Survey Anxiety!

Flickr CC photo courtesy of Beinecke Library

I have been working this summer on a survey for our staff on their technology usage.  The intent of this project is entirely for planning purposes.  I have put a lot of thought into this and solicited feedback from various experts in our community.  The process has created some challenges for me that I have decided to air in this blog post.  Perhaps you will have insights or suggestions.

Change

This is a very exciting time to be in educational technology.  The rapid development of mobile technologies, touch technology, and cloud services call for new ed tech support and solutions.  But change is anxiety producing.  So simply by raising the subject, we may surface objections.  Furthermore, since Mercy is an early adopter of 1:1 computing, there are not too many road maps for us to follow.  The big companies like Apple, HP, Microsoft are introducing less expensive computing solutions for schools who are not yet 1:1.  Consequently, the concern that we might accidentally downgrade what we have worked so hard to build is a legitimate concern.

Transparency 

I wish to promote transparency and collaboration for major decisions that affect many stakeholders.  In this case, however, should all the results be shared?  I don't want to manipulate the results, but not being experienced in survey authoring, I'm a little concerned about dud questions producing results that may muddy the water.  Nevertheless, I'm strongly inclined to share the results within the community.  So here's a greater concern:  Some responses may be easy to identify individually.  Teachers of a particular course, one person "departments", etc. may be easy to spot even if names are withheld.  Will this affect candor?

Ulterior Motives

For me the biggest issue is dispelling concern that the survey is actually a way to "check up" on people.  We absolutely need to know who is filling out the surveys so that we get a clear idea of how critical certain softwares and functions may be.  If we decide on changes we want to be sensitive to current users, so as not to simply jerk the rug out from under them.  I'm hoping that transparency will help to alleviate this.  But I am a little concerned that folks will overstate usage "just in case."

Leading Questions

Obviously, not everything is up for grabs as we develop our "tech plan".  Consequently, we are focusing more attention on specific areas and have discussed some options that we want to "air out."  I've discovered that it is challenging to develop a set of questions that are not "leading," particularly since I of course do have my own opinions.  Nevertheless, I don't want to foreclose feedback.  This is a tough one

Open-Endedness
From a practical point of view, I have found it challenging to find the right blend of fixed choice questions and open-ended prompts.  Obviously, open-ended questions allow for more nuance and intensity of expression.  They also may have the desired effect of making respondents' feel more engaged in the process.  On the other hand, they are unwieldy and may make it harder to discover patterns.


I don't plan on sharing the results of the survey at the Drive-thru, but will surely blog on the process.  It's already been quite a learning experience.

A School Strives for Transparency with a "See Through Cycle"

This piece was originally published in September, 2010.  I had only recently begun regular professional development sessions with our staff and was mulling over a variety of themes.  One such theme was "transparency".  Like many schools, I suppose, the teaching at ours is pretty insular.  I was intent on moving us to greater collaboration, but knew I was running into a culture that would not do this naturally.  The idea for a "See-through Cycle" popped into my head and produced a very popular experiment.  While I can't say that our culture has shifted dramatically, I really do think that we all are becoming more receptive to collaboration.

At MHS, we don't have school weeks, we have "cycles" -- six days per cycle. I meet with Professional Cluster Groups (PCGs) once per cycle.  As I mentioned in Collaborating in the Cloud, every staff member is scheduled into one of these groups. Consequently, when I launch an endeavor as I did this past cycle, I can truly say that it has the potential to go school-wide.

This cycle's theme was "Creating Transparency." We discussed the benefits of cracking open our lesson plans and work spaces for others to see. The object? Sharing, learning, collaborating.

* In order to promote culture change of this type, I laid out the following scheme:

* Our fourth school cycle (Sept. 27 - October 4) would be designated the See-through Cycle.

* Anyone interested in maintaining an open door policy for that period signs up on our staff wiki.

* In the spirit of the cycle, no conditional sign ups-- Just hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign for moments that do not lend themselves to guests.

* Those who did not sign-up could still visit others.

