Learning Technology BluePrint for Change - Review

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21st Century Learning Committee
Information Technology Solutions
Blueprint for Change – Progress Review May 2012

Towards 2020
Connecting with our Students
Stewardship of
Success for Students Success for Staff
Resources

VISION Our vision is one where all staff and students in the Ottawa Catholic School
Board have the skills they need to excel in the 21st century. We will achieve
21st Century student success by meeting the diverse needs of 21st century learners.
Teaching
Learning
The Need for Change
Today’s students are different from the students that our system was created to educate.
The new digital learners are immersed in technology and they expect to use digital tools
as part of their educational experience. Brain based research provides
“As we enter the new
evidence that today’s generation of students are “wired” differently than
age, the future won’t previous generations. Instructional strategies are evolving to reflect the
just happen. It will needs of 21st century learners. The question we need to ask is not about
be created – and what equipment to purchase or install, but rather what skills do our students
primarily by them.” need to succeed. The class of 2020 is currently sitting in our primary
classrooms. These students will graduate from a learning environment and
Don Tapscott
“Grown Up Digital” culture that espouses 21st century skill sets and tools.

In order to create a learning environment that engages our students, we are
in the process of: updating our infrastructure, introducing new tools, creating professional
digital learning communities, building leadership capacity, and removing procedural
barriers (see appendix for a list of information technology initiatives).

Information Communication Technology (ICT) Tipping Point
Technology is now reaching the point where it is available almost
everywhere. The cost of technology is rapidly decreasing while the
processing power is increasing. Convergence between a variety of
devices and the Internet is becoming common place. A recent Media
Technology Monitor (MTM) survey examined the media habits and
technology usage of Canadians. The survey found that household
penetration of broadband services continues to grow year after year.

Toward 2020 – OCSB Learning Technology Blueprint for Change (May 2012 Update/Review) Page 1

The significance for our schools is that more and more students have access to rich media
resources when they are outside of school. Weekly Internet usage by
Canadians has tripled since 2007. According to Internet World Stats,
there were 361 million Internet users in the year 2000; there are now
There are over 3 over 2 billion users accessing over 1 trillion unique URLs.
billion searches on
Google every day!
Worldwide there are over 3 billion searches on Google every day!
YouTube launched in 2005 and now there are over 3 billion YouTube
videos are watched daily. According to Pingdom.com, there are over
294 billion emails sent per day with this number expected to hit over 507 billion by the
year 2013. Blog Pulse indicates that there are over 152 million blogs available on the
Internet. There are over 37.4 trillion page views on Facebook each year. There are over
5 billion cell phone connections worldwide. The increasing prevalence of Smart Phones is
creating opportunities for learning both in and out of school. The iPhone came out in
2007. There are now over 650,000 apps available for various “i-devices”, many of them
educational, and many of them free. Apple has had over 10 billion apps downloaded. The
Gartner group predicts 185 billion app downloads for all devices by the year 2014.
Milestones Implication
• Wireless Ubiquitous access to technology cannot (and should not) be stopped. OCSB staff needs
• Bring your own to be prepared to leverage technology to engage students and increase student success.
device (BYOD) Leaders in the OCSB need to model the use of new technologies and their positive
• Leadership benefits to both staff and students.

Core Priorities
Technology within the Ottawa Catholic School Board will be viewed as
Success for Students a tool to support research based instructional strategies. The core
Success for Staff
priorities of student success, success for staff, and stewardship of
Stewardship of
Resources resources, within a Catholic framework will be enhanced by digital
learning opportunities. Instructional practice should change with the
proper use of technology.
Implication
Interdepartmental planning and communication are essential to ensure that stewardship of
resources is being achieved. Initiatives that are not supporting our Board core priorities
Milestones
should be challenged and resources allocated to other areas. Departmental budgets
• Learning in the 21st
Century, now part of
should include provisions to prioritize 21st century teaching and learning. The provision of
Board Priorities infrastructure and tools will not result in improved student success without the alignment of
• New Digital curriculum resources, instructional practices (inquiry based, student-centered,
Resources Budget differentiated instruction), and professional learning.
line, ↓textbook
funds
• New Innovative Fund

Governance
Several Board policies and procedures may have unintentionally restricted students and
staff from accessing digital resources over our secure network (for example, blocking
teacher and student access to YouTube, not allowing personal devices on the network).

