Essential Questions

Feb 7

1.  How does the material in this source apply to the District level IT Leader?

2.  How does the material in this source apply to the School based IT Leader?

3. How could the ideas and material in this source be applied in an IT Leadership context?

4.  How do the ideas and material in this source relate to the three pillars of the M.ED Program. Education, Leadership, Technology?

5.  How could the material in this source be used to enhance, encourage or otherwise influence teachers in the adoption of technology?

6.  How does the material in this source ultimately benefit students, schools and the greater educational system?

7.  How could the ideas and materials in this source be used in the day to day operations of a school?

8.  How could the ideas and materials in this source be used in the formulation of a school goal?

As I have read and summarized the sources I selected from this project I began to develop a set of essential questions that relate to my situation and my professional context.  It has become my intention to focus on these questions during the annotation process.  To me these questions form the basis for this project.  They are essential because they cause reflection.  It is not enough to simply consume and regurgitate the material.  I must somehow consume, digest and then create new knowledge for myself and others.  Otherwise, what is the point?

Future Possibilities

Feb 6

Last week I had the opportunity to interview for the Vice Principal Pool.  If I am successful and I am accepted into the Pool I may have the opportunity to become a vice principal.  With this kind of promotion comes a lot of responsibility but also a lot of opportunity to learn more about leadership and education. 

After I left the interview I started to think about the possibilities for the future.  One of the possibilities that I began to consider was that of a District Level IT Position, perhaps as a consultant or something like that.  Anyway, as I thought about this I began to conceive a project in my mind involving the application of the CBAM. 

It would be interesting to apply the model within our District or even just one school to see where teachers and administrators are when it comes to technology integration.  As I thought about it, I began to formulate questions, such as where would I begin? Who would I call on for help or resources?  How much would it cost?  Would it be worth the effort?

Another interesting area of study would be the change facilitator styles of principals.  This is an important piece of the puzzle because leadership is important in affecting change.  Knowing whether a principal is an initiator, responder or manager type would be invaluable in planning change at the school level. 

As these thoughts swirl around my head in a way I feel overwhelmed by the possibilities.  On the other hand my day to day routine continues to chug along.  Finding time to think about these things and balancing between professional life and personal life becomes the real challenge.

What I know so far about the CBAM

Feb 1

What I know so far about the CBAM

As I have been reading and learning about the CBAM, I thought now would be a great time to list, in plain language, all the things that I have learned and come to know so far about the Concerns Based Adoption Model.  I am doing this in point form in order to make it easier to read and understand.  At this point I have found the sheer volume of information regarding the CBAM to be staggering.  Indeed, a person could do a complete Post graduate degree on the topic of the CBAM. 

Concerns Based Adoption Model

• A conceptual framework to define and articulate teacher’s feelings surrounding a certain educational innovation. 
• Based on the fact that change is a process not an event.
• First conceived in the late 1960s based on the work of Frances Fuller.  Refined and developed by Hall, Loucks, Hord et al.
• Can be applied to any educational innovation. 
• Particularly relevant to the field of educational technology.
• Based on “diagnostic dimensions”
• Diagnostic dimensions are Stages of Concern (SoC), Levels of Use (LoU) and Innovation configuration (IC)
• Has been applied and tested empirically.
• Not much research on it since the late 80s.
• Other researchers have used the CBAM and modified it to suit their needs.  IE Newhouse.

Stages of Concern

• Starts at stage 0 awareness and moves up to stage 7 Refocusing.
• Deals with the affective part of change.
• Concerns that a teacher feels will affect how the innovation is implemented.
• Important for CF to recognize feelings of concern.
• Assessed using a straightforward question.
• Teachers respond to the question in complete sentences.
• A trained analyst analyzes the answers. 

Levels of Use

http://www.rmcdenver.com/useguide/cbam.htm

• Refers to what extent a teacher is making use of an innovation.
• Refers to observable behaviours rather than feelings surrounding an innovation. 
• Made up of 7 levels.
• Can be applied to any educational innovation.

Innovation Configuration

• Refers to ideal use of an innovation by an adopter.
• Ideal use as envisioned by the developer.

Change Facilitator Style

• Refers to styles of leadership.
• The leader greatly impacts the adoption level and stages of concern of the users.
• Three styles are identified. Manager, Initiator, Responder.

Change Facilitator Styles

I have recently had a chance to participate in a District level initiative called Leadership Academy.  The Leadership Academy is a set of professional development modules based on a variety of important themes for administrators.  For example, there is a module of resolving conflict, a module for building positive relationships etc.  Altogether there are 10 modules.  There is planning in place to extend these modules. 

The module I had a chance to work on is called Module 5 and it has to do with technology and how teachers implement and use technology and how administrators can move teachers across the implementation bridge quickly and smoothly.  I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a member of the design team.  Being on the design team involves attending planning meetings, debating the merits of the ideas discussed at the meetings, formulating the module and then facilitating the PD session for District administrators.  Then coming back together as a team to edit and revise the modules based on the feedback we received from participants.

