# data[].attributes.headline
Public Education Should be Less Dependent on Technology

# data[].attributes.subject
Public Education Should be Less Dependent on Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Think back to your time in elementary school. What was your favorite part of class time? Perhaps it was read aloud, or show and tell. Or maybe it was painting and coloring. If you tried to relate to a young student using these memories, it might not work. You'd be better off talking about the newest tablet, hottest game or most popular computer brand, because school systems are spending large amounts of money on integrating technology into lesson plans.

As the future increasingly moves toward integrating technology into everyday activities, it makes sense that school systems would try to use it. Not to mention, it makes things much, much easier. With the use of technology, students no longer have to write papers by hand. Teachers can now upload powerpoint slides to online sites and students can have access to entire lectures.

Overall, it seems like integrating technology into school systems is a great idea. But if we take a step back and evaluate the overall benefits and drawbacks, we might change our minds. An article in the Huffington Post explains why the integration of technology "isn't necessarily having a positive impact on student learning."

Each year, a test called the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is taken by 15-year-olds all across the globe. Test scores showed that students in Korea and Shanghai had high math scores, but only used technology "moderately" while in a school setting. Furthermore, the PISA showed that countries that used technology to teach saw a drop in their reading scores.

Furthermore, researchers from Princeton University found that students who handwrite notes do better than students who type notes. The researchers suggest that the physical process of hand writing notes helps students because it forces them to slow down and summarize their writing. While typing allows students to take down notes quicker and in more detail, it leaves them at a disadvantage. While being able to go back and reread all of what the teacher said might be nice, having gaps in your notes might also be a benefit because it forces you to ask questions and collaborate with peers.

Christine Frederick, writing for , also makes a valid point. Sometimes teachers don't know how to use the technology the school asks them to integrate into their lesson plans. Rather than help, this can actually hurt because more time is spent trying to troubleshoot than is spent actually learning. That is not to say that troubleshooting does not lead to learning something, but it wastes time that students need to learn the material that is specific to that class.

Overall, the integration of technology in schools and lesson plans are costly and may result in negative learning experiences. As I always like to say, technology can fail, but pencils and pens always work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Public education should be less dependent on technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Think back to your time in elementary school. What was your favorite part of class time? Perhaps it was read aloud, or show and tell. Or maybe it was painting and coloring. If you tried to relate to a young student using these memories, it might not work.

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Reasons Today’s Students NEED Technology in Classrooms

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Reasons Today’s Students NEED Technology in Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Reasons Today's Students NEED Technology in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With an increasing emphasis on personalized learning and mobility, using technology in the classroom is a must for schools today. Here are 10 reasons why.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Pros and Cons of Using Technology in Your Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Pros and Cons of Using Technology in Your Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With the passing of time, technology has taken the front seat and society is becoming quite dependent on the technology. It's the technology which helps in enhancing the skills and preparing them for the future.

The society of today has become quite reliant on technology. It's being used in all facets of life and has become an integral part of it. Today's student do require a strong hands on computers for competing with the Global economy, which has pushed the United Kingdom towards integrating guidelines for ensuring that graduates are aware about competing in 21 st century.

Technology could provide a high end environment and an interactive learning experience. There are numerous means in which teachers could use technology in their classroom. Every method is providing myriads of benefits which could be imparted to students. Technology in education is playing a crucial role in enhancing the skills and knowledge of the people across the Globe.
Pros of Technology in the Classroom
Independent learning for students

Teachers could assign the task for students in the group and encourage them to complete in a single group by using the technology and check out on the academic queries if arises. It's quite easy to connect students with the help of technology. Naturally, you could find many of students who are shy and don't feel comfortable in sharing their views, but when once they have to complete the task in a group, they would prefer to open up with each other. There are few tools like Piazza, which could be used for achieving such goals of making shy candidates share their view points. The group which is created could be divided into small sections with around 4-5 candidates. They have the quick accessibility and are well-equipped with the knowledge and skills of operating the technology for their benefit.

Visual illustrations- make learning easier

In case if the classroom is equipped with technology and every individual has his own system with them, the lessons could be showcased in the visual format. It allows you to experiment more in the pedagogy. Whether it's going to be dramatic change which could include teaching with the flipped classroom, or by just adopting a specific tool for focusing on team or the project. If you are well versed with the technology, then you would be able to build the credibility with students and even with the fellow colleagues.

Technology in your classroom is designed for making the learning easy and bit quicker. Its efficiency allows the candidates to grasp the concepts in the shorter span of time and inevitably allows them to learn much more than expected, when technology would not have been used. It not only enhances the caliber of the candidates but also provides deeper insight to the instructors across.

Using technology in classroom could prepare your students for their deep rooted future with enhanced technologies hitting into the market. The vital skills like as focusing on creating presentation, maintaining proper etiquette, writing emails etc. which could be inculcated in the classroom.

Creativity is enhanced and focused upon

All the candidates don't believe in going through the text books, due to which they are not efficient or quick learners. There are few students who do require the creativity for stimulating their potential learning. The best thing about the technology in classroom is that it is able to help those students who are interested in learning things in creative and innovative manner.
Cons for Technology in the Classroom
Technology could be distraction

The technology could be a distraction, majorly when the candidates are using for the personal reasons while class is going on. The only means how it could be managed is by settling down with the specific set of rules and regulations for classrooms. Failure to comply with the terms, students would be at great risk of learning and losing his system.

Disconnection with Social Media

Quite of people are skeptical of the technology and what it is doing to student's ability of verbally communicating. In case if you are creating assignments in the class which are using both technology tools and oral presentations, it would enhance the caliber of candidate to be dynamic and to check out that how they interact and learn with others.

Online security and Safety

One of the major concerns is with regards to security and safety of students as they should not be able to access the unsuitable materials. It is due to the security that most of the search engines are providing facilities of filter for removing unwanted content on the site.

Forgetting the basic ways of studying

The candidates are no longer going to rely on books which are shared by their seniors for them to study. They are inclined to enhance their knowledge the use of the technology. Even the simple problems and homework assigned to them are answered with the help of the technology and don't use their mind at all.

Decade of change in the classroom

Its last decade when the ample of changes with respect to classroom with technology has taken place. Such kind of infusion of technology goes much beyond that of computers. Technological devices and internet has changed the means of learning which are taking place. Traditional methods of education are no longer the norm and now technology is root for almost all the lessons taught or methods of education.

Technology in education is playing the crucial role in the habits of study and skills of the children. But you will have to ensure that they are accessing the right information from Internet.

Like what we do?

