Report on My Advocacy Project

Danielle Vachon
University of New Hampshire
April 28, 2015
Topic
Technology in Education
Description of the Project (5 points)
* The aim of this project is to initiate an interest group on technology use in
schools and at home.
Context and Rationale (10)
Briefly summarize of the context and rationale for the project (within 75 words or
use a bulleted list of up to 7 key points)
*
Growing number of young children with special needs reported in Gilford,
NH
*
Limited number of qualified personnel to serve the children and families in
Gilford, NH
*
Growing number of wealthy families who have the money to support
technology
*
Improper use of iPads in classrooms by teachers
*
Numerous amount of teachers stating they dont know how to operate the
technology
equipment in their classrooms.
*
Screen time minutes are rising for young children
Research to Support my Project (30)
List relevant research findings that support the rationale (use a bulleted list of up
to 7 key research studies/findings)
According to Education Issues (Grinager, 2006a), technology provides benefits
such as preparing students for the workforce by being able to learn to use and
apply different skills in the workplace, strengthening understanding and thinking
skills through exploration, collaboration, and creation, and adapting to support
differentiated or personalized learning for children who have a specific learning
style.
According to Grinager (2006b) one of the many educational benefits that
technology can have on a child is enhancing accessibility for physical or learning
disabled students through assistive technologies and presentations of content in
alternative modalities.
The ISTE Standards want all teachers to facilitate and inspire student learning,
design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments, and

model digital age work and learning (ISTE, 2015).

Maggie Hassan, recently issued the following statement: Modernizing how we
educate our students in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and
math is critical to helping them develop the skills needed for good jobs in the
innovation economy, and I thank the members of the task force for their
important work (State of NH, 2013).
Rose & Gravel (2008) argue that in order to be effective in diverse classrooms,
the curriculum that is implemented must be presented in ways that are
perceptible to all students. By taking advantage of the power and flexibility of
modern technology, UDL provides a vehicle for delivering these practices to the
individual students for whom they are likely to be most effective (Rose & Gravel,
2008).
The National Conference of State Legislatures said that the federal funding
for education technology under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has
significantly decreased since 2002, raising questions about who will provide the
future funding and vision for technology in education (Grinager, 2007).
Technology, when used effectively, can help students meet and exceed
rigorous learning goals. It can also give educators access to tools and resources
that personalize instruction and create relevant, engaging learning environments
(ISTE, 2015).

Progress Log (5)

Date

Action

2/12

Contacted Gilford School District

2/23

Heard back from Principal of Gilford Elementary

2/23

Scheduled a meeting with principal to brainstorm ideas for our

advocacy project

2/27

Met with Principal and got the approval to meet with a group of
teachers to bounce ideas off of each other for a technology
night, workshop, or training?

2/27

Sent out an all-school email to teachers asking who is interested

in starting a technology advocacy group

2/283/6

Received emails from multiple teachers interested in technology

night

3/13

Met with group of teachers and brainstormed ideas for a

technology night
(Decided on Apps for Apps for parents and teachers interested
in learning more about technology use in education and at
home)

3/16

-Met with group of teachers again and decided on a date and

time (April 22, from 5-7pm)
-Decided who would send out an email to all GES and GES
families
-Decided who would make a flyer to go home in student
backpacks

3/174/2

Got strong feedback from parents and teachers who were

excited about the night

4/3

Developed a brochure to share at Apps for Apps night

4/22

Hosted Apps for Apps

4/23

Received letter from multiple parents stating how beneficial Apps

for Apps was for them

4/24

Curriculum Coordinator of Gilford School District emailed us and

asked us to develop another night for the whole school district to
experience

4/24

We responded to the CD and are planning another night!

Current Status (10)

*Gilford Elementary School held a technology night called Apps for Apps and
provided information to parents and teachers about proper technology use and
educational apps.
*Gilford Elementary School is planning on doing more technology nights and

workshops for parents and teachers.

*Almost all GES teachers attended the technology night and gained insights on
educational apps that they can utilize in their classrooms.
*Parents wrote a letter to the school stating how beneficial the night was for them
and their children.
*Talked with the Curriculum Director at GSD and are planning another night for
all schools in the district.
Challenges & Barriers (10)
*
Arranging a meeting time with a principal
*
Negotiating plans with various interest groups (teachers)
*
Arranging a meeting time with teachers
*
Deciding on a technology topic with a group of teachers
*
Deciding on the target group for the technology night
*
Picking a date and time that works for all teachers and most parents for
Apps for Apps
*
Arranging how to get the word out about the technology night
*
Getting teachers in the school to attend the technology night
*
Organizing who would bring what apps to eat
Lessons Learned and Tips for New Advocates (10)
*
E-mails when accompanied by follow-up calls resulted in better
attendance to the meeting.
*
Using personal network to initiate contact was effective to break the ice.
*
Start small and work your way up the ladder.
*
Get a group of people to share your passion and help you advocate
*
Build a relationship with a principal, superintendent, or member of the
school board.
*
Treat others how you would like to be treated
*
Get parent support; find out what is important to them for their children
Additional Comments / Your Reflections on the Advocacy Project (20)
When we were first faced with the advocacy project we were not sure where to
start. We didnt know if we wanted to reach out to a larger crowd or stick with a
smaller crowd in which we were familiar with. We decided that since we wanted
to be advocates toward technology after witnessing improper use in our schools
that we should start small. Our next question was, Do we want to reach out to a

