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Ideas for the classroom

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The flood of edtech tools that teachers are presented with has been staggering over the last several years, and continues to be this way. A quick glance on Twitter or any edtech conference program shows this. In fact, just typing "edtech industry" into a Google search can show the magnitude of the edtech business world.

What exactly are the four C's?

Communication

Collaboration

Creativity

Critical Thinking

In my experience, edtech tools tend to revolve around the 4Cs of 21st century skills: Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking. I would argue that there is not "one tool to rule them all" in education. (In fact, looking for one of those is like looking for a unicorn. Good luck.) Any tool that is worthy of consideration by a teacher should first clearly represent how it will impact student learning: What will my students be able to do when using XYZ? How will using XYZ in my classroom create a richer learning experience for my students?

While it's great to have so many choices, this is also what can hold a teacher back from trying something new in their classroom-especially if the tool is cumbersome or does not show meaningful purpose in students' learning. But, it's also up to the educator him or herself to decide how best to integrate the 4 C's into daily lesson plans. It's safe to say... both educators and companies can do their part.

And so, let's start by looking at strategies educators can try when exploring new edtech tools.

What Educators Should Do

Experiment

Don't try to use a dozen edtech tools at one time. Don't even try tackling all 4 Cs at the same time. Pick one or two of these 21st century learning skills to focus on during the school year and then ask which tools help students develop those skills. Here are a few that I support:

If you try to use too many tools at once, you're likely to feel overwhelmed and become frustrated. Get really good at using one and then continue on from there. As long as you're moving forward, don't get caught up on how fast you're moving.

Don't Try to Stay on Top of it All-And Have 'Sandbox Time'

Teachers, you know the name of the game in education is "flexibility." Edtech tools come, they go, they're free, then they're not. It's the nature of the beast. This is one of the many great reasons to have a personal learning network (PLN) that you can tap for advice, resources and ideas. This also means that you have to keep a "learner first" mindset with all of these tools that come your way.

Make the time for "sandbox time" with a tool you're thinking about using in your class. Get together with other teachers and practice using it before you try it out with kids. Then, be sure to get back together with your colleagues to share your classroom experiences with one another. You'll grow, your students will grow and everyone will win.

What Companies Should Do

When It Comes to Pricing, Be Upfront

This is always a popular topic with edtech companies, isn't it? If a tool is "free," does it offer teachers and students enough capabilities that they can do something useful? If teachers only have a "freemium" option, is that useful? Will they only get to enjoy, say, 30 days of using the tool before they are expected to pay?

Look, I get that at the end of the day, edtech companies are businesses that need to make money. Teachers and administrators get this, too. Just make it easy for teachers to understand what they're getting when they click that sign-up button. I have seen some edtech tools that make it ridiculously difficult to locate pricing/trial period information. Don't make it a guessing game.

Teachers and administrators-at least the ones who are paying-don't have time for this. My personal opinion on this is that if you want to have a pay version, then great-have it. However, please offer teachers and students a decent free version to use, too. I've found more often than not that the free version does just fine for most students and teachers.

Please don't make your premium version a budget buster, either. Administrators are the ones having to constantly find ways to do more with less. Make it a reasonable annual price and make it clear exactly that the teacher gets (and how it will benefit student learning). A student tool that I believe does this well is Kidblog. Yes, they recently started offering a 30-day trial of their premium version. But even the premium version is affordable at $29 per year per teacher. For what you get, I think this is a very good value.

Understand Needs By Having Teachers as Advisors

If an edtech company is 1) not hiring people with education experience and/or 2) not listening to the direct needs of teachers and students, then they're missing the boat. This is the only way that a web tool or app is going to have an adequate pulse on the true needs of teachers and students.

When surveyed, teachers report that their top three considerations for choosing tools are 1) price, 2) whether the tool was time-saving and simple to integrate into instruction, and 3) whether the tool tailored student tasks and instructions based on individual students' needs.*

*Teachers Know Best, 2015 Report

Many companies have had great success by creating an advisory board of educators, an ambassador program, or something similar. It ensures that teachers and students have a voice within the organization and it is an effective, efficient way to continually iterate impact on classrooms.

I can't think of a better way for a company to measure their impact on the 4Cs by seeking opinions and evaluations from teachers. Invite teachers to try a beta version, participate in virtual focus groups, and create pilot groups to try out specific components with their students.

Get Out of The Way

I have always said, the best web tools do a great job at getting out of the way of student learning. This means they just work and do exactly what the company says they're going to do. The login/signup process is simple (hint: let teachers and students use their Google accounts), it's seamless for teachers to manage and share student work, and it's easy to learn how to actually use the tool.

For example, my students shouldn't have to click six times just to get started on collaborating with a classmate online. I think of my own children in this situation: It has become totally normal (not to mention easy) for them to share a story with me that they've written or an illustration they've created in Google Draw. They share it, I leave them comments, and they keep working. It's quick, efficient and it's become the norm. This should be the case no matter which of the 4Cs the tool is focusing on.

Again, if you read the point I made before this one, then this should not be an issue.

Whether you're a teacher giving some new edtech tools a spin, or a creator of an edtech tool, I charge you with a great responsibility. If you're a teacher, it's about remaining a learner first and taking some risks. If you're making an edtech tool, it's about truly understanding what teachers and students need. After all, we're all in it for the same reason-student success.

This post is part of the EdSurge Fifty States Project (representing the state of Missouri). The project is supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributors alone and do not reflect the views of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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How to Champion the Four C's in the Classroom - EdSurge News

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The flood of edtech tools that teachers are presented with has been staggering over the last several years, and continues to be this way. A quick glance on Twitter or any edtech conference program shows this. In fact, just typing "edtech industry" into a Google search can show the magnitude of the edtech business world.