The Latest EdTech News To Your Inbox

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
pros and cons of technology in the classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
pros and cons of technology in education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
pros and cons of using technology in education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Pros and Cons of Using Technology in your Classroom: How Much Do you Agree?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With the passing of time, technology has taken the front seat and society is becoming quite dependent on the technology. It's the technology which helps in enhancing the skills and preparing them for the future. The society of today has become quite reliant on technology.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Media Use Patterns

The most common broadcast medium continues to be TV. A recent study found that TV hours among school-aged children have decreased in the past decade for children younger than 8 years. However, among children aged 8 years and older, average daily TV time remains over 2 hours per day. TV viewing also has changed over the past decade, with content available via streaming or social media sites, such as YouTube and Netflix.

Overall media use among adolescents has continued to grow over the past decade, aided by the recent increase in mobile phone use among teenagers. Approximately three-quarters of teenagers today own a smartphone, which allows access to the Internet, streaming TV/videos, and interactive "apps." Approximately one-quarter of teenagers describe themselves as "constantly connected" to the Internet.

Social media sites and mobile apps provide platforms for users to create an online identity, communicate with others, and build social networks. At present, 76% of teenagers use at least 1 social media site. Although Facebook remains the most popular social media site, teenagers do not typically commit to just 1 social media platform; more than 70% maintain a "social media portfolio" of several selected sites, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Mobile apps provide a breadth of functions, such as photo sharing, games, and video-chatting.

Video games remain very popular among families; 4 of 5 households own a device used to play video games. Boys are the most avid video game players, with 91% of boys reporting having access to a game console and 84% reporting playing video games online or on a cell phone.

Benefits of Media

Both traditional and social media can provide exposure to new ideas and information, raising awareness of current events and issues. Interactive media also can provide opportunities for the promotion of community participation and civic engagement. Students can collaborate with others on assignments and projects on many online media platforms. The use of social media helps families and friends who are separated geographically communicate across the miles.

Social media can enhance access to valuable support networks, which may be particularly helpful for patients with ongoing illnesses, conditions, or disabilities. In 1 study, young adults described the benefits of seeking health information online and through social media, and recognized these channels as useful supplementary sources of information to health care visits. Research also supports the use of social media to foster social inclusion among users who may feel excluded or who are seeking a welcoming community: for example, those identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or intersex. Finally, social media may be used to enhance wellness and promote healthy behaviors, such as smoking cessation and balanced nutrition.

Risks of Media

A first area of health concern is media use and obesity, and most studies have focused on TV. One study found that the odds of being overweight were almost 5 times greater for adolescents who watch more than 5 hours of TV per day compared with those who watch 0 to 2 hours. This study's findings contributed to recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics that children have 2 hours or less of sedentary screen time daily. More recent studies have provided new evidence that watching TV for more than 1.5 hours daily was a risk factor for obesity, but only for children 4 through 9 years of age. Increased caloric intake via snacking while watching TV has been shown to be a risk factor for obesity, as is exposure to advertising for high-calorie foods and snacks., Having a TV in the bedroom continues to be associated with the risk of obesity.

Evidence suggests that media use can negatively affect sleep. Studies show that those with higher social media use or who sleep with mobile devices in their rooms were at greater risk of sleep disturbances. Exposure to light (particularly blue light) and activity from screens before bed affects melatonin levels and can delay or disrupt sleep. Media use around or after bedtime can disrupt sleep and negatively affect school performance.

Children who overuse online media are at risk of problematic Internet use, and heavy users of video games are at risk of Internet gaming disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, lists both as conditions in need of further research. Symptoms can include a preoccupation with the activity, decreased interest in offline or "real life" relationships, unsuccessful attempts to decrease use, and withdrawal symptoms. The prevalence of problematic Internet use among children and adolescents is between 4% and 8%,, and up to 8.5% of US youth 8 to 18 years of age meet criteria for Internet gaming disorder.

At home, many children and teenagers use entertainment media at the same time that they are engaged in other tasks, such as homework. A growing body of evidence suggests that the use of media while engaged in academic tasks has negative consequences on learning.,

Social Media and Mental Health

Research studies have identified both benefits and concerns regarding mental health and social media use. Benefits from the use of social media in moderation include the opportunity for enhanced social support and connection. Research has suggested a U-shaped relationship between Internet use and depression, with increased risks of depression at both the high and low ends of Internet use., One study found that older adolescents who used social media passively (eg, viewing others' photos) reported declines in life satisfaction, whereas those who interacted with others and posted content did not experience these declines. Thus, in addition to the number of hours an individual spends on social media, a key factor is how social media is used.

Social Media and Privacy

Content that an adolescent chooses to post is shared with others, and the removal of such content once posted may be difficult or impossible. Adolescents vary in their understanding of privacy practices; even those who know how to set privacy settings often don't believe they will work. Despite efforts by some social media sites to protect privacy or to delete content after it is viewed, privacy violations and unwelcome distribution are always risks.,

Parent Media Use and Child Health

Social media can provide positive social experiences, such as opportunities for parents to connect with children via video-chat services. Unfortunately, some parents can be distracted by media and miss important opportunities for emotional connections that are known to improve child health., One research study found that when a parent turned his or her attention to a mobile device while with a young child, the parent was less likely to talk with the child. Parental engagement is critical in the development of children's emotional and social development, and these distractions may have short- and long-term negative effects.

Pediatricians

Work with families and schools to promote understanding of the benefits and risks of media.

Promote adherence to guidelines for adequate physical activity and sleep via a Family Media Use Plan ( www.HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan).

Advocate for and promote information and training in media literacy.

Be aware of tools to screen for sexting, cyberbullying, problematic Internet use, and Internet gaming disorder.

Families

Develop, consistently follow, and routinely revisit a Family Media Use plan (see the plan from the American Academy of Pediatrics at www.HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan).

Address what type of and how much media are used and what media behaviors are appropriate for each child or teenager, and for parents. Place consistent limits on hours per day of media use as well as types of media used.

Promote that children and adolescents get the recommended amount of daily physical activity (1 hour) and adequate sleep (8-12 hours, depending on age).

Recommend that children not sleep with devices in their bedrooms, including TVs, computers, and smartphones. Avoid exposure to devices or screens for 1 hour before bedtime.

Discourage entertainment media while doing homework.

Designate media-free times together (eg, family dinner) and media-free locations (eg, bedrooms) in homes. Promote activities that are likely to facilitate development and health, including positive parenting activities, such as reading, teaching, talking, and playing together.

Communicate guidelines to other caregivers, such as babysitters or grandparents, so that media rules are followed consistently.

Engage in selecting and co-viewing media with your child, through which your child can use media to learn and be creative, and share these experiences with your family and your community.