The OCSB will strive to find a balance between safety/security and access to resources.
Milestones Procedures will be created that will be flexible in nature to allow for changing technologies
• Personal devices to be readily implemented within the system.
allowed on network
• YouTube unblocked Implication
at Principal’s request
A Board policy has been released to clarify how staff can use emerging technologies such
• Staff laptops can be
taken home
as social media for instructional purposes. The implementation of a wireless environment
• Many staff are throughout the Board will coincide with school practices that allow student use of devices
blogging and using to connect to the Internet for academic purposes. Teachers will be encouraged to teach
social media students the appropriate use of social media and safe online activity. Restrictions blocking
teacher access to the Internet will be relaxed with more emphasis on classroom
SEA equipment is management. Staff will have more flexibility in bringing Board devices home to continue
now being used at their learning by accessing just-in-time online learning modules.
school and home

Capacity Building and Teacher Preparation
The new cohort of teachers will enter our system with an understanding of the required
changes in instructional practice in order to relate to today’s digital
Simply inserting learners. Problem solving, or inquiry learning, with the teacher
technology into facilitating individualized student learning will continued to be
classrooms and emphasized. Differentiated instruction through the use of a variety of
schools without technologies and tools should be a standard component of all teacher
considering how the preparation programs.
contexts for learning
need to change, will
OCSB leaders from all generations need to model the effective use of
likely fail.
information technology skills with the goal of achieving student
Allan Collins success.

Implication
Milestones Board staff will continue to contribute to provincial dialogue around the re-design of
• Input provided
teacher education programs, principal qualification programs, and supervisory officer
to SOQP and
qualification programs. A focus on 21st century learning and teaching skills should
PQP courses
• 21st Century
become embedded as tools for achieving student and staff success. Board mentorship,
Learning now
part of
Leadership Toward 2020 – OCSB Learning Technology Blueprint for Change (May 2012 Update/Review) Page 3
training

leadership training, and new teacher induction programs will include 21st Century teaching
and learning support.
Standards of basic technology competency should be shared with teachers and
administrators. These standards can then be used as objectives within personal learning
plans. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has created a series
of National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). These NETS shall form the basis
for our competency references and benchmarks.
Milestones
• Some Principals The OCSB Leadership Journey should include technological competencies that promote
have received the use of digital tools for learning opportunities. Central staff will continue to use digital
copies of NETS tools as a means of modeling to other leaders in the system.
as part of ISTE
memberships
The Catholic Leadership Framework provides a reference for Vice-Principals, Principals,
• Leadership
training includes
and Supervisory Officers to set direction and priorities. Leaders should receive support
digital tools and training in the use of digital tools to ensure that they can model 21st century skills.

Devices and Applications

... powerful software
The focus should not be on any particular device or application. Teachers
and hardware often and students will focus on transferable skill sets as opposed to skills
get used in limited related to learning a particular application. Personalized learning will
ways to simply continue to be a goal in each learning environment.
maintain rather than
transform prevailing Software and computer devices will continue to change at a rapid pace.
instructional practices The OCSB infrastructure should be flexible enough to leverage advances
Clayton Christensen in technology. As a starting point, teachers and students need access to a
wireless environment with high speed bandwidth. Teachers should have a
laptop or other device that will allow them to personalize their learning and
instruction. Teachers and students should have access to an LCD projector and an
interactive whiteboard for display, interaction, and engagement purposes.

Other devices for student and staff access such as netbooks, document cameras,
response systems, teacher voice amplification systems, tablets, iPods, iPads, etc. may
Milestones supplement core resources. The continued differentiation of instructional practice should
• Bandwidth
supplement the use of these resources in order to maximize the impact on learning.
increased
• Wireless installed Implication
• 80% of classes re- The OCSB infrastructure should be in place in order to leverage the digital resources that
tooled with are available to students. This includes a balance between textbooks and digital
LCD/SmartBoard resources once access and reliable connectivity is no longer an issue.
• Tablets in most
schools

Learning Environment

The traditional classroom will continue to adapt as the main learning environment for most
students; however, digital tools of the day should expand the learning
Perhaps above all other environment to a more global perspective. Within the changing
aspects of Web classroom, students will participate in learning activities through a
utilization, the power
variety of media. Students will learn the skills to work with partners in
of choice is what sets
the Web of Learning class and with others who may not be physically
apart from other forms Where possible (recognizing Ministry guidelines), time constraints should
of learning. be removed from traditional credit based instruction at the high school
level. The amount of time that a student should spend in any one
Curtis J. Bonk class or required to complete a “course” should change.
Differentiated instruction and individualized learning should lead to
anytime learning. Students should have access to the resources they need in order to
meet content expectations as opposed to timeline expectations. Students should have
input into the speed and pace of their own learning.
Milestones
• D.I. focus for
instruction
Students should have increased choice in the instructional model that best suits their
• Credit Recovery
learning style. Options should include: face to face learning, hybrid or blended learning
opportunities that combine online learning and face to face learning, and virtual learning.

