Just finished watching Stand and Deliver (again). Been spending time out in my schools upgrading VC carts. Listening. Hearing about new curriculum. Untangling wires from summer cleaning. Dealing with twisted wires. Too many technologies, not enough support. Hearing about tighter and tighter budgets; having to do more with less. Gratefulness for free programming we offer.
Watching students check out books in the library; remembering some blog post that we don’t need books. The contrast between reality in a book-celebrating (but also technology using) media center and what some ed-tech big names are saying was too great. Ludicrous.
If you’re not regularly in a school, I challenge you to get out there. Get on the ground. Listen to the teachers. Listen to their challenges. Realize the big picture; so you know what else is going on in teachers’ lives besides the technology tools you’re encouraging them to use. See it from the other side!
Watch Stand & Deliver again. See first hand again what’s happening in schools. Let that knowledge temper and revamp your work! Think from the teachers’ perspective! I challenge you!
“As a media specialist, I think this course would be extremely useful for my teachers and staff.”
“This is actually the first on-line course I’ve taken, and I am quite impressed. Obviously you’ve put much time and thought into these materials and methods. I got a number of good ideas and insights from the other participants’ postings and replies to posts. Discussion of this type is a key to understanding and internalizing new information.”
“The information presented was all very useful. The contacts made with other schools around the country will be a very valuable resource to tap in the future as will some of the content provider sites.”
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
Remember as you review the results of my study that every variable was examined to see its relationship with how often the school was using curriculum videoconferencing and whether that variable could be used to predict the use of videoconferencing.
In this post, we’ll look at the relationship between the school’s use of curriculum videoconferencing and some more coordinator demographic variables.
Years Coordinator Worked in Education
The number of years the coordinator has worked in education was negatively related to the schools’ use of videoconferencing. (r=-.130, p=.032). This variable dropped out of significance in the final prediction model.
Years Coordinator Has Experience with VC
The number of years the coordinator has worked with videoconferencing was negatively related to the schools’ use of videoconferencing. (r=-.154, p=.010). This variable dropped out of significance in the final prediction model.
Hours of Training
The total hours of training the coordinator received was not significantly related to videoconferencing.
Type of Training
Schools where the coordinator received mostly technical training were using videoconferencing significantly less than those who received some or mostly curriculum training (r=-.121, p=.044).
Time to Support Videoconferencing
This question had four choices: full time VC coordinator; part-time VC coordinator; coordinator on top of regular job; other.
Schools where the coordinator chose “Other” were using videoconferencing significantly less than the average of the other choices (r=-.132, p=.028).
Recommendations & Discussion
What recommendations would you draw from these results?
Why do you think some coordinators chose “other” out of those four choices? Do you think they promoted VC in their schools? I think they didn’t see themselves as “coordinators”; only that they’d help the teachers if the teachers wanted to use it. Do you agree with me?
Do you think some VC coordinators get tired of it after a while and quit promoting as heavily? Is that a problem? Is there anything we can do about it?
Did you get training on how to use VC in the curriculum when you started coordinating VC? (If you need some training on using VC in the curriculum, I have a class or two coming up!) How do you think we can make sure more school level VC coordinators learn how to use it in the curriculum (in addition to how to dial?)
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
Remember as you review the results of my study that every variable was examined to see its relationship with how often the school was using curriculum videoconferencing and whether that variable could be used to predict the use of videoconferencing.
In this post, we’ll look at the relationship between the school’s use of curriculum videoconferencing and some coordinator demographic variables.
Gender
Schools with female coordinators use videoconferencing significantly more than the average of the other levels (r=.152, p=.012). When this variable was considered by holding all the other variables constant using multiple regression, this result became non-significant.
Coordinator’s Age
The coordinator’s age was negatively correlated with the schools’ use of videoconferencing (r=-.142, p=.023). The coordinator’s age dropped out of significance in the final prediction model.
Coordinator’s Level of Education
Schools with a coordinator with 2 years of college use videoconferencing significantly more than the average of the other levels of education (r=.223, p=.000).
Schools with a coordinator with a Master’s degree use videoconferencing significantly less than the average of the other levels of education (r=-.154, p=.011).
Schools with a coordinator with a Ph.D. use videoconferencing significantly less than the average of the other levels of education (r=-.126, p=.036).
When these variables were considered by holding the other variables constant using a multiple regression prediction model, the 2 year degree result became stronger (b=20.544, p=.002).
Coordinator’s Ethnicity
The ethnicity of the coordinator is not significantly related to the school’s use of videoconferencing.
Coordinator’s Job Title
The job titles of librarian, media aide, principal, district VC coordinator, and regional VC coordinator were not significantly related to the school’s use of videoconferencing.
Where the coordinator’s job title was paraprofessional, the schools use videoconferencing significantly more than the average of the other job titles (r=.220, p=.000).
