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Computers in Urban Classrooms: What will it take?

Brian Foley & the CSCS Team

Cal State Northridge

goo.gl/7DDpZW

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Where did we get the idea students need computers?

1972

Alan Kay and

Dynabook

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Seymour Papert

“[S]ubstantial numbers of children will have the opportunity to use the computer in the mode I call "computer as pencil"

1980

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First approach - computer labs

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Al Gore brings the internet to every classroom (but only one computer)

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Projectors make technology a regular part of instruction

Unsung achievement of the last 15 years

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2013

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LAUSD Plan a turning point in educational computing

  • 2nd largest district in the country - 600,000 students - high need schools
  • Students would be able to take devices home
  • Plan included upgrades for infrastructure
  • District would be able to take the new assessments

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Concerns about the plan

  • Bidding process limited competition
  • Expensive devices (paying over market prices)
  • Software not ready
  • Internet connectivity notorious in many schools
  • Many schools lacked tech support
  • Schools still suffering budget cuts

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Most News on the Program is Bad

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And the news gets worse

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2015 Finally

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What went wrong?

“I’ll concieved and half-baked” (LA Times)

“[LAUSD] let the glamour of a new and popular product cloud its judgement” (Newcomb)

“[School districts are] built to ... provide a one-size-fits-all solution, and that’s not how technology is moving.” (WIRED)

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What went wrong?

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What went wrong?

Poor hardware

Poor software (security)

Inadequate infrastructure

Confusing rules

Inadequate teacher training

Teachers had no plan for what to do with devices

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Back to the Beginning?

  • LAUSD had devices for testing
  • Charter schools and private schools are moving forward with one-to-one
  • Many now see technology as inevitable
    • especially because of the testing

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Computer Supported Collaborative Science

  • Help science teachers use technology to make science classes more collaborative and student-centered
  • Working for 5 years with hundreds of LAUSD teachers

csunscience.com

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CSCS Model

  • Using computers to support scientific practices - not specific content
  • Utilize Google Docs for collaboration
  • Instructional Principles to guide teachers
  • Innovative Professional Development
  • Ongoing support
    • laptop loan program

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CSCS Instructional Principles

  1. Information is shared with the class online
  2. Teachers check on students’ understanding often
  3. Data from experiments and simulations is pooled
  4. Emphasize data analysis
  5. Students’ explanations are shared and compared

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goo.gl/oCPylT

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Collaboration via Slides

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Helping Teachers Learn CSCS

  • Workshops mostly didn’t work
  • “Teachers need to try so they can do” (Clemmer, yesterday)
  • Clinical PD
    • Real students
    • High tech classroom
    • Scaffolding and Feedback

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Two versions of PD

Lesson Development Workshop

  • teams develop a lesson
  • “Guest teaching” in summer class multiple times

Immersive Clinical PD

  • Teach a two week CSCS course
  • Meet every day to reflect and plan (RTC)

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SAMR Shifts in Teacher’s thinking

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Textbook use decreases

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Data analysis time increases

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csunscience.com

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this talk - goo.gl/7DDpZW