EDLEAD 6240: Blog #3-- Diving Right in to the Digital Fray

Transitioning from an inner-city public high school in the States with occasional internet access and a penchant for "denied access" messages to a vibrant international school in Korea with a well-established 1:1 program was like landing on the moon. It was one big leap. But, thankfully, all of us newbies were greeted with a well-rounded, dynamic team of tech-support specialists to lead us through the process. Early in the orientation process, the Ed-Tech team rounded us up, distributed our sleek new laptops, and led us through the process of becoming acquainted with our new tools and all of the programs that the school supports with those tools. While there were minor glitches from time to time (i.e. my laptop didn't download the MDM for hours rather than minutes), the process was smooth well laid-out. I really felt supported, that I had an invaluable resource in this team, and an open invitation to seek them out whenever I needed help.

If I were to offer advice to any team leading an orientation for teachers coming from such broad digital backgrounds, I would spend more time on the pedagogical framework and expectations at the start. I would devote professional development time when the old faculty returned on examining standards, like the SAMR model standards that were recommended by Egmond Boon, Mike Pelletier, and Dion Normand in their book Don't Just Do It, a book that details the process of implementing a 1:1 program. In their book, they discuss the necessity of four areas for successful tech integration: tools, personnel, pedagogy and professional learning. While I feel like our orientation earned top marks for tools and personnel, we didn't touch on pedagogy and professional learning. While those two areas take more time and maturation to develop, using a tool like the SAMR model could help to put foundational pillars in place to provide a framework for new faculty.