Sometimes, I just have to get things out of my system. The switch to digital a decade ago is one of those things. I mean really in my school system it was a total disaster, and I am not yet sure that we have that mastered yet. The digital platforms were clumsy and uninspiring then, and they kind of still are now. One day, short sighted leadership decided to limit our paper usage. We had ZERO plan for what came next. We were working for the Baldridge Award, and common sense didn’t play into that equation. We didn’t have enough devices. The devices we did have were about half system owned and about half student devices. We cobbled together a C- system of technology solutions. My school immediately suffered, and so did most all at-risk students. You see when we make mistakes at the system level, at-risk schools suffer first and suffer most. Very few had the training to execute this plan, and maybe nobody actually had a plan. So, here were the casualties of this muddleheaded move….
- Parent communication (and this is a problem which hasn’t been rectified at the elementary level) went into the crapper at the elementary level. Parents who had relied on home folders, papers being sent home on a regular basis, a weekly calendar, and permission slips all of the sudden had to rely on 4-5 different digital platforms. In many cases, there were no platforms. Parents were unable to support learning at school, because they literally had ZERO idea what was going on with their child at school. All school-to-home communication vanished when the “no paper” rule went into effect. I don’t think this problem has been fixed to this day. I still really don’t think most parents have any idea when tests are, when assignments are due, and what assignments are due.
- Electronic textbooks are awful. We had the unfortunate experience of having to use an electronic textbook during covid. Let me tell as a parent, I can’t think of a more boring way to deliver a Literacy program. It was just a brutal experience. It is a “how not to” when delivering educational content.
- Aspen. Gag. What a terrible way to report grades to families. I feel like I am using a late 1990s interface. Netscape anyone? I can hear the group think now in a Pee-Wee-Herman tone of course. “Hey, we found a great new student data system. It interfaces with TCAP better than PowerSchool. We have control of all of our student data.” Nope. Nope. Nope. It stinks. It is difficult to use. It is a pain to log into. Do we even have an app yet? Its presentation looks like it was derived from an Atari video game. PowerSchool is 100x easier to use. I know many don’t like it due to Pearson connections, but if it works…it works. The combination of removing student home folders and the adoption of Aspen has left parents in the dark for the better part of a decade. And do you want to guess what happens in at-risk schools when we cut parents out of the loop? Student learning drops. Parents working two jobs don’t have time to check Canvas, Dojo, Aspen, and other communication apps each day. If they have multiple kids, then double or triple that routine.
- Paper is not a bad thing. It was demonized. In fact, writing with one’s hands is a good thing. It uses parts of the brain which coordinate eye-hand coordination. It makes the brain work! It also provides, when in portfolio form, a great and easy way to add anecdotal comments which direct future learning. I get it. Digital is the future, but there are huge downfalls to digital only. The software interface just isn’t there yet. Plus, sitting on a computer all day probably isn’t the most healthy thing to do. I may write an entire post on that – issues with posture, eye problems, and many apps are written to be addictive. There is something refreshing about writing on paper. I think a happy medium can be reached between paper and digital.
- If building wifi is slow, digital is a problem. When we switched to all digital, our building wifi couldn’t handle it. One day I had an observation/walkthrough. My SmartBoard, which I used every day, quit working. Fortunately, as a veteran teacher, I had backups to the backup most days. But this was not an uncommon problem. Giant touchscreens would be preferable. And do I need to talk about how long it takes to get a SmartBoard bulb or electronic presentation device fixed?
We need to make sure that we have plans in place to help with major pivots in our educational process. This is often a major bottleneck when we change course in education. We just don’t ask this question, “What does this look like in three, five, and twenty years?” Dig through those test scores at at-risk schools prior to 2015. I bet you will find a 2-3 year time frame where multiple schools went on warning lists due to a total absence of parent communication from the school to the families. Instruction also was more limited than normal. The Baldridge Award doesn’t fix student learning gaps created by poorly planned initiatives. It just takes up space and gathers dust on a shelf ten years later.
Failure to plan is planning to fail. ~Pretty Much Every Teacher Out There
