NAIS - Technology Use in Independent Schools

A rapid convergence of global connectivity, easily accessible technology applications, and social networking platforms are redefining literacy and the classroom experience. How are independent schools responding to the technological and social changes that accompany these developments? To better understand how schools are managing and using technology, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) conducted a two-part survey in the spring and fall of 2007. The study investigated technology integration in the curriculum, faculty professional development, technology policies, staffing, and systems. This article highlights key findings from each of these areas. The complete survey reports are available on the NAIS website at www.nais.org.

Curriculum

Integrating technology into the curriculum can provide opportunities for collaborative and self-directed learning activities that would not otherwise be possible. Independent schools are harnessing these opportunities at all ages, throughout all grade levels. From Internet research to creating and using graphics to media literacy, schools are infusing technology throughout the curriculum. Table 1 lists the technology skills that are used most frequently at different grade levels. As students advance to middle school and high school, their use of a variety of technology skills greatly increases.

Table 1. Technology Skills Used by Grade Level
(Skills are listed in the order of how frequently they are used)
Grades 1 and 2	Using educational software
	Word processing
	Using the Internet and other digital sources for research
	Creating and using graphics/desktop publishing
Grades 3 and 4	Word processing
	Using the Internet and other digital sources for research
	Using educational software
	Creating multimedia presentations
	Creating and using graphics/desktop publishing
	Analyzing and evaluating digital, multimedia, and online resources/media literacy
Grades 5 and 6	Word processing
	Using the Internet and other digital sources for research
	Creating multimedia presentations
	Creating and using graphics/desktop publishing
	Using educational software
	Using spreadsheets
	Analyzing and evaluating digital, multimedia, and online resources/media literacy
	Creating digital video, audio, and/or photographic content
	Using individual e-mail accounts
Grades 7 and 8	Using the Internet and other digital sources for research
	Creating multimedia presentations
	Word processing
	Using spreadsheets
	Creating and using graphics/desktop publishing
	Analyzing and evaluating digital, multimedia, and online resources/media literacy
	Using educational software
	Creating digital video, audio, and/or photographic content
	Using individual e-mail accounts
	Using databases
	Developing web pages
Grades 9, 10, 11, and 12	Using the Internet and other digital sources for research
	Creating multimedia presentations
	Word processing
	Using spreadsheets
	Creating and using graphics/desktop publishing
	Using individual e-mail accounts
	Creating digital video, audio, and/or photographic content
	Analyzing and evaluating digital, multimedia, and online resources/media literacy
	Using educational software
	Using databases
	Computer programming
	Developing web pages
	Using class e-mail accounts for class projects
	Creating, viewing, and editing blogs

Web 2.0 communities offer new opportunities for teachers and students to connect and collaborate without regard to physical space and boundaries. These social networking platforms enable students and teachers to communicate, share resources in a variety of formats, and create or co-create new resources, information, and media. Extremely popular platforms such as YouTube, Moodle, podcasts, and blogs have become common classroom applications (see Figure 1). Many teachers turn to Teacher Tube, Ning, SecondLife, and Flickr for professional development and networking. Wikis have also become widely used for teaching and learning activities and for professional development.

Faculty Professional Development

Overall, independent schools demonstrate strong support in making technology resources and training available for faculty (see Figure 2). An overwhelming majority of schools make technology resources available for teachers to use throughout the school day (93 percent), supply a laptop or desktop for faculty to use at school (93 percent), make technology resources available for teachers to use after the school day has ended (89 percent), and supply a laptop or desktop for faculty to use at home (61 percent). Educational technology training opportunities are provided outside of the school (87 percent), through in-service training at the school (86 percent), through opportunities for faculty to share and teach each other about technology (68 percent), and through a designated technology staff person providing training to faculty (63 percent).

One-to-one schools (1:1), where each student has an individually assigned computer, are especially supportive of their faculty using technology. Ninety percent of 1:1 schools supply technology resources for faculty both at school and at their faculty members' homes. Including technology skills and proficiencies in faculty performance objectives and evaluations is also common at a number of 1:1 schools.

Policies

Internet safety and ethical and responsible online behavior are common concerns at K–12 schools. How are independent schools managing these complex issues? Online or on campus, independent schools work to instill a lasting set of values in their students. The emphasis that schools place on ethical and respectful conduct on campus is also expected of students, faculty, and staff when they are online. Schools use a variety of approaches to teach parents, students, and staff about the safe and appropriate use of technology (see Figure 3). The majority of responding schools offer parent workshops and seminars on these topics, and teach students about them in a specific class. They also provide print publications and incorporate information and training on these topics throughout the school's curriculum. A large number of schools also offer teacher seminars and workshops on these topics and provide online information through their school websites.

Acceptable use policies for students are in effect at close to 100 percent of independent schools. A majority of schools also have acceptable use policies for faculty (77 percent) and staff (74 percent). Cell phone use is addressed in many schools' acceptable use policies (68 percent) or in other school policies.

Many respondents' schools currently have or have had a formal technology integration plan. Most schools with formal technology integration plans evaluate these plans yearly, or every three years. Interestingly, at close to 38 percent of 1:1 schools, technology has become so infused throughout the schools that a formal technology plan is no longer needed.