Implication
The Board will develop a secure and stable online learning portal for staff and student
Minimal change in access. The online learning portal shall serve as an object repository that allows the
sharing of resources. The selected platform should be easy for staff to use and flexible
course timelines or
options for delivery
enough to allow for varied levels of staff use (example, virtual learning, blended learning,
credit recovery).

Instructional Practices - Higher Order Thinking Skills

Teachers are changing from a focus on providing facts to a new focus on higher order
thinking skills. Assessment strategies that focus on memorization and recall are
Milestones
changing to new assessment strategies that focus on higher order thinking skills such as
• Blackboard
Learning Portal
evaluating and creating. Electronic response systems are being used to provide
continued immediate feedback and to inform instruction. Student use of digital tools such as social
development media will provide them with the opportunity to engage in higher order thinking skills.
• BlackBoard There should be a cross-curricular focus on 21st century learning skills including:
includes Object communication and collaboration (both with students inside and out of the school),
Repository creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking.
• Single Sign-On to
be completed by
year-end Toward 2020 – OCSB Learning Technology Blueprint for Change (May 2012 Update/Review) Page 5

Teachers should continue to challenge beliefs and strategies that have been based on a
left-brain (logical and analytical) society to one that recognizes and assesses right-brain
(creativity and problem solving) activities. Bloom’s revised Taxonomy of Thinking Skills
clearly demonstrates the required evolution in instruction and assessment.

Higher Order Thinking Skills Research indicates that digital learners
Milestones are not motivated by a teacher standing
• Increased focus at the front of a classroom lecturing and
on higher order Creating requiring students to copy notes.
thinking skills as
Evaluating Fortunately this practice is no longer the
identified in many
school SIPs Analyzing
norm in the Ottawa Catholic School
• Increased use of Board. The majority of digital learners
Digital Resources
Applying are visual learners who are “wired” for
and use of Understanding video and audio engagement.
multimedia
Remembering
• Increased use of In an environment where information
OERB resources, Lower Order Thinking Skills and facts are readily available, teachers
Discovery
Education, and
have an important role to play in helping
Learn 360 students challenge, question, and
create, based on the myriad of information available to them.

Greater changes have
Implication
taken place in OCSB staff should continue to support teachers as they transition away from traditional
elementary classes as skills to higher order thinking and 21st century learning skills. The introduction of the
compared to high
school classes but technological tools without changes in instructional practice will not result in significant
changes are in gains in student achievement or engagement. The Student Success Department is
progress
supporting teachers with resources to reflect revised curriculum. These resources
should continue to be aligned with 21st century teaching and learning skills (Information
media and technology skills, learning and innovation skills, life and career skills, core
subjects and 21st century themes).

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/P21_Framework.pdf


Catholicism
In an age where information is readily available, it has become increasingly important for
teachers to guide students towards value based judgments. Students and staff have the
ability to create and add to the wealth of
positive information available on the World
Wide Web.
Milestones
• Increased focus
on curriculum
The Catholic Graduate Expectations will have
integration for an increasingly important place in the
healthy preparation of our students. The Catholic
relationships and Graduate Expectations are inherently higher
Internet Safety order, focused on communication,
within Religious collaboration, creativity, and lifelong learning.
studies courses

The OCSB is well positioned to play an
important role in developing comprehensive digital citizens. Safety within digital
environments, Cyberbullying prevention, and healthy relationships are all components of
Need to ensure
consistent delivery of
the Religious and Family Life courses. Teachers will continue to create learning
Internet safety and activities that require students to apply value based judgments and to critically analyze
Cyberbullying topics and validate facts and arguments.
early in each year

Professional Development – Generation Gaps
As a Board, we need to recognize that the majority of decision makers currently come
from those who would be considered baby boomers and some who would be considered
generation X. The students that we serve are generation Y, generation Z, and those
students who were born in 2010 and later are being referred to as generation alpha.
Our teaching staff is comprised of individuals from a variety of generations. Job
embedded training and in-service opportunities should be differentiated for our staff in a
Milestones manner similar to the differentiated instruction that we provide to our students. Decision
• Variety of
makers should recognize the generational differences when making decisions.
training
including: face to
face, in-school, in- A new phase of digital professional learning communities is being initiated to provide
class, online, just-in-time delivery to our new generation of teaching staff. The focus will shift away
recorded from text based instruction and move to media rich environments where staff can refine
tutorials, Adobe their instructional practices both in the classroom and in the new global classroom that
Connect sessions, extends beyond traditional classroom walls.
Saturday sessions,
Summer sessions

