# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Technology Integration in Schools - An Introduction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Technology in Elementary School—Milton Hershey School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: iPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Do We Need Technology Integration?  

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Do We Need Technology Integration?  

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

# data[].attributes.headline
Preparing 21st Century Students for Today's Society.  

# data[].attributes.subject
Preparing 21st Century Students for Today's Society.  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Being a 21st-century educator is a tall order. In my 15 years in the classroom, my most important "helpers" are technology, movement, and networking. Here's why.

# data[].attributes.headline
What is Successful Technology Integration?

# data[].attributes.subject
What is Successful Technology Integration?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Is Successful Technology Integration?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Well-integrated use of technology resources by thoroughly trained teachers makes twenty-first-century learning possible. From our Technology Integration Professional Development Guide.

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Technology vs. Technology Integration 

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Technology vs. Technology Integration 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Technology Vs Technology Integration- An Excellent Chart for Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A platform that provides reviews of educational web tools and apps to help educators, teachers, and students integrate technology in education.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Tips for Technology Integration in the Classroom.  

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Tips for Technology Integration in the Classroom.  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Photo by Kevin Jarrett via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

My first year of teaching, my administrator handed me an iPad and said, "Play around with it." Like I had all the time in the world as a first-year teacher to play around with a piece of technology I'd never used! Even though my administration didn't pressure me about integration right away, I pressured myself. It's hard enough to battle for students' attention against romantic relationships, hormones, fatigue and cell phones. Now, we are suppose to hand them another distraction. Being the people-pleasing person I am, I jumped right in.

I would love to tell you that technology integrates itself, but it doesn't. There are no technology faeries that come into your classroom to plug all the wires into the right places, create interesting videos for lessons or keeps students engaged. What I can offer you is five tips that I've learned along the way, so you can benefit from my blood, sweat and tears. If you have ever been fearful of integrating technology into your classroom, fear no more.

1. Create clear instructions

Students act like they know everything there is to know about technology, but they don't. It is helpful to have clear instructions that you review, model and have accessible throughout the year. I post easy, step-by-step instructions on my wall that are color coordinated and include visual icons. For larger projects, I create videos that go over the instructions using screencastify. This way the student can watch the video as many times as necessary.

2. Recruit student tech support

Students are more likely to ask another student for help than the teacher. I suggest recruiting at least two students (diligent, helpful and encouraging students) per class to become the student tech support team. I try to develop a team atmosphere between them. They have lunch meetings in my class where I feed them snacks and train them on programs that I will be using. They even have a cool name "Browning's Tech Squad." They are able to troubleshoot with their peers and decide when a problem needs my assistance.

3. Get up and move

First-year teachers are told that proximity will solve many of their class management issues. The same can be said for integrating technology. My students are in groups of six with their Chromebooks all facing different directions; therefore, I am up and moving around the room a lot. There is no management strategy that is better that your presence around the room, however, there are some ways keep them on track and minimize your walking-around time. During tests, I move students to pair seating. This way I can see all the screens at the same time. Also, they are not allowed to dim their screen and iPads are to be kept flat on the table.

4. Engage their interests

Using technology shouldn't mean doing the same boring worksheets on the computer instead of paper. Be mindful of all the opportunities that technology offers, including engaging videos, music, programs and online communication (like blogs) to help your students relate to the content materials. Finding these resources can be time consuming. Recruit your teaching team to lighten the load. Each of the teachers in your team can research one way to integrate technology into your next unit. By time you start, you can have four or five different engaging strategies or resources ready.

5. Create a professional online community

Digital citizenship may be the buzzword of the decade, but it is of great importance. Students are often thrown onto computers without any direction on how to behave or perform. Without guidance, students will approach academic digital work with the same relaxed mindset they bring to social media or online games outside the classroom. It is much easier to be proactive and teach them how to be professional than to deal with cyberbullying, or worse, later.

Schools have students sign technology user agreements, but students don't read them. I have my students create their own contract. First, we watch videos of professionals talking about online practices (inviting a business leader as a guest speaker would be powerful). We read stories about misconduct online. They even share their own experiences. Based on all that information, they create their contract. They take ownership of the level of professionalism they want in their online classroom.

You also need to create an authentic audience for their work, and discuss how to develop the correct level of professionalism for each type of audience. My students' update stream on Schoology is their place to chat. They can tell jokes, post polls, share information, etc. They have discussion posts within their assignments, where their peers are also their audience, but this time their writing is academic and purpose-driven. They also have presentations, interviews and projects that they share with business leaders from the community, and they must learn how to adjust their language, style and content to communicate with them effectively.

You might not have technology faeries to help you, but you don't have to fear fighting for your students' attention. You can't plan for every possible scenario when integrating technology into your instruction, but a well-developed and interesting plan can make all the difference. You don't have to overhaul your whole instructional plan, just pick one thing and try it out. Be patient with your students and be prepared to laugh at the problems (if you don't, you will cry). And when it finally does work, you can pat yourself on the back, give your students well-deserved praise and share your success with your friendly neighborhood technology faery.

5 Classroom Management Tips for Technology Integration

Author

Crystal Browning

Crystal Browning teaches English Language Arts in the Multimedia Technology Academy at Monache High School in Porterville, CA. She currently serves as the English Department Co-Chair. She is passionate about creating a safe and loving learning environment through mutual tolerance and transparency. She laughs, cries, and learns alongside her students. You can reach her on Twitter @MrsBteachagape.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Classroom Management Tips for Technology Integration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My first year of teaching, my administrator handed me an iPad and said, "Play around with it." Like I had all the time in the world as a first-year teacher to play around with a piece of technology I'd never used! Even though my administration didn't pressure me about integration right away, I pressured myself....

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ASSURE is an instructional design model that has the goal of producing more effective teaching and learning. "ASSURE" is an acronym that stands for the various steps in the model. The following is a breakdown of each step.

See also:
A - Analyze Learners
The first step in the process is that the teacher should analyze the attributes of her learners. There should be a focus on those learner characteristics which are associated with the learning outcomes desired. The information gathered will help you in the decisions that you make with respect to the other steps in the process. When you determine the character of the learners, it will guide you in choosing specific strategies and resources to aid the learning process.

The analysis of your learners should include:

The general attributes of your learners, such as age, academic abilities, gender, interests, etc.

Prior competencies

Learning styles, such as auditory, visual, and tactile

S - State Standards and Objectives
After the analysis of the learner attributes, the teacher must state standards and objectives for the learning module. This statement consists of a specification of what the learners will be able to do as a result of the instruction.

To be more concrete about things, this statement will focus on what the learner will know or be able to do as a result of the instruction. An example of this is with medical students. The learners will be able to name at least two databases and two search techniques that they can use to locate medical evidence for particular cases.

The objectives can be used in assessing the success of the students, perhaps for the grading process. Also, you can use them to let the learners know what they will accomplish through the class.

The mark of a good set of learning objectives is conformity to the ABCDs of well-stated learning objectives. They are as follows:

Audience - For whom is the objective intended?

Behavior - What is the behavior or performance to be demonstrated?

Conditions - What are the conditions under which the behavior or performance will be observed?

Degree - To what degree will the knowledge or skill be mastered?

The objectives statement should be formulated with verbs that pinpoint the learning objective. A useful guide to the appropriate verbs to use is contained in Bloom's Taxonomy. Remember that assessment can only be based on your learners' behavior. A learner may know some material backwards and forwards but may not be able to perform well on a test.
S - Select Strategies, Technology, Media, and Materials
The second "s" in the acronym stands for select strategies, technology, media, and materials. Given what your learning objectives are, it's necessary to pick instructional strategies, technology, and media that will bring about the results that you want.

First, you should figure out what which delivery method will be best for your instruction. For instance, what proportion of your instruction will be instructor-centered and what proportion of will be student-centered? The first of these are strategies such as lecture, demonstration or showing a video. The second are strategies such as group discussion or cooperative group work.

Common sense weighs in on the side of learner-centered strategies. Learning becomes more exciting when there is more class participation. Ultimately, it's the learner who must gain mastery over the material, not the teacher. However, there will be a certain amount of crucial information and technique that the teacher must give over and demonstrate.

Learning is at its best when the teacher merely leads the student into discovering the correct answer to a problem themselves. An effective teacher is merely a facilitator to the process of learning.

Once you select your teaching strategy, then it's time to figure out which technology, media, and materials best support the method of teaching that you're using. This ranges from simple tools such as chalk and blackboard to more sophisticated ones such as power-point presentations. What must be remembered is that the instructor is the essential ingredient in giving over the material. Fancy tools are useful, but it ultimately boils down to having someone who knows more than what the textbook contains.
U - Utilize Technology, Media, and Materials
This step in the ASSURE process concerns making a plan as to how you will utilize the technology, media, and materials that you have selected. As with all of the instructional steps, you must make sure that your plans contribute towards producing the objectives that you have laid down.

It's important to follow the "five p's" process to achieve this:
Preview the Technology, Media, and Materials
This means that it's important to plan ahead of time just how you're going to use them. It's good to do a dry run of your lesson before you actually teach it. Make sure that the whole lesson will go smoothly and seamlessly.
Prepare the Technology, Media, and Materials
You need to gather together all of the things that you will need to teach your lesson. They must be working properly. For example, if you are making a power-point presentation, then you'll need to create the text and graphics for each screen.
Prepare the Environment
There is some minimal preparation required to set up the learning environment. Simple things like making sure that you have enough desks are important. Also, if you have control over the situation, you should make sure that there are no sources of noise that will disturb the students.
Prepare the Learners
First, you need to clearly inform the learners as to what the learning objectives are. This will help the learners create a mental map of what they need to absorb. Next, it's important to tell the students how they will be assessed. You need to tell them what their assignments will be, how they will be graded, if there are tests, etc. Also, you should explain to the students what the benefits of learning the material are.
Provide the Learning Experience
You then actually carry out the lesson. This is where all of your planning takes effect. You should be prepared to carry out the lesson with every prior step of the process in mind. This will insure your success as a teacher.
R - Require Learner Participation
This step actually belongs within earlier steps. It requires that you make plans to how you are going to actively engage your students in the material that you are teaching. This needs to be figured out both at the class level and the individual level.

The most basic step that you can take is requiring participation of the students in class discussions. A more sophisticated approach would require that students prepare questions and comments at home to bring into the class. You might try even allowing individual students to lead classes or discussions in the style of a seminar.

Beyond this, you need to plan exactly how the students will participate in the learning process generally speaking. How will they learn the information and techniques included in a lesson? This plan needs to be more specific than just saying that they will listen and absorb the material. Maybe you will encourage a specific kind of note-taking or other learning strategies.
E - Evaluate and Revise
The final step in the ASSURE process is just as crucial as all of the others. In this step, you evaluate the impact of your teaching on student learning. This includes an evaluation of your teaching strategies and the technology, media, and materials that you used. The following questions are useful to ask during this evaluation:

Did your lesson meet the learning objectives that you planned? How will you determine whether the students reach the objectives? Is your way of assessing the students in line with your learning objectives?

Can this lesson be improved? How? How are you going to assess the weaknesses in your presentation?

Was your choice of media and materials a good one? How will you assess the effectiveness of these tools?

Is it possible that other technologies, media, and materials would have done a better job?

The final step in your evaluation should focus on feedback from your students. Was their experience positive overall? Do they feel that they have reached your objectives and their own personal objectives? How will you determine whether or not your performance was effective?

In conclusion, the ASSURE process is really just a matter of common sense. However, it is good to follow a regimented guide to improve your teaching technique. Any effective teacher knows that the perfection of their technique does not come overnight, and there is always room for improvement. By following the ASSURE process, you will be sure to improve your teaching for many years to come.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ASSURE: Instructional Design Model - Educational Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ASSURE is an instructional design model that has the goal of producing more effective teaching and learning. "ASSURE" is an acronym that stands for the

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Abstract
The lesson plan that will be presented in this paper includes the use of the ASSURE model. It was developed for an Advanced Placement English Language Composition course in which students were to use Microsoft OneNote in order to produce an outline that would be used while constructing a 40-minute timed essay. The need for the use of an emerging technology in the classroom was identified through the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), which serves as a guide to decipher the level as well as the learning environment in which educators incorporate technology in their classrooms. According to the TIM this educator was using technology at cell level D1 which translates into an authentic learning environment at the entry level. It was found that this teacher should incorporate technology at the E2 cell which includes a goal-directed learning environment in the adoption level. This lesson requires students to use an emerging technology that will guide them to write better timed essays and its creation was guided using the New Generation Sunshine State Standards and the advanced English course description.

