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"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."
I chose this article because this quote caught my eye. I think it's important that technology is being used because it is a tool in the classroom, not being used purely because it is "required" or "suggested". This article gives great ways to choose and work together to find the right technological tools to use for the right reasons. The article also emphasizes how teachers and administration, etc. need to work together to be more involved with the planning of technology rather than just being told what to do with it or how to use it. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech004.shtml

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I chose this article because I thought it was very interesting and I liked how it talked about all the different ways that technology can help even with reading and help students who may be struggling or English Language Learners who may need some extra help. The article gave examples such as text to speech, audiobooks, and many others that allow students hear a text read aloud and understand the meaning and learn the words. Technology can also be used to make graphic organizers as well as for a dictionary. Lastly, technology can help by simply making the words bigger or in a better font for the students to be able to read. Wile using apps and different games are great tools to use in the classroom and help students learn, I think it is important to remember that technology can also be helpful for things we take advantage of.

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/assistive-technology/assistive-technologies-basics/assistive-technology-for-reading

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How to Help Children Build a Positive Presence Online (Maddie Daugherty)

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How to Help Children Build a Positive Presence Online (Maddie Daugherty)

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I chose this article because it seems that we spend a lot of time, as future educators, thinking about how we can integrate technology into the classroom and possibly not enough time thinking about whether our students will be utilizing it in a positive or negative way. This article discusses the importance of ensuring our young minds learn how to create an online presence that will only propel them forward into success as they grow up. A project called, the "Best Footprint Forward" project helped children research where their postings go once they are put online and who can see them. Through this project, the children found that what you put online stays online, people can find you if you leave identifying information, and future employers will check your information.

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How to help children build a positive presence online

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Rather than just teaching children about internet safety and reducing their digital footprint, we should also encourage them to curate a positive digital footprint.

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The Future of Classroom Technology: 5 Experts Weigh In (Grace Gioia)

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The Future of Classroom Technology: 5 Experts Weigh In (Grace Gioia)

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In this article, you hear from 5 different educational technology professionals about their opinions on using technology in the classroom and where they think technology is going in schools. One of the points highlighted by Richard Culatta was that now instead of using out of date textbooks in classrooms, students and teachers can use the internet and find quality, up to date resources to find information relevant to what they are learning. Another professional, Nicholas Schiner, discussed one of the biggest challenges of technology can be access to technology. Often teachers don't have the supplies to have technology resources for their students every day, and when they do they are not necessarily making the best use of the time they have with it.

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Five ed-tech experts weigh in on research needs, 1-to-1 computing, and "passive" vs. "active" learning
1. Richard Culatta CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education; previously served as the chief innovation officer for the state of Rhode Island and the director of the U.S. Department of Education's office of educational technology. In his time working at the federal Education Department, Culatta made strong arguments for the development and sharing of open educational resources, and he encouraged districts to share information about ed-tech policies. In Rhode Island, Culatta helped launch a statewide K-12 personalized-learning initiative.
What is the biggest impact that technology is having in education?

CULATTA: Right now, the value is in access to high-quality resources. We've moved from 100 percent of learning materials coming from an out-of-date textbook, to interactive materials, and students in remote locations having access to high-quality resources. Technology has enabled learners to explore and learn on their own in ways that were harder to do when the resources all had to come from the teacher. It's very powerful.

You've worked on tech-related personalized learning for several years. Is the concept taking hold in classrooms across the country?

CULATTA: The idea of personalized learning is that the learning experience is tailored to the individual student based on their specific learning needs. But that requires some other things we're not really doing in a widespread way now. In Rhode Island, we launched a statewide personalized-learning initiative to really try to build that out, but largely we're still just getting into that space now. It involves data, formative assessment, dashboards that allow students to quickly see where they are in their learning progression. That is definitely where I think we need to be going, but we're just moving into that phase now.

What are the barriers to making that happen?

CULATTA: We still need more mature tools to manage personalized learning. When people think about personalized learning, they often think about the content being delivered. I actually don't think that's the most important part. In order to be personalized, you have to have tools to help manage that; otherwise, it's an incredible burden on teachers and students. We have to be able to say quickly: Where are students at? Where do they need help? How can we pair students together based on their needs? The tools to manage a personalized-learning environment are not as robust as they need to be to do this at scale.

How much does equity play a part in whether students and teachers are using technology effectively?

CULATTA: The E-rate program [which funnels federal dollars to schools and libraries for broadband and other technology] works. The way the E-rate is designed with its recent updates, the program is really targeting those schools that need more help getting the infrastructure in place. The mission isn't accomplished, but from an infrastructure standpoint, there are supports to bring in equitable access to schools across the country. But there are leadership decisions involved. School districts with schools in low-socioeconomic neighborhoods need to say, "We're going to prioritize this and we're going to stop spending money on things like old textbooks." But there are also wealthy districts that are not doing it. At this point, it comes down more to the effectiveness of the leader than it does to the actual financial situation of a district.

Are open educational resources going to play an increasing role in what digital learning looks like in the future?

CULATTA: Open-licensed resources are important because they save districts money, no question. But I'm less excited about it from that standpoint than from the perspective that it can empower teachers to edit and adapt and customize learning materials for their students. That's the craft of teachers-looking at the needs of their students and saying, "Here is how we adapt and adjust." If they're not allowed to change the examples or their materials, then we're not empowering them to do what they need to do.

You're a big ed-tech proponent, but what concerns do you have about schools' increasing reliance on technology?

CULATTA: There are aspects of technology I'm incredibly excited about, but there are aspects that are disconcerting. One of my big concerns is that we are simply digitizing what we have always done. That's not collaborative or empowering students. Also, learning is inherently social. If technology is being used in a way that's isolating students, that's a problem for me. Is kids' data safe and being used in appropriate ways? It's not only the worry that it might get hacked, but also are there assumptions being built into the algorithms of software that are not the best thing for kids.

What do you think the ed-tech landscape will look like in the future?

CULATTA: A key difference you'll see is that right now we're still largely using technology to deliver content. It's largely about presenting information. It's high-quality information and interactive-we're doing some good stuff. But a shift you'll see down the road is that tech will be used less for presenting content and more as a tool to design and create and explore and connect to other learners, to experts around the world. It will be much more of a tool to enable new types of learning than it will be a tool for distributing content.

2. Peggy A. Ertmer
Professor emerita of learning design and technology, Purdue University's College of Education, and founding editor of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning As a researcher, Ertmer has examined the barriers teachers face when trying to use technology. Ertmer has published papers showing that teachers' beliefs about technology can hinder its effective use in the classroom, even with high-quality professional development and other supports.
You've been researching the impact of teacher beliefs about technology for many years. How have things changed?

ERTMER: We found that beliefs were holding teachers back in terms of using technology in meaningful ways. We are seeing more effective uses of technology than we were, but sadly there are still pockets of very ineffective use.

When teachers really believe it is valuable, it makes a difference in what a teacher is going to decide to do and how much effort they're going to put in. With the testing environment the way it is, it's probably easy for teachers to use that as a reason why they can't do more-they feel they need to drill students on the test information so they're prepared.

What does it look like when a teacher takes a higher-level approach?

ERTMER: Those teachers are ones who use something like a problem-based or project-based approach, where kids are really hands-on and they're solving authentic problems. Technology is just one part of that environment. It's about the pedagogy rather than the tool they're using. Those teachers have come to trust the process to carry the pedagogy, and they don't sweat preparing for the big tests. Those who really embrace technology are those who have also embraced student-centered pedagogy. Technology is just part of that environment.

What are some characteristics of teachers who do that?

ERTMER: They don't teach the technology and they don't need to know it all. They're not the experts. They're comfortable saying, "I've never played with this technology, can you guys figure this out?"

What are other factors in seeing this done well?

ERTMER: District leaders and principals make a difference. They get out of the way and actively support their teachers to explore the pedagogies. They give them the opportunities to co-teach or visit classrooms where these kinds of projects are being used well. Give teachers the time and the support and let them make mistakes and be OK with that. As much as possible, empower those teachers in terms of being pedagogy-first. If you can become a community willing to experiment and celebrate failure as well as success, you take away all that fear of being judged for something not working.

How do you view the state of research around educational technology?

ERTMER: The research is not definitive. It's all over the place. There is research that shows positive outcomes, but there's also research that shows no significant difference with technology use. There are so many variables: subjects, populations, how technology is used. The problem with it not being definitive is that administrators want numbers; they want evidence that this is going to work before they adopt things. Education has invested in the tools and access, but you're not seeing grand results given the grand investments. Skeptics will point that out and say, "Where's the evidence?"

But there is evidence that there are benefits with the proper use of these tools. Research shows it's not about the tool, but how it's used.

What is future research in this area likely to reveal?

ERTMER: I don't know if it will lead anywhere new. It might verify or validate this idea that we've been spending too much time on what tools to use and not enough time on how to use them. The research is there, but maybe it's not strong enough. We need to pay attention to professional development. If I were in charge, it would be about teachers' learning goals and how to use technology to support learning. That voice isn't loud enough right now to make a difference. Districts are still saying, "We've got this new tool, let's figure out how to use it."

It's going to be a long, slow spread. We are not going to be able to ignore technology in our teaching. Kids and adults use it so automatically, and this wasn't true 10 years ago. Teachers and schools and administrators need to tap into that and use it with an emphasis on learning, but learning better or deeper. We've been talking about this for a while, but it doesn't yet have critical mass.

3. & 4. Ginny Hansmann & Steven Langford
Ginny Hansmann: Chief academic officer, Beaverton, Ore., school district Steven Langford: Chief information officer, Beaverton, Ore., school district In Beaverton's 40,700-student school district, the technology team and the teaching and learning group work hand-in-hand. The result has been a collaborative approach to incorporating ed tech into the district at all levels. To make that work, the district tapped into a $680 million bond passed in 2014 to modernize schools and launch a 1-to-1 computing initiative, among other projects.
What does technology-infused learning look like in your district?

LANGFORD: We've launched Chromebooks 1-to-1 in grades 4-12, we have 4-to-1 iPads in grades K-3, and we launched a learning-management system last year that's been very widely adopted. It is making it easy for teachers to transfer their classrooms into digital online environments so students can learn anytime, anywhere. At the elementary level, there's a lot of excitement about how coding can be incorporated.

HANSMANN: From a teaching and learning perspective, we're excited about the Future Ready movement, which is a collaboration between IT and T&L. It's changing the way we think about our classrooms. It's about innovation and not as much about technology. It's about creative thinking, project-based learning, and hands-on learning now. It's a whole culture shift in innovation and innovation practices for teaching.

How do you prepare teachers for this culture shift?

HANSMANN: We're going to have early-release days next year and offer optional PD for teachers every third Wednesday. We're totally changing the way we do PD, using the Canvas LMS system (the learning management system platform chosen by the district, which can do everything from deliver educational content to administrative tasks). We're going to use the technology to deliver PD. It can be virtual or face to face, but we will still have Canvas as the background to access articles and text. People want more differentiation and options in their professional development, and this really allows for that.

How has your technology infrastructure changed to support this new way of doing things?

LANGFORD: It took us 2½ years of focused, challenging work to build the infrastructure that would support us now but also scale fast enough for the future. We had to go from being behind need to getting a year ahead of need. In the past, all we had to worry about were desktops, then it became laptops, and there were more of them. Now, students and staff arrive with phones in their pockets and sometimes an iPad as well. It's no longer one device per person-it's multiple devices, plus you layer on instructional devices and materials. Then you have the internet of things. One of the largest consumers on our network is our HVAC system, which has sensors in the ceilings.

What do you think will change in the future about the way Beaverton uses ed tech?

HANSMANN: It's just going to become the way of the future and the way we operate. We need to change as technology changes. It's having a new mindset to be able to teach and to learn.

LANGFORD: Technology will just be baked into the DNA of our work. If we continue on this road, and the focus stays on innovative practices around instruction, then the technology just becomes the way we do it, and it starts to become invisible. Maybe when it becomes invisible, that's when we got where we should be.

5. Nicholas Schiner
Team leader, Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Innovative Learning Projects The Office of Innovative Learning Projects incubates and investigates new learning products and strategies and works to implement them on a larger scale. Schiner has also worked on the district's extensive 1-to-1 computing initiative. He is now focused on urging schools to support maker learning-which encourages hands-on tinkering, often with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM.
How are you seeing schools move toward more effective use of educational technology?

SCHINER: All our elementary schools have been 1-to-1 for several years. They've shifted from, 'Let's put students on the devices because we have them,' to really thoughtfully planning instruction that leverages it. They're pushing content at the right time and allowing students to demonstrate learning that is meaningful. The level of access has been a critical component. They no longer have to say that Tuesday afternoon they'll use the computer lab. Now, kids can hop on a device immediately.

What is the greatest barrier to effective use of ed tech?

SCHINER: The biggest one is access. It becomes a vicious cycle. For a teacher to plan instruction and leverage the power of the internet or a piece of technology, they need access constantly and consistently. Otherwise, teachers are just going to use technology for the sake of using it, in a very superficial way. Those barriers exist for students at home as well. We've partnered with companies like Comcast and AT&T to help get access for students who don't have high-speed internet for economic reasons. We've put Baltimore County public schools' internet access in all of the public libraries, with a single sign-on to all content. It boiled down to what can we do to increase access both in and out of school.

You're a big advocate of maker spaces. Why is "making" so important?

SCHINER: Right now, society is more in a consuming mode rather than a creation mode. But schools can serve as hubs for innovation, doing things like 3D printing. Green schools are creating maker spaces and doing a lot of upcycling [reusing discarded items to make something more valuable] and design fabrication. I want kids to understand how to be creative again, whether it's with cardboard, Minecraft, or coding a game. It's the opportunity to really introduce kids to the STEM areas, the arts, and English/language arts.

How about for schools that don't have a maker space?

SCHINER: We are maker-learning activists. We created a mobile innovation lab in a 12-year-old school bus. It's a mobile maker space, and teachers got commercial driver's licenses to move it around. The bus spends a week at a time at a school, and[teachers] do every grade level. They do robotics, Legos, LittleBits, self-driving vehicles, coding. We're going to be doing drone Bocce, [playing the game of Bocce, but having drones drop the balls instead of tossing them] where the goal is to land closest to the spot in the middle, and they have to use programming. It's teaching kids to persevere.

What are schools likely to see in the future in this area?

SCHINER: More emphasis on open-source resources and more companies having cross-platform interoperability. The ability to work across platforms is important for any ed-tech company or any ed-tech undertaking. It's huge. We're a Windows district, through Microsoft, and we've run into a lot of trouble with companies and robotics vendors that don't have a Windows platform app or piece of software. We can't use it because it doesn't work in our ecosystem. As far as open source, there's a lot of free curricula out there. With Code.org, for example, a teacher can take the part that they want and adapt it. We want to create meaningful, engaging learning experiences for students with math and science and design and art all rolled together. We want to capture their passion and use it as an opportunity to engage.

Published in Print: June 14, 2017, as 5 Ed-Tech Experts Weigh In

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The Future of Classroom Technology: 5 Experts Weigh In

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1. Richard Culatta CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education; previously served as the chief innovation officer for the state of Rhode Island and the director of the U.S. Department of Education's office of educational technology.

