Smart Start Grant

#GC19-010

OU BOCES Smart Start Grant Program Title

Research, Create, Collaborate, and Communicate (R3C):Train–the-Trainer Ed. Tech. Pipeline

I. Program Overview

The R3C program will focus on professional development (PD) to increase teachers’ expertise in educational technology through a train-the-trainer model on a large-scale. The R3C program’s innovative design provides PD and support to teachers that will result in an action oriented, technology-infused learning experience for every K-8 student in our Smart Start Consortium service area. R3C will focus on supporting teachers with PD in educational technology that will empower them to put researching, creating, communicating, and collaboration at the heart of the students’ instructional experience. R3C will provide teachers with skills and capacities that will help them prepare students for engagement in New York’s digitally dominated workforce, education, and civic arenas. The R3C program will provide teachers with advanced PD that builds their expertise in educational technology and thus allows them to better engage in digital pedagogy that improves students’ capacity to learn and specifically create, research, communicate, and collaborate digitally. In keeping with the focus on researching, creating, communicating, and collaborating, the program will maintain a web presence to share our learning, experiences, and materials so others may build expertise in their schools. The R3C program’s target population is 500 teachers who teach in the OU BOCES (OUB) service area, who will then turn-key training to all 3619 teachers in their schools, having an impact on 42,670 students in the two-county area where our consortium members reside. These students need to be prepared to enter a changing work environment. The region has many family farms that are closing and those that remain are modernizing to maximize efficiency. The two-county area is striving to attract new forms of business. New resorts and casinos have opened recently that need digital e-work force skills to run these high-tech tourism facilities. Other economic strongholds and emerging sectors include life sciences (including healthcare), advanced manufacturing, and information technology.

Of the fourteen school districts and one BOCES that make up our Consortium, thirteen are located in a mix of rural and suburban areas. The remaining district is the city of Middletown. With a population of 27,815 (according to the most recent US Census data available), Middletown is the 29th largest city in New York State. The fourteen districts serve a total of 42,670 students K-12 and 27,700 students K-8. There is a total of 52 K-8 schools in these participating districts and a grand total of 80 K-12 schools in the participating districts. The percentage of students that are economically disadvantaged in the fourteen districts is 41%.
(data.nysed.gov, most recent data available).

The strengths in our community include the relative proximity to New York City and the beauty of the area. About 50-60 miles from the city and bordered by the Hudson River, the area provides many attractions for visitors including wineries, mountains, and the Storm King Art Center, to name just a few. The challenge we face is that there are no large businesses that can provide employment opportunities. Rather, we are home to many farms and wineries, a major medical center, small advanced manufacturing enterprises, and a growing number of tourist attractions. All of the growing business enterprises are becoming more modernized and depend heavily on technology. We have planned this program to help our teachers to prepare our students for their futures in these kinds of working environments.

Rather than focusing on instructing teachers in particular technologies, we plan to help them to build classrooms where students use technology much as it is used in business environments: to research, create, collaborate, and communicate. As students grow accustomed to working in these environments, it will be natural for them to seamlessly transition to the modern-day workplace.

The goal of our program is to provide an A+ technology-infused learning experience for every K-8 student in our consortium. We will accomplish this by training 100 teachers per year for five years, and to prepare them to turn-key the PD to other teachers in their school and/or district. The major components of the program are four seminars each year, followed up by support sessions to assist the teachers’ preparation of their turn-key trainings. The four seminars will focus on the four components: Research, Create, Collaborate and Communicate and how to use technology in the classroom to promote those skills among students.

II. Program Contact Information

For questions or additional information, please contact the Smart Start Grant Lead, Dr. Diane E. Lang, Director of Instructional Support Services or Colleen Hamel, Executive Assistant of Instructional Support Services.
Telephone: (845) 781-4363, ext 10715
E-mail: Diane Lang or Colleen Hamel

III. Award Amount

Orange-Ulster BOCES is pleased to be awarded this grant in the amount of $365,074 per year for a total of five years.

