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Welcome to our WIKI on the Tipping Point...

I'd like us to use this wiki to comment and discuss the book and to have you refer back to this page with resources or commentary on how you see application for the material within in your work.

One formatting characteristic we should keep: I as the instructor will make my posts here in italics. And I'll start with my name. If you could all either begin or end with your name that would be best.

Wikis are a great tool for collaboration and for making learning happen. I have worked with a number of teachers in devising ways to utilize one for student writing collaborations, sharing of project information, or just simply making a class web page that all students can contribute to. You can set one up so that it is "private" meaning that only those that are members may edit. In our case, I have left it open so that anyone can edit it. Who knows, we may have a mystery guest jump in. Anyways.. I urge you to consider your use of one and how you might apply this to classroom work at your school. I am using Wikispaces here, but PBWorks has developed a great suite of wikis and tools associated and they do great work with teachers!

A quick tutorial: To write on the page, simply click up above at the "EDIT the PAGE" box. The page will turn into an editing format. Then you can type away. When you are done, you MUST "Save" the document from that editor bar, or at the bottom of the page. If you don't, all will be lost, so be careful the first couple of times.

So, let's talk about the book... Chapter 1:

//Peter: If I were working in a school, I'd want technology integration to be thought of as an epidemic. Something that a small group of teachers thought was exciting and then they got other teachers thinking about and eventually doing. I like how Gladwell describes the way epidemics begin, in fact his first example, the syphilis example is a good one.. other factors come into being that help to "tip" the issue.// //How can we relate this to how things "tip" in schools? What examples can you think of in your school that was something that started small and then became an "epidemic"? Consider the things that happened to make it so. Can you draw some parallels to Gladwell? Maybe the example is your town instead of your school.// //Let's share some of// those ideas....

Marc: Technology Integration should be an epidemic in schools---and if we are conscious of the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context, perhaps as leaders we can create the proper, "petri dish" for this epidemic to explode. Sometimes it feels like tech changes happens more like the Hush Puppy example---it seems like it is unplanned and a bit random. Last year the use of Glogster flew threw the school, this year Google is hot. One of the remarkable issues we saw this year was the increase in personal devices accessing our network. In September the number of addresses we had was fine. By November, laptops and other devices were being kicked off by mid-morning. Luckily, our I.T. quickly recognized the issue and resolved it but the number of devices being used at school increased so dramatically, so quickly it was tough for anyone to anticipate. The use of wireless devices by students, staff was like our own little "epidemic". Why it happened when it did is still a bit puzzling. If it was after the holidays or as soon as school started in August it would make more sense. Any ideas about the possible causes of a tipping point for wireless devices in late October in Lamoille county? and any ideas about what's next?

//Peter: I think actually your tipping point was a result of David White, your CFP coordinator, getting his grant work in at the time he did so you ended up getting everything at once. That would be my guess. I remember he was pretty excited about it. It is interesting how we see the web tools come and go so quickly.. and to see which ones really do stick. Wikis seem to be waning a bit.. I may have to change this up soon... though I still find them pretty useful..//

I was aware of __The Tipping Point__ book before the class but had never read it. I am finding the concept of the tipping point fascinating as applied to trends in my school. For example, all teachers now want and expect there to be audio-books available for any assigned book. They "clamor" for these for their IEP, 504 students and for those students in what I consider the "gray" area. Students who could use the help of listening to an audio-book to support their traditional reading of the text, but they are not needy enough to qualify for an IEP or 504 designation. This desire by the teachers for the audio support started slowly then came as a tidal wave. Years ago I met with the Special Education director and offered to work with him to assure that any student that had an IEP or 504 designation that demanded audio support received that support. I offered to order the audio-books, prepare them and circulate them. This was met with resistance because it required the Special Ed dept to coordinate services in a way they had not done before. However I kept pushing, and partnered up with the new Special Ed teachers as they were hired. A couple of them started to work with me, -- I needed students names, designations, class lists, books being assigned etc. --. Slowly another teacher or two, would start to work with me, and then all of a sudden the word got out that audio-books would be/ could be available, and then all the Special Ed Case managers wanted them. This was the epidemic part. After a slow start, the case managers were needing, and assuming that all texts would be available in an audio form. To say I had to hustle is an understatement. Now every-time a new book is assigned, the teachers will send their students to me with the full expectation that all is available. I am no longer chasing them down. The actions of the new Special Ed teachers directely influenced the more seasoned teachers and changed the dynamics. (Dan Greene)

