Tag: makerspace

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Why Digitizing Traditional Teaching Isn’t Innovation

Technology has been hailed by many as the answer to every problem in education. Digital technology is supposed to allow students to learn in entirely new ways, bringing new innovations to every classroom. But this isn’t always the case. In fact, many EdTech programs and tools are simply digitizing traditional teaching—and it isn’t innovation.

When schools and teachers bring technology into the classroom, they must ask themselves what their goals are. Using technology simply for the sake of checking off a box and saying that your classroom is in the 21st century is a waste of time, money, and resources. Teachers who want to use technology must do so for the right reasons.

The true purpose of technology in the classroom should be to change the way we teach, not to digitize what we already do. Yes, it’s possible to have students take notes in a Google Doc or create a PowerPoint instead of a poster. But in the end, students won’t be using technology to its full potential with such assignments.

Assignments like these, and others that simply take what teachers have always done and add technology, can be fun for students. However, they don’t create the kind of engagement that’s possible with technology.

Instead, teachers should be looking for ways to use technology to get students active. That doesn’t mean physically active, but mentally active. With technology, it’s possible to get students to do more critical thinking, evaluating, and creating. Students can take responsibility for their own learning.

Teachers can achieve this through models like the flipped classroom. With a flipped classroom, students read information or watch videos from home, then come into class the next day to discuss what they learned or practice their new skills. Instead of sitting in their seats and listening to a teacher lecture, students are interacting with one another or creating a product themselves.

This is the kind of innovation we need when it comes to EdTech. Technology gives students the power to research, create, and explore. By simply digitizing traditional teaching, we give up opportunities to engage students in these kinds of meaningful activities.

Next time you have the chance to bring technology into the classroom, ask yourself—is this really enhancing my lesson, or is it just a way to do the same old things with more technology?

How do you use technology to bring your lessons to the next level? Tell us about it in the comments below.

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What Are the Pros and Cons of EdTech in the Classroom?

No matter how much value edtech adds to your classroom, there will always be skeptics hovering close by. On the flip side, if you’ve never been an edtech supporter, it’s likely there are educators in your district advocating for an online math tutorial or digital textbook.

If you’re looking to educate yourself on the widespread edtech debate, we’re breaking down arguments that parents, teachers, students, and policy makers on both sides have contributed to recent conversations about classroom technology.

Pros

  1. Access to Infinite Information: If a student has a specific question, they’ll find the answer online. If a student watched a video related to your lesson plan, teachers can find the video immediately and discuss its relevance with a classroom of students. If a child wants to glance through a specific database, there are ways to access that information online. Technology destroys the limitations that paper textbooks and traditional materials often create.
  2. Automate Tedious Tasks: As a teacher, you’ve got so much to think about. Are my students grasping this concept? Can I make this subject easier to understand? What’s the best lesson plan for this group of kids? You shouldn’t be bogged down by busy work that technology can plow through instantaneously. There are tools that streamline grading and programs that automatically send messages to students and parents when there’s a schedule change or classroom update.
  3. Digital Citizenship, Media Literacy & Professional Etiquette: Mastering email formats, having to wade through a variety of online resources, troubleshooting glitches on a tablet, and getting comfortable creating aesthetically pleasing digital presentations, helps students master tools they’ll need both personally and professionally to thrive in a tech-based world. There are teachable ethics associated with online behavior, there are endless benefits to being the tech savvy employee in a corporate meeting, and there is value in understanding hidden messaging behind video advertisements. Edtech helps create a generation of citizens who understand the digital landscape and can use that understanding to develop new resources. Not to mention, get that promotion at work!
  4. Customized Learning: Figuring out what each individual child needs is difficult, especially if you’re overloaded with students, overwhelmed with new faces, and severely understaffed. There are countless adaptive learning programs designed to track students’ progress and figure out what helps them understand certain material. Supplementing your classroom with adaptive software will help you understand each student and develop effective lesson plans accordingly.

Cons

  1. Possible Distraction: If boundaries aren’t established for students or effective filtering devices aren’t implemented immediately, students will be tempted to play with their resources rather than stay on task. More likely than not, several students in a classroom will have a greater understanding of computers than their teacher and can find ways to text friends via tablet or avoid blocking software. Figuring out how to balance students’ natural inclination to inappropriately use technology and your inclination to encourage media literacy is difficult.
  2. Promotes Inequality: Not every student has access to technology outside of the classroom. If not every student can complete homework, instructors must refer them to libraries. Even so, it’s unlikely there are feasible options for students who must rent tablets or download specific programs to public
  3. Loss of Human Connection: Students need interpersonal skills in addition to digital literacy. There are articles upon articles discussing the millennial generation’s anti-social inclinations as a result of excessive social media use. Similar articles are outlining the benefits of strong relationships on professional success and overall happiness. Many are concerned that over time, students will lose the ability to communicate verbally and fail to learn skills necessary for a fulfilling social life.
  4. May Replace Teachers: There’s no substitute for human instruction, but some believe the progression of edtech will eliminate jobs for teachers. Most edtech is designed to support However, there is a possibility that digital instruction will become the norm. After all, education budgets feel tighter each year, and there is something to be said for technology that personalizes its instruction based on the user. And it’s no secret that other industries like agriculture and manufacturing have faced similar tech takeovers.