Have ongoing communication with children about online citizenship and safety, including treating others with respect online and offline, avoiding cyberbullying and sexting, being wary of online solicitation, and avoiding communications that can compromise personal privacy and safety.

Actively develop a network of trusted adults (eg, aunts, uncles, coaches, etc) who can engage with children through social media and to whom children can turn when they encounter challenges.

Researchers, Governmental Organizations, and Industry

Corinn Cross, MD, FAAP

David Hill, MD, FAAP, Chairperson

Nusheen Ameenuddin, MD, MPH, FAAP

Corinn Cross, MD, FAAP

Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP

Jeffrey Hutchinson, MD, FAAP

Rhea Boyd, MD, FAAP

Robert Mendelson, MD, FAAP

Justin Smith, MD, FAAP

View Abstract

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This policy statement focuses on children and adolescents 5 through 18 years of age. Research suggests both benefits and risks of media use for the health of children and teenagers. Benefits include exposure to new ideas and knowledge acquisition, increased opportunities for social contact and support, and new opportunities to access health-promotion messages and information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Students at Newton Bateman Elementary School in Chicago use Google-powered laptops and Google education apps for classwork. More than half the nation's primary- and secondary-school students - more than 30 million children - use Google education apps, the company says. Credit... Whitten Sabbatini for The New York Times

Education Disrupted

The tech giant is transforming public education with low-cost laptops and free apps. But schools may be giving Google more than they are getting.

Students at Newton Bateman Elementary School in Chicago use Google-powered laptops and Google education apps for classwork. More than half the nation's primary- and secondary-school students - more than 30 million children - use Google education apps, the company says. Credit... Whitten Sabbatini for The New York Times

Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.

Give this article Give this article Give this article

CHICAGO - The sixth graders at Newton Bateman, a public elementary school here with a classic red brick facade, know the Google drill.

In a social-science class last year, the students each grabbed a Google-powered laptop. They opened Google Classroom, an app where teachers make assignments. Then they clicked on Google Docs, a writing program, and began composing essays.

Looking up from her laptop, Masuma Khan, then 11 years old, said her essay explored how schooling in ancient Athens differed from her own. "Back then, they had wooden tablets and they had to take all of their notes on it," she said. "Nowadays, we can just do it in Google Docs."

Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the United States, with about 381,000 students, is at the forefront of a profound shift in American education: the Googlification of the classroom.

In the space of just five years, Google has helped upend the sales methods companies use to place their products in classrooms. It has enlisted teachers and administrators to promote Google's products to other schools. It has directly reached out to educators to test its products - effectively bypassing senior district officials. And it has outmaneuvered Apple and Microsoft with a powerful combination of low-cost laptops, called Chromebooks, and free classroom apps.

Today, more than half the nation's primary- and secondary-school students - more than 30 million children - use Google education apps like Gmail and Docs, the company said. And Chromebooks, Google-powered laptops that initially struggled to find a purpose, are now a powerhouse in America's schools. Today they account for more than half the mobile devices shipped to schools.

"Between the fall of 2012 and now, Google went from an interesting possibility to the dominant way that schools around the country" teach students to find information, create documents and turn them in, said Hal Friedlander, former chief information officer for the New York City Department of Education, the nation's largest school district. "Google established itself as a fact in schools."

Image

The director of Google's education apps group, Jonathan Rochelle, touched on that idea in a speech at an industry conference last year. Referring to his own children, he said: "I cannot answer for them what they are going to do with the quadratic equation. I don't know why they are learning it." He added, "And I don't know why they can't ask Google for the answer if the answer is right there."

Schools may be giving Google more than they are getting: generations of future customers.

Google makes $30 per device by selling management services for the millions of Chromebooks that ship to schools. But by habituating students to its offerings at a young age, Google obtains something much more valuable.

Every year, several million American students graduate from high school. And not only does Google make it easy for those who have school Google accounts to upload their trove of school Gmail, Docs and other files to regular Google consumer accounts - but schools encourage them to do so. This month, for instance, Chatfield Senior High School in Littleton, Colo., sent out a notice urging seniors to "make sure" they convert their school account "to a personal Gmail account."

That doesn't sit well with some parents. They warn that Google could profit by using personal details from their children's school email to build more powerful marketing profiles of them as young adults.

"My concern is that they are working on developing a profile of this child that, when they hit maturity, they are able to create a better profile," said David Barsotti, an information technology project manager in the Chicago area whose daughter uses Google tools in elementary school. "That is a problem, in my opinion."

Mr. Rochelle of Google said that when students transfer their school emails and files to a personal Google account, that account is governed by Google's privacy policy. "Personal Gmail accounts may serve ads," he said, but files in Google Drive are "never scanned for the purpose of showing ads."

Google captured these next-generation users so quickly by outpacing its rivals in both educational product development and marketing.

In 2013, while other tech firms seemed largely content to sell their existing consumer and business offerings to schools, Mr. Rochelle, a co-developer of Google Docs, set up a team at Google to create apps specifically for schools.

To spread those tools, Jaime Casap, Google's global education evangelist, began traveling around the country with a motivational message: Rather than tout specific Google products, Mr. Casap told educators that they could improve their students' college and career prospects by creatively using online tools.

But that also caused problems in Chicago and another district when Google went looking for teachers to try a new app - effectively bypassing district administrators. In both cases, Google found itself reined in.

Unlike Apple or Microsoft, which make money primarily by selling devices or software services, Google derives most of its revenue from online advertising - much of it targeted through sophisticated use of people's data. Questions about how Google might use data gleaned from students' online activities have dogged the company for years.

Drop-Off Outfits: As children return to the classroom, parents with a passion for style are looking for ways to feel some sense of chic along the way to school.

Turning to the Sun: Public schools are increasingly using savings from solar energy to upgrade facilities, help their communities and give teachers raises - often with no cost to taxpayers.

High School Football: Supply chain problems have slowed helmet manufacturing, leaving coaches around the country scrambling to find protective gear for their teams.

Teacher Shortage: While the pandemic has created an urgent search for teachers in some areas, not every district is suffering from shortages. Here are the factors in play.

"Unless we know what is collected, why it is collected, how it is used and a review of it is possible, we can never understand with certainty how this information could be used to help or hurt a kid," said Bill Fitzgerald of Common Sense Media, a children's advocacy group, who vets the security and privacy of classroom apps.

Google declined to provide a breakdown of the exact details the company collects from student use of its services. Bram Bout, director of Google's education unit, pointed to a Google privacy notice listing the categories of information that the company's education services collect, like location data and "details of how a user used our service."

