Legislature(2017 - 2018)BUTROVICH 205
02/27/2017 08:00 AM Senate EDUCATION
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Presentation: Preparing Teachers and Administrators for a Virtual Education Setting | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 27, 2017
8:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Shelley Hughes, Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Tom Begich
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Cathy Giessel
Senator John Coghill
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION: PREPARING TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR A
VIRTUAL EDUCATION SETTING
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
PETE LAFRANCE, Education Technologist
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Representing himself, presented information
on preparing teachers and administrators for a virtual education
setting.
ANDREW CHLUP, Educational Technologist
Anchorage School District
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Representing himself, presented information
on preparing teachers and administrators for a virtual education
setting.
ACTION NARRATIVE
8:00:56 AM
CHAIR SHELLEY HUGHES called the Senate Education Standing
Committee meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Begich, Stevens, and Chair Hughes. Senators
Coghill and Giessel were excused.
^PRESENTATION: PREPARING TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR A
VIRTUAL EDUCATION SETTING
PRESENTATION: PREPARING TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS FOR A
VIRTUAL EDUCATION SETTING
8:01:25 AM
CHAIR HUGHES announced a presentation on preparing teachers and
administrators for a virtual education setting, from the IT
perspective. The presenters from the Anchorage School District
will be speaking from their personal experience, rather than on
behalf of the district. They will be speaking from both
management and staff levels of an organization. They may provide
insight on the differences between teaching in a virtual
classroom versus a live one.
8:02:47 AM
PETE LAFRANCE, Education Technologist, Anchorage School
District, representing himself, presented information on
preparing teachers and administrators for a virtual education
setting. He noted working in a virtual world is a big change for
educators. He shared his teaching and IT experience in a variety
of educational settings. He now works as a technology
collaborator at Mirror Lake Middle School where he helps
teachers use technology effectively and teaches a video
production class.
He recalled memories of connecting with teachers, the heart of a
good education. One of the biggest challenges of teaching in a
virtual world is to open the doors to interpersonal connections.
He noted the importance of teacher training as it relates to
virtual education. The biggest predictor of success with virtual
education is the teacher training component, which includes
supervision. Another component for success in a virtual
classroom is for the teacher to set appropriate expectations and
concrete goals.
8:09:28 AM
SENATOR BEGICH spoke of discussions of virtual education
approaches with presenters from Florida and New York. He said in
times of budget crisis the availability of courses is affected.
He asked whether expanding coarse options due to technology is a
benefit.
8:10:25 AM
MR. LAFRANCE said yes. He provided examples of specialty courses
in Luxemburg International School made available due to
technology in education. They were a huge benefit to the high-
achieving students. He cautioned that it becomes more difficult
to offer low-achieving students appropriate courses.
8:11:59 AM
SENATOR BEGICH referred to a discussion about what a teacher
needs to know about technology in education to incorporate it
into the classroom. He asked if Mr. LaFrance was aware of
teacher training courses, instruction, or in-services.
MR. LAFRANCE spoke of his own master's program in education
technology at Michigan State University. He stressed the
importance of the teacher's role. The Anchorage School District
offers a program called iSchool for learning technology. He
noted the problem is that technology is always changing.
Creating habits of mind in teachers and helping them see
technology skills as an evolving process is also important.
Having continual exposure to technology tools and effective
teaching models are important to teacher training.
8:15:52 AM
CHAIR HUGHES pictured a virtual professional development course
showing ineffective and effective teaching.
SENATOR BEGICH added the importance of learning by doing.
He spoke about the importance of levels of readiness when
exposing students to virtual learning. It includes a lot of
teacher interaction with the lower ages, and more technology
learning at the upper grades. He pointed out that some students
can't learn that way. He asked when it is most appropriate to
introduce different levels of technology.
8:17:51 AM
MR. LAFRANCE agreed that learning is related to brain
development. At the International School in Luxemburg students
participated at their own level. At the elementary level there
was a slow introduction to learning the tools; later, students
were able to engage with the curriculum; by 4th grade, students
were creating their own curriculum, such as a video project. He
added that middle school students can create cross curricular
projects. He stressed the importance of parent training with
technology education.
8:21:57 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he has heard exciting things in virtual
education, but he did not think virtual education necessarily
provides a cost savings. He wondered whether it is an enhanced
means of education or a cost savings.
8:23:00 AM
MR. LAFRANCE shared his experience managing a technology budget
and suggested that cost savings should not be the main reason
for using technology. He maintained that technology programs
don't cost less if they are done well initially. Later on there
may be cost savings, but initially there are costs for
equipment, training, and staffing. His focus has always been on
maintaining the quality of education.
