Part of the answer to this challenge can be found in the competencies found in our Portrait of a 21st Century Learner. Collaboration and innovation are critical to a solution to this question. In addition, using the online applications that are available to us to collaborate digitally. This is evident in the direction that many of the Post Secondary Institutions around the world are demonstrating with their leadership in this area.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was one of the first schools to put all of their courses online for free in their MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) site. When they first started this it was to provide the global community with an opportunity to have access to first class courses. Soon they started a consortium as part of this site that now incorporates over 250 universities and organizations around the world to make available over 13,000 courses in more than 20 languages, unprecedented access to learning for our global community.

Recently, Kevin Wttewaall Director of Technology, showed me a relatively new site for open couse sharing called Coursera (these are MOOC environments ). Coursera only started about a year ago at Stanford University. Presently they have over 3,000,000 users and over 60 universities and colleges, including the university of Toronto, providing course content. These courses can in some instances be used for college credit. Finally, there is Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) which is a massive list of free online courses.

Why do I reference these initiatives a a solution for our challenge of how to manage digital resources. I believe that this example of open collaboration can serve as a model for what we can potentially achieve in Rocky View Schools and beyond. This approach by the universities is a real movement towards the democratization of knowledge globally. They have used the digital platforms available to them to collaborate globally on an unprecedented level. We can also use the digital applications and platforms that are available to us provincially and within the jurisdiction to share our resources on a new scale.

Many of you have recently been made aware of the Collaborative Online Resource Environment (CORE) project where RVS in working with four other school jurisdictions to develop an online environment to access and share digital learning resources. One of the features that people may not realize is the ability of staff and eventually students to post digital content, videos, moodle content, lesson and unit plans and other resources. Our own ability to share content openly.

Many of our high school and middle school teachers are familiar with the power of Moodle as a learning management system. Realistically, we could be using it far more effectively. We need to work to ensure that the instructional design of our online courses remains high. This is best done collaboratively. Within the RVS moodle site their are many teachers building content for the same courses. I refer to this as engaging in parallel play. We need to develop a master course as a starting point for these online courses. A master course that is in a good instructional design format with many of the interactive aspects of the course already built in. This will give teachers a starting point to build even stronger online courses to support student learning and their courses. We need to pull these courses to the moodle hub and make them available in an open format. Teachers need to have the confidence that the materials and courses that they are developing are worth sharing in this format.

If we are able to move in this direction we will not have to rely on licensing agreements with large corporations to maintain quality digital resources. E-textbooks would not really be necessary as the content for our courses collaboratively developed and placed in object formats either in CORE or a LMS like moodle. The resources are already available to us through resource collections found on the internet. Sites such as NASA, NFB, Merlot and others have highly reliable course content. Through collaboration we can access the best digital resources from these sites to populate our courses.

Traditional classroom instruction would have the teacher deliver a lesson face to face, possibly lecture style and then have the students start applying the learning and complete the application at home for home work. A flipped classroom would have the teacher deliver the instruction asynchronously through videos, podcasts blogs or wikis. The students then acquire the learning concept by viewing or listening to the information while at home outside of the classroom. They may summarize their learning through online collaboration tools within Learning Management Systems (LMS). The teacher or other students can provide feedback increasing the collaboration in the instructional part of the learning. Students can replay the videos or podcasts multiple times until they learn the concept. Once they return to class they are ready to apply the new knowledge through carefully designed projects or authentic learning situations under the guidance of the teacher.

Presently one of the most well known advocates of the flipped classroom is Salman Khan the creator of the Khan Academy. In 2004 he began making videos of math lessons for his cousins and then began to see the power of having them complete the lessons on their own first and then use him to help them apply the concepts and reach a deeper understanding through application, analysis and evaluation of the learning. The Khan academy now has over 3300 videos and lessons on math, chemistry, physics, art history, astronomy and many more. The lessons are also provided at a variety of levels from elementary school through to university in many of these disciplines. Presently, it provides some of the best instructional support for teachers and students who want to examine the benefits of a flipped classroom or just provide access to 24/7 learning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gM95HHI4gLk

A number of teachers at all levels of teaching from kindergarten through to university that are now using this form of instruction. Some teachers feel strongly that that they should develop their own videos or podcasts rather than using the content that is available in other digital collections. Their thinking is that they are more likely to be more committed to changing their practice if they develop their own lessons. In addition they feel that it makes a better connection with their students when they are seen on the video. And finally they feel that they can better customize the lesson to the direction that they may want to take once the students return to the classroom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jMfSLXluiSE

There are a number teachers in Rocky View Schools (RVS) who have utilized the principles of flipped or inverted classrooms within their schools. I am impressed how purposefully these teachers have thought about the introduction and implementation of this strategy into their practice.

Certainly RVS also has the capacity to support this shift in practice should teachers wish to introduce this ideology into their teaching repertoire. What I mean by that is RVS has moodle as a supported Learning Management System (LMS) to host digital lesson content, they have several schools supporting bring your own devices (1 to 1) technologies in the classroom and they have access to video production, wikis, and blogs to assist with producing these lessons. Finally they have 21^st Learning Specialists who are familiar with the principles of this approach and are willing to support teachers and assist them if they would like to explore this practice in their classrooms.

