Learning with Technology

"First-year teachers face many challenges in a normal year. So imagine starting a teaching career and having a global pandemic hit."

There is no training that could have prepared anyone to teach in a pandemic, but aspects of the profession must evolve for the new school year.

"One big barrier to sustaining education via remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic has been students’ unequal access to advanced technology tools. Laptops and internet connections are not available in every household, and even students who usually have such resources available may now find themselves competing for them with siblings or parents studying or working from home.

But educators who want to make sure they reach every student don’t have to resort to mailing printed worksheets. In between high-tech and no-tech solutions for remote instruction, there’s a lot of middle ground to cover."

Mr. Gil Maldonado continues to teach his social studies students thanks to Distance Learning. He adds that one of the benefits of using technology for his class now, is it will better prepare students for college. In McAllen ISD, all students have access to either an iPad or a Chromebook as a personal electronic learning device.

Known for its free online tutorials, Khan Academy is now formally selling its services to school districts, putting it in direct competition with other education technology vendors.

"Many educators have asked the question, “Are today’s classrooms too dependent on technology?” The underlying assumptions involve several complex political and economic challenges. Some of these inquiries include where the money comes from for classroom technology, to using different equipment–and if we even need more technology in schools."

One of the most effective ways to nurture the 21st century’s trademark skills is by creating opportunities for kids to do what kids do naturally: play

"Suguey Carmona, a 14-year-old Latina student, published her first “Alexa Skill” in the Amazon Appstore this year. Alexa is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon where users verbally ask questions and the AI responds with an answer. If you want to ask Alexa to do specific things, such as power on your Xbox or order a pizza, your Alexa has to have that “skill.” Suguey identified a skill that had not yet been created, so she decided to program it herself."

"Progress is already here, and it will not go anywhere. Computer-based elements are used in all areas of human life, in particular, education. Academics pin hopes on technology and claim that it would positively change the way how people teach and study. At the same time, some experts express quite reasonable concerns, believe that technology hinders learning pathways, accustoms students to using electronic devices rather than their own brains to solve challenging tasks and, therefore, it is worth not deviating from well-tested, old approaches."

A mounting body of evidence indicates that educational technology in schools isn't boosting student achievement as its proponents had hoped it would

"Rather than taking a traditional multiple choice test at the end of their unit on weather, sixth grade students at Gilbert Middle School in South Carolina created their own live weather reports—complete with green screens and fake snow. Down the hall, seventh graders used digital tools to design memes based on quotes from a novel in their English/language arts class."

"As I reflected on the lesson, I realized I didn’t follow my own rule of thumb for using technology in the classroom: technology is not meant to supplant, it’s meant to enhance. The interactive timeline didn’t enhance, it just supplanted the old school fill-in-the-blank study guide."

The move to emergency distance learning was tough for all teachers, but first-year teachers had a unique experience last spring. Despite all that COVID-19 took away, many first-year teachers noted that they learned more about teaching and themselves than they likely would have in an average year.

There is no training that could have prepared anyone to teach in a pandemic, but aspects of the profession must evolve for the new school year.

"In the wake of a pandemic, what’s the best way to manage a household, professional work, and children’s learning? That is a question on many parents and caregivers’ minds, including those of Digital Promise team members."

A new initiative from LEGO offers new ways to help families stay creative, curious and connected while at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, including:

"The facial recognition market is a fast-growing industry expected to generate a value of almost $9B annually by 2022. Part of that market includes the education sector. Currently, governments are the biggest consumers of this technology because of its ability to deter crime."

"The call for 21st-century learning dates back more than two decades, when blue-ribbon committees, policymakers, business leaders, and education experts began sounding the same alarm: Yesterday’s focus on memorization and rote learning would not prepare students for a fast-changing, increasingly automated, information-saturated world."

Reports of cyberbullying rose in recent years, and though researchers quibble about what the numbers mean, they all agree there’s a problem.

Are you a tech coach, instructional coach, or something in between? Maybe you dream of one day being a coach? Ready to learn the top 10 secrets of being an awesome tech coach? This episode is for YOU! Being a coach is no walk in the park, but I can help make it easier. It takes a strong foundation, experience, organization and lots of patience to be an effective coach. This episode will focus on my best-kept secrets, how to build relationships, organize your time, create meaningful PD and more!"

Stacey Roshan, author of Tech with Heart, talks about seven edtech topics that are sparking conversation this summer both online and at ISTE19.

"Digital assessments can measure students’ strengths and needs in cognitive functioning, and help educators design interventions tailored to students’ cognitive profiles"

"Innovative learning spaces and equipment do not necessarily make an impactful maker learning program. Strong professional learning to help create the desired instructional outcomes was paramount to our initiative’s success."

"School-issued devices harbor a scary secret. The Chromebooks, iPADS, or other tech devices your child borrows from school each year are digital spies. They are intimately familiar with your child’s private information and browsing habits. When most people think of digital surveillance, images of cameras come to mind. Digital surveillance is already in place at shopping malls, traffic lights and even classrooms where surveillance cameras monitor behavior. "