IV. Outline of Planned Program

Orange-Ulster BOCES will utilize this grant to design and deliver professional learning seminars utilizing a “train-the-trainer” model. The seminars will focus on educational technology particularly in regard to researching, creating, collaborating and communicating. Seminars for each of these four topics will be delivered annually and follow-up meetings will be held for turnkey trainers to provide an opportunity for collaboration and data feedback. At the conclusion of each annual term, a review of successes and challenges will be conducted.

Year 1

Planning and collaboration with Professional Development and Support Providers (PDSP)
Identification of train-the-trainer participants
Research Seminar
Create Seminar
Collaborate Seminar
Communicate Seminar
Evolution/Data Support
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
Evaluation and Planning for Yr 2

Year 2

Identification of train-the-trainer participants
Research Seminar
Create Seminar
Collaborate Seminar
Communicate Seminar
Evolution/Data Support
PLCs
Evaluation and Planning for Yr 3

Year 3

Identification of train-the-trainer participants
Research Seminar
Create Seminar
Collaborate Seminar
Communicate Seminar
Evolution/Data Support
PLCs
Evaluation and Planning for Yr 4

Year 4

Identification of train-the-trainer participants
Research Seminar
Create Seminar
Collaborate Seminar
Communicate Seminar
Evolution/Data Support
PLCs
Evaluation and Planning for Yr 5

Year 5

Identification of train-the-trainer participants
Research Seminar
Create Seminar
Collaborate Seminar
Communicate Seminar
Evolution/Data Support
PLCs
Evaluation of Yr 1-Yr 5

V. Districts Participating

There are 14 districts and one BOCES participating in the program. They are:
Cornwall CSD,
Florida UFSD,
Goshen CSD,
Greenwood Lake UFSD,
Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery CSD,
Enlarged City School District of Middletown,
Kiryas Joel CSD,
Marlboro CSD,
Minisink Valley CSD,
Monroe-Woodbury CSD,
Pine Bush CSD,
Tuxedo UFSD,
Valley Central CSD,
Washingtonville CSD, &
OU BOCES

VI. Year 1 Shared Smart Start Artifacts

This year, we were excited to work with over 100 teachers to help learn about the new NYS Digital Fluency Standards and innovative ways to support and teach educators and students how to implement the NYS Digital Fluency Standards in their classrooms and in real life.

We have developed courses to build the capacity of NYS educators to more digital fluency forward in our schools.

Learn more by viewing and trying the materials below.

R3C Seminar Modules

We have developed four six-hour seminars entitled “Research,” “Create,” “Collaborate,” and “Communicate” (R3C) in our effort to help educators provide an A+ technology-infused learning experience for every K-8 student. We aim to have educators develop research, create, collaborate, and communicate skills with students and how to use technology to support this skill building and learning. Below are the four presenter seminar modules.

Research Seminar -

Slide Deck
Readings
Whole Group Frayer Models — Teacher Leaders
Whole Group Session Debrief — How did we do R3C today?
Small Groups Slides — Supporting colleagues in adopting
Small Group Research protocol & results — Digital Literacy
Small Group Frayer Models — Digital Literacy
Facilitation Resources

Create Seminar -

Slide Deck
Individual Wakelet Collections
Whole Group Wakelet Ideas
Whole Group Connections to Standards
Facilitation Resources

Collaborate Seminar -

Slide Deck
Small Group — Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Tech-Enhanced Design Unpacking
Standards Connections
Facilitation Resources

Communicate Seminar -

Slide Deck
Ideas for building a tech-enhanced classroom culture
Digital Citizenship LiveTweeting
Ideas for Tech-Enhanced Communication
Tech-enhanced Design Unpacking
Standards Connections
Facilitation Resources

Supplementary Courses, Materials and Artifacts

The materials and artifacts listed below were created during Year 1 of the OU BOCES Smart Start Grant by members of Cohort 1 and our professional learning team. The title of our project is R3C. The materials shared below can be used during professional learning workshops and in the classroom during instructional coaching sessions or for K-8 instructional periods.

· Activities that Leverage Tech-Enhanced Communication Styles — List of ideas of classroom activities that use tech-enhanced communication generated by cohort 1 participants during synchronous remote sessions. Sorted by grade band and by tech-enhanced style.