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The Key Role of Technology in Education: Teacher’s Insights (Lindsey Young) 

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The Key Role of Technology in Education: Teacher’s Insights (Lindsey Young) 

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This article interested me because it talked about how EdTech will boost both teacher and students performance in ways that cannot be achieved without technology. Since technology is rapidly growing and changing, students need to be exposed and familiar with it. By creating a firm foundation of the use of technology, students will be better prepared to succeed with it in their future lives. Using technology also helps to create digital citizens and leaders for the future and creates opportunities for teachers to differentiate instruction for all students. Technology helps to engage students who might not be engaged in traditional classroom learning, it also helps students to strengthen their communication and collaboration skills. The teacher interviewed in the article said that it is our duty to embrace technology and not fear it. This stuck out to me because a lot of us are afraid to try new things with technology but it is our responsibility to take risks and to engage our students in the new technology to help prepare them for the future and engage them in the learning process.

https://medium.com/the-edtech-world/https-medium-com-the-edtech-world-role-of-technology-in-education-9c3fc79ce1e2

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I remember at school waiting for that "one hour" precious computer class each week. We were taught basic programming and often given a chance to browse the 'glorious' world of the internet for information related to our subjects. Sometimes we would share one computer among two-three students.

That was our only access to tech in school in the mid 2000s'.

Fast forward twelve years or so and things have evolved dramatically. Now, the biggest challenge in EdTech is not about making the hardware available to every student. It's about using the technology we now have in the most effective way.

As Barbara Kurshan points out in her article for Forbes, merely digitizing content and making it available on laptops and tablets isn't considered an EdTech innovation anymore.

So what makes EdTech innovative?

"It's all about impactful learning and teaching".

EdTech solutions should boost teacher and student performance in ways which wouldn't be achieved without technology. Entrepreneurs and schools must pay attention to the technological trends prevailing in the industry.

Perhaps the most important aspect in building an educational solution is to listen to the teachers. They are the ones who will use your app daily. They are the ones who can give you thorough feedback. They are the ones who understand the pains students face everyday.

No doubt, developing an EdTech solution is challenging. Having teachers guiding you through the development processes will for sure make your life much easier.

This unique stage in the history of education prompted me to ask teachers from around the world these three questions:

1. Why should we use tech in education?

2. Have you seen any progress/ tangible impact since you've been using tech in teaching?

3. What technology/s do you use in your teaching and how?

First up Why should you use tech in education? Barbara Anna Zielonka from Nannestad High School in Norway
First of all, technology is to be found everywhere. Students need to be exposed to it both at home and at school. Schools cannot widen the gap between these two, but bridge the gap between schools and homes.

We need to implement it in teaching in order to help students succeed in their future life. That is probably the most important reason why teachers should use it.
Have you seen any progress made since you've been using tech in your teaching?
Secondly, using technology enables us to create digital citizens and leaders who are prepared for the unknown future.

Thirdly, technology opens the doors to other opportunities and lets teachers personalize and differentiate learning and content for all kind of students.

I have been using technology on a regular basis for the past 6 years. I have noticed that students who would be otherwise bored and disengaged or even struggling in a traditional classroom setting display better concentration when working on collaborative technology projects or working with digital tools in general.

Technology has also helped students who have dyslexia. Their learning has been transformed and they have been able to overcome many challenges in their own learning process.
What technology/s do you use in your teaching and how?
I am a great fan of collaborative technology. Skype, Google Hangouts, Google Docs, Voice Thread are just a few examples of tools I use almost every week. My students have smartphones which makes it natural to use mobile technology as well. I also believe in the power of augmented reality.

One of the apps that my students really like is Aurasma. It is classroom-friendly and versatile. It allows teachers to bring any printed material to life.

Next in the line is Why should you use tech in education? Peter Jones Have you seen any progress/tangible impact since you've been using tech in teaching? , English language consultant at Setapp
As a teacher and a parent I believe that we have a responsibility to embrace and to understand technology, not fear it and reject it. Instead of thinking that technology can be harmful to our children, we need to figure out ways to use it in a positive and meaningful way. Plus, both children and adult students are more likely to engage if you use tech for learning.

Of course. As a language teacher with adults, I've seen how tech can be used to support the learning process, whether that's having instant information at your fingertips or using tech like VR to immerse somebody in a different environment.

The best thing about using different types of tech is that it keeps things interesting and fun, which are unfortunately often overlooked elements in education.
What technology/s you use in your teaching and how?
Duolingo is very good for learning grammar and vocab but unfortunately it's not that useful for actually practising to speak with somebody in the real world.

I've used the VR game " Keep talking and nobody explodes!" to help students improve their English. First I had to test it and then write a lesson plan for it and found it very useful for small groups to improve team communication and also team building.

One of my favorites is Kahoot which is a really good way to create quizzes and revision tests. It's really good because people can't cheat by using their smartphone in the quiz because they have to use their smartphones to actually play the quiz.

Next up Pirjo Suhonen, Teaching in preschools in Finland and the European school in Brussels.
Why should you use technology in education?
Technology expands access to knowledge and plays a big part in our living environment as well as work life. Thus, children need to learn to understand and use it effectively. A variety of tools, material and methods can also make learning fun, motivating and effective.
Have you seen any progress/tangible impact since you've been using technology in teaching?
There is more good EdTech available, but the best app out there is still the teacher. Coding was introduced to the Finnish curriculum in 2016 and I absolutely loved teaching the basics of coding to these kids.

Communication and collaboration skills are important 21st century competencies to learn at school. The little coding ambassadors took collaborative learning even further than expected and they have taught over 200 pupils and their teachers the secrets of coding. They are still excited about teaching others and improving their own coding skills.
What technology/s you use in your teaching and how?
I am hugely interested in global education and recently went to India with a video of the coding ambassadors teaching the basics of coding to another class. Pupils and teachers in India were happy to learn the magic of coding from Finnish pupils via video.

PCs, a projector, a coding game and a Youtube-video were all that was needed for global collaboration between little learners and future coders.

A maths game based on AI was useful for pupils to practice the skills they had learned in previous lessons and in a video. AI modified the level of difficulty of these tasks according to players success in the game, thus supporting pupils individual learning. It also provided feedback for both the player and teacher in real-time.

I am also fascinated about MOOCs and have created a digital teacher training course on Finnish education 2.0. Hope you find it interesting.

Finally Why should you use technology in education? Rob Furman

, Principal, South Park Elementary Have you seen any progress made since you've been using technology in teaching?
The biggest reason why we need to be incorporating technology into education is because it's not going anywhere. A lot of times when teachers talk about education and technology, they are thinking it from their past experience. Yes 20-30 years ago we didn't use technology like we do now.

But now we are preparing to teach these students to prepare for their future and their future is going to be even more chock full of tech than we can even imagine now.

Absolutely!

Both from the teachers point of view and the students point of view.
What technology/s you use in your teaching and how?
Prior to our current technology we would teach based on what the text books gave us. Now we (as teachers) can go onto the internet and actually see live shots from the Hubble telescope. The ability to get " better" and " more detailed" content allows us to dive deeper into the topic we are teaching.

For students, entertainment and gamification have been fabulous for kids. For example, students at our school use the Prodigy platform, where they can do certain math problems and can earn character points, to play games or to upgrade their character.

Duolingo  - we are teaching our students foreign language using Duolingo as we don't have a foreign language teacher. But now our students are learning French, Spanish, and German using Duolingo.

Kaizena  - is another app we use at our school. We get tonnes of essays that we need to grade and now with Kaizena you can do it all just by using audio. We can talk a lot faster than we can type. So from a teacher's perspective it's great!

Final thoughts!

I really hope you found these insights valuable. You simply can't ignore teachers whilst developing an educational app. They can give you critical feedback, which could determine the success of your app.

You need to work with the teachers and have them try your app for free. In return you will receive insights that could not only save you time but money as well.

Go on then. Pick up the phone and call a teacher. Now!

P.S. If you didn't yet read the first article on The EdTech World, here it is: Introducing the Top 8 EdTech Trends for 2018: Are You Ready.

Happy reading!

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The key role of technology in education: teachers' insights

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I remember at school waiting for that "one hour" precious computer class each week. We were taught basic programming and often given a chance to browse the 'glorious' world of the internet for information related to our subjects. Sometimes we would share one computer among two-three students.

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"Education Minister calls for ban on mobile phones inside classroom" (Alex Lund)

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"Education Minister calls for ban on mobile phones inside classroom" (Alex Lund)

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The education minister in Australia feels a strong sense of urgency to do away with smartphone use in the classroom. He believes that they are causing damage in more than one way. He believes that they are a distraction for students and that they are also a useful tool that allows students to bully inside the classroom. Recently, there has been a death of a student that was cyber-bullied. This incident has been the source of motivation for the Federal Education Minister (Simon Birmingham). He does agree with the fact that phones and other sources of technology can be a powerful tool used in the classroom that allows students to grow and learn. However, he does believe that smartphones in particular should be turned off and put in lockers for the school day.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/education-minister-calls-for-ban-on-mob

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Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham wants smartphones banned from classrooms, saying they are a distraction and "a platform for bullying".

The recent death of 14-year-old Amy "Dolly" Everett, a victim of cyber-bullying, has put the spotlight on the issue of access to social media and the harm it causes.

"There's almost no reason students shouldn't have their phones switched off and in their lockers while they're at school," Senator Birmingham told News Corp.

"Although learning to work with technology is essential, phones can be a distraction from lessons and a platform for bullying unless schools have the right policies in place."

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Education minister calls for ban on mobile phones inside classrooms

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Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham wants smartphones banned from classrooms, saying they are a distraction and "a platform for bullying". The recent death of 14-year-old Amy "Dolly" Everett, a victim of cyber-bullying, has put the spotlight on the issue of access to social media and the harm it causes.

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Educators Rethink Healthy Tech Use in the Classroom (Jordan Bon)

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Educators Rethink Healthy Tech Use in the Classroom (Jordan Bon)

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This article discusses how France has banned smartphone use in schools, and how some schools are looking for a more middle ground way to incorporate technology. The worry of classroom technology is that students will be more interested in their technology rather than the learning that can be done through the technology. This article also discusses an app called 'Flipd' which is an off switch for students phones. However,  students can still use their phones in class when they turn the Flipd switch off, and when the switch is off it records the amount of time that the students spent logged off the app.  The creators of the app are trying to use this app as a reinforcement to healthy, productive technology use in the classroom, while also limiting the time spent on personal agendas with technology.  Technology will have a place in the classroom now and in the future, so by making the students accountable for their actions on their personal devices allows for more engagement in classrooms and educational technology.

https://www.studyinternational.com/news/healthy-tech-use-educators-rethink-technology-classroom/

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Together, Technology and Teachers can Revamp Schools (Madison Dalbow)

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Together, Technology and Teachers can Revamp Schools (Madison Dalbow)

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Not only is technology drastically impacting our society, but it is also effecting the education system. Throughout this article, the importance of technology in the classroom is discussed, as there are currently many misconceptions about its involvement in education today. To begin, many educators argued that implementing technology would limit creativity in the classroom, as students would be more likely to simply google facts instead of focusing on the critical thinking process. However, several studies have proven this idea to be untrue. It was found that cramming students memory with facts through a lecture can disable a students creativity and higher level thinking skills. However, incorporating technology will foster a students individuality, as it promotes them to go beyond memorizing data and encourages critical thinking. In addition, technology is narrowing the inequalities observed in education. Technology provides a unique individual experience for the learner, as it stimulates the students mind both visually and kinesthetically. The author concludes with a quote from B.F. Skinner, stating that opposition to technology is a "shame" in education. As educators, we must be open minded to incorporating technology in the classroom, as its many benefits are proven throughout this article.

https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21725313-how-science-learning-can-get-best-out-edtech-together-technology-and-teachers-can

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Securing Our Digital Future (Angela Bell)

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Securing Our Digital Future (Angela Bell)

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Digital technology is changing every aspect of our lives but especially the way we work.  It is important for teachers to prepare our students to be able to use the technology that is required in their workplaces. This author explains that it is important that teachers help foster students to "seize their birth right as digital natives."  Since our students we will encounter will have been exposed to technology from birth on, we need to make sure they appreciate, understand, and utilize these tools.
The author also explains that it is our primary responsibility, as teachers, to lay the foundation to  prepare our students for the workplace and to be confident in the workplace.  He also states that if we help foster the use of digital skills, we are helping our students to get ahead simply because of the fact that every business utilizes technology methods.
The author concludes his argument by saying teachers need to help students to be leaders in the digital revolution, not just bystanders.

http://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/securing-our-digital-future

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Technology Helps Keep Kids Focused in the Classroom (Blair Combs) 

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Technology Helps Keep Kids Focused in the Classroom (Blair Combs) 

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Technology is a factor that is becoming more popular in today's society. Many schools are pushing technology to be a main factor in classrooms in the elementary through high school level. Technology is something that is holding children's interests in today's society, so teachers can use this knowledge in their classrooms. In the article, one teacher saw that students are more engrossed in information that is presented to them on a computer or tablet screen rather than PowerPoints or worksheets. The teacher knew that her students would be more engaged in lessons, so she requested Samsung tablets to play math games on to use in the classroom for stations. All the students enjoyed the math games over a worksheet and the students are still learning the same content. The teacher also uses the tablets to have the class interact with Kahoot! and Nearpod to assess the students understanding of the content during a lesson.
The teacher in this article is putting in the extra work needed to create interactive ways to use technology in her classroom because she knows her students respond better to the use of technology.  This teacher shows that incorporating the use of technology in the classroom can engage students and allow them to want to learn the material, not be forced to learn the material.  Technology is a growing tool in education and it is vital that teachers use some form of technology in their classrooms.
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/spring/news/article/Technology-helps-keep-kids-focused-in-classroom-6750463.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop#photo-9232939

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I Taught my Students to Spot Fake News: Now They Won't Stop Fact-Checking Me

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I Taught my Students to Spot Fake News: Now They Won't Stop Fact-Checking Me

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It is essential in today's day and age to teach students to think critically about the news they are reading. The article discusses how a student relayed false information to his classmates, stating that he found the information on the internet. The teacher responds by teaching each student seven skills to consider the validity of "facts" found on the internet:
1. copyright
2. verification with multiple sources
3. credibility of source
4. date published
5. author's expertise and background with the subject
6. does it match your prior knowledge
7. does it seem realistic
Students respond to this by analyzing everything they hear and considering if it could be true or not. This is important to creating a healthy society which is prepared for whatever the future holds by teaching them how to think rather than what to think.

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I taught my 5th-graders how to spot fake news. Now they won’t stop fact-checking me.

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It’s more important than ever to teach kids how to read news critically.