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Managing Technology Use In Your Classroom

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Managing Technology Use In Your Classroom

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Basic ideas

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Education for Today and Tomorrow | L'Education Aujourd'hui et Demain

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Managing Technology Use in Your Classroom

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Managing Technology Use in Your Classroom By Karen Hume Don't let classroom management concerns prevent you from making effective use of technology in your classroom! Check out these tips and please add some of your own: Help students ...

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5 Easy Options for Beginning Tech Integration

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5 Easy Options for Beginning Tech Integration

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Good starting points.

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There are some ways to integrate technology in your classroom that adds value to your learning environment and pretty much can be a go to no matter what the lesson plan. Here are my favorites no matter what grade level you might teach.

Research:
Allowing students to find information on a topic by themselves allows them to delve deeper into areas that appeal to them. It also allows them to be in charge of the path of their learning no matter how "locked down" the requirements for the lesson are. Most school systems have access to online research databases that are grade-based helpful. Teaching students how to curate all the information on the internet is no easy task but placing good research options in their path helps. Using digital encyclopedias and search engines like http://kiddle.co for younger students can help.

Showing older students how to use the Google search engine tools (http://mashable.com/2011/11/24/google-search-infographic/#0vBxYjxrxsqb)as well as how to use your library's digital learning databases are important steps to preparing our students to learn how to find quality information with ease.

Mind Mapping:
This article talks about the benefits of mind mapping: http://mindmapsunleashed.com/the-mind-mapping-concept-and-how-you-benefit-from-this. There are many free or almost free websites and apps that allow students the beauty of gathering their thoughts on a topic in a systematic way. Apps like Popplet and Simple Mind+ and websites like www.mindmeister.com allow students the ability to creatively make connections to ideas, discern important points, as well as map outlines for papers. Mind mapping has also often shown a benefit to recall as well.

Collaboration:
My favorite way to collaborate is using GAFE (Google Apps for Education), specifically Google Docs so that students can collaborate on writing projects through the use of multiple users on one document or even just allowing collaboration on a document by the adding of comments for reflection. There are also options like Padlet, Google hangouts, Skype, blogging, and the discussion boards of your school's LMS options that either allow students the ability to connect with each other or the world beyond the four walls of their classroom.

Whiteboard Options:
For years teachers have used whiteboards for quick formative assessment to see if daily learning objectives have been met. Today, we have websites and apps like A Web Whiteboard, Explain Everything, ShowMe, and EduCreations that can be used to give students personal access to content. Digital whiteboard options also are a great tool to allow students to use at the end of a class to show their learning for the day as well. Finish your lesson, tell the students to open their Digital Whiteboard and say "create a file that shows me the top three things you learned today in class," or "Create a math problem using the formula we used today and solve the problem." The possibilities are endless.

Study Aids:
Technology is a great way to aid students in studying. Digital flashcard makers like Quizlet and word cloud creators like Wordle are a great way for students to reinforce spelling and vocabulary terms. Khan Academy, ck12.org, and other online options as simple as youtube offer your students additional support in studying for exams or refreshers for homework.
The options for integrating technology into the classroom are endless and the creative ability to what a teacher hopes to accomplish is turning more dreams into reality every day. Technology often affords the teacher extra time to have more one on one opportunities with their students as well as supporting the learning environment in very concrete substantive ways that didn't exist a decade ago. The above 5 options could easily be adapted and adopted in any classroom to reap the benefits of technology in our schools and to equip our students for the world beyond their academic life.

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5 Easy Options for Beginning Tech Integration | Edutopia

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There are some ways to integrate technology in your classroom that adds value to your learning environment and pretty much can be a go to no matter what the lesson plan. Here are my favorites no matter what grade level you might teach.

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Steps of Framework

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Algebra 2 resources for SAMR framework

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Good example of SAMR framework in Algebra 2

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Desmos heats up the SAMR model

Posted: April 14, 2014 in Uncategorized

How I used Desmos to move up the levels of SAMR:
The ANCIENT method is to use graph paper to get a visual representation of a function. I used to use this method to teach the skill of graphing lines in Algebra 1. I typically do not spend too much time in my Algebra 2 class using the paper and pencil method because the goal is to understand how the transformation form (vertex form) changes the parent function. Using paper and pencil is so time consuming and I really struggle to wait for students to use it (especially when they all love to use rulers)

Substitution is to use a TI graphing calculator to speed up the process of graphing functions instead of using a paper graph. I can remember being a senior in high school and having my pre-calculus teacher required us to purchase a graphing calculator. I think it was the TI-82 and the students knew more than the teachers. It was the first time we got our hands on technology in the classroom and it actually changed how I viewed my math classes. We require Algebra 2 students to have one but with the implementation of chromebooks TI might become obsolete in our classrooms with the accessibility of free online competitors.

Augmentation is to use Desmos to increase the ability to graph multiple functions at the same time (addition of color as well). Desmos blows the TI out of the water when it comes to so many functions. Multiple graphs, accessibility, easier saving, printing, sliders, function forms (doesn't have to be y=), etc. TI has a better battery life than my laptop but that is about all I could come up with.

Modification is to create a "picture" using multiple functions with domain/range restrictions. My students loved this project. We had great conversations about domain and range restrictions and limitations of functions. I know how uncreative the paper and pencil project would have ended up. My students weren't afraid to try different functions and could quickly restrict the parameters without fear of "wasting time' or paper. It also opened my eyes to the power of Desmos and I have never turned back.

Redefinition is to have a student create graph(s) and have another student try to recreate by writing the functions or using Desmos to graph the exact same picture. Also, Daily Desmos does this on a daily basis from easy to complicated so it would apply to every level of student.

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How I used Desmos to move up the levels of SAMR: The ANCIENT method is to use graph paper to get a visual representation of a function. I used to use this method to teach the skill of graphing lin...