ASSURE Lesson Plan

A lesson plan is an extremely useful tool that serves as a combination guide, resource, and historical document that reflects an educator's teaching philosophy, the current student population, and the proposed goals for students. It can be described with many metaphors such as a road map, blueprint, or game plan, but regardless of the analogy, a lesson plan is essential not only for novice teacher, but also convenient for experienced teachers (Jensen, n.d.). The ASSURE model is a step-by-step process that is used by educators in order to create lessons that effectively integrate the use of technology and media in the classroom as a means to improve student learning (Smaldino, Lowther, & Russell, 2012).

The need for the creation of an ASURRE model lesson plan was discovered through the use of the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM), that was created in order to aid in the intricate task of evaluating technology integration in the classroom (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2011) in order to close the technology use gap presented by this educator in which she exhibited D1 as the highest level of technology use in the classroom which translates into an authentic learning environment at the entry level. As a result, this teacher found that she should incorporate technology at the E2 cell, which includes a goal-directed learning environment in the adoption level in order to better address the authentic learning as well as technological needs of the students that she serves on a daily basis. The purpose of the paper is to present a step-by-step lesson plan for an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course using the ASSURE Model.

Analyze Learners

According to Smaldino et al., (2012), the first step in planning a lesson is to identify the learner characteristics, which should be associated with the learning outcomes. The key areas that need to be examined in this step are: (a) general characteristics of the students, (b) entry characteristics (previous knowledge and skills about the subject matter), and (c) learning styles. In terms of the general characteristics the 30 students enrolled in the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Course are between the ages of 15 and 16. There are 13 boys and 17 girls in this group of which 0.45% are Hispanic, 0.35% are White, and 0.2% are Black.

These students are enrolled in this course because they scored a three or higher on their Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) writing score. In addition, they completed an English Honors during their sophomore year and received a recommendation to be part of the Advanced Placement program through their past English instructor. All students are proficient in the use of technology and have access to use a digital device (laptop or smartphone). Also, they have the capacity to create and save documents using a word processor, navigate the Internet, independently complete coursework through online educational platforms, use correct grammatical conventions of Standard American English, and revise and edit writing to improve compositions. The students in this course present a preference towards visual and kinesthetic learning styles because they prefer to complete tasks through a hands-on approach, in groups, and by seeing presentations done by their peers and the instructor as well.

State Standards and Objectives

The second step in developing and effective plan using the ASSURE model is to state the curriculum and technology standards that have been adopted by the educator's district as well as the objectives (Smaldino et al., 2012). For the purpose of the lesson that will be delivered using this ASSURE model lesson plan the following New Generation Sunshine State Standards will be used: (a) LA.A.1.4.4: apply a variety of response strategies, including rereading, note taking, summarizing, outlining, writing a formal report, and relating what is read to his or her own experiences and feelings; (b) LA.A.2.4.4: locate, gather, analyze, and evaluate written information for a variety of purposes, including research projects, real-world tasks, and self-improvement; (c) LA.B.1.4.1: select and use appropriate prewriting strategies, such as brainstorming, graphic organizers, and outlining; (d) LA.B.1.4.2: draft and revise writing that is focused, purposeful, and reflects insight into the writing situation and has an organizational pattern that provides for a logical progression of ideas; (e) LA.B.1.4.3: produce final documents that have been edited for correct formatting that appeals to readers, including appropriate use of a variety of graphics, tables, charts, and illustrations in both standard and innovative forms; (f) LA.B.2.4.2: organize information using appropriate systems; and (g) LA.B.2.4.4: select and use a variety of electronic media, such as the Internet, information services, and desktop-publishing software programs, to create, revise, retrieve, and verify information (Polk County Public Schools, 1997).

In terms of technology the students will be directed through the following National Educational Technology Standards (NETS): (a) students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others; (b) students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information; (c) students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources; (d) students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior; and (e) students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations (International Society for Technology in Education, 2007). The main objective of this lesson is the following: the students will use Microsoft OneNote software in order to construct a research-based outline that will be used to construct an effective 40-minute timed essay on the topic of controversy. According to Fitzpatrick (2009), OneNote is a note-taking and organization tool that includes an outlining tool that is user-friendly.

Select Strategies, Technology, Media, and Materials

Thenext step in building a plan using the ASSURE model is to choose appropriate instructional strategies, technology, and media that will allow the educator and students to achieve the intended objectives of the lesson (Smaldino et al., 2012). This lesson will have a duration of three weeks in order to allow students to understand the concept and purpose of outlining as well as to properly use Microsoft OneNote software to produce an effective research-based outline. In order to complete the aforementioned task the students and teacher will need the following materials: (a) the students will need digital devices (laptop, smartphones, or tablets) in order to conduct research on the topic of controversy through the school's library database; (b) wireless Internet service; (c) the teacher will request a laptop cart that contains 30 computers with Microsoft OneNote preinstalled as well as a teacher laptop; (d) a digital projector in order to show the students how to properly use OneNote; (e) a USB pen drive to save their work or an electronic mail (e-mail) account to send their work for future use; (f) a wireless printer so that students may print their final outline to use and attach to their timed writing assignment; and (g) the teacher will provide the students with a rubric (see Appendix) that will be used to assess the quality of their writing and the appropriate use of Microsoft OneNote to construct their research-based outline.

Utilize Technology, Media, and Materials

This fourth step requires teachers to plan their role for using technology, media, and materials in order to help students achieve the learning objectives that were established in the second step of the ASSURE model (Smaldino et al., 2012). During the first week of instruction, the teacher will discuss with students the role and purpose of creating outlines in order to write effective essays. Through these lessons she will show the students many examples that include effective as well as non-effective examples of outlines. In addition, she will teach the students how to conduct effective research through the use of online databases that are supplied through the school's library website; in the aforementioned process the students will be learning visually and in auditory format only.

During week two of instruction, the students will be provided with a laptop that contains Microsoft OneNote in order to learn how to use this software to construct their outlines; this process will be practiced for two days. On the remaining three days, the teacher will provide the students with a variety of topics in, which they will conduct research and construct outlines as a form of practice in preparation for their final outline, which will be created during week three of instruction. The students may solicit the help of peers in order to complete and evaluate the correctness of the aforementioned tasks that require a kinesthetic learning approach.

Throughout week three of instruction the students will be provided the final topic which will be on controversy as well as the rubric (See Appendix) that will be used by the instructor to evaluate their work which will need to be attached with their final essay and outline. In this instructional week the students will have two days to conduct research on the provided topic and two days to complete their outline using Microsoft OneNote. On day five of instruction the students will construct a 40-minute timed essay on the topic of controversy using their outline as a guide for effective writing.

Require Learner Participation

Effective instruction requires learners' active mental engagement. Therefore, instructors should provide activities that will allow the students to practice new knowledge and skills, which will result in receiving feedback from their peers, the teacher, or through self-evaluation for their efforts before being formally assessed on the topic being taught (Smaldino et al., 2012). On day one of this instructional unit the students will be able to provide their input through an informal writing assignment that requires them to explain what is an outline, describe their previous experience with outlining, discuss the purpose of this strategy, and they will be surveyed to find out if they have used Microsoft OneNote, if so what task did they complete with this software. The students will share their responses as part of classroom discussion in order to explore the student's prior knowledge on the topic that will be explored through the upcoming three weeks. Also, this information will guide the teacher in her instruction in terms of what topics need to be further addressed and stressed during teaching time. Once, the students are provided with a laptop, the students will be able to complete tasks that require a hands-on approach. The students will be able to see how to effectively use Microsoft OneNote as a means to complete an outline. Students will be able to work with the peers to request feedback in terms of correct usage; in addition, the instructor will provide periodic informal feedback and correct any misusage of the program by the students. Furthermore, as the students conduct research and create their practice, outlines they will receive feedback from the instructor to ensure that they include the vital components that will help them construct an effective argumentative essay on the final topic, which will be controversy. During the third and last week, the students will be able to apply correctly the acquired knowledge form the past two weeks in order to produce an outline that incorporates the use of research which will serve as a foundational guide for the construction of a timed essay. The work produced during week three will be evaluated with a rubric (See Appendix).

Evaluate and Revise

Finally, the ASSURE model requires teachers to evaluate the impact of the lesson on student learning after implementation has occurred. It is vital for this assessment to examine if learning objectives were achieved as well as the impact of using technology and media for instructional purposes. The aforementioned will serve to make appropriate revisions that will aid instructors to address areas of concern for future lessons (Smaldino et al., 2012). Through observation the teacher will be able to explore whether students feel immersed in this instructional unit. Also, she will use a previous argumentative essay that did not require the use of an outline to compare the quality of writing presented by the students after completing the essay on controversy. Through the proper use of the rubric (See Appendix) the teacher will examine if the students paid close attention to the elements that would impact their final grade on this assignment. In addition, the teacher will survey the students anonymously to rate and evaluate the effectiveness of the incorporation of the emerging technology (Microsoft OneNote) as a means to develop an outline, the impact it had in their learning, and how this lesson can be improved for future use. The results obtained from this survey will allow the instructor to modify and revise for future use as well as the development of other lesson that will incorporate emerging technologies.

Conclusion

Good lesson planning that incorporates the use of technology is imperative to the process of teaching and learning. An educator who is prepared every time he/she enters the threshold of the classroom will undoubtedly encounter a successful instructional experience. It is important to note that any document that will produce effective results (student engagement and participation) will require a great deal of effort and time on behalf of the educator (Jensen, n.d.). Therefore, this educator deems necessary for teachers to conduct research on best practices of lesson planning and make appropriate use of the ASSURE model, especially when incorporating technology in the classroom.

References

Fitzpatrick, J. (2009). Five best outlining tools. Retrieved from http://lifehacker.com/5419988/five-best-outlining-tools

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2011). Technology integration matrix: A video resource supporting the full integration of technology in Florida schools.
Retrieved from http://www.fcit.usf.edu/matrix/2006tim.html

International Society for Technology in Education. (2007). National Educational Technology Standards (NETS): Students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s- standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Jensen, L. (n.d.). Planning lessons. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~pia/TEFL.pdf

Polk County Public Schools. (1997). English course description. Retrieved from http://www.polk-fl.net/staff/teachers/documents/EnglishIIIHonor1001380.pdf

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2012). Instructional technology and media for learning. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Abstract The lesson plan that will be presented in this paper includes the use of the ASSURE model. It was developed for an Advanced Placement English Language Composition course in which students were to use Microsoft OneNote in order to produce an outline that would be used while constructing a 40-minute timed essay.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Education Week - Leading From the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
On Tuesday, July 10, the US Department of Education (ED) hosted "What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning" as part of their Teacher Summer Seminars.
Richard Culatta, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology, Matthew McCrea, Science Instructional Lead Teacher at G. James Gholson Middle School in Maryland, and I discussed our perspectives on promoting personalized learning in schools from the policy, classroom, and staff development perspective. What is Personalized Learning?
ED describes Personalized Learning as:

1. Adjusting the pace of instruction so that instruction is more individualized.

2. Adjusting the learning approach so that instruction is differentiated.

3. Leveraging student interests and experiences so that learning is more... personalized.

Richard emphasized the following points in his presentation:

The traditional teaching model treats all learners the same despite unique needs and strengths.

We need a new educational model that takes classroom learning beyond a one-size fits-all mentality.

Personalized Learning is not about technology, but technology helps.

Richard gave some examples of how technology empowers personalized learning from 1:1 computing, use of handheld devices, classroom response systems, and learning management systems.

Matthew shared the wonderful examples from his classroom including a blended learning model in 7th grade Algebra class with 1:1 laptops and a project based learning in 7/8 STEM class with 1:1 laptops.
More than Technology Required
From my perspective, with this new emphasis on Personalized Learning, any special education teacher understands that Personalized Learning is not new. It's what is done everyday in special education classrooms where services and instructional delivery are designed from the needs of the individual.

This focus on Personalized Learning is exciting because we've combined the emphasis on individual needs and empowered this approach with the power of technology.

But, with our focus on technology, one should hope that educational leaders will not view the purchasing of devices as providing quick and easy solutions. More importantly, Personal Learning demands a shift in how lessons are designed, which requires certain levels of knowledge and skillsets.

I posed the following question to the teachers:
"Let's say that a delivery truck shows up at your school and suddenly you have all these devices such as iPads, netbooks, classroom response systems, and learning and data management portals.... Will teachers in your school teach any differently?"
Teachers understand that change does not happen so quickly and easily.

Personalized Learning, like all other models of instruction that attempt to introduce innovation in schools, is about professional development and support.

Teachers need to have certain skills for Personalized Learning to use these technologies. It's about pedagogy and content:
Personalized Learning requires that teachers should:
1) Know their students: Teachers should know their students ' interests, know their learning styles, and know their ability levels.

