Category Archives: Change

Evaluation: Counting and Comparing Totals

One of the most common ways to evaluate our videoconference programs is to count!

What do we count?

  • Number of students impacted (which is sometimes hard or skewed if a teacher does more than one VC)
  • Number of videoconferences
  • Number of types of videoconferences (ASK programs, content providers, free programs, collaborations in all their varieties, meetings, professional development, experts hosted onsite, etc. etc.)
  • Grant funding
  • Total cost of programs
  • District contribution of the cost
  • What else? What do YOU count?

What do we compare to?

When you count the above items, what do you compare it to?

  • Last year’s data
  • Last few year’s data
  • Other similar organization’s data
  • Baseline data
  • Between schools/districts
  • What else? What do YOU compare to?

Some of my comparisons

In our year end reports, I always include some comparisons. These are two of them. Do you compare this way also?

This graph compares the total events among the districts I serve. This is mostly for their own comparison as they like to compare themselves against each other. For a casual observer such as you, the data is less useful because you don’t know the size of my districts. In addition, as seems to be true everywhere, there are certain districts that all the others like to measure themselves against.

Still, isn’t it interesting to see which districts grew their use of VC (when overall use is down about 100 events total)?

There are some drastic changes, some of which I have yet to explain. I need to do some phone calls and see what is going on and if there is a possible solution.

Another graph I keep an eye on is related to our funding trends.

The total program costs are what our whole program spent on content providers and ASK programs. The red grant funding columns show what we, Berrien RESA, funded for our districts, using funding from various sources. The difference between the two is what the districts contributed.

Note the sharp increase in grant funding and corresponding decrease in district contributions to the program. I totally expected this, with many districts cutting back to participate in only free or fully funded programs. This trend reflects the impact that Michigan’s economy is having on public schools.

I wonder also, if this trend is happening across the nation, and if so, how are the content providers faring? Are they doing ok or is it hitting them hard too?

What comparing are you doing as you end the year? What questions are raised from the information you’re collecting?

Informal Evaluation Strategies

by Horia Varian from Flickr Creative Commons

One of the ways to evaluate your videoconference program is to ask questions throughout the school year. Here are some of the questions I ask:

Questions to Ask Teachers

Often when I don’t get to actually watch a videoconference, I like to email the teacher afterwards. Particularly if the program is one I haven’t seen before, or if the teacher is new to VC. I ask:

  • How did it go?
  • Did the content meet your curriculum?
  • Was the quality of the VC ok?
  • Did you have any problems with it?

Often I can then resolve any issues positively so that the teacher will come back for another videoconference.

Questions to Ask VC Coordinators

I also like to ask questions of my VC coordinators whenever I get a chance. Often on the phone as we’re discussing an issue or problem, I ask open ended questions to learn more about how VC is going in their school.

  • How are your teachers doing this year? Are they busy and stressed?
  • How is it going? (often this question brings out barriers, which we can then discuss solutions together)
  • How is your principal supporting VC this year?

The trick is to really listen! Listen to what might seem to be “complaints” or “excuses” in your mind. Listen! Are there ways to address those issues to make it easier for your teachers & coordinators?

What ways do you informally evaluate your program throughout the school year? Please comment and share!

End of Year Evaluation Strategies

by kevinzhengli from Flickr Creative Commons

As we come to the end of the school year, it’s time to reflect on the year, evaluate how it went, and use that data to plan for next year. So this week, we’ll be focusing on evaluation of our videoconference programs.

What Do We Evaluate?

  • How many videoconferences were done by each school
  • Which teachers used VC and why
  • Which teachers that used VC in the past didn’t use it this year and why
  • Which programs that we offered were effective and which weren’t
  • Effect on student achievement (if possible)
  • Which schools need more assistance
  • What the training needs are for the summer and next year
  • What else can you think of?

Previous Thinking on Evaluation

Before thinking more this week, let’s review some of what has already been said about evaluating our videoconference programs.

For some additional reading, consider these research articles:

How are you evaluating your program from this school year? Please comment & share!

    Don't Blame the Teachers! Respect the Resistance!

