Avoiding Scanning Implementation Heartburn Bill Storm, Instructional Technology Coordinator Davis Joint Unified School District
IEUC2013
[email protected] http://www.djusd.net/learn/tech/illuminate
One district's journey moving from centralized benchmark scanning to teacher desktop scanning using GradeCam. How to address challenges such as organizing for multiple models of document camera and generally bringing change to long-standing teacher practice. Discussion of red flags in your organization prior to beginning the effort. I. Evaluate your baseline – what is your starting point?
Assess your current scanning culture: Scanning carries with it an element of magic; the bubble sheets go away and the results magically appear somewhere, either online or in paper form. For secondary teachers it’s very different, because Scantron has been part of their lives for decades, so scanning doesn’t carry that magical “happens somewhere else” quality. Inventory document cameras and webcams at all sites: On-site, in-person testing at leastcapable sites (those with greatest network issues) of every make and model of doc cam with every possible operating system (XP & W7). Test every variation of OS, browsers, and camera setup present in your system. Try to test in the classrooms of technophobe teachers and get them set up first. Make printable instructions available online ASAP. Assess your collective cluelessness: If you are coming from a centralized scanning or noscanning organization, you will inevitably have some chaotic moments. Do everything possible to discover what you don’t know, and for that your Implementation Manager will be your guide. You are probably expecting the pain points to be about the technology. The real pain has nothing to do with the technology.
II. Prepare the ground – set realistic goals.
Justify/sell scanning with GradeCam: Centralized scanning on the best of days is instructionally slow. GradeCam scanned benchmark results are available to teachers immediately moving benchmarking into the realm of formative assessment. Week-old benchmark results simply aren’t as valuable to teachers as real-time assessment. Create capacity at your school sites: Seed school sites with scanning-capable teachers at each site with training and familiarization with Illuminate and the GradeCam system. Involve all stakeholders from the start: Assessment people, teacher leaders and specialists are at the heart of the benchmarking effort and should be included in the scanning discussions, trainings, and planning sessions. Do pulse checks all along the way. Spin is everything: Perception really is reality. If you believe in the process, if you think it’s going to be fun and you talk about it at every opportunity in that that fashion, it will build goodwill in all the right places.
III. Rollout and first scanning event
Assess your readiness: people and gear Test with your teacher leaders. Test their views of the assessments you have built to make sure permissions are set properly. If you have just a few teachers scanning at each site, make sure they are fluent in the idea that they must open the correct assessment due to the generic bubble sheets used by GradeCam. Schedule your instructional tech people to provide on-call support as necessary Intense scanning support will be a singular effort. The second scanning event will take one tenth the energy as the first.
IV. The Takeaway Nonnegotiable Items: [I hate non-negotiable items because they’re so non-negotiable. But this is real.]
Involve your Implementation Managers intimately with your planning and immediately communicate pain points. Not only can they advise and provide attaboys when appropriate, they can also participate in the healing when things go wrong. Rest in the knowledge that the technology works, and that the machines can’t change their minds. The scanning environment is stable, and the materials provided by IE are excellent. Implementation managers know the technology, and they can help you assess your organizational needs. However, IMs do NOT know your people and your culture. Don’t waste your energy worrying about whether GradeCam will do the job. Once you’ve done the testing in your environment and seen how it fits together, you can pretty much forget the reliability issue. Assume that there will be unexpressed fears and/or disagreement regarding the trajectory of your plan, for reasons beyond your control. Honor the power of the fear expressed by a single individual. Create a robust channel of communication by which all objections are considered and addressed by all members of the planning team. Elicit feedback from all key people on an ongoing basis. You can’t give this too much attention. Calendar Scanning Logistics sessions to include all individuals involved in the first scanning event. Make sure a few fearful individuals in the district do not derail your planning by having as many dedicated meetings as possible about the scanning implementation itself, not merely a bullet point on another crowded agenda. At minimum, figure on three meetings with all stakeholders for (a) technical planning, (b) training and technical feedback, and (c) first scanning event planning. Assure that everyone with a functional role in the first scanning event has an equal voice around the planning table. The first event is critical and has to have all key players firmly on board. Do not assume that anyone will go along with your plan until they express support of it in the context of their role. The system is robust and redundant, so scattered fears about the technology will be overshadowed by the democratic nature of GradeCam.