· Which One Doesn't Belong — Slide deck with numerous examples of ways to use the Which One Doesn’t Belong activity each generated by a small group of participants during synchronous remote sessions.

· Wakelet Collection — A large collection of wakelets products by session participants, each with a different topic. Wakelet is a tool that can be used to curate collections of resources from the internet that others can use to research a topic from a curated source list.

· Describing Digital Literacy 1 & 2 — Two Jamboards where participants used a digital frayer model to describe their initial understanding of digital literacy.

· Staff Meeting Facilitation Support — A simple set of procedures and facilitation support for leading two staff meetings aimed at launching a conversation around implementing the New York Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards.

· Project Introduction R3C Project Introduction slides briefly describes the project as well as provides an introduction to the New York Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards.

· Bringing the NYS Digital Fluency Learning Standards to Life by Having Students use Technology to Create
Our students' future careers will be steeped in technology. In December 2020, the Board of Regents adopted the K12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards with the goal of preparing students for this technology-enhanced future. This course is part of OU BOCES' R3C Smart Start Grant project designed to support students and teachers becoming digitally fluent by using technology to Research, Create, Collaborate, and Communicate. While students often use technology, too often they do so in the passive mode. They are watching presentations and clicking through practice questions - they are consuming content someone else created. However, the act of creating is where the higher-level and more interesting thinking is. This course helps you dig into how students' tech-enhanced creating aligns to the Digital Fluency Learning Standards. This course will also help you to plan for supporting your students to use technology in more rigorous ways.

Introduction Slideshow: R3C Project Introduction Slides
Slideshow #2: Using Technology to Create
Slideshow #3: Examples of Student Creating with Technology
Course Assessment Task: Course Assessment for Bringing the NYS Digital Fluency Learning Standards to Life by Having Students use Technology to Create

· Bringing the NYS Digital Fluency Learning Standards to Life with School Level Leadership
Our students' future careers will be steeped in technology. In December 2020, the Board of Regents adopted the K12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards with the goal of preparing students for this technology-enhanced future. OU BOCES' R3C Smart Start Grant project, which this course is part of, is designed to support students and teachers becoming digitally fluent by using technology to Research, Create, Collaborate, and Communicate. In this course, you will explore the NYS K12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning Standards, determine how these standards fit into your school's vision, strategize for building awareness of the need for digital fluency, and plan to support the push toward digital fluency for students, teachers, and your larger school community.

Course Slideshow: Leading the Way
Course Assessment Task: Course Assessment Task for Bringing the NYS Digital Fluency Learning Standards to Life with School Level Leadership

Cohort 1 Testimonials

Being a member of Cohort 1 was an engaging and skill building experience. We look forward to continued work helping K-8 educators address the NYS Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards with Cohort 1 and meeting the members of Cohort 2. Here are reflections from Cohort 1 members:

“Another training, more information and still no more time to fit it in. This has been my take away for many trainings I have been to. Then, I took part in the R3C project put on by WestEd/ BOCES. When I first heard that we would be doing full day online trainings, I was dreading it, especially after coaching virtually during Covid. After experiencing the style of these trainings, I am forever going to hold other trainings up to these. We, as participants, were given thought out information and resources, time to try out the strategy/activity, and time to process and fully engage in the standards. We utilized different modes of interaction with our fellow participants and presenters, which valued that all of the participants were skilled and gifted in different areas with different learning styles. Overall, the quality and depth of these PL trainings has made me feel beyond equipped to come beside teachers in my district and support them through our goals.”
-Jessica Herb

“My time participating in the R3C professional learning cohort has greatly enhanced my knowledge of effective technology integration in the field of education. Throughout my experience in the cohort, I was introduced to a variety of tools to increase student engagement and digital literacy. In addition to enhancing my own classroom teaching practices, I have learned a great deal about how to be a teacher mentor and turnkey professional development. The program provided hands-on research and practice in the development and implementation of effective teacher training. I now feel confident as a teacher leader and advocate for the implementation of instructional technology.”
-Brooke Larson