    Thursday night I listened to Larry Cuban over at Classroom 2.0. It was an interesting interview, peppered with entertaining comments in the chat. While listening, I skimmed Larry’s blog. I found this comment from this post on his blog that is a nice succinct summary of the bigger picture problem with change in schools:

    Do high school structures promote enough time and the classroom climate to support frequent and open use of reasoning skills? Hardly. Take for example, the 4 Ts: Time, Teacher load, Textbooks, and Tests. Read more…

    We’ve discussed before the challenges for high school teachers to use VC in their curriculum and they mirror Cuban’s 4 T’s.

    I’ve also been reading about change – What’s Worth Fighting For Out There?, Leading in a Culture of Change, and Educational Change Over Time? The Sustainability and Nonsustainability of Three Decades of Secondary School Change and Continuity.

    I’ve learned about the big picture of change in education, which vibes with what Cuban is saying. I’ve also learned that it’s important to respect and listen to the resistance. They might be able to see challenges you can’t see. They usually have a good reason for resisting. We need to listen to that! Understand it. Respect it.

    So here’s the question for you:

    How are YOU respecting the resistance? If you are blaming teachers for not integrating your favorite technology in their curriculum, what are you doing to help them get past the 4 T’s? When’s the last time you really understood and experienced the pressures teachers face? Are you just throwing ideas at them (here’s a great Web 2.0 tool), or are you actually setting up lessons and projects that meet their curriculum goals?

    Supporting VCs by a High School Media Specialist

    This week I’m finishing up a session of the Planning Interactive Curriculum Connections online class. One of the participants, a high school media specialist, wrote an excellent plan for supporting VCs in her school. I wanted to highlight a few points:

    Here at the high school, I can also be available to assist teachers during the actual connection. This includes assisting with the equipment, setting up the room appropriately, and making students aware of what to expect and how to speak and act during the VC.  From my experience, most high school teachers feel fairly confident with the equipment after they are given instruction on how to use it.  High schools students can also assist in running the equipment (muting microphone, changing camera presets, etc.).  It is imperative to provide teachers with sufficient support during a VC program.  If they feel overwhelmed by the technical aspects of a VC program and keeping their students engaged and on task, chances are they will not enjoy the experience and will not be interested in scheduling future VC programs.  Therefore, communication is the key.  Teachers should not be left alone until they feel comfortable with running the VC program by themselves. Once they express that they are comfortable, they can be left with contact information in case they face technical problems. – Alma Holtgren, Lakeshore High School, Stevensville, MI

    Do you agree? Are you able to provide this type of support to your teachers? If not, how do you compensate? Please comment!

    Videoconferencing Implementation

    This post is part of a series examining articles on the communication aspects of videoconferencing.

    Reference Baber, J. R. (1996). Re-visioning corporate communication: A case study of videoconferencing implementation. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (AAT 9700122)

    Summary

    This study was more on the implementation of corporate communication via videoconferencing than on the actual communication. Still useful and interesting.

    Baber (1996) offers the Culture-Process-Technology approach as a framework for the successful implementation of videoconferencing in the corporate environment. The framework recommends:

    (1) that organizations should ensure that managers at all levels are willing to support the implementation process; (2) that videoconferencing “champions” be found to administer the system at the project level; (3) that operator training programs be developed to create a wide base of skilled end users; (4) that conference schedules be published regularly to inform end users of meeting times and to sustain ongoing interest in videoconferencing; and (5) that use of videoconferencing system features be consistently modeled to encourage the use of innovation and the re-invention of technology. (p. 128)

    Application/Discussion

    Do you have these principles in place in your school?

    1. Do you have a principal/ administrator supporting the implementation of videoconferencing in your school? What does that support look like?
    2. Do you have a champion for VC in your school? (probably you!)
    3. Are a lot of people getting skilled with using VC? Can your teachers mute & unmute? Can they use presets (if they are set for them ahead of time)? Can they dial if they are given the IP?
    4. How do you organize and publish schedules? Is your system working for you?
    5. Are interesting and innovative ways of using VC celebrated and communicated?

    What else do you think is important for implementation?

    Working with Secondary Teachers

    Linda McDonald and I have been having a great discussion on reaching secondary teachers to use VC, which you can read here. In case you’re not

    Participating in a small group lesson planning session @ Jazz 2009.
    Participating in a small group lesson planning session @ Jazz 2009.

    subscribed to comments, I wanted to pull out these great tips so you don’t miss them.

