Reflect

What would you consider to be your biggest challenges this year and how did you overcome them?

I came into this role when Akili was experiencing significant leadership and staffing changes, and there was a lot to learn in a very short time. In addition, the pandemic forced us to move quickly to fill immediate needs when scholars quarantine or have had to evacuate from natural disasters.

Aside from those events, our biggest challenge has been materials management this year. Our plan to overcome this for the remainder of this year is to run class incentives, communicate more about the importance of device care, monitor, review, and revise our practices when appropriate. I will use the what I've learned this year to ensure a smoother rollout next year by way of summer professional development

and a more robust orientation process for students before rollout.

Although the learning curve has been steep, I am still passionate about the work and committed to seeing it through so that our scholars can reap the full benefits that access to technology provides.

How will these takeaways affect the sustainability of this program?

We will continue to make materials management a top focus and foster a device care culture and good digital citizenship. As a result, we will be in an even better space to do innovative, transformative work with our scholars and add even more tech to our school. I believe that we are on the right track in this endeavor.

Guiding questions:

1. How has the campus culture transformed due to this program? How do you know?

We partnered with VILS just as the pandemic forced schools to close in 2020. Although there was some tech at our school we didn't have the same scaffolds that have allowed us to pivot in an ever changing climate. I believe that the culture at Akili has evolved to the point where technology integration is not optional, it is just something that we do and we have the resouces and are consistently building the confidence to use technology with fidelity for in person and remote learning.

2. What needs to change (areas of growth) for your continuous growth in the program? Why and how?

An area of growth is device care and accountability for our scholars. We've had good strides with buy in from out staff and students but, like anything, we are honing our processes as needed, when need. Kids don't always understand that there isn't an endless supply of device. It's up to me and our staff to demonstrate good device habits, digital citizenship and reward or discipline as appropriate. An immediate goal is to have fewer devices out for repair.