Learning Partner Profile
Lindsey Kehrt
Preperation
What are some of the key concepts and ideas we should consider as we begin working with our learning partners?
When we begin working with our learning partners I think we have to first know what works best for us as individuals and know our boundaries and limitations before meeting our partners. I think it is also important for us to learn about the particular environment that the students work in on a daily basis so we know how to accommodate their needs. I also think that it is important for us to know what type of pervious technology experience the teacher and students have had before just diving in to things. I think that the best way for us to prepare for this is to get to know the schools we are working with a little better and maybe have a list of questions ready to ask our learning partners when we very first meet them. We can also share different ideas around the class to help one another be more prepared to meet our learning partners.
Initially meeting
Monday February 9th was that very first time that Kelsie and I meet with our learning partners. When we got there we expected to be meeting with all four of them but were only able to meet with two of them because one had a substitute that day and another is a swim coach so we were told that we would rarely meet with her. We meet with Kelly Sloan and Sari Harris who are both third grade teachers. My initial impression was that they already had a lot of knowledge about technology. Mrs. Sloan had previously taught at an all technology-based school for three years before she came to Burris. Mrs. Harris was aware of the importance of technology in the classroom as well as noting how her students were going to need these skills to in order to function in the real world. Her first request was for us to find a key boarding application for her students that would help them as they move on to fourth and filth grade. At the next meeting when we were about to meet with the 4th grade teacher LeighAnn Canada she had technology knowledge as the other two teachers. They're request of us were things like finding quality apps and web sight for certain subject areas in their classrooms.
Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory
When it comes to Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory, which seeks to explain at what rate new ideas and technology spread in the classroom. Roger believed that four main stages that influence the spread of new ideas, technology, and innovation. These stages are knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. I believe that Kelly Sloan and Sari Harris are at the implementation stage. This stage states that the individual employs the innovation to a varying degree depending on the situation. During this stage the individual also determines the usefulness of the innovation and many search for further information about it. I placed the learning partners in this stage because they know and understand technology and are just looking for us to help further their knowledge by finding apps and different ways to present projects that are geared more towards technology.
The Implementation Bridge
The implementation bridge refers to “important considerations about changes in education and appreciating the complexity, sophistication, and subtlety of most of today’s innovations.” It is important for us to remember that as teachers we are not all technology expects and there are going to be times where implementing something new many not come easy to us. I think that this came into play for Mrs. Sloan when she came to Burris because Burris is an all Mac school, while the school she was at before was all run on PC laptops. The creator of this bridge created it to provide a bridge to facilitate teachers and schools progress on integrating technology across a widely used bridge. The bridge is laid out as levels of use (LoU), which describes the current state of each implementer. Innovation configurations (IC) this category takes into consideration that different types of innovations can exist in different classrooms with a school or school system. And stages of concern (SoC), or how concerned the teacher is with the implementation of new technology. I believe that the two teachers we initially met with fall under LoC routine, SoC task, and IC “c” configuration, in which students sporadically used the laptops.