//Peter: Dan, wow.. great example. I think we can all see from your example how the concept works.. it gains a little ground.. usually from those that can foster some change.. (later chapters cover the name Gladwell gives these folks...) and then there are the second wave, that help to really build that epidemic idea. And how funny it is that suddenly there becomes an expectation that it is just going to be so. This is a good example.. I may use this in my next year class..//

Eric Mongeon -- I’ve seen the idea of using SmartBoards and document cameras follow the epidemic pattern. It started before I actually started working at my school with one or two users. The kind of users that will lead a staff meeting to show how great these tools can be. And then it jumped over to another member in their unit. Then a friendly colleague not really sure but willing to go out on a limb and take someone’s recommendation wanted in. After two years (school budgets being what they are) more classrooms have this set up than not. And then the minority doesn’t want to be left out or behind…and now we are two more smartboards away from having every instructional space having a uniform set of tools. So the idea of using Smartboards followed the epidemic pattern, but the implementation of actually using them took a few years, simply because of costs. I would love to see technology integration be more of an epidemic in schools, but access is a big factor in the “tipping” point. And money can be a big part of access. On the other hand, I see the potential for a Google Apps epidemic… the salesmen just have to step up.

//Peter: Eric..as Dan, great example.. and this Smartboard one is one that I have seen take place a few times. I wish I saw more exemplary use of the boards in schools I visit.. sometimes I feel that as far as tech integration with them, we don't get to a great depth. But, then I will see a school or teacher really taking them to the next level and decide that they do have a place. Your point about standardizing classrooms is a good one.. I do like to see equity develop in buildings because that really is the way the epidemics take hold and that is how people get better at really using them to push some boundaries in terms of integration.//

Amanda Paquette: My school district went with the blanket approach to purchasing SmartBoards with mixed results. While I agree with equity, I don't think it is the best model for tech integration and dispersal of equipment. While working through //The Tipping Point// I am over and over again confronted with evidence that doesn't support this equitable model. If we were to do this again, and as we make future device purchases, I am thinking about how to best 'infiltrate' my teachers. In my previous school I saw this method work really well. They purchased tablet computers years ago and then told teachers they needed to submit a proposal of how it would aid their instruction, and then had professional development commitments if they received a device. That first year they didn't have enough takers, but the second year after those pilot teachers were using their computer in their classroom, taking them to meetings, and boasting about cool new things they were able to do in their classes, the second round of proposals was overwhelming. This is just like the Hush Puppy example, where a few people were able to serve as agents of a product and did the selling for them.

Suzanne B: My high school did a small blanket approach to the smart board - we became an identified school in math and as such they decided to invest in technology with the hopes of improving math scores. Grants were written, money was found in the budget and each math room - 5 were equipped with smart boards and documents readers. 3 out of the 5 rooms use the smart boards and document readers daily, these teachers have fallen in love with the technology, but use it for only basic lesson plans. Recording of data as entry cards, assessing the learners with short questions to verify that the students are staying with you are pieces that are not used. So, without fully conquering this piece of technology they wrote another grant and pulled in the latest Texas Instrument calculators that you can even write your English papers on! I am sure that locked somewhere in the depth of these techno wonders is a way to do my grocery shopping! They are so complex! These new babies have been in the building a couple of months and the teachers and students alike are trying to figure them out.

But is this the best method? I am not sold. I think that the purchase of some of these techno wonders really needs to be tied to professional development with the condition that these teachers become teacher leaders and teach others to use the technology. Last year we went from Novell to Google for our e-mail. We were all required to attend a 2 hour session on how to use Google mail. Now we do tech tips at our faculty meeting - generated by questions from the staff to the tech people! They are quick and informative as well as helpful.

