Category: Digital & Mobile Technology

We all know how wildly popular Pokémon GO was when it first launched (and continues to be). With as many as $5.7 million spent daily on in-app purchase and 21 million active users, it’d be an understatement to say it is an overwhelming success. Augmented and virtual reality (VR) are the technologies behind Pokémon GO. It’s estimated that over the next several years the growth in VR will surpass that of smartphones. Up until now, virtual reality has been largely used for entertainment purposes. However, the applications extend to other facets, including that of education.

Virtual Reality in Educational Settings

VR allows for high-impact learning experiences and as this new age of affordable VR tech presents itself, the opportunities for improving education abound. Educators are well aware of the positive impact out of classroom experiences have on learning. From K-12 classrooms, to college internships, to undergrad research and studying abroad, high-impact experiences provide increased learning and retention. Unfortunately, these types of programs have traditionally involved a good deal of time, money and personnel. With both the availability and affordability of VR, students nationwide will have access to high-impact educational experiences.

From taking a guided tour of the Great Wall of China, to examining world-renowned art in a museum halfway around the globe, these micro experiences are able to shape student learning far more than an in-class lecture. Imagine biology students exploring the Great Barrier Reef firsthand or students in a history class having that ability to observe an ancient Mongolian tribe. Beyond travel, VR also supports training experiences via virtual labs in chemistry, biology and engineering. These sort of high-impact micro experiences will become standard practice with VR. Not every student can travel abroad, yet anyone is able to venture to the library, put on a VR headset and begin virtual exploration. By using VR, student experiences transform critical thinking.

Best Practices for Virtual Reality

As the potential for an educational revolution begins, it will be necessary for research to be completed in order to determine best practices and the most meaningful applications of VR for education. Students will need to learn the technical side of VR and how to navigate the relationship of virtual and real life. With the users being thrust into the subject matter, research and exploration into multi-sensory learning will be key. Educators need to know how the immersive learning environments are impacting students – for good or bad – and be able to adjust how the technology is used based on those answers.

In an effort to harness the potential of VR, institutions will need to think beyond the initial “wow” factor for students and determine how to capitalize on building knowledge.  Standards will also need to be determined in managing how students navigate between the physical and virtual world in relationship to coursework and communication via instructors and fellow students. The applications of VR outside education will progress and inevitably bring up additional considerations for instruction and learning. Like all technology, as it evolves so will the need for regulation and best practices by the educators who implement it.

VR presents a bounteous and untapped future for education. Learning will morph into something that becomes a full sensory experience available to all students, regardless of background. Students who may not have the means to travel the world may be able to get an up-close look at it anyway with virtual reality technology. Everything that is taught will be interwoven and embedded into their world. Real and virtual realities will melt together to offer high-impact experiences that immerse students in a way that no other educational resource previously has.

Cloud computing has taken the business world by storm. Climate controlled rooms full of servers are quickly being replaced by remote storage technology, whimsically referred to as “the cloud.” Over half of U.S. businesses use some form of cloud computing to back up their important data and improve productivity. Instead of trying to find the capital to pay for a secure server structure, businesses are subscribing to cloud services and paying for more storage as their needs grow.

The practical uses of cloud computing technology also translate to K-12 classrooms. Simply put, cloud storage saves space, money and time for teachers, parents, students and administrators. A report by CDW Government found that over 40 percent of schools use cloud applications to store their data and by 2016, schools are expected to spend 35 percent of IT budgets on the cloud. The savings add up though. Right now K-12 schools report that their cloud initiatives are saving them an average of 20 percent on IT costs. By 2016, those savings are expected to reach 27 percent.

So how exactly are K-12 schools using cloud computing and what are the benefits? Let’s take a look:

Stronger communication through access. Through K-12 cloud platforms like Edline, teachers have better communication with parents and students regarding assignments, tests and projects. Parents can log in from anywhere (including their phones or tablets) and instantly know how their kids are progressing. Teachers can post important messages and keep an archive of completed work in one spot. Depending on the school, cloud forums may even allow parents and students to contribute in the application for a two-way dialogue.