In Personalized Learning, the teacher needs to be personable to the students. Teachers who already do this will be prepared for that shift; teachers that do not have this knowledge may not see the value in the technology. In order to "leverage student interests, one must first know the interests of their students and know how to act on it.

2) Know their pedagogy and content: Teachers should be able to implement multiple paths to knowledge- having a variety of ways to help a diverse group of students learn rigorous standards. This means having more than one resource or activity to teach a lesson and meet a goal or objective. This means teachers should be able to differentiate instruction, find all opportunities for remediation to help struggling learners, and understand how to provide enrichment to challenge the advanced student.

Simply giving a teacher an iPad will not guarantee this level of expertise.

3) Manage student learning: As teachers will now have classrooms where multiple activities may be occurring at the same time, this requires a level of classroom management, data keeping, and use of a variety of assessments. Not to stereotype, but elementary school teachers are more familiar with managing a classroom with lots of movement and activities going on- those teachers who rely on lecture only may need additional resources and support, as well as seeing other teachers in their subject and grade level who have this level of flexibility.

4) Access available resources
These can be tremendous challenges if teachers work alone. There is no need for teachers to reinvent the wheel. A teacher should not have multiple preps for a single class period.

As Mathew suggested in his presentation, teachers should beg, borrow, and steal the great lessons whenever possible.

In this regard, district and schools will have to provide curriculum support and ensure that all teachers have the resources to focus on student learning.
Transforming the Teaching Profession
Ultimately, just as Personalized Learning transforms student learning, it can transform the teaching profession as opportunities will be created for teachers to be design the instructional resources and provide support for teachers in schools.

And in this regard, Personal Learning has exciting potential for both the student and the teacher.

It's time. And with technology and our information-on-demand society creating opportunities for more students to learn academics outside of school through opportunities such as through Udemy, Khan Academy, and LearnZillion, perhaps this change is inevitable.

It's time to harness the power of technology to start meeting the needs of the individual during the school day.
So, if that delivery truck appears at your school and delivers these technologies for Personalized Learning, are you ready? For a similar discussion on Personalized Learning, join me on July 26 for the Alliance for Excellent Education's Webinar: The Role of Teaching in a Learner-Centered, Digitally Empowered Environment from 2:00-3:00PM. Follow me on Twitter at @Patrick_Ledesma

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On Tuesday, July 10, the US Department of Education (ED) hosted "What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning" as part of their Teacher Summer Seminars. Richard Culatta, Deputy Director of the Office of Educational Technology, Matthew McCrea, Science Instructional Lead Teacher at G.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What is individualized learning?

Individualized learning, or individualized instruction, is a method of teaching in which content, instructional technology, and pace of learning are based upon the abilities and interest of each learner.

Closely related to personalized learning, goals based on curriculum design and standards may be the same for all students, but the individual learning profile and plan for each student may vary. This is because each learner progresses through the material at different speeds, according to his or her own learning needs and abilities. For example, a student might take longer to progress through a given topic, skip topics that cover information already known, or repeat topics on which they need more help

Adaptive learning technology is an important way to individualize learning.

Learn about U.S. Department of Education and its endorsement of individualized, technology-driven education .

The individualized learning plan (ILP)

While students with special needs have long had individualized education programs (IEP) to guide them from kindergarten through Grade 12 education-ensuring that they are receiving the instruction and resources they need to be successful-individualized learning is beginning to take hold in all areas of public education in the form of the individualized learning plan (ILP).

The ILP is a document that includes information about a student's career goals and education plans post-high school. As college-and career-readiness of students becomes a greater priority as states implement the Common Core State Standards, ILPs are becoming an increasingly important tool for student success.

Get the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Common Core State Standards .

Developing an ILP

ILPs are both a document and a process developed by students in conjunction with teachers, school counselors and their parents. Information included in an ILP ranges from the student's skills and hobbies, to current and past activities, to grades and test scores. All of this is compiled to guide the student's decision making during middle and high school so s/he can achieve his or her goals. Because they are unique and used for different kinds of learning at different ages and life stages, ILPS take many different forms.

If you're looking for a place to start, the Office of Public Instruction of the State of Washington has free-to-use learning plan templates .

States mandating ILPs

Louisiana, South Carolina, Washington and New Mexico all use some form of the individualized learning plan that is introduced during middle school or the beginning of high school and revisited as students' progress through their education. In Kentucky, a form of ILPs called the individual graduation plan (IGR) has been a requirement since 2002, and the state has seen a dramatic increase in completion rates since switching to a web-based platform in 2006.

Benefits of ILPs

Research indicates that students benefit most from having individualized learning plans when introduced in middle school and frequently revisited until high school graduation. The ILP will likely be refined as the student changes his or her goals, and should be constantly updated so the student is aware of the paths he or she will need to take to achieve those goals. In general, students with individualized learning plans have displayed more motivation to attend school and better academic achievement.

Read a recent report from the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy (that also includes many additional research and resources) about the efficacy of individualized learning plans .

Technology-assisted individualized learning solutions in the classroom

In today's environment of growing class sizes-with an average of 25 students in elementary classrooms and 150 students a day in high school classes-it's difficult for teachers to provide one-to-one instruction. In addition, teachers are required to ensure that every student is being taught at his or her appropriate instructional level, and that all of the instruction meets grade level state standards. One of the main challenges in education today is providing every student with individualized instruction, including remediation on grade-level work or enrichment, which is necessary.

How technology helps individualize learning

Both students and teachers are finding that online technology helps individualize the learning process and makes better use of learning time. Although the teacher can by no means be replaced in the classroom, hardware devices and adaptive learning technologies are a great 'assistant' to improve students' educational experiences. Sometimes, the method of learning needs to be ' flipped', with teachers using class time for review and practice while learning is done independently.

Adaptive learning technology and how it individualizes learning

Providing truly differentiated and individualized instruction has been a goal of educators for decades, but new technologies available today are empowering schools to implement this form of education in a way never before possible. Adaptive learning, and intelligent adaptive learning technology in particular which tailors learning to the individual student provides many benefits for students and educators:

Seamlessly integrates instruction with assessment.

Adapts within and between lessons in real-time.

Deeply personalized, engaging individualized learning experience for every type of student - the right next lesson at the right level of difficulty at the right time.

Supports and empowers teachers with current student progress data to set and meet goals and state standards.

Complements all learning models.

Read about adaptive learning and intelligent adaptive learning .

Current reporting helps individualize learning in alignment with standards

Schools across the U.S. and Canada faced with growing class size and fewer resources have come to rely on an individualized learning model supported by technology. For example, elementary math students are proven to move further and faster with adaptive online instruction, in alignment with new state and Canadian standards.

Read a recent white paper that explains how individualized learning can help students excel in math .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Individualized Learning - DreamBox Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is individualized learning? Individualized learning, or individualized instruction, is a method of teaching in which content, instructional technology, and pace of learning are based upon the abilities and interest of each learner. Closely related to personalized learning, goals based...Read more ›

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Points for Evaluating Technology in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Points for Evaluating Technology in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Literacy educators play an increasingly critical role in improving student achievement. The stakes are high.

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

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

Some top challenges include:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Transforming Literacy Instruction in a Digital World: 4 Principles and Practices of Digital Rigor

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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Blended Learning and Technology Integration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Introduction to the TPACK Model Video  Common Sense Media

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
(TIM) Technology Integration Matrix pt.1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Our mission is to realize the power and promise of 21st century learning for every student-in early learning, in school, and beyond school-across the country and around the globe.

As the pioneers in this movement, champions of the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity), and creators of the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 is the premier organization ensuring every child-without exception-experiences 21st century learning.

Now Creating Even Greater Impact

And now, as a part of Battelle for Kids, P21 has even greater ability to make tangible and immediate impacts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the pioneers in this movement, champions of the 4Cs (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity), and creators of the Framework for 21st Century Learning, P21 is the premier organization ensuring every child-without exception-experiences 21st century learning. And now, as a part of Battelle for Kids, P21 has even greater ability to make tangible and immediate impacts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Future Ready: Expanding Learning Opportunities (ELO)

# data[].attributes.headline
Engaging and Empowering Through technology

# data[].attributes.subject
Engaging and Empowering Through technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Goal: All learners will have engaging and empowering learning experiences in both formal and informal settings that prepare them to be active, creative, knowledgeable, and ethical participants in our globally connected society.

To be successful in our daily lives and in a global workforce, Americans need pathways to acquire expertise and form meaningful connections to peers and mentors. This journey begins with a base of knowledge and abilities that can be augmented and enhanced throughout our lives. Fortunately, advances in learning sciences have provided new insights into how people learn. ¹ Technology can be a powerful tool to reimagine learning experiences on the basis of those insights.

Historically, a learner's educational opportunities have been limited by the resources found within the walls of a school. Technology-enabled learning allows learners to tap resources and expertise anywhere in the world, starting with their own communities. For example:

With high-speed Internet access, a student interested in learning computer science can take the course online in a school that lacks the budget or a faculty member with the appropriate skills to teach the course.

Learners struggling with planning for college and careers can access high-quality online mentoring and advising programs where resources or geography present challenges to obtaining sufficient face-to-face mentoring.

With mobile data collection tools and online collaboration platforms, students in a remote geographic area studying local phenomena can collaborate with peers doing similar work anywhere in the world.

A school with connectivity but without robust science facilities can offer its students virtual chemistry, biology, anatomy, and physics labs-offering students learning experiences that approach those of peers with better resources.

Students engaged in creative writing, music, or media production can publish their work to a broad global audience regardless of where they go to school.

Technology-enabled learning environments allow less experienced learners to access and participate in specialized communities of practice, graduating to more complex activities and deeper participation as they gain the experience needed to become expert members of the community.²

These opportunities expand growth possibilities for all students while affording historically disadvantaged students greater equity of access to high-quality learning materials, expertise, personalized learning, and tools for planning for future education. 3, 4 Such opportunities also can support increased capacity for educators to create blended learning opportunities for their students, rethinking when, where, and how students complete different components of a learning experience.

Personalized Learning

Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) all may vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated.

Blended Learning

In a blended learning environment, learning occurs online and in person, augmenting and supporting teacher practice. This approach often allows students to have some control over time, place, path, or pace of learning. In many blended learning models, students spend some of their face-to-face time with the teacher in a large group, some face-to-face time with a teacher or tutor in a small group, and some time learning with and from peers. Blended learning often benefits from a reconfiguration of the physical learning space to facilitate learning activities, providing a variety of technology-enabled learning zones optimized for collaboration, informal learning, and individual-focused study.

Agency in Learning

Learners with agency can "intentionally make things happen by [their] actions," and "agency enables people to play a part in their self-development, adaptation, and self-renewal with changing times." ⁶ To build this capacity, learners should have the opportunity to make meaningful choices about their learning, and they need practice at doing so effectively. Learners who successfully develop this ability lay the foundation for lifelong, self-directed learning.

What People Need to Learn

To remain globally competitive and develop engaged citizens, our schools should weave 21st century competencies and expertise throughout the learning experience. These include the development of critical thinking, complex problem solving, collaboration, and adding multimedia communication into the teaching of traditional academic subjects. ⁵ In addition, learners should have the opportunity to develop a sense of agency in their learning and the belief that they are capable of succeeding in school.

Beyond these essential core academic competencies, there is a growing body of research on the importance of non-cognitive competencies as they relate to academic success. 7, 8, 9 Non-cognitive competencies include successful navigation through tasks such as forming relationships and solving everyday problems. They also include development of self-awareness, control of impulsivity, executive function, working cooperatively, and caring about oneself and others.

Building Non-Cognitive Competencies: Providing Opportunities for Practice

Interacting with peers, handling conflicts, resolving disputes, or persisting through a challenging problem are all experiences that are important to academic success.

Digital games can allow students to try out varied responses and roles and gauge the outcomes without fear of negative consequences. ²⁸ Accumulating evidence suggests that virtual environments and games can help increase empathy, self-awareness, emotional regulation, social awareness, cooperation, and problem solving while decreasing the number of behavior referrals and in-school suspensions. ²⁹

Games such as Ripple Effects and The Social Express use virtual environments, storytelling, and interactive experiences to assess a student's social skill competencies and provide opportunities to practice. Other apps help bridge the gap between the virtual environment and the real world by providing just-in-time supports for emotional regulation and conflict resolution. A number of apps are available to help students name and identify how they are feeling, express their emotions, and receive targeted suggestions or strategies for self-regulation. Examples include Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame; Smiling Mind; Stop, Breathe & Think; Touch and Learn-Emotions; and Digital Problem Solver.