Mr. Bout said that student data in Google's core education services (including Gmail, Calendar and Docs) "is only used to provide the services themselves, so students can do things like communicate using email." These services do not show ads, he said, and "do not use personal data resulting from use of these services to target ads."

Some parents, school administrators and privacy advocates believe that's not enough. They say Google should be more forthcoming about the details it collects about students, why it collects them and how it uses them.

Mr. Casap, the Google education evangelist, likes to recount Google's emergence as an education powerhouse as a story of lucky coincidences. The first occurred in 2006 when the company hired him to develop new business at its office on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe.

Mr. Casap quickly persuaded university officials to scrap their costly internal email service (an unusual move at the time) and replace it with a free version of the Gmail-and-Docs package that Google had been selling to companies. In one semester, the vast majority of the university's approximately 65,000 students signed up.

And a new Google business was born.

Mr. Casap then invited university officials on a road show to share their success story with other schools. "It caused a firestorm," Mr. Casap said. Northwestern University, the University of Southern California and many others followed.

This became Google's education marketing playbook: Woo school officials with easy-to-use, money-saving services. Then enlist schools to market to other schools, holding up early adopters as forward thinkers among their peers.

The strategy proved so successful in higher education that Mr. Casap decided to try it with public schools.

As it happened, officials at the Oregon Department of Education were looking to help local schools cut their email costs, said Steve Nelson, a former department official. In 2010, the state officially made Google's education apps available to its school districts.

"That caused the same kind of cascade," Mr. Casap said. School districts around the country began contacting him, and he referred them to Mr. Nelson, who related Oregon's experience with Google's apps.

By then, Google was developing a growth strategy aimed at teachers - the gatekeepers to the classroom - who could influence the administrators who make technology decisions. "The driving force tends to be the pedagogical side," Mr. Bout, the Google education executive, said. "That is something we really embraced."

Google set up dozens of online communities, called Google Educator Groups, where teachers could swap ideas for using its tech. It started training programs with names like Certified Innovator to credential teachers who wanted to establish their expertise in Google's tools or teach their peers to use them.

Soon, teachers began to talk up Google on social media and in sessions at education technology conferences. And Google became a more visible exhibitor and sponsor at such events. Google also encouraged school districts that had adopted its tools to hold "leadership symposiums" where administrators could share their experiences with neighboring districts.

Mr. Bout of Google disagreed, saying that the company's outreach to educators was not a marketing exercise. Rather, he said, it was an effort to improve education by helping teachers learn directly from their peers how to most effectively use Google's tools.

"We help to amplify the stories and voices of educators who have lessons learned," he said, "because it can be challenging for educators to find ways to share with each other."

At Chicago Public Schools, the teacher-centric strategy played out almost perfectly.

In 2012, Jennie Magiera, then a fourth-grade teacher in Chicago, wanted her students to use Google Docs, which enables multiple people to work simultaneously in the same document. Because the district wasn't yet using Google's apps, she said, she independently set up six consumer accounts for her class.

"We were bootlegging using Google apps," Ms. Magiera recalled in a phone interview. "I just knew I needed my kids to collaborate," she said, touching on one of Google's own main arguments for its products.

A committee that included administrators familiar with Microsoft, as well as Ms. Magiera, reviewed presentations from several companies. In March 2012, the district chose Google.

Microsoft executives were disappointed, said Edward Wagner, the district's director of infrastructure services. But at that time, Mr. Wagner said, Microsoft had neither a free array of web-based products for schools on par with Google's nor Google's level of grass-roots classroom support. "They didn't have the teachers and the principals," he said.

Quickly, though, a data privacy and security issue emerged, exposing a culture clash between Google's business practices and a major school district's values.

In interviews, Chicago administrators said they asked Google to sign a contract agreeing, among other things, to comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. That law permits federally funded educational institutions to share students' personally identifiable information with certain school vendors, provided those companies use that information only for school purposes.

Instead, Google initially proposed abiding by its own company policies, Mr. Wagner said, and followed up by emailing links to those policies - terms that the company could change at any time. "Our lawyers were a little bit apoplectic when they were given links to security things," Mr. Wagner said. "I don't want a link that can change."

Mr. Nelson, the former education official in Oregon, reported similar frustrations over student privacy when his state negotiated a contract with Google. "That's why it took 16 months," he said.

Today, Google's standard agreements with schools for its education apps include a commitment to comply with that law.

Since adopting Google apps, Chicago schools have saved about $1.6 million annually on email and related costs, a district spokesman said.

Google then enlisted Mr. Tidmarsh, who now works in technology at a health care company, to share his enthusiasm by contributing to a Google blog. In the post, Mr. Tidmarsh described creating 270,000 school Google accounts. "It was easily the fastest and smoothest migration of this scale I have ever seen," he wrote. (He said he did not earn a fee for the post.)

"We were always enthusiastic to tell the Google story," Mr. Tidmarsh said. "I would like to think dozens of school districts switched, based on our success."

Ms. Magiera, now the chief innovation officer for another district, also helped Google's cause. In 2012, as part of her effort to become a Google Certified Innovator in education, she said, she came up with the idea of having Chicago Public Schools hold a free conference - called Googlepalooza - to train teachers on Google's tools. The annual event, co-sponsored by Google, now draws several thousand educators from the Chicago area, as well as a few from neighboring states.

"You can see it radiate out from certain geographic hubs, and that is very deliberate," Mr. Bout said of Google's growth strategy for education. "We are taking a very geographic approach because we know it works."

By then, Google had developed a simplified, low-cost laptop called the Chromebook. It ran on Google's Chrome operating system and revolved largely around web apps, making it cheaper and often faster to boot up than traditional laptops loaded with locally stored software.

Although Google had a business audience in mind for Chromebooks, reviewers complained that the devices were of limited use without internet access.

But there was one interested audience: public schools. In the fall of 2011, Google invited school administrators to its Chicago office to meet Mr. Casap, hoping to interest them in Chromebooks.

Mr. Casap didn't talk tech specs. Instead, he held the audience spellbound as he described the challenges he had faced as a Latino student growing up on welfare in a tough Manhattan neighborhood.

His message: Education is the great equalizer, and technology breaks down barriers between rich and poor students.

"I went up to Jaime immediately after the presentation and said, 'Are you guys ready to ship these?'" Mr. Markey said.

Then Mr. Markey went back to his district to inform administrators and teachers that he wanted to order an unproven device that most of them had never heard of. "It was a tough announcement to make," he conceded.

