Questions of Perception
The Lumiere Brothers’ 1895 Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat is considered one of the first silent documentary films. The story attached to this film is that audience members ran from the screen terrified, mistaking the two-dimensional image of an approaching train for reality. Over time, this story has been debated, but it still poses some interesting notions. If the story is true, then it is an interesting commentary on the manipulation of our senses by technology. If it is simply folklore, the lasting prevalence of the tale might be a reflection on how the effects of emerging technologies continue to bewilder.
Episode 1 of Berger’s (1972), Ways of Seeing, focused on similar notions of technology’s effect. Berger’s BBC miniseries began with the exploration of technology’s effect on famous art. He invited the viewer to grapple with how photographic reproductions have changed the meaning of one-of-a-kind works. The ability to reproduce, crop, enlarge, and alter the composition of original images has potentially altered our understanding of them. The sound and juxtaposition of images on television similarly produced shifts in our perception. At the same time, photography and television has allowed people to interact with artwork on a global scale. Either way, the technology that produced these shifts is undeniable and everlasting. Berger (1972) claimed that our ability to see is dependent on our individual habits and conventions, leading us to ask ourselves how our beliefs stem from these perceptions.
What does this have to do with education technology? Questions of perception are tied to how teachers, students, and administrators respond to emerging technologies. In my last two posts, I reflected on the place of education in an age of mobilism (Norris & Soloway, 2011). I began to flesh out my action plan for a BYOD initiative by considering the how and the why of BYOD, as well as the benefits, challenges, and criticisms of it. I am turning my attention this week towards the idea of perception. As I consider the obstacles faced in professional learning environments in the implementation of technology such as BYOD, I am wondering how our perceptions of emerging technology impact our practice. What are our perceptions of students use of technology? Personal devices? How do teacher perceptions, and resulting beliefs, shape their instructional choices?
Why should emergent technologies be integrated into formal education?
Mecklenburger wrote that, “‘Emerging’ is a loaded word, colored with foreboding overtones: things that emerge are life’s unsettling surprises” (1986, p. 183). Just like the train seemed to emerge from the screen in 1895, an emerging technology can bring with it fear in response to forthcoming change. Mecklenburger (1986) argued that education must take advantage of emerging technologies. He indicated that “The perception that schools, churches, and postal service are fixed is illusory” and if we fail to invest in what’s next, we set a static standard for the future (Mecklenburger, 1986, p. 186).
With increasing online access, students are independently communicating and collaborating in personalized and unique ways by blogging, tweeting, gaming collaboratively, seeking answers from others globally in online videos, and learning to code or play the guitar via online connections. This personalized and informal learning forms one end of a learning continuum that moves in the opposite direction towards formal schooling, one that is uniquely fostered by mobile technology. In “Five Components to Consider for BYOT/BYOD” Ackerman and Krup stated that “No longer will education be defined by student/teacher, but rather a collaborative and cooperative effort by all. The classroom school day will no longer be seven to two, but rather 24/7/365” (2012, p. 37). With instantaneous access to information, students no longer need teachers to be information repositories. Instead, students need teachers that can push advanced thinking skills, communication skills, collaboration skills, problem-solving and critical thinking skills (Ackerman & Krup, 2012).
How have my perceptions and instruction shifted?
This understanding, fostered by my involvement with the Digital Education Leadership program led to my BYOD pilot last year, which ultimately shifted both my perceptions and my instruction. I saw what my students were capable of when I gave up full control of their learning choices. I realized in my pursuit to build a more student-centered classroom, that I was never going to be an expert in all technologies that might positively impact them. It was my misperception that valuable use of technology was dependent upon a controlled expertise. What caused this shift? I was exposed to readings and information that challenged my doubts and beliefs. I followed this with experimentation and practice in the classroom. This year I gave students choice in novel selection, project types, and digital tools used. The results were independent students who were driven, engaged, and thoroughly challenged. My students made book trailers with various tools such as iMovie, PowToon, and Animoto on books of their own choice. Together, they worked through troubleshooting challenges as they learned these new tools. My students also participated in a global collaborative project with a school on the east coast. They communicated in Edmodo and Google Docs to research a comparison topic between their regions, presenting their work in a style of their choice and using a digital tool of their choice. Students made collaborative movies, infographics, and Prezis to showcase their comparison of differing school practices, state laws, histories and other topics of their choice. They practiced communicating and collaborating independently. And, most of them utilized BYOD at times to accomplish this. I saw my students engaged in their learning in a way that I had not previously seen. I saw my students practicing skills that I had previously failed to integrate into their learning such as project management and problem-solving. And, with classroom management strategies and digital citizenship skills in place, I saw students use technology responsibly. I also altered my perception that any one digital tool works in any one situation. Combinations of tools often create effective learning, as certain types are better for feedback or interaction (Kop, 2010). While I have built a set of experiences in my pilot of BYOD, I seek to focus my action plan around influencing other educators schoolwide. How can I work to accomplish this?
