Summary:

NWP @ Rutgers university is currently subdivided into three subcommittees—outreach, inservice, and continuity—which are governed by a central steering committee, over which presides the executive leadership team. Over the years, the Inservice branch has grown considerably; necessary provide work for the site’s teacher consultants and provide some level of income. The leadership team has discussed how to grow the site by feeding into other committee areas; the leadership team has identified continuity development as a need of the site.  The site now has the capacity to devote manpower to other lines of work by growing the other subcommittees. In particular, the leadership team established a goal to reinvest into our teacher consultants.

Money from the Technology Matters minigrant will be invested towards a technology team initiative at NWP Rutgers. Over the course of the next year, the tech team will research, plan, and actualize three projects. First, will read and discuss current literature on Web 2.0 applications for the classroom. Individuals will implement a Web 2.0 project, and electronically document the experience-- both success and failure. This information will be geared towards the hosting professional development in the areas of technology and literacy for our current teacher consultants, and again at our midwinter writing conference in 2009. Secondly, investigate how new content management systems (CMS), such as Joomla or Drupal, can offer a wide range of tools for communication and collaboration. Meetings and documentation will occur on a CMS of the technology liaison's choice. The technology team will then offer a technology retreat for the leadership team; the team will present a summary of individual's experience using Web 2.0 in the classroom, concepts of 21st literacy, and investigate a content management system hands-on. Future plans for an advanced institute in technology will also be discussed.

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Project Plan:

I came aboard as the technology liaison after the summer institute in 2002. My first task was to work with the current site director to create the NWP Rutgers website; she wrote the content and I designed the HTML. Back then, Web 2.0 wasn’t even a blip on the map; however, we were forward thinking about web tools that did not yet readily exist in an easy-to-use CMS format. For example, the site director wanted to digitally record the keynote address the midwinter conference or a demo lesson, and upload the video to the website.  I didn’t own a digital camcorder, have any video edit tools, or have enough bandwidth to host the video. In another project, the inservice coordinator wanted to create a huge database for the purpose of maintaining TC contact information and a list of current demos. We hired a technology consultant to investigate technology and pricing structure. The consultant concluded that such a database was possible through .ASP and offered to create the database for a nominal charge—well beyond the means of our current budget. That idea was temporarily scrapped.

Perhaps our best stride towards a CMS was the incorporation of Yahoo Groups to enhance internal site site communication. Over the years, our teacher consultants have become more tech savvy, and now maintain a collection of photos to document site activities, plan events on the calendar, upload files to the archive, and bookmark important websites in addition to posting messages. We are now using Yahoo! Groups to it's fullest capacity, yet it doesn't seem to offer enough. Managing user accounts is nearly impossible from site manager's end. Advertisements are an annoyance, and have the tendency to send some message straight into the end-user's spam folder. It doesn’t lend itself towards collaboration or sub-group conversations. I’ve thought about moving the service, and explored using phpBB bulletin boards for it’s affordances to subdivide conversation into different boards, and thread continuing dialogue; however, it never took because TC’s wanted the convenience of email notification and response.

The website is getting larger and more time consuming to make global changes. The site is not managed by a CMS, and editing a footer or side menu requires that I manually change the HTML on each and every single web page. Spending hours tweaking every single page is not the best use of my time. Additionally TC's create and collaborate their work using Yahoo! Groups. I'm then charged with the task of migrating information over to the NWP Rutgers website. As you can imagine, much of my tech work is wasted when my position is relegated to duplicating work between two websites. I know that the next generation NWP Rutgers website will need to be maintained through a content management system that can integrate the functionality of Yahoo! Groups into the actual website. Hopefully I can find a service that will offer various tools, seamlessly integrated into the website, that is also easy for TC’s to learn and use. The NWP Rutgers domain registration is up for renewal in October, so I'll look to migrate web hosting services at that time. Offering an interactive website can only make it that much better (or at least I anticipate), but may also carry the need to train teacher consultants on a new system of technology.

