Community of Practice Grant 2012

In September 2007, Elk Island Public Schools was the recipient of provincial government funding from the Student Technology Sector, Alberta Education to implement a One-to-One Laptop Learning Initiative at Lakeland Ridge School. Over a period of three years, approximately 80 students and 14 teachers were involved with the project.  Laptops were purchased for students in Grade 7 and were used, primarily during the core subject areas of language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. The project, officially named as the 'Emerge One to One Laptop Learning Initiative', resulted in the achievement of numerous outcomes. Noteworthy was the impact on student engagement in their learning and changes made to instructional delivery on the part of teaching staff.

The story of Lakeland Ridge School and the journey of embracing 21st Century skills and attitudes was soon to be realized in an extension of the Emerge project funding. Jurisdictions who participated in the Emerge project received notice from Alberta Education that funding would continue on a smaller scale but with a focus on 'Community of Practice' initiatives. Knowing this, EIPS proposed a scalable initiative for three senior high schools: (Lamont High, Salisbury and Bev Facey)

In October 2010, a steering committee was established and included Lonnie Hicks (principal, Lamont High), Janice Sundar (teacher-librarian at Salisbury), Karen Ramsey (teacher-librarian at Bev Facey) Peter Barron (principal, Bev Facey), David Hay (AISI Technology consultant) and Aaron Kowalchuk (teacher, Bev Facey). The project was supported also by Tim Knell, Director of Tech Services and his team. Additional thanks to Karen MacDonald, Principal at Lakeland Ridge School and Ali Nasarali (Tech Services Support Analyst) for sharing their knowledge and experience from the Emerge One to One project.

The journey to include senior high schools in a 'Community of Practice'  proved to be challenging, yet rewarding. At the onset of project implementation, we were faced with the dilemma of how we could mobilize student use of personally owned devices and at the same time support teachers with their understanding of 21st century learning for students. Would one method fit all? And what would the process for teacher support include? What would be required from IT to support this initiative?

These questions were answered through our journey and I will highlight key points below:

• Review of access points in the 3 identified schools (Tech Services)
• Steering Committee meetings to determine future steps for students and teachers
• Community of Practice (Alberta Education) meetings
• Development of the EIPS Technology Vision document 
• Development of the EIPS Student-Owned device policy
• April 29, 2011 PD day for Bev Facey, Salisbury and Lamont teachers with Dean Shareski

• Over time, redefining support for teachers and students as per the 'postcard/menu' of learning opportunities under the headings of Student Activities/Products; Teacher Tasks and Personal Competency
• Professional Learning Communities - teachers provided with substitute teaching time to collaborate with a focus on the use of technology based tools
• Support for teachers to attend ERLC workshop sessions
• Pilot of 'flipped teaching' learning environments and VC with rural schools
• Parent Communication using Social Media tools
• Superintendent's team commitment to invest in a robust wifi system to supports all EIPS schools and departments 
• Tech Services effort to support the increasing demands of technology in our school system

What did we learn? 

There is no one stop shopping solution in planning for the integration of technology in the classroom. Teachers require flexibility and time to collaborate in teams. While a variety of  professional development opportunities were made available to teachers, the most requested support was substitute teacher time.

In February 2011, a select  group of students from EIPS Junior and Senior High schools met for the day to provide a 'student perspective' on topics such as the division 3 year education plan and the use of technology in classrooms.  Students told us that their connection with teachers was vital and that they needed teachers who were caring, with a sense of humour, have a thorough understanding of the  content they teach and demonstrate a desire to use collaborative tools that engage students. From this, we learned that technology is not everything, but it has its place in the classroom environment. My Voice-My Future video can be viewed here.

The success of the CoP project can be attributed to the effort of teachers, support of school administrators and EIPS students who provided their 'voice'.  I wish to thank the Steering Committee for their advocacy, on behalf of the teaching staff at Lamont High, Salisbury and Bev Facey. The EIPS Tech Services department must not go unnoticed for their continuous work to enhance the network and wifi capabilities. Finally, the ongoing support from Ralph Leudtke, Education Manager, School Technology Branch, Alberta Education.