Project Schools Interactive H.E.A.T.R. Site Support Guide
From WiKi
The LoTi Classroom Guide LoTi Project School Interactive H.E.A.T.R. Web Sites
Chapter One: Site Navigation and Modules
Overview
The LoTi Classroom is a 21st Century online learning and resource community for educators worldwide. Based on the original Levels of Technology Implementation (LoTi) framework developed by Dr. Chris Moersch in the mid-1990's, LoTi has now transformed into Levels of Teaching Innovation in the current millennium. The LoTi Classroom is an interactive web site designed for classroom teachers to learn, share, mentor, and elevate their level of teaching innovation. This interactive LoTi web site is the perfect professional learning community for all stakeholders to implement and support research-best practices and 21st Century learning in the classroom.
Chapter One: Site Navigation and Modules outlines how to (1) access the LoTi Classroom web site, (2) navigate to the interactive resource “course” for your LoTi Project School, (3) maneuver around your LoTi Project School course, and (4) use the instructional tools built into the LoTi Classroom interface.
Access Requirements
To use the LoTi Classroom site, you will need a computer with internet access and the (very highly recommended) Mozilla Firefox web browser. Firefox is free and can be downloaded with at the following URL:
Due to a known issue between certain versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and java-based web forms, we recommend using Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari to access the LoTi Classroom. The issue with Internet Explorer affects LoTi Classroom users as they are not able to submit information in a text box because no cursor will appear. (Text boxes are used in the LoTi Classroom interface for submitting LoTi Deliverables and participating in forum discussions).
Please note that all versions and platforms of Internet Explorer are not affected. If you are unable or unwilling to use Firefox or Safari, you can use Internet Explorer with the knowledge that it may inhibit your ability to actively participate at the site. We have experienced no problems with participants using Firefox or Safari under any platform or computer operating system.
Login to the LoTi Classroom site
The LoTi Classroom web site is a secure site and, thus, requires participants to login with a user name and password. Since each LoTi Project School resource course at the site contains assessment data, action plan deliverables, and H.E.A.T.R.-based resources specific to the LoTi Project School, all key players have already been enrolled and roles have been assigned so that only the link to your LoTi Project School should be available after logging in.*
- 1. Access the LoTi Classroom at: http://www.loticlassroom.com
- 2. In the upper right corner of the browser window, click on the "Login" link.
- 3. When you reach the login screen, you will be prompted for your user name and password. Your user name and password for the first time you access the class only will be your email address up to (but not including) the "@" symbol. Upon entering the course, a prompt will appear for you to change your password to something that only you will remember.
- Enter your user name and password in the boxes as prompted, then click on the "Login" button to enter the LoTi Classroom. Please be advised that the Login page is case sensitive.
- Once inside the LoTi Classroom, the "Login" link should change to read "Logout" and the message should show your name.
- 4. On the main screen of LoTi Classroom, you will be presented with a list of available courses in which you are currently enrolled. Your LoTi Project School resource course should be the only available course on the list. * To access the site for your LoTi Project School, click on the link for the course that denotes the name of your school (e.g., ACBOE: Chelsea Heights School, CFISD: Bleyl Middle School, PAPS: McGinnis Middle School).
* If you are currently enrolled in a session of an instructional online course through the NBEA (e.g., LCT501), more than one course will appear on the list.
How to Use Your LoTi Project School Resource Course
To use your LoTi Project School resource course, you first need to understand how to the course is organized. The blocks on the left of the main screen are for navigating through the course and organizing tasks. A brief description of each block is included below.
The Breadcrumb Bar
The Breadcrumb Bar allows you to navigate easily through the course. Each time you open an activity (e.g., click on a link in the main course blocks), the Breadcrumb Bar will change to reflect the location of the file that you are currently viewing. To return to the main screen for the course, simply click on the "short name" for your LoTi Project School resource course, which will appear just after "loticlassroom" on the Breadcrumb Bar (e.g., ACBOE_Chelsea, CFISD_Bleyl, PAPS_McGinnis).
The Messages Block
The Messages Block contains messages sent to you by the LoTi Project School Coordinator, LoTi Mentors, or other participants using your LoTi Project School resource site.
