Teaching and Learning Technology Summit

On January 24th, 2015, the Seattle Public Schools Department of Technology Services (DoTS) partnered with the Division of Teaching & Learning to hold our first Technology Vision Summit. Attendance was capped at 120, with 15 Students, 15 Parents, 15 Teachers, 15 Principals, 15 District Leaders/Board Members, 15 Community Partners, 15 Educational Technology Leaders, and 15 SPS Advisory Team Members. The day was spent in teams of 8 developing scenarios of how technology could be used to enhance Teaching & Learning... in "A Day in the Life of a Seattle Public School Student". In the weeks following the Summit, five Town Hall Meetings were held across the District to gather additional student, parent, teacher, and community input.

It's not rocket science, it's reality... in how we want to use technology to augment each student's ability to learn to their fullest potential, by providing anywhere, anytime, any-device connectivity and learning opportunities.

Instead of a static hardcopy document which might go unread, the results of the Summit were developed into a 6 minute video. Nearly all of the 45 "scenes" developed at the Summit have been incorporated into the video. So... what will a day in the life of a student at Seattle Public Schools look like in the near future? With the recent support of our voters, this vision is on the way to becoming a reality. Watch the video here.

group of people discussing their visions

Man standing near table drawing on a poster

Here is what some of the participants had to say about the summit:

"Excellent collaboration experience on behalf of our students as 21st century learners."
- District Leader

"This summit was amazing! It truly inspired me to maintain an influence in the future of my education." - SPS Student

"It was great to see so many representatives from our education community put their heads together and innovate! What a day." - Unknown

Here are just 12 of the 45 incredible sketches that our teams created.

Comic book on history: Major events 2001-2015 (Washington state): What happens before? What about children visually impaired – verbal narrative attached to frames; speak to text; Software - draw stick figure and software converts; Comic book w/ simple animations (not movie).

Collaborative calendar that parents, teachers, students, and staff could access. Update, easy to use, user friendly that links school community collaboration. Personal community calendar that connects with school community. Parents able to access test materials, real assignments… communication tool that allows two way conversations.

The full access inclusive classroom. This shows how students with disabilities can be given access to the classroom. Two examples: the student with vision/hearing impairment has assistive technology to use in the classroom. The student with behavioral issues has a sensory location in the classroom to help them integrate into the class.

Our virtual space allows multi age participants to gather together and engage with each other to be creative and learn in their own way with many types of tools.

Students collaborating at school and at home. We have two students working on a mobile device. The third student is at home. The student is still able to participate in the learning. The teacher is able to check the progress.

Lesson – geography lesson about the geography and environment of another country – students network with students in other countries with prompts to learn about a new geographical environment.

Students are using personal fitness devices to keep track of their activities, personal health goals, and performance in PE classes. This applies to any level of education, and turns fitness into a whole day process. Students can meet with a teacher and confer about their health. Their own data sets are locked, but some data can be made anonymous and aggregated for use in science, math and nutrition classes. They can analyze the data.

Discussion: Equity and Access • Tech Difficulties – portal that accesses all resources via one log in & password (Source, databases, Fusion, school resources including eBooks, keyboarding)

Students are in differentiated groups, collaborating over problems. In addition, students are utilizing technology to connect with: • Absent students • Accessing experts and information outside of the classroom to support learning, figuring out next steps, sharing information, and presenting work to the whole class. Teacher uses technology to assess and collect data on the students work and determine/design supports and interventions. Parents access portal to monitor and even take part in what the students are doing in their classrooms.

Conversation is around changing how traditional assessment is delivered, evaluated and recorded. What role does high-stakes testing have? Should assessment be more demonstrated rather than paper-pencil tested?

Goal: Creating a successful community for a successful student. Also, digital equity. Contributions and needs from 5 groups with students at the center. Students, families, teachers, admin/community, and virtual facilitators/helpers. There would be a good way to connect the family, student or others to a virtual facilitator.

1: Home broadband ofr the city of Seattle. 2: Opportunities to take technologies (laptops/iPads) home. 3: Field trips. Examples: Google, Amazon, Yahoo! 4: Foreign Language Class choices. (example: French, sign language, computer coding, etc.)

Thank You!

A huge "thank you" to our students, parents, district personnel, and business & community partners who participated in our Summit.

Educational Business Partners: DELL, Microsoft, CISCO, Turning Technologies, SAP, APEX Learning, PCG, Intel, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, PowerSchool, Google, Apple, Amplify, and Instructure.

Community Partners: City of Seattle, Seattle Public Library, Seattle Art Museum, Experience Music Project, University of Washington, Brightmont Academy, Center for Systems Biology, Seattle University, Youth Development Executives of King County, College Success Foundation, Seattle App Academy, Pike Place Market, and City Year.