    Clearing the path into secondary classes:
    1. Invite secondary folks to go to JAZZ
    2. Follow up one-on-one with JAZZ participants and help them implement their great ideas.
    3. Mention video conferencing potential to all teachers/admin. when you are out & about….and locate other potential champions.
    4. Follow up, follow up, follow up with your champions.
    5. When developing projects….Listen to their needs and address areas where teachers and/or students are struggling.

    I love #5. LISTEN!!!

    So, how are you meeting the needs of your secondary teachers?!

    Goals for 2009-2010

    Lori inspired me with her blog post with goals for 2009-2010. So I thought I’d share mine.

    School hasn’t started for us yet. In Michigan, by law, due to economic reasons, we don’t start school till the Tuesday after Labor Day. So I still have a few days of planning left! In addition, my schools are busy prepping for MEAP in October, so the videoconference schedule won’t get really busy til Monster Match the last week of October. That gives me time for planning. I also front load my school year with professional development.

    So, here are my goals for 2009-2010:

    • More meetings via videoconferencing. This is being encouraged by the organization, so I need to be ready to help make this happen.
    • Systematize and streamline my projects. The discussion on work flow helped me a lot; and I’m very pleased with how my project wikis are turning out so far.
    • Work with low-use schools. For the last three years I’ve been focused on my RUS grant schools. Now I want to work with those who haven’t been using their systems as much and weren’t part of the grant.
    • More people in CAPspace. This is the year I want to get all my VC coordinators and active VC teachers in CAPspace. They can arrange their own VC projects and holler when they get stuck!
    • High School English. I have 4 high school English teachers from 3 districts who really want to VC. I plan to do two projects for them this year in Feb & April.
    • Blog my research. I still have a few more series on videoconferencing research to share with you!

    Now it’s your turn! What are your goals? Post them on your blog, or if you want, post as comments here. What do you hope to accomplish with videoconferencing in your area this school year?

    3 Questions to Ask Teachers

    If you are not subscribed to comments on this blog, you missed an awesome comment from Linda McDonald, queen of VC in Katy, TX; creator of Math Marvels and other cool collaborative projects. Her comment was in response to a question about how to start your VC program.

    Be a listener!

    • Ask what about the critical target objectives based on testing data.
    • Ask about areas of curriculum that teacher think are important but don’t seem to have time to teach.
    • Ask which content students struggle understanding.

    Help teachers build VC projects based on the answers above and you will have a “product you can sell.”

    Do you ask teachers these questions? How do you follow-up? How do you help teachers see the connection between curriculum and potential content/projects/experiences?

    Starting Your VC Program

    Still cleaning out draft posts!

    The end of May a team from The Talking Directory in the UK came to visit Berrien RESA to learn about our distance learning program. After watching me facilitate a MysteryQuest USA and HistoryQuest5, we videoconferenced with Arnie Comer, Macomb ISD and Roxanne Glaser and Shane Howard from Region 12, TX. Arnie and Roxanne and Shane shared some great tips for starting a VC program and I took notes. We all shared our signature programs too: ASK for Macomb; Singing with Shane, Monster Match, Weather with Rusty for Region 12.

    Arnie’s Top Tips

    1. Hold teachers’ hands tightly at the beginning.
    2. Take the tech burdens on yourself so the teachers can focus on the students

    Roxanne and Shane’s Core Philosophy

    • Teachers spend time teaching
    • Coordinators in the school or at least the district as our liaison with the teacher

    Tips from the conversation
    I didn’t record who said what, but here are more ideas:

    • Not everyone’s going to be as passionate about VC as you are – give them time!
    • Have meaningful programming for your teachers and share that with colleagues across the country so your schools can benefit from each others programs
    • Call coordinators in schools that aren’t using it much to see what’s going on – maybe they have a family emergency or some challenge

    What is a “quick win”?

    • Start out by providing an ASK program or a project – something with a date & time and all the materials – and step by step what to do.
    • Create programs that are videoconferencing with training wheels – a way to hand hold teachers as they get started.
    • Get teachers involved in one project with success then they try out something else.

    Your Turn: What are your tips for schools just getting started with videoconferencing?