This is why I continually say that we are in very exciting times in education today!

Alberta Educations vision is as follows;

All students are inspired to achieve success and fulfillment as engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit.

The newly developed Alberta Education model as a Framework for Student Learning now focuses on numeracy, literacy and the 21st Century competencies. This model and the comprehensive description of the competencies will be used for all future curriculum development and decisions. It is important for educators to be aware of this new direction and to examine how it is going to influence our practice today and  the future. I encourage you to read this document.

http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/framework.aspx

Alberta Education has indicated that each school jurisdiction should develop their own Framework for for student learning. I believe RVS has already developed a framework and continues to work to implement changes to instruction that align themselves with the teaching of 21st Century competencies.

RVS has a comprehensive Learning Model that puts the improving learning for every learner at the centre of what we do in RVS.

The Learning Model together with the Portrait of a 21st Century Learner already encompasses all of the aspects of the Alberta Education model.

However, the RVS framework is more encompassing than just the model and the portrait. We have developed a comprehensive Three Year Plan (3YP) that identifies outcomes and strategies we need to accomplish to get to our vision and mission as a school jurisdiction. RVS has put into place organizational structures to ensure we communicate this plan to parents, students, staff and community members. A comprehensive plone site is maintained at both the division and school levels to provide access to a variety of essential and current information. In addition, there are structures in place assisting us in working on the strategies such as School Education Plan meetings (SEP), School Annual Results Report meetings (SARR), and  Superintendent Working Committees that are working towards the implementation of the 3YP.

Another integral part of the RVS framework is professional learning. RVS is one of only a few school jurisdictions that sees the need for staff to have ten professional learning days built into their school year. As RVS staff know these are divided into school based professional learning days and to division wide Communities of Practice days. The schools are doing excellent work with their professional learning days by collaborating and sharing best practices within the school. In addition, schools have really used their AISI initiatives to improve teaching and learning within their learning communities. The Community of Practice days in RVS are designed to; engage in a process of collective learning in a shared domain, enrich the learning environment for ALL students in Rocky View, and empower ourselves as professionals to work collaboratively.

RVS also have provided opportunity for schools to apply for Innovation and Excellence funds to accelerate the transformation and improvement of pedagogy in RVS.  The proposals are designed to focus on improving student learning through innovative strategies and practice. The innovation grant applications focus more on emerging technologies and how they can improve learning. The excellence grants use technology but focus more on school wide improvements to pedagogy. Each successful proposal must complete some action research that is posted at the end of the project to share their learning.

RVS also sees themselves as a research organization. We have a research committee that receives numerous requests to complete research within RVS each year. Additionally, we have our own action research that is carried out through the Innovation and Excellence projects as well as the current Change Agent initiatives.

RVS has provided teachers with centralized supports through our 21st Century learning coaches. These coaches are available to assist with the understanding and implementation of the learning model and transforming practice. These individuals also are responsible for a variety of other duties that impact teaching and learning at the classroom level. They are responsible for the development of the digital resource collection, managing Moodle, Mahara, e-pearl, google apps, curriculum and assessment, learner services and a variety of learning supports that are accessed by teachers, students and staff every day. Furthermore, they can assist staff to learn how these supports and applications can be used to improve learning for every learner in RVS.

This blog  entry has been a short snapshot of the framework for student learning that has been in place in RVS since the development of our first three year plan. The framework is put in place to create alignment and focus with the provincial initiatives, the jurisdictional priorities and the vision and mission of each school, for the purpose of improving learning for each learner in RVS. RVS is a very progressive school jurisdiction that is well on its way to transforming teaching and learning.To learn more about the various aspects of the framework mentioned in this article please explore RVS corporate plone site.   http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/

The SWC on Learning is currently developing a Learner Profile for Rocky View Schools that eventually will be available through our new Student Information System (SIS), Power School. This committee has put in numerous hours to research and review what some schools and other jurisdictions are currently using that relevant to this topic. In addition, they have read the current literature available around learner profiles.

This research has been used to develop a potential prototype for trial next September. There is more work being done to refine this example and ensure the final product is reflective of all of the elements that RVS would like to see in their Divisional Learner Profile that will eventually be used by all schools.

Once the prototype has been put in Power School and tested out and reviewed by a few schools it will be available for all schools to begin using it beginning September 2013.

This committee has also been given the task of developing a standard reporting process for Rocky View Schools. The goal is to have a standardized reporting process implemented for September 2013 at the same time the Learner Profile will become available.

The work around the Learner Profile has led to some tremendous philosophical discussions around what a 21^st Century reporting process needs to look like. It was important for the elements of Learner Profile to be identified before establishing the reporting process.

As part of the Action on Inclusion initiative Alberta Education made a call for school jurisdictions to assist with the change through participating by becoming a Change Agent for Action on Inclusion. This has the potential to be a brilliant initiative, allowing the school jurisdictions to work with each other and Alberta Education to prototype some examples of good inclusive practice.

