Recit meeting (BCT Project)_090916

Update on the Building Community through Telecollaboration Project Recit Animators September 16, 2009 Alain Breuleux, Gyeong Mi Heo Karen Rye and A. E. Ted Wall

Cefrio Report on ICT-Supported Learning As part of a Cefrio study, several years ago, over 100 teachers and leaders in nine of Quebec’s English-speaking school boards were interviewed on the factors that influenced the use of ICT – supported learning Four factors emerged as being important: Belief, Expertise, Support and Time

B EST: Belief Teachers were willing to learn and use new teaching-learning strategies if they believed they would benefit the learning of their students They were interested in the evidence that demonstrated the value of using ICT-supported learning They wanted to understand why they should include ICT-supported learning in their practice

B E ST: Expertise Teachers recognized that they had to acquire new knowledge and skills related to the use of ICT in their teaching They were concerned with how they should go about acquiring such additional professional expertise

BE S T: Support They recognized they needed financial and technical support in acquiring and maintaining the required equipment Teachers also called for ongoing professional development support Moreover, they wanted that support to be as close to their classroom as possible

BES T :Time Teachers recognized that learning such new knowledge and skills required considerable time and practice Given the day-to-day demands of teaching, they were concerned about how they would find the time to learn and practice using such skills

BEST: Belief, Expertise, Support & Time!! Teachers emphasized that all four factors are important They recognized that they need the help of educational leaders as well as their colleagues to obtain the “support” and “time” they need to acquire the required expertise

The Learn-Cefrio BCT Initiative Stemming from the above findings, for the past two years, with the support of MELS, the BCT Project Team has been working with teachers and educational leaders in Quebec school boards The purpose of the BCT Project is “ to encourage, facilitate and support collaboration among students, teachers and educational leaders to enhance learning across the community”

The Learn-Cefrio BCT Initiative: Major Goals The major goals of the BCT Project are to: build an online community of practice to support collaboration across Quebec facilitate the just-in-time use of ICT tools and eventually include students in collaborative projects understand the challenges and constraints teachers face in facilitating the use of ICT-supported learning encourage professional conversations amongst teachers and educational leaders within the BCT community of practice

Building Community through Telecollaboration Project This year over 50 teachers are involved from all nine Quebec school boards They receive release time to meet on: September 29, 2009 November 19, 2009 February 17, 2010 May 10, 2010

The BCT Leadership Team Cycle One Leaders: Donna Anderson and Dorothy Taker Cycle Two Leader: Mary-Helen Goyetche Cycle Three Leader: Karen Rye Consultants: Drs. Alain Breuleux, Gyeong Mi Heo and Ted Wall

Communicating to Build BCT Collaboration Learn-supported Sakai site is a space for: Building a community of practice for teachers (i.e., shared vision and shared repertoire) Sharing experiences, thoughts, knowledge, and resources More sustainable communication and collaboration among teachers

LiveClassroom Sessions D uring the Fall term, two Live Classroom sessions will be pre-scheduled at times when teachers have release time to participate in them D uring the Winter/Spring term three Live Classroom sessions will be pre-scheduled to facilitate participation

So what have we learned in the BCT Project? Let us consider some of the lessons we have learned over the last two years by considering the four major factors that affect the learning and use of ICT-supported learning and collaboration: Belief, Expertise, Support and Time

Lessons Learned Related to Belief Many discussions have taken place related to the development of the above shared vision of the Learn-Cefrio BCT Project The following feedback from the participants indicates the degree to which they agree with some of the key purposes and benefits of the initiative

BELIEF: Questionnaire Results on Student Learning and Teacher Involvement Survey conducted on February 9, 2009 Based on your experiences, using the following scale, indicate to what extent you agree with the following statements related to the benefits of involvement in the BCT Project: 1= Strongly Disagree 2=Disagree 3= Not sure 4= Agree 5= Strongly Agree

Note: Year 1 & 2 refers to years in the BCT Project Teacher Responses about Student Learning Year1 Year2 The students enjoy sharing their work with “authentic audiences” such as other students, parents and friends 4.4 4.5 The students enjoy learning about and with information technology 4.7 4.8 The students are taking increased ownership for their own learning 3.9 4.3 The students are learning how to collaborate more effectively with others 3.8 4 .0 The students understand the importance of digital etiquette and are trying to use ICT more appropriately 3.7 3.9