The People Block
The People Block allows you to send messages to the LoTi Project School Coordinator, LoTi Mentors, or other participants using your LoTi Project School resource site.
The Calendar Block
The Calendar Block highlights important dates related to your LoTi Project School such as deadlines for the LoTi Deliverables outlined on your school's Next Steps Action Plan.
Chapter Two: LoTi Project School Connections
Overview
It is important for all stakeholders in the LoTi Project School process to stay current by sharing and discussing instructional strategies and important issues affecting your LoTi Project School.
Chapter Two: LoTi Project School Connections outlines the web tools designed to keep you informed of the latest LoTi issues.
LoTi Project School News
The LoTi Project School News link features outstanding LoTi educators who are committed to turning up the H.E.A.T.R. in their lessons and classroom instructional practices. Each month, the "LoTi Teacher of the Month"
Ask the LoTi Project School Coordinator
The LoTi Project School Coordinator is monitoring your school's progress toward your Next Steps Action Plan in cooperation with the LoTi Project Director, Dr. Chris Moersch. The Ask the LoTi Project School Coordinator link takes you to a discussion forum where you can discuss events occurring on campus, request resources toward meeting the outlined LoTi Deliverables, or ask questions related to your LoTi Project School. Also, if you have a nomination for an innovative LoTi teacher to be featured at our site or have a resource you wish to add to the site for everyone to use, feel free to post the information in the Ask the LoTi Project School Coordinator discussion forum.
The LoTi Spotlight Newsletter
The LoTi Spotlight Newsletter link connects to the online version of this monthly publication from Dr. Amy Gordon at the NBEA. The LoTi Spotlight Newsletter features creative and innovative instructional strategies, tips for scaffolding instruction, links to the latest "cool" technology tools, ideas for turning up the H.E.A.T.R. in your classroom, information on available professional development opportunities, and examples of exemplary LoTi educators.
The LoTi Guy Speaks Newsletter
The LoTi Guy Speaks Newsletter link connects to the online version of this monthly publication from Dr. Chris Moersch, otherwise known as "The LoTi Guy". The LoTi Guy Speaks Newsletter discusses pedagogical issues that affect educators around the nation, prompting readers to question their existing paradigms, traditions, and existing instructional practices as a means of elevating levels of teaching innovation in the 21st Century classroom.
Chapter Three: Your LoTi Project School
Overview
For a Next Steps Action Plan to be successful, all key stakeholders and their respective roles must be carefully articulated so that each person involved understands how his/her individual contributions link to the overall LoTi goals and objectives for the campus.
Chapter Three: Your LoTi Project School outlines the specific LoTi Project School team information for your campus including the identified Target Team, your school's web site, and a series of content area chat rooms appropriate to the targeted subject area(s).
Target Team Information
The Target Team Information link contains all of the essential information regarding the LoTi Project School Target Team for the current school year. Available information includes your LoTi Project School name, address, and phone number; a link to contact the principal; a link to contact the identified district/school LoTi liaison(s); the identification of the targeted instructional group; and the identification of the targeted content area(s) and grade level(s).
Contact Information
The Contact Information link connects to your school's web site so that you can easily locate additional campus information while using the LoTi Classroom web site.
Content Area Chat Rooms
The Content Area Chat Rooms links connect to a series of content-specific chat areas for participants to request information, resources, and strategies or share ideas with other teachers to improve student achievement. In these chat areas, teachers can be free to discuss any content-related topic with other teachers from the same content area or with a Certified National LoTi Trainer. Your LoTi Project School resource course contains content area chat rooms according to the targeted content area(s) identified in your Next Steps Action Plan.
Chapter Four: Assessment of School Site
Overview
During the initial phase of the LoTi Project School implementation process, educators at each LoTi Project School will complete the online DETAILS for the 21st Century Questionnaire (i.e., LoTi assessment) to approximate the Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi), Personal Computer Use (PCU), Current Instructional Practices (CIP), and DETAILS (Determining Educational Technology And Instructional Learning Skillsets) professional development priority areas of all credentialed staff members (i.e., building administrators, classroom teachers, resource teachers, media specialists). Each school will also gather additional data regarding their current technology infrastructure, performance on recent standardized tests, and current school/district curriculum initiatives. From this data, a cadre of teachers from a targeted grade level and/or content area will be selected as the LoTi Project School implementation team for the school year.