Rocky View Schools (RVS – http://www.rockyview.ab.ca/)  in both their last and current three-year plans included the goal  “Learners have their Individuals Needs Met” One of the current outcomes under that goal is to ensure  learning environments are designed to be universally accessible where all student have the opportunity for success. This goal and outcome were natural starting points for RVS to be part of the Change Agent Project with Alberta Education. RVS applied to be one of twelve school jurisdictions in the province to be a Change Agent for Action on Inclusion and was successful with their proposal.

Rocky View Schools is very purposeful in their language in discussing and ensuring inclusive learning environments. We are deliberately creating universal learning environments that ensure all students have the opportunity for success. We focus on engaging the learner and personalizing the learning to motivate and encourage the learner. Then we seek to support this learning environment with emerging technologies to ensure access, personalization and individualization of the learning. Rocky View Schools has used their learning model to place the learner at the centre of the learning process for several years now. The learning model then uses Universal Design for Learning, Understanding by Design and Balanced Assessment in concert to support the learning process.

Currently, our 21^st Century Learning Specialist Joan Kollowyn is the lead of our Change Agent Project. Joan is working with seven schools that are developing strong universal learning environments in their schools. Each of the schools has a slightly different focus on how to develop these inclusive learning environments. Some of the possible topics that are being explored include personalization of learning, learner profiles, student portfolios, emerging technologies that support learning and comprehensive learning supports for improved literacy. To find out more about any of these projects contact Rocky View Schools!

This is an opportunity for school administrators to learn about and play with the emerging technologies of the day. RVS 21^st Century Learning coaches and staff organize a variety of topics for administrators to choose from and learn about in more depth. These sessions are self – select and participants can choose a topic of interest and at their level of knowledge. Potential topics include, Google Apps, Moodle, Mahara portfolios, Wikis, and a variety of others.

These sessions are a great way for the jurisdiction to assist school administration in staying current with the rapid pace of the development of emerging technologies. At a presentation earlier this month at the Jurisdictional Technologies Contacts conference one speaker indicated that the technologies that we use, at the software level, are changing every one to three years.

RVS is very fortunate to have a strong group of committed leaders guiding their schools in 21^st century learning.

The stakeholders groups were asked about current educational practice and challenged to determine what students needed for their learning for 2007 until 2011 and beyond. What we found was that students wanted education to be relevant and to engage them. Furthermore, the students needed to think critically, be self – directed learners and be contributors to the global community.

In response RVS developed its Portrait of a 21st Century Learner. This identifies the attributes students need to be successful in the future.

This three – year plan was highly successful. Recently, I was asked what would a person visiting a classroom today see that was different from three years ago. Once I started to think about the response to this question I realized RVS has changed dramatically. The facilities have changed, every teacher has a laptop and every classroom has an LCD projector. Students and teachers have access to digital resources to support their learning on a daily basis and many classrooms (600+) have access to interactive white board technology. Teachers can develop multimedia lessons on their laptops to be displayed on the interactive white board. Students can physically manipulate digital resources on the whiteboard surface. In our classrooms you can find iPads, iPods, iTouches, full wireless internet, video conferencing equipment, student laptop carts and a variety of computers. Our students have many more engaging learning opportunities.

However, other changes have struck me as equally important. This includes the learning and collaboration that has taken place among our teachers. Many schools have Wikis and Blogs that are used as professional learning sites for teachers to collaborate. Teachers are involved in Communities of Practice and ongoing professional learning. They are cooperating at a much higher level than before and their learning has been accelerated.

Yes, the classrooms of today are very different than three years ago. RVS as you know has started planning cycle two for a newly constructed three-year plan. This time we need to continue to enrich our learners by: Raising Consciousness, Focusing Attention, Triggering Imagination and Creating Meaning!

So the next question is what is the pedagogy necessary to teach these learners in this information rich century? RVS Learning Department has developed the RVS Learning Model as a construct to frame what we think should be the methodology for teaching and learning in our classrooms. The Learning Model has Improving Learning for Each Learner as the centre focus of the model. The model contains three key strategies. Universal Design for Learning develops accessible learning. Understanding by Design frames the planning process and Balanced Assessment guides assessment of learning.  http://podcasting.rockyview.ab.ca/groups/rvslearningmodel/

Universal Design for Learning (CAST http://www.cast.org/ )provides an accessible learning environment in every classroom to ensure every student can be successful. Understanding by Design is a planning process enabling teachers to focus on designing engaging and authentic learning. Teachers are encouraged to use student centred inquiry or problem- based designed learning. Balanced Assessment incorporates assessment of learning, assessment for learning and assessment as learning to gain an insight into student learning.Using the learning model RVS teachers then plan purposefully for engaging lessons and classrooms. We want classrooms that use engaging online and digital resources to support teaching and learning. We want the instruction to be multi – modal. We want students to represent their learning in a variety of modalities as well.