It was an opportune moment for Google to pitch lower-cost laptops to schools. Districts administering new online standardized tests needed laptops for students to take them on. And Google offered a robust way for districts to manage thousands of computers online: They could lock Chromebooks remotely so that students could not search the web during tests, or disable missing ones.

Another attraction: The Chromebook's cloud-storage approach made sharing among students easier. They could gain access to their documents no matter which Chromebook they used.

"That is one of the big reasons we took off in education," said Rajen Sheth, who oversees Google's Chromebook business. "In less than 10 seconds, a student can grab a Chromebook and be off and running."

As he spoke, a group of students trooped past wearing purple superhero capes emblazoned with the logo for Microsoft OneNote, a rival classroom service. Spotting the capes, Mr. Casap said, "We don't do things like that." He added dryly, "I love gimmicks."

Some critics, though, contend that the equity argument for technology is itself a gimmick that promotes a self-serving Silicon Valley agenda: playing on educators' altruism to get schools to buy into laptops and apps.

"It centers learning on technology, not students," said Mr. Fitzgerald, the learning app analyst. "It is a very narrow lens on equity that leaves out things like student-teacher ratios."

(Mr. Casap said he would not advise school districts with deficiencies in areas like teaching or student support services to invest first in classroom technology.)

Mr. Markey, the East Leyden High School principal, had another equity concern. About 20 percent of his students lacked home internet access, he said. How would they do their homework on a Chromebook, which required a connection?

Soon, so many educators were visiting Leyden to see its tech setup that the district started an annual conference to host them. Last summer, Mr. Casap gave the keynote address. And Mr. Markey now occasionally works as a paid speaker for EdTechTeam, a company that holds Google boot camps for teachers.

In 2016, Chromebooks accounted for 58 percent of mobile devices shipped to primary and secondary schools in the United States, up from less than 1 percent in 2012, according to Futuresource Consulting, the research firm. Google does not make money directly from Chromebooks - which are manufactured by Samsung, Acer and other companies - but it does charge school districts a management service fee of $30 per device. Chicago Public Schools has spent about $33.5 million on 134,000 Chromebooks.

"I don't think I can ever remember when a specific device and platform has taken off so quickly across different kinds of schools," said David Andrade, a K-12 education strategist at CDW-G, a leading Chromebook dealer.

In 2014, Google's education juggernaut hit a speed bump in Chicago Public Schools. The culture clash illuminated profound differences between Google, a build-it-first-and-tweak-it-later Silicon Valley company, and a large, bureaucratic school district with student-protection rules to uphold.

Google had hoped that Chicago would become an early adopter of Google Classroom, its new app to help teachers take attendance, assign homework and do other tasks. In August 2014, a Google team flew to Chicago to demo Classroom at Googlepalooza, the school district's annual teacher conference.

But Google had not anticipated Margaret Hahn.

"You can't just hand out product and hope it will work in the classroom," Ms. Hahn said. "You have to work with the districts to make sure that you are keeping the kids and the teachers safe."

Jim Siegl, technology architect for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the nation's 10th-largest school district, reported a similar experience.

He said that Google had directly contacted certain Fairfax teachers who had volunteered to beta-test Classroom, giving them early access to the app. In so doing, he said, the company ignored the Google settings he had selected that were supposed to give his district control over which new Google services to switch on in its schools.

Mr. Siegl added that Google did not tell him which, or even how many, Fairfax teachers the company had enlisted to try out the Classroom app. And by the time he was able to shut off the app, Mr. Siegl said, teachers had already set up virtual classrooms on the service and started using it with their students.

He said he complained to Google.

"Because of who they are and how sprawling the ecosystem is," Mr. Siegl said, "they are held up and need to meet a higher standard than any other vendor schools deal with."

In an emailed statement, Mr. Bout said of the company's core education services, "In all cases, the use of these services is tied to the approval of an administrator who is responsible for overseeing a school's domain."

In May 2014, Google posted an announcement online, asking for volunteers to beta-test Classroom. More than 100,000 teachers worldwide responded, the company said, illustrating Google's power to rapidly stoke demand among educators. That August, Google made Classroom available to schools.

"They developed a real momentum with teachers," said Mr. Fisher of Futuresource Consulting. "Google Classroom was key to that."

That was too fast for Chicago Public Schools.

Administrators there wanted to test Classroom first to make sure it complied with district policies and fit their teachers' needs. So they set up a pilot program, involving about 275 teachers and several thousand students, to run for the entire school year. Every month, Ms. Hahn said, she collected teachers' feedback and sent it to Google.

"We wanted to help them do it right," Ms. Hahn said.

One immediate problem administrators identified: School board policy required employees to keep records of cyberbullying and other problematic comments. But Classroom initially did not do that. If a student wrote something offensive and a teacher deleted it, there was no archive.

"It took us a long time to get them to do it," Ms. Hahn said. She added, "Unfortunately, there were things that a district of our size needed that Google did not understand."

Google eventually added an archiving feature. The next fall, the Chicago district switched on Classroom. Teachers there later vetted other Google products, effectively becoming a test lab for the company. "We have said to Google many times, 'If it works in Chicago, it will work anywhere,'" Ms. Hahn said.

The relationship has benefited Chicago Public Schools, too.

In 2015, the district was reeling from a scandal: The Justice Department charged the Chicago Public Schools former chief executive Barbara Byrd-Bennett with steering more than $23 million in no-bid contracts to two school vendors in exchange for kickbacks. Ms. Byrd-Bennett later pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced in April to four and a half years in prison.

The fact that Chicago schools were vetting Google products, like the Classroom app, gave administrators a welcome counternarrative of the district's altruistically helping Google debug its products for schools across the country. And it remains a good story even as the district now faces a financial crisis.

Today, about 15 million primary- and secondary-school students in the United States use Classroom, Google said.

Google's ability to test its products on such a monumental scale has stoked concerns about whether the tech giant is exploiting public-school teachers and students for free labor. "It's a private company very creatively using public resources - in this instance, teachers' time and expertise - to build new markets at low cost," said Patricia Burch, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California.

"Our goal is to build products that help educators and students," Mr. Rochelle said. "Teachers tell us they appreciate the opportunity to get involved early and help shape our products to meet their needs."

Ms. Hahn, who now works for the same health care company as Mr. Tidmarsh, agrees. She said that schools were getting something substantive in return from Google, something they had rarely received from other tech companies: quick product improvements that responded to teachers' feedback.

After the Chicago schools tested Classroom, she said, members of Google's education team started directly contacting her when they were seeking educators to try out the company's innovations. "They no longer just turn stuff on," she said. "They come to us first."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Google Took Over the Classroom (Published 2017)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Education Disrupted The tech giant is transforming public education with low-cost laptops and free apps. But schools may be giving Google more than they are getting. Students at Newton Bateman Elementary School in Chicago use Google-powered laptops and Google education apps for classwork.