SENATOR STEVENS recalled the importance books used to have in
homes, whereas, today parents need to be educated to support
their students in the virtual world. He wondered how to reach
the lower achieving, unmotivated student with technology.
8:27:27 AM
MR. LAFRANCE agreed that some students do not do well with
technology unless a teacher is present. A classroom teacher
knows more about a student than a virtual teacher in a virtual
classroom. He agreed it is a difficult question. Different
modalities, the use of creativity, and the chance to explore a
student's own interest sometimes helps.
8:29:58 AM
CHAIR HUGHES agreed there is a lot of initial upfront cost. She
said she looks at technology in education as increasing the
quality of education by increasing the access to some great
teachers and course offerings.
8:30:49 AM
At ease
8:32:46 AM
CHAIR HUGHES brought the meeting back to order.
She pictured a school in rural Alaska with 25 students, multiple
grades, and one teacher who has been trained in some content
areas. She noted that scenario is a focus of hers - to use
technology in the classroom to gain access to more good teachers
and course offerings.
She asked whether two-way, virtual, synchronous education is
good for low-achieving students if the teacher is virtual, but
there is support provided by a local instructional aide. She
wondered if a technical aid would also be needed.
She noted that the estimated turnover cost per teacher is about
$50,000. The turnover rate in villages is quite high. She
inquired if Mr. LaFrance thinks the scenario she proposed would
be successful.
8:36:24 AM
MR. LAFRANCE agreed it was a good scenario to think about. He
opined that the two-way model could work well in that diverse
rural classroom with local aides. He thought technology was
reliable enough today that a technician would not be needed. He
agreed that some low-achieving students do better with
technology than in the regular classroom. It also opens the door
to high-achieving students. He spoke of a project-based charter
school where he worked that challenged students at the
appropriate level.
8:40:15 AM
CHAIR HUGHES wondered whether curious children can be directed
to seek out and read information on the internet.
MR. LAFRANCE agreed that it could be motivating to search
information independently. It does demand a basic level of
information literacy and navigation skills.
SENATOR BEGICH pointed out that Dan Walker is trying to connect
technology in small villages with homes. He thought that model
was interesting.
CHAIR HUGHES hoped it would increase conversations in the home.
8:43:22 AM
SENATOR STEVENS recalled that during his time as a professor and
as a legislator, the world of technology has changed
drastically. He asked Mr. LaFrance what he envisions for the
future.
8:44:13 AM
MR. LAFRANCE spoke of a diffusion into multiple devices, always-
available devices with ubiquitous access to the internet. He
predicted that there will be more operating systems, such as
Chrome in the Cloud, that are less demanding, less expensive,
with multiple options and easier interaction.
SENATOR STEVENS thanked Mr. LaFrance for his answer.
CHAIR HUGHES thought there also might be holograms in the
future. She thanked Mr. LaFrance.
8:48:03 AM
ANDREW CHLUP, Educational Technologist, Anchorage School
District, representing himself, presented information on
preparing teachers and administrators for a virtual education
setting. He spoke of his experience with virtual and blended
learning schools and teacher training.
He listed three considerations when working from a district
perspective with virtual schooling. The first is access -
devices and bandwidth. The greatest limiter in Alaska is
bandwidth. The second is appropriate course materials. There are
strong materials in the middle school to high school range,
decent materials in the intermediate grade levels (3-5), but
very few independent study practices in the lower grade levels.
The second consideration with virtual education is the balance
between competency-based courses, such as Algebra I, versus
experience-based materials, such as performance. The competency-
based course involves progression based on skill mastery versus
seat time.
He drew attention to the third consideration with virtual
education, student support models. He spoke of bi-furcation of
teaching duties in the virtual classroom; a content area expert
to assist students and/or a success coach to motivate and
support the student. The traditional classroom teacher fulfilled
both roles. They found that self-driven courses needed a success
coach to motivate the student and provide context.
8:53:23 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked whether an instructional aide could be the
success coach in rural schools, and what kind of training that
person would need.
8:53:49 AM
MR. CHLUP related that there were several learning models, such
as blended models, with the use of paraprofessional or
classified staff, but with counseling skills. In small rural
schools the aides could bring cultural context into their roles.
He suggested that they would need a few years of preparation to
learn how to support the students and parents.
8:55:09 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how to provide an education to those who
wish to remain in a substance lifestyle. He wondered if distance
learning contributes to loss of population in rural villages.
8:56:14 AM
MR. CHLUP spoke of his experience on the Navaho Reservation when
he did his master's program. One of his peers from the Navaho
Reservation said that educational technology enabled students to
remain on the reservation and have a blended modern/traditional
lifestyle.
He opined that in 20 years artificial intelligence will put
everyone out of jobs. The people who will be best equipped for
the modern world will be the deep thinkers and artists. There
are traditional and philosophical understandings throughout the
world; with technology a person can work from anywhere.