* Visits might be of any duration. They would not be prearranged.

* We will evaluate and discuss the experience the fifth cycle

Several individuals signed up immediately including the principal. I am anxious to see what happens. Whether it is popular or totally bombs, the resulting discussion will be interesting. IN either event, I will share the experience with my faithful readers. Here are the slides from this cycle's cluster groups:

"Creating Transparency" Slide Show PCG #2

P.S. You will note that much of the presentation was devoted to Evernote as well as Google Docs' interface with Moodle.

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Flickr Creative Commons Photo on "Creating Transparency" slide by litopomuschiatio

Reflections on the "See-through Cycle"

Professional Cluster Group #5 focused on reflections. I took the opportunity to focus on my experience at the "Challenge Based Learning Group Think", sharing what I had gleaned about the "future of the book" and the student as "free agent."

Participants filled out the "Big Idea" Survey that I blogged about which I recently blogged.  This shall serve as grist for our next session on "Deep Learning."

Finally, in small groups we discussed our experience with the "See-through Cycle  which surpassed my greatest expectations in terms of participation.  The reports on the experience were universally positive, but the big question concerned how to take transparency to the next level.

I'm really looking forward to ratcheting up the discussions with some exercises I have planned for "deep learning."  Stay tuned!

Reflections Slides PCG#5

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"See-through Cycle" title slide photo insert thanks to the kindness of Jud Turner.

A School Strives for Transparency with a "See Through Cycle"

At MHS, we don't have school weeks, we have "cycles" -- six days per cycle. I meet with Professional Cluster Groups (PCGs) once per cycle. As I mentioned in Collaborating in the Cloud, every staff member is scheduled into one of these groups. Consequently, when I launch an endeavor as I did this past cycle, I can truly say that it has the potential to go school-wide.

This cycle's theme was "Creating Transparency." We discussed the benefits of cracking open our lesson plans and work spaces for others to see. The object? Sharing, learning, collaborating.

* In order to promote culture change of this type, I laid out the following scheme:

* Our fourth school cycle (Sept. 27 - October 4) would be designated the See-through Cycle.

* Anyone interested in maintaining an open door policy for that period signs up on our staff wiki.

* In the spirit of the cycle, no conditional sign ups-- Just hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign for moments that do not lend themselves to guests.

* Those who did not sign-up could still visit others.

* Visits might be of any duration. They would not be prearranged.

* We will evaluate and discuss the experience the fifth cycle

Several individuals signed up immediately including the principal. I am anxious to see what happens. Whether it is popular or totally bombs, the resulting discussion will be interesting. IN either event, I will share the experience with my faithful readers. Here are the slides from this cycle's cluster groups:

"Creating Transparency" Slide Show PCG #2

P.S. You will note that much of the presentation was devoted to Evernote as well as Google Docs' interface with Moodle.

-----------------------------------

Flickr Creative Commons Photo on "Creating Transparency" slide by litopomuschiatio

Leaving the Comfort Zone

Oh, yes, I am something of a control freak by trade and have been proud of it. As an athletic coach, I meticulously scheduled each minute of practice time. In the classroom, I can't say every minute of thirty-five years worth of instruction has been planned, but each day there was a plan; and I have never been one to spend the first ten minutes of class shooting the breeze about Dancing with the Stars or giving my class the last ten minutes to "study."

Last week, I let go of the wheel. Boy, did I let go. I launched my AP Gov's (seniors) challenge based learning project and a modified cbl in my sophomore government classes. Strangely, once again I felt like a coach, but a coach during a game, not practice. No clipboard or script for the action; just a game plan, a pep talk, and advice on the fly. It was exciting but a little nerve-wracking. I felt most confident when I explained to the students why we were taking a student-oriented project that emphasized new technologies. I also loved making suggestions and asking guiding questions. But I have to admit that I felt disoriented and anxious. I battled a nagging sense that the groups were "wasting time".

