Edina Digital Age Learning

February 22 at Valley View Middle School , I held the last orientation meeting for the "Go Wireless" Bring Your Own Technology Initiative for this school year. We currently have around 130 students, about 10% of the population bringing their own technology to school at Valley View. On March 1st, we will hold a similar student/parent orientation at South View Middle School . At each training session, I ask students about their hopes on how the laptop will enhance their learning. You can see their comments in the image on the right. While 130 devices in a school of 1300 may not seem like much, our Director of Media and Technology Services, Steve Buettner pointed out that it represents 4 computer labs coming to school each day! It's rewarding to see all of the students connect to the network right away and have access to the survey and other resources they now have access to in the classroom. Our district tech staff continues to improve the infrastructure to make t...

On Friday, February  18 th , Twin Cities Public Television aired a program  entitled, Digital Media: New Learners of the 21 st Century . From  the tpt Website: “Targeted at parents, teachers and  anyone concerned with education in America, this documentary takes viewers to the front lines of an education revolution. "Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century" examines how mobile devices and digital media practices can empower young people to direct their own learning. Documenting five success stories both inside and out of the classroom, the program demonstrates how digital media, games, smart phones and the Internet are fundamentally transforming the way young people communicate, collaborate, participate and learn in the 21st century.” Several staff and parents watched the program, and chatted about it   here . You may view the program in it's  entirety  below: Watch the full episode . See more Digital Media - New Learners Of Th...

Here is a note we sent out this week to parents, teachers and students. I'm looking forward to the conversation! Edina Parents, Teachers and Students , On Friday, February 18 th , Twin Cities Public Television will be airing a program entitled, Digital Media: New Learners of the 21 st Century at 8:30 p.m. (The program will also are on tpt 2.3 at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 19) From the tpt Website : “Targeted at parents, teachers and anyone concerned with education in America, this documentary takes viewers to the front lines of an education revolution. "Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century" examines how mobile devices and digital media practices can empower young people to direct their own learning. Documenting five success stories both inside and out of the classroom, the program demonstrates how digital media, games, smart phones and the Internet are fundamentally transforming the way young people communicate, collaborate, participate ...

Families who are members of The Choice Is Yours program in Edina are provided with a laptop computer and Internet access. Mary Manderfeld, Assistant Director of Administrative Services who administers the program notes: One of the barriers the Choice is Yours (CIY) students and families may face in Edina Public Schools is access to computers and the Internet. Each year Edina High School and Middle Schools are increasing their use of technology within the classroom setting. Many classes are placing their entire syllabus with all homework assignments online. The academic registration process at Edina High School is completely online at this point. Families and students need to have Internet access in order to register in a timely fashion for classes the following year. By having a computer, families are also able to log in to theirs student’s academic information to see grades, missing assignments and other vital academic requirements. Families and students who do not have a c...

January 26th, Educators in Edina met for an "Engaged and Inspired Student Summit" with the purpose of: To create the ‘Edina definition’ for ‘21st Century Skills’ AND Ask staff to identify where such skills are currently in place within our students’ learning experiences AND Share a common understanding for use in communication and curriculum/instructional design AND Consider what technology has to do with it Dr. Dressen started off our discussion today, asking us to cross out 21st Century skills on our packet and replace it with 22nd. Students in our classroom will be living in the 22nd century, and our discussion today needs to reflect that. He noted that learning is no longer linear, and we need to embrace that fact. Dr. Jenni Norlin-Weaver then led us in a discussion, where each of us had a piece of art, and we were asked to identify how it might be used in the classroom. We then viewed the following RSA Animate video, on Sir Ken Robinson's ideas. Dr. Bruce Locklear, E...

This fall, 29 teachers from Edina embarked on a Teaching and Technology Certificate program through Hamline University . Funded through a grant from the Edina Education Fund , the teachers started the program in a course called, Creating Community for All Learners . Through the course, they worked to form their own community, gained understanding of the importance of sharing , and how technology can be used to connect and collaborate. We created a hashtag on Twitter ( #edinatt ), and invited participants to share with one another. The course was delivered in a "blended" format of face to face and online, and the participants described their learning experience as: One of the activities involved creating their own metaphor for educational technology. The examples cohort members came up with ranged from a steamroller, an 8th grade boy and running a marathon to a rainbow, rain on a farmers field and a tapestry! A definite highlight was the final face to face session, where gro...

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Educon 2.1 Conference at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. One of the highlights for me was the chance to tour the school and sit in on classrooms to learn some of the pedagogy that makes SLA so unique. One of the classrooms I visited, was Diana Laufenberg's Government Class. Students were sharing their stories from public meetings they had attended and were sharing their learning. Last month, Laufenberg presented at the TEDxMidAtlantic Conference . In the talk, she shares the story of learning from the perspective of her grandmother, father, herself, and now her students. In her grandmother's world, school was where you had to go to "get the information." She points out that today, that is no longer the case. By asking students questions, allowing them to make mistakes, asking them what they can do with the information, we can offer a richer learning experience. She challenges us to provide experientia...