Traditional understandings become problematic when connected to
large scale courses, such as an adaptive learning system geared
toward a typical understanding of the world. However, the
opposite can be true as well; personalized courses can be
developed with a Native understanding of the world and still
address academics.
8:58:43 AM
SENATOR BEGICH said that is the question he has been asking
superintendents. He maintained that there is a third choice
beyond college and vocational education, those who wish to
remain in the village. Two superintendents, one from the Bering
Strait School District and one from the Lower Yukon School
District are developing curriculum criteria that accommodates
those who wish to stay in their villages. He has asked the
superintendents and the commissioner to work together before the
State Board finishes its planning process. He predicted
something would come out of the discussion.
9:00:15 AM
SENATOR STEVENS said he has seen the expansion of awareness of
the Yupik cultural in Kodiak.
CHAIR HUGHES commented that learning Native skills might provide
village students the best of both worlds.
She asked Mr. Chlup to address the questions asked of Mr.
LaFrance.
9:01:43 AM
MR. CHLUP stated that the biggest advantage to virtual learning
is access to a variety of other coursework. He referred to
Clayton Christensen's work out of Harvard, "Disrupting
Education," describing a spectrum of zero technology access to a
course that is only 80 percent as good as having a face-to-face
teacher, to multiple opportunities. He suggested that was an
important piece to consider when adding technology - something
is always better than nothing.
He commented on teacher training. He noted a group out of
California working on "Leading Edge Certification", a free
educational resource for training educators in technology. Also,
visualpromise.org offers micro-credential, competency-based
checks for online educator training.
9:04:02 AM
MR. CHLUP addressed student readiness - he highlighted the skill
of executive function as a level of readiness and how to prepare
kids for that.
He stressed the importance of parent involvement in K-8 online
education programs.
He turned to the topic of cost savings as it relates to online
education. "The Chronicle of Higher Education" did a comparison
of course fees and found that higher end courses cost the same
or higher than regular courses. He said in his previous district
they saved costs on competency-based courses. However, there are
many cost factors to consider in a cost analysis, such as
teacher training, curriculum, devices, and bandwidth. Some of
the cost shifted to parents, depending on how much bandwidth and
devices the district provided to families.
9:06:11 AM
MR. CHLUP discussed how to activate low-performing students. He
noted the importance of relevance - whether a student is
connecting with the curriculum. He agreed that some students are
excited by online work, and some don't like it. He pointed out
that different types of students perform well in blended
programs, such as autistic students who are at different levels
in various subjects.
9:07:11 AM
MR. CHLUP brought up areas of concern. There is a very small
amount of data around the success of student online learning,
especially for special education. There is also little data on
graduation rates. There are problems with students hopping from
one online school to another resulting in lack of credit
acquisition and low graduation rates. He stressed the importance
of tracking overall success.
9:08:43 AM
CHAIR HUGHES suggested a success coach/counselor could help in
that situation.
9:08:59 AM
SENATOR BEGICH summarized that for student hopping there is a
need for a process in place to track a student who goes from
program to program. There is also a need to develop a special
education tracking system.
MR. CHLUP said yes, those are both key considerations.
9:09:58 AM
SENATOR STEVENS inquired what the future holds.
MR. CHLUP used the term "adaptive," a blend of what computers do
well and what humans do well. Computers are good for rote
learning and humans are good with learning as a social activity.
Students need to learn to contribute to their communities and to
society. Virtual learning struggles with the social aspects of
learning. He predicted a balance between the two provided by an
educator.
SENATOR BEGICH offered an example of planet searching where
scientists do not use algorithms because a human's ability to
see minute changes is unsurpassed.
9:12:06 AM
CHAIR HUGHES asked whether asynchronous competency-based
programs might provide cost savings. She referred to
synchronous, performance-based virtual courses, such as those in
the Copper River School District, and asked about the potential
for increased quality of curriculum, as well as cost savings.
9:13:36 AM
MR. CHLUP said it depends on the competency of the classified
staff. He wondered, depending on course areas, whether the
students could do as well without teacher-directed instruction.
His experience is that synchronous learning relies on direct
instruction due to the limits of technology.
9:15:17 AM
CHAIR HUGHES responded that the teacher uses interactive tools,
not just direct instruction.
She thanked the presenters and made announcements.
9:16:38 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Hughes adjourned the Senate Education Standing Committee
at 9:16 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| iNACOL-State-Policy-Frameworks-2015-1.pdf |
SEDC 2/27/2017 8:00:00 AM |
|
| Equity Matters 2016 - Executive Summary.pdf |
SEDC 2/27/2017 8:00:00 AM |