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My page

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Mrs. Carters Math Example

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Short and Sweet

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Examples

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Math Lessons

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Share My Lesson is a destination for educators who dedicate their time and professional expertise to provide the best education for students everywhere. Share My Lesson members contribute content, share ideas, get educated on the topics that matter, online, 24/7. We issue Creative Commons licenses, and we do not share our members' private data with anyone.

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Copy of Technology Integration and the 4 C's

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Math Lesson

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Comprehensive Core Curriculum on integrated digital platform | Smart Curriculum. Smarter Teaching.

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By offering digitized comprehensive curricula with built-in, in-the-moment supports, LearnZillion empowers teachers to spend less time building student-facing materials from scratch and more time strategizing to meet their students' needs. A high-quality curriculum no longer requires weeks of prep.

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Lesson Planning

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OER Commons is a dynamic digital library and network. Explore open education resources and join our network of educators dedicated to curriculum improvement.

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10 Sources For Free Lesson Plans

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Math and Physics Simulations

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ExploreLearning : Get hands-on, minds-on in math and science

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ExploreLearning Gizmos: Math & Science Simulations

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Videos of Math Concepts

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Free math help! Tutorial videos on topics including arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.

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Lot's of ideas

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by edshelf: Reviews & recommendations of tools for education
If your high school has adopted Common Core Standards and provides students with iPads (either 1:1 or via an iPad cart), you will need to find apps that map to these standards.

And if you teach math, you are in luck. Math and engineering teacher Chris Beyerle from South Carolina curates this collection of math apps. These map to the eight Standards for Mathematical Practice. That's CCSS.Math.Practice.MP1 to CCSS.Math.Practice.MP8.

Which math apps do you use?
21 Common Core-Aligned Math Apps for High School Students From edshelf NOTE: Chris has added more tools to this collection since this article was published. The latest tools are reflected below. Image attribution flickr user usnavalwarcollegeri

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21 Common Core-Aligned Math Apps for High School Students From edshelf

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by edshelf: Reviews & recommendations of tools for education If your high school has adopted Common Core Standards and provides students with iPads (either 1:1 or via an iPad cart), you will need to find apps that map to these standards. And if you teach math, you are in luck.

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Math Resources and other information

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Discover pages with the best links about a subject

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The High School Math Apps Shelf | edshelf

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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum

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Good Introduction to integrating technology

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Evaluating the use of technology in a classroom environment is not something most administrators are trained to do. It is easy to walk into a classroom and see that every student is using a computer, but how do you really assess if and what type of learning is taking place?

In the past, I have had administrators tell me "I walked into the teacher's room and all the students were on laptops." As though just the site of students working on laptops meant they were engaged in the learning process.
I have been trying to wrap my head around a simple way for administrators to evaluate the use of technology in the classroom (a thank you to Dennis Harter who got me thinking about this).

When most administrators evaluate teachers during the evaluation process, they have some sort of check sheet they are working from either mental or as part of a school's evaluation process. I wanted to come up with an easy way for administrators to add to that list some questions that they can answer without knowing a lot about technology and by just observing its use within a lesson.

I remembered a Marc Prensky article in Edutopia in which he talks about the typical process of technology adoption:

1. Dabbling with technology

2. Doing Old things in Old Ways

3. Doing Old things in New Ways

4. Doing New things in New Ways

What if we turned these stages of technology adoption into questions that an evaluator could use during the evaluation process?

1. Is the technology being used "Just because it's there"?

2. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in Old ways?

3. Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?

4. Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?

This could be a simple list that any evaluator can use to decipher how the technology is being used in a particular lesson.
Is the technology being used "Just because it's there"?
This would be the use of edutainment software, the use of a particular piece of technology because it happens to be in the room. The teacher dabbles with technology, not having a real focus on its use within the lesson but uses it as an add-on or at a very basic level (no real impact on the learning process).
Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in Old ways?
Publishing a piece of writing in Word rather than hand writing it would be an example of this.

Also, using an LCD projector instead of a white/black board for a lesson.

Another example would be researching on the Internet rather than in an Encyclopedia.

These are all great things, and great ways to use technology, but they are only replacing the way we have always done things with something that might be faster, easier, and more accurate. In the end however, they are still the same old things we have been doing for years in education.
Is the technology allowing the teacher/students to do Old things in New ways?
Examples would be: watching Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech or listening to a recording of Stalin. Old things in New ways could also be reading and evaluation an original piece of writing or visiting a battle site via Google Earth.

These are not new things...just new ways of doing old things. We used to read Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech to the class, now we can watch him give his speech in Washington D.C.

We used to read the words of Stalin, now we can hear him speak them.

We used to read from a book, now we can read and look at the original document.

Instead of talking about a battle site, we can now visit that site virtually.

These are not new things; they just enhance the old ways of doing things.

Is the technology creating new and different learning experiences for the students?

Does the technology allow students to learn from people they never would have been able to without it?

Does the technology allow students to interact with information in a way that is meaningful and could not have happened otherwise?

Does the technology allow students to create and share their knowledge with an audience they never would have had access to without technology?

Many of our teachers are not at this level yet and many might never get here because this level of technology use requires a new way of looking at learning. One in which many of our schools are not yet prepared to look deeply into.

Prensky puts it this way:

For the digital age, we need new curricula, new organization, new architecture, newteaching, new student assessments, new parental connections, new administration procedures, and many other elements. Some people suggest using emerging models from business - but these, for the most part, don't apply. Others suggest trying to change school size - but this will not help much if we are still doing the wrong things, only in smaller spaces.

As you evaluate a teacher, you should be looking for answers to the above mentioned questions. I am not advocating that every lesson should use technology or that every lesson should try to answer "New things in New ways". However, it is good to know just how the technology is being used. There is nothing wrong with only using an LCD projector, or Google Earth to visit a battle site. I get excited when I see both of those things happening in a classroom. I just think it is good to put it into perspective just what impact the technology is having on teaching and learning. If a teacher is only ever 'dabbling' or doing 'Old things in Old ways' then a conversation can start about how to move the use of technology to a deeper more meaningful level within the classroom.