Disaster planning. Schools collect a lot of information on their students and that data impacts decisions and the well-being of the kids. It takes a lot of time to build student databases and maintain them. If a man-made or natural disaster threatened the physical location of school records, whether hard copies or stored on servers, it could mean a catastrophe when it comes to student information. Using cloud computing ensures that student records are secure and accessible, no matter what happens to the physical school building.

One-stop shopping. Cloud platforms are able to bring together data pools that were previously unconnected so that educators and administrators have everything they need in one spot. Since there is no physical equipment that schools must purchase to get started with cloud computing, there is also a pay-as-you-go mentality. Schools do not need to pay upfront for infrastructure and can add cloud storage as their needs increase. It saves money, space, time and other resources.

Fast recovery of data. If you’ve ever experienced a server crash on a personal or professional level, it can be a long time while you wait for your information to come back. Cloud-based businesses recover data quickly and often handle any technical issues that might arise in a “crash” situation. A word that is often associated with all cloud applications is “redundancy” because the technology eliminates any chance of single-point failure.

Some peripheral benefits of cloud computing are decreased energy costs and high security features to ensure protection and privacy of student information. As K-12 schools move toward cloud computing, student information will be better preserved and shared content more accessible. While use of the cloud does not have a large direct impact on classroom activities it does improve teaching efficiency overall. It also has long-term savings attached which is always a bonus when it comes to K-12 technology spending.

Does your school use the cloud yet? If so, how has it improved your school efficiency?

Internet and cell phone cultures have brought a whole new meaning to American slang. Not only are kids these days speaking informally, but now those relaxed rules of grammar are sneaking into written words too.

This is probably not surprising at all, but do you know just how much this culture has affected our students’ writing skills? Fortunately, I have three research-backed results to show you.

1. Students can no longer tell the difference between formal and informal writing: The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life project asked middle and high school educators about their thoughts on digital tools and the impact on student writing. The biggest problem with these digital avenues of composition, according to surveyed teachers, is the blurring of lines between formal and informal writing. Abbreviations are common, particularly on platforms like Twitter that have a 140-character limit. Most smartphones now have no limits on texting characters, but students that owned phones with the 160-character limits of just a few years ago have already formed short, abbreviated habits. In the digital realm, short and sweet is the key – even if a grammar, punctuation and writing formalities fall by the wayside. The same is not true of educational writing pursuits though, as K-12 writing instructors must prepare students for the demands of strong, professional writing in college and the workplace.

2. But at least they are more creative: Over two-thirds of the respondents said that writing platforms provided through Internet and cell phone use have improved student creativity. Students also have more outlets for collaboration which encourages improvement and “putting it out there” in terms of writing that may have been closeted to notebooks or diaries in pre-Internet generations.

3. Even after graduating college, young adults cannot write. A report released by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills found that over 26 percent of college graduates have deficient writing skills. These findings were not based on graduation assessment exams, but compiled by interviewing actual employers. These employers said that many college-educated employees could not even accomplish the basic writing tasks of the job proficiently. How are these students earning college degrees if their writing is not up to par though? With the average U.S. student accruing $35,200 in college debt, it would seem learning the basics of writing, at least above a “deficient” level, would be a given takeaway.

The deficiency is not the fault of the colleges and universities though, at least not totally. Students are showing up for college without the skills needed to write well and with schools assuming they already know the basics. The 2011 book Academically Adrift found that less than half college students felt their writing had improved at all in college. Less than half also said they were never required to write a paper longer than 20 pages. In a nutshell, the writing proficiency that half of these students exhibited as seniors in high school was the same four years later, despite the so-called rigors and high cost associated with a college education.

While colleges could certainly take a hint from these numbers, the work of remedial writing education is not the responsibility of colleges. It falls on the teachers that come long before the adult years. These teachers face an uphill battle though, especially in an age where formal writing is often confused with everyday communication. The tools for creativity in the writing process may be better than ever, but the constraints of digital communication are hurting students’ composition and their attention spans too.

How can students who have essentially made a lifestyle of short, segmented, slang-ridden writing conform to the formal communication still expected in the real world? It starts with teachers who set high standards and do not waver. In the long run, the fear of losing a student’s interest by insisting on high writing standards is a small one compared to the implications of college graduates viewed as writing-deficient by the people who sign their paychecks.

How can K-12 teachers win out against the negative impact of digital communication on formal writing? Please share your thoughts.