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Silicon Valley teacher: Don’t confuse educational technology that helps kids learn — and doesn’t (Ashley Rossetti) 

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Silicon Valley teacher: Don’t confuse educational technology that helps kids learn — and doesn’t (Ashley Rossetti) 

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Something that I always think about when incorporating technology into the classroom is, how do you find the correct balance. In this new day and age where society is very technologically driven and there is a huge push for technology in school, how do you know when the technology is helping or actually hindering learning. I have always felt that there are some things that are better learned or taught without the use of technology. The article that I found supports this in a way. In the article, the author talks about how everyone automatically assumes that implementing technology is going to be valuable for students learning. Where we actually need to take a more critical look at what the technology actually is and if it is actually helping the students learning or not. The author focused in mainly on math based learning when she talked about this. Saying that she has seen some math classes where the students spend the whole class strictly working on programs on the computer. These programs are teaching the students the procedural steps on how to do the math skills but the students are lacking the idea on how the math concepts actually work and the creative problem-solving thinking that should also go along with these mathematical ideas. She also talked about seeing apps that focused on relationships between numbers rather than memorizing facts and that is a good example of a helpful technology tool with math. The article mainly summed up that with the big push towards technology we need to make sure that the technology we are giving to our students is actually helpful to their learning, and take a critical look at each technology before implementing it into our classroom.

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For years now school reformers have been touting the power of technology to transform education. Kids can learn better, faster and anywhere they want if only school districts would invest enough money in technology and allow teachers to learn how to integrate them into lessons.

But while educational technology has been extremely helpful for some populations of students, including some with disabilities, the overarching promise that enthusiasts predicted has not yet been borne out. There are a number of reasons for this, including poor training of teachers, poorly designed technology and technology that quickly becomes obsolete.

Here is a piece on this subject by Kathy Liu Sun, a former high school math teacher who is now an assistant professor of education at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley, California.

[The new 'magical thinking' about high-tech in schools - and why it's a problem]

By Kathy Liu Sun

I live and work in Silicon Valley, so it's not surprising that technology has found its way into our math classrooms here. But is technology really supporting our students to learn? Just because something is labeled as technology doesn't mean it supports good learning.

In my recent work in local schools, I have observed that teachers are having their students work on computers for the entire math lesson. Proponents argue that computer-based lessons allow students to go at their own pace and expose students to content they might not otherwise have an opportunity to see. But these benefits come at a high cost.

One of the most pressing problems is the content and focus of these digital lessons, which are often simply digital replications of traditional lecture based math lessons. (You remember these: teacher at board showing you example after example, followed by practicing a similar problem with different numbers twenty times over.)

Whether delivered digitally or in person, this type of instruction sends the wrong message about mathematics. It teaches students that mathematics is about mastering a set of procedures, rather than viewing mathematics as a creative subject that is about problem-solving and sense-making.

Research has shown that such an emphasis on mathematical procedures is not supportive of student learning and fails to help students to draw connections between key mathematical ideas, think critically, and problem-solve. These skills are particularly important for 21 st Century citizenry and long-term achievement outcomes.

While your seventh grader engaging in digital math lessons might be learning pre-calculus procedures, she may not have any understanding of the underlying concepts that will be critical for future success.

Instead, let's consider how technology might genuinely support mathematical sense-making and problem-solving. A recent study conducted at Stanford University found that students who played a game that focused on the relationship between numbers, rather than memorized math facts, led to better learning outcomes.

[The overselling of educational technology]

Good educational technology, implemented at the appropriate time, can enhance math learning. Here are a few things to look for when examining technology to support mathematics learning:

Exploration: The technology should provide opportunities for students to explore by conjecturing, testing out different ideas, and making mistakes. We should avoid digital learning programs that focus only on memorization or funnel students' thinking.

Multiple Solution Strategies. Identify technology applications that have more than one way to solve the problems. For example, rather than using digital flashcards such as 3+4 = ?, we can identify apps that ask students to find pairs of numbers that add to 7. The latter question has many solutions such as 1 & 6, 2 & 5, 0 & 7 and supports students to understand how one whole number (in this case 7) can be broken into parts in multiple ways.

Connections between concepts and procedures. Good educational technology supports students to focus on relationships, not discrete facts. Rather than choose a digital program that solely focuses on doing the same procedure over and over, identify a program that supports students to understand why the procedure works. For example, with regards to the earlier problem 3+4 = ?, a digital program that includes other representations, such as images of objects that students move around can better support to develop meaning of the procedure. Digital math games that focus solely on procedures should only be considered after students have strong understanding between concepts and procedures.

When the latest technology-based learning program rolls out at our local schools, let's be sure to critically examine the type of mathematics learning it supports.

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Analysis | Silicon Valley teacher: Don't confuse educational technology that helps kids learn - and doesn't

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For years now school reformers have been touting the power of technology to transform education. Kids can learn better, faster and anywhere they want if only school districts would invest enough money in technology and allow teachers to learn how to integrate them into lessons.

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Edtech Doesn't Have to Create a Digital Divide (Claire Priore)

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Edtech Doesn't Have to Create a Digital Divide (Claire Priore)

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This article focuses on the presence of technology in educational settings and the misconception that all millennials are plugged in to their devices. According to the article, however, 1/3 of US children (grades K-12) have no internet access at home. It is no surprise that the majority of these students are from low-income and rural areas. Experts call this situation the "digital divide." This article also comments on school districts potential lack of interest in integrating technology into their schools' routine because of the worry of having to learn about the new and growing technologies, not being knowledgeable in solving technological issues, bad prior experience with technology, and the above misconception that technology isn't a benefit in the educational world. Sadly, 70% of teachers still assign homework that requires the use of internet and not all students have access. While this divide is concerning and present, this article also mentions the potential hope in out ever-expanding technology driven culture. Companies such as Verizon provides programs for educators and students to engage in STEM content, Comcast and Khan Academy create minimally expensive packages for people to obtain wifi in their homes, companies provide grants and discounts for educators, and some government initiatives have taken place. In the end, it is clear that the presence of technology in classrooms enhances the lessons and content. Research also shows that it not only increases graduation rates in high school, but heightens the interest of students in STEM Fields. Please take some time to check out this article!

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Call them millennials, call them digital natives, call them zombies, but the cliche is that today's kids can be identified by their hunched posture, their eyes locked on a screen and their tendency to communicate in emoji. However, this idea that schoolkids are perpetually plugged in isn't exactly true-especially not among kids from poorer families. In the USA, one third of schoolchildren (kindergarten through high school) can't go online at home, and most of these children are from low-income and rural areas. A decade ago, Larry Irving of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) called this digital divide a "racial ravine," and his language still rings true today.

But lack of access isn't the only issue that plagues children and technology-it's also lack of interest on the part of some educators. Many schools continue to be skittish about technology, perhaps due to the cliche digital-zombie-child we've described above. The National Education Association even called technology in the classroom " hype" that fails to deliver on its promises. Reasons for teacher disinterest in technology include everything from practical issues like having difficulty learning a new technology, being ill-equipped to solve technical issues, and having had past experiences with bad technology integration to more ethical issues, such as believing that the online space is vapid, less content-deep, and potentially a place for bad behavior.

And yet at this intersection of lack of access and lack of interest, 70% of teachers are assigning homework requiring students to use the Internet. Clearly, the digital divide needs to be bridged somewhere. With today's new technologies and programs dedicated more than ever to bridging the gap, it's the perfect time to build a bridge across this ravine, and to encourage conscious digital citizenship among students and teachers.
Connectivity initiatives help everyone get online
Communities face many challenges in implementing technology in the classroom-the massive expense and a lack of teacher training are just two examples. But more and more companies are jumping on the edtech bandwagon, providing various grants, discounts, and other initiatives to educators willing to take the plunge into edtech. At the Fulton School District, we received a grant from Verizon that helped us to give each 6-12th student in our district a mobile device with a data plan-a life-changing boon for some of these kids. (The Verizon grant provided for two of the schools in our district, and we used a special local options sales tax to provide for the rest.)

Verizon also hosts a Mobile Learning Academy for teachers on "curriculum integrating mobile devices," and it's free of charge. These two programs have helped many students and teachers engage in STEM content: according to Verizon's reports from their 2015 STEM initiatives, 25% of students asked more questions about STEM careers, and 37% of students left the VILS program better at problem-solving. As for teachers, 54% of educators in the program provided students with more project-based opportunities and 66% of educators collaborated with peers to use mobile technologies in the classroom.

A key argument of technology device makers and sellers is that learners can engage in learning constantly if they have their device. Of course, for those without wifi, data plans, or internet access, this is hardly true. Comcast (in conjunction with partners like Khan Academy, Cable Impacts Foundation, and Goodwill) created Internet Essentials to address this issue, allowing people to bring the Internet into their homes for $9.95/month. Whether you're an elementary school student, a young adult commuting to college, or a senior citizen who wants to participate in cyberspace, Internet Essentials promises to help curb the costs of your wifi. Programs like this acknowledge that technology is (increasingly) a necessity, not a luxury, in today's world.
Upload the questions, download the answers
Of course, internet access for every child in America is as yet a far-off goal, but there are certain key steps that schools can take to make sure even kids without at-home internet don't get left behind. Take-home devices let students upload what they need to at school, work on those projects at home, and then download and print their completed homework when they're back at school the next day. In a similar vein, e-books have the potential to save districts money and space compared to physical textbooks, and students can bring them home on that same take-home device-working on their tech literacy as they read their homework. But educators need to make sure they publicize the e-books' existence, because since they're not physically sitting on a shelf in the library, some districts have noticed that students simply don't realize that they are there.

Not every district will be able to provide take-home devices for kids, but even something as simple as an internet connection in the school building itself can make a huge difference. At Fulton, we added virtual labs in several of our high schools so the school didn't need to invest in a whole new wired-in computer lab-with a virtual lab, all relevant applications and files can be accessed via any computer or mobile device connected to the school network. If our students had a gap in their schedule, they used the virtual labs to make up a class or take even a class the school didn't offer. This implementation of edtech was a strong contributing factor in increasing the graduation rate at these schools-in 2012, 70% of students graduated, while in 2016, 86% of students graduated. No in-home Internet access required.
In rural districts, creative solutions save the day
Rural districts suffer when it comes to technology: most of the 9,000 to 10,000 schools whose internet doesn't meet the FCC standard for bandwidth are located in rural areas. This is troubling, but certain districts have turned to creative solutions to begin bridging this gap.

Districts in Kentucky, California, and Alabama have started providing wifi on their busses, so that students can complete homework en route to and from school. Sometimes those busses are parked in residential neighborhoods so that students can use them as mobile hotspots after normal bus-riding hours. Speaking of hotspots, some districts are turning their schools themselves into 24-hour hotspots, so that students can head there after hours if they need to look something up or upload an assignment.

More broadly, rural schools are able to approach edtech with the backing of the government. Two years ago, the FCC increased required rural broadband speeds in conjunction with their Connect America Fund (CAF) initiative (though schools are struggling to catch up with the requirements). And the funding cap on the FCC's E-Rate program, which helps schools and libraries obtain affordable broadband internet, was increased by 1.5 billion dollars in 2014. The program in general has been praised for its success in expanding internet access to schools across the nation.
At the end of the day, edtech is a means to an end
In the end, technology is only as good as the learning it supports. One of the major pros of edtech is that it can support schools in their quest for ever-more-personalized learning, which in turn leads to a host of massive benefits, like more engaged students and increased knowledge retention. At Fulton, we've partnered with Education Elements to help us design a process to implement personalized learning across our district, much of which involves a nimble use of edtech. We created a competency-based approach to summer school: at the beginning of the summer, every student took a digital assessment that demonstrated both what they needed to learn and what they already knew. The resulting curricula targeted only what each student didn't know, pairing in-person instruction with online blended learning.

This has increased the number of students that graduate from our summer school: three years ago, 12 graduated, two years ago, 36 graduated, and last year, 61 graduated. In cases like these, not only has edtech avoided the dreaded digital divide, but it has managed to bridge it.

With contribution from Lisa Hiton of the Hippo Thinks research network.
Photo courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center via Flickr.

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Edtech Doesn't Have to Create a Digital Divide

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Call them millennials, call them digital natives, call them zombies, but the cliche is that today's kids can be identified by their hunched posture, their eyes locked on a screen and their tendency to communicate in emoji. However, this idea that schoolkids are perpetually plugged in isn't exactly true-especially not among kids from poorer families.

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Kahoot! Goes to College: Engaging Higher Ed Students in Learning (Kaitlyn Kulp)

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Kahoot! Goes to College: Engaging Higher Ed Students in Learning (Kaitlyn Kulp)

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Since I love Kahoot!, and love using it, I wanted to try and see if I could find an article about it on Twitter. Luckily, I was able to find a good one that talked about using Kahoot! in higher education. The article was about a professor talking about Kahoot!, and how it fits into the I Do, You Do, We Do methodology. Dr. Jennifer Williams uses Kahoot! in her college classroom, and her students love it. For the I Do part, Dr. Williams uses Kahoot! to reinforce and practice the skills that the students are currently learning. An example of this, is when she used Kahoot! to go over formative and summative assessment. For the We Do part, her students get into groups and create their own Kahoots! about what they are learning in class. Finally, the You Do part includes students independently using Kahoot! and practicing/testing their own personal knowledge. Not only do students learn, they also have fun in the college classroom and are engaged, which is crucial, especially for students that are going to become teachers. Kahoot! is an amazing tool and it is something that I will definitely use in my classroom.
https://kahoot.com/blog/2016/11/15/kahoot-goes-to-college/

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Katie Robertson- Importance of a School Library Makerspace- in Rural and Low-income Schools

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Katie Robertson- Importance of a School Library Makerspace- in Rural and Low-income Schools

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When I created my professional twitter, I knew that I wanted to focus my article searches on makerspaces because the entire idea intrigues me. I found the article that I linked below, written by Colleen Graves.
In order to understand this article thoroughly, one must know what a makerspace is in the first place. Basically, a makerspace is a place in which people with similar interests can come together to work on shared projects. So why is a makerspace important to have in libraries, especially in low income schools? Students who attend these schools might lack several resources at home that they might need to complete projects or assignments. Some of these resources might include books, internet, computer and other technology access, and many more. Students have access to their school library at all times, and therefore have access to its materials. Libraries in turn can "[create] a safe environment to be creative, to make mistakes, and to learn," according to the article. That should be the purpose of libraries anyway.

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Capitol Hill Maker Faire

Aaron and I are getting prepped to leave for DC and join the festivities surrounding the National Week of Making. I'm very honored to be invited by the IMLS ( Institute of Museum and Library Services) to speak on a daytime panel discussing Making and Education: K-12 for the Congressional Maker Caucus tomorrow. During the evening #CapMakerFaire, Aaron and I will be teaching faire goers how to make a simple electronic paper circuit(the IMLS estimates about 500 signups!).

Local Write -Up in Denton Record Chronicle

Our local paper featured a great write-up about my library and the maker movement here. Reporter Caitlyn Jones writes about my annual reporting of library statistics, and I'd like to share a little more about those statistics and talk about the importance of something I'm very passionate about- school libraries!

The Importance of School Libraries in a Rural, 90/90 or Low-Income School

Lately I've seen some terrifying trends of libraries ditching all of their books and some libraries completely ditching all traditional library services to start a makerspace.
It's 2016, should we still be spending money on print books for libraries?
While many arguments have been raised about whether e-books will kill real books and life will start to look more like Fahrenheit 451, print books are still needed and necessary in today's society.