It is important to recognize both traditional text based skills that many
staff value and the digital audio and video based skills that many of
The Net Generation, the
biggest ever, is coming of
our students and younger staff value. The achievement chart
age. As they go to college (Knowledge / Understanding; Thinking / Inquiry; Communication,
and begin jobs, Net and; Application / Making Connections) can be used as a framework
Geners are beginning to to provide a focus as part of professional learning opportunities. The
use remarkable digital four areas of the achievement chart apply regardless of the selected
tools that give individuals medium.
the power that in the past
was reserved for the
authorities.
Contrary to statements that we are preparing students for jobs that
don’t exist, we should recognize and validate that we are preparing
Don Tapscott students for both jobs that do exist today and providing our students
with skills for jobs that are yet to be invented.

Implication
The OCSB should expand its current online delivery model to include opportunities for
staff to learn and develop 21st century skills. Staff should have opportunities to learn
digital skills that will assist them in engaging their students. Recognition of the varying
needs of different generations of teachers is important in providing a variety of learning
opportunities including just-in-time delivery of resources in rich media formats. The
The Dept. has not development of personalized portals, anywhere access, combined with access to
been able to keep up
with the help desk
digital devices will support success for staff.
tickets resulting in
long waits for Help desk tools will be developed and support will become available in a timely
manner. As digital tools become key components in achieving our Board core
installs and issues to
be resolved
priorities, it is important that the tools are maintained and supported so that staff can
focus on the instructional strategies and not on the technology.

Libraries and Equity of Access
Today a vast collection of resource materials is available online in a digital format. The
model of collecting information and securing it in a central location is changing.
Milestones Libraries will evolve into Learning Commons. Learning Commons do not need to
• Transition of
occupy the same footprint as libraries. The Learning Commons will become a central
Library to
Learning
gathering location for students and staff to continue learning whether that is text
Commons in 37 based, or rich media based. Access to online information and spaces for collaborative
schools and creative work should be central to the media center. Library staff will model web
• Increased 2.0 search and collaboration skills in a welcoming, energy-rich environment.
training for
library staff

Traditional library staff are refining their skills to become adept at navigating the rich
digital resources available on the Internet. Library staff will serve as
The librarian, or digital literacy coaches to support staff and students. Access to digital
Cybrarian, may collections need to be extended beyond the traditional school day.
have the most to Ideally, evening and weekend access to digital tools should be made
gain from this open available in the Learning Commons to bridge the digital divide for those
learning world: who do not have the tools in their home.
witness e-books,
online portals, open
access journals, and
Implication
online video to Allowing students to bring their own devices to school will provide
accompany many increased access for those students who do not have their own device
publications. (example – if a class has access to 5 devices, and 10 students bring in
their own device, then the 5 school devices can be shared with those
Curtis J. Bonk who do not have their own).This synergy will provide good stewardship
of resources.

The Board practice of replacing older devices needs to be supplemented with additional
devices being introduced into the system. The move to virtualization and web based
applications will allow less powerful and older devices to serve educational purposes.

Learning for all

Milestones Investments will be made in technology that provides students with curriculum
• BYOD has modification and accommodations for individualized or personalized learning. Following
resulted in more the principles outlined in Learning for All, the use of information communication technology
devices in all will aim to be provided in an inclusive setting. Technologies that facilitate learning will be
schools made available to students in system classes. Language based applications will be used
• Netbooks are to support ELL and ESL learners.
available to take
home in many
schools
Implication
Interdepartmental cooperation will ensure that stewardship of resources is focused on
equality of opportunity for all students in our system. Resources should be allocated in
Investment in
additional devices order to provide digital tools to assist with modifications and accommodations to meet
for ESL and ELL special needs in the system. Staff should stay current with research in the area of
learners assistive technologies to take advantage of advances in this area. Staff should receive
job embedded learning opportunities in order to provide support to language learners
including ELL and ESL learners.