Teacher Responses about Teacher Learning Year1 Year2 Through my involvement, I have developed new strategies for collaborating with colleagues 3.9 4 .0 By collaborating with others I have been able to develop some valuable student collaborative learning projects 3.3 4.1 By sharing ideas with other teachers, I have increased my understanding of the QEP 3.1 3.9

Lessons Learned Related to Expertise As the above results show, the teachers recognized the importance of teacher learning and especially underscored the value of support from their colleagues Like the participants in the Cefrio study, they recognized they had to learn more about: T echnology, P edagogy, and C ollaboration

Stages of Learning Professional Skills The four A’s to Mastery: Awareness of the need to develop new skills Attempting to learn new skills Acquiring new skills through deliberate practice Adapting our skills by using them in increasingly more difficult environments Mastering our skills so they become relatively automatic

Performance Stages in Professional Learning Awareness Attempting Acquiring Adapting Phases: Mastery High

AWARENESS: The Initial Stage of Learning Personal reflection, collegial conversations and involvement in professional development can increase awareness of the value of learning new skills Participation in the BCT project has helped teachers become aware of ways they can increase their repertoire of teaching-learning strategies

ATTEMPTING : The Planning Stage in Learning Attempting to learn new skills and practices An important early step in learning is thinking about how one can best learn a skill Does one have to consult or model others, read books, or just practice on one’s own? The BCT Project team and teachers in the BCT network have helped in the planning of learning process

ACQUIRING : Stages of Learning Professional Skills Acquiring a skill through deliberate practice Using a set of key cues that remind us how to initially perform the skill ( posted on the website) Practicing the skill in a supportive environment that helps build competence and confidence The BCT Project Team provided instruction and support along with the help of BCT network teachers and Recit animators

ADAPTING : Stages of Learning Professional Skills Adapting our skills by performing them in increasingly more difficult environments Using our new skills in “deliciously uncertain” environments (just hard enough to provide a challenge but not so hard as to ensure failure) As competence and confidence increase, trying our skills in more challenging situations The BCT Network provided opportunities to try new practices at a variety of levels of difficulty

MASTERING : Stages of Learning Professional Skills Mastering our skills so they become relatively automatic so that we don’t have to think about how to use them The path to mastery varies in length but the four stages of learning are usually involved Performance dips should be expected BCT participants encouraged and supported people to acquire new skills at their own pace

Lessons Learned Related to Support Based on feedback from teachers, we have found that the following are important components of support: Support of the principal and other administrators in providing the resources, time and technical support Support from members of the BCT Project Team both face-to-face and online

Lessons Learned Related to Support Support from the local Recit and ICT staff for both technical and pedagogical support Support from colleagues on pedagogical, technical and collaborative aspects Support from teacher leaders who facilitate the development of projects and opportunities for teachers to learn and work together Support from the school board in providing matching resources for the initiative

Lessons Learned Related to Time Again, feedback from our colleagues shows that some of the most important concerns and needs center around the whole question of time Some of the time challenges people face are: Time to meet and share together Time to learn how to use the technology and adapt it with their pedagogy Time to collaborate with in-school and online colleagues

Lessons Learned Related to Time There are wide differences in the demands placed on teachers due to the needs of the students in their classes. Hence, there are significant differences in the time that teachers can allot to their work in the project Be aware of the danger of overloading teachers within the project, their major focus must be on the learning and development of the students in their classes

Lessons Learned Related to Time Recognize that teachers are very busy at certain times during the school year so getting the time to share their knowledge and contribute to the network can be a significant challenge. Hence, there needs to be a flexible time window for making such contributions Emphasize that involvement in the project should blend work and learning

Group Discussion Please take a few minutes to discuss the above update Do the findings reported ring true? What other important factors should we consider? What suggestions/recommendations would you like to make?

Post-Its Input As individuals, on separate post-its, please post answers to these questions: 1. How can the BCT project be useful to achieving your goals as RECIT animators? 2. How can you as a Recit animator help the BCT project? As a group, review the post-its and categorize them and be ready to report on the suggestions made by your group

Update on the Building Community through Telecollaboration Project Thank you for your time participation, and support!

Recit meeting (BCT Project)_090916

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Recit meeting (BCT Project)_090916