Where the coordinator’s job title was teacher, the schools use videoconferencing significantly more than the average of the other job titles (r=.115, p=.010).
Where the coordinator’s job title was technology specialist, the schools use videoconferencing significantly less than the average of the other job titles (r=-.144, p=.016).
When these variables were considered by holding the other variables constant using a multiple regression prediction model, the paraprofessional (b=31.413, p=.013) and teacher (b=11.752, p=.021) job titles were significant contributors to the model.
Recommendations & Discussion
What recommendations would you draw from these results?
Why do you think schools with a tech specialist as VC coordinator might use videoconferencing less?
Why might a school with a teacher or paraprofessional as VC coordinator use videoconferencing more?
Note the small r’s in all of the results. Clearly these results are not true in every situation. What exceptions do you know of to these results?
My methodologist said that in any study, you’ll find a significant difference between the genders. Do you think there is a difference between a male VC coordinator and a female VC coordinator? How so?
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
Now we start looking at the results of my study. Every variable was examined to see its relationship with how often the school was using curriculum videoconferencing and whether that variable could be used to predict the use of videoconferencing. This is why my questions about the method of measuring utilization are important.
In this post, we’ll look at the relationship between the school’s use of curriculum videoconferencing and some school demographic variables.
School Level
The elementary schools use videoconferencing significantly more than the average of the other levels (r=.280, p=.000).
The high schools use videoconferencing significantly less than the average of the other levels (r=-.194, p=.001).
Where the coordinators support all levels, their schools are using it significantly less than the average of all the other levels (r=-.202, p=.001).
Population
Population is not significantly correlated to the school’s use of videoconferencing. (However, when using multiple regression in analyzing school demographics, population contributed a very small amount to the prediction model. Schools with higher population were using videoconferencing slightly less (b=-8.03, p=.021).)
Poverty
Poverty scores (National School Lunch Program, US only) are not significantly correlated to the school’s use of videoconferencing.
Ethnicity
The only ethnicity that is using videoconferencing significantly more than the others is the “other” category (r=.202, p=.001). Most of the coordinators who chose the other category wrote in Native American or Canadian First Nations (16 out of 22).
Recommendations
If faced with a choice, install videoconferencing in elementary schools first.
If you coordinate videoconferencing for multiple levels/schools, you need to train and support a VC coordinator in each school.
Curriculum videoconferencing meets a particular need and is often used by Native American and Canadian First Nations schools with access. This should be supported & continued.
Stats Principles to Remember
Correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation. You cannot say with confidence that because the school was an elementary school; that caused the school to use videoconferencing more.
r is the measure of the correlation. In medicine, we want a very high r (close to 1 as possible); in education and other social sciences, we’re doing good to have it close to .5.
p tells you how much of that result is due to chance (for example .001 is .1% due to chance)
Your Turn
Do you agree with the results? Would you recommend installing videoconferencing systems (with the purpose of curriculum videoconferencing) in elementary schools first? Is that where VC is available in your area? Why or why not?
Do you think that it is important to have a VC champion/coordinator in each school?
This is my first results post. Is it clear? Does it raise questions? Do you recommend another way?
Recently I’ve been reading about Differentiated Instruction. It’s one of those things that I hear alot about, but needed to really learn so I can connect my instructional technology practice to the current pedagogical practices teachers are learning.
60 minutes guest speaker time (GNG and other content providers or guest speakers)
30 minutes “local time”
60 minutes small group time (groups meet across sites)
30 minutes “local time”
Solving Math Problems
What is Local Time? Local time gives the participants a break and includes the following:
Housekeeping time (reminders, signing up for jobs, etc.)
Instruction on Skype and GoogleDocs
Instruction on finding VC programs
Video clips
Optional activities such as learning Twitter or Glogster
Debrief and reflection time
Why Differentiated Instruction?
We continue to struggle to assist new facilitators with local time. Those of us who have taught Jazz for a long time have a sense of where the participants are, what their needs are, and we adapt and are flexible throughout the week.
New facilitators are overwhelmed by the choices and find it hard to know where to start.
Differentiated instruction includes
differentiating content (materials and mechanisms)
differentiating process (activities)
differentiating product (ways students demonstrate learning)
As I read about differentiated instruction, I realized that in Jazz, we differentiate instruction in two major ways:
We scale the activities and responsibilities for new facilitators.
We adapt the local time activities based on the needs of the participants.
So what’s new?
I realized that some new facilitators (and veteran facilitators) may not be familiar with the instructional tool of adapting instruction to participants needs or being flexible in training. So, I made a little overview of differentiated instruction for our facilitators that we can use each year during our planning meetings. It includes:
A quick overview of Differentiated Instruction
Picture examples of differentiated instruction in action
Prompts to think about assessing participants
Items to decide and plan for local time
Your Turn
Jazz facilitators, what do you think? Will this help us? What did I miss? Is it too complex? Understandable?