As an early adapter, I found myself buying a Nook and reading constantly on it.... until one day... I didn't.

I realized that I spend so much time looking at a computer screen all day, I would prefer to relax and take a break, with a REAL BOOK in my hand. Apparently, I am not alone as e-book sales are flattening and more independent bookstores are opening and thriving as suggested by this article from The Guardian.

But my preferential reading habits are not the only reason we need books in libraries (especially school libraries). We need books because not every district and not every school is providing equitable digital access. Many schools have not jumped on the 1:1 bandwagon. I know because I work at a school where students are not (yet) provided with devices for home use. But, even if my students were provided with a device, I've found out something very startling throughout the course of the school year.

Many of my students do not have Internet at home. Yes, some of them have phones with data plans, but they try to conserve this precious resource by using our school wifi as much as possible. ("Some smartphone owners - particularly younger adults, minorities and lower-income Americans - depend on their smartphone for internet access." http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/01/6-facts-about-americans-and-their-smartphones/)

My students at Ryan still love to check out real books and hold them in their hands to read. I see these high schoolers reading real books in our comfy chairs everyday. When I started at Ryan I was happily surprised at seeing so many teenagers lounging and reading real books. The middle school librarians in Denton do a great job cultivating our teens love for reading. (Big Thank you to middle school librarian rockstars: Rhonda Thomas, Ivey Carey, Sandra Noles, Bonnie Mccormick and the countless elementary librarians too!)

Real books allow students to make real connections. The reading community loves to share and see what others are reading. Look at the trending hashtags on Instagram and you'll see that not many (if any) people are posting pictures of e-readers. They post pictures of BOOKS. Because readers love books! (This is mainly in reference to books we read for enjoyment. Yes, most of us use e-books and databases for research. That's why we need to grow our fiction sections and readable non-fiction. You should not get rid of all books in school libraries.)

With all of the changes I made at Ryan this year, we saw a 47% increase in overall circulation! That's actually down a bit from the circulation statistics midpoint in the year, but with springtime testing it makes sense that this number averaged out a bit.

Why does a Library Need a Certified Teacher?

Elissa Malespina wrote many great reasons to have a school library and a certified school librarian in this Open Letter to School Boards Everywhere published by School Library Journal.

My job as an instructional partner is one of my favorite parts of working in schools. I love collaborating with teachers because we truly are better together. Some of my favorite collaborations to date are: Dot Day, All Songs Considered PBL, and a recent Invention Literacy Project (post coming) I worked on this last month with my ELA teacher, April Feranda. Plus, I wrote about quite a few awesome collaborations in this Digital Flyers for Library Advocacy for post.

I taught in the classroom for 9 years before getting what I consider a MUCH BIGGER CLASSROOM. The library is a central classroom for all of our learners at school. Why would you deny them access to a wealth of information all in one room? And why wouldn't you want a certified librarian in that room to help them navigate the overcrowded waters of information in print and online?

This school year I co-taught over 400 classes. And those were only the classes I recorded in my calendar. There were drop in days and days where teachers extended their research time. During those classes, students performed over 296,000 academic searches related to research! It is important to have a certified, collaborative, instructional partner for our teachers. As a librarian, I can help teachers find resources, brainstorm new techniques, and even facilitate global connections for our students.

Another astounding fact on this Canva is that we recorded over 37,000 independent student visits to the library throughout the school year. This data is based off of the student sign in computer and students signing in when they come to the library without a scheduled class. (They come for lunch, to study, to get books, make stuff, see this post.)

Why does Maker Education Fit in the Library?

You know I love my library makerspace, but if we think about it for all schools, why is the library a good starting place?

All students have access to the library at all times during the day. They also have access to the materials in the library. If we want our students to become a "Nation of tinkerers" we have to house maker tools in a place where students can access equipment all throughout the school day.

Plus, we want students to feel like THEY can be anything or make anything they put their mind to. We want all of our students to feel like they can make something (or make meaning) at any point during the school day. Creating a safe environment to be creative, to make mistakes, and to learn... has always been our school library motto. So bringing making into the library? It just makes sense.

Many Types of Librarians Agree....

"I think making is a perfect fit with the library whether it's in a school or public library. One thing I like about makerspaces in school libraries is that I think it sends the message that making is for everyone. If you locate the makerspace in the shop area or even arts area it can feel more closed to students not already engaged in those subjects." Mary Glendening, Director of Middleton Free Library in Pennsylvania

"When doing focus groups in preparation for starting a maker program at my university, we learned a lot of people felt the existing equipment was siloed in various departments on campus, and they wanted greater access to it." Sharona Ginsberg, Learning Technologies (Academic) Librarian at the State University of New York at Oswego.

"My makerspace does not take place over my library - it complements it. Most making is inquiry based. There's a lot more research, tinkering and questioning going on because of the makerspace." Gina Seymour, High School Maker Librarian and Co-director of Co-director of

"Maker activities allows kids to not just freely create, but to pour their true heart and individual expression into something that won't be graded, judged, or otherwise rated in a way that might cause them to shut down. Allowing them to build in a failure-safe environment opens the door for students to engage in a way that makes their faces light up and experience things they might not have done on their own. Some important fact the student learned in the classroom that they weren't comprehending before might suddenly stick once they have the opportunity to put their understanding into something tangible and made by and with their own two hands." Stephen Tafoya of Garfield County Libraries.

Host Workshops and Hold Free Makerspace Time

I'm passionate about letting kids make what they want, but I also want to give my kids many new skills so they can be the best maker they want to be! This school year at Ryan High School I was able to teach/host over 100 hours of guided makerspace workshops. While some of those were classes co-taught with teachers (like BLAST, Invention Literacy Project with Feranda to name a few, plus the public librarian Trey assisted with many workshops), the majority of makerspace instructional sessions were workshops that students attended during their free time! That means that my students signed up for projects and workshops because they wanted to learn even on their own time. They came to our library makerspace to learn to solder, make their own guitars, craft paper circuits, sew e-textiles, and more.

Garnering Resources

I'm thankful to have a very supportive administration. Plus, throughout the year, I was able to raise over $4,200 for makerspace items by receiving a Denton Public School Foundation Grant, getting multiple Donors Choose grants funded, and even asking for small donations from Sparkfun and Home Depot.

Donors Choose is an excellent way to fund your library makerspace and will often lead to surprising donors! Employees from Microsoft spread the word and helped fund our Creative Digital Media and Sound Engineering Equipment. Infosys Foundation funded half of our resources for our "Girls in Tech" workshop and Burlington Coat Factory matched donations for that grant as well!

When it comes to makerspace projects, crowd-funding is just as important to getting supplies as crowdsourcing is to the research element!

Makerspaces Need Passionate Facilitators

It is also pertinent to understand that staffing a makerspace is an issue. You do not want to force a makerspace into a library where the librarian is not passionate about making. A makerspace without a maker, is like a baker who doesn't eat bread. It's similar to hiring an English teacher who doesn't enjoy writing. You need someone passionate about writing to engage and teach students to become better writers.

Making is the same way, you need a passionate facilitator who enjoys what they do. Not all library makerspaces have to focus on electronics and 3D printing. Your librarian might enjoy knitting and crafting. Start there. Create a culture of making and let it guide you and your students. But do not force making into a space where there is not a confident lead involved.
"A makerspace needs a facilitator because makers need someone who knows a little bit about everything in case they struggle with completing their ideas. The facilitator needs to know how the resources in the makerspace function so they can assist makers as needed. Plus, in a library/educational setting, a facilitator is needed to create programming for the makerspace." (From this post.)
I also think a facilitator can add a little order to chaos. Makerspaces are messy and the equipment can be pricey. Just as a library needs a librarian to know what are the best books to order for their patrons, a makerspace needs a savvy librarian that knows what resources to order and how to best spend the budget so that resources don't end up in a closet. (Plus, the school librarian will have the best idea on the pulse of the school.)

Aaron, the #superlibrarianhubs adds, " You need someone there to help students with things like 3d printing, or to introduce using littleBits, or to help guide students before they get too frustrated or break expensive equipment. Just because a kid is good at designing things in Tinkercad, it doesn't mean it will print well on your machine. You need someone who has the 3d printing experience (littlebits, etc) and knowledge to make sure your school doesn't waste its resources. Plus, you'll always have a constant rotation of students with varying skill levels. A maker librarian can adjust instruction to meet students at their skill level."

To Reiterate....

It is important that schools and school districts understand, we want a makerspace in our library, but we do not want to take the library out of our makerspace.

Reading, research, and thinking go hand in hand with making.

Maker project books help all types of makers. Plus, reading fiction books can help relax a frustrated mind absorbed with solving a problem. Our library makerspace allows students to read and unwind, AND create and build. We need all types of materials and books if we want our makerspaces to succeed.

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Importance of a School Library Makerspace - in Rural and Low Income Schools

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Capitol Hill Maker Faire Aaron and I are getting prepped to leave for DC and join the festivities surrounding the National Week of Making. I'm very honored to be invited by the IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) to speak on a daytime panel discussing Making and Education: K-12 for the Congressional Maker Caucus tomorrow....

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This blog post from Tynker lists 6 reasons that children should learn to code (through toys like robots that are controlled with code)! The 6 reasons are that building hobbies builds confidence; they're going to fail -- and that's okay; hands-on learning is powerful; they'll see that learning is fun; coding is a timeless skill; they may just change the world. Coding is becoming a primary form of literacy in our ever growing technological world. Learning with Tynker can encourage even young students to use their analytical mind to create things step by step. "Kids can design their own games with our patented visual-block coding language, mod in Minecraft, and play with connected toys like Sphero and LEGO WeDo 2.0." Tynker makes this seemingly complicated subject accessible to people with no previous coding experience and could be a really great tool to use inside the classroom! This tool could be used in a cross-curricular way to talk about science and math and technology and even life skills like planning and organization. https://www.tynker.com/blog/articles/ideas-and-tips/6-reasons-to-raise-a-tinkerer/?utm_content=buffer23c66&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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"We're Teaching Women in Prison to Code" (Madison Nosia) 

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"We're Teaching Women in Prison to Code" (Madison Nosia) 

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This article is quite an alternative focus in the education world. An organization called Girl Develop It went into a womens' prison in Deleware to teach some inmates and employees technological skills and confidence so they can re-enter society in touch with technology and in the presence of a supportive community. The team of instructors were able to teach this class with an adapted curriculum so that no internet access was needed. Before this class was offered the educational and vocational offerings were limited and dry. This coding class allowed the participants to learn how to code and create a website. Almost all of the students had not had internet access is over a decade. This instruction and creativity led by the organization could be adapted for a classroom with students who may not possess internet access or knowledge such as these women. I thought that this program was an amazing opportunity to introduce technology and coding to a population that is often stripped of technological and learning opportunities. The organization will also go into schools and community centers to teach girls technology skills and coding in efforts to close the gender gap in STEM and technology studies/careers.

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Last month, Girl Develop It taught the first ever coding classes for women in prison in Delaware. We couldn't be more excited to launch this new program, aimed at providing opportunities for incarcerated women to gain skills, confidence while they're in prison, and access to a supportive community when they re-enter society.

One major hurdle we faced in planning for this program was that there is no Internet access inside Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in New Castle, Delaware. Working with our awesome team and dedicated instructors, we were able to adapt the curriculum for our Intro to Web Concepts, Intro to HTML and CSS and Intro to WordPress classes so that no internet access was needed.

With some creativity, over the course of three weeks in December, we were able to introduce 12 students to web development and helped them get their first taste of building websites.

Of those 12 students, we had nine inmates enrolled in the class, who were learning side-by-side with three correctional officers. We learned on the first day of class that some of our students haven't accessed the internet in over a decade.

"Last time I was online, the big thing was MySpace," one student said in the opening introductions in our first class. Melissa hadn't accessed the Internet in over ten years, but she was eager to learn about coding and building her first website. "I'm interested in the business side of culinary, and want to build a website to showcase my future restaurant."

In the introductions - which is how every Girl Develop It class begins - students shared their aspirations for learning to code and why they had signed up to take the class.

Christine was inspired by her mom, a bartender-turned-entrepreneur; and she wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Before coming to Baylor, Barbara, a former nurse in her 60s, had the opportunity to be trained on computer systems at the hospital where she worked many years ago, and said she felt fairly comfortable learning new technologies. But she too hasn't been on the Internet in decades. She's being released soon, and joined the program in hopes of "adding some new skills to [her] tool belt" and broaden the job opportunities available to her upon release.

One of the correctional officers enrolled in the class wanted to build a website to advertise her side project: a booming catering business that she hopes to continue to grow as she nears retirement. Another correctional officer - whose son is a cybersecurity expert based in the UK - was hoping to just get more familiar with ever-changing technology and be able to understand it better.

Kai is an artist who wanted to learn more about coding to see how he can apply his skills to a potential career in graphic design.

Others, including Tia and Jackie, were hoping to broaden their horizons, and learn something new that would challenge them and allow them to show what they have to offer.

Before this program, the current educational and vocational offerings at the prison were limited. Programs included ServSafe, a training and certification designed to teach inmates on food service skills and safety, which could lead to jobs in food handling and management. Other programs included a GED program and traffic flagger training, and the opportunity to earn college course credit on a criminal justice class taught by a visiting professor of nearby University of Delaware.

Through five nights of three-hour classes, we introduced the students at Baylor to basics of the Web, how to write HTML and CSS and build their first site using WordPress. We were excited to learn quite a bit from this pilot program, including lessons about how teaching inside a prison differs from our core classes that are taught in communities across the US - from Boston to Fargo to Los Angeles.

Aside from the logistical hurdles that we worked through leading up to the launch, one takeaway is that we were ambitious with the amount of material we taught in the period of time we had with the students. By the end of class, students had learned the basics of web concepts, were better versed in imperative terminology to speak to web development and had created their very first website - an exciting moment for students.

One student, Julie, also the computer lab assistant, demonstrated her creativity and what she had learned by building a website for her imaginary private eye agency. She showed off her newfound skills by creating a multi-page WordPress site complete with a contact form to request her fictitious services.

Barbara worked on building out a website dedicated to her passion for gardening, something we later found out was a hobby she cultivated while incarcerated.

Other websites built included a blog-style site by a student, Chelsea, devoted to second chances, reflecting on what she will do once released, vowing to not take anything for granted, knowing she does not want to return to incarceration.

A few other students, extending their passion for the culinary arts, created websites dedicated to their imaginative restaurants, complete with original menu items and recipes.

A few other students opted to go a more whimsical route, creating sites for fictitious pets and cute animals.

Another interesting thing we found (and loved) was that, unlike our typical classes, all the students already knew each other, which created a fun camaraderie in the class from the very beginning. In all our classes, students end up supporting and encouraging each other, but it was really nice to see the correctional officers sharing tips and getting help from inmates and vice versa from day one.

Based on a post-class survey, 100% of the students in the class said they felt more confident in their skills after the class, and would be interested in continuing to take classes.

So what's next? Our next step is to take all of our learnings from the class and see how we can grow and expand the program at Baylor (including bringing in more students) with adapted curriculum, and then find opportunities to expand beyond Baylor and Delaware.
Why we're teaching incarcerated women
At Girl Develop It, we believe in including people who have been left out of technology education. Teaching incarcerated women is fully aligned with our mission to provide accessible and judgment-free opportunities for diverse women from all backgrounds interested in learning web and software development. And in fact, it's been on our radar at Girl Develop It for some time.