It is great to see teachers using technology in their lessons during an evaluation. It is even more informative if you can evaluate at what level that technology is effecting learning. Is it a replacement for the way we do things or is it something completely new and pushes both the students and teacher to new heights, new learning, and new knowledge?

[tags]administrator, evaluation, 21st Century Learning[/tags]

Technorati Tags: marcprensky, evaluation, education, administrators, technology

I started blogging in 2005 and found it such a powerful way to reflect and share my thinking about technology, this generation, and how we prepare students for their future not our past.

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Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom

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Evaluating the use of technology in a classroom environment is not something most administrators are trained to do. It is easy to walk into a classroom and see that every student is using a computer, but how do you really assess if and what type of learning is taking place?

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Lesson Plan ideas

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Tool Description (max 2 sentences focused on teacher use) Usefulness Rating (1-5) Ease-of-Use Rating Educreations details coming soon Screenr Screencast-o-matic Screencastify Snagit Jing QuickTime Screen Recorder PixiClip Google Hangout on Air

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Create Quizzes and Student Responses - EdTechTeacher

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Tool Description Usefulness Rating (1-5) Ease-of-Use Rating Quia Quia provides an online platform specifically for teachers to create quizzes, games, and assignments online. Students can receive instant feedback on their quizzes and assignments. Teachers can share and collaborate on created assignments. 4 ... Read more

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ppt. How to.

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A sidebar for easily creating and editing mathematics

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This post first appeared on Free Technology for Teachers.

Google Docs is a popular word processing tool. However, many people don't realize that there are 4 great add-ons for Math that allow teachers and students to harness the power of Google. You can add any of these features to a Google Doc by selecting Add-ons → Get Add-ons.

g(Math) is a popular tool for Math students and teachers. It allows you to create robust expressions and graphs that you can insert directly into your Google Doc. Input expressions using LaTeX, select pre-built formulas which gMath will convert to LaTeX for you, draw your own formula, or even speak to insert math equations (in Chrome Only). Check out the g(Math) guru for extensive tutorials.

Sometimes you just need a simple calculator to check your work or perform calculations. Add a calculator to any Google Doc by adding the Calculator Add-on. Now there is no need to switch back and forth between apps or windows.

Wizkids CAS allows teachers and students to harness the power of a graphing calculator in any Google Doc. Students can solve equations, plot graphs, find numerical and exact solutions, simplify and factorise expressions with variables, and drag and drop results and graphs from the sidebar.

Formula Editor is a simple tool that lets you type and edit mathematical equations in the sidebar of any Google Doc. You can input data using the mathematics input box or by using LaTeX. After you complete your edits, the formula is converted to an image that can be inserted directly into a document.

By incorporating Add-ons, teachers and students can expand the power of Google Docs beyond word processing and editing.

Get Hands-On at our Google Jamboree!

Space still available to come learn more at our Google Jamborees.

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4 Math Add ons for Google Docs - from Jennifer Carey - EdTechTeacher

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This post first appeared on Free Technology for Teachers. Google Docs is a popular word processing tool. However, many people don't realize that there are 4 great add-ons for Math that allow teachers and students to harness the power of Google. You ... Read more

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Math Specific

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Math Resources and Technology Tools for Teachers

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Find the best math resources and math technology tools for teachers. All of our resource lists are created and curated by teachers, for teachers.

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List of tools

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Search and Evaluate Websites - EdTechTeacher

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Tool Description Usefulness Rating (1-5) Ease-of-Use Rating Google Advanced Search Google Advanced Search allows students to narrow down a search through a number of different parameters such as including an exact words or phrase, file type (e.g. PDF, PPT, etc), website domain, ... Read more

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Difference between Using Tech and Integrating Tech.

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Difference between Using Tech and Integrating Tech.

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Comparison

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List by catagories

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Search Results for Common Sense Education

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Use filters and keywords to refine you search results for lessons, digital citizenship resources, videos, edtech reviews, and advice for teaching with technology.

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Copy of Helping Others Embrace Technology

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Helping Others Embrace Technology TPACK, SAMR, TIM, TIP TPACK-Technological Pedagogical Knowledge SAMR- Substitution Augmentation Modification Redefinition TIM- Technology Integration Matrix TIP- Technology Integration Planning Introduction In this presentation there will be discussion on technology integration. Using four technology integration models, discussing meaning and use of each.

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To evaluate new technology tools.

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14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools

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14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools

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Saying that it has always been this way, doesn't count as a legitimate justification as to why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators all over the world are doing amazing things, but some of the things we are still doing, despite all the new solutions, research and ideas out there are, to put it mildly, incredible.

I'm not saying we should just make the current system better... we should change it into something else.

I have compiled a list of 14 things that are obsolete in 21st-century schools and it is my hope that this will inspire lively discussions about the future of education.

1. Computer Rooms

The idea of taking a whole class to a computer room with outdated equipment, once a week to practice their typewriting skills and sending them back to the classroom 40 minutes later, is obsolete.

Computers or technology shouldn't just be a specific subject, that's not sufficient anymore but rather it should be an integral part of all the subjects and built into the curriculum.

2. Isolated classrooms

Classrooms can be isolated in two ways. One where parents, teachers or guests are not welcome because the door and drapes are always shut... which has the words "Don't come in here" written all over it. The other way is being isolated to all the knowledge outside the 4 walls. For example from the internet, videos, blogs, websites, and visits from authors or scientists through Skype, to name a few.

Tony Wagner, the author of the Global Achievement Gap says: "Isolation is the enemy of improvement". The classroom should be open, teachers should be able to walk in and learn from each other, parents should visit often, f.x. with so-called Extra Open Schooldays (where all parents are encouraged to visit classrooms anytime during the day). Isolated classrooms are therefore obsolete.