# data[].attributes.headline
What students say: Teachers fail to grasp the web’s potential

# data[].attributes.subject
What students say: Teachers fail to grasp the web’s potential

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
THE advent of the Internet, and the Web in particular, has upended a few traditional notions about who is educating whom. A study made public yesterday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project concluded that students tend to be far more adept than their teachers when it comes to finding creative educational uses for the Internet.

''Many schools and teachers have not yet recognized -- much less responded to -- the new ways students communicate and access information over the Internet,'' the study's authors wrote.

Douglas Levin, a senior researcher for the American Institutes for Research, a nonprofit research firm in Washington that conducted the Pew study, said that ''for many schools, the bulk of assignments are not particularly inventive'' -- like assigning students to go to specific Web sites to find answers to particular questions. ''If I had to judge the cost-effectiveness of the use of technology in schools by those uses,'' he said, ''I'd be very disappointed.''

The study was based on focus-group interviews with 136 middle school and high school students in Washington, Detroit and San Diego, along with 200 additional essays written by students around the country. One focus-group participant, Matthew Smith, 17, who will be a senior this fall at San Diego High School, said he was particularly struck by the mundane use of the Internet as a textbook.

''Physics teachers use physicsclassroom.com and say, 'Go there and look up such and such lesson and I'll quiz you tomorrow,' '' he told a reporter. ''I don't consider that creative, or even educational.''

In contrast, he said he admired the inventiveness of a science teacher who led an online study group that convened before quizzes to review material. ''Teachers don't use those methods more because they have a lack of faith in the Internet,'' he said.

Both Mr. Levin and students who took part in the study said the teachers who were most sophisticated about the Internet encouraged students to use it to share information with one another and correspond with experts outside of the school, or set up an interactive Web site for the class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Students Say; Study Finds That Teachers Fail to Grasp the Web's Potential

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
THE advent of the Internet, and the Web in particular, has upended a few traditional notions about who is educating whom. A study made public yesterday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project concluded that students tend to be far more adept than their teachers when it comes to finding creative educational uses for the Internet.

# data[].attributes.headline
Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This week, in an Education World "edu-torial," Lynne Schrum presents her personal perspective on the ways in which technology can enhance learning -- and calls on educators to take a leadership role in determining the ways in which technology is used to support educational goals.

Lynne Schrum, past president of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), is an associate professor in the department of instructional technology at the University of Georgia. Her research, teachings, and writings focus on issues related to distance education, specifically online learning. Schrum also investigates the uses of technology in K-12 environments and identifies ways to support educators in the effort.

We're all familiar with the extravagant promises of technology: It will make our students smarter -- and it will do it faster and cheaper than ever before. Moreover, the promise suggests, this miracle will occur almost by osmosis. We need only place a computer in a room, stand back, and watch the magic take place. If only life were that simple and learning that easy!

Those of us who remember the 1980s, when computers were first making their way into our classrooms, probably also remember a great deal of bad software. As educators, we were unfamiliar with the technology and uncertain about its possibilities. So we stepped back and let software developers, hardware vendors, and other technicians define not only what we could buy but also how those products would be used. In many ways, the technology drove the educational process. And guess what? It didn't work very well!

Now, we've entered an era in which technology is no longer an intimidating novelty. Its use in business and industry is both accepted and expected. And pressure abounds -- from the federal government, from local school boards, and certainly from the popular press -- for educators to get on board and see to it that students become technologically skilled.

But is mere technological skill enough?

Two points should be considered.

TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL

Technology is a tool that can change the nature of learning.

First and foremost, educators want students to learn. It is certainly not enough to tell educators that they need to use the boxes and wires that have invaded their schools simply because they are expensive or because students need to know how to use the latest widget. If it's clear that technological tools will help them achieve that goal, educators will use those tools.

The real world is not broken down into discrete academic disciplines. I've heard a number of teachers say that they would like to be able to change the way they teach -- to find ways to implement project-based, multidisciplinary lessons. Let's think about how that might happen when technology is used to support learning.

Technology lends itself to exploration. But before technology can be used effectively, exploration must be valued as important to both teaching and learning. In a technology-rich classroom, students might search the Web for information, analyze river water, chart the results, and record what they've learned on the computer.

In such an environment, acquiring content changes from a static process to one of defining goals the learners wish to pursue. Students are active, rather than passive -- producing knowledge and presenting that knowledge in a variety of formats.

In such an environment, educators can encourage a diversity of outcomes rather than insisting on one right answer. They can evaluate learning in multiple ways, instead of relying predominately on traditional paper and pencil tests. And perhaps most importantly, teachers and students can move from pursuing individual efforts to being part of learning teams, which may include students from all over the world.

Of course, active learning is rarely a clean, neat process. Students engaged in such a process can create busy, noisy, and messy classrooms. It's important to recognize that this kind of learning takes practice -- for both the teacher and the students.

Activities and learning environments must be carefully guided and structured so learners are fully engaged in their learning. Students must learn that exploration doesn't mean just running around doing what they want and ending up who knows where. Educators must recognize that if students are investigating and asking questions, writing about what they're learning, and doing those things in an authentic context, then they are learning to read and write and think.

In a technology-rich classroom, students don't "learn" technology. Technology merely provides the tools to be used for authentic learning. It is a means, not an end.

Technology provides educators with the opportunity to move from simply streamlining the way things have always been done to really imagining things they would like to do.

What a wonderful opportunity!

CHOOSING AND USING THE TOOLS

Teachers must determine how technology tools are used, and they must have a hand in designing the staff development process that trains them.

What will it take to realize the full potential of that opportunity? First, teachers must insist on being part of the planning for technology integration, rather than merely the recipients of other people's ideas.

They must work together to create exemplary units, and then they must share their experiences with one another.

Teachers must take responsibility for helping design the staff development process so that it really meets their needs -- so that it includes time to practice using the equipment, to watch teachers model lessons that infuse technology into the curriculum, and to mentor other teachers.

Of course, teachers cannot revolutionize the educational system by themselves -- and make no mistake about it, that is what we're discussing.

Have you heard the story about the administrator who came to observe a teacher? The classroom had five computers, and the students were all busy on an investigation. Some of the students were using the computers, and others were working on projects or creating information. Some students were working together. Others were working alone. The administrator walked up to the teacher, who was assisting a small group of students, and said, "I'll come back when you're teaching."

