Round 1

Reflection

If there is one constant over the years that I have found most valuable for growth and improvement is reflection. Without taking the time to give serious thought to our daily decisions and practice, improving them will be difficult and the same results will be achieved.

Over the years I have been asked to answer questions around technology for peers working on their higher education degrees. The questions are usually similar enough that It is enjoyable to look back and see how my answers have changed and also create a blog post out of it, cause why not. I am going to split this one up as it was quite lengthy, enjoy!

Leadership and Vision

The biggest hurdle to developing a shared vision for technology use in today’s K-12 landscape is the divide between the Teaching and Learning and Information Technology departments. Historically the goals of these two areas have not been communicated to one another and the communication breakdown will lead to a lack of understanding of what is important for planning a meaningful and effective path for technology integration and a safe online learning environment for users. 
In Gilbert Public Schools we have an organizational chart that

allows for all-district departments to be represented at the Cabinet-level

including the Teaching and Learning and Information Technology

departments. Having the Executive Directors and Assistant Superintendents at the table allows for each area to be represented, communicate their needs and understand the importance of the IT side to ensure a safe network, protect student and staff data, and provide support to meet strategic plan goals.

Gilbert Public Schools has created a strategic operating plan that has technology embedded to achieve the ultimate goal of, success for all students. Each area of focus, safe and supportive schools, family and community engagement, employee excellence, and financial and operational efficiency all have goals and action items in place that are measured to monitor progress and allow for modification when needed.

Technology is embedded in each of these areas but is only a small piece of supporting our student’s success. Ultimately, it is the relationship between teachers and students and the support provided by leadership that will allow us to measure the true success of the plan.  

Team Building and Staffing The same philosophy that applies at the district level for cross-functional departments is necessary within an Informational Technology team structure. The rapid rate of change that takes place with technology is difficult to communicate at times and does lead to issues with bringing awareness to end-users. In the GPS Technology Services department, there are 5 internal teams to include: IT Customer Care Specialists, Information Systems, Network and Telecommunications, Systems Administration, and Instructional Technology. Each leader of these areas plus a Project Specialist make up the Technology services leadership team. The Executive Director of Technology meets weekly in a formal meeting with the team and daily on an informal basis. This team is responsible for working closely with one another to ensure Technology Services is working collaboratively to support GPS. One example of this would be the leadership team working with one another to coordinate occasional cross-functional team meetings. They create an agenda around issues happening with end-users, ways to address them and share other problems or successes happening in the field. 

GPS Technology Services has also established a userXperience team that meets regularly to discuss and make decisions on existing and future implementations, device functions and features, updates, and other variables as it relates to the end-users in GPS. This group has representation from all Technology Services departments and is important to our end user’s success with implementations and integrations that impact the daily function of staff and students. We have been able to make changes and roll back changes based on the feedback they bring to the table representing each area of the department. 

      Instructional Focus and Professional Development

Bringing awareness to all staff members around emerging technologies and potential issues to protect the network and data is on-going. I agree with the philosophy of leading from the middle and that everyone is a leader regardless of their position. We encourage all Technology Services staff to share ideas, emerging technologies they see and support to everyone around them. Our Instructional Technology team works closely with site Principals to present at staff meetings, meet one on one with teachers, attend grade-level meetings, share a weekly newsletter and any other form of communication that leads to awareness. 

Another example from the department level is our yearly awareness campaign around Computer Science Week. For the last three years, the Technology Services department has provided support around CS by providing professional development activities, meet-ups, video campaigns, and support for our teachers to bring CS into their classrooms. 

There is not a one size fits all approach with learning and the same applies to the technology that can support the educational outcomes our teachers want for our students. 

Round 2

Thanks for taking the time to read a bit on what started as assisting a friend with their doctorate assignment to gaining a little glimpse of how we do things in Technology Services. There is not any secret sauce being served up here, just a good group of individuals working together for students. See you soon for Round 2. 

Computer Science For AZ?