Eric Mongeon -- I agree the tech integration with a smart board can fall flat and the whole thing turns into a $1700 glorified mouse. One interesting way that the standardizing of equipment conversation was maintained was by our “traveling” educators: those teachers, say Spanish for example, who do not have a instructional space of their own. We have a handful of these teachers that really noted the difference in lesson planning, instruction, and learning when they had the ability to use a Smartboard versus when they did not have that ability.

Lauren- Google Apps was a huge epidemic in our school. When we first got on board with Google Apps for Education some adoption was automatic (email) but the use of Google Docs was the beginning of the real epidemic. Our teachers and students were using Microsoft Word for word processing. While I didn't have a cool slogan, the stickiness factor message I sent was persuasive and touted the benefits of Google Docs in response to many of the issues we were having with Word. The Power of Context was that kids were having issues saving, retrieving documents and working at home and at school. At first some folks were skeptical, but some teachers dove right in. Soon, kids were automatically going to Google Docs and ignoring the Word icon on the desktop. Now, all students use Google Docs now almost 100% of the time. This is an epidemic that is not going away. Last year, Glogster was an epidemic but I think it has waned at our school too.

Emily Biolsi - I think the examples given here by classmates are fantastic! It is really exciting when the tipping point hits, creating an epidemic that will enhance teaching and learning for all. Being a member of a very small school of only four classrooms, in a very small town, in a very small supervisory union, I have a harder time pin pointing an epidemic within that localized frame. The introduction, and use of, Smartboards, has certainly grown, but, I would not say it has reached a tipping point, only myself and one other teacher in the building have them mounted in our rooms and integrate them consistently into our instructional strategies and practices. I think that the inclusion of technology, as a whole, to promote student success and teaching methodology is certainly an epidemic nation wide (globally even). Be it desktops, laptops, or tablets; audio or ebooks; text-to-speech or speech-to-text programs; web 2.0 tools; digital or flip cameras; Google Docs; Wikis and the like, over the course of the last decade, there has certainly been a tip, and is becoming the norm. Laura's post about epidemics waning really struck me though. What do we do when the "hype" dies down, a "vaccine" (replacement) is created, and the contagiousness begins to decline? Is it truly an epidemic if it is so short lived? How do, should, or can, you promote the stickiness?

//Peter: This is a great chain of thoughts here.. yes, the Smartboard thing..interesting takes from each of you.. I was about those for many years, considered myself a good power use of one too. But in my current role when I go to schools to see good technology in action, I am often disappointed by people showing me their use of the board and saying that they are integrating tech. There are some examples I have seen that get at it, but that is rare. Too bad.. Great examples of the ways things have tipped.. Google Docs, giving devices to teachers and comparing first year to second..great that their was that incubation period and then it explodes. Exciting for the staff!//

Amanda Paquette: Emily, I agree with your idea/question about the lifespan of an epidemic and how to keep it going. In our schools we have found that only having enforced expectations of Technology use is not enough to convince teachers to continue to use a device or product, and certainly not enough to convince them to be innovative. At the risk of constantly introducing 'cool, new things', how do we help our teachers consistently push their technology boundaries? It was very interesting to read the section about The Power of Context. I am trying to think about what are the contextual things in our schools that impact our teachers beliefs and use of technology and what are the ways they are working, and the ways that we can manipulate them to work more in our favor? I am excited about the prospect of starting a mini-research experiment.

Matt Allen - I've read "The Tipping Point" before, but I had not transferred its content to my professional existence. One issue I have with Gladwell's examples is they occur in places where it doesn't matter if everyone is on-board for the epidemic to gain traction. In schools--especially one with a setup like my school has--one or two people can prevent others from being part of the epidemic. My own professional situation is a perfect example. I have piloted the majority of the web-based tools we are currently using, I'm taking the courses UVM offers to become a Tech Integration Specialist and (after that) the C&I Master's, I've presented some of what I've done at VTFest and Dynamic Landscapes, and I'm currently assisting in a grad course at Marlboro (Online Collaborative Tools)--but I can't even apply everything I want to in my own classroom because I'm part of a teaching team that has 2 (out of 4) of the teachers who are, for all intents and purposes, teaching as they were 15 years ago. (I'm comfortable with people moving at different speeds, if only they are trying to move forward.) So, this reading leaves me with a question: How do we intentionally "infect" someone, as opposed to leaving it up to chance? Follow-up: Is it possible to get someone who is unwilling to be involved to become involved?