Fostering Growth Mindset: Technology-Based Program to Fuel Student Achievement

A key part of non-cognitive development is fostering a growth mindset about learning. Growth mindset is the understanding that abilities can be developed through effort and practice and leads to increased motivation and achievement. The U.S. Department of Education has funded several growth mindset-related projects, including a grant to develop and evaluate SchoolKit, a suite of resources developed to teach growth mindset quickly and efficiently in schools.

Jill Balzer, a middle school principal in Killeen, Texas, has seen success from using SchoolKit in her school. Balzer spoke with an eighth grader who achieved academic distinction for the first time in five years after using the using the program. "When I asked him what the difference was," recalled Balzer, "he said that now he understood that even though learning was not always going to come easy to him it didn't mean he was stupid, it just meant he needed to work harder on that subject." ³⁰

District of Columbia Public Schools also have made the SchoolKit available to all middle schools. Principal Dawn Clemens of Stuart-Hobson Middle School saw increases in reading scores for their seventh-grade students after using the program. "With middle-schoolers, there are always excuses," Clemens said. "But this shifts the language to be about payoff from effort, rather than 'the test was too hard' or 'the teacher doesn't like me.'" ³¹

Increased connectivity also increases the importance of teaching learners how to become responsible digital citizens. We need to guide the development of competencies to use technology in ways that are meaningful, productive, respectful, and safe. For example, helping students learn to use proper online etiquette, recognize how their personal information may be collected and used online, and leverage access to a global community to improve the world around them can help prepare them for successfully navigating life in a connected world. Mastering these skills requires a basic understanding of the technology tools and the ability to make increasingly sound judgments about the use of them in learning and daily life. For the development of digital citizenship, educators can turn to resources such as Common Sense Education's digital citizenship curriculum or the student technology standards from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Technology-Enabled Learning in Action

Learning principles transcend specific technologies. However, when carefully designed and thoughtfully applied, technology has the potential to accelerate, amplify, and expand the impact of powerful principles of learning. Because the process of learning is not directly observable, the study of learning often produces models and conclusions that evolve across time. The recommendations in this plan are based on current assumptions and theories of how people learn even while education researchers, learning scientists, and educators continue to work toward a deeper understanding.

The NETP focuses on how technology can help learners unlock the power of some of the most potent learning principles discovered to date. For example, we know that technology can help learners think about an idea in more than one way and in more than one context, reflect on what is learned, and adjust understanding accordingly. 10, 11 Technology also can help capture learners' attention by tapping into their interests and passions. ¹³ It can help us align how we learn with what we learn.

Following are five ways technology can improve and enhance learning, both in formal learning and in informal settings. Each is accompanied by examples of transformational learning in action.

1. Technology can enable personalized learning or experiences that are more engaging and relevant. Mindful of the learning objectives, educators might design learning experiences that allow students in a class to choose from a menu of learning experiences-writing essays, producing media, building websites, collaborating with experts across the globe in data collection-assessed via a common rubric to demonstrate their learning. Such technology-enabled learning experiences can be more engaging and relevant to learners.

Scaling Up Personalized Learning: Massachusetts' Innovation Schools Create Multiple Pathways to Learning

As part of Massachusetts' Achievement Gap Act of 2010, funding was set aside to give schools the opportunity to implement innovative strategies to improve learning. Through this legislation, educators can create Innovation Schools that can operate with increased flexibility in key areas such as schedule, curriculum, instruction, and professional development. ³²

As of 2015, there were 54 approved Innovation Schools and Academies in 26 school districts across Massachusetts. Some schools implemented a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or STEM-plus-arts model, and others implemented a combination of one or more of the following educational models: multiple pathways, early college, dual-language immersion, or expanded learning time.

Students in a Safety and Public Service Academy combine rigorous college-style coursework available in a variety of formats (in class, online, blended learning, off-site for internships and job shadows) in areas such as forensics, computer science, criminal law, crisis management, psychology, and video production. Students at the Arts Academy may combine their coursework with off-site learning opportunities at local universities, combining high-tech design skills and knowledge of the creative arts to prepare them for post-secondary education and a career in the arts.

Pentucket Regional School District's program has scaled their innovation approach to every elementary school in the district. Their approach is centered on student choice and the use of opportunities for learning that extend beyond the classroom walls. Through the redesign of the school day and year, students engage in hands-on experiential learning with in-class lessons; online and blended coursework; and off-campus academic opportunities, internships, and apprenticeships.

2. Technology can help organize learning around real-world challenges and project-based learning-using a wide variety of digital learning devices and resources to show competency with complex concepts and content. Rather than writing a research report to be read only by her biology teacher and a small group of classmates, a student might publish her findings online where she receives feedback from researchers and other members of communities of practice around the country. In an attempt to understand the construction of persuasive arguments, another student might draft, produce, and share a public service announcement via online video streaming sites, asking his audience for constructive feedback every step of the way.

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning takes place in the context of authentic problems, continues across time, and brings in knowledge from many subjects. Project-based learning, if properly implemented and supported, helps students develop 21st century skills, including creativity, collaboration, and leadership, and engages them in complex, real-world challenges that help them meet expectations for critical thinking. ¹³

Engaged Creation: Exploratorium Creates a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Exploring Circuits and Electricity

In the summer of 2015, the Exploratorium in San Francisco launched its first MOOC, working with Coursera, called Tinkering Fundamentals to inspire STEM-rich tinkering; introduce a set of high-quality activities that could be replicated easily in the classroom; and foster robust discussions of the learning.

The six-week course included a blend of hands-on activities, short videos of five to eight minutes each, an active discussion forum, live Web chats, social media, and other resources. Each week the videos highlighted an introduction to a new tinkering activity, the learning goals, and tips for facilitation; step-by-step instructions for how to build and support others to build the tinkering contraption; classroom video and interviews with teachers about classroom implementation and student learning; profiles of artists; and comments by learning experts. Reflective prompts generated extensive conversation in the discussion forums.

To facilitate these online activities, the Exploratorium integrated multiple platforms, including Coursera and live video streaming tools. Instructors used these online platforms and spaces to reflect on the week's activities and forum posts and to provide real-time feedback to participants. In videoconferences, the instructors positioned themselves as questioners rather than as experts, enhancing a strong sense of camaraderie and collaborative exploration.

The Exploratorium used a social media aggregator to showcase photos and videos of participants' tinkering creations, underscoring the hands-on and material nature of the work of the MOOC. The course attracted more than 7,000 participants from 150 countries, of whom approximately 4,400 were active participants, resulting in more than 66,000 video views and 6,700 forum posts. For more information, visit the Exploratorium and Coursera on the Web.

Building Projects for Real Audiences: National Parks Service Deepens Engagement Through Technology

Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a partnership project of the National Park Service that encourages students to create rich connections to history through project-based learning, specifically making videos about their visits to historical sites. The students take the roles of writers, actors, directors, producers, costume designers, music directors, editors, and filmmakers with the support of professional video editors. The videos allow the students to speak about history in their own words as well as share their knowledge with their peers. In addition to learning about history, participating in the projects also teaches students to refine their skills of leadership and teamwork. All videos become official material of the National Park Service and are licensed openly for use by other students and teachers around the world.

3. Technology can help learning move beyond the classroom and take advantage of learning opportunities available in museums, libraries, and other out-of-school settings. Coordinated events such as the Global Read Aloud allow classrooms from all over the world to come together through literacy. One book is chosen, and participating classrooms have six weeks in which teachers read the book aloud to students and then connect their classrooms to other participants across the world. Although the book is the same for each student, the interpretation, thoughts, and connections are different. This setting helps support learners through the shared experience of reading and builds a perception of learners as existing within a world of readers. The shared experience of connecting globally to read can lead to deeper understanding of not only the literature but also of their peers with whom students are learning.

Upskilling Adult Learners: At Peer-to-Peer University (P2PU), Everyone Is a Teacher and a Learner

P2PU and the Chicago Public Library (CPL) have partnered to pilot Learning Circles-lightly facilitated study groups for adult learners taking online courses together at their local library. In spring 2015, the partnership ran a pilot program in two CPL branches, facilitating in-person study groups around a number of free, online courses. The pilot program has expanded to 10 CPL branches in fall 2015, with the ultimate goal of developing an open-source, off-the-shelf solution that can be deployed by other public libraries, allowing all libraries and their communities to harness the potential of blended learning for little to no expertise or cost.

Meeting once a week in two-hour sessions, a non-content expert librarian helps facilitate a peer-learning environment, with the goal that after six weeks the Learning Circles become self-sustainable. P2PU has designed a number of software tools and guidelines to help onboard learners and facilitators, easing administrative burdens and integrating deeper learning principles into existing online learning content. Initial results suggest that students in Learning Circles have far higher retention than do students in most online courses, participants acquire non-cognitive skills often absent from pure online learning environments, and a diverse audience is participating. By working with libraries and building in additional learning support, P2PU also is able to reach first-time online learners, many of whom do not have a post-secondary degree.

P2PU measures success in terms of both the progress of individual learners and the viability of the model. In addition to the number of branches involved, cost per user, and number of learners, attributes such as retention, returning to additional Learning Circles, advancing from the role of learner to that of facilitator, and transitioning from Learning Circles into other fields (formal education, new job) are all other factors that contribute to success. Furthermore, P2PU designs for and measures academic mindsets (community, self-efficacy, growth mindsets, relevance) as a proxy for learner success.

Helping Parents Navigate a Technological World: A Resource for Making Informed Technology Decisions

Family Time With Apps: A Guide to Using Apps With Your Kids is an interactive resource for parents seeking to select and use apps in the most effective ways with their children. ³³ The guide informs parents of the variety of ways that apps can support children's healthy development and family learning, communication, and connection with eight strategies. These strategies are playing games together, reading together every day, creating media projects, preparing for new experiences, connecting with distant family, exploring the outside world, making travel more fun, and creating a predictable routine. Tips on how to find the best apps to meet a child's particular needs and an explanation of how and why to use apps together also are included.

The guide references specific apps, which connect parents with the resources to select appropriate apps for their children. This online community is connected with various app stores and gives parents a menu for app selection on the basis of learning topic, age, connectivity, and device capability. Information also is included that describes exactly what other elements are attached to each app-for example, privacy settings, information collection, advertisements allowed, related apps, and so on.

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop also recommends the Parents' Choice Award Winners as a tool for selecting child-appropriate apps. These apps, reviewed by the Parents' Choice Awards Committee within the Parents' Choice Foundation, have gone through a rigorous, multi-tiered evaluation process. The committee looks for apps that help children grow socially, intellectually, emotionally, and ethically while inspiring creativity and imagination and connecting parents and children.

4. Technology can help learners pursue passions and personal interests. A student who learns Spanish to read the works of Gabriel García Márquez in the original language and a student who collects data and creates visualizations of wind patterns in the San Francisco Bay in anticipation of a sailing trip are learning skills that are of unique interest to them. This ability to learn topics of personal interest teaches students to practice exploration and research that can help instill a mindset of lifelong learning.

Leveraging the Power of Networks: Cultivating Connections Between Schools and Community Institutions

Cities of LRNG helps close the opportunity gap by connecting young people with a wide range of learning opportunities throughout their cities. The program makes learning activities from hundreds of community organizations easily discoverable to youth and their families on a single online platform.

Each LRNG city has a website where partner organizations can make their offerings visible. Young people receive recommended activities on the basis of their personal passions. For example, in Chicago through the local Chicago Cities of Learning initiative, more than 120 organizations have provided a collective 4,500 engaging learning opportunities for tens of thousands of young people in all areas of the city through the platform.

As students participate in learning activities, they earn digital badges that showcase their skills and achievements. These digital badges signify mastery of a skill-for example, coding, games, design, or fashion-giving out-of-school learning greater currency by documenting and archiving learning wherever it occurs. Each time a young person earns a badge, he or she is recommended additional learning experiences and invited to broaden or deepen skills to propel him or her along academic, civic, or career trajectories. Because digital badges contain in-depth information about each individual's learning experiences, schools and potential employers can gain a comprehensive view of each person's interests and competencies.

Hive Learning Networks, a project of the Mozilla Foundation, organize and support city-based, peer-to-peer professional development networks and champion connected learning, digital skills, and Web literacy in youth-serving organizations in urban centers around the world. Using a laboratory approach and catalytic funding model, Hive re-imagines learning as interest based and empowers learners through collaboration with peer educators, youth, technology experts, and entrepreneurs.