3. Schools that don't have WiFi

Schools that don't have a robust WiFi network for staff and students are not only missing a big change for teaching and learning but robbing the students of access to knowledge and also limiting their chances to learn about the internet and using technology in a safe way.

21st-century schools make it possible for students and staff to learn anywhere, anytime and schools that don't allow that are obsolete.

4. Banning phones and tablets

Taking phones and tablets from students instead of using them to enhance learning is obsolete. We should celebrate the technology students bring and use them as learning tools.

Phones are no longer just devices to text and make phone calls... when they were, then banning them was OK. Today there is more processing power in the average cellular telephone than NASA had access to when they sent a man to the moon in 1969. Yet most students only know how to use these devices for social media and playing games.

Today you can edit a movie, make a radio show, take pictures, make posters, websites, blog, tweet as a character from a book, have class conversations over TodaysMeet and Google most answers on a test with the device in your pocket. We should show our students the learning possibilities & turn these distractions into learning opportunities that will reach far outside the classroom.

5. Tech director with an administrator access

Having one person responsible for the computer system, working from a windowless office in the school basement, surrounded by old computers, updates the programs and tells the staff what tech tools they can and cannot use... is obsolete.

Today we need technology co-ordinators that know what teachers and students need to be successful and solve problems instead of creating barriers. Someone who helps people to help themselves by giving them responsibility and finds better and cheaper ways to do things.

6. Teachers that don't share what they do

Teachers who work silently, don't tweet, blog and discuss ideas with people around the world are obsolete. Teachers are no longer working locally but globally and it's our job to share what we do and see what others are doing. If a teacher is no longer learning then he shouldn't be teaching other people.

We should all be tweeting, blogging and sharing what works and doesn't work, get and give advice to and from co-workers around the world. We should constantly be improving our craft because professional development isn't a 3-hour workshop once a month but a lifelong process.
"We do not learn from experience...we learn from reflecting on experience." -John Dewey
7. Schools that don't have Facebook or Twitter

Schools that think putting a news article on the school website every other week and publish a monthly newsletter is enough to keep parents informed are obsolete.

The school should have a Facebook page, share news and information with parents, have a Twitter account and their own hashtag, run their own online TV channel where students film, edit and publish things about school events.

If you don't tell your story, someone else will.

8. Unhealthy cafeteria food

School cafeterias that look and operate almost like fast food restaurants where staff and students get a cheap, fast and unhealthy meals are obsolete.

A few schools in Iceland and Sweden have turned almost completely to organic foods and given thought into the long term benefit of healthy food rather than the short term savings of the unhealthy. For example at Stora Hammar school in Sweden, 90% of the food served is organic.

Children should put the food on their own plate, clean up after themselves and even do the dishes. Not because it saves the school money on the workforce but because it is a part of growing up and learning about responsibility. What 21st-century schools should be doing as well is growing their own fruits and vegetables where students water them and learn about nature. Setting up a farm to feed students would be optimal, but if that is not an option (for example in big city schools) then they can at last set up a window farm in some of the school windows.

The goal of providing students a healthy meal is not only to give them enough nutrition to last the school day but to make healthy food a normal part of their daily life and get them to think about nutrition which is something that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

9. Starting school at 8 o'clock for teenagers

Research has shown over and over again that teenagers do better and feel better in schools that start later. Often parents or administrators get in the way of that change. Research (f.x. from the The Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics and University of Minnesota - video) show that delaying school start as little as 50 minutes and making it longer by 30 minutes instead has a positive effect both on learning and activities after school. Schools that don't do this are obsolete.

Starting later is easy and teachers could use the extra time in the morning to prepare class... it's a win-win situation.

10. Buying poster-, website- and pamphlet design for the school

When your school needs a poster, pamphlet or a new website they shouldn't buy the service from somewhere else (although that can sometimes be the case) and have students do it instead. In the best schools of the future, they will be the ones doing it as a real project that has meaning and as a collaborative project in language and art....using technology.

11. Traditional libraries

Libraries that only contain books and chess tables are obsolete.

A 21st-century library should be at the heart of the school and a place where both students and staff can come in to relax, read, get advice, access powerful devices, edit videos, music, print in 3D and learn how to code to name a few. This 21st-century learning space should give people an equal chance to use these devices and access information. Otherwise, these libraries will turn into museums where people go to look at all the things we used to use.

12. All students get the same

Putting kids in the same class because they are born in the same year is obsolete. School systems were originally set up to meet the needs of industrialism. Back then we needed people to work in factories, conformity was good and nobody was meant to excel or be different in that environment. That doesn't fit our needs today, let alone the future but many schools are still set up like the factories they were meant to serve 100 years ago.

We should increase choice, give children support to flourish in what interests them and not only give them extra attention to the things they're bad at. In most schools, if you are good at art but bad in german you get german lessons to get to par with the other students instead of excelling at art... All even, all the same!

Education should be individualized, students should work in groups regardless of age and their education should be built around their needs.

13. One-Professional development-workshop-fits-all

A school that just sends the entire staff to a workshop once a month where everyone gets the same is obsolete. Professional development is usually top-down instead of the ground up where everyone gets what they want and need. This is because giving everyone (including students) what they need and want takes time & money.

With things like Twitter, Pinterest, articles online, books, videos, co-operation & conversations employees can personalize their professional development. (Read about my article on Personalized Professional Development here)

14. Standardized tests to measure the quality of education

Looking at standardized tests to evaluate whether or not children are educated or not is the dumbest thing we can do and gives us a shallow view of learning.

The outcomes, although moderately important, measure only a small part of what we want our kids to learn and by focusing on these exams we are narrowing the curriculum. Alfie Kohn even pointed out a statistically significant correlation between high grades on standardized tests and a shallow approach to learning.