As that story demonstrates, we also have to help administrators understand what a technology-rich lesson looks like. We have to insist that administrators provide us with time to work together, to explore, and to play with technological tools. We have to make sure that support for lifelong learning for educators, as well as for students, is built into our schools.

Teachers are creative, intelligent people, and once they learn to use technology in their professional lives -- for keeping records, for creating documents, and for enhancing their own learning -- they will soon discover the many ways in which technology can enhance what they are doing with their students.

WORKING TOGETHER

In order to successfully infuse technology into their classrooms, teachers must have the support of all stakeholders in the educational community. They must resist the notion that learning to use the "gadgets" is an end in itself.

They must provide desperately needed leadership to find the best ways of using technology to enhance teaching and learning. They must expect and demand the best and most interesting software to enhance their educational goals. They must be included in planning the technology implementation -- and be encouraged to experiment with the available tools.

Finally, teachers must educate themselves on how to best use those tools to enhance teaching and learning.

It is an exciting time to be teaching, and we must seize this moment to challenge ourselves, our students, our administrators, and policymakers throughout the country to help all teachers make the best use of the technology tools available to them.

Article by Lynn Schrum
Education WorldÂ®
Copyright Â© 2005 Education World

01/24/2000
Updated 08/17/2005

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction | Education World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This week, in an Education World "edu-torial," Lynne Schrum presents her personal perspective on the ways in which technology can enhance learning -- and calls on educators to take a leadership role in determining the ways in which technology is used to support educational goals.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep at higher risk for mental health problems

# data[].attributes.subject
Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep at higher risk for mental health problems

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CommonLit | CommonLit Library | Browse Content by Theme, Grade Level and More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
View the CommonLit collection and filter by grade level, theme, genre, literacy device and common core standard.

# data[].attributes.headline
Watch Out - Cell Phones Can Become Addictive

# data[].attributes.subject
Watch Out - Cell Phones Can Become Addictive

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CommonLit | Watch Out: Cell Phones Can Be Addictive [Answer Key] | CommonLit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get the PDF and answer keys for 'Watch Out: Cell Phones Can Be Addictive'. Kathiann Kowalski covers the results of Dr. James Roberts' 2014 cell phone study.

# data[].attributes.headline
Can television be considered literature taught in English classes?

# data[].attributes.subject
Can television be considered literature taught in English classes?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
CommonLit | Can Television Be Considered Literature and Taught in English Classes?

# data[].attributes.headline
More Schools Giving in to Parents Demands about Cell Phones

# data[].attributes.subject
More Schools Giving in to Parents Demands about Cell Phones

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | More schools are giving in to parents' demands about cellphones

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is a large-scale study that explores young people's use of the full range of media and technology. It offers a comprehensive picture of the use of media by kids, age 8 to 18 in the U.S., including the level of enjoyment, frequency of use, and amount of time devoted to a wide array of media activities and devices. Watch our video below and see our infographic or blog post for highlights.

Download Our Fact Sheets

Teens and Smartphones: How many teens own smartphones, how much do they use them, and what are they doing on them?
Television- and Video-Viewing Habits: How are tweens and teens watching TV shows and online videos: on televisions, smartphones, computers, or tablets?
Digital-Equity Gaps: How do media and device access and usage differ among children from lower-, middle-, and higher-income homes?
Homework and Multitasking: To what extent are teens using screen media for homework, and how do they feel about multitasking while doing homework?
Hispanic Media Use: How are Hispanic tweens and teens using media, and how much time do they spend with different kinds of media, including TV shows, video games, music, and social media?
Parents and Media: What do parents know about their kids' media use, and how do parents and children talk about media, including what they do online, which games they play, and how they use social media?
Media-Use Profiles: Tweens and teens differ widely in what media they use and how they use it; what are the major media-user profiles?
Reading in the Digital Age: Is reading still an important part of tweens' and teens' lives? How does print reading compare to e-reading, and for how long are young people reading?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2015 | Common Sense Media

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is a large-scale study that explores young people's use of the full range of media and technology. It offers a comprehensive picture of the use of media by kids, age 8 to 18 in the U.S., including the level of enjoyment, frequency of use, and amount of time devoted to a wide array of media activities and devices.

# data[].attributes.headline
Children, Teens, and Entertainment from the Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
Children, Teens, and Entertainment from the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Children, Teens, and Entertainment Media: The View from the Classroom | Common Sense Media

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A national survey of teachers about the role of entertainment media in students' academic and social development.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Education - Research Overview | NSF - National Science Foundation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
IT often enhances traditional classroom instruction but does not replace it. The technology is more often used at home or in locations like libraries, coffee shops and informal science centers or museums. NSF research into IT and the use of technology in education is designed to support both classroom and out-of-school learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Children's Colorado's Philip O'Donnell, MD, provides strategies for parents to help balance their child's technology time.

# data[].attributes.headline
Technology Can Close the Achievement Gap

# data[].attributes.subject
Technology Can Close the Achievement Gap

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As school districts around the country consider investments in technology in an effort to improve student outcomes, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) finds that technology - when implemented properly -can produce significant gains in student achievement and boost engagement, particularly among students most at risk.

"This report makes clear that districts must have a plan in place for how they will use technology before they make a purchase," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. "It also underscores that replacing teachers with technology is not a successful formula. Instead, strong gains in achievement occur by pairing technology with classroom teachers who provide real-time support and encouragement to underserved students."

Written by Professors Linda Darling-Hammond and Shelley Goldman at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and doctoral student Molly B. Zielezinski, the report is based on a review of more than 70 recent research studies and provides concrete examples of classroom environments in which technology has made a positive difference in the learning outcomes of students at risk of failing courses and dropping out.

Specifically, it identifies three important components to successfully using technology with at-risk students: interactive learning, use of technology to explore and create rather than to "drill and kill," and the right blend of teachers and technology.

The report, Using Technology to Support At-Risk Students' Learning, also identifies significant disparities in technology access and implementation between affluent and low-income schools. First, low-income teens and students of color are noticeably less likely to own computers and use the internet than their peers. Because of their students' lack of access, teachers in high-poverty schools were more than twice likely (56 percent versus 21 percent) to say that their students' lack of access to technology was a challenge in their classrooms. More dramatically, only 3 percent of teachers in high-poverty schools said that their students have the digital tools necessary to complete homework assignments, compared to 52 percent of teachers in more affluent schools.

Secondly, applications of technology in low-income schools typically involves a "drill and kill" approach in which computers take over for teachers and students are presented with information they are expected to memorize and are then tested on with multiple-choice questions. In more affluent schools, however, students tend to be immersed in more interactive environments in which material is customized based on students' learning needs and teachers supplement instruction with technology to explain concepts, coordinate student discussion, and stimulate high-level thinking.