I detected genuine excitement among many of the seniors. On the other hand, some of the sophs were dialing me out, per usual. Of course, it's way to early to reach any conclusions.

As I jokingly told my AP class when I was laying the whole trip out: "Even if we go down in flames, you guys will give me lots to blog about."

Ain't that the truth. Stay tuned.
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"Comfort Zone 1" Flickr Creative Commons Photo by idrehn

No Hidden Agendas

80% of my teaching assignment this year will entail American Government. One of the principles that I often emphasize is how essential transparency is to a democracy. It's the reason for the free speech and a free press. It's the reason the Supreme Court has offered special protection to political speech. Elections mean nothing without an informed electorate.

I don't get on my soap box often in class, but one position I do advocate is remedying the problem of lobbying by "special interests" by bringing full transparency to the process. Besides documenting campaign donations, the amount of time our representatives meet with registered lobbyists should be a matter of public record as well. If Senator Snort has been is having his ear bent by this group or that, I'd like to know before I cast my vote.

Now, here comes the segue: I advocate transparency in the classroom, as well.

Students
Besides offering them complete syllabi and instructions, I try to explain to them why we spend time with our resources and activities. But I do not only talk to them about their goals. I come clean with mine as well. Today. I will tell them why we are engaging in Challenge Based Learning and what I hope they gain. from it. I will also let them know that I will be evaluate the process and share the results with other teachers. their education makes them the major stakeholders, but I'm deeply invested, too.

Parents
As I hope my online course descriptions show, I try to be up front with the parents as well. I tell them about myself and the course, but I share assignments and methods. As, I recenlty mentioned in my Parent Night post, I wish to give every impression that I am passionate about teaching, and that there is method to the madness of my innovations. Hopefully, this will encourage them to buy-in.

Colleagues
I've dropped the password protection on my Moodle courses and licensed any materials I've authored in the Creative Commons. This means colleagues can visit my resources and borrow freely with attribution.

Now that I have begun to give professional development presentations, I always try to share my motivations, both altruistic and selfish. For example, I have been telling audiences that I want to continue giving presentations. Of course the only way this is likely to happen is if I give good ones! In school, I've openly stated that I would like comp time to develop curriculum and help groups of teachers problem solve with technology. I don't see any harm to laying out such an agenda.

In both democracy and education I have little patience with hidden agendas.
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"Green Opaque Flaws" Flickr Creative Commons photo by Fubar843

Ed Tech Leadership & Transparency

I've been holding onto a couple of quotes for several weeks, but they keep coming back to me, because they help to explain why Web 2.0 has changed education far less than other areas of society.

The first quote is from Will Richardson:

Schools . . . have a responsibility to help kids lead transparent lives online in ways that prepare them for the highly complex relationships they will be having in these virtual spaces as adults. But to do that, schools have to get more transparent themselves.

The second quote comes from fellow ADE '09, Scott Elias:

Of the 52 ADEs that were selected this year, there are teachers, school technology coordinators, college professors, and district-level tech folks. But as far as I can tell, I’m the only school administrator. What’s up with that?

We’ve got amazing teachers doing great things in the classroom and we’ve got district people with good intentions. . . .

Building administrators are the vital link in this chain. How can we get more of them thinking about change? How can we expect our teachers to think ahead if so few administrators do?

It is one thing to read about ed tech, cheerlead and cajole. But how many school leaders are willing to change their own habits and and model their new habits for their staffs? Do administrators use Web tools to communicate? Do they network with other educators through Nings? Do they blog? Do they Tweet? If they don't, then regardless of their best intentions, how can they truly lead their staffs to do these same things?

Changing the culture of a school is necessary to truly take advantage of the read and write Web. It's easier to buy the equipment and furniture than it is to change the culture of a school. But teachers pumping PowerPoint through data projectors and students taking notes on laptops is not change. Such change will only occur if the adults, and particularly those at the top, exemplify a zest for learning about and engaging with the new powerful tools which are radically changing the ways people learn and communicate.

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"transparency" Flickr Creative Commons photo by sleepingbear