The world today and the needs of society are completely different from what they used to be. We are not only training people to work locally but globally. With standardized tests, like PISA, we are narrowing the curriculum, and all the OECD countries are teaching the same thing. Because of that, we all produce the same kind of workers, outdated workers, to work in factories. People who can comply, behave and be like everybody else.

In the global world today it is easy to outsource jobs to someone who is willing to do the same job, just as fast for less money. Therefore we need creative people that can do something else and think differently.

Andreas Schleicher (2010) said:

"Schools have to prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that we don't know will arise."

Standardized education might have been the answer once but saying that it's obsolete is putting it mildly and is only a way to try to repair the broken system. The results of those tests are, according to Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind, 2005) in direct contradiction to the skills we need today. Those skills are for example design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning.

We should be solving real problems, asking questions that matter instead of remembering and repeating facts. Adults' accomplishments are linked far more strongly to their creativity than IQ ( source) and we should be celebrating diverse knowledge and interest instead of trying to standardize knowledge and skills.

I wonder if schools would finally change their direction if we designed a new standardize test that wouldn't measure numeracy, science, and literacy but empathy, creative thinking and communication skills... Maybe that is all we need.

Final thoughts

All the education systems on the planet are being reformed, but I don't think reform is what we need. We need a revolution and change the education system into something else. It isn't an easy task, but as S.E. Phillips once said:

Anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Doing something new and getting poor results on the old test shouldn't surprise anyone. What is the point of doing something new and different if we get the same results on standardized tests... then we might as well just do factory schooling, conform and comply.

"If I had asked the people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses"

That is exactly what we are doing today. We are asking our students to remember more, write better and repeat faster than before... just like we wanted the faster horse when really we should be asking for the car. Sure the car wasn't better than the horse in the beginning and our education system won't be perfect either. It will never be perfect, it should be constantly evolving and we should strive to make it better every day.

I don't know what a perfect education system looks like, and don't think it even exists. But I believe that if we talk, try something different, fail forward, investigate and share what we do, not only locally but globally, we can get a lot closer.

If you want to see a change in education, you should start in your own classroom.

"Education can be encouraged from the top-down but can only be improved from the ground up" - Sir Ken Robinson
Icelandic Educator. Creator. Designer. Stanford Graduate School of Education Alumn
Ingvi Hrannar Ómarsson

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14 things that are obsolete in 21st century schools

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Saying that it has always been this way, doesn't count as a legitimate justification as to why it should stay that way. Teachers and administrators all over the world are doing amazing things, but some of the things we are still doing, despite all the new solutions, research and ideas out there are, to put [...]

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Education innovation in 2017: 4 personalized learning trends to watch

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Education innovation in 2017: 4 personalized learning trends to watch

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At the Clayton Christensen Institute, we track disruptive innovations in K-12 schools that upend the traditional factory-based model of school in favor of instructional approaches that better center on each individual student. Here are four trends in personalized learning we'll be watching unfold in the coming year:
1. Platform plays will play themselves out

Over the past few years, we have witnessed homegrown learning platforms crop up inside of schools trying to push the boundaries of personalization. In 2016, a number of these new cloud-based learning platforms-such as Summit Public Schools' Personalized Learning Platform, Matchbook School's Spark, Brooklyn Lab's Cortex, Alt School's Alt School Open, and Leadership Public Schools-Gooru's Learning Navigator-proliferated beyond their original founding school networks. These next-generation platforms all represent bold attempts to digitize the instructional and logistical coordination at play in successful personalized learning models. The hope is that traditional schools adopting these platforms might be able to likewise buck traditional instruction in favor of more individualized pathways and supports. 2017 will see the first robust data sets coming out of partner schools adopting these new platforms that they themselves did not develop. These schools, in turn, will provide an initial test case of an operating hypothesis in the personalized learning space: that a high-quality platform and professional development supports surrounding platform implementation could be critical levers to scaling personalized approaches across traditional settings.
2. Big assessment decisions will hit the states

The past year saw states ramping up for a new reality under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which places far greater leeway and oversight in state's hands rather than residing with the feds. In 2017 states will get their ESSA plans off the ground and make important tactical decisions. States' approaches to assessment will prove to be key harbingers of instructional changes to come. Watch for increased focus on performance assessment throughout K-12 and better proxies for postsecondary preparation and readiness at the high school level. The assessment instruments states ultimately choose will offer clues as to what emerging definitions of 21st-century "success" will look like; these decisions will also have major implications for content providers and publishers in the short term.
3. Wraparound services will get a boost-hopefully for the sake of learning

ESSA also presents a chance for states to double down on wraparound services that support whole child health and well-being. The law requires that states consider additional measures beyond just test scores to assess student progress and school quality. New metrics, like school climate or social and emotional progress, are likely to generate demand for interventions that attend to nonacademic factors of students' experiences. Moreover, the law's Full-Service Community Schools provision offers states a pathway to fund more robust and connected supports that address nonacademic barriers to learning. The open question surrounding these investments will be which ones actually manage to drive resources in a manner that increases learning outcomes-rather than merely to increase access to supports and services. As we've written about before, efforts to bolster nonacademic health and wellness can tackle access gaps without actually driving learning. The most successful states will find ways to integrate academic and non-academic services rather than keep them siloed from one another.
4. Projects will proliferate
As personalized approaches to learning gain steam, the role of projects will garner great attention for a variety of reasons. First, schools are looking for ways to encourage hands-on learning that tests deeper learning metrics like critical thinking against real-world problems. Second, some approaches to personalized learning emphasize interest-based learning, in an effort to personalize to students' passions,. Third, projects offer a clear platform to seed collaboration in classrooms, particularly those that are using technology to support individual learning and want to combat potential isolation created by too much screen time. In 2017, schools will start looking for efficiency and reliability in the project-based learning space, likely leading to more business for technology-enabled project-based curriculum providers like New Tech Network and Educurious. The open question will remain as to how best to structure projects to mitigate free-rider issues and to ensure rigor. Still, the emphasis on critical thinking and collaboration is unlikely to subside, which will bring project-based learning even more into the spotlight in the coming year.

