An Interview with Erin English

The digital divide is still very present. However, Dr. English emphasizes the ways in which we can use technology to be an equalizer and give students access to tools that support their learning. She highlights how these digital tools afford learners the opportunity to engage in a way that lessens the students’ fear of not knowing an answer.

Dr. English describes how students can be inclined to not raise their hands due to an inferiority complex built up long before they entered that particular classroom. Educational technology gives these learners a way to build their confidence and take risks they may not otherwise have taken if they were afraid of having their lack of understanding exposed.

Talk about the ways your leadership has evolved and how you are integrating technology today.

I had an interesting journey in my leadership career. I started my teaching career at an elementary school in Escondido, California, where we were asked by Apple Computer to envision what would be possible if we had a few hundred thousand dollars.

This was the first time I had heard the term ‘vision’ in my career.

I was 28 years old and we started to create a vision and plan. Our team was selected and awarded the funds by Apple.

This experience changed the trajectory of my career. I was given a little Apple computer and thought, “Wow! Wouldn’t it be great if we could talk to each other and collaborate on these?” We figured out how to network our computers prior to that technology being available more widely.

After that experience, I became a coordinator and then an informational technology director. I taught teachers how to use technology and helped build schools using technology with the lens on teacher training so that they could actually use the technology we put into the schools.

Next, I became a school principal because I missed being at schools and with kids. I also needed that kind of experience to understand what it is to flow in a school. I was a principal for nine years in several different schools.

Then I had an unbelievable opportunity to work with a visionary superintendent, Dr. Devin Vodicka. This man was a visionary who walked into a district that was considered one of the lowest performing districts in San Diego County.

We wanted to change the culture to one that stressed high expectations. Within just a couple of years, we transformed the district. Our superintendent was recognized as California Superintendent of the Year, and we were invited to the White House numerous times to share about the transformation.

I learned so much about leadership and transformational change during this time. Now, I work at the San Diego County Office of Education in the innovation division. In that role we are helping other districts to utilize transformational leadership and use technology as we see fit but also to transform the mindset of the leaders so that they are open to innovation.

How do you use technology as that tool to help others see the power of these kinds of changes?

We have to look at technology as just another tool. It can be an accelerator in classrooms, especially when there is an equity gap.

In Vista Unified, my former district, it was transformational. We had kids who had never been to a public library. Also, their parents had never been online. Many of these individuals had limited English speaking skills and were, therefore, less able to navigate technology the way English speaking parents could at the time.

What we did first was to start making sure that every one of our 24,000 students had access at school. We transformed within a matter of three years and went from having 25 Chromebooks to 24,000 Chromebooks. Now, they have almost doubled that, including both iPads and Chromebooks.

The transformation came when the kids could actually continue their learning at home.

A lot of students who come into school when they are five or six years old are years behind kids from affluent families because they haven’t had the experiences or been exposed to the experiences that other children have had. I take my grandchildren on vacations during the summer, for example. We go to museums, plays, national parks, and more.

The children in a lot of these lower socio-economic communities are lucky to visit the local grocery store or park. They tend to stay within their small neighborhoods or complexes. A lot of their parents don’t even have cars.

What we did was make sure that the computers in those schools could actually be taken home. We offered parent training programs that were amazing, and we immediately saw parents starting to go online.

We gave them places to go to help them fill out applications. We also made sure the kids had access to books online so that the parents could support the students’ learning at home.

Everything was about the ease of use and it transformed the conversations we were having with our families.

It opened up doors for them to better support their kids. We could also track students’ work at home as well as at school so we could see how they were progressing.

Was the training mandatory?

If a computer went home with a child, the parents had to attend a training. They didn’t have to come to all the workshops but they had to do at least the security safety training, which included how to treat the computer, what the computer could and could not be used for, the insurance policies, and how they could buy into an insurance policy.

Even though our parents were very poor, most paid for a small policy. They could not afford to purchase a computer outright but they also recognized that their children could not afford not to have the device to support their learning. If the policy went unused, they were aware that they would get the money back at the end of the year.

Was there a resource that was particularly helpful in growing your students’ literacy?

It is a book program called Tumble Books. It is a very inexpensive, online book repertoire, where students have access to thousands of books. Shortly after providing all students and parents with their logins and passwords, students and families in our school were reading up to ten thousand books each week.

We found that the reading being done by parents was helping them to learn English, as well. The kids also read to their parents. It was a time of transformation influenced by a small book program. As an administrator, I could track the usage, and I really saw the impact that it had.

What role have open educational resources played in these changes?

What I have seen as a principal is that most textbooks that we use are outdated. They sit on shelves and our teachers don’t touch them or they only pretend to use them when the Williams Act comes around. My role right now is trying to make sure that people have current and relevant information for their kids using high quality open educational resources (OERs).

In the world of OER, there is great sharing going on with different districts and teachers across the state and country.

Utah has a repository of free online lessons that can be used as a whole coursework. It includes lessons that can be used at no cost to teachers. There are other districts and states in the country that are doing this, as well.

Was there a problem for families who don’t have access to the Internet at home?

Most districts cannot send devices home unless they have a plan to provide all kids with internet access, as well. I have seen some cases where they will have parents checkout wireless hotspots from their libraries.

Some districts arrange with their carriers for their Chromebooks to have a certain data amount. Or, the teacher will not assign online homework for students so they won’t have to be online at home.

If school leaders are sending devices home, they must ensure that it is equitable so all kids have the same, regardless of their family income levels.

What role do you see technology playing to provide greater equity?

I look at technology as being an equalizer so students can have access to tools. They can have things read to them. They don’t have to raise their hand when they’re using technology and admit they don’t know something. They can just push a button and go back and review it without having to admit to the teacher and all the students in the class that they don’t know something.

Kids can become learners without having the embarrassment and the stigma of not knowing an answer. 

Most of us do not know the answers. But for our kids who are coming in from low-income homes or low education backgrounds, they often come into a system already with an understanding that they don’t know as much, even if they do.

They almost have an inferiority complex. They are already inclined not to raise their hands in school. So their hands do not go up. They do not raise their hands; therefore they do not ask questions.

Technology helps provide greater equity for all our students and gives them the confidence they need in their learning environments.