What are the barriers to BYOD or acceptance of emergent technologies and ideas?
Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Krista, Glazewski, Newby and Ertmer stated that while many barriers exist in the implementation of student-centered teaching and emerging technology, teacher belief is one of the largest (2010). Teachers make judgements about whether new approaches to teaching will meet their objectives and needs (Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., 2010). These judgements or beliefs are based on perception, and perception is one of the biggest barriers I see with technology adoption in my own school. After implementing BYOD last year, I had many lunchroom conversations with colleagues. Many teachers I spoke with perceived that teens were addicted to their phones and likened teens to screen-zombies. Many perceived that most students used their smartphones to engage in unhealthy communication on social media. Many perceived that devices were nothing more than an expensive distraction to learning. Many were not aware that some of our shared students read books on their smartphones, collaborate with peers to play MineCraft, make YouTube videos about their challenges with learning disabilities, and participate in creative writing-themed social media to share their fiction stories with other teens. Their perceptions about of how teens use technology were not true or false. Many teens do use their smartphones in the manner espoused. However, their perceptions impacted their judgement of technology’s place in education. On one hand, the judgement that technology serves only certain purposes is unfortunate. On the other hand, the perception that students are misusing technology is an important one, indicating that students need to be taught digital citizenship skills to use online content responsibly and communicate respectfully. We must recognize that as an educator we should engage in this role. Both perspectives address the need to build student independence in acceptable use.
Not all of my colleagues are going to benefit from the Digital Education Leadership program or even chose to read the resources that have influenced my instructional shifts. As such, how do I find influence in my school? I have learned that building a relationship with and receiving guidance from mentors is key (Kop, 2010). My graduate cohort and the collegial relationships I have built within my school have drastically impacted my instructional shifts. Mentorships and collegial relationships not only offer guidance, but give credence to teacher’s individual needs and values. Unfortunately, teacher’s values are often not considered when decisions are made about educational technology implementation; as a result, often professional development doesn’t result in the effective adoption of educational technologies (Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., 2010). And, mentorship, professional development and guidance is most impactful when an educator is trusted and given freedom to make choices in the classroom (Kop, 2010). Mentorships also allow for inquiry practices. The ongoing practice of questioning, seeking feedback, and sharing reflections can empower educators to participate actively in their instructional choices as they fit their individual classroom needs.
How do we create sustainable practices for technology implementation such as a BYOD program?
In addition to creating relationships with colleagues and finding peers to mentor and coach, building communities for professional learning and sharing is impactful. Established communities provide ongoing, sustainable support for teachers looking to expand their practices. Recently, I explored how the unconference model, like that seen in Edcamps, could be implemented at my school on a monthly basis. My vision was for these sessions is to offer the collaboration, feedback and support on a larger scale. Topics and participation would be fostered by interest and need, not directives or already-held expertise in an effort to foster teacher who can learn from one another and bring their individual interested and and needs to the table in order to be empowered.
Resources
Ackerman, A. S., & Krupp, M. L. (2012). Five Components to Consider for BYOT/BYOD. International Association for Development of the Information Society.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing – Episode 1. Ways of Seeing: A BBC Miniseries.
Kop, R. (2010). Using social media to create a place that supports communication. Emerging technologies in distance education. In G. Veletsianos (Series Ed.) Emerging Technologies in Distance Education series. 383-397.
Lumiere, A. & Lumiere L. (Creators) raphaeldpm (Poster) (2006, May 27). Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumière Brothers, 1895) [Video] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFdd
Mecklenburger, J. A. (1986). “Emerging” technologies for education. Peabody Journal of Education, 64(1), 183-187.
Norris, C. A., & Soloway, E. (2011). Learning and Schooling in the Age of Mobilism. Educational Technology,51(6),3.
Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Glazewski, K. D., Newby, T. J., & Ertmer, P. A. (2010). Teacher value beliefs associated with using technology: Addressing professional and student needs. Computers & Education, 55(3), 1321-1335.
Wow, Annie! That was a heck of a blog post. If you wanted to take the first half (before you go personal implementation plan) and flesh it out, you have the skeleton for a fantastic essay about the importance of fully understanding emergent technologies beyond the technology. I’ll be honest — I saw connection between Berger and this week’s readings as historical, but I had not considered the emergent aspect like you did. The Lumiere intro is a great addition. Seriously, this is the sort of thing EdSurge, Hybrid Pedagogy (oh yeah, Hybrid Pedagogy would just LOVE this) or even The Chronicle of Higher Education could publish.
I also want to note how much you talk about technology from the space of theory and practice and not from the place of brand or purpose. Bravo. People like to say tech is a tool, but I worry such language makes tech something we can think about in a plug-and-play or quick-fix setting rather than as fully integrated into what we consider formal learning. From how you write, the integration is evident.
