About this Project
In collaboration with multiple education organizations and with state leaders, SETDA developed professional learning resources for states to build state-level capacity as they transition to digital learning. The project includes a set of professional learning resources, known as facilitator guides, for states and districts to use to host statewide and/or regional convenings to provide customized support and training. This project also includes a set of stakeholder communication toolkits designed to help stakeholders disseminate information about teaching and learning in the digital age.
Facilitator Guides
The Facilitator Guides provide education leaders with the information and resources they need to conduct a professional learning session for state, district or school leaders. Leaders across the field collaborated to develop these guides, which include a crowd-sourced curation of resources. The documents are intended to inspire conversation, evaluation and reflection around the current state of your educational ecosystem as well as support planning and implementation in the digital age. Each guide can act as a starting point and additional sessions on the topic can be scheduled throughout the year.
Stakeholder Communication Toolkits
The stakeholder communication toolkits describe the role of the stakeholder as a key influencer for learning in the digital age to help ensure that students are college and career ready. In addition to background information about learning in the digital age, the toolkits highlight topics most relevant to the specific stakeholders. Stakeholder member organizations may want to share this toolkit with members to explain the importance of moving towards digital learning while addressing some of the areas of concern most relevant to the stakeholders as districts and schools transition to learning in the digital age. Toolkits includes a communications packet with sample documents that are customizable. Partners can add logos, examples or other resources to help engage stakeholders and support this topic.
Choosing the correct device is critical to the success of a digital learning environment. As with any planning process, it is crucial to understand the baseline implementation to effectively prepare for the future, and this is especially true when planning for digital devices. During the planning process, districts typically look at the demographics, achievement and technology skills of the students and teachers, the teachers’ professional learning history and their general comfort with using technology to meet individual needs. Clearly defined district needs from the planning process can help to identify the best devices to access the content and applications required to meet program goals. A district may be focusing on a variety of needs ranging from increasing student achievement to decreasing discipline issues to shifting learning to a project-based approach and each of these areas may impact device-purchasing decisions.
Schools and districts vary in their approach to deployment of devices depending on budget considerations and needs assessments. Identifying the most appropriate new devices can be challenging, but it is a critical element of the planning process. There are multiple options available including tablets, laptops, cloud based devices, eReaders and smartphones. Because technology is continually evolving, it is important for leaders to keep abreast of the field. Key considerations leaders should consider include:
Assessing the professional learning needs for teachers and students for implementation of digital learning instruction.
Analyzing the impact of the various device options and the number of planned devices on the networks, broadband and Wi-Fi systems.
Comparing the direct device costs and costs for digital applications and resources, as well as the cost for tech support plan options.
BYOD Considerations
Some schools allow students to bring personal technology devices to school for educational purposes under the direction of teachers and administrators. These Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) programs provide district-owned devices to students who do not have access to a personal device. While BYOD can ease budget pressures by relying to some degree on not having to purchase devices for every student, each school will still need to plan to purchase devices for the students who cannot afford them. In addition, BYOD programs with various devices from home can raise concerns regarding network security and classroom management of a variety of devices with different operating systems. Tech support can also become more complicated. If a student-owned device has technical problems, the tech support staff may not have the necessary background knowledge of the device and operating system to easily solve the problem. Policies for tech support should clearly spell out whether or not the district will support student-owned devices. Some districts define what types of devices they will support, and parents rely on those policies to inform purchasing decisions for their children.
“Decisions about student device selection should stem first from the academic learning goals and include considerations related to educator effectiveness, budget and technology support. It is not about the device, it is about how the device will support the learning.”
– Alex Macdonald, Idaho Department of Education
About this Project In collaboration with multiple education organizations and with state leaders, SETDA developed professional learning resources for states to build state-level capacity as they transition to digital learning. The project includes a set of professional learning resources, known as facilitator guides, for states and districts to use to host statewide and/or regional convenings […]
“Decisions about student device selection should stem first from the academic learning goals and include considerations related to educator effectiveness, budget and technology support. It is not about the device, it is about how the device will support the learning.” – Alex Macdonald, Idaho Department of Education
