Learning Manifesto

Leading Students to Individual Success

Teachers everywhere want their students to learn. Regardless of the age of our students and what
we are teaching them, we want them to be successful. It is at this point where teachers differ in
how we deliver content and how we ask students to process and experience the content for
learning.

We must be mindful about there being different types of students with different needs that must
learn the same content. More often than not we have a variety of students in our classrooms.
Somehow we must meet each one where they are to get them to where they should be both
academically and emotionally.

We must form relationships with our students, especially those that are reluctant learners. It is
our job to figure out what they know and how they learn. These students lack practice in
communicating clearly about what they need and how they learn. We must do the same for
students who are on the opposite end of the learning spectrum. Listening to students who know
how they learn will allow us to draw from their ideas to share with our more reluctant learners.

Emerging Issues in Digital Learning

The introduction of technology to traditional education does not create improvement in education
on its own. Having a traditional classroom that has computers and iPads does not improve
learning. We must change how we use technology to engage and support students in their
instruction.

Incorporating technology in a way that is productive for all parties is a challenge in itself.
Identifying the model of digital learning the school wants to use and making sure that the
technology and people needed to deliver digital learning are available is only the beginning.
Providing students and teachers who are reluctant to change the right training in the use of
technology is difficult. We must be able to assess the existing level of knowledge and comfort
with technology to properly address the growth and implementation of technology in classrooms.

Creating buy-in and support among teachers, students, parents and the community is paramount
in building digital learning. How open will the program be?, is just one of the questions to
consider. The safety of young learners requires all possibilities to be carefully analyzed.
Teachers, parents and community members will need to understand that safeguards that are built
into digital learning. Will the school provide all of the technology, or will students bring their
own devices? Will individual teachers develop lessons, or will there be collaborative
development among groups of teachers? Many parents are opposed to any form of digital
learning. They struggle with their kids watching videos instead of listening to the traditional
lecture.

Education Today
Education today varies from country to country, state to state and school to school. The variety
in the size and wealth of a school varies incredibly. Developing a digital learning community in
the district would vary as much as the variety of schools. We must take into account where a
school stands before making decisions about how to proceed.

In the district in which I work there is a great variety in the type and amount of technology used
in classrooms. The difference varies from classroom to classroom depending on the comfort of
the teacher with technology. The availability of personal technology devices varies, but is
greater as the students get older. Most classrooms have several student computers, and some
iPads. Our schools are well supported by parents and the community. Digital learning is more
widely accepted at the high school level than the elementary level.

Our district encourages innovation and trying new things to keep things fresh, yet we still
struggle with less than average performance of special populations. Many or our students lack
motivation and feel poorly served by our schools. We use technology, but the way in which we
use it seems to replicate the traditional classroom. There have been times when a group of
teachers used a combination of video and lecture and there was a lot of pushback from parents in
spite of their students being supported through the process. Innovation gets pushback from
parents because its a different experience than what they had in school.

We work diligently to follow the learning standards set by the state. The changes that occurred
in the Mathematics TEKS have had a direct impact on what teachers do in the classroom as one
would expect. The changes that were made I believe have stifled innovation. Teachers are more
worried about meeting the TEKS and making sure they develop lessons that will help students
master them. In this process teachers fall into old patters like paper based learning. The stress in
changing TEKS and changing curriculum is not the best recipe for innovation or for engaging
students in their learning.

Often times teachers have new TEKS, or a new scope and sequence, but they are not afforded the
time required to plan in way that allows them to be creative. Giving teachers this time and a
guide for developing lessons that are educational and use technology would be more successful
than the continuous change that teachers experience. The changes that are made in TEKS and in
scope and sequences are often the result of disappointment with how students are performing.
Performance would more likely improve by changing our delivery not just the content.

Core Belief Systems About Digital Learning

The primary belief that education is about our students shall remain the same. The relationships
we forge with our students that guides them, encourages them and recognizes their efforts is still
the most important thing we do as educators. Technology alone does not make excellence in
education. We must develop our teachers and our education system to be a blend of the best
practices, talented teachers and technology. Our focus on the students and the best way to service
our growing population of technology savvy students.

I hope that through my involvement with Lamar University and the Digital Learning and
Leadership program I will be able to develop my own knowledge and experience with digital
learning in order to better guide my district into more innovative practices in our schools.
References
Godin, S. (2012). Stop Stealing Dreams TEDx Youth at BFS (16:57) Published by: TEDx Youth.

YouTube URL: https://youtu.be/sXpbONjV1Jc

Harapnuik, D., Cummings C. Thibodeaux, T. Digital Learning and Leading Program Principles

Bray, B., McClaskey, K. (2014) Personalize Your Learning Environment. ISTE. Retrieved from:

https://www.iste.org/explore/articledetail?articleid=11

Thibodeaux, T. N., Harapnuik, D. K, & Cummings, C. D. (2017). Factors that contribute

to ePortfolio persistence. International Journal of ePortfolio, 7(1), p. 1-12. Retrieved

from http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP257.pdf