In 2014, we were approached by a program based out of Vermont, about the opportunity to partner on an inmate mentorship initiative, which is when we really got excited about the idea.

At that time, however, Girl Develop It didn't have full-time staff or infrastructure to support additional programming outside of our core chapter community-based classes in chapters across our then-30 chapters. As the organization has grown and expanded - we're now in 58 cities across the US, have six full-time staff and hundreds of dedicated chapter leaders and instructors supporting classes in their communities - we've been able to see our core program reach sustainability, and have continued success and impact.

It's an exciting time for us to be able to pilot a new program to reach women who have been too-often overlooked and who are desperately underserved. We're looking forward to tracking students over time who continue in our expansion of the program to see how their lives are impacted when they are released from prison and return to society and join their local Girl Develop It community.

Among women prisoners, research shows that the rates of recidivism are high. Our goal is to support the students who return to society by welcoming them into our nearby communities to help them continue their learning and to get involved in a network they wouldn't otherwise be aware of. For our Baylor students, we have nearby chapters in Wilmington, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and we're working with our partners to find ways to continue supporting the inmates when they're release by offering them scholarships to any GDI classes they want to take to continue learning.

We believe that empowering women through teaching them technical skills, by helping them unlock their own potential, and by showing them that we exist and are here to support them will not only impact the individuals, but will go on to impact their families and their communities. Because of our reach across the country, we have the potential to scale this program seamlessly in dozens of states.

To grow this program, we also need support. This program would never have been able to happen without the support of our awesome sponsors, Capital One and Barclaycard. They were our first champions and have supported our efforts throughout the entire pilot planning process. We can't wait to expand the program with their support, and welcome additional supporters to reach out to learn more about getting involved.

We owe so much gratitude to everyone who helped make this pilot program a reality, including the Director of Education at Baylor, Dr. Dwight BoNey, as well as the rest of the staff at Baylor; our awesome instructors, Lisa Yoder (Intro to Web Concepts and Intro to HTML & CSS) and Tracy Levesque (Intro to WordPress; the volunteer TAs who spent upwards of 20 hours supporting students in the busy weeks before the holidays: Alexandra Lash, Candace Worthen, Elizabeth Cottrell, Ebonie Butler, and Shanise Barona; our team at GDI including LeeAnn Kinney, who led the program and Shanise, who supported throughout; O'Reilly Media who donated books for the students to continue their self-study; and again, our amazing sponsors, Jenn Walters-Michalec and Capital One, and Jocelyn Stewart and Barclaycard. Thank you!

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About Girl Develop It
Girl Develop It is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides affordable and judgment-free opportunities for adult women interested in learning web and software development through accessible in-person programs. Through welcoming, low-cost classes, GDI helps women of diverse backgrounds achieve their technology goals and build confidence in their careers and their everyday lives.

Since the organization's founding in 2010, Girl Develop It has led the learn to code movement, providing women with avenues to participate in the technology industry today. Now in 55+ cities across the US, GDI currently supports 98,000 students with technical skills and community support, and empowers more than 1,600 students per month.
Contact us and get involved:
Press inquiries: press @ girldevelopit.com

Interested in supporting this program? Reach out to sponsorships @ girldevelopit.com

Do you work with inmates or a prison? Reach out to partnerships @ girldevelopit.com

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We're teaching women in prison to code - Girl Develop It - Medium

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Last month, Girl Develop It taught the first ever coding classes for women in prison in Delaware. We couldn't be more excited to launch this new program, aimed at providing opportunities for incarcerated women to gain skills, confidence while they're in prison, and access to a supportive community when they re-enter society.

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As I thought about what interests me the most about technology in the classroom, I thought of Padlet. In the past two years at Duquesne we have began to learn more about it and use it in the classroom. I love this resource and wanted to learn more about it and ways I can use it in my future classroom. http://www.hollyclark.org/2018/01/31/5-reasons-to-use-padlet-tomorrow/
This article gave 5 ways that Padlet can be used and described each one. The examples given were, recording and posting a video/ voice not of yourself, comment on others posts. you can add drawings or links, there are different set ups to organize the information, and use as an exit ticket. I enjoyed all of these ideas and began to research more about them. Now knowing these other ways to use it I can create more lesson plans that involve Padlet

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Coding and Collaboration with a Buddy System (Jeanne Marie) 

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Coding and Collaboration with a Buddy System (Jeanne Marie) 

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https://blog.ed.gov/2017/12/coding-collaboration-buddy-system/

This is an article that I got from the US Department of Education page that talks about using a "buddy system" to encourage coding in the classroom. The article talks about applying the literacy buddy system of the older student reading to the younger student in codding. According to the article, students not only have fun doing something that interests them, but they learn resilience by pursuing in a difficult task and build up their problem solving skills. When students are done forming what they want to form using coding, they get to share it with a VIP board for others to see what they came up with.

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Making Virtual Reality a Reality in Today's Classrooms (Marissa Hall)

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Making Virtual Reality a Reality in Today's Classrooms (Marissa Hall)

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Virtual Reality is something that is taking over our world. The cost of this equipment is beginning to fall and making it more accessible for schools to purchase this technology to use in classrooms. One particular use of Virtual Reality that can be effective in the classroom is using it to "explore the world from within the classroom walls." Virtual reality allows for students to take field trips without leaving the building. This also provides them with experiences that would be impossible to experience within a normal day. VR can take them back in time or across the world. This technology allows for students to engage in the lesson and have visual representations of the content they are learning. VR has the potential to be a vital resource in a social studies lesson. It has the ability to transform the classroom into an active learning space that allows for the students to virtually experience history and culture. However, use in a social studies classroom is only one of the many advantages that VR has the potential to provide in the education.

https://thejournal.com/Articles/2018/01/11/Making-Virtual-Reality-a-Reality-in-Todays-Classrooms.aspx?Page=1

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Students Learn Better From Books than Screens

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Students Learn Better From Books than Screens

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After researching key words on Twitter including "technology" and "education", I came across a headline tweeted by World Economic Forum that caught my eye. The article's full title reads,

"Students learn better from books than screens, according to a new study". The article begins by explaining a number of policies that have been changed over the past few years that require schools in certain states to use digital print rather than physical textbooks. With these new policies in place, the researcher set out to determine whether students actually learn better from digital print. The findings were of interest, as a majority of students involved in the study reported that they preferred digital text and felt that their comprehension was improved when reading digital print over physical copies. The resulting data, however, showed that these same students actually had better comprehension when reading physical print. The author of the article made some conclusions about the data, including considering the purpose of reading and the task at hand before determining whether to use digital or print text. To conclude the article, the author urges students in today's technology heavy climate to remember the value and importance held by printed word.

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Today's students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We've seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks. In 2009, California passed a law requiring that all college textbooks be available in electronic form by 2020; in 2011, Florida lawmakers passed legislation requiring public schools to convert their textbooks to digital versions.

Given this trend, teachers, students, parents and policymakers might assume that students' familiarity and preference for technology translates into better learning outcomes. But we've found that's not necessarily true.

As researchers in learning and text comprehension, our recent work has focused on the differences between reading print and digital media. While new forms of classroom technology like digital textbooks are more accessible and portable, it would be wrong to assume that students will automatically be better served by digital reading simply because they prefer it.

Our work has revealed a significant discrepancy. Students said they preferred and performed better when reading on screens. But their actual performance tended to suffer.

For example, from our review of research done since 1992, we found that students were able to better comprehend information in print for texts that were more than a page in length. This appears to be related to the disruptive effect that scrolling has on comprehension. We were also surprised to learn that few researchers tested different levels of comprehension or documented reading time in their studies of printed and digital texts.

To explore these patterns further, we conducted three studies that explored college students' ability to comprehend information on paper and from screens.

Students first rated their medium preferences. After reading two passages, one online and one in print, these students then completed three tasks: Describe the main idea of the texts, list key points covered in the readings and provide any other relevant content they could recall. When they were done, we asked them to judge their comprehension performance.

Across the studies, the texts differed in length, and we collected varying data (e.g., reading time). Nonetheless, some key findings emerged that shed new light on the differences between reading printed and digital content:

Students overwhelming preferred to read digitally.

Reading was significantly faster online than in print.

Students judged their comprehension as better online than in print.

Paradoxically, overall comprehension was better for print versus digital reading.

The medium didn't matter for general questions (like understanding the main idea of the text).

But when it came to specific questions, comprehension was significantly better when participants read printed texts.
Placing print in perspective
From these findings, there are some lessons that can be conveyed to policymakers, teachers, parents and students about print's place in an increasingly digital world.

We all read for many reasons. Sometimes we're looking for an answer to a very specific question. Other times, we want to browse a newspaper for today's headlines.

As we're about to pick up an article or text in a printed or digital format, we should keep in mind why we're reading. There's likely to be a difference in which medium works best for which purpose.

In other words, there's no "one medium fits all" approach.

One of the most consistent findings from our research is that, for some tasks, medium doesn't seem to matter. If all students are being asked to do is to understand and remember the big idea or gist of what they're reading, there's no benefit in selecting one medium over another.

But when the reading assignment demands more engagement or deeper comprehension, students may be better off reading print. Teachers could make students aware that their ability to comprehend the assignment may be influenced by the medium they choose. This awareness could lessen the discrepancy we witnessed in students' judgments of their performance vis-à-vis how they actually performed.

In our third experiment, we were able to create meaningful profiles of college students based on the way they read and comprehended from printed and digital texts.

Among those profiles, we found a select group of undergraduates who actually comprehended better when they moved from print to digital. What distinguished this atypical group was that they actually read slower when the text was on the computer than when it was in a book. In other words, they didn't take the ease of engaging with the digital text for granted. Using this select group as a model, students could possibly be taught or directed to fight the tendency to glide through online texts.
4. Something that can't be measured
There may be economic and environmental reasons to go paperless. But there's clearly something important that would be lost with print's demise.

In our academic lives, we have books and articles that we regularly return to. The dog-eared pages of these treasured readings contain lines of text etched with questions or reflections. It's difficult to imagine a similar level of engagement with a digital text. There should probably always be a place for print in students' academic lives - no matter how technologically savvy they become.

Of course, we realize that the march toward online reading will continue unabated. And we don't want to downplay the many conveniences of online texts, which include breadth and speed of access.

Rather, our goal is simply to remind today's digital natives - and those who shape their educational experiences - that there are significant costs and consequences to discounting the printed word's value for learning and academic development.

This article is published in collaboration with The Conversation.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Students learn better from books than screens, according to a new study

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Today's students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers. Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We've seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks.

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Alysha Matarazzo- Global Partnership for Education

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Alysha Matarazzo- Global Partnership for Education

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HuffPost tweeted the article, “Rihanna asked Australia for Global Education Money and Got it”. This article is about how Rihanna asked the Australian government for a large donation to a global education fund and Australians foreign minister agreed. Rihanna tweeted to the leaders of Australia, Britain, and France, imploring them to contribute to the Global Partnership for education, whose annual conference is this weekend in Senegal. Rihanna asked the Australian government to contribute $200 million, tweeting at prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. “This pledge forms part of Australia’s commitment to ensuring more children, particularly girls and children with disabilities, participate in school for longer and acquire the skills they need to build their future.” The Global Partnership for Education helps provide quality basic education for children is 65 developing countries. The article stated “what Rihanna wants, Rihanna gets.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rihanna-australia-global-education_us_5a73ede5e4b0905433b2b6a6?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

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This article is a great resource on why one should introduce kids who are interesting in playing around and toying with things, and how to introduce them to coding and programming. The article focuses on six main topics: building confidence, failure, hands on learning, learning is fun, skill, and change. Overall the article discusses how important it is to introduce kids to coding, how it teaches them to deal with failure, and how to be able to fix their problems and change what they need to in order to get the results they are looking for. Coding is a great way for kids to learn discipline and how to put their skills to use.

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So your child has shown an interest in tinkering-that's great news! Even if they're at the stage where they're taking apart the toaster (and not quite mastering its reassembly), it's important to find ways to foster your child's curiosity and imagination. Tinkering-especially controlling robots, drones, and other connected toys with code-makes for a great childhood learning experience. Here are six reasons to encourage your child's love of tinkering:

1. Building hobbies builds confidence. When your child has a chance to activate their creativity, their self-confidence grows. Exploring an interest, especially one as creativity-driven as tinkering with robots or drones, gives your child a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

2. They'll fail-and that's okay. For every successful invention, there are dozens of failed prototypes. Failure builds determination, and chances are that you learned this lesson as a kid (how many mud pies did you make that just wouldn't hold their shape?). Encouraging your child to tinker is a great way to pass on the lesson that success requires failure.

3. Hands-on learning is powerful. The Maker Movement and project-based learning have spread to classrooms, and we're realizing that children thrive when they have the opportunity to learn by doing. Let your child take their education into their own hands (literally), and see where it takes them.

4. They'll see that learning = fun. We know that tinkering builds young brains, and messing around with robots and drones is undeniably fun. Let your child build the connection between the two. When your child categorizes learning as enjoyable, they're setting themselves up for success throughout their education and career.

5. Coding is a timeless skill. From Ada Lovelace to Bill Gates, coders have made names for themselves in recent history. And now more than ever, programming is a basic literacy. While technology does evolve, what remains consistent is the analytical imagination that coding requires, and connected toys lay the groundwork for this kind of thinking and exploration.

6. They may just change the world. We're not saying that every child who tinkers will go on to develop life-changing inventions...but what if they do? Give your child the tools and agency to change their world.

We know that funneling your child's interest in tinkering into appropriate outlets can be a challenge, which is why we offer a variety of ways for kids to play with Tynker! Kids can design their own games with our patented visual-block coding language, mod in Minecraft, and play with connected toys like Sphero and LEGO WeDo 2.0. Tynker's fun, hands-on lessons make it easy for parents-even those with no previous coding or robotics experience-to encourage their child's interest in tinkering. Visit our site to learn about other ways to engage your child's interest in tinkering!

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So your child has shown an interest in tinkering-that's great news! Even if they're at the stage where they're taking apart the toaster (and not quite mastering its reassembly), it's important to find ways to foster your child's curiosity and imagination. Tinkering-especially controlling robots, drones, and other connected toys with code-makes for a great childhood learning experience.

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It's Time to Make Student Privacy a Priority

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It's Time to Make Student Privacy a Priority

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The title of this article "It's Time to Make Student Privacy a Priority" really intrigued me, as student privacy isn't a common subject that we talk about  as pre-service teachers. The article focused on students, parents and teachers concerns about what data ed tech providers are collecting on students. The article states, "There is a consistent lack of transparency in ed tech privacy policies and practices", meaning that a lot of times parents aren't even aware of what apps their kids are using and what data is being collected. Another concern stated is that there is a need for better privacy training and education. I believe that this is an awesome idea as a lot of times students are not aware of the precautions they need to take when they have a presence online to be safe and secure. This article provided many more student, parent, teacher, and administrator concerns regarding student internet safety. As a preservice educator, I want to learn more about student privacy in the classroom and teaching my students the importance of being safe on the internet.