Similar to Cities of LRNG, Hive networks are made up of community-based organizations, including libraries; museums; schools; after-school programs; and individuals, such as educators, designers, and artists. Hive participants work together to create learning opportunities for youth within and beyond the confines of traditional classroom experiences, design innovative practices and tools that leverage digital literacy skills for greater impact, and advance their own professional development.

The Hive model supports three levels of engagement:

1. Events. Organizations with shared learning goals unite to provide fun, engaging events, such as maker parties, as a first step toward exploring longer term collaborations.

2. Learning Communities. Community organizers with an interest in Hive's core principles come together in regular meet-ups and events to explore how to apply connected learning tools and practices. Learning communities are in seven cities in the United States, Canada, and India.

3. Learning Networks. With an operational budget and staff, Hive Learning Networks commit to promoting innovative, open-source learning models in partnership with a community's civic and cultural organizations, businesses, entrepreneurs, educators, and learners. Learning Networks are in New York, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.

For more information about Hive Learning Networks, visit Hive on the Web.

5. Technology access when equitable can help close the digital divide and make transformative learning opportunities available to all learners. An adult learner with limited physical access to continuing education can upskill by taking advantage of online programs to earn new certifications and can accomplish these goals regardless of location.

Building Equal Experiences: Black Girls Code (BGC) Informs and Inspires

Introducing girls of color to technology at an early age is one key to unlocking opportunities that mostly have eluded this underserved group. BGC, founded in 2001 by Kimberly Bryant, an electrical engineer, aims to "increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color to become innovators in STEM subjects, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology." ³⁴

Through a combination of workshops and field trips, BGC gives girls of color a chance to learn computer programming and connects them to role models in the technology space. BGC also hosts events and workshops across the country designed to help girls develop a wide range of other skills such as ideation, teamwork, and presenting while exploring social justice issues and engaging in creating solutions to those issues through technology. ³⁵ One example of such an event occurred at DeVry University where 100 girls between the ages of 7 and 17 learned how to build a webpage in a day. Tech industry volunteers led sessions in how to code using HTML, change the look and formatting of webpages using CCS, and design a basic Web structure. The girls developed webpages that integrated text, images, videos, and music, according to their interests and creativity. Toward the end of the day, participants presented their websites to cheering parents, volunteers, and other attendees. Between 10 and 12 similar events by BGC are held in Oakland each year. ³⁶

BGC is headquartered in San Francisco, and BGC chapters are located in Chicago; Detroit; Memphis; New York; Oakland; Raleigh; and Washington, D.C., with more in development.

Creating for Accessibility: Hello Navi for the Visually Impaired

When Maggie Bolado, a teacher at Resaca Middle School in Los Fresnos, Texas, was approached about the unique challenge of helping a visually impaired student navigate the school's campus, she had not imagined the innovation that was about to happen. Bolado helped guide a group of seventh- and eighth-grade students to develop an app to navigate the school grounds called Hello Navi. Working mostly during extracurricular time, the students learned bracket coding via online tutorials that enabled them to develop the app. As they learned to program, they also were developing problem-solving skills and becoming more detail oriented.

When the app was made available for download, requests came in to tailor the app to the needs of other particular users, including one parent who wanted to know how to make it work for her two-year-old child. The students participated in a developers' forum to go through requests and questions on the app and problem-solve challenges and issues together. The students also interpreted various data sets, tracking the number of times the app was downloaded and monitoring the number of total potential users, making possible an improved next iteration of the app.

The Future of Learning Technologies

Although these examples help provide understanding of the current state of educational technologies, it is also important to note the research being done on early stage educational technology and how this research might be applied more widely in the future to learning.

As part of their work in cyberlearning, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is researching opportunities offered by integrating emerging technologies with advances in the learning sciences. Following are examples of the projects being funded by the NSF as part of this effort:

Increased use of games and simulations to give students the experience of working together on a project without leaving their classrooms. Students are involved actively in a situation that feels urgent and must decide what to measure and how to analyze data in order to solve a challenging problem. Examples include RoomQuake, in which an entire classroom becomes a scaled-down simulation of an earthquake. As speakers play the sounds of an earthquake, the students can take readings on simulated seismographs at different locations in the room, inspect an emerging fault line, and stretch twine to identify the epicenter. Another example is Robot-Assisted Language Learning in Education (RALL-E), in which students learning Mandarin converse with a robot that exhibits a range of facial expressions and gestures, coupled with language dialogue software. Such robots will allow students to engage in a social role-playing experience with a new language without the usual anxieties of speaking a new language. The RALL-E also encourages cultural awareness while encouraging good use of language skills and building student confidence through practice.

New ways to connect physical and virtual interaction with learning technologies that bridge the tangible and the abstract. For example, the In Touch With Molecules project has students manipulate a physical ball-and-stick model of a molecule such as hemoglobin, while a camera senses the model and visualizes it with related scientific phenomena, such as the energy field around the molecule. Students' tangible engagement with a physical model is connected to more abstract, conceptual models, supporting students' growth of understanding. Toward a similar goal, elementary school students sketch pictures of mathematical situations by using a pen on a tablet surface with representational tools and freehand sketching, much as they would on paper. Unlike with paper, they easily copy, move, group, and transform their pictures and representations in ways that help them to express what they are learning about mathematics. These can be shared with the teacher, and, via artificial intelligence, the computer can help the teacher see patterns in the sketches and support the teacher's using student expression as a powerful instructional resource.

Interactive three-dimensional imaging software, such as zSpace, is creating potentially transformational learning experiences. With three-dimensional glasses and a stylus, students are able to work with a wide range of images from the layers of the earth to the human heart. The zSpace program's noble failure feature allows students constructing a motor or building a battery to make mistakes and retry, learning throughout the process. Although the content and curriculum are supplied, teachers can customize and tailor lesson plans to fit the needs of their classes. This type of versatile technology allows students to work with objects schools typically would not be able to afford, providing a richer, more engaging learning experience.

Augmented reality (AR) as a new way of investigating our context and history In the Cyberlearning: Transforming Education EXP project, researchers are addressing how and for what purposes AR technologies can be used to support the learning of critical inquiry strategies and processes. The question is being explored in the context of history education and the Summarizing, Contextualizing, Inferring, Monitoring, and Corroborating (SCIM-C) framework developed for historical inquiry education. A combined hardware and software platform is being built to support SCIM-C pedagogy. Students use a mobile device with AR to augment their "field" experience at a local historical site. In addition to experiencing the site as it exists, AR technology allows students to view and experience the site from several social perspectives and to view its structure and uses across several time periods. Research focuses on the potential of AR technology in inquiry-based fieldwork for disciplines in which analysis of change across time is important to promote understanding of how very small changes across long periods of time may add up to very large changes.

E-rate: Source of Funding for Connectivity

The Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Program, commonly known as E-rate, is a source of federal funding for Internet connectivity for U.S. schools and libraries. Created by Congress in 1996, E-rate provides schools and libraries with discounted Internet service based on need. The program was modernized in 2014 to allow schools to prioritize funding high-speed wireless connectivity in schools. For more information about E-rate, visit the website of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Across these examples, we see that learning is not contained within screens or classrooms and that technology can enrich how students engage in the world around them.

To see additional examples of cyberlearning, visit The Center for Innovative Research in CyberLearning. ¹⁴

Bringing Equity to Learning Through Technology

Closing the Digital Use Divide

Traditionally, the digital divide in education referred to schools and communities in which access to devices and Internet connectivity were either unavailable or unaffordable. ¹⁵ Although there is still much work to be done, great progress has been made providing connectivity and device access. The modernization of the federal E-rate program has made billions of dollars available to provide high-speed wireless access in schools across the country.

However, we have to be cognizant of a new digital divide-the disparity between students who use technology to create, design, build, explore, and collaborate and those who simply use technology to consume media passively. 16, 17, 18, 19

On its own, access to connectivity and devices does not guarantee access to engaging educational experiences or a quality education. ²⁰ Without thoughtful intervention and attention to the way technology is used for learning, the digital use divide could grow even as access to technology in schools increases. 21, 22, 23, 24

Providing Technology Accessibility for All Learners

Learning experiences enabled by technology should be accessible for all learners, including those with special needs. Supports to make learning accessible should be built into learning software and hardware by default. The approach of including accessibility features from the beginning of the development process, also known as universal design, is a concept well established in the field of architecture. Modern public buildings include features such as ramps, automatic doors, or braille on signs to make them accessible by everyone. In the same way, features such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, enlarged font sizes, color contrast, dictionaries, and glossaries should be built into educational hardware and software to make learning accessible to everyone.

Three main principles drive application of universal design for learning (UDL): 25, 26, 27

1. Provide multiple means of representation so that students can approach information in more than one way. Examples include digital books, specialized software and websites, and screen readers that include features such as text-to-speech, changeable color contrast, alterable text size, or selection of different reading levels.

2. Provide multiple means of expression so that all students can demonstrate and express what they know. Examples include providing options in how they express their learning, where appropriate, which can include options such as writing, online concept mapping, or speech-to-text programs.

3. Provide multiple means of engagement to stimulate interest in and motivation for learning. Examples include providing options among several different learning activities or content for a particular competency or skill and providing opportunities for increased collaboration or scaffolding.

Digital learning tools can offer more flexibility and learning supports than can traditional formats. Using mobile devices, laptops, and networked systems, educators are better able to personalize and customize learning experiences to align with the needs of each student. They also can expand communication with mentors, peers, and colleagues through social media tools. Digital tools also can make it possible to modify content, such as raising or lowering the complexity level of a text or changing the presentation rate.

At a higher level of engagement, digital tools such as games, websites, and digital books can be designed to meet the needs of a range of learners, from novices to experts. Learners with little understanding might approach the experience first as a novice and then move up to an intermediate level as they gain more knowledge and skills. One example is McGill University's The Brain from Top to Bottom. The site includes options to engage with the content as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced learner and adjusts the learning activities accordingly.

To help in the selection of appropriate universally designed products and tools, the National Center on Universal Design for Learning has developed a resource linking each guideline to information about digital supports that can help a teacher put UDL into practice.

Reaching All Learners: Tools for UDL

Developed with support from the U.S. Department of Education, the tools listed here were designed to help educators implement UDL principles into classroom practice and make learning activities more accessible:

Nimble Assessment Systems developed Nimble Tools, to deliver standard versions of assessment instruments that are tailored with embedded accommodation tools to meet the specific needs of students with disabilities. Some examples of the accommodation tools include a keyboard with custom keyboard overlays, the capacity of the system to read text aloud for students, an on-screen avatar presenting questions in American Sign Language (ASL) or Signed English, and the magnification of text and images for students with visual impairments.

The Information Research Corporation developed eTouchSciences, an integrated software and hardware assistive technology platform to support STEM learning among middle school students with (or without) visual impairments. The product includes a haptic sensing controller device to provide real-time tactile, visual, and audio feedback. See video.

Filament Games developed the Game-enhanced Interactive Life Science suite of learning games to introduce middle school students to key scientific concepts and practices in the life sciences. These games, aligned to UDL, provide students with multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement and provide assistive features such as in-game glossaries and optional voice-over for all in-game text. See video.

Institute for Disabilities Research and Training developed the myASL Quizmaker to provide Web-based assessments for deaf or hard of hearing students who use ASL. This product provides automatic ASL graphic and video translations for students; enables teachers to create customized tests, exams, and quizzes that are scored automatically; and provides teacher reports with grades and corrected quizzes. See video.

Design in Practice: Indiana School District Adopts UDL for All Instruction for All Students

Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation is a public school district in Columbus, Indiana, serving approximately 12,000 students. The student population consists of 13 percent in special education, 50 percent receive free or reduced-price lunch, and more than 54 languages are spoken. UDL has been helpful as a decision-making tool in the deployment of technologies such as computers and other networked devices. The UDL guidelines help educators determine what strategies, accessible technologies, and teaching methods will enable all students to achieve lesson goals.

In one instance, a social studies teacher held an online discussion during a presidential debate. Realizing that some students were not taking part in class discussions, the teacher used technology to provide multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. Some students who were reluctant to speak up in a face-to-face setting felt safe to do so online, becoming engaged participants in the class discussion.

Since they adopted a universal design approach, graduation rates increased by 8 percent for general education students and 22 percent for special education students. Also, the number of students taking and passing Advanced Placement tests has increased.

Physical Spaces and Technology-Enabled Learning

Blended learning and other models of learning enabled by technology require educators to rethink how they organize physical spaces to facilitate best collaborative learning using digital tools. Considerations include the following:

Are the design and layout of the physical space dynamic and flexible enough to facilitate the technology-enabled learning models and practices selected? Can a space in which an educator delivers whole-class instruction also be shifted to facilitate individual online practice and research?