"When given access to appropriate technology used in thoughtful ways, all students-regardless of their respective backgrounds-can make substantial gains in learning and technological readiness," said Darling-Hammond, the faculty director of SCOPE. "Unfortunately, applications of technology in schools serving the most disadvantaged students are frequently compromised by the same disparities in dollars, teachers, and instructional services that typically plague these schools. These disparities are compounded by the lack of access to technology in these students' homes."

The report includes several recommendations that could expand the use and impact of technology among at-risk high school youth:

Technology access policies should aim for one-to-one computer access;

Technology access policies should ensure that speedy internet connections are available;

States, districts, and schools should favor technology designed to promote high levels of interactivity and engagement and make data available in multiple forms;

Curriculum and instruction plans should enable students to use technology to create content as well as learn material; and

Policymakers and educators should plan for "blended" learning environments, characterized by significant levels of teacher support and opportunities for interactions among students, as companions to technology use.

The report cautions that its recommendations must be accompanied by adequate professional learning opportunities for teachers on how to use the technology and pedagogies that are recommended, including technical assistance to help educators manage the hardware, software and connections to the Internet.
Darling-Hammond and Zielezinski joined Tom Murray, the Alliance's state and district digital learning director, for a video webinar to discuss the report's findings on Sept. 10. For archived video, please visit: http://all4ed.org/webinar-event/sep-10-2014/. This story was written by the communications staff at the Alliance for Excellent Education in Washington, DC, and is also posted at www.all4ed.org.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Technology can close achievement gaps, improve learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As school districts around the country consider investments in technology in an effort to improve student outcomes, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) finds that technology - when implemented properly -can produce significant gains in student achievement and boost engagement, particularly among students most at risk.

# data[].attributes.headline
Five Positive Effects Technology has had on Teaching and Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Five Positive Effects Technology has had on Teaching and Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In today's society, there is no question that technology has become a part of our everyday lives. According to a 2014 Pew Research study, 58% of American adults have a smartphone, 32% own an e-reader and 42% own a tablet. These statistics make it clear that adults are adapting to new and emerging technologies.

But how can technology be used as educational tools in the classroom? Here are examples how technology can assist teachers and accelerate students' learning.

Supplemental Teaching Tools

Not only can tablets, apps, video and interactive whiteboards be learning tools for students, but they can be additional teaching tools for educators. A PBS LearningMedia survey of pre-K-12 teachers researched how and what types of technology teachers are using in classrooms, as well as their overall attitudes toward technology. Three-quarters of teachers surveyed expressed a positive opinion of educational technology, stating that technology assists them in reinforcing and expanding on content. After many years of teaching the same or similar lesson plans, it can be challenging to keep students engaged and show enthusiasm as you're presenting lessons. Interactive presentation tools, video clips, graphics and other audio visual elements are a simple way to keep students actively engaged in lessons, as well as a means to keep your lessons fresh.

Motivate Students to Learn

Many students are more stimulated and are apt to learn when they can interact with hands-on learning tools, which various forms of educational technology provide. A fifth grade teacher was quoted in a U.S. Department of Education article saying, "Technology is the ultimate carrot for students. It's something they want to master. Learning to use it enhances their self-esteem and makes them excited about coming to school." According to PBS LearningMedia research, 74% of teachers surveyed responded that using classroom technology motivates students to learn. Technology in the classroom allows students to take greater control of their education because tools like tablets and laptops encourage interactive, hands-on learning.

Students Can Learn at Their Own Pace

It's simple; no child is the same. Every student learns at his or her own pace. There are many ways that integrating technology into the classroom can help students learn at a rate that is comfortable to them, and that allows them to retain information. For example, in-classroom lessons or activities on laptops or tablets allow students to read directions, process information and complete work at their own pace. This also helps free up the teacher's time so they can give students who may need extra guidance or assistance the attention they require.

Additional Resources for Students

Educational apps, search engines, videos, portable technologies and interactive activities provide students with a nearly endless supply of information and resources. Use of the educational technologies including, but not limited to, the tools below support 24/7 learning:

Online lesson plans

Educational apps

Interactive games

Online video and graphics

Accessing books and articles via tablets and e-readers

Prepare Children for the Future

The learning children do in school prepares them for the future, and for this reason it is important to incorporate technology in the classroom. Over the years, technology has evolved tremendously and will continue to do so. Those changes should be parallel with teachers' lesson plans and learning techniques of children and classrooms. It's important to note that expensive classroom technology solutions don't always result in effective teaching and learning. Simple solutions can lead to influential teaching, which can have a clear impact on learning. By learning to use technology in the classroom at a young age, children are developing the skills and knowledge that is essential in today's world.

Below are questions to consider before deciding what technologies to include in your classroom:

1. Why do you want to buy the technology? What impact will it have on teaching and learning?

2. What tools and technologies will contribute to deep learning in the classroom?

3. How can I let students learn with technology the way that they already live with their technology?

4. What is the appropriate role of the web, social media, mobile technologies, interactive white- boards, etc., in today's classroom?

5. What are the digital literacies that have to be incorporated and taught? (For more on this topic, see http://www.p21.org.)

6. Does your school have the infrastructure and technical support capacity to support your technology purchase?

Do you remember when the desktop computer was introduced in classrooms? Classroom technology has come a long way since then and will continue to evolve. Seven in 10 teachers (69%) surveyed by PBS LearningMedia said educational technology allows them to "do much more than ever before" for their students. Including technology in the classroom benefits teachers and students in many ways. Contact us to learn how you can get creative with using Kurzweil 3000 in your classroom and start having fun!

Sources:
State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA)
EdTechTimes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In today's society, there is no question that technology has become a part of our everyday lives. According to a 2014 Pew Research study, 58% of American adults have a smartphone, 32% own an e-reader and 42% own a tablet. These statistics make it clear that adults are adapting to new and emerging technologies.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seven Ways Technology is Impacting Modern Education

# data[].attributes.subject
Seven Ways Technology is Impacting Modern Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Spread the loveTechnology in the classroom can be so much more and so much better than the stereotypical cell phone going off in the middle of class. Technology can actually be a major tool, both in terms of pedagogical resources and in terms of connecting with the younger generations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Five Ways Teachers Can use Technology to Help Students

# data[].attributes.subject
Five Ways Teachers Can use Technology to Help Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Ways Teachers Can Use Technology to Help Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Darrell West and Joshua Bleiberg explore the American education system's stubborn resistance to innovation and advancement in information technology. They supply five ways for teachers to use technology to help students in the future.