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Great Ideas That Weren’t Why Most K-12 Schools Have Not Gone Digital…and What Can Be Done

Great Ideas That Weren't

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Page 1: Great Ideas That Weren't

Great Ideas That Weren’tWhy Most K-12 Schools Have Not Gone Digital…and What Can Be Done

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Mark A. VanHeckeInstructional Designer East China, [email protected](810)-278-5189

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Ribs in a Can, Leisure Suits, Toaster Bacon, and the New Coke….And Other Might-Have-Beens

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Ribs in a CanLike many new-fangled innovations-Ribs-In-A-Can never caught on

Somehow I think these look a bit tastier

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High StyleEveryone wants to copy the latest style…and just as quickly as it appeared something else becomes the latest and greatest

Technology is a lot like that today

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Good for UsSome great ideas that become are products are touted as being good for us…and later we find out that it just ain’t so

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Better Than the OldSometimes we think the new is better than the old and then most people figure out the old wasn’t all that bad

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The Way Life Used to BeWe often lament old ways of doing things and miss places we used to go….but do we REALLY want to go back to that?

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Too Good to be TrueThis one speaks for itself….

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Off the GridAnd many are just totally ridiculous….

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The Teeter TotterEven in education we have our own versions of ‘Great Ideas That Weren’t’ that rear their head from time to time

And sometimes they come back…a new name, a bit more seasoned and palatable then before…only to fade away again….before mutating into another ‘great idea.’

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Digital CurriculumWill adopting a digital curriculum in K-12 schools be one of them?

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That Old BlanketWhy K-12 Schools Hesitate to Go Digital

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That Old BlanketWhen I went away to college in 1979, I bought this blue comforter that followed me to every dorm room, mattress on the floor or apartment that I lived in throughout my studies.

I even kept using it for a few years after I graduated and moved on…I knew what it felt like, what it smelled like and what it felt like sleeping under it….

And then it fell apart

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Teaching Then…Seems teaching is the same way….Lectures were a very cost effective way of teaching back in medieval times…

You just sat a bunch of people in a big room, plopped a teacher in front of them and everybody was supposed to learn the same thing the same way

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Teaching Now…Have things really changed all that much in the last 500 years?

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Why We Do What We Do…We do what we do for one simple reason….because it works.

Just like my old blanket did

And when ‘test scores’ are high, it’s easy to believe that we’re providing the best education for students in 21st century society

Or are we?.....

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What Really Works…Research shows that we can and should be doing better…

A digital curriculum and the use of mobile technologies offer teachers many ways to get students to these levels where most learning occurs…

And yet many K-12 schools continue to use classroom lectures and printed textbooks as primary curriculum for lots of reasons…

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Holding the Line…Before you judge, keep in mind some of these reasons ARE valid…

• Not every student has access to tablets and mobile phones at home• You don’t need a network or batteries to use a textbook• You can’t hack into a textbook• Lectures are the most cost effective way to deliver education to large numbers of

students• Our school can’t afford to provide students with hardware and software• Designing an Internet-based curriculum would deviate from proven textbook

packages and teaching methods• Our teachers are older and not comfortable with teaching with technology• Our test scores are high- why should we change a winning game?

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And Now the Flip Side…• A survey of student-technology use would likely show most of your students DO in

fact have access to cell phones and tablets as well as home computers• True-but you will confine what your students learn to the boundaries of the

textbook. Is that how people live and work today?• If students are not retaining what they learn-then are lectures REALLY the most

cost-effective way to deliver education?• If schools cannot afford to buy technology, what about grants, using donated

corporate equipment after upgrades, grants or designing BYOD?• An Internet-based curriculum design offers students a more personalized program

of study and a cost-effective solution for schools• You design a program compatible with what your teachers can do-no more-but no

less• Why would that change? As educators, are we not also responsible for providing

students with a curriculum relevant to the world they live in? You make it work.

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What Shall We Do?...I’m not here to advocate one method of technology inclusion over another. That’s up to you and those decisions will ultimately be based on:

• Existing technology infrastructure of the school/district• Available funding for technology upgrades• Technology proficiency of professional staff and comfort-level of staff with learning

new teaching methods based on technology use• Curriculum design that melds traditional instructional methods with research-

based digital learning modes• The organizational realities of the school/district and what it believes to be good

and sound educational practice

So here are some considerations for you to consider in implementing a digital curriculum…

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Things to Consider…Looking at successful commercial brands, one of their primary characteristics is the development of ‘cumulative advantage’ over time…

Exposure to a product, service or situation over time improves the ability of people to perceive and identify that object…

You will find consistency and quality and a familiar experience at any McDonald’s

Most people associate excellent washing and value with Tide detergents. Note how the same design is used consistently in the different kinds of detergents sold. This demonstrates ‘cumulative advantage.’

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What You Can Do…• Look at what you are doing successfully. This is the ‘cumulative advantage,’ the

winning game plan that students and parents know works and what they expect from you

• Look at what you need to do to improve student performance. How will a proposed technology initiative comport with what you are doing successfully-with what your teachers, students and staff are already familiar with?

• Aim for consistency in physical design of the curriculum as well as in pedagogy• Build cumulative advantage with teachers, students, parents and other

stakeholders by marketing innovations as a progression-NOT a break with the past at whatever speed people are comfortable with

• Look for ways to increase comfort and familiarity with the new innovation. If the attempt to innovate is poorly planned, controversial, increases workload, or is too drastic a change the innovation will likely encounter resistance.

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By the Way…I have a Pinterest Board called “Great Ideas That Weren’t’ just chock full of these might-have and never-beens

You can view it all here at https://www.pinterest.com/markvanhecke/great-ideas-that-werent/Thank you.