Past Jazz participants: did you ever realize that what happens during Jazz looks like differentiated instruction? What connections do you see?
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
This set of questions tried to determine what type of support the coordinators in my study received from educational service agencies.
What is an ESA?
An educational service agency provides support and services to local districts. Read more about them in the U.S. at the Association of Educational Service Agencies. In Michigan they are called ISDs or RESAs or ESDs. In New York they are BOCES; in Texas ESCs; in Wisconsin CESAs, in Pennsylvania IUs. ESAs represented in the study are listed below. You’ll notice that some of them are organizations other than an ESA including consortiums, statewide networks, and large school districts that offer services similar to ESAs. The organizations in Canada that stand out are Ontario’s ABEL, KCDC, and Alberta’s Regional Leads Network. How many of these do you know?!
ABEL
ACELINK
BCISD (now Berrien RESA)
CESA 11
Carbon Lehigh IU
Chester County IU
CIESC
Clare Gladwin RESD
CREC
CSD
Dallas ISD
Edmonton Public School Board
EEZ NYIT
ERVING
ESC 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 20 (TX)
ETECH
Garden State Distance Learning Consortium
Genesee Valley BOCES
Graham County Consortium
GST BOCES
Hawaii DOE
Pinal ITV Consortium
IU 1, 13 (PA)
Jefferson-Lewis BOCES
KCDC
Macomb ISD
MAGPI
MCOE
Montgomery IU
NCOCC
NYCDOE
OAISD
Oakland ISD
OU BOCES
REMC 5
REMC 7
Saginaw ISD
SEOVEC
Shasta County Office of Education
SOITA
South Central Kansas ESC
TIES
VCRLN
ESD 112
Wilson Education Center
Do You Receive Support from an ESA?
Does Your ESA Create and Facilitate Free Programming?
Does Your ESA Subsidize Programming from Content Providers?
What percent of your VCs from 2007-2008 were provided or facilitated by your ESA?
Isn’t it interesting that this graph seems to show basically all or nothing with very little in between?
Your Turn
What do you think?
Schools: What videoconferencing services do you receive from your ESA? What services do you wish you could receive?
Schools: What services do you think are most essential from your ESA?
ESAs: What services do you think are essential to provide to your school districts?
What types of programs should ESAs facilitate and provide?
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
We continue an examination of the coordinator demographics of those who took my survey. What type of training do coordinators receive?
Hours of Training
Isn’t it interesting how many received no training at all? I really wonder about those who had the high numbers of training, don’t you? What type of training do you think they had? (FYI they wrote the number in.)
Type of VC Training
The question was: What type of videoconferencing training did you receive? Respondents selected from the choices below.
Your Turn
What training did you receive to be a videoconference coordinator?
What training do you wish you received?
What were (and are) your sources of continued learning?
What do you see as the key components in learning to be a videoconference coordinator?
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
We continue an examination of the coordinator demographics of those who took my survey. Who gets the responsibility of the videoconference coordinator and how much time do they have to support VC?
Job Title
Time to Support VC
Your Turn
Which job title best matches yours?
Do you think there is a job title that is a better match for the videoconference coordinator responsibilities?
When you talk to principals, which person/position do you recommend as the videoconference coordinator?
How much time does it take for you to support videoconferencing?
Do you think it should be a full time job – at the school level? District level? Regional level? Or is it ok to have VC mixed in with other responsibilities such as instructional technology?
This post is part of a series inviting discussion, comments and reflection on the results of my dissertation.
We continue an examination of the coordinator demographics of those who took my survey. Do these demographics include someone like you?
Country (Number of responses)
Australia (1)
Canada (25)
Greece (1)
Honduras (1)
United Kingdom (1)
United States (248)
U.S. States
Alabama (2)
Alaska (2)
Arizona (5)
California (5)
Connecticut (1)
Florida (1)
Georgia (1)
Hawaii (1)
Illinois (1)
Indiana (12)
Kansas (2)
Kentucky (1)
Maine (1)
Maryland (2)
Massachusetts (1)
Michigan (50)
Minnesota (4)
Missouri (2)
Nevada (1)
New Jersey (7)
New York (21)
North Carolina (1)
Ohio (12)
Oklahoma (1)
Pennsylvania (9)
South Carolina (1)
Tennessee (2)
Texas (87)
Virginia (4)
Washington (1)
Wisconsin (7)
Canadian Provinces
Alberta (17)
Ontario (1)
Saskatchewan (7)
Thinking & Your Turn
Is this close to representative of the states who are using videoconferencing to connect to content providers and peers for collaborative projects? (in 2007-2008). When I think of the states and provinces that participate in Read Around the Planet, it seems to be close. What do you think? Is a state missing that is using videoconferencing often for content providers and collaborative projects?
Do you think these numbers help explain why it’s hard to find international partner classes for projects and collaborations? Do you think there is more VC in K12 education in other countries; we just haven’t found the way to find them?