Communication Technology
Parental involvement in education has proven to result in increased student success.
Emerging technologies may be used to supplement traditional communication tools.
Investments may be made to provide a communication channel that is differentiated for
each family (example, email, text message, voice message, etc.). New technologies
should also be used to offer messages in a variety of languages to respect our
Milestones increasingly diverse community. Technologies will be explored and used to improve
• New student student safety and security.
information
system is being Implication
implemented – Investments should be made to provide improved communication. The development of a
includes a parent parental portal should complement the development of a teacher portal. Static website
portal
delivery of information should evolve into interactive web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies along
• Introduction of
with mobile access to school and Board information.
Google Apps is a
move to web 20
tools
Business and Management Applications
New technologies are allowing for easier access to personal data such as payroll and
other human resources information. As access increases it is important that safeguards,
contingency planning, and disaster recovery plans are put in place. Privacy of personal
information must be maintained and communicated across the system.

The design of new learning spaces and schools should take into account current research
on 21st century learning. Introducing digital tools along with flexible learning spaces will
result in the greatest impact on student learning.
Milestones
• 21st Century Implication
Learning Staff should receive training on the proper storage and access to data.
committee is Disaster recovery systems must be put into place as non-electronic means to accomplish
involved in new business tasks are eliminated. Electronic tools should be seen as mission critical as they
school design
contribute to key priorities and, as such, should be kept online with minimal disruption.
• Off-site Disaster
Recovery Site is
being developed Interdepartmental collaboration will contribute to the development of holistic and
comprehensive plans to ensure that each area of the Board is focusing on student
success regardless of job function.
More staff training
in the area of privacy
of information is
needed


Summary
The Ottawa Catholic School Board is a successful school Board in Ontario with a clear
focus on student and staff success. We will continue to innovate and adapt to reflect the
changing needs of 21st Century learners. We recognize that we are no longer preparing
students for the world that we grew up in; we are preparing them to be contributing digital
citizens in a new 21st Century environment.

21st century learning needs to move away from a focus on equipment and technology and
instead focus on our priorities: success for students, success for staff, and stewardship of
resources, all within a Catholic framework.

Digital tools and individualized learning paths will enable us to continue to be a successful
Catholic School Board. As we transition through the second decade of the 21st Century,
we will implement the necessary changes to ensure that our students are well prepared to
be contributing digital citizens when they graduate.

Key Resources for creating a 21st Century Learning/Teaching Environment
Technology for Learning: A Guidebook for Change
http://www.k12blueprint.com/k12/blueprint/

The Mile Guide – Milestones for Improving Learning and Education
http://www.p21.org/documents/MILE_Guide_091101.pdf

21st Century Fluency Series
http://www.21stcenturyfluency.com

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS

The Partnership for 21st Century Learning
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

Vision: K-20 – Software and Information Industry Association
http://www.siia.net/visionk20/pages/progress.html


Appendix 1: Creating a 21st Century Learning Environment

Wireless
Network
Board and Infra-
structure Political
Priorities
Context
and Vision

Shared Social
Funding Media and
and Inter- Increased
department Commun-
support ications

Governance
Learning - Support -
Commons Student Policies and
Transition Success - Procedures
Personalized
Learning

Digital Leadership
Resources Support
and Ease and
of Access Training

Building
SmartBoards Capacity -
and LCD Focus Groups,
projectors modelling,
Laptops Pilot In-service
Projects
and Tools
Devices for
for Student
Teachers Use


Appendix 2 - Initiative Snapshot

Wireless
Board Portal –– Increased Reliable
learning
increased bandwidth and network – core
environment at
communications redundancy to switches,
all Board Sites
with parents and process rich storage, backups
to support
between staff – media including Cloud
BYOD
multimodal and connections architecture
multilingual

Increased
Communications Reliable Network Wireless
Bandwidth

eLearning – Creation of a Change in Decreased
Blended data warehouse policies and reliance on
Learning – all to allow all users practice – allow computer labs
students exposed easy access to a social media, and increased
to blended or data dashboard and allow use of Mobile
online learning student use of devices
Mobile devices

Blended Learning Data Warehouse Remove Barriers Internet Devices

Re-tool our Build Capacity –
Google Apps – classrooms and Improved
job embedded efficiencies –
increased use of libraries - learning, leaders
web based Interactive workflow,
modeling use of integrated
applications and White Boards, ICT, online,
cloud computing LCD projectors, systems and
PLCs Single-Sign-On
digital resources

Web Apps Re-tool classrooms Build Capacity Improved workflow

Note: This is only a sampling of major department initiatives.


Learning Technology BluePrint for Change - Review

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