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Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Education held a workshop in Washington, DC. The topic was "Student Privacy and Ed Tech." We at EFF have been trying to get the FTC to focus on the privacy risks of educational technology (or "ed tech") for over two years, so we eagerly filed formal comments.

We've long been concerned about how technology impacts student privacy. As schools and classrooms become increasingly wired, and as schools put more digital devices and services in the hands of students, we've been contacted by a large number of concerned students, parents, teachers, and even administrators.

They want to know: What data are ed tech providers collecting about our kids? How are they using it? How well do they disclose (if at all) the scope of their data collection? How much control (if any) do they give to schools and parents over the retention and use of the data they collect? Do they even attempt to obtain parental consent before collecting and using incredibly sensitive student data?

In the spring of 2017, we released the results of a survey that we conducted in order to plumb the depths of the confusion surrounding ed tech. And as it turns out, students, parents, teachers, and even administrators have lots of concerns-and very little clarity-over how ed tech providers protect student privacy.

Drawing from the results of our survey, our comments to the FTC and DOE touched on a broad set of concerns:

The FTC has ignored our student privacy complaint against Google. Despite signing a supposedly binding commitment to refrain from collecting student data without parental consent beyond that needed for school purposes, Google openly harvests student search and browsing behavior, and uses that data for its own purposes. We filed a formal complaint with the FTC more than two years ago but have heard nothing back.

There is a consistent lack of transparency in ed tech privacy policies and practices. Schools issue devices to students without their parents' knowledge and consent. Parents are kept in the dark about what apps their kids are required to use and what data is being collected.

The investigative burden too often falls on students and parents. With no notice or help from schools, the investigative burden falls on parents and even students to understand the privacy implications of the technology students are using.

Data use concerns are unresolved. Parents have extensive concerns about student data collection, retention, and sharing. Many ed tech products and services have weak privacy policies. For instance, it took the lawyers at EFF months to get a clear picture of which privacy policies even applied to Google's student offerings, much less how they interacted.

Lack of choice in ed tech is the norm. Parents who seek to opt their children out of device or software use face many hurdles, particularly those without the resources to provide their own alternatives. Some districts have even threatened to penalize students whose parents refuse to consent to what they believe are egregious ed tech privacy policies and practices.

Overreliance on "privacy by policy." School districts generally rely on the privacy policies of ed tech companies to ensure student data protection. Parents and students, on the other hand, want concrete evidence that student data is protected in practice as well as in policy.

There is an unfilled need for better privacy training and education. Both students and teachers want better training in privacy-conscious technology use. Ed tech providers aren't fulfilling their obligations to schools when they fail to provide even rudimentary privacy training.

Ed tech vendors treat existing privacy law as if it doesn't apply to them. Because the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") generally prohibits school districts from sharing student information with third parties without written parental consent, districts often characterize ed tech companies as "school officials." However, districts may only do so if-among other things-providers give districts or schools direct control over all student data and refrain from using that data for any other purpose. Despite the fact that current ed tech offerings generally fail those criteria, vendors generally don't even attempt to obtain parental consent.

We believe it is incumbent upon school districts to fully understand the data and privacy policies and practices of the ed tech products and services they wish to use, demand that ed tech vendors assent to contract terms that are favorable to the school districts and actually protect student privacy, and be ready not to do business with a company who does not engage in robust privacy practices.

While we understand that school budgets are often tight and that technology can actually enhance the learning experience, we urge regulators, school districts, and the ed tech companies themselves to make student privacy a priority. We hope the FTC and DOE listen to what we, and countless concerned students, parents, and teachers, have to say.

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It's Time to Make Student Privacy a Priority

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Last month, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Education held a workshop in Washington, DC. The topic was "Student Privacy and Ed Tech." We at EFF have been trying to get the FTC to focus on the privacy risks of educational technology (or "ed tech") for over two years, so we...

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Schools Invest in Infrastructure for Their Students' Futures (Mallory Stump)

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Schools Invest in Infrastructure for Their Students' Futures (Mallory Stump)

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This article discusses investing in their schools to make students’ educational experience better. Specifically, anticipating and adapting the school to meet the current technology needs of the students and society. The article discusses that schools are really pushing the idea of what the future will hold based on technology. There is an idea discussed that the jobs students will have when they graduate are very different than current ones and some will have jobs that have not even been created yet. Because of this, schools are pushing to create new classes and lessons to prepare students for their future. These new classes are revolving around bringing in more technology into the schools. The article describes a school in a lower SES neighborhood where students do not have access to a lot of technology. Due to this, the superintendent is pushing for an overhaul of the technology in the school. He redesigned the network infrastructure of the school to enable students to have access to more technology tools. This has helped to prepare students to adapt to their changing environment. The article then goes on to discuss the importance of selecting an IT solution to best meet the needs of the school, classroom, and students. Choosing the correct network is imperative to incorporating technology. Without it, the school will not have the ability to adapt the technology to the current trends. The final points of the article puts an emphasis on training teachers so they know how to work the technology. It also expresses the need to constantly evaluate the technology to make sure it meets the needs of the students.

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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Schools Invest in Infrastructure for Their Students' Futures

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K-12 districts anticipate and adapt to changing technology needs.

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Gamification is a Key to Motivating Students (Elizabeth Weimer)

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Gamification is a Key to Motivating Students (Elizabeth Weimer)

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Education Week tweeted this article on the use of gamification to motivate students. It is a known fact that many children enjoy video games, so much so that the DSM-5 now has an entry for video game addictions. This article defines gamification as "the process of taking elements from games to use in non-game settings" (Lynch, 2018). One way that gamification motivates students is by dividing material into stages and placing a reward at the end of each stage. Gamification also has been shown in research to change the students' views on failure. According to research, students use a trial and error approach when gaming. Failure is almost never a reason to stop playing in a game; it often actually motivates the gamer. This makes children no longer fear failure. Teachers can include gamification in their classroom by using many technology tools; however, for classrooms that lack these resources, it is also possible to do with out technology.

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Education Week - Education Futures: Emerging Trends in K-12

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Assistant Professor of Education, Mississippi Valley State University
It's infamous how much children play and enjoy video games. Parents everywhere despair of dragging their kids away from games in order to get them to do something or even just interact with them. This is so much the case that there is even an entry in the DSM-5 (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association) for video game addictions. However, this very quality of games to absorb and motivate children can be hijacked to help children. You may be surprised to find out that games and gamification can be extremely useful in education when utilized correctly.

As you may be able to guess, gamification is the process of taking elements from games to use in non-gaming settings. Though gamification has many broad applications, this article will specifically focus on its efficacy in increasing motivation. The gamification of tasks changes them in many significant ways. One example is to divide them into stages, placing some sort of reward (achievements, badges, etc.) at the end of each stage. This motivates the user to complete components of the task one at a time, rather than overwhelming him or her with a single huge task to accomplish, no end or reward in sight. And this example is just the beginning of what gamification can do.
Gamification and Motivation
In applying the principles of gamification to the classroom, it is critical to differentiate between game-based and game-informed teaching. Game-based teaching uses games in the classroom setting to teach and monitor the progress of students. Gamification, on the other hand, uses aspects of the gaming model in traditional classroom teaching to motivate students and reshape the learning process. Both have their place in education, but for a teacher without the resources to access a pool of educational games to assign students, gamification may be a more useful option.

By applying the motivational power of gamification to the motivation problems in learning, more effective learning can take place. One way to do this is by applying rewards to the learning process. Incentives like good grades, virtual rewards (titles, badges, points), and leveling up encourage students to participate more often and keep them coming back for more. Introducing these simple rewards into the curriculum is much easier than trying to create an immersion-style game that encompasses all the material and teaches exactly what's on the agenda.
Gamification and Failure
Gamification also changes students' relationship with failure. This is absolutely significant because the fear of failure or ridicule will cause many a student to refrain from asking questions when they need to. Even worse, repeated failure can be demoralizing enough that children will just give up, deciding they are stupid or "bad at school." This is devastating for the child and heartbreaking for the teacher and parents.

This is where gamification comes in. Researchers have found that children use a trial and error approach when gaming. "Failure" in a well-designed game is almost never a cause to stop playing. On the contrary, it usually motivates the player to pick the game up and try again, maybe attempting a new method or learning something from the previous failure that the player can do better in the next round of the game. Each failure is, in fact, a stimulus to change various minute details of his or her approach, making each round a constant learning experience. It is also an exercise in creativity as the player has to think of new ways to accomplish his or her goals, as the last one didn't work.

When teachers apply the principles of game design to the classroom, children no longer fear failure. Rather, they view it as a necessary part of learning. It's an opportunity to learn from the mistake and improve. Effort, rather than mastery, is rewarded in this type of a system. It reduces the stakes of each attempt and minimizing pressure to succeed at first try, which changes the student's relationship with failure.

These elements of gamification have been found to be extremely useful in improving children's learning experiences. They allow teachers to create personalized content that is specific to their environment and learning objectives. Furthermore, games have been found to be effective in teaching children values and information about the world around them that traditional methods might not effectively convey. Gamification is efficient and effective and should be incorporated into more educational settings worldwide.

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Gamification is a Key to Motivating Students

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Assistant Professor of Education, Mississippi Valley State University It's infamous how much children play and enjoy video games. Parents everywhere despair of dragging their kids away from games in order to get them to do something or even just interact with them.

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I found this article as a link while looking into kindergarten readiness. It talks about how you can prepare your child for their time in kindergarten. It listed a series of strategies like teaching your child responsibility, self-help skills and developing routines. All-in-all, it is pretty basic stuff that it covers. Not to say that is a bad thing. Some of the mentioned strategies are useful to helping students to develop such as reading aloud to your child and engaging them in meaningful literacy activities.

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5 Ways Video Can Foster Teaching and Learning

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5 Ways Video Can Foster Teaching and Learning

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The article I found on twitter begins by discussing how technology is being used more and more in todays classrooms but there are several ways to improve the ways it is currently being used. The author highlights the fact that a lot of teachers are utilizing YouTube to help enhance their lessons but there are ways that teachers can go beyond students only watching a video that can dramatically change the classroom experience. In total, 5 suggestions are explained in the article. Some example suggestions that the author makes is using flipped classrooms, using technology to bring experts in the lesson topic to the classroom, and videoconferencing. Overall, the articles calls for small improvements to be made to how we use technology and these small changes can impact our students in a big way.

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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5 Ways Video Can Foster Teaching and Learning

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K-12 districts use cameras on phones, tablets and notebooks to extend classroom learning, confer with experts and arrange conferences with colleges and prospective employers.

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Tailoring Education for the 21st Century (Kaeli Stolar)

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Tailoring Education for the 21st Century (Kaeli Stolar)

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This article discusses ways that we as teachers can improve our teaching strategies with the resources that have been updated immensely since we have been in middle school.  One of the sections shows a chart with statistics on what the most important teaching strategies are and how much technology can support them. It states that not only does technology get students involved more and interacting with their classmates but it also saves more time in order to get more learning into the short periods we are given to teach each lesson. I believe that technology is a great way to keep all of the kids participating in their lessons with hands on activities that have options of help right at their finger tips but without a teacher being with them the whole time. These activities can also be used at home which reinforces what is taught in the classroom. This all, of course, is with the consideration that you have the resources at your school to support every child in your classroom.

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There is a strong correlation between teacher autonomy and school readiness to teach both foundational literacies and soft skills. For example, educators who assess their schools as having "much better" teacher autonomy nearly twice as often say they are "very well equipped" to teach communication skills when compared with the rest of the sample. A similar pattern holds across other 21st century skills we studied.

4. Budget constraints are the most common barrier to innovation.
More than half of the educators we surveyed cite budget limitations as the most significant barrier to adopting new teaching strategies (51%) and technologies (53%). When it comes to adopting new teaching strategies, 27% cite lack of technology access in schools and 27% cite a lack of national policy support as the most significant barrier. For adopting new technologies, insufficient technology access in schools is the second-most commonly cited barrier (29%).

5. Educators are divided over how fast to innovate.
Great majorities favor at least some action towards adopting new teaching strategies (85%) and technologies (83%). But opinions vary about how quickly schools should innovate within the classroom. Educators most often advocate a cautious approach for implementing new teaching strategies and technologies. This slower approach allows potential innovations to be investigated and tested before adoption.

The educators we surveyed agree that various innovative teaching strategies can help students develop the requisite skills for the 21st century workplace, and technology can support the effective execution of these strategies. Crucially, teachers themselves are a vital resource with great potential for preparing students for their working lives. "How effective technology is in a learning environment depends a lot on how robust the curriculum is and how much the teachers are working together to continuously improve," says Justin Reich, assistant professor of Comparative Media Studies at MIT, and director of the MIT Teaching Systems Lab, one of our report's featured experts. Explore the full research findings here.

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Tailoring education for the 21st century: perspectives from educators

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There is a strong correlation between teacher autonomy and school readiness to teach both foundational literacies and soft skills. For example, educators who assess their schools as having "much better" teacher autonomy nearly twice as often say they are "very well equipped" to teach communication skills when compared with the rest of the sample.

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Brooklin Mincone
"Teachers would learn how to effectively assess academic performance, and students would become independent learners, driven by curiosity and inspiration rather than by the empty promise of a 'good' grade or the threat of a 'bad' one,"
this is one of the line from an extremely interesting article published by and tweeted out by Education Week.
It's a very liberal and new age point of view, and one that I personally feel would be extremely helpful in every age group, especially college and young elementary. Things get a bit muddier in teenage years because intrinsic motivation is hard to come by in terms of common core, but in the developmental years its a phenomenal idea! It's also super relevant to what is being discussed in the LitBlock's content and pedagogy. In terms of college, students are in the majors and school they CHOSE, therefore they should be more intrinsically motivated to succeed and engage, grades add an element of stress and shift the focus from their passion to their GPA. Here's the link!

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Do grades provide an accurate snapshot of a student's performance? Or are they anxiety-producing scores that prevent educators from focusing on true learning?

In an Education Week opinion essay by Mark Barnes, the creator and publisher of the popular Hack Learning book series, he writes that gradeless classrooms are a "brave new world" that more educators need to embrace.

"Teachers would learn how to effectively assess academic performance, and students would become independent learners, driven by curiosity and inspiration rather than by the empty promise of a 'good' grade or the threat of a 'bad' one," Barnes writes.

See the full essay: No, Students Don't Need Grades

School districts across the country have been questioning and even replacing the traditional grading system with more experimental practices. These practices include standards-based grading, in which students receive detailed feedback on how well they have mastered specific course objectives, and competency-based learning, in which students can show what they know and progress toward mastery at their own pace. (For a breakdown of the differences between the two practices, see this analysis.)

And some school districts have implemented "no zero" policies, so that students who finish their assignments will receive at least a score of 50. The idea is that this allows struggling students to stay motivated and stay in school-it's easier for students to recover from a 50 than a zero. (The District of Columbia has a "no zero" policy, which is explored in Education Week's and NPR's podcast series, Raising Kings. It's interesting to hear from educators who both oppose and support the policy.)

See also: When It Comes to Grading, Is '50' the New 'Zero'?

