Page 23 - School Planning & Management, April 2018

create immersive learning activities. In PD workshops, Bowling loves showing educators how to use Google Draw. Just like Google Docs, it is cloud-based so anyone who has shared access to the drawing can contribute.
Teachers can use Google Draw as a tool for students to show their thought processes or understanding of a topic or concept. Using Google Draw, students can make their thinking visible by creating graphic organizers, mind maps, interactive images, story- boards, comics, and so much more.
At Livonia Public Schools, teachers have flexibility in how stu- dents contribute to the Google Drawing. Students can contribute from their seats using their Chromebooks or, with the classroom’s Epson BrightLink interactive display, students can come up to the whiteboard and contribute using the interactive pen directly on the wall. Either way, the class gets to watch the final masterpiece unfold in real-time. Anything created in Google Draw can be worked on collaboratively and downloaded as a graphic. The pos- sibilities are endless.
Improving Coaching Skills
Lyon County School District (LCSD) in Yerington, Nev., uses vid- eo coaching to support its elementary learning strategists who are responsible for providing professional development to the district’s approximately 200 elementary school teachers. Learning strategists videotape themselves while providing in-person coaching and then receive timely and targeted feedback through the Edthena classroom observation platform to improve their coaching skills.
“Being able to receive immediate and data-driven feedback is a huge asset in helping our learning strategists hone their own instructional practices so they, in turn, can better support our teachers,” said Amber Westmoreland, professional development manager at LCSD.
How Tech Enables Non-Instructional Support
In addition to direct instruction, schools provide an array of other services to students and teachers to ensure they are ready to learn and teach. Technology plays a crucial role in these aspects of education as well.
Keeping Students Safe Online
The West Rusk County Consolidated Independent School Dis- trict in Texas, for example, uses online monitoring and classroom management software to keep students safe online and productive when they are using technology.
“We have 800 devices for students to use in the classroom so it’s important for us to have a plan in place to keep students safe online,” said technology director Cody Walker. “We want teachers and students to get the most out of these devices and we also want to make sure that students are using them in a responsible way.”
West Rusk CCISD uses software called Impero Education Pro
to manage and monitor devices on the school’s network. Teachers can view students’ screens so they can intervene if the student is, for example, playing games instead of working on an assignment. The software alerts district personnel if students type or search for keywords or phrases related to bullying, radicalization, self-harm, or other concerning behavior. This technology helped the district discover inappropriate, dangerous, and even illegal activity. The district was then able to address the issues promptly which has created a safer environment in which students can learn.
Supporting the Whole Child
Another important role of schools is to teach students the social and emotional skills they need to live up to their full potential— skills such as responsible decision-making and relationship- building. Technology can help measure the impact of these types of programs. For example, Chesterfield County Public Schools
in Virginia created a comprehensive social-emotional learning (SEL) initiative in which schools use the Caring School Commu- nity a nationally-recognized, evidence-based program that builds classroom and schoolwide community and develops students’ SEL skills. To measure the impact of the initiative, the district uses Evo Social/Emotional, an online SEL assessment and interven- tion system from Aperture Education. Students are assessed at least three times a year and the data is combined and analyzed with data on discipline, academics, and more to determine the program’s impact. The results have been positive. Schools have reported decreases in disciplinary referrals and suspension rates, as well as improvements in academics since launching the SEL ini- tiative. “The SEL initiative is helping students succeed,” said Dr. Lisa Micou, the district’s intervention training specialist for social & emotional learning. “We are shifting from having independent pockets of excellence to meeting the needs of all students and creating better citizens.”
Even with these supports, there may be times when students face rough patches for whatever reason. When that happens, districts need a way to address student behaviors. Ohio’s Oak Hills Local School District educators use the Student Behavior Management Sys- tem from PublicSchoolWORKS to report and track student behavior incidents. All incidents are reported and stored online, which creates a comprehensive record for each student to help the district’s as- sistant principals determine the most appropriate intervention. This allows the administrator to look at the child’s behavior as a whole and ensure all issues are addressed. After using the system for a few months, the district found the most common referral was for skip- ping class, identified specific times and locations students were found skipping class, and rerouted the hall monitors to those locations.
As the prevalence of technology continues to grow in schools, using it in ways to improve the teaching and learning experience will continue to expand. Technology can help districts efficiently and effectively run school systems. SPM
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