It's Been Awhile
I have to say that this has been the longest absence of blog posts that I have had since I began blogging in 2010. I am currently in my second year at Gilbert Public Schools and my last post was the same month I began my new position, so I have been a bit busy making the transition. However, no more excuses, it is time to get back to sharing, collaborating, and growing on the Interweb.

CS for All
If you have been following Computer Science (CS) for the last couple of years, you are most likely familiar with the various CS initiatives at the federal and state levels. President Obama brought attention on the federal level when he addressed the need for better CS education in his 2016 State of Union Address and followed with his initiative calling for $4 billion in funding and $100 million to districts for teacher training, materials and partnerships. We all know now that $4 billion was not committed too, however, the attention brought to the topic and movement from smaller initiatives have continued to gain momentum and CS initiatives are growing across the country. The current administration under President Trump, in September 2017, issued a memorandum directing the Department of Education to spend $200 million in grants to supporting STEM programs, including CS. Ivanka Trump, who is an adviser to the President, has also been active in supporting STEM education and more specifically for girls. In September, Ivanka, Hadi Partovi (Code.org), and Brad Smith (Microsoft President), visited an elementary school in Virginia to discuss women in STEM fields, Hour of Code, and support for CS in schools with students. This type of awareness and support will need to continue from multiple levels to move CS for all and STEM related education in the right direction.

Why CS
I often hear the question, why is CS important for our students, not all students are going to become coders. True, not all students will be interested in coding, but CS is more than coding and the computational thinking process applies to more than CS. Computational thinking is about the process of solving a problem and potentially using technology for the outcome. The process involves collecting and processing data, looking for patterns, creating the steps to solve the problem and testing the solution for accuracy and efficiency. These are skills that all students can use in a variety of disciplines.

If we take a look at the data around open computer science jobs in the United States, from an economic and innovative perspective, we are in danger of falling behind the curve. According to the Conference Board's Help Wanted Online service, there are around 500,000 CS openings across multiple industries and states. With CS career opportunities being the second highest paid starting salaries according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, where is the disconnect?

The State of CS
Code.org is a non-profit organization that has been a leader in the vision that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. The Hour of Code was launched by Code.org in 2013 and today millions of students in over 180 countries participate in the event during Computer Science Education Week yearly. Code.org also tracks CS policy and implementation across the United States which provides valuable information in a central location for stakeholder access. A deeper dive into the statistics reveals that only 10 states have currently adopted CS standards and in 34 states CS can count towards high school graduation math or science requirements. If we take a look at the current job openings and percentage of graduates in STEM fields with computer science, we will have a lack of workforce to meet the demand and this affects innovation in our country.

CS for AZ
Arizona is seeing momentum towards CS for all in the K-12 school setting and for good reason. There are currently 9,677 open computing jobs in AZ and with only 546 computer science graduates in 2015, the numbers speak for themselves. Of all AZ schools in 2015-16, only 10% offered AP computer science courses and this amounted to the least number of AP tests taken in any other STEM subject area. Of the 438 AP tests that were taken by students, only 23% were female and 68 were underrepresented minorities. Not only are these two demographics underrepresented, but we are missing their perspective, which is something we need to change.

CS for AZ, a non-profit organization, is working with a large group of stakeholders to bring CS to all students in AZ. The organization has brought together a diverse group of educators, AZ government, business leaders, college-level educators and students, working together to provide information and support for CS standards in the state. The positive movement towards their goal can be seen, the Arizona Department of Education has recently opened the call to collect public feedback that will help guide the development of K-12 Computer Science Standards. The working groups that will be formed to develop these standards will represent K-12 educators, higher education, parents, and industry representatives in a collaborative process to ensure the standards represent a diverse population.

Skills
If we want to provide a relevant education for our students we should be supporting them with the skills and exposure necessary to be able to leave the K-12 setting prepared to pursue whatever path they choose. Computer Science skills are not limited to coding but can be used to reinforce such areas as problem-solving, data collection, testing, and analysis, in engaging ways that can apply to a variety of disciplines. Working together we can provide the opportunities for our students to have the skills to solve today's problems and tomorrow's challenges, in whatever capacity they choose.