//Peter: I really think that the only thing that moves folks like that is pressure and support. Pressure from the administration that they need to do something different, but then support them as they take those steps. It is a hard road and not one that I see often taken on successfully .. but there really does need to be some consequence to not moving forward, otherwise we have the situation you illustrate. I think often times administrators are afraid to move those people in a direction.//

Suzanne Buck - Matt interesting that your scenario is similar to mine. My profession is SPED and I have completed a masters in leadership, yet in my building we are still doing the same old same old. I pushed hard and we introduced a web based Reading program from Scholastic. This year we moved into the techno world and added a Promethian board in the reading lab where I currently teach. We have added smart boards over the last few years in the regular education classrooms (went from 1 to 8 in 3 years). Our Promethian boards have gone from 1 to 5 in less than 2 years. Special Education finally joined the technology world in 2011. Yet amongst the building of technology and speeding along thru Google (first email now Docs) to Open Office, we are leaving many of my students behind. The system continues to pull these kids out of their technology classes and leave others to catch them up. Where does the craziness stop? I agree that technology can help many of these kids yet they also need to know how to use them and where they will be the most effective. I agree with your question as we have asked the same thing? How do we get the buy in from those that wish to bury their heads in the sand - do we keep on trucking on and hope that they either retire or finally join us?

Megan Maynard- I agree that the adoption of Google Apps, namely Google Docs, is a great example of a recent trend that caught on like an epidemic. You can see how something as simple as the shared document concept has really helped improve the efficiency and versatility of the online classroom teaching forum. I would like to see technology be utilized as a teaching tool that helps deliver lessons for multiple learning styles. Google Docs is a great example of an improvement of functionality, I believe the next step for technology is in helping tailor lessons plans for each individual students learning styles. Tablet computers have recently been part of the discussion when looking at opportunities for utilizing technology in local schools. I would love to see a tool that would allow you to create a lesson plan and then dynamically tailor that lesson to each student based on a generalized learning style. Tablets offer an extremely diverse range of options for delivering lessons however you need to have the time to find and create the apps that would maximize learning for your students.

Heather Bellavance: Having been in my current school for only four months, I am having difficulty applying the concepts of //The Tipping Point// to my school system with much confidence. I think this is because I am not familiar with the culture of this school yet. I feel like I am constantly sleuthing to try to figure out what has been done, who the “movers & shakers” are, and in what direction the masses are moving. What I do know is that all classrooms, the library space and the computer lab each have a promethean system. However, many of these are new THIS school year; so in that respect we are in the very beginnings of using these tools. I also know that there has been significant in-service time devoted to the understanding and application of these systems. My sense is that we are at the point in the process where we can’t be sure that an epidemic will take place. But, now that the promethean boards aren’t confined to a few classrooms the atmosphere has become ripe for an epidemic. It is similar to the circumstances in Baltimore when the row homes and projects were destroyed; no longer was syphilis contained “within highly confined sociosexual networks”. The equity in the distribution of these systems is allowing for dialog among the educators which I believe will begin to determine who will stand out as the Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen.

Erica Houle: When I was doing my student teaching the smartboards and document readers were new forms of technology that were being introduced to the classrooms and later became an epidemic. Two teachers were to experiment with them and then decide if more teachers should get them. After they experimented with the smartboards, they decided that all of the classrooms should have them. Each classroom in the school I work for has a smartboard and document reader in their classroom so you can say it was an epidemic at the school I work at as well. But each teacher uses the smartboard in different ways depending on their skills and comfort levels with the new form of technology. The children love being able to write on it and work with the smartboard. If teachers welcome the new forms of technology in the classrooms it will affect if it becomes an epidemic or a thing of the past.