Julia Freeland Fisher

Julia is the director of education research at the Clayton Christensen Institute. She leads a team that educates policymakers and community leaders on the power of disruptive innovation in the K-12 and higher education spheres.

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Education innovation in 2017: 4 personalized learning trends to watch - Christensen Institute

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At the Clayton Christensen Institute, we track disruptive innovations in K-12 schools that upend the traditional factory-based model of school in favor of instructional approaches that better center on each individual student. Here are four trends in personalized learning we'll be watching unfold in the coming year: 1.

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The Growing Role of Technology in Personalized Learning

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The Growing Role of Technology in Personalized Learning

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About a decade ago, leaders in this public school district nearly 70 miles northwest of New York City decided to radically change the way they provide education to its diverse and academically challenged student body. They decided to "personalize" learning for every child, which means that they tailored lessons to each student's needs, interests and learning pace. They gave each student access to technology that helps teachers customize their lessons. And they ended social promotion, so that struggling students are no longer shuttled along to the next grade level simply to keep them with the herd of similarly aged classmates.

The shift has coincided with improved test scores and graduation rates.

"I am overwhelmed with joy for my students because I know now they each stand a better chance of being a successful student," said Regina Trout, who teaches the second-year kindergarteners at Maple Hill Elementary School in Middletown. "When they come to me knowing zero letter recognition - some might not even be able to recognize their own name. And at the end of the year, to just see their growth ... I start to get teary."

And it would not be possible, Trout said, without small-group instruction and the assistance of classroom technology that helps her deliver a custom-fit lesson for each student.

Personalized learning dates back to a Chicago lab school at the turn of the 20th century, but the concept is having a renaissance because of today's more sophisticated technology - and the excitement and investment the technology has inspired. Last year, the founder of Facebook pledged to donate $45 billion to social causes, one of them personalized learning. And various technology companies - from no-name startups to behemoths like Pearson - boast of new programs meant to facilitate this style of education. Conferences for teachers from coast to coast brim with representatives from the multibillion-dollar technology industry, many of them promising to help teachers provide customized tracks for education.

"All of them are searching for that holy grail of tailoring content and skills to the weaknesses of each kid," said Larry Cuban, an emeritus professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education, who often writes about education technology on his popular blog.

What is personalized learning? It can look a little different in every school, in every classroom and for each student. Teachers create lessons that are challenging without being too hard, and that suit the individual interests of each child.

It's easy to see why this is an attractive idea.

When teachers face 25 or 30 students, if they decide to teach in the conventional way of standing in front of the room and lecturing, then they must provide a lesson that will benefit the majority of the room - the average student. That leaves behind those who are below or above expectations. The best teachers find ways to help those students, but it's a tall order. It takes a superhuman amount of work to find lessons that fit each student every single day.

That's where technology comes in. Various products on the market today claim they can help the teacher create bespoke lessons for individual students, or otherwise make teaching more effective and efficient.

Some education technology developers, such as Knewton, say machines can figure out what students need to know and how best to deliver it. The computer system does this by constantly assessing how a particular student answers questions and what kind of lesson most engages that student. For instance, Waggle, a program powered by Knewton's technology, serves students new tasks based on how well they did on previous tasks. Knewton's claim to fame (and some are skeptical of it) is that it provides the right difficulty and the right presentation, and can find whatever style students seem to like best.

But for that concept to work, a child must spend a lot of time on the computer, feeding the system with data that the software uses to improve itself.

"You want to extend and maximize their time in the system," said Jose Ferreira, Knewton's founder and CEO.

There's the rub: The idea of students, especially younger children, spending a lot of time on a computer worries some people.

And they suspect that education technology companies may be promising more than they can deliver.

"The words 'personalized learning' probably generate more heat than light," said Arthur Levine, president of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and a former president and professor of education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The phrase "personalized learning" is now emblazoned on a wide variety of programs and products. Some schools say they have trouble figuring out what to buy. Many programs and products produce reams of "research," but they're just sales materials masquerading as effectiveness studies.

"You wouldn't take a medicine that hasn't been tested," said Ryan S. Baker, associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the new Penn Center for Learning Analytics. "But people will adopt a curriculum after just being pitched by a salesman. The things that are good are not the same as those that have good marketing."

Baker thinks the real problem is lack of awareness about what's available. There is a lot of good research about what works in education technology, he said, adding, "The problem is there is not a lot of good research about every system."

The enthusiasm to be in on the latest and greatest thing in education can lead schools to try splashy programs that fail to take into account teacher training and valid research into how students learn. And the schools may then adopt and fast-track those programs without giving proper thought to what personalized learning entails or how to train their teachers to do this work.

"Don't believe the sticker," said Karen Cator, president and CEO of Digital Promise, a nonprofit organization that promotes effective use of education technology. "I shouldn't say 'don't believe,' but I mean double-check and see if, in fact, it's marketing. Or does it actually follow the promise of personalization?"

It's impossible to say precisely how many school districts, nationwide, are implementing personalized learning. But the popularity of education technology comes at a time when computer algorithms are creeping into just about every part of the day. Netflix provides suggested movies based on what you've watched in the past. Google's search engine serves up more of what you've clicked on in the past. Social media sites suggest new "friends" and sources of information tailored to your connections.

Many say that for education to be truly personalized, the student should get some say in his or her learning, and teachers should be there to guide them - not just push them along based on whatever a computer algorithm determines is best.

"A lot of folks, when they say 'personalized learning,' they mean something about a technology platform that changes for [different] kids," said Jennifer Davis Poon, director of the Innovation Lab Network at the Council of Chief State School Officers, a Washington, D.C.-based education reform advocacy group. "But in a more traditional setting, it is a very teacher-focused, teacher-driven type of instruction."

