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Student Voice goes way beyond the words “student” and “voice”. It is a process that impacts every student, the staff, and the way a school site does business; a shift in attitude and perspective if you will. Imagine empowering students with meaningful purposes and accompanying tools that will empower them to be effective Academic Leaders for themselves, their peers, their educators, their parents, and in short their school and community.

We all learn from one another, and perhaps that is the most exciting aspect of Student Voice work…we all become learners and leaders! We know that in order for scaled-up collaboration to be effective, we must focus on the same framework.

You have to be more focused and intentional in order for Student Voice to be effective, and you have to understand that while Student Voice is about academic success, the work itself will lead to new perspectives, reframing conversations, and new values for all stakeholders like those included in the AALF whitepaper titled, “The Right to Learn”

3. Create opportunities for job embedded learning. Use outside consultants, coaches, and professional developers to support or "push" educators to new understandings or levels, but also look for opportunities for educators to learn from their own practices.

2. Acknowledge progress. True and effective professional development requires all educators to apply themselves in ways that they have not before and this is hard work so acknowledge the outcomes of this hard work! Job embedded professional learning meets the needs of teachers, and so the reciprocal outcome is that the needs of students are met as well.

Working during their department collaboration time, the teachers identified online discussions as a scaffolded writing strategy that they as an entire department could support. They articulated SMART goals within this strategy and they identified online discussions as a specific instructional practice.

course modules focused on developing students' understanding of big ideas and global concepts,

have a daily learning practice that involves myriad social media platforms, a whole range of devices and connectivities, lots of interest in learning about new platforms and means of expression, and an intense inclination to be a learner around technology.

instructors who

I'm no longer convinced that that would be the best solution for us; we're really not interested in our students having the same device; it simply is not reflective of the real world. Instead, we're teaching our students how to select the best computer and the most appropriate tools for their individual needs. I

Researching What for Why? I enjoy research. I spend much of my time reading it. I also often find myself in sustained and vigorous conversations with colleagues from some of the leading research institutions from around the world...and it's time that I value very much. Indeed, the Foundation maintains a register of some of the leading research around 1-to-1 on our site....however, I am also sick and tried of the unrelenting practice of political leaders and educational policy makers who continually seek to justify inaction and limit the scope for innovation in the name of research. One only has to review the mountains of literature around the most effective ways to teach reading and the efficacy of small classes to conclude that too much educational research is based on loose assumptions, inappropriate methodologies, a blatant lack of rigor and ideological bias. Too often the funding base for educational research creates preconceptions about the outcomes, real or perceived, and the volume of research that swamps the education market seems to be more related to tenure or the attraction for doctoral topics, than a genuine need. It really is about time we took stock of the situation. For more than three decades we have seen an increasing stream of research that has targeted our use of technology in schools. What purpose has much of it served, other than to often significantly distract educators from continuing to develop innovative practice, and seek new ways to enga

How can we support innovative teachers taking risks, if every move is covered by a researcher measuring outcomes?

Why don't we start by working on the culture of our schools, and encourage those that are seeking to create a culture of innovation. Why don't we start thinking carefully about what it really means to support risk-taking in our schools; it seems the only risks people are interested in are about the evils of the net and beyond...how about we support our educational leaders who are creating new agendas for learning within their schools and seeking to genuinely leverage technology within an immersive environment to truly create worthwhile, authentic learning opportunities.

The principles on which AALF was founded and on which we have given advice for nearly 15 years still apply. At all times, our priority must be to ensure any 1:1 program provides for ALL students and can be sustained in the long-term and not just dependent on the whims and fancies of political, technological and policy leadership.