A few realizations are becoming more-and-more apparent as a result of my experiences as the technology liaison over the past several years. The site's capacity for work has grown tremendously, and so have my responsibilities. I can no longer conduct the work of TL as a solo act. Some aspects of web page maintenance can be divided between various leadership positions within the organization, especially where work is duplicated from Yahoo! Groups over to the website. Given the easy-to-use nature of the latest Web 2.0 and CMS software, I'd like to put web tools of collaboration, communication, and publication directly in the hands of our teacher consultants. I believe that improving the site's technology will enhance the way teacher consultants collaborate and communicate. My time would be better spent if I could get out from behind the computer monitor, and share my wealth of knowledge with others.

I know that I'm not alone; over the past two years, the site has experienced an influx of teacher consultants interested and/or experienced using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. I'd like to network these individuals, and pool together our resources. Having looked at models of technology teams at other Writing Project sites, I believe that starting a technology team at NWP Rutgers will advantage the site by expanding our capacity for new forms of communication/collaboration and by the creation of new professional development workshops for both inservice and continuity purposes. Money from the 2007 Technology Matters minigrant will fund a technology team initiative. An open invitation to join the group will be broadcast over Yahoo! Groups and reiterated at the September steering committee meeting. Individuals with expressed interest/experience using Web 2.0 technology will be personally encouraged to join the group. I've budgeted for eight participants, including Susan Walsh and myself.

As the first matter of business, participants will be given Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms to read by November. Tech team members will participate in a book talk using either Joomla or Drupal. This activity will also double to pilot how a CMS could enhance site communication and collaboration. An incentive of $25 per person will be awarded on the basis for reading the book and participating in the online book talk. Tech team members will be encouraged to implement a Web 2.0 technology into their writing instruction. Team members will troubleshoot and provide support for one another through online discussion. Tech team members will be awarded a $100 stipend for writing a narrative summary of their experience and collecting student samples. A second book, Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Warlick will be read and discussed by mid March. Another incentive of $25 per person will be awarded for participating in a book talk. Money for book talks and documentation will only be offered in the first year of the tech team's inception; these stipends are intended solely as a means to jump start the tech team initiative and will not be sustained in following years.

These opportunities will give tech team members a head start at creating a demo that addresses issues of Web 2.0 in the writing classroom and 21st century literacy. Another $200 will be awarded upon the presentation of this demo over the course of the next year; there will be several opportunities to do so. As the participants of the 2007 Tech Matters Institute, Susan Walsh and I will plan and organize an executive technology retreat to take place in May/April. The purpose of this meeting is to share classroom experiences using Web 2.0 in the writing classroom, discuss how Drupal/Joomla might better serve NWP Rutgers in lieu of Yahoo! Groups, and begin planning for the next Midwinter Writing Conference hosted by NWP Rutgers. The end goal is to create a writing and technology strand at the 2009 writing conference as a means to disseminate knowledge about technology and writing to a wide teacher audience. I've designated $500 towards securing a keynote speaker with experience in 21st century literacy or Web 2.0 in the content area classroom. Ideally, I'd like to invite Will Richardson, as he a New Jersey local (and many of demos offered in the tech strand will have origins tracing back to Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts...) Also, given the scope of this project, I would to offer a Brown Bag Saturday inservice free of charge for our Teacher Consultants and inservice partners. Another idea discussed with the leadership team is to offer the Saturday inservice at a nominal fee as a means of sustainability, especially as the grant runs out. Additionally, I would like to explore opportunities to extend the tech team's demos towards inservice as another means of generating income to support the work of the tech team.

Finally, I'm proposing the creation of a new position of Summer Institute E-Anthology facilitator to ensure the anthology is used in subsequent institutes. This position would be ideal for the summer institute apprentice, writing circle coordinator, or a tech team member, but would be open to anyone. This position offers the opportunity for another teacher consultant to take an active role within the organization that encourages writing and technology. The requirements and responsibilities for the position is defined below:

Invitational Summer Institute E-Anthology Facilitator:
- Program Area: Summer Institute
- Available: Pre-Insitute Reception, online participation throughout the Summer Institute

- Instructional tasks associated with this position include the following:

