Technology Rich Schools UP CLOSE

Levin, B., & Schrum, L. (2013). Technology-Rich Schools UP CLOSE. Educational Leadership, 70(6), 51-55.

1. I found this article by using the Rutgers University searchlight resource. I typed the words, "education technology," into the search bar and this article came up. I choose to read and respond to this article because I thought the title seemed interesting and I thought it might have some good tips and ideas for implementing technology within the classroom.

2. The main points of this article:

• The research questions that guided this article were, "
• "How do school districts with long track records of successfully using technology approach technology integration? What can schools that are trying practices like 1:1 laptop programs or flipped classes learn from districts that have long implemented such practices?" (Levin & Schrum, 2013).
• Interestingly enough...
• the school districts that were observed -> their goals were not to simply implement technology BUT  to increase 21st century skills
• college/career readiness
• improving graduation rates
• closing achievement gaps
• schools followed a problem based learning pedagogy
• Strategies to implement technology:
• "Establish the vision and culture. The schools we studied have provided ongoing, differentiated professional development for their teachers and have worked to improve their school's culture and climate and transform their curriculum and instruction. They did so nearly simultaneously with implementing 1:1 computing environments. Leaders established a clear vision and mission and figured out how to fund these initiatives.
  Bring technology into assessment. These schools use technology systematically for ongoing formative assessment. Once assessment data are collected and analyzed, technology is one of the main tools principals and teachers use to differentiate instruction during reteaching and to offer individual remediation and additional practice. Several schools have robust learning management systems in place. At New Tech High School, it isn't just teachers who look at data; students use the learning management system to track their own progress on achieving the school's eight learning goals.
  Establish partnerships. New Tech's leaders, for instance, partnered with the Napa Valley business community to secure ongoing support for the school's unique curriculum and technology infrastructure. As a result of the Napa district's success with New Tech High, there is now a New Tech Network (www.newtechnetwork.org) that supports schools around the United States that focus on project-based learning and education technology. These schools have a 98 percent graduation rate and a 96 percent college acceptance rate" (Schrum & Levin, 2013).
  3. This article was relevant to our course study because it provides a look into educational technology programs that have been successful and that are being used in creative ways. This article also delves into strategies that can be used when implementing technology into a school- that will achieve results! The most important takeaway from this article is the idea, that you should not implement technology just for the sake of using it -- technology shouldn't be your main goal. You should reach your main goal by using technology. I think this article and it's goal aligns with the takeaways from the course. We shouldn't just use technology in simple ways that are not meaningful and relevant; we should make it relevant and meaningful for students and use technology as a vehicle to improve learning.