Advocacy Plan

LM/CE 5010

Plan Goal To gain the support of the superintendent, district principals and curriculum
coordinator for the MS/HS librarian, in conjunction with Pioneer teachers,
to lead a 2.5 hour in-service “New Realities” workshop in August 2020
during one of the back-to-school in-service days. The workshop will
introduce a group of interested teachers to best practices for the district’s
developing AR, VR, MR and 360º camera resources. Workshop participants
will finish with hands-on experience with the tools of each area
(AR/VR/MR/360º) and a “wish list” for Reality-related content they would
like added to the district’s “Realities” LibGuides. Additionally, they will
leave with at least one product/lesson that incorporates one of the new
realities. This lesson to be used in the first quarter of the 2020-2021 year.

A secondary goal is to survey students about their perceptions of the

technology used in the beta lessons. This data will help to inform future
district decisions around tech budgets, PD and curriculum.

Message Augmented Reality (AR),Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR) and
360º camera technology are spreading like wildfire in the world beyond our
school walls. Familiarity with the technology will soon be a “must-have”
skill for workers and leaders in business, medicine and research. This
imperative will soon be true of our graduates at ILHS. “New Realities”
technology use on college campuses is skyrocketing; at least one influential
industry analyst predicts that “by 2021, 60% of US-based higher education
institutions will intentionally use VR to create an enhanced simulation and
learning environment” (Resnick, 2017). In NH these technologies are
already the focus in classrooms and labs at Dartmouth, SNHU and UNH.
Additionally, they are influencing NH hospital design and shaping numerous
NH businesses. As secondary educators we now have a best practices
mandate to expose our students to the potential of these technologies and to
provide opportunities for them to work with the emerging tools, and
software before they move on to college or into the workplace. While
collectively the technology is too new for a meta analysis of research,
numerous studies report positives for student engagement when they are
used in the classroom and more are showing positives for academic
achievement.

Based in part on current recommendations from researchers, our initial

exploration of the Reality technology will take place in our HS/MS
classrooms. We propose to move incrementally, starting with a small group
of Pioneer teachers working collaboratively with the librarian to explore the
technology in their classrooms this year. The experiences of the Pioneer
teachers over the course of this school year, as well as the experiences of
student/users in the library will serve as data that will shape the second stage
of this proposal: the librarian and Pioneer teachers sharing their learning
with peers during an in-service Reality Technology workshop offered in late
August 2020.
Team The MS/HS librarian and identified Pioneer teachers will meet 1X weekly
after school (day TBD) to explore apps, share learning and research
information and fine tune planning for year long events. Tasks like
newsletter posts, research or event promotion will be split based on
schedules and what makes the most sense.

Library assistants will provide support. (i.e. co-writing community

newsletter releases, encouraging students to take survey)

The team will expand asynchronously to the elementary TI and two other
district librarians, MS/HS administrators, IT director and Curriculum
Coordinator via an “Update” (open Google Doc) shared 2x month.The work
of these secondary team members will, for the most part, be limited to
commentary, suggestions and sharing of information they deem important to
the project. Any one of them is welcome to attend the after school meetings.

The librarian and Pioneers will informally lobby students to be part of a

small “Tech Trailblazers” (TT) group that will product test the new
hardware and apps and promote them within the school community.

Timeline
ONGOING - These activities will be ongoing throughout the year

>Weekly after school “App Adventure” meetings with Pioneer teachers. To

explore/share experience with apps and serve as a “check in” on what needs
to happen based on what is being learned.

>Editing of and additions to LibGuide(s) for Reality Technologies.

>Student and Pioneer teacher surveys on apps, tools and classroom

experiences.

>Document all progress with an eye to final presentation and future

workshop - A Google Doc and cloud based photo/video site. This would
include minutes of weekly App Adventure meetings.

>Update reports to full team 2x month.

>Monthly articles in school newsletters to whole community - Along with

other library news include a “Our New School Realities” update.

>Social media campaign to school community to announce targeted events

and encourage exploration of the Reality tools. Shared via revived library
social media accounts and traditional communications.(daily
announcements, posters etc.) Approximately 2x month depending on special
events schedule and what gets created with new tech.
AUGUST

>Propose plan to HS/MS administrators and IT Director. Based on approval

communicate with full team to outline plan, solicit participation in
information sharing.