And for Trout, the kindergarten teacher at Middletown, New York, her work reveals an instructional shift that goes beyond buzzwords like personalized learning - or the flash of new technology.

When students get what they need when they need it, and when they are treated as an individual, it makes all the difference.

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The Growing Role of Technology in Personalized Learning

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About a decade ago, leaders in this public school district nearly 70 miles northwest of New York City decided to radically change the way they provide education to its diverse and academically challenged student body. They decided to "personalize" learning for every child, which means that they tailored lessons to each student's needs, interests and learning pace.

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Transforming Literacy Instruction in the Digital World:

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Transforming Literacy Instruction in the Digital World:

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4 Principles and Practice of Digital Rigor

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Literacy educators play an increasingly critical role in improving student achievement. The stakes are high.

The more proficient a student is at reading, writing, and thinking, the more prepared the student will be to take his or her place among a highly literate citizenry. The right literacy solutions empower teachers, boost literacy outcomes, and prepare students for college and careers.

Given the ever-evolving digital and technological resources available for today's schools, it can be difficult to manage a classroom successfully, as well as to incorporate technology thein the most optimal manner.

Some top challenges include:

1. Instruct with Intent - Infuse purposeful technology into the classroom

2. Reach all Learners - Create differentiated and engaging Instruction to meet the needs of all learners

3. Engage & Inspire - Apply Digital Lesson Management and harness data to inform instruction

Educators need to be able to use technology purposefully, not just merely as a replacement for print products. Technology must help teachers manage the dynamic digital classroom. For example, new digital platforms offer real-time data enabling enhanced formative assessment practices which can propel the modern teacher to new levels of instructional differentiation.

Maximize the conceptual learning environment in a digital world. Traditional teaching and classroom processes are changing to focus on student-centered conceptual learning. The objective is to let the student drive the learning, instead of waiting for content to arrive. Four principals and four practices that are associated with digital rigor help explain best practices for instructing with intent.
4 Principles of Digital Rigor:

1. Context: Learning tasks should have a real-world application that allows learners to connect personally with what they are learning. Students today are digital natives, so when we deliver content in a digital platform, it is often highly accessible to them in new ways.

2. Construction: Learners should be able to link their own experiences and prior knowledge with new learning. Lessons should contain engage sequences, and also offer reconnect and reflect components to take the linking process and cement it for the student.

3. Collaboration: A problem-solving scenario allows learners to develop, test, and analyze their ideas while being exposed to others' opinions. Each individual learner will arrive at an individual conclusion after collaboration is completed. Let students grapple with a big hairy concept. This lets them think about different ways and scenarios for solving a problem. We want students to independently develop, test, and analyze their ideas while experiencing others' opinions.

4. Conversation: Communication among learners and within the learner themselves are essential to creating essential to creating effective digital collaboration. Learners should spend time in conversation while planning and making sense of new learning. Students need to demonstrate their metacognitive thinking, to show how they reached a solution. Open-ended questions afford many opportunities for students to not only show us their answer, but more important, articulate how they came to an answer.

Putting the Principles of Digital Rigor into practice: 4 Practices of Digital Rigor

1. Shift your mindset: You are now going to be a true 21st Century teacher, teaching in a digital environment. This fact influences what you teach, how you teach, and how you will access the key concepts you want students to understand. The first step in converting your teaching to digital learner-centered experiences is to change your mindset. Learners are more active in this setting; they're questioning, analyzing, discussing, qualifying, and drawing conclusions.

2. Getting to know your learner: There is no "one size fits all" approach to digital learning. All learners are different, and failing to pay attention to the diversity of various learners can make a huge difference in the success of program implementation - and may result in the inability to facilitate student-centered content. Choose programs which contain multitudes of ways to differentiate instruction for individual learners. In addition, a platform that generates individual student data which is easily accessible to the teacher ensures our learners are getting exactly what they need, when and how they need it.

3. Rethinking the learning objective: Consider shifting your perspective to creative objectives aimed at describing what the student will be able to do at the end of the lesson. This is an important part of the learner-centered model, according to the UCD Centre for Teaching and Learning. Instead of describing your lessons, find ways to focus on what the student will be able to do, the tasks they must undertake, and the tools they can use to deal with those tasks.

4. Shifting the balance of power: Implementing digital lessons that shift the balance of power to the student is an excellent way of requiring more learner responsibility. Instead of waiting for content to be delivered, students are engaged in creating their own meaning and learning. This change may seem a bit scary at first, but it is definitely worth it. Shifting the balance of power affords students the opportunity to manage their own knowledge, at their own pace, and to reflect on individual efforts.

Power positive outcomes with real-time data, and digitally-differentiated Lexile levelswith scaffolded support. Implement personalized learning with responsive feedback, point-of-use scaffolding, and audio support to allow students to progress through levels of differentiated content independently.

Use your digital classroom to build confidence. In every lesson, every day, allow students to experience technology-enhanced questions. This opportunity not only exposes them to the wide variety of questions types they will encounter in high-stakes assessments, but it builds confidence and sets all students up for success. Select digital programs that allow teachers to transition smoothly between whole-class activities, and large and small group work - regardless of individual reading or skill levels.

Employ real-time progress monitoring - Digital classrooms simplify teaching by providing real-time notifications of student progress throughout the course of the lesson. Teachers, imagine a world in which the teacher is given individual student data in highly visual ways. And these visuals help instructors target students who are struggling at their exact moment of need. And pinpoint where and how they are struggling. So the teacher can step in real time. Good digital platforms provide just that.

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Transforming Literacy Instruction in a Digital World: 4 Principles and Practices of Digital Rigor

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Literacy educators play an increasingly critical role in improving student achievement. The stakes are high. The more proficient a student is at reading, writing, and thinking, the more prepared the student will be to take his or her place among a highly literate citizenry.