Do the physical spaces align in their ability to facilitate individual and collaborative work? When practices such as project-based learning require students to be working together with multiple devices for research and presentation building, is the space as useful as when individual learners need time and space to connect with information and experts online for personalized learning?

Can the physical spaces and tools be shaped to provide multiple contexts and learning experiences such as Wi-Fi access for outdoor classrooms? Are library spaces able to become laboratories? Can a space used as a history lecture hall for one class become a maker space for engineering the next period?

For more information and tools for aligning physical spaces, visit the Centre for Effective Learning Environments and the Clayton Christensen Institute's Blended Learning Universe.

Innovation From the Ground Up: Denver School for Science and Technology (DSST) Uses Space to Promote Student Achievement

The DSST is an innovative high school located in Stapleton, Colorado, a redeveloped neighborhood near downtown Denver. Behind the bright colors and unique geometry of spaces at DSST lies a relationship to the way academic subjects are taught and community is formed at the high school. The school is designed to be flexible and aims to support student achievement through the design of its physical spaces.

The school features a series of gathering spaces that can be used for various academic and social purposes throughout the day. The largest of the gathering areas, near the school's entrance, is where the school's daily morning meeting for both students and faculty is held. Student and faculty announcements, skits, and other community functions are all encouraged in this communal setting.

Each of the three academic pods also includes informal spaces for gathering, studying, and socializing. These academic clusters are linked by a galleria, or large open hallway, that is lined with skylights and also serves as a gathering place for students and faculty members.

DSST has demonstrated results in the academic achievement of its students and in its attendance record. In 2005, the school's founding Grade 9 class was the highest scoring Grade 9 class in Denver in mathematics and the second highest scoring class in reading and writing. DSST was also the only Denver high school to earn a significant growth rating on the Colorado Student Assessment Program test scores from one year to the next. Student attendance at the school is typically about 96 percent.

Recommendations

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should develop and implement learning resources that embody the flexibility and power of technology to create equitable and accessible learning ecosystems that make learning possible everywhere and all the time for all students.
Whether creating learning resources internally, drawing on collaborative networks, or using traditional
procurement procedures, institutions should insist on the use of resources and the design of learning experiences that use UD practices to ensure accessibility and increased equity of learning opportunities.

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should develop and implement learning
resources that use technology to embody design principles from the learning sciences.
Educational systems have access to cutting-edge learning sciences research. To make better use of the existing body of research literature, however, educators and researchers will need to work together to determine the most useful dissemination methods for easy incorporation and synthesis of research findings into teachers' instructional practices.

States, districts, and post-secondary institutions should take inventory of and align all learning technology resources to intended educational outcomes. Using this inventory, they should
document all possible learner pathways to expertise, such as combinations of formal and informal learning, blended learning, and distance learning.
Without thoughtful accounting of the available tools and resources within formal and informal learning spaces within a community, matching learners to high-quality pathways to expertise is left to chance. Such an undertaking will require increased capacity within organizations that have never considered such a mapping of educational pathways. To aid in these efforts, networks such as LRNG, the Hive Learning Networks, and education innovation clusters can serve as models for cross-stakeholder collaboration in the interest of best using existing resources to present learners with pathways to learning and expertise.

Education stakeholders should develop a born accessible standard of learning resource design to help educators select and evaluate learning resources for accessibility and equity of learning experience.
Born accessible is a play on the term born digital and is used to convey the idea that materials that are born digital also can and should be born accessible. If producers adopt current industry standards for producing educational materials, materials will be accessible out of the box. Using the principles and research-base of UD and UDL, this standard would serve as a commonly accepted framework and language around design for accessibility and offer guidance to vendors and third-party technology developers in interactions with states, districts, and institutions of higher education.
Feedback / Share Your Thoughts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning - Office of Educational Technology

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To be successful in our daily lives and in a global workforce, Americans need pathways to acquire expertise and form meaningful connections to peers and mentors. This journey begins with a base of knowledge and abilities that can be augmented and enhanced throughout our lives.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.entities[].name
Storybird Introduction for Educators Part

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Educators in more than 400K classrooms use Storybird to inspire young writers and readers. Students build literacy skills while creating beautiful books that they can share and save. With our new Fundraiser tool, teachers can also raise money for school needs in minutes. Learn more at http://storybird.com/fundraisers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seesaw For Schools - 5 Minute Demo of Features

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Seesaw for Schools is our product for schools implementing Seesaw school or district wide. Learn more at: http://web.seesaw.me/seesaw-for-schools. STUDENT PORTFOLIOS FROM K THROUGH 12TH - Build a comprehensive record of student learning with Seesaw for Schools. Portfolios follow students for their entire career at your school so it's possible to track progress over time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
learning management system (software genre)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
See the Top 5 Tech Tools to Take Control of Your Classroom! http://teachers.tech/top-5-classroom-tech-tools-2017/ This is a tutorial video for Google Classroom. This video will show you: where to find Google Classroom, create and edit a class, input students, manage the stream and adjust settings.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NEW! Flipgrid Tutorial (2017) - Spark Conversation!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Prezi Next Tutorial - New Version of Prezi

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If you are tired of looking for great alternatives to Prezi - Look no further, because I have the ultimate comprehensive list of PowerPoint alternatives right here. No more boring presentations. With this list you can pick the perfect presentation tool or software for your presentation (be it on stage in-front of an audience or online for sharing).
We tested these 10 different alternatives to Prezi and PowerPoint and summarized what we thought about each one.

Emaze is by far our number one choice. It features some incredible features you will not find in any of the other options including Amazing 3D templates, sound and voice over and even the ability to play the presentation on video. Emaze is built on the newest HTML 5 technology which allows it to run on any platform (something that Prezi does not). The chart functionality is adequate but lacks the ability PowerPoint gives for those who really want detailed and accurate charts. The price is the lowest on the market so it will undoubtedly go up over time (You lock in to today's price for life). We recommend Emaze if you need to create presentations that have a strong WOW effect or want to present both in front of an audience as well as share your presentations online.

Pros: Emaze has the best looking presentation templates and some amazing 3D effects.

Cons: The much talked about viewer analytics features are not available yet.

Our summary review of this alternative to Prezi: Emaze is the best choice for those who want great looking presentations that are truly different.

Haiku Deck created a bunch of Buzz when it launched a while back. We like the ability to create and edit presentations on mobile and the results do look really good. The user interface is good and the learning curve was quick. But Haiku Deck fell short when it came to editing options. The software lacks most advanced features that other options have. Still, If you are looking to present using a mobile device, you may seriously consider this quick and simple option.

Pros: Good looking results, Easy and simple.

Cons: Lacks many essential features.

Our summary review of this presentation software: Haiku Deck is a great option for traveling salespeople who need to make quick, good looking presentations on the fly that look presentable.

Slides is one of the more interesting alternative to Prezi and Powerpoint you will find. Slides builds your presentation in simple HTML and allows you to take that HTML and manipulate it manually. The user interface is simplistic and modern, but the styles are not. The presentations we designed all looked like they were from 1997 - pity. For a software that offers so little we thought that the price of the premium version was rather high - It's even higher than Prezi's.

Pros: Unique Concept. Simple interface

Cons: Slide aesthetics are disappointing. Expensive premium options

Who is this alternative to Prezi perfect for? You will either love this one or hate it right off the bat.

Pixxa created an insane charting app. If you are a chart junkie you will love this app. We did. Now we can't really call this a Prezi alternative because it's not a real presentation tool but it is wicked cool and we do think that for some presenters this might be a good option for presenting complex data in charts. The in app purchases will get you and you might end up spending a few hundred dollars on it over all. But then again, we can't blame you if you give in and upgrade - we are always in favor of a unique find.

Pros: Superb dynamic charting features that you can add to your presentation.

Cons: It's not a full presentation tool. Expensive upgrades.

Who would love this alternative to Prezi? Slides is The best option for chart-crazed mobile presenters. This would make a great multi-media insert in your presentation.

Emaze is by far our favorite option with great features and a low cost premium plan. Whatever choice you make, we thank you for making an effort to not getting your audience dizzy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Alternatives to Prezi and PowerPoint - The Ultimate List

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you are tired of looking for great alternatives to Prezi - Look no further, because I have the ultimate comprehensive list of PowerPoint alternatives right here. No more boring presentations. With this list you can pick the perfect presentation tool or software for your presentation (be it on stage in-front of an audience or online for sharing).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is a tutorial for emaze a presentation site for students and teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Best ELA Tools for Elementary Schoolers | Common Sense Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
10 Best ELA Tools for Elementary Schoolers is a Top Picks list of 10 apps and websites curated by Common Sense Education edtech editors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Edublogs is more than just WordPress

Edublogs enhances WordPress with education-specific features, themes, and plugins. We offer tailored tools for classroom management, student privacy, and collaborative learning.

Our platform is designed to meet the unique needs of educators and students, with dedicated support and an active educational community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edublogs is more than just WordPress Edublogs enhances WordPress with education-specific features, themes, and plugins. We offer tailored tools for classroom management, student privacy, and collaborative learning. Our platform is designed to meet the unique needs of educators and students, with dedicated support and an active educational community.

# data[].attributes.headline
50 Plus Free Technology Tools for Classrooms

# data[].attributes.subject
50 Plus Free Technology Tools for Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It's not always easy to find the confidence to try new things and integrate 21st-century applications in the classroom. We are here to give you the know-how necessary to continue to learn about new free tech tools.

This collection of free tech tools for your classroom will help you learn how to enhance your curriculum and improve the learning experience for your students.

Ready. Set. Go!

Storyboard Generator - This is a great site for older students for digital storytelling and creating a storyboard scene with a script.

Animoto - Create wonderful looking slideshow that includes video, images, music, and more.

BoomWriter is a supremely engaging creative writing website that has students reading, writing and assessing content in ways they've never done before!

Classtell is a nice site for teachers to create an educational website.

Diigo - Social bookmarking for teachers where they can create free student accounts.

Dropbox - A great way to share and collaborate on documents on a number of different electronic devices.

Edmodo - Classroom management and behavioral reporting.

Educaplay - A excellent way to create interactive multimedia educational activities.

Grockit Answers - A great teaching tool to create a Q/A session for any YouTube video.

KidBlog - A fantastic way to create a safe environment for students to blog in. Everything is controlled by the teacher as a moderator.

Kubbu - A free site for teachers to create games, quizzes, or crosswords and then share them with students and view/analyze their results.

Little Bird Tales - A wonderful free site for digital storytelling that allows kids to record and narrate their story.

Live Binders -Is an excellent site for creating an online binder to collect and share resources with others.

MentorMob - Curating the web into learning "playlists." This is an innovative way to teach a lesson, unit, or any given topic.

Mixbook - A great site for digital storytelling in a safe environment. Educators get a discount on printed books.

Myths & Legends - One of the best free sites around for digital storytelling in a safe environment with lots of characters, themes, and objects to choose from.

PikiFriends - A fun safe environment for online pen pals for middle school and high school students.

PresentationTube - A nice website for creating presentations out of PowerPoint slides.Prezi - http://www.prezi.com/An excellent site for creating zooming slideshows and presentations.

Primary Access - A free suite of online tools for students and teachers to create digital movies, storyboards, and other activities.

Skype in the Classroom A great collaboration tool for classrooms to video or audio chat with other educators and students.

Storybird -A fantastic site to inspire students to read & write through the use of digital storytelling.

StoryJumper - A great site for digital storytelling where students can incorporate their own art, publish online, share with others, or order a print copy.

SymbalooEDU -A wonderful way to organize educational sites into one location for students.

Triptico - A great free tool for teachers to help create, share, and edit interactive lessons.

VoiceThread - One of the most popular web 2.0 sites around for creating dynamic and interactive slideshows and presentations. Also, another great tool for digital storytelling.

Wolfgram Alpha -This portal contains dynamic textbooks, lesson plans, widgets, interactives, and more.

ZimmerTwins -A great site for digital storytelling with an educational portal.

The Literacy Shed - Home to a wealth of visual resources.

Bingo Baker - You can generate hundreds of random cards and print them using the printer-friendly PDF (with no ads or watermarks).

Sign Up Genius -Manage parent teacher conferences, class volunteers, book fairs and more!

Celly - Instantly raise money for your classroom, school, alumni, team, organization, or cause with a modern crowdfunding platform.

Primary Pad - A web-based word processor designed to allow pupils and teachers to work together in real-time.

Random Name Generator - Bring your classroom management into the 21 century with the Random Name Generator Tool.

Penzu - Penzu is a great tool to encourage students to do some online journaling and then they can share their entry via email.

EyeJot - Eyejot is a great way to share a quick video.