Jamie Gallagher: Just before I came to my school, only two teachers had daily access to an IWB. But one of these teachers was both a connector and a maven, and in some ways, a salesmen because she spent so much time learning the tool and accompanying software that she became ridiculously proficient within a year. She also, as I found out later and have seen in action, she was able to excite so many other teachers and the administrator in charge of technology purchases, that within two years EVERY classroom, including music and library, had an IWB. Because of her excitement and ability to spread the word, I believe the rest of the school caught the bug, thus the epidemic, and because the soon found that this was a very helpful tool, they remained in the classroom. This reminds me in a way of Paul Revere's world-famous ride in 1774. To this day, this particular teacher remains the one individual within the school that I go to when I am looking for something new or usable for a particular activity. She is my maven now because she knows what she is talking about.

Suzanne B: I am sorry but I have to ask a technology question is an IWB (Interactive White Board) the same thing as a Smart Board? The Stickiness Factor that is described by Gladwell makes me wonder about many of the newer software packages that are out on the market trying to get people to buy into them. One such package that has been bought at my school is FastForWord. It is a cognitive retraining software package that "trains" our brains through learning games that are designed to make students want to play to learn. The games are repetitive and flashy, similar to cartoons. The package is built on the fact that repetition, color, animation and design will keep the students interested and make them learn. Unfortunately this software package like many others can not accommodate for those students that hearing is a problem. Many inhearing impaired students can watch Sesame Street, and read lips or the captions. But for students with hearing issues, there are no lips to read, no subtitles to read, there are only volume controls. For students having a volume control to the headphones does them no good.

//Peter: Yes, IWB is a Smartboard or Promethean. Same thing. IWB is the generic term for the devices. But, you probably figured that out by now.. Not very timely on this one.. sorry.//

I use my promethean board to assist students with their learning of cursive writing. I use the cursive as another learning modality to help them imprint the words and sounds into their brains. Since I can save the entire screen, we can go back and review how their writing has developed. However, the board has a huge learning curve and the one individual in our building that knows it inside and out, is slightly proprietary. He guards alot of his knowledge as he wants people to come and ask him questions. Whereas, our technology administrator within the building is so open to questions, dilemmas and wishes. I really love it when my students are able to teach me something about the board. It certainly empowers them and I get to learn from them!

Renee Provost: (Sorry, I don't know why this formatted so large! I'm really not trying to hog the spotlight!) I don't think that we can see technology integration as an epidemic (yet!). Sure, the use of technology is steadily increasing, and in my 11 years as a teacher I have witnessed some amazing technology tools making their way into education. I think we have two of the three rules in place: The Law of the Few, and the Power of Context, but have yet to find the Stickiness Factor. The tipping point of technology integration is really going to require a paradigm shift about the way we “do school”. It seems that there is momentum building for 1 to 1 initiatives in school. What I find interesting is that because of the economy, smaller schools seem to be experiencing more of an epidemic with 1 to 1 technology use, since they are more likely to be able to afford purchasing the equipment for all of their students. I think if schools start to develop policies on BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology), we may see more of a 1 to 1 epidemic start to occur. In my own school right now, I see the use of Google Apps as starting to become an epidemic, and I attribute this mainly to The Law of the Few. Teachers, tech integrators and students showing others the flexibility of Google Apps is helping it to take off in our school. Another epidemic we are trying to start is the use of social media (especially Twitter) to develop personal learning networks. My supervisor and I have both developed (and continue to develop) our PLN's through Twitter. We just recently opened a school account on Twitter, and through this discovered that several of our teachers are using this tool as well. It seems there are so many factors that need to fall into place for technology integration to truly become an organic part of the education model, that it's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that it just takes three rules to create a tipping point.

//Peter: Renee.. I don't know about this BYOT thing.. I get why it is appealing but not sure I get how it ultimately can be equitable. Great idea here about Twitter for PLN's. I know some teachers swear by it for professional development.. they use it all the time.//