Staffing

NAIS's Principles of Good Practice for Technology Use in Independent Schools suggest that the staff member responsible for technology at a school contribute leadership to the school's administrative team. How are independent schools staffing and structuring staff for technology? At many independent schools, the title of the highest-level technology staff person is director of technology, director of management information systems, or director of information technology. At a majority of schools, the highest-level technology position reports directly to the head of school. However, in some cases, the highest-level technology position reports to the chief financial officer or business manager.

In addition to employing a director of technology, MIS, or IT, many schools also employ full-time network administrators (64 percent), help desk/support technicians (51 percent), librarian/media specialists (49 percent), and computer teachers (48 percent). The number of full-time technology staff at schools varies greatly. Twenty-six percent of schools employ five or more in-house, full-time technology staff. Slightly more than 45 percent of schools employ two or fewer in-house technology staff. Most schools (70 percent) do not employ technology staff through an outsourcing arrangement. Students fill an important technology staffing role at some schools where they work as volunteer members of the technology staff (22 percent) or as employed, paid members of the technology staff (12 percent).

Systems

Microsoft products are the most widely used operating systems, web browsers, and e-mail clients at survey respondents' schools. Windows XP and Microsoft Internet Explorer are used by a majority of independent school students, faculty members, and administrators and Microsoft Outlook is the most widely used e-mail client for faculty members and administrators. However, Microsoft does not entirely dominate independent schools, as many students, faculty, and administrators use other operating systems, web browsers, and e-mail clients in addition to Microsoft products. Currently, a significant number of independent schools and their constituents are cross-platform technology users who are not entirely wedded to one platform.

Schools use a variety of computer types, including desktops, laptops, and tablets. At the time of this study, desktops were most popular for students and administrators and laptops or tablets were most popular for faculty, division heads, and heads of school. Most 1:1 schools have laptops or tablets available for each student (87 percent), faculty (95 percent), and administrator (81 percent) on a 24-hours-a-day/seven-days-a-week basis. Tablets have become popular at 1:1 schools, with 32 percent of 1:1 schools moving from laptops to tablets (13 percent), using tablets (12 percent), or using both laptops and tablets (7 percent).

Wireless connectivity is prevalent throughout independent schools. More than 60 percent of survey respondents' classrooms are wireless with students, faculty, and administrators accessing the Internet through wireless connections. For many schools, bandwidth is unmanaged and the primary connection is through a T1 line.

Future Directions

Global in their outreach, instantaneous in their ability to update and change, and democratic in the opportunities that they offer people to access, share, and create information and media, Web 2.0 social networking platforms are creating profound cultural shifts that will forever alter how we teach and interact with our students. Online social, participatory learning cultures — what John Seely Brown calls "open participatory learning ecosystems"¹ — are replacing the traditional "sage on the stage" concept. As Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum state in Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools²:

The shift to Web 2.0 tools can have a profound effect on schools and learning, causing a transformation in thinking. This will happen because the tools promote creativity, collaboration, and communication, and they dovetail with learning methods in which these skills play a part. For example, when students collaborate on a project and present what they've learned, they've honed their thinking and organizational skills. New tools enable that possibility.

The old way of doing this is presentation-driven; information is delivered and tested. This approach prepares students for jobs that require simply following directions and rote skills. The new way is collaborative, with information shared, discussed, refined with others, and understood deeply. It prepares students to become part of a nimble workforce that makes decisions and keeps learning as the workplace changes...

This new participatory learning paradigm, enhanced by social networking platforms, is evident in projects led by two 2008 NAIS Teachers of the Future. At Shorecrest Preparatory School (Florida), students in Wendy Drexler's third grade class designed a website to raise awareness and money for Darfur. As part of the Many Voices for Darfur Blogging Project, students "skyped" with other students to discuss Darfur and participated in a blog with almost 700 students from around the world. Together, these connected students shared information and resources, built a greater awareness about Darfur, and, through the blog, created a new resource that can be used and expanded by others.

At the Montessori School of Denver (Colorado), Chris Imhof's upper elementary students used social networking tools as part of an NAIS Challenge 20/20 program where they collaborated and worked with students from Zambia on malaria and infectious disease issues. Together, the students from Zambia and the Montesorri School of Denver developed a new malaria net designed to better protect young children. The Montessori School of Denver students are currently working to patent the net and to raise money to create more nets and materials for the students in Zambia. Through online social networking tools, these students co-created a community where they built a new, unique knowledge base that led to breakthrough thinking in malaria prevention.

At the time of this technology study, the first ripples of cultural shifts related to online social networking were making their way into independent school classrooms and culture. Independent schools provide teachers with the autonomy, freedom, and support necessary to experiment with and implement these new technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Through the hard work and creativity of innovative educators, the support of these educators, and technology policies grounded in school values, independent schools are uniquely positioned to take full advantage of the opportunities that these applications and future new technologies will offer.

Notes

1. Brown, John Seely and Richard P. Adler. Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0, EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 43, no. 1 (January/February 2008): 16–32.

2. Solomon, Gwen and Lynne Schrum. Excerpted from Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), 2007, Retrieved from ISTE website at www.iste.org/source/orders/excerpts/newtoo.pdf., 2007, Page 16.