whole school district or stick to one school? We decided to stick with the
elementary school since we were familiar with the children and families in it. After
we had a target group our next step was to reach out to the building principal to
see if we could bounce ideas off of her and ultimately get her permission to be
advocates in her school. We sent her an email expressing our thoughts and
ideas about advocating technology into her school based on what we have seen
from parents and some teachers. Her response was very quick and she
immediately wanted us in her office to explain our thoughts. The meeting went
very well and she granted us permission to further our advocacy project. We then
sent out an all GES email to teachers expressing our ideas for a technology
advocacy project and we got a strong response back. About 10 teachers wrote
back saying they were very interested and would love to help! This response
made us feel great about what we were starting because we could tell it was a
pressing issue in this school and teachers wanted to fix it. Our next step was to
meet with the teachers that we interested and come up with a common
technology theme that we wanted to share and teach others about. We decided
on educating families and other teachers in our school about different Apps that
they could use on an iPad, mobile device, tablet, or computer. We then came up
with a catchy name called Apps for Apps. We decided that we would have a
technology night where people would bring in appetizers and learn about
educational apps that they could use in the home or classroom. Once we came
up with this idea, the planning started! With the help of the teachers in the school

we sent out an all GES email to families and made a flyer to go home in student
backpacks. The response from this was amazing!! There were so many families
saying they were willing to help set up Apps for Apps and bring in appetizers.
This made the process that more exciting! While the planning continued, we met
a few more times with the teachers and decided what each teacher wanted to
focus on during Apps for Apps. The third and fourth grade teachers were going to
focus on older apps and more independent learning apps, the first and second
grade teachers were going to focus on digital book apps, and then we were going
to focus on the younger apps while educating parents and teachers on proper
technology use. For the technology night we developed a brochure which
included: educational apps, how to download an app, what to look for in an app
you are going to download, and a screen time blurb. We were so excited to share
our findings and we were hoping the parents and other teachers would be just as
excited as us.
Finally, all of our hard work was about to pay off! It was time for Apps for
Apps. We went to the school early and helped set up the tables in the library the
way we wanted them. We wanted it to be an open design so that it didnt seem
like a formal event. We decorated an appetizer table for families to place their
appetizer on. We also decorated the other tables and labeled them so families
could go to the table they were most interested in. We set up our table towards
the end of the room so that we were the last stop for most families. We wanted to
be the last stop because we wanted to be the last thing they remembered. We

set up our table with 2 iPads and our brochures for families and teachers to take
with them. The night was very successful. The library was packed with families
and teachers! Everyone was very interested in our table and had tons of
questions for us! Some of their questions were: how do you find apps like these?,
what do you recommend for a child of this age?, when is the right time to take
an iPad away from a child? can you do another night like this? We had so many
teachers and parents ask us how to operate the app store and had no idea how
to download an app. We decided we would take an extra 15 minutes after Apps
for Apps ended and run a mini workshop on how to use the app store. This was
great for us because we had step by step directions in our brochure, so everyone
had those pulled out and were following along with us. Apps for Apps was a great
success. The following day we had a few parents get together and write a letter
to the school stating how much information they gathered from the night and look
forward to the next one! We also noticed during the last few days of school
before vacation that the teachers who attended Apps for Apps were using the
apps we told them about! This was awesome because it made us feel as if we
made a difference in a small community!
Overall, this experience was a great one. We have learned that our advocacy
efforts really made a difference in teachers and parents in Gilford, NH. We also
learned that our advocacy efforts are never done. The curriculum coordinator for
Gilford School District caught wind of our technology night and asked us to
present a night like Apps for Apps to the whole school district. We are so excited
to share our knowledge with other teachers and more parents in the school
district. We are going to need to reach out to other teachers in the middle school
and high school level to help us with presenting their favorite apps. Once again,
advocacy is a team sport and we feel if we connect with others around us who
feel the same way, then our message will go far. We hope to educate and let
others know that they can be advocates for anything they want! They just need to

put in the time, effort, and build relationships with others around them.