“The R3C train-the-trainer class has opened my eyes to the use of technology in not only my classroom but also my district. This training has allowed me to communicate and collaborate with teachers around the county on the use of the new standards. It has allowed me to fill my toolbox with many resources that I can use in my classroom as well as bring back to my school. The ability to talk to the instructors both virtually and in person was more than comfortable. This training is more than beneficial to anyone in the classroom!”
-Jennifer Jackson

VII. Year 2 Shared Smart Start Artifacts

Create Seminar -

Facilitation Directions & Resources
Slide Deck
Readings
Whole Group Frayer Models — Teacher Leaders
Individual Wakelet Collections
Whole Group Wakelet Ideas

Collaborate Seminar -

Facilitation Directions & Resources
Slide Deck
Small Group — Which One Doesn’t Belong?
Readings
Tech-Enhanced Design Unpacking
NY Comp. Sci. Standards Connections

Communicate Seminar -

Facilitation Directions & Resources
Slide Deck
Digital Citizenship LiveTweeting
Ideas for Tech-Enhanced Communication
Tech-enhanced Design Unpacking
NY Comp. Sci. Standards Connections

Research Seminar -

Facilitation Directions & Resources
Slide Deck
Small Group Research Protocol & Results — Digital Citizenship
Digital Citizenship Artifacts
Unpacking Research
Theory Testing — Duck Pond Solutions
NY Comp. Sci. Standards Connections
Ideas for Student Research

· Activities that Leverage Tech-Enhanced Communication Styles — List of ideas of classroom activities that use tech-enhanced communication generated by cohort 2 participants during synchronous sessions. Sorted by grade band and by tech-enhanced style.
· Which One Doesn't Belong — Slide deck with numerous examples of ways to use the Which One Doesn’t Belong activity each generated by small groups of participants during synchronous remote sessions from cohort 2.
· Wakelet Collection — A large collection of wakelets products by session participants, each with a different topic. Wakelet is a tool that can be used to curate collections of resources from the internet that others can use to research a topic from a curated source list.

Testimonials from Cohort 2 Participants

“The R3C program was so much more than being introduced to new, innovative, digital tools. It was an opportunity to examine the world of teens and what authentic lives they can lead in virtual spaces. It was a window into what employment will look like in the future. It was a chance to collaborate with colleagues throughout the whole county and appreciate their hard work. The R3C program had a lasting impact on me as a teacher and as an administrator. I am so glad that I was able to participate in this rewarding experience.”
-Matthew Keller

“Being a part of cohort 2 was very influential to me as a new teacher because it provided me with many technological tools to use in the classroom. The instructors were very knowledgeable and provided an abundance of information as well as a great opportunity for networking and discussion.”
-Jeanna Upshaw

March Madness

OU-BOCES hosted a Smart Start R3C (research, create, collaborate, and communicate) 2023 March Madness — one week in March of professional learning for teachers focused on best practices for tech-enhanced teaching and learning and connections to the new NY Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards. The sessions were designed and facilitated by the teacher leaders from cohorts 1 & 2 of the R3C smart start grant. There were two sessions per grade band (K-5, & 6-8) per day. The morning sessions were demonstrations on how to have students use technology in meaningful ways to create, collaborate, and communicate, the 3Cs of R3C. The afternoon sessions were subject-area and research focused leveraging the tools and methods from the morning sessions. Leading up to March Madness, the teacher leaders participated in a seminar for session design and a facilitation academy. Through March Madness, the teacher leaders were able to turn-key the knowledge and skills they had gained throughout cohorts 1 & 2 to other teachers across the region.

The attendees of March Madness were assorted teachers from across the region who were interested in increasing their knowledge and skills for using technology in meaningful ways in their classrooms. Engaging in professional learning designed and facilitated by the teacher leaders from their own region allowed the attendees to see authentic examples of how tech-enhanced teaching and learning and the NY Computer Science and Digital Literacy Standards can be implemented with their students.

Create, Collaborate, Communicate (3C) Morning Sessions
Facilitation Directions & Resources

Subject Area & Research Afternoon Sessions
Facilitation Directions & Resources