I had the opportunity to help facilitate a session on December 9 with all the assistant principals in Calgary Catholic.  In order to do this I developed a website with the materials from the module embedded within it.  All in all, it was a good experience to do this.  Although we did encounter some technology glitches, (connectivity issues) we were more or less able to proceed as planned.  It did give us food for thought however on the direction of future modules and how they would involve or make use of digital technology. 

Anyway, my point to all of this is that the material I am currently reading on Hall’s Change Facilitator Styles really speaks to the development of professional development activities for administrators.  One of the criticisms of the Leadership Academy that has come to light from my reading is that although we have thought about differentiation we have not considered it from the perspective of various leadership styles.  This becomes significant because in a roomful or administrators there is bound to be a variety of overlapping leadership styles.  An activity might respond well to the needs of an initiator type of administrator however it might not meet the needs of a responder type administrator. 

All in all, my experience on the design team has been very beneficial for my future development as an administrator and professional development leader.   Gaining a perspective on change facilitator styles will be invaluable as I sit on future committees charged with planning PD interventions.

PD Plan in my Capstone

As I was walking along this evening I started to think about the Capstone and the direction I was going in.  I know that I want to create a professional development plan that is built upon and supported by the concepts I have learned on the CBAM in the past year.  I have been mulling over the PD Plan part of the capstone for that last little while and as I walked and reflected a kernel of an idea began to take shape.  I got to thinking this way because I was comparing and contrasting my work in the last semester to the work I am completing as part of my capstone.  I began to wonder if links between the work I did in my internship and the work that I am completing now could be made. 

That is when I got the idea to create a pd plan that applies the theories and diagnostic dimensions of the CBAM.  In order to articulate what I am talking about it would be fair to mention a word or two about the ELA in FI project I participated in as part of my internship.  I was the co-leader of a group of teachers charged with creating a resource for ELA teachers in French Immersion schools.  Teachers worked in teams to develop resources.  My role consisted of creating and developing the D2L site.

In my PD plan I would propose to apply the CBAM to the cohort of teachers to determine their levels of use and their stages of concern as well as their innovation configurations as they pertained to the innovation.  In this case the innovation would be the entire resource along with the website and any materials stored on the website.  Once acquired the data would serve to help plan interventions as well as provide feedback to the innovation developers.  (In this case me)

Although, I would not necessarily execute the PD plan as I would need special permission to do so I feel it would be worth the effort to conceive and simulate the process.  It will be interesting to come back to this in a year’s time after the second cycle of the ELA in FI for grades 3 and 4. 

Capstone Website Development

The decision to use Wix to build the website on which to mount the products of my project was a simple one to make.  WIx offers an easy to use editor and templates designed to meet a variety of needs.  For the past few websites I have created I have used the Yoga by the Sea template.  This template has embedded pages and menus as well as the links to the other pages within the site.  It is simple to edit the pages in a “what you see is what you get format.”  The preliminary website can be viewed at this link.   Wix is the type of web 2.0 tool that is conducive to this type of project.  It is easy to upload images as well as add pages and other types of materials.  Wix uses a flash based platform to edit and create the pages and links.  When combined with my QUIA pages this allows me to create activities that can accessed for any time anywhere learning.  QUIA is a learning management system that I have subscribed to for a number of years.  With my subscription I get an html editor, access to learning activities as well as the ability to create 16 different types of online activities, surveys and web pages.  This website coupled with the Wix website creates a powerful tool through which to provide interventions.   Here is an example of a recent opportunity I had to be part of a Calgary Catholic District initiative that was planned using the method I have described above. 

One of the shortcomings of this however is that this vision will work only if I am the chief change facilitator.  On the other hand I am hoping that other leaders may be able to learn from the materials on the website and perhaps once other change facilitators see the vision they will be able to craft their own plans for change initiatives at their locations. 

The Process Begins (albeit a bit late)

January 20, 2012

After our online meeting on Tuesday, Jan 17 I began to think even more about the journey that has already begun.  I had already downloaded most of the articles and sources of information for my Capstone project but I had difficulty following the timelines I had set out in my original proposal.  This speaks a bit to the type of learner that I am.  I remember reading in John Ratey`s book Spark that some people need a bit of pressure to motivate themselves.  Unfortunately I am that type of person.  On the other hand being a procrastinator has served me well because I have learned to manage my time. 

Anyway, after Tuesday night I knew it was now or never and seeing as how I had already registered, paid the tuition, downloaded the articles and did a lot of thinking I figured it was time to organize and put pen to paper so to speak.  In this blog post I would like to articulate some of the planning I have completed this far as well as my current outline for my project and how I have decided to organize the contents of my computer hard drive.  It is my hope that by sharing this process I will give others a glimpse into my brain and the direction I am going in with this endeavour. 

First of all, I had the chance to add some sources to my preliminary bibliography.  As I read through, organize and annotate these writings I find myself absorbing more and more of the information.  It is becoming easier to make sense of the papers and the process is becoming a bit easier.  My updated bibliography looks like this.