Collaborize Classroom - It takes students to the next level of thinking and writing!

JoyTunes - is revolutionizing the way people learn to play music by making practice fun, engaging and educational.

Remind - Remind is a communication tool that helps teachers connect instantly with students and parents. Send quick, simple messages to any device.

ComicMaster - allows you to create your own short graphic novel.

FlipSnack - Everything you need to easily publish captivating online magazines, transforming your pdfs into online flipbooks.

Picasso Head - The digital tool that allows users to create their own masterpieces using famous features drawn by Picasso

Abcya - The leader in free educational computer games and mobile apps for kids.

Blabberize -Make pictures that talk.

BitStrips - Wherever you go, your avatar is now just a click away! Easily insert bitmojis into Gmail, Messenger, Slack, virtually anywhere you communicate on the web.

TimeToast -Make timelines, share them on the web. Create timelines in minutes, it's as simple as can be.

Vocaroo - The premier voice recording service.

Quizlet - We make simple learning tools that let you study anything, for free.

Spider Scribe - is an online mind mapping and brainstorming tool. It lets you organize your ideas by connecting notes, files, calendar events, etc. in free-form maps.

SugarSync -Backup and access your files. Using your existing folder structure.

Smilebox - Delightful animation and music reveal your personal message. Put their name in lights, add favorite photos, and show you care.

To learn about the rest of these awesome tech tools to use in your classroom visit the Teacher Learning Community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's not always easy to find the confidence to try new things and integrate 21st-century applications in the classroom. We are here to give you the know-how necessary to continue to learn about new free tech tools. Storyboard Generator - This is a great site for older students for digital storytelling and creating a storyboard scene with a script.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why is Technology Important in Elementary School? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Why is Technology Important in Elementary School? 

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

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

# data[].attributes.body
Impact of Technology in Elementary Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Elementary school education should focus on learning through playing and exploration in order to improve a child's cognitive, emotional, physical, sensory, reflective, communication and social developments. Traditional classroom methods may not always

provide children with a fun learning environment. But nowadays, technology helps educators engage students with many fun learning approaches. While introducing technology into early childhood education, educators and parents should take proper care to avail many positive benefits of it.

Research shows that there are numerous advantages of introducing technology into the elementary classroom. Let's learn how student learning has been enhanced with 21 st century technology.

Statistics:

54% of 21 st century kids start using mobile devices when they are 5 to 8 years old.

30% of the apps on parents' mobile are downloaded specially for their children's usage.

77% of the parents accept that usage of tablet increases children's learning & creativity.

72% of iTunes top selling apps are designed for pre-schoolers and elementary students.

By observing these statistics, we can easily estimate how greatly technology influences elementary education. Educational Technology includes all the approaches of technology that is are utilized to enhance learning. We will let you know how educational technology helps elementary students.

Usage of Mobile devices & Computers in Education:

Educators find the use of technological devices in education, a great way to engage students because it attracts them. Mobile devices and computers provide students with a fun learning environment. As we know, different students have different learning styles , technology helps them learn in the way they're comfortable with. Many games, story telling apps, online tools, etc., are introduced into the elementary classroom to engage students more effectively than with traditional approaches. With these technological devices, students can learn from anywhere. Tablets, Desktop computers, iPads, etc., help educators and parents to provide students with the personalized learning environment and also helps them learn interactively through many games and apps. It has become easy for teachers to engage students with lesson concepts through animations, presentations, etc., rather than depending on textbooks and blackboard.

Usage of Internet & Social Networks in Education:

Use of internet in education benefits students as well as educators and makes them work on what really matters. Many that connect teachers, students and parents have been introduced into the classroom to help them collaborate from anywhere and at any time. For example, , an educational social networking platform that enables teachers to add their students, parents and other colleagues, saves their time by providing them with many tools which include setting homework, sending documents, creating calendars and students' assessments. Technology develops students' social skills, research skills and communication skills. The only task of parents and educators is to make children aware of digital citizenship. 21 st century technology also educators and parents to make children the perfect digital citizens.

There are some people who oppose technology in classroom as it reduces physical activity. Research has been going on to overcome this criticism. creates fun educational computer games (which include motion-sensing technology) for young children that require physical activity by the child. As a coin has both sides, every approach in this world is a combination of both positive as well as negative impacts., but Technology has the ability to overcome its negative impacts when used properly.

Every household nowadays has been equipped with at least a technological device namely a desktop computer, laptop computer, smart phone, tablet, etc., and students love to use them. It's a great way to implement their use in education as it has been already proved that technology improves students' learning, communication, creativity and problem solving skills. 21st century classroom enables game-based learning, project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, visual learning, auditory learning, kinesthetic learning, etc. We hope this information is useful for you to know about the impact of technology in the elementary classroom. We'd like to have your personal views and your ways of using technology in your elementary classroom. Also, please feel free to share with us how technology has helped you in enhancing students' learning.

Devotee of Dr. Abdul Kalam. Following his path of Creating Creative Education in India. Contributing my works in "India Vision 2020". Former EdTech Blogger/Researcher at ETR India

The Latest EdTech News To Your Inbox

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Impact of Technology in Elementary Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Elementary school education should focus on learning through playing and exploration in order to improve a child's cognitive, emotional, physical, sensory, reflective, communication and social developments. Traditional classroom methods may not always provide children with a fun learning environment. But nowadays, technology helps educators engage students with many fun learning approaches.

# data[].attributes.headline
Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning.  

# data[].attributes.subject
Use of Technology in Teaching and Learning.  

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

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

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

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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Technology in education is the biggest change in teaching we will ever see. For years, policy makers, teachers, parents and students alike have been weighing the potential benefits of technology in education against its risks and consequences.

Prior to March 2020, some would say that technology allowed you to experiment in pedagogy, democratize the classroom and reach Generation Z students. Others may have argued that technology in the classroom could promote cheating. But after 2020, technology in education has become essential-especially as the COVID-19 pandemic forced higher ed and public schools to swap face-to-face instruction for distance learning.

Below, we share 20 best practices for using technology in the classroom-and offer workable solutions that will help you meet the needs of your students. You can also download our free guide, which highlights how five acclaimed educators use technology to help their students excel in any course.

How technology can support learning outcomes for today's students

Students are digital natives. They've grown up with technology; it's woven into their lives. In fact, it's one of the basic 21st-century skills that they'll need in school and the workplace.

Technology integration in the classroom now begins during elementary school and carries through to high school and higher education. But using computer technology in the classroom isn't just about digital devices in class-it relates to anything that facilitates an interaction between teacher and student. Technology in education programs could be seen as a culprit, or it could be harnessed to improve student engagement and effectiveness-and that's what we'll discuss below.

"Digital education is generating new learning opportunities as students engage in online, digital environments and as faculty change educational practices through the use of hybrid courses, personalized instruction, new collaboration models and a wide array of innovative, engaging learning strategies," says David Goodrum, Director of Academic Technology and Information Services at Oregon State University.

"Furthermore, a 21st century view of learner success requires students to not only be thoughtful consumers of digital content, but effective and collaborative creators of digital media, demonstrating competencies and communicating ideas through dynamic storytelling, data visualization and content curation," Goodrum says.

Types of classroom technology

Education technology allows you to engage, interact with, and inspire students in and out of your class. Plus, certain types of technology tools like podcasts or video streaming platforms can help meet the unique learning styles of your cohort. Many of the technologies below are used to operate online education programs-including lectures, labs, group meetings or class tutorials. Plenty of higher education institutions have already integrated some of the following technology tools into their degree programs today.

Learning management systems (LMS) such as Canvas, Moodle and Blackboard allow you to manage courses, assign homework and tests, and track student grades.

Digital courseware such as ebook products by Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Macmillan can be used to create and distribute teaching resources (such as textbooks or question packs) to students as a way to create engaging homework experiences.

Classroom response systems including iClicker and Poll Everywhere help students reflect on their learning via polls or discussions in class.

Virtual classroom tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom are used to host synchronous online lectures and let participants engage in breakout rooms or 'share their screen' with one another.

Remote proctoring software like Proctorio and Honorlock help maintain academic integrity by monitoring student behavior during tests and flag behavior indicative of cheating.

This article looks at the pros and cons of using technology in the classroom. We'll also share the advantages and disadvantages of technology in the classroom when incorporating new digital teaching and assessment techniques into your lesson plans.

8 pros and cons of using technology for student engagement

The pros:

1. Technology in the classroom helps ensure full participation

Online polling and other digital tools help to engage all students, including shy students who wouldn't normally raise their hands in class. Online engagement systems allow you to regularly check in with students for feedback on course materials and assignments. Student insights can also be used to help spot areas where learners might be struggling.

Student response systems help learners measure their understanding of a topic while professors can see what areas they need to review. For instance, iClicker offers questions that may be multiple choice or true or false. Students are then asked to identify a correct answer to a question in exchange for participation points from a professor. Clickers, virtual classroom software and assessment platforms like Socrative or Kahoot! can make for great engagement tools for educators looking to enhance their lectures. Student response systems help foster digital citizenship in the classroom and give students an opportunity to engage in class and get rewarded for it at the same time.

Another active learning technique that education technology can facilitate is offering students quizzes (not for credit). At the beginning of the class, students can gauge familiarity with a subject by taking a quick, anonymous quiz on the topic you're teaching-and this can also inform and direct what you need to focus on. At the end of the class, facilitating the same quiz again allows all students to gauge what they do and don't understand.

2. Using technology in the classroom allows you to experiment more in pedagogy and get instant feedback

Technology allows for more active learning. You can increase engagement through online polling or asking quiz questions during online lectures, with instantaneous results. If you're using a digital textbook, subject matter is dynamic and timely with embedded links to relevant materials or immersive multimedia.

Whether adding a single tool for a specific project or term, or making a more dramatic change such as a flipped classroom, being well-versed in technology can help build credibility with students and even fellow colleagues. Video conferencing software, live polls and discussion boards are all ways to form feedback loops with your students. An LMS such as Moodle and polling software like Poll Everywhere can also help educators get an instant understanding of student comprehension.

3. There are countless resources for enhancing education and making learning more fun and effective

From apps and e-textbooks to organizational platforms, there's no shortage of tools that can transform the classroom. Some instructors are turning toward classroom 'gamification,' the use of competitive scenarios, and the distribution of points and rewards to make the online classroom more fun and engaging. The key to ensuring these methods are also effective is designing them to support your course learning objectives. Digital storytelling, where students use simulations to immerse themselves in a fictional environment, can make learning more exciting and relatable for students. Gamification also allows for interactive lessons and can reduce passivity in the classroom.

Some gamification activities introduce healthy competition to your class. In role play, for example, students are asked to pose arguments on behalf of historical figures. Technology can greatly aid the implementation of classroom games, while students may be incentivized to complete their assessments. Blended learning can also play an effective role here, whereby student curriculum is partially delivered in person and partially via digital means.

4. Technology makes it simple for students to collaborate and engage in group work outside of class

Gone are the days when one student was tasked with creating a PowerPoint presentation for a group. Through technology, students can start working on a project together in class and seamlessly collaborate, communicate and bounce ideas off one another using social media, interactive whiteboards and more. Physical and social barriers no longer exist, letting students work together from anywhere and at any time. Technology has also enabled students to engage in spontaneous discussions and find instant answers to problems or questions they may have about a topic.

The cons:

5. Technology in the classroom can be a distraction

Tech savvy students may find it hard to concentrate in class when a wide range of digital devices are around them. It can be hard to keep students' attention while lecturing behind a screen, but James Lang, Professor of English and the Director of the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption College, has a solution. Lang argues that change renews attention-meaning that if students are starting to tune out, it's time to incorporate opportunities for class discussions. Lang calls these moments 'signature attention activities' as they are designed to spark engagement in the midst of a slump.

Matthew Numer, an assistant professor in the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University, says in an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education that banning laptops is an "insult" to students. "Our students are capable of making their own choices, and if they choose to check Snapchat instead of listening to your lecture, then that's their loss. Besides, it's my responsibility as an educator to ensure that my lecture is compelling. If my students aren't paying attention, if they're distracted, that's on me." To Numer, students glancing at their mobile devices may indicate that a course's curriculum and instruction needs to be revamped.

This makes the notion of creating a structure and culture of respect all the more important from day one. Identify specific projects, opportunities for breaks and your intentions for participation and engagement using technology in the classroom. Creating expectations and guidelines for students-and sticking to them-will be important for them in respecting your boundaries.

6. Technology can disconnect students from social interactions

Many people are skeptical of technology and what it does to students', and everyone else's, ability to verbally communicate.