So, then, how do you get admin and faculty to buy-in? You are on the right track, and I will say this — publishing an essay in Hybrid Pedagogy, EdSurge or one of the other trades can buy you a whole lot of cultural capital!
I appreciate that you are thinking beyond the initial thoughts (PD, support, etc). Those are important to wrestle with, but they are not novel — we’ve been trying those things for years, and more or more focus or more support is not a novel idea. The “unconference” idea, however, is something I have not seen applied to K-12 PD. That’s a great idea. Study up on the history of the unconference (look into the work of a gentleman named Bryan Alexander; you’ll know you have the right Bryan Alexander when you see the guy who has a big beard) and see why it became something professionals did at conferences. How has it worked, how has it evolved, how has it wrestled with the changes, and where are evident spaces (the *keep* spaces) in your K-12 environment you could put it. Then, what do you need to massage to help it make progress in K-12 (the *modify* spaces). Then, what do you need to invent on campus to help it foster?
You were one of the catalysts on a pretty intense conversation at #ed1to1 where Sean Michael Morris and I (who are friends, by the way) had a pretty impassioned exchange around the idea of failure in school, the idea of student-centered versus teacher-centered language, and the idea of scaffolding. Learning is personal, and some elements that we see in learning (such as struggle or failure) are even more personal. I say this because you note the conjectures and assumptions your faculty make about tech. Those reactions are often personal. PD as just PD cannot change that; at the best you get cursory nods about your gizmos and then people talk about it behind your back when it fails. What can you do to help facilitate some of those transformations for people to where they can see beyond the personal NO TECH or TECH BAD?
This is fantastic, Annie! Such a wonderful synthesis of your learning and thinking. I really love this line: “The results [when I gave up full control of my students’ learning choices] were independent students who were driven, engaged, and thoroughly challenged.” I think sharing this will help to move the exciting work you’re doing into more classrooms at your school. Because your thinking is well-grounded in research AND field tested in your own classroom, you have great credibility.
I like that you’re now pushing on yourself to think of how you can influence your system without a defined role of responsibility or ownership of this kind of movement (like an administrator has). Your ideas around unconferences are just the kind of work that can spread this work organically while you consider supports that can help sustain this. You’ll definitely have to keep working on building those relationship and keeping offering your suggestions. The power of your experience and knowledge will influence those around you to grow as well. What kind of clear learning progressions do you see emerging as you work with others? How can you prove your theory of action and offer entry points so anyone could join your movement? What supports can you offer to help your colleagues and system to continue growing?
I’m looking forward to hearing about your plan next week for not only your classroom, but for the ways you can scale and sustain the work more broadly.
Annie: Your statement, “Unfortunately, teacher’s values are often not considered when decisions are made about educational technology implementation; as a result, often professional development doesn’t result in the effective adoption of educational technologies (Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., 2010)” is key. Your recognition of this as a teacher is very important and it is fascinating to me that school districts don’t take notice. often technology is integrated and teachers have no training and don’t see why the said technology should be used for learning. I wonder how school districts could make a shift to incorporate teacher feedback into the process. Or even create a culture where it is teacher led. As someone who doesn’t teach students in the formal sense, it gives me pause to think about how I help educators integrate technology.
Fantastic. I learn and understand so much from reading your posts, Annie. Before getting to the later sections of your post, I had thought about some of the challenges you had with colleagues last year who questioned your implementation of BYOD. I was pleasantly startled by the powerful statement you made: “Just like the train seemed to emerge from the screen in 1895, an emerging technology can bring with it fear in response to forthcoming change.” As I continued reading, I was glad to see that you addressed these very issues and your plans to address them in the coming year. Aside from the unconference PD you are thinking of putting into place, have you considered organizing COPs (Communities of Practice)? I think I remember you addressing COP in an earlier semester, but I think this could be a great way to further your role as coach. You could provide faculty with a small group to ask questions, take risks, receive support and accountability, while seeing others put into place some of the practices you’re already using. You support your colleagues without taking on the responsibility of mentoring each and every person. Regardless of the exact format of your support, they’ll be lucky to have you!
I enjoyed your blog on perception and emerging technologies! Your student evidence shows that by providing students with choices, it creates a different learning environment. I would think that since you were successful in piloting BYOD, it would help other educators take that first step towards at least considering BYOD in their classroom. Your idea of creating an “unconference” seem a logical place to begin conversations about BYOD.
One statement clearly resonated with me, “Unfortunately, teacher’s values are often not considered when decisions are made about educational technology implementation; as a result, often professional development doesn’t result in the effective adoption of educational technologies (Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al., 2010). “ I have experienced this at several districts and noticed that other educators can become defiant when they are “forced” to implement the new technology. Some educators still believe that we need to be knowledgeable in all areas, but that thinking needs to change. Usually, they are not comfortable with the change and therefore refuse to give in. (But then, who does like change?)
You have clearly thought out how to empower teachers through meeting their own needs and creating unconference times. Great job, Annie!