Chapter Four: Assessment of School Site outlines summary information on your school's assessment including data summaries, reports, and graphs.
Assessment Data Summary
The LoTi Assessment Summary link contains aggregate results from the "DETAILS for the 21st Century Questionnaire" including both the mean and median LoTi, CIP, and PCU scores; and a listing of recommended professional development areas for your campus.
The additional data summary link (named for the type of summary available) connects to a data summary related to your school's specific standardized testing results (e.g., AYP Report, TAKS Data Summary, CRT Data Summary).
Assessment Reports
The DETAILS Profile Report link will download the expanded DETAILS Profile report for your campus including assessment results and recommended staff development priorities for increasing student achievement related to each of the five DETAILS Skillsets.
The LoTi Profile Report link will download the expanded LoTi Technology Use Profile report for your campus including more conclusive information on your school's LoTi, CIP, and PCU results. The LoTi Technology Use Profile also provides findings, goals, and recommendations for your campus to increase the level of teaching innovation in the classroom.
Assessment Graphs
The Assessment Graphs links connect to the Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi) graph results, the Current Instructional Practices (CIP) graph results, the Personal Computer Use (PCU) graph results, and the DETAILS for the 21st Century graph results for your organization.
Chapter Five: Next Steps Action Plan Delivered
Overview
During the second phase of the LoTi Project School implementation process, the National Business Education Alliance (NBEA) assists each project school with constructing a Next Steps Action Plan outlining targeted academic goals and objectives for the applicable school year. The Next Steps Action Plan sets forth a plan of action to meet specific, targeted goals surrounding student achievement, technology implementation, and instructional practices in the classroom. The action plan, in effect, will become each school’s “instructional” technology plan for the LoTi Project School year. Everyone involved with the project’s implementation will complete specific tasks customized for each campus including lesson plan submissions, classroom walkthroughs, informal web-based seminars, curriculum development sessions, and peer mentoring opportunities. These specific tasks are known as LoTi Deliverables.
Chapter Five: Next Steps Action Plan Delivered outlines the entire Next Steps Action Plan including the goals, objectives, and a listing of specific LoTi Deliverables.
Complete Action Plan
The Complete Action Plan link will download your school's Next Steps Action Plan for the current school year as an Adobe Acrobat PDF. Each time your school's action plan is updated, the changes will be reflected on the complete plan document.
Goals
The Goals link connects to a list of the LoTi Project School Goals identified to increase student achievement and 21st Century learning for the current school year.
Objectives
The Objectives link connects to a list of the LoTi Project School Objectives identified to increase student achievement and 21st Century learning for the current school year.
LoTi Deliverables
The LoTi Deliverables links were established so that (1) all participants at the site have an easy way to view each set of LoTi Deliverables and (2) LoTi Liaisons are able to submit a description of action taken toward the completion of each identified deilverable. To see a set of LoTi Deliverables, click on one of the links to view the table of specific information. To send a report of action taken toward a given LoTi Deliverable, click on the appropriate link to view the table then click on the "Edit My Submission" button to create your LoTi Deliverable report.
Chapter Six: Staff Development Interventions
Overview
During the third phase of the LoTi Project School implementation process, teachers on the project implementation team participate in strategically-targeted professional development interventions as outlined by the school’s Next Steps Action Plan. These professional development interventions will help participating teachers explore the concepts of H.E.A.T.R. (Higher-order thinking skills, Engaged learning, Authenticity, Technology use, and Rubric) to build effective communities of inquiry that help students develop 21st Century Skills. In addition, structured professional development interventions facilitated by Certified National LoTi Trainers will be implemented that target content area priorities tied to student academic achievement.
Chapter Six: Staff Development Interventions outlines how to use the Staff Development Interventions block of your LoTi Project School resource course.
Staff Development Follow-up Discussions
As a follow-up to each staff development intervention outlined in your Next Steps Action Plan, a forum discussion is provided so that the facilitator and participants can correspond and share ideas with one another. The session facilitator will post any follow-up comments and then respond to inquiries posed in the discussion. There will be a separate forum discussion established for each designated staff development intervention.