By creating assignments in class that use both technological tools as well as oral presentations and group collaboration, student learning has the potential to become more dynamic and interactive. Participation can also go beyond verbal communication. Consider how your LMS, discussion board or live chat can be leveraged to increase student engagement.

7. Technology can foster cheating in class and on assignments

Students have always found ways to cheat, but the digital age makes it even easier-from copying-and-pasting someone else's work to hiring an essay-writer from an online essay mill. Here, digital technology could end up hindering students' professional development.

While technology could be seen as yet another avenue for cheating, it's possible to structure assignments and exams in a way that makes cheating difficult. Alternatively, you can make exams open-book and focus on problem-solving and mastery rather than retention. Some classroom software allows you to set questions that are subtly different for every student, making them focus on the technique rather than the answer. Ed tech software such as Turnitin is already well-established in most higher education settings. With COVID-19, some institutions have relied on proctoring software to maintain academic integrity from a distance. These assistive tools can help professors maintain academic integrity.

8. Classroom technology doesn't necessarily make students more accountable

While it can certainly help, technology use in the classroom doesn't always mean students are more likely to stay on top of their deliverables. For example, it can be tricky to know if your students are viewing the full lecture recordings or coming to class having completed their assigned readings. Social media and other ed tech platforms don't necessarily indicate completion. Some LMS providers may show if a student has opened a file, but that only says so much. Whether students have reviewed, absorbed and are able to retain that information is a question that-like traditional learning materials-not all classroom tech can solve.

7 pros and cons of using classroom technology to increase flexibility

The pros:

9. Technology can automate a lot of your tedious tasks

Automation can speed up tedious, time-consuming tasks, such as keeping track of student attendance and performance. Engagement tools can help streamline grading for writing assignments, discussions and participation, as well as answer common student questions, which otherwise could seem daunting due to their objective nature.

The canonical example of this? One professor at Georgia Tech coded an artificially intelligent teaching assistant. ' Jill Watson' was able to answer a selection of student questions and pass any that she couldn't handle to a real person. Integrating technology in the classroom has the potential to reduce the amount of time spent on minor tasks.

10. Technology in college classrooms gives students instant access to fresh information that can supplement their learning experience

There is value in having textbooks and course materials that are always up to date, which can even include additions suggested by students. This also fosters a more collaborative learning environment-students can share information, work together on group projects and interact with their instructor online. Collaboration between professors and their students is put into practice through a learning management system (LMS) such as Moodle or Blackboard, where professors upload new content for students to review online.

Educational technology enables students to engage in an ongoing cycle of learning: before, during and after class. Student response systems such as clickers can also help learners apply their understanding of concepts covered in class and can indicate areas that need to be reviewed. For Generation Z, technology is arguably the best way to meet student needs. Demian Hommel, Senior Instructor of Geography and Environmental Sciences and Marine Resource Management at Oregon State University, uses a classroom response system to poll students every few minutes during lectures. "Using technology to help students understand the trends and patterns that are going to affect them is transformative," he says.

"Using technology to help students understand the trends and patterns that are going to affect them is transformative." -Professor Demian Hommel

11. Students have the choice to learn in real time or at their own pace

Using technology in the classroom has given students more choice in, and control over, their learning experiences. Learning tools have also given professors the flexibility in how to deliver their lectures or labs. For instance, students can tune into live-streamed lectures hosted at a specific time, while others can view lecture recordings on their own if they're unable to attend a live session. Plus, real-time lessons in online learning can help students feel a great sense of belonging and camaraderie that would otherwise be lost.

Asynchronous learning provides a new level of flexibility for both students and educators. For example, instead of waiting for students to show up at your office, host your office hours via Zoom and let your students know that they're free to drop by during a given time frame. Additionally, technology can be used to help students take asynchronous tests. Just make a test available on your LMS for a 48-hour period so that students can take their assessment at a time and place that works for them.

12. Address the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines with thoughtful technology use

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for ensuring your course delivery meets the needs of all students. It's the ultimate way to provide flexibility in how, when and where learning takes place. The three tenets of this framework are providing multiple means of engagement, representation and expression.

In order to represent content in a variety of ways, you might consider complementing a textbook reading with a podcast. Alternatively, multiple ways of expressing students' understanding could mean offering students learning opportunities through journal articles or video reflections. Finally, multiple forms of engagement might mean gauging students' interests at the start of the term through icebreakers or a student interest inventory-and then use these insights to tailor your units of study accordingly.

The cons:

13. Lesson planning might become more labor-intensive with technology

The task of adapting technology into your classroom can seem daunting or overwhelming. In many ways though, using technology can become as natural to you as any daily activity.

When you're choosing classroom technology, it's important to engage with the software vendor and make sure you have the appropriate level of support in place. Some questions you should ask include whether they supply training or onboarding, and what their reliability statistics and support functions are. After all, you don't need to be the person all the students come to if the technology goes offline.

The most important factor is to allow yourself time to learn how to use a new ed tech tool and make sure you ask for, and receive, the support that you need.

14. Students don't have equal access to technological resources

An online education should be accessible to students. But some students can't afford iPads or even the textbooks required for class. Others simply do not have reliable Internet access. Point these students in the direction of your institution's library or community resources, or create assignments that allow them to work in groups and share resources. You might also consider using open educational resources (OER), which provide a cost-effective alternative to the traditional college textbook. Don't make technology the focus of your class, and don't make it a barrier. Incorporate it in a holistic and inclusive manner-and ensure you do your part to find equitable learning solutions.

15. Technology in education can create privacy concerns

Video conferencing or web-hosting solutions have brought with them some concerns around data protection. For example, do platforms offer end-to-end encryption in basic plans provided to students? Social media handles set up as part of a tutorial or learning activity can also lead to student information being accessed by a wider audience than intended. What's more, Zoombombing-disruptive intrusions into a video conference call-became a common occurrence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

And though they maintain academic integrity, remote proctoring solutions can make test-takers feel uncomfortable. Students may not want to have their homes shown in front of a proctor and being monitored can increase stress and anxiety.

5 pros and cons of using technology to aid instructional design

The pros:

16. We live in a digital world, and technology is an essential life skill

Being digitally literate is more than obtaining "isolated technological skills," according to the NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Higher Education Edition. Rather, it's about "generating a deeper understanding of the digital environment, enabling intuitive adaptation to new contexts and [the] co-creation of content with others." Here, the traditional whiteboard is almost extinct, while technology has never been more essential in the virtual classroom. Creating presentations, learning to differentiate reliable from unreliable sources on the Internet and maintaining proper online netiquette are all vital skills that students will learn to develop in the classroom.

Technology use can also help universities deliver a better return on the investment students pay for their education-as well as make learning relevant to a primarily Generation Z audience. Mobile technology in classrooms is a must-have if students want to be prepared for almost any career today. Student achievement may be boosted if they have the means to continue working on projects outside of the classroom.

17. Classroom technology is a cost-effective alternative to traditional course materials

Technology can help save students hundreds during a semester. Rather than asking students to buy a copy of five different textbooks, some professors might want to direct students to their institution's library or adopt open source textbooks.

Using technology in the classroom has its benefits for the environment as well. Institutions can reduce the amount they spend on ink and paper by distributing important documents in a centralized digital location. As opposed to asking students to buy a print book from your campus bookstore, authoring your own digital, interactive book can help students save big. Katie Thompson-Laswell, Senior Instructor of Human Development and Family Science at Kansas State University, was able to save her students $70 on course materials in the spring 2019 semester. Two years later, new cohorts of students continue to enjoy a low-cost, interactive homework experience from anywhere.

The cons:

18. The quality of research and sources students find may not be credible

The Internet is a blessing and a curse. Your students may need guidance on identifying legitimate and unreliable sources. Many colleges have writing centers that can help with this. You can also use OER-ranging from lecture notes, examinations, assignments and textbooks-and adapt them to fit the needs of your course and students. How can you tell if content is written by a competent authority? Use these tips to find effective OERs. Top Hat's Catalog-filled with hundreds of low-cost, interactive textbooks-is also a reliable source of OER you can use, regardless of your discipline or teaching modality.

19. Some classroom technologies could eventually replace professors

Classroom technology has helped position educators as a 'guide on the side' versus a 'sage on the stage.' But that shift in the role that professors play has the potential to put them on the sidelines-especially with online learning. Technology has automated many learning processes such as grading. With asynchronous online learning especially, it's possible that students could now have little-to-no interactions with their educators compared to their experiences in the traditional classroom.

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which prioritize unlimited participation and open access, let students gain an unrestricted learning experience without a professor present. Platforms like Coursera let students watch on-demand video lectures from leading universities and companies for a fraction of the cost of a university degree. These platforms even offer selective degree and certificate programs. Other platforms like LinkedIn Learning prioritize skill-based learning, which allows students to complete courses or learning modules at their own pace-without the guidance of an instructor.

20. Institutions' lack of IT support can make it challenging to evaluate and implement new classroom technologies

Where do you begin if you're new to teaching? Educators may understandably feel overwhelmed when adopting new tools and platforms to meet the needs of their Generation Z students. While colleges may have a site-wide license for a particular LMS, educators are often left to their own resources to decide how to bring their material to life. Depending on the scale and quality of instructional design services offered at their institution, this can be a lengthy and uneasy process.

How classroom technology can help you meet your teaching goals next semester

This past academic year has highlighted the essential role that technology plays in student learning. No matter where you're teaching next semester, the best practices for using classroom technology below can help make your course more engaging, interactive and active. For additional advice, download our free guide on how to effectively use technology in your next face-to-face, hybrid or online classroom.

Eliminate distractions in class

1. Use frequent polls to make sure students pay attention-and to hold them accountable
2. Begin lessons with a game or icebreaker to encourage focus and collaboration from the start of class

Allow students to learn at their own pace

1. Adopt a flipped classroom model where students can view lecture modules and complete quizzes in advance of live lectures
2. Complement live activities with self-paced exercises such as blog posts or video journal responses, which students can share in your LMS

Create a classroom environment where students feel comfortable speaking out

1. Incorporate an anonymous discussion board during in-class polls
2. Ask your teaching assistants to respond to, and acknowledge, students' contributions in and out of class

Help students stay accountable for their learning outside of your classroom

1. Adopt or author your own digital interactive textbook that includes comprehension questions throughout
2. Keep a digital repository of discussion board prompts or quiz questions and re-quiz students on these concepts in future homework assignments to check for subject mastery

Provide instant feedback on student performance

1. Consider employing low-stakes, multiple choice quizzes that can be auto-graded
2. Grade assignments using a built-in rubric in your LMS and provide personalized feedback upon student request

Technology in the classroom: The final verdict

It's clear that the benefits of technology in the classroom outweigh the cons. But the key to technology in the classroom is always going to be the teacher-student relationship, because that's where the education happens. Technology can be a highly effective tool, but that's all it is-a tool. In today's hyper-connected world, sensible use of technology can enhance education. By using technology as an aid in the classroom, educators can create memorable and impactful learning outcomes for their diverse group of college students. For best practices on how to integrate technology in your classroom next semester, download our free guide packed with tips and tools five professors have used to give their course delivery a boost.

References

1. Kelly, R. (2018, January 11). 7 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2018. https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2018/01/11/7-Ed-Tech-Trends-to-Watch-in-2018.aspx?Page=1

2. Dhami, H. (2020, August 13). James Lang's Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It. [Blog post]. https://tophat.com/blog/james-lang-distracted/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Take Advantage of Ed Tech In The Classroom | Top Hat

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get best practices for enhancing technology in your classroom. Plus, download Top Hat's free guide to make ed tech tools work for your course.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Importance of Technology in the Elementary Classroom.  

# data[].attributes.subject
The Importance of Technology in the Elementary Classroom.  

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Importance of Technology Education at the Elementary Level: Kasey Dirnberger at TEDxMCPSTeachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a former science teacher in middle and high school, I was always interested in helping students make real-world connections in project-based curriculum. With the increased availability of computer technology and Internet resources, I saw an even greater avenue for instruction.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Tech Edvocate's 2018 List of 116 of the Best Teaching and Learning Apps

# data[].attributes.subject
The Tech Edvocate's 2018 List of 116 of the Best Teaching and Learning Apps

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Tech Edvocate’s 2018 List of 116 of the Best Teaching and Learning Apps - The Tech Edvocate

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Spread the love*The Tech Edvocate is pleased to produce its “Best of the Best” resource lists. These lists provide our readers with rankings for edtech related blogs, twitter accounts, influencers, products, etc. These lists are meant to be fluid, and for that reason, they are regularly updated to p…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 21st century classroom – where the 3 R’s meet the 4 C’s!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For success in the 21st century, students must master the 4 C’s – creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.