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2 Concepts that Illustrate How Fun Math Actually Is

President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative emphasizes STEM learning, particularly in mathematics, in order for more students to make it to high school graduation and the college degree beyond it. At its core, mathematicians’ median annual pay in 2013 was just over $101,000 – and is expected to grow by 23 percent by 2022. Take into account all of the computer science, technology and engineering jobs that are also rising rapidly, and it’s easy to see why students today NEED math proficiency and why it is up to P-12 educators to instill both aptitude and an interest in the …

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3 Ways Mobile Technology Boosts Instruction

The conversation about the benefits of mobile technology is often centered on students. What do students get out of adopting mobile technology? But shouldn’t there also be a discussion about educator preference? After all, an Education Market Research post shows that educator enjoyment of technology is a major contributing factor to its ever-growing use in the classroom. The debate is always student-centric but for these students to excel, teachers need to thrive too. This means administrative plans beyond simply purchasing mobile devices, or implementing bring-your-device policies that include teacher empowerment of the technology. Mobile technology has potential to change the …

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Teachers: How to Use Google Drive

By Catlin Tucker For teachers who are just getting started with Google, Google Drive can be intimidating! In preparation for a Google training, I’ve put together a short explanation of Google Drive and its basic features. Although an increasing number of people have a Gmail account, I run into teachers all the time who are not sure what Google Drive is or how it works. Google Drive is like a big virtual bucket! It’s where everything you create with Google apps–documents, forms, sheets, slides, drawing–are stored. And unlike a traditional word processing document, you never need to click “Save”…EVER.  Your work …

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The 5 Obstacles You Must Overcome As a Tech-Savvy Educator

As amazing an impact as technology can have on education, modern digital resources are unfortunately far from evenly available. Do you know what technological poverty can look like? Do you know what causes lie behind it? Below, we’ve listed the top five most common barriers to introducing technology to the classroom. 1. The Digital Divide Earlier in this chapter, we looked at the digital divide and broke it down by race, class, and gender. The digital divide is considered one of the biggest barriers to introducing technology into the classroom. All students are expected to have computer skills, and often …

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More schools are online than ever before – but it’s far from perfect

Latest CoSN survey measures how far technology has spread This article was written by NICHOLE DOBO To take full advantage of all the internet has to offer, schools need to have reliable, speedy connections. When teachers don’t know if a program will crash midway through class – or work at all – they are often hesitant to use online programs to enhance lessons. In 2013, before a massive federal push to fund and support school internet upgrades, just 19 percent of public districts in the United States reported that all their schools had a speedy internet connection, according to a …

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How technology helped deliver a taste of victory to a struggling Newark School

This article was written by JACKIE PUGH When Sara Neufeld wrote in The Hechinger Report last year that Newark’s Quitman Street Renew School had the greatest test score gains in reading of all 45 elementary and middle schools in Newark the prior spring, we at Education Elements saw it as triumph. Quitman Street is one of the schools that has used our blended learning models to help improve results. Our journey to personalized learning at Quitman Street Renew School began during the 2013-2014 school year. Because over 80 percent of their third and fourth graders were struggling readers, Principal Erskine …

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Digital Doom? 3 Effects of Texting and Tweeting on Students’ Writing Skills

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 …

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10 Ways that Edtech is Transforming Education

Technology has greatly impacted the way we do things—from how we shop for basic necessities to how we conduct business with people around the world. It’s no wonder that technology has altered education, too. In fact, here are 10 ways that edtech has changed education. Communication Through email and text messages, teachers communicate with parents and students faster and easier. Teachers can send out homework reminders, progress reports, and assignments with the touch of a button. The increased level of communication helps parents stay informed about their children’s schooling and students stay informed on what assignments are due. Differentiated Instruction …

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Why one Mississippi district ditched textbooks for laptops

Superintendent says new technology improving academics, behavior This article was written by JACKIE MADER When Philip Hickman took over the role of superintendent in 2014 in the Columbus Municipal School District in east Mississippi, technology was almost nonexistent. Students used slow desktop computers and mismatched keyboards that were at least 10 years old. Hickman, who formerly worked as an assistant superintendent for the technology-rich Houston Independent School District in Texas, said he panicked when he saw the state of technology. “It was inappropriate to even present that to our kids,” Hickman said. “It was very scary to realize we were …

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How You Can Create an Environment of Learning

Do you know how to create a classroom environment that ensures adequate learning? Understanding your student’s learning styles can improve the learning experience for them. This article highlights the Learning Style Inventory and how to make adjustments that incorporate all learning styles. A sensitive teacher might sometimes be able to identify the learning preferences of students through careful observations. An inexperienced teacher, or one with a particularly large group or very limited time, might find this more challenging. Conducting interviews early in the year can be a good way to create the space for students to talk about their learning …

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