> Teacher in-service days - announce arrival date of tech resources and
solicit product testers/Pioneers.

> Explore Timelooper “Teacher Ambassador” program (opens Aug 1) for

potential tie in to history department

>Set up monthly meeting schedule with Pioneer teachers.

SEPTEMBER

> Introduce library support staff to plan. Define their ongoing roles as it
relates to new tech: policies, PD for themselves.

> Create standardized reporting form for Pioneers for data collection.

>Outline library policies regarding new resources : Who gets what?, When?
and, For how long?Where can it be used?

> Recruit (via announcements, tweets, and face-to-face) a small group of

students,“Tech Trailblazers,” for beta testing of new resources. Schedule
lunch meeting with them. Offer pizza. Establish roles and guidelines for
feedback from them.

>Conduct ISTE essential conditions audit to see how our school fares. Work
with IT on this.

>Collect data to feed into ISTE diagnostics tool.Work with IT on this.

> Start LibGuide(s) for AR/VR/MR/360º: both general info and discipline
specific.

> Banned Websites Awareness Day - September 25, 2019 “Don’t Filter Me”
High School Student Information Gathering Activity via ALA.

> Create E-surveys to be used by students. For both in library users and
those in classes where the tech is being beta tested.

OCTOBER

> Newsletter to report on Banned Websites event and introduce new Reality
tech resources in the library. Include pertinent info about VR/AR/MR from
Common Sense Media report.
> Report out ISTE audit results to team.

NOVEMBER

>Plan presentation for Open Mic in Week 3 December

DECEMBER

> Attend Christa McAuliffe Conference - December 2-3 : Focus on Reality

workshops

>Buy Curioscope t-shirt for Open Mic and Feb 27 showcases and School
Board presentation in spring.

>Open Mic/Reality night- introduce new tech to the parent community and
wider student body prior to open mic acts.

JANUARY

>Department head outreach - Can I have 15 minutes to showcase a new

discipline specific app at your next meeting?

> Explore AR texts. Solicit publisher visit and/or free samples.

FEBRUARY

>Review ISTE Student Showcase document to begin School Board June

presentation prep.

>Digital Learning Day - Feb 27, 2020. Library is ground zero for events to
celebrate. Social media/spread the word campaign leading up to this date.

>VR Literary-Style Game Night at the library. Based on TT & team

recommendations. BYOH(bring your own headset) or use library’s.

MARCH

>Contact principal with reminder for request to get on June School Board
agenda.

>Issue invite to World Language Teachers and History Teachers to a Virtual

Field Trip. After school.

> Brainstorm with “Tech Trailblazers” for School Board presentation ideas.
(lunch)

APRIL
 > Synthesize student and teacher survey data and create report.

>Work with TT students at lunch and teacher Pioneers asynchronously to

develop the School Board presentation.

MAY

>Continue work to prepare for the School Board presentation.

JUNE

>Presentation to School Board: include outline for workshop in August

Artifact This interactive promotional visual will be shared via library social media
and email to the school community. Its particular focus is Digital Learning
Day in February 2020.

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/1211383865159974918?editor-closed

References

AASL. (2019). Advocacy page: Banned Websites Awareness Day. [website page]. Retrieved
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Anderson, M. (2019). The Periodic Table of iOS Apps For AR And VR to try today!.
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ios-apps-for -ar-and-vr/

Virtual Immersive Teaching and Learning (VITaL), San Diego State University. (2017).
Astronomy professor using VR. [photo]. Retrieved from https://its.sdsu.edu/vital-the-
future-of-immersive-learning-at-sdsu/

Aubrey, J., Bailenson, J., Bailey, J., Robb, M. (2018). VIRTUAL REALITY 101: WHAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KIDS AND VR. [Common Sense Media Research Report].
Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/
research/csm_vr101_final_under5mb.pdf

Carrasquero, M. (n.d.). Lincoln in the Bardo book cover. [photo]. Retrieved from
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bardo

Google. (2016). Tilt Brush: Painting from a new perspective. [video]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TckqNdrdbgk

ISTE. (n.d.). ISTE Advocacy Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/advocacy/advocacy -

toolkit
ISTE. (n.d.). Diagnostic Tool. Retrieved from https://id.iste.org/connected/standards/ lead-
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Merge. (2018). The award-winning MERGE Cube is changing the way we interact with
technology. [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsO9NyL02-w