• register the site to participate in the E-Anthology,
• register summer fellows into E-Anthology during the Pre-Institute reception or first week of the Summer Institute,
• visit the Summer Institute in person at least twice for the purpose of attending a writing event: writing marathon, author's chair, or another event as per recommendation of the SI facilitator,
• collaborate with SI facilitator and apprentice to define the role of the e-anthology in the Summer Institute syllabus,
• provide technology support for SI facilitator, SI apprentice, and summer fellows as needed,
• post two original pieces of writing, an evocative and professional piece, on the open mic forum to model for summer fellows,
• read posts by summer fellows at least once per day,
• write in reply to NWP Rutgers summer fellow participants in Open Mic and Classroom Matters forums,
• personally complete Inverness survey,
• coordinate with SI Facilitator and apprentice to have fellows complete Inverness data.
  

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Time Line:

Year 1:  Create tech team, investigate best tools to organize a system for information flow, pilot technology in classrooms for demo development, create a tech/new literacy strand for the 2009 Midwinter Writing Conference/Brown Bag Saturday continuity events, end year with tech retreat for leadership

Year 2:  Tech Saturdays, Tech Conference and Advanced Institute for Technology

• Joe Conroy and Susan Walsh will discuss their experience at Tech Matters and present idea for grant proposal to the executive board.

• Attend SI to  meet with new fellows.  With the assistance of SI facilitators and leadership, begin to identify possible members for tech team.
• Write formal grant proposal.

• Begin to form technology team.
• Poll membership to gauge technology interest and needs.
• Investigate ways to enhance our web presence.
  

• First face-to-face meeting with the technology team.
• Provide an overview, establish first project goal for the team, delegate responsibilities, and present the timeline.
• Setup an online communication tool (Google Docs, Wiki, etc) for further communication.
• Provide members of the tech team with Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasting. 
  

• Tech team will investigate current Web 2.0 technologies that could be utilized to unify and organize information flow at NWP@Rutgers.
• Identify current TCs to develop demos for a Tech/New Literacy strand for the Midwinter.
• Identify current TCs who can pilot technology tools and pedagogy in their classrooms and document evidence of students using technology in the classroom. Documented evidence will be towards the creation of new technology demos.
• Begin to plan Technology Retreat for the Leadership.

• Members of the tech team and TCs who are presenting Tech strand demos at Midwinter must attend this retooling session.Demos utilizing computer technology should provide "play" time for participants.
• Joe Conroy and Susan Walsh will work on three-month progress report due January 31, 2008.
• Susan Walsh will present issues of technology and literacy at the Administrator's Luncheon to gauge the needs and concerns of administrators in our area.
  

• Attendance at Tech Strand can serve as a gauge for the development of future tech workshops.
• Tech team members will read Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Warlick.
  

• Gather data from pilot programs.
• Organize and plan Tech retreat.  Decide which technologies will be presented to the leadership. 
  
• Offer a "Tech Saturday" or "Tech Tuesday" (Similar to Brown Bag) to our current TCs.
  

• Decide where and when
• What information will be presented?
• Who will be invited to attend?
• What is the leadership team’s vision of the site’s current and future work?
• Discussion of current research (Warwick and Richardson)
  

• How can we make these projects self-sustaining and successful over time?
• How can we make these technologies a part of the summer institute experience?
• Establish the position of Summer E-Anthology facilitator.
  
• Could the design of an Advanced Institute in Technology also share a similar design as a Technology & Writing course designed for our Certificate in the Teaching of Writing?

• Joe Conroy and Susan Walsh will submit a final report to the National Writing Project.

 

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Budget:

Click on this link to view budget.

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Letter from Director: 

August 14, 2007

 

To whom it may concern:

 

Without a doubt, receiving a Technology Matters Minigrant for 2007-2008 will benefit NWP@Rutgers. Joe Conroy and Susan Walsh have prepared a thorough plan for the minigrant funds and planned a variety of activities to infuse technology into the work of our site. The minigrant will facilitate the professional development of our teacher consultants and site leaders as well as improve the information flow of our site. I believe our site will sustain the work initiated by the minigrant.

 

If you have any questions, I can be reached by email at kimbob@ekit.com or by phone at 732-932-7496 X8325.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kimberly Lanza

Director, NWP@Rutgers

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