But many teachers are skeptical of the idea of throwing out the gradebook entirely. In the comments section of Barnes' essay, many weighed in with their concerns:

"This builds no work ethic or personal responsibility; these are the biggest problems we have in our classrooms and the workplace today," one commenter said.

"I have a hard time accepting that 4th graders don't need letter grades in math," another commenter wrote. "It would be nice if they did not, but it's probably not reality."

Another commenter put it this way:

"If I had to peg a number to it, I'd say about 60 percent of middle class suburban kids (the kind I teach) would find a grade-less classroom quite rewarding, if more choice were allowed. 20 percent would probably not be affected at all and would perform the same, either way. But another 20 percent would see this as a field day to goof off more than they do already. No grades? No tests that mean anything (because there are no grades)? Party time! You would need to start a system like this in kindergarten and let that class work its way up if you truly wanted systemic change and to alter mindsets about the purpose of school and learning. Old, ingrained habits die pretty damn hard."

Still, there are many educators who are excited about the idea of a gradeless classroom.

One commenter wrote that not giving grades does build a strong work ethic and a sense of personal responsibility: The current system "decreases autonomous motivation and does not support competency," the commenter wrote.

A % or number grade doesn't really mean anything unless the subject has right & wrong answers--which many don't. Often, being able to recall 'the' correct answer, like a date, is a lower level thinking skill. Creativity and deep understanding can't be assessed with %.
-- Barbara Larochelle (@BarbLarochelle) January 18, 2018

Education Week Teacher opinion blogger Starr Sackstein frequently writes about why she threw out grades in her classroom. "Learning ends when you put a grade on something," she once wrote. " Learning isn't about grades, it's about mastery."

In this video, she shares six tips for going gradeless and focusing on ongoing learning:

And Barnes gave another four pieces of advice for teachers -including asking students to grade themselves and being transparent with parents.

Teachers, would you consider going gradeless? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter.

And for more "big ideas" like going gradeless, check out Education Week's full report, featuring essays on improving student motivation and parent engagement.

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Do Students Really Need Grades? Teachers Are Divided

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Do grades provide an accurate snapshot of a student's performance? Or are they anxiety-producing scores that prevent educators from focusing on true learning? In an Education Week opinion essay by Mark Barnes, the creator and publisher of the popular Hack Learning book series, he writes that gradeless classrooms are a "brave new world" that more educators need to embrace.

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Creating Instruction Animation for the Classroom

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Creating Instruction Animation for the Classroom

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Rachael Perry
This article i found on Twitter that discusses tools that teachers can use to help enhance their teaching by using instructional animations. Because of my personal struggle with the Aurasma project, the fact that these tools supposedly allow you to easily create GIFs and short animations definitely caught my eye and had me continue reading. From the sounds of it, these tools actually seem quite easy to use. While I don't know 100% whether they can be used to demonstrate any complex concepts, they can definitely be used to help students better understand fundamental concepts like cause and effect. This article not only lists and describes these tools, but also provides video tutorials on how to use each one of them.

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Simple animated GIFs or short animated videos played on a loop can be a good way to simply display the steps of a solving a math problem. I've also seen animated GIFs used to illustrate parts of speech. And my friends who teach physics like to use animated GIFs to illustrate key physics concepts. Those are just a few of the ways that you could use animated GIFs in your classroom. The following three tools make it easy to create instructional animations.

Flip Anim provides possibly the easiest way draw and create an animated GIF. In the following short video I demonstrate how to create animated GIFs by using Flip Anim.

Loopy is a free tool for creating your own animated simulations or illustrations of a concept. This free animation tool is designed to showing relationships between two or more parts of a system. It's perfect for showing cause and effect or for showing a workflow system. To create an animation on Loopy you simply have to click on the blank canvas to place a circle that represents the start of a system. Then click on the canvas again to add another element to your system animation. To connect the two (or more) pieces you use a drawing tool to connect them. Once you've drawn the connections you can add cause and effect commands by selecting them from the Loopy editor.

Parapara Animation is a free animation creation tool developed and hosted by Mozilla. The tool is easy to use and it does not require registration in order to use it. In the video embedded below I demonstrate how to create an animation with ParaPara Animation.

Animations made with any of the tools that I have featured here can be embedded into a blog post, webpage, or into most slideshows.

Here are this week's most popular posts from FreeTech4Teachers.com:
1. Free Music to Use In Google Slides Presentations
2. Doodle 4 Google is Back for 2018
3. 25 G Suite Add-ons & Chrome Extensions for Teachers & Students
4. How to Quickly Copy Questions from One Google Form to Another
5. g(Math) Has Been Deleted - Try These Three Alternatives
6. 10 Good Resources for Math Teachers and Students
7. Three Things I Like About Microsoft Forms
Online Professional Development
The 2018 Practical Ed Tech Coaching Group will had its first webinar on Tuesday afternoon, but you can still join until the end of the month. And you can start Teaching History With Technology or G Suite for Teachers at any time.
Book Me for Your Conference
I've given keynotes at conferences from Australia to Alaska for groups of all sizes from 50 to 2,000+. My keynotes focus on providing teachers and school administrators with practical ways to use technology to create better learning experiences for all students. I like to shine the light on others and so I often share examples of great work done by others as well as my own. Click here to book me today.

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Practical Ed Tech Tip of the Week - 3 Tools for Creating Instructional Animations

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Simple animated GIFs or short animated videos played on a loop can be a good way to simply display the steps of a solving a math problem. I've also seen animated GIFs used to illustrate parts of speech. And my friends who teach physics like to use animated GIFs to illustrate key physics concepts.

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10 Reasons Today's Students NEED Technology in the Classroom

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10 Reasons Today's Students NEED Technology in the Classroom

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For the article I found on Twitter, it talked how technology is entwined with everything we do nowadays. However, school districts are finding it difficult to integrate the tech into their schools and classroom settings. The two main reasons for this worry is 1.) Schools are on the fence about the use of certain mobile devices; thinking they're more a burden than a strategic learning tool, and 2.) Schools want to deploy mobile devices but their network infrastructure is not capable of properly supporting the technology. However, I think this article does a great job of also explaining how one can support technology in their classroom while also making sure you don't have to break the bank.

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10 Reasons Today's Students NEED Technology in the Classroom

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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.

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10 Types of Digital Activities to Engage Teenagers

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10 Types of Digital Activities to Engage Teenagers

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This article I found through twitter discusses several ways to help engagements of teens in schools. There were several great ideas that I would have never thought about! For example, using a dream board in order to have students set goals for themselves and achieve them. There are a bunch of links to follow up on ideas and receive resources. Another idea I liked was the incorporation of "the selfie." I mean it's literally an assignment of students taking selfies. They would love that. The third idea is a strategy that you actually use and that is flip grid. She said specifically for debates, but it can be used for anything. Another tool she mentioned was gamification, which I actually experienced this in my senior english class and it was AWESOME! So much fun to do assignments and also never had to carry a stupid binder , book, or pencil for class. Everything was online. Overall, she gives ideas for students to get creative in the classroom with the tools that they already use. I fully intend to put some of these ideas in my teacher folder to pull out when I am in the field/ have a classroom of my own.
Sara Roberto

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How can technology help students learn the English language? (Irene Makris)

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How can technology help students learn the English language? (Irene Makris)

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This article I found on twitter discusses to meet the needs of ELL Learners in the classroom. Across the nation, there are students that another language is their primary language. By using technology tools, the ELLs engagement will increase their learning. Researcher and ELL expert Jim Cummins identifies three keys to success in teaching students who are learning English.

1. Engage students in their literacy by providing access to resources.

2. Ensure that all teachers are prepared to scaffold their instruction across the curriculum.

3. Affirm and value students' background, culture and identity.

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Special Report: Meeting the Needs of ELLs | Middlebury Interactive Languages

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Researcher and ELL expert Jim Cummins has identified three keys to success in teaching students who are just learning English: Engage students in their literacy by providing access to resources. Ensure that all teachers are prepared to scaffold their instruction across the curriculum. Affirm and value students' background, culture and identity.

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (Brittney Legler)

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (Brittney Legler)

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This article lists 6 resources that would allow a classroom to create their own newspaper. I think this is a great idea, not only to create a stronger sense of classroom community but to also institute a "multimodal literacy activity" that can be used throughout the school year. The tools listed in the article are Google Docs newspapers templates, Printing Press, Lucidpress, Newspaper Templates from Lucidpress, Canva and Piktochart, and Creating a Class Newspaper.

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

I launched ETML in 2010 with the purpose of helping my fellow EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers integrate technology in English language teaching. Fast forward to 2022, ETML became among the top EdTech blogs with over 7000 published blog posts. ETML has been referenced in a wide variety of academic research journals, books, and news outlets including the New York Times, Huffpost.com, Hubspot.com... [continue reading].

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Educational Technology and Mobile Learning (ETML) is a blog owned and operated by Med Kharbach. Dr. Kharbach holds a PhD in educational studies from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Canada. He was also a K-12 teacher with over 12 years of classroom teaching experience.

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Does Technology Belong in the Classroom Instruction (Lexi Taylor)

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Does Technology Belong in the Classroom Instruction (Lexi Taylor)

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I have linked an article below that was a debate between two opposing viewpoints. Lisa Nielson feels that technology should be incorporated into classroom instruction, while José Antonio Bowen feels there are more reasons that technology should not be incorporated in classroom instruction. Nielson argues that technology should be integrated because it allows students to "go further" in their learning. Connected devices will provide access to resources that the school could never even think of providing within the school walls. Bowen on the other hand argues that technology should not be used in the classroom because face to face interaction is important and should be preserved. People are forgetting to slow down and to focus and technology is not helping that. In classrooms face to face interactions should be enforced and technology should just be saved for using at home.

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Does Technology Belong in Classroom Instruction?

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Lisa Nielsen of the New York City Department of Education says teachers can use technology in the classroom to expand students' horizons. José Antonio Bowen of Goucher Colleges says it often interferes with teaching children how to think.

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This article presents different digital tools to try in the year of 2018. The article initially sparked my interest because it is a testament to the ever changing and growing world of technology. Every year there are many different apps and forms of technology which are released to the world. As future educators, it is our job to sort through these forms of technology and decide what would be beneficial to use in the classroom. This article offers twelve tools, all of which allow the student to create, connect, and engage in an authentic learning experience. I was further interested when seeing Flipgrid, Padlet, and Nearpod on the list. All three of these tools have been or will be used in our course this semester. I am interested in exploring the other tools, as they could be very useful in the classroom environment.

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There are so many digital tools available today that offer opportunities for promoting student creativity, student voice, and expanding where and how students learn. I had my own list of the tools that I found made a big difference in my classroom, but decided to ask students for their input.

Here is a list of tools to try in 2018. Each of these offer multiple ways for students to create, connect and engage in more authentic learning experiences.

Promoting Connected Learners

We were able to take our learning to a whole new level this year through Project Based Learning (PBL). Using these tools enabled us to connect with students from several Spanish speaking countries, which created tremendous possibilities for more authentic learning and broadening our cultural understanding.

1) : Virtual learning space, where teachers can set up a digital classroom to connect students with the resources they need, in a safe learning environment. Edmodo can be used for assessments and integrates with Microsoft Office and Google, making it easy to share files with students. Students relied on Edmodo to connect with students in Argentina, Mexico and Spain for their PBL. One student said "these connections enabled me to sculpt my PBL, and learn in ways that books, videos and regular classroom lessons cannot provide."

2) : Video response tool, which became one of the most talked about tools this past year after launching new features, making it even easier and more fun for students to share their ideas. Students can record up to a five minute response, add emojis to their photos and access the "grid" quickly through a grid code. It is a great tool for helping students to become more comfortable and confident in sharing their ideas and sparking curiosity with their peers.

3) : Padlet, a virtual wall, is a favorite in our classroom. Students can create a digital portfolio by uploading files and links to projects, curate resources for PBL, or have discussions with classrooms around the world. Other popular ways to use Padlet are to ask questions, post homework, or as a classroom website. Newer features include being able to "like", "grade" or "upvote" a post and directly transfer posts to another Padlet wall.

4) : Recap 2.0 is a free video response tool, which integrates with Edmodo, Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom and Blackboard, making it easy to implement right away. It provides a comfortable way for teachers and students to ask questions by setting them up in a "Queue". Students can submit questions and receive direct feedback, in a safe moderated environment.

Tools to Engage Students in Learning

5) Quizlet Live: Quizlet Live is a fun way to encourage student collaboration by playing a team game using a set of Quizlet study cards. Teachers select a set of study cards, launch a Live game by providing students with a join code, and students are divided into teams. To play, you need at least four players and a study set with at least 12 unique terms. Only one member of the team has the correct answer and answering incorrectly bounces the team score back to zero.

6) : Quizizz has launched some new features, including integrating with Edmodo and Google Classroom, which makes sharing or assigning games and reviewing results much easier. When playing live, students can see the class accuracy reflected as it updates the leaderboard live with each response. There are thousands of games available in the library, making it easy to get started or create your own.

7) : Some big changes to the layout and options of the platform make it easier to navigate and review questions in class. Teachers can now assign "challenges" to students as a fun way to practice by sharing a code. The new "Nickname Generator" creates fun and unique usernames such as "Mystery Panda" or "Fantastic Bat" to students. It definitely saves time rather than waiting for students try to come up with their own "creative" names.

8) : Blogging has many benefits for helping students to express themselves and begin to develop their online presence. Teachers can provide students with a variety of writing prompts to not only assess student learning, but promote creativity, communication, collaboration and digital citizenship skills. With Kidblog, teachers can even AppSmash (use two or more apps or tools together to complete a task) by embedding other tech tools into the platform, such as Buncee, Flipgrid or by uploading images and documents directly from Google Drive.

Creativity, Assessments, Interactive Lessons and More

9) : Buncee, a versatile presentation and assessment tool, is great for creating multimedia projects full of animations, graphics, audio, and videos. Choose from thousands of templates, backgrounds, animations and other graphics to create invitations, classroom signs, and unique "Buncees" for any purpose. Buncee enables every student to find exactly what they need to add into their project and to bring out their creativity.

10) : An interactive tool for creating formative assessments, for use in class or as student-paced practice. Students enjoy using Formative because they receive feedback quickly, they are able to "show" their work and when done as practice, move at their own pace. Teachers can create Formatives with different question types, content and even the ability to upload and transform files. Try having students create their own Formatives as a way to have more personalized and authentic practice.

Immersive Learning, Coding and Problem Solving

11) : Nearpod continues to be a game changer in our classroom. It provides so many options for presenting material as well as assessing students through diverse activities. The chance to be immersed in the virtual field trips and explore places around the world is of tremendous value for students. Educators can quickly create interactive lessons which include multiple question formats, the ability to upload content, BBC lessons, PhET simulations, and even add in GIFS! Nearpod integrates with Google Classroom and Canvas, and most recently with Remind, making it even easier to share lessons. Nearpod also added 27 "College Tours", available in VR, a great way to have students experience different schools by immersing in the campus, without having to travel the distance.