Appendix 1:  Preliminary Bibliography

Atkins, N., & Vasu, E. (2000). Measuring Knowledge of Technology Usage and Stages of Concern about Computing: A Study of Middle School Teachers. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 8(4), 279-302. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Anderson, S. E. (1997, Fall97). Understanding teacher change: Revisiting the Concerns Based Adoption Model. Curriculum Inquiry. p. 331.

Parsons, J. S., & Fuller, F. F. (1974). Concerns of Teachers: Recent Research on Two Assessment Instruments.

Fuller, F. F., Parsons, J. S., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1972). Current Research on the Concerns of Teachers.

Fuller, F. F., Case, C., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1972). A Manual for Scoring the Teacher Concerns Statement.

Hall, G. E., & George, A. A. (2000). The Use of Innovation Configuration Maps in Assessing  Implementation: The Bridge between Development and Student Outcomes. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., University of Northern Colorado, G. g., & And, O. (1991). Measuring Change Facilitator Stages of Concern. A Manual for Use of the CFSoC Questionnaire. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., Hord, S. M., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1986). Configurations of School-Based Leadership Teams. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., & George, A. (1988). Development of a Framework and Measure for Assessing Principal Change Facilitator Style. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1974). The Concerns-Based Adoption Model: A Developmental Conceptualization of the Adoption Process Within Educational Institutions. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., Rutherford, W. L., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1975). Concerns of Teachers About Implementing the Innovation of Team Teaching. Procedures for Adopting Educational Innovations Project. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E. (1977). A Longitudinal Investigation of Individual Implementation of Educational Innovations. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., Loucks, S. F., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1978). Innovation Configurations: Analyzing the Adaptations of Innovations. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E. (1979). Levels of Use and Extent of Implementation of New Programs in Teacher Education Institutions: What Do You Do?. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., Texas Univ., A. n., & And, O. (1982). Three Change Facilitator Styles: Some Indicators and a Proposed Framework. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E. (1987). The Principal's Role in Setting School Climate (for School Improvement). Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E. (1984). Three Principal Styles of Facilitating School Improvement. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., & And, O. (1975). Levels of Use of the Innovation: A Framework for Analyzing Innovation Adoption. Journal of Teacher Education. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E., Texas Univ., A. n., & And, O. (1977). Measuring Stages of Concern about the Innovation: A Manual for the Use of the SoC Questionnaire. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hall, G. E. (2010). Technology's Achilles Heel: Achieving High-Quality Implementation. Journal Of Research On Technology In Education, 42(3), 231-253

Loucks, S. F., & Hall, G. E. (1979). Implementing Innovations in Schools: A Concerns-Based Approach. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Newhouse, C. (2001). Applying the Concerns-based Adoption Model to Research on Computers in Classrooms. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 33(5), Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Newlove, B. W., Hall, G. E., & Texas Univ., A. n. (1976). A Manual for Assessing Open-Ended Statements of Concern About an Innovation. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Schoepp, K. (2004, July 1). Technology Integration Barriers in a Technology-Rich Environment: A CBAM Perspective. Online Submission, Retrieved from EBSCOhost..

Straub, E. T. (2009). Understanding Technology Adoption: Theory and Future Directions for Informal Learning. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 625-649. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Wesley, M. r., & Franks, M. (1996). Advanced Adoption of Computer Technology in the Classroom and Teachers' Participation in Voluntary Innovation Adoption Activities. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Reading and annotating all of this material is time consuming and somewhat difficult as I do not have a great deal of experience completing this assignment, however as I googled annotated bibliography a number of websites came up which detailed the process.  I settled on the resources from Purdue University because our cohort had previously been pointed in this direction with other assignments.  I read through the information at this link http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

From this information I was able to create the following outline that I have been using to annotate my journal articles.  So far I have summarized 6 of the 25 but the process is accelerating and I plan to spend a lot of time accomplishing this task in the next couple of weeks.

Outline for Annotations

Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following:

I. Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

Main Points

For more help, see our handout on paraphrasing sources.

II. Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

Usefulness:

Compare and Contrast:

What is the goal of this source:

For more help, see our handouts on evaluating resources.

III. Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

Finally, I would like to talk a bit about how I have been organizing my materials.  The next few screenshots show the folders on my hard drive.  I have been guilty of being organizationally challenged in the past.  This along with procrastination does not make for a successful project so I have been extra careful to be organized.   In order to create some order and because for this purpose I think in a linear fashion I have decided to begin my reading and annotating of the articles in chronological order.  In this way I start with the oldest articles first.  This helps me to keep perspective on the historical nature of the concerns based adoption model.

My current outline now looks like this.  I have added the sections Glossary of Terms and links to

Capstone Outline

I.  Introduction

II.  Links to the 3 pillars; Technology, Education, Leadership

III.  Links to ISTE NETS-A

IV. Annotated Bibliography

V. Glossary of Terms

VI. Sample Professional Development Plan

VII. Website development

                        a) Rationale

                        b) Method

VIII. Conclusion

IX.  Appendix