Ironically, I was able to find more information about the Napa Valley Unified District policies related to technology in my research in December 2019 than I am able to find now. Below are the notes that I took at that time from the district website (which are not able to be found anywhere now). I definitely needed to know the current policies as we transitioned to Distance Learning in March 2020. I know, through experience and research, that Napa Valley Unified has long been committed to using technology to enhance the lives of students. What I've been able to piece together about the current tech policies has come from 1) Strategic Goal #1, 2) NVUSD Technology Department, and 3) the Technology Use Agreement and Consent Forms. Strategic Goal #1: Student Learning, Achievement and Access The portions that apply to technology explain:
The NVUSD Technology Department has been incredibly busy this year, before and during school closures due to Covid-19. It's reassuring to be able to recognize different peoples' names in the tech department, but this is mostly because my colleagues and I needed tech support when River School moved to a new campus in January 2020. I've been impressed with how responsive and timely support has been since the beginning of the year. However, I don't remember this transparent and detailed support being as easily available in the other two decades that I've been teaching (at three different middle schools) in the district. I'm hopeful that support, as well as continued training (that increased due to the sudden Distance Learning that occurred because of Covid-19) will continue to be available as we move forward into the next few school years. Below, the Technology Use Agreement and Consent Forms that each student and parent/guardian must sign each year (first for K-8, second for 9-12) were last updated in 2013. These are very much legal documents. They definitely fill a need... but not in communicating clearly with our students. I believe the district policies need to be:
When Distance Learning began in March 2020, teachers needed to be clear, with themselves and with students, about expectations for technology use and behavior in our shared digital spaces. This information needed to be communicated quickly. As I helped create the Middle School Social Studies learning modules for the four district middle schools, I used the K-8 Technology Use Agreement and Consent Form to create the following infographic and a video (begins at 1:23) to explain the expectations. As there was no information on the district forms to explain what "Be Polite" looks like, I added some details based on common sense and ideas from other educators. The remainder of the information came straight from the forms. Though I felt my work was good and I was happy to share with middle school Social Studies teachers across the district, it was discouraging that multiple teachers in other content areas were also needing to "re-create the wheel," instead of having something ready to go from the district. For example, one of my colleagues created this presentation to be used in Science classes: Video Conferencing Guidelines and Etiquette for Students.
Clearly, I have a lot to consider and express regarding the communication and implementation of the NVUSD technology policies. I am completely grateful that our district (as well as the Napa County Office of Education and NapaLearns) is committed to student achievement as well as communication. There have been so many details that the district and site leaders have needed to pay attention to this year and I believe they're doing an incredible job. I will keep an eye out for the right place and time to share my feedback with leadership. I am confident that attention will be paid to these details.
6 Comments
Kirsten
6/15/2020 07:22:43 pm
You found way more than I did! I agree that prior to Covid-19 there wasn't much training for technology, if at all. I find it funny that the district wants to be innovative with technology, but they don't give the training and expect teachers to be able to pick it up with no problem..
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Megan
6/19/2020 12:05:46 am
There have been some years where there was training available through the Technology Department and TOSA's. However, due to funding challenges, these resources have changed. Looking forward, I will keep a keener eye out for what is available to teachers throughout the district. Hopefully our Learn, Lead, Thrive days can include training with technology.
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Evrim Cakir
6/18/2020 02:58:39 pm
Wow, where did you find that info. It took me so long to find A 2 sentence mission statement! I saw the technology agreement, I think that also needs a little update!
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Megan
6/19/2020 12:07:54 am
I agree that the form needs to be updated. The topic of technology fits so well with my action research... about student research. As we get going into next year (whatever it may look like), I'm going to see how to best give feedback about the need for our technology policies to be updated and trainings to be more readily available.
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Melissa
6/20/2020 06:47:51 pm
Megan,
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Kathy Martin
6/23/2020 09:20:06 pm
I find it fascinating that you found all that information on the website about technology and now it is all gone. I wonder if they are updating the policies so they just decided to take it all down. I do know the technology department has been so busy since distance learning started. Hopefully they have been able to take a breathe and begin the work they need to be ready for the start of this upcoming school year.
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