12) CoSpacesEDU: CoSpacesEDU provides students with a way to not only create their own "spaces", but to be able to walk in the spaces created by their peers. To explore in VR (Virtual Reality) and problem solve by figuring out how to code using Blockly, offers students a truly authentic way to learn, create and problem solve. The Gallery is full of examples to get you started with ideas for your classroom. Use CoSpaces to have students represent a scientific concept, a book report, or create a scene representing something studied in any content area. Talk about creativity, imagination, innovation and critical thinking, and more all in one tool.

In the End

These are just 12 of the many tools out there for education. The most important thing to remember is the "Why"? behind using these in the classroom. While these 12 tools made a difference in my classroom, they may not have the same impact in yours, but I do recommend giving them a try. Think about the tools you are currently using to amplify or facilitate student learning. What is making a difference in how, what and where students learn? Could one of these be used in place of another, as a way to engage students more in learning, or even better, provide opportunities for students to move from consumers to creators?

My advice is to simply choose one of these 12 tools and give it a try. See how it goes, ask your students for some feedback, and then plan your next steps.
For more, see: Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update

Rachelle Dene Poth is a Foreign Language and STEAM Teacher at Riverview Junior/Senior High in Oakmont, PA. Follow her on Twitter at @rdene915

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12 Digital Tools to Try in 2018 | Getting Smart

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There are so many digital tools available today that offer opportunities for promoting student creativity, student voice, and expanding where and how students learn. I had my own list of the tools that I found made a big difference in my classroom, but decided to ask students for their input.

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How Technology Can Play A Vital Role in Every Child's Education

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How Technology Can Play A Vital Role in Every Child's Education

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This article comes fro BETT 2018. This is a conference held in Britian that focuses on educational training and technology.
This article focuses on the fact that technology is becoming so heavily intertwined in our lives and as teachers, it is our responsibility to share with our students how to use education in a responsible way. Everything we teach students is connected to other, life skills. Technology isn't any different. Technology will follow students for the rest of their lives. The enthusiasm they have towards technology has to remain with them. The article goes on to discuss how giving students a love for technology now will benefit their future careers and our future as they are our future.

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School children and students across Britain are set to benefit from major government investment in education technology, a top minister has said.

Speaking at the opening of the BETT 2018 event in London yesterday, Anne Milton, the Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships, outlined how investment in new technology can help children of all ages to improve their education.

With funding for new technology and education both taking major roles in the recent Autumn Statement, the Edtech market is set to grow hugely in coming years, as more institutions embrace technology to improve learning standards.

Noting that, "proper implementation is key", Milton highlighted how although many schools often feel they lack the budget or expertise to implement technology effectively, Edtech can play a hugely significant role in teaching.

"Edtech can play a vital role as a tool for teachers in our schools, colleges and universities," she said in her speech, "technology should reduce teacher workload - it should be another way to make education more accessible and also more inclusive."

"The UK is an Edtech hub which is at the forefront of discoveries and developments, the Minister added, noting that there are around 200 Edtech ventures in London alone, and many more around the country.

Although, "our lives are becoming inextricably linked to technology", many people (11.5 million) still say that they lack basic digital skills, Milton said, a major handicap when it comes to spurring on the so-called fourth industrial revolution.

Companies are also struggling to recruit employees with the right digital skills, she noted and may continue to do so in the future unless this shortcoming is addressed. Noting that the vast majority of jobs today need digital expertise, the minister said that today's children need to be, "more than digital consumers, but also practitioners and creators."

Looking forward, Milton highlighted the government is looking to enable this change with investment in both education and technology.

"We need to make sure that the enthusiasm our students have for digital skills and learning is translated far beyond the classroom and right in to the workplace."

"Improving our digital skills is at the heart of these reforms...the government wants people to be able to get the digital skills they need, our economy depends on it."

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BETT 2018 - How technology can play a "vital role" in every child's education

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School children and students across Britain are set to benefit from major government investment in education technology, a top minister has said. Speaking at the opening of the BETT 2018 event in London yesterday, Anne Milton, the Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships, outlined how investment in new technology can help children of all ages to improve their education.

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7 Fun Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom (Regina Sandora)

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7 Fun Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom (Regina Sandora)

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Below I have linked an article that I found to be really exciting because the 7 ways that the blogger Ashley mentioned were ways to use technology that I hadn't thought of before. One of the examples that got me thinking the most was the idea of using podcasts for students. Podcasts are really easy to create, and a teacher could put one together, narrating key points that they want the students to take away from the lessons, and the students could listen to the podcasts for a review, if they were absent, or as a study tool.

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Technology in the classroom is the best learning tool. With classroom technology educators can get more students engaged, improve collaboration, and most importantly make learning fun! School wireless networks everywhere are implementing BYOD and 1:1 initiatives and are taking advantage of the many benefits technology in the classroom has to offer.

If you would like to learn more about some of the great benefits classroom technology has to offer check out this blog 5 Reasons BYOD Technology in the Classroom Enhances Learning.

Today I would like to highlight some great ways to best utilize technology in the classroom to enrich learning.

1) Video Streaming

If a picture says a thousand words, imagine how many words a video says. Video in the classroom can really help create a clearer and more complete picture for students. YouTube is a great tool for this; chances are you can find a video clip to compliment any lesson there.

2) Play Games

What kid doesn't love playing games? Using mobile devices like iPads and tablets you can keep students involved with all sorts of educational games for just about any subject. Students can keep track of their progress and work to compete with other students to advance to the next level.
Also Read | "How Video Games and Mobile Devices are Changing Gym Class Forever"

3) Social Media

Don't ban social media, embrace it. Students are already engrossed with social media outside of class, so bringing it into the classroom is sure to instantly grab their attention. You can use Facebook or Twitter to post a topic for
discussion and get all students involved and interacting with one another.It's an easy way for them to share resources and help each other out.

4) Blogging

Having students post their work in blogs is a great way to allow student to showcase all their hard work or works-in-progress. Students can help each other out by posting comments and suggestions for each other. Because students work will be publically posted you are likely to get higher quality work from them too.
Also Read | "Update: How Students are Using Technology in the Classroom 2013"

5) Podcasts

Podcasts make great learning tools for students especially when it comes time for studying. You can easily create and post podcasts for students who want to review or were absent so every student has the opportunity to soak it all in.

6) Video Conferencing

Using video conferencing technology can allow students to travel the world from their classroom, speak with virtual guest lecturers, and make friends and interact with others in different countries.

7) Collaborative exercises

A great way to optimize collaboration is to use mobile devices in the classroom by letting students use them in group work.

Students can get together in groups with their tablet and the teacher can select which ones she wants to show on the screen. This a great option for classes with only a selct number of mobile devices for student use.

Utilizing technology in the classroom is a great way to bring your class to life.

If you're ready to improve student engagement and enrich education by utilizing classroom technology, the first step is setting up a secure wireless network to support these devices.

Whether you're considering implementing a 1:1 initiative or a BYOD (bring your own device) program we can help you plan, design, and deploy the best and most secure solution for your school wireless network.

If you have any questions or would like to request a detailed consultation, contact us here.

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7 Fun Ways to Use Technology in the classroom to enrich learning

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Technology in the classroom is the best learning tool. With classroom technology educators can get more students engaged, improve collaboration, and most importantly make learning fun! School wireless networks everywhere are implementing BYOD and 1:1 initiatives and are taking advantage of the many benefits technology in the classroom has to offer.

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Repost for Savannah Hehn335:

I found two articles on Twitter about using technology in an ESL classroom that interested me:
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/esl-technology-resources-for-students/

https://echo360.com/video-closed-captioning-flipped-classroom-helps-esl-students-thrive/

Using technology in an ESL classroom can be beneficial to the students in learning to speak English as well as to be confident in their speaking/reading/writing skills. One program, called Echo360, uses techhnology to record a teacher's lesson, as well as the student's questions, comments, and answers. It allows the students to follow along with the teacher's lesson as if they're reading it like a book. The CatchBox allows for a playful aspect to be added to the classroom. It is a microphone in a foam box that can be tossed around to record what everyone says. It encourages engagement and conversation. These uses of technology have benefits such as incresing student motivation, offers mobility, teaches valuable tools for the future, is a time saver, and promotes learner independence.

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https://www.blog.google/topics/education/all-types-chromebooks-all-types-learners/

Chromebooks have recently emerged as a useful tool in the field of education. Over 25 million students and teachers have used Chromebooks for educational purposes. Chromebooks are useful specifically in regards to education because they can be used in so many different contexts. One highlight of the Chromebook is that it has the ability to adapt to each individual student and their needs. Chromebooks make it possible to cater to students of all different backgrounds, learning styles, etc. Chromebooks provide many students and teachers with access to a wide range of resources and programs. These resources and programs have a profound impact on students and can enhance their learning as well as make it more engaging. I think Chromebooks are a great tool to have available. I feel that they provide students with many additional opportunities to learn that they might not have had otherwise. I think that they are a great way to get students familiar with using technology to enhance their learning.

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http://blog.interactiveschools.com/blog/how-to-multicast-live-stream-school-events

I found an interesting article about live streaming school events. Live streaming is "a streaming service that allows you to broadcast live feeds via social media platforms". The article gave many different websites for schools to live stream from. These websites include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Individual classrooms could also live stream events in private classroom websites. For example, you could have a private Instagram account for your classroom that parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc could follow. You could then live stream classroom events such as plays, concerts, parties, presentations, etc. The article even shows a live stream of a classroom pet! I thought this was a clever idea for parents who cannot make school events due to work, sickness, other commitments, etc. I think that this could also be a way to build positive relationships with parents because you are keeping them in the loop of what is going on in the classroom.

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How Technology is Captivating Classrooms 

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How Technology is Captivating Classrooms 

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https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2017/04/21/samsung-3/?utm_content=bufferb1bc4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

"Using technology in the classroom should be helpful tool to assist teachers, not replace them. Samsung’s Captivating Classrooms is a solution that will support teaching methods and enhance and improve learning." The article starts out with this quote and the idea that technology is not replacing teachers, but should be used to enhance learning inside of the classroom. The article went on to talk about the future of education and how there is a new technology solution called virtual reality. Virtual reality today is one of the most progressive and innovative ideas at this very moment. Although this might out of reach for a lot of teachers, it is suprisingly affordable and accessible. The article then shows research data by Samsung that supports this and their findings with virtual reality inside the classroom. In fact, it say that 85% of teachers believe that virtual reality would have a positive effect inside their classroom. I mean how cool would it be to be learning about dinosaurs inside your classroom, and then being able to see them from your perspective right in front of you?

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  "How Has Technology Changed Education"  (Sophia Krahe)                      

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  "How Has Technology Changed Education"  (Sophia Krahe)                      

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I thought this article gave great insight on how the resources of technology have changed and shaped the way students are learning information in classrooms. The article explains how people typically see a classroom: the teacher lectures from a podium and the students listen to the information form their seats. However, by using technology in the classroom the teachers are expanding access to education. The use of technology opens a variety of opportunities for formal learning online rather than a lecture style teaching. In addition, the use of technology influences the opportunities of communication and collaboration. A quote that stuck out to me in the article expressed "The walls of the classroom are no longer a barrier as technology enables new ways of learning, communicating, and working collaboratively." This quote stuck out to me because the use of technology is really changing the four walls the students sit in and enhancing their learning in a meaningful manner. Technology is something the students can connect to and make them motivate to learn in school. The teachers and students role are also changing by the student taking more responsibility in their learning. The teacher is giving them the opportunity to explore their education on their own but being their as a "guide on the side."

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Technology has impacted almost every aspect of life today, and education is no exception. Or is it? In some ways, education seems much the same as it has been for many years. A 14th century illustration by Laurentius de Voltolina depicts a university lecture in medieval Italy. The scene is easily recognizable because of its parallels to the modern day. The teacher lectures from a podium at the front of the room while the students sit in rows and listen. Some of the students have books open in front of them and appear to be following along. A few look bored. Some are talking to their neighbors. One appears to be sleeping. Classrooms today do not look much different, though you might find modern students looking at their laptops, tablets, or smart phones instead of books (though probably open to Facebook). A cynic would say that technology has done nothing to change education.

However, in many ways, technology has profoundly changed education. For one, technology has greatly expanded access to education. In medieval times, books were rare and only an elite few had access to educational opportunities. Individuals had to travel to centers of learning to get an education. Today, massive amounts of information (books, audio, images, videos) are available at one's fingertips through the Internet, and opportunities for formal learning are available online worldwide through the Khan Academy, MOOCs, podcasts, traditional online degree programs, and more. Access to learning opportunities today is unprecedented in scope thanks to technology.

Opportunities for communication and collaboration have also been expanded by technology. Traditionally, classrooms have been relatively isolated, and collaboration has been limited to other students in the same classroom or building. Today, technology enables forms of communication and collaboration undreamt of in the past. Students in a classroom in the rural U.S., for example, can learn about the Arctic by following the expedition of a team of scientists in the region, read scientists' blog posting, view photos, e-mail questions to the scientists, and even talk live with the scientists via a videoconference. Students can share what they are learning with students in other classrooms in other states who are tracking the same expedition. Students can collaborate on group projects using technology-based tools such as wikis and Google docs. The walls of the classrooms are no longer a barrier as technology enables new ways of learning, communicating, and working collaboratively.

Technology has also begun to change the roles of teachers and learners. In the traditional classroom, such as what we see depicted in de Voltolina's illustration, the teacher is the primary source of information, and the learners passively receive it. This model of the teacher as the "sage on the stage" has been in education for a long time, and it is still very much in evidence today. However, because of the access to information and educational opportunity that technology has enabled, in many classrooms today we see the teacher's role shifting to the "guide on the side" as students take more responsibility for their own learning using technology to gather relevant information. Schools and universities across the country are beginning to redesign learning spaces to enable this new model of education, foster more interaction and small group work, and use technology as an enabler.

Technology is a powerful tool that can support and transform education in many ways, from making it easier for teachers to create instructional materials to enabling new ways for people to learn and work together. With the worldwide reach of the Internet and the ubiquity of smart devices that can connect to it, a new age of anytime anywhere education is dawning. It will be up to instructional designers and educational technologies to make the most of the opportunities provided by technology to change education so that effective and efficient education is available to everyone everywhere.

You can help shape the influence of technology in education with an Online Master of Science in Education in Learning Design and Technology from Purdue University Online. This accredited program offers studies in exciting new technologies that are shaping education and offers students the opportunity to take part in the future of innovation.

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Technology has impacted almost every aspect of life today, and education is no exception. Or is it? In some ways, education seems much the same as it has been for many years. A 14th century illustration by Laurentius de Voltolina depicts a university lecture in medieval Italy.

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I found two articles on Twitter about Genius Hour that interested me:
http://www.geniushour.com/2013/03/31/genius-hour-project-introdutions/

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/standards-aligned-genius-hour-matthew-farber?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
Genius Hour or 20% time is an idea that has been gaining momentum in education in the last several years. It comes from tech companies like Google giving their employees 20% of their time to work on passion projects. This would be a great idea in upper elementary but would require a lot of structure. The first article has a great outline for how to introduce the project. The second article has great ideas for older students and incorporating other elements like makerspaces and HOMAGO. Below is an informative graphic I found on Twitter that was made with Piktochart.