Staff Development Handouts
As a follow-up to each staff development intervention outlined in your Next Steps Action Plan, the facilitator will post any handouts or PowerPoint presentations, if applicable, that were distributed or displayed during the session. The session facilitator will also post any additional resources in the Staff Development Interventions section of the site either as part of a forum discussion or listed just below the discussion with any companion handouts.
Chapter Seven: Sustainability & Site Resources
Overview
The final phase of the LoTi Project School implementation process involves ongoing activities aimed at sustaining a learning environment of improved rigor and relevance through (1) documented classroom walkthroughs by building administrators, (2) classroom monitoring in the form of periodic visits from the LoTi Project Director, and (3) implementation of H.E.A.T.R.-related resources available in the LoTi Classroom.
Chapter Seven: Sustainability and Site Resources provides an overview of the resources available to support your LoTi Project School sustaining the goals/objectives embedded in your Next Steps Action Plan.
Sustainability
The Classroom Walkthroughs links provide any needed resources for your school building administrators to conduct classroom walkthroughs focused around your school's unique H.E.A.T.R. look-fors. These resources include a downloadable version of the "LoTi Sniff Test" in PDF format, a downloadable version of the H.E.A.T.R. observation form in PDF format, and additional information about performing classroom walkthroughs.
Higher Order Thinking Resources
The links in the Higher Order Thinking Resources block are provided to support the LoTi Project School team's implementation of the "H" in H.E.A.T.R.: higher order thinking. Higher order thinking implies that students are engaged in cognitive processing activities and questioning strategies that extend beyond recall/comprehension. Participants can submit pertinent questioning strategies, activities, and resources they think might be useful to other colleagues as well as review resources submitted by others. The LoTi Project School Coordinator will review all submitted resources and post them to the Higher Order Thinking Resources block.
Engaged Learning Resources
The links in the Engaged Learning Resources block are provided to support the LoTi Project School team's implementation of the "E" in H.E.A.T.R.: engaged learning. Engaged learning implies that students are engaged in active problem-solving rather than simply reporting back information. Participants can submit engaged learning strategies, activities, lesson plans, and resources they think might be useful to other colleagues as well as review resources submitted by others. The LoTi Project School Coordinator will review all submitted resources and post them to the Engaged Learning Resources block.
Authenticity Resources
The links in the Authenticity Resources block are provided to support the LoTi Project School team's implementation of the "A" in H.E.A.T.R.: authenticity. Authenticity implies that students are engaged in 21st Century skills and themes that reflect real-world problem-solving and decision making. Participants can submit 21st Century learning strategies, activities, and resources they think might be useful to other colleagues as well as review resources submitted by others. The LoTi Project School Coordinator will review all submitted resources and post them to the Authenticy Resources block.
Technology Resources
The links in the Technology Resources block are provided to support the LoTi Project School team's implementation of the "T" in H.E.A.T.R.: technology use. Participants can submit quality technology resources they think might be useful to other colleagues as well as review resources submitted by others. The LoTi Project School Coordinator will review all submitted resources and post them to the Technology Resources block.
Rubric Resources
The links in the Rubric Resources block are provided to support the LoTi Project School team's implementation of the "R" in H.E.A.T.R.: rubric. Rubrics imply that teachers and students are using a variety of strategies, tools, and process to assess what students know and are able to do relating to standards. Participants can submit web-based strategies, activities, tools, and resources they think might be useful to other colleagues as well as review resources submitted by others. The LoTi Project School Coordinator will review all submitted resources and post them to the Rubric Resources block.
LoTi Project School Resources
The links in the LoTi Project School Resources block contain support documents on various topics involved in the LoTi implementation process such as Conversing with your Target Team, Participating in Extreme Technology Lesson Plan Makeovers, Using Digital Communication Tools, and Committing To Differentiation.
Other Resources
The links in the Other Resources block contain links to various web sites that have proven useful in the LoTi implementation process such as Apple Learning Exchange, Thinkfinity-, Interactivate, and Brainy Betty.
