everyone should do things their way. They don't care what the research says. "The coach agrees with the goals of the coaching program," (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 212). No one is an expert of all aspects of education. A good coach is willing to look at the larger picture. They are willing to adapt and change to meet the greater good. 

    After hearing a veteran teacher discuss a problem they were having with an issue, Mentor mentions they once had the same problem. He invites the teacher to come by his room to observe his solution and decide if it might work for them. Meany chimes in and tells the veteran teacher if they don't know how to handle that problem they should just retire already. "A coach should be aware of when working with new or experienced teachers," (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 214). Veteran teachers can be very sensitive to outside help. Sometimes they are very reluctant to change or ask for help. Coaches should be considerate of this and offer suggestions, but not be too pushy or demanding. They should also never be demanding or demeaning to any teachers.

References

Devine, M., Houssemand, C., & Meyers, R. (2013). Instructional coaching for teachers: A strategy to implement new practices in the classrooms. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 93, 1126-1130. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042813034460?via%3Dihub

Hoffman, C. (January 16, 2013). Example Poor Coaching Techniques. [Video File] Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyLSROlwZOg

Marzano, R. and Simms, J. (2013) Coaching Classroom Instruction. Marzano Research Laboratory, Bloomington, IN. 

 

Using Technology to Engage Students

     In their 2013 book, Coaching Classroom Instruction, Robert Marzano and Julia Simms present Marzano's Model of Effective Teaching. "That model postulates forty-one elements (that is, forty-one categories of specific classroom strategies and behaviors) that describe classroom expertise," (p. 19). Three of these elements focus on the "Design Question: What will I do to engage students?" (p. 20) While all of the questions and elements are important for effective teaching, this one in particular stands out to me for encouraging the integration of technology into instruction.

(Magno, 2015)

     In order to assist a teacher to move a teacher into the beginning level a coach must assist them to research and learn about strategies, pick one to use, and then implement the strategy, (Marzano & Simms, 2013). As seen in the graphic above, Marzano lists nine elements that assist with student engagement and eight of those nine can be facilitated by integrating technology. I am going to focus on three of those: engagement, response time, and opportunities for students to talk about themselves, (Marzano, 2013).


Although it may seem like common sense to most educators, there are some who would fall at the low end of the spectrum recognizing when students are not engaged. This can be due to the teacher just being oblivious, or from just not caring. Integrating technology is a great way to help a teacher move from the bottom to the top of the spectrum for this element. Lee Brenner stated in an article for ISTE that "According to research, personalized, collaborative and connected learning experiences enhance student engagement, which in turn drives student success. By integrating technology in the classroom, educators can take learning experiences to the next level and significantly improve student performance," (Brenner, 2015). 

     Another element that can be improved with technology is increasing student response rate. There numerous options available to help teachers manage response time. This can be done easily in today's classroom with Chromebooks, IPads, laptops, or even the students' cellphones. Apps like Kahoot!, Quizlet, and Socrative turn the students' phones into personalized response systems. Programs like Google Classroom, Popplet, Seesaw can also be used to see student responses in real time. These items not only increase response time, but also increase engagement. 

    The final element I want to bring up is one that most teachers would rather avoid, allowing the students to talk about themselves. Many teachers only allow this in very structured way such as write an essay on what you did over summer break, or tell me about a time you _____. Technology opens up many new avenues for students to express themselves and relate what they are learning to their own lives. Teachers can use online interest surveys, blogs, or social media to bring a personal element to their instruction. Students love the internet and using social media, teachers who find a way to blend that with instruction will increase engagement and learning. 


     Many teachers are not comfortable enough using technology themselves to even consider integrating it into their instruction. Our job would be to coach them through a strategy until they are familiar with it enough to use it in a lesson. If we followed all of the steps Marzano recommends teachers would be able to move from "not using" to "innovating" with a little effort but great results. Teachers who see the results of their practice and research should have the desire to continue the learning. 

References

Brenner, Lee. (2015) 3 ways to increase student engagement in your classroom. Retrieved from: https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=590&category=Innovator-solutions&article=

Magno, C. (2015) Developing a Teacher Performance Appraisal [Slideshare]. Retrieved from: https://www.slideshare.net/crlmgn/developing-a-teacher-performance-appraisal

Marzano, R. and Simms, J. (2013) Coaching Classroom Instruction. Marzano Research Laboratory, Bloomington, IN.