No matter your point of view, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of edtech before implementing or advocating against new technology. Edtech isn’t right for every learner, and you must understand the needs of your classroom before making any decision.

However, at the end of the day, there’s no harm in giving tech tools a shot. Experiment with edtech because, whether or not new tools directly improve your students’ understanding, learners will benefit from exposure to new resources. Consider feedback from both students and teachers, assess the overall experience, and make the best choice for your classroom.

 

 

 

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9 Ways to Tell If a New App Is Ready For Classroom Use

At last count, there were over 80,000 educational apps available to teachers. While many of these may be a dream come true for educators, the dizzying array of choices is also a nightmare. Teachers just don’t have time to filter through thousands of apps to find the one that works best for the needs of their students.

To make this process less agonizing, here are the hallmarks of a classroom-ready educational app.

  1. It has clear connections to the curriculum. Classroom time is valuable, and can’t be wasted on games and apps that do not clearly align with curriculum goals. These connections must be clear throughout the user experience, rather than just a brief nod here and there.
  2. It gives students the opportunity for active learning. Intellectual involvement is essential to student success. Ensure that the app offers more depth than simply mindless scrolling.
  3. It supports the meaningful assessment of student performance. Does the app provide clear data that teachers can use to further customize learning experiences for students? And even more importantly, is it the right kind of data, or merely a distraction?
  4. It is engaging to students. A good app provides students with plenty of good, old-fashioned fun. It should be sufficiently enjoyable that they will want to continue to use it outside of school hours.
  5. It encourages collaboration. Social interaction is a key component of learning. A good app gives students access to meaningful collaboration with other students through such means as teamwork or videoconferencing.
  6. It provides meaningful connections to student’s lives. Does the app present real-world skills that students encounter in their day-to-day lives? Or are the skills presented vague and abstract?
  7. It addresses the needs of students and teachers. The best apps were designed with teachers in mind. Ideally, educators are represented on the team of developers.
  8. Students receive meaningful feedback within the app. The app should provide a clear reward for success (such as advancing to the next level). Students also need to have the ability to ask for hints and help when needed.
  9. The app is relevant and accessible to diverse students. The app should have built-in scaffolding for struggling readers, second-language English learners, and other diverse students. Students of a variety of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds should be represented in the app.

Creating classroom-ready apps is a necessary service to teachers and will make their edtech experience rewarding and enjoyable.

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Want to Build an Educational App? Read This First

Teacher-made materials have always been a part of classrooms.

That’s because teachers can see better than anyone else what students need to understand a concept, especially if it’s an abstract one. As a result, teachers have made games and developed hands-on activities that support classroom instruction.

The use of supplemental aids made from aluminum foil, manila folders, and other inexpensive household items is becoming a thing of the past, thanks to the availability of educational apps.

What’s stopping a teacher from building an educational app?

Not much.

You can build an educational app if you do these things.

Know your app’s purpose

The idea behind having an app is to extend the teacher’s availablity to his or her students. The app isn’t meant to replace the teacher. Apps allow students to learn around the clock because the app can serve as a tutor 24/7.

To build an educational app, you must first consider how it will be used. If you think of an app, or an application, as a process, you may begin thinking of new ways to incorporate apps into instruction.

What processes do students need to learn? Two- and three-digit multiplication? How to add suffixes to root words? If you can think of a process that can be broken down into teachable steps, you may have the beginnings of an app.

What goes into an app?

Your app must solve a problem. If it doesn’t provide a solution, it’s likely an entertainment app rather than an educational app.

What’s on your dream list? Decide what you’d like your app to do, and consider user experience as well as measurable objectives.

Next, determine what content goes into your app. If your app will assist ESL students with practicing past tense verbs, for example, will you include only regular verbs, or will you also introduce irregular verb forms?

How will you reward students who get questions right? Validation and feedback come into play here. Positive instant gratification releases the feel-good chemical dopamine in the brain, and that causes app users to want to play even more.

The app itself

A lot of planning and decision-making goes into building an educational app.

If you’re still thinking about building an educational app, you may be interested to know there’s an app for that. App builders like Appypie and Appmakr will help you create an educational app for use as a supplement to your instruction.

Educational apps are likely to be the trend of the future. What’s stopping you from building yours?

 

 

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What Is the Best Time of the Year to Sell to Schools?

Selling your edtech products directly to schools is a big undertaking. If successful, school and district sales can be the breakthrough for your edtech startup. However, top-down sales are time-consuming and take a lot of investment on the front end. It’s important to understand the process of district purchasing to succeed. One major question posed by edtech entrepreneurs is, when is the best time of the year to sell to schools?

Unfortunately, this can be a tricky subject with multiple variables. Here are some tips for determining the right time to approach schools about your edtech offering.

Spring Fling

The most common time for startups to contact districts is the spring. That is because budgets for the coming fall are being approved and schools are often shopping for products to implement. While the spring season is busy, it may not be the right time for your product. Take into account the type of product you’re offering and what kind of financial commitment you’re pursuing.

Schools are inundated with sales requests through the spring, and if your proposal isn’t on their priority list, you won’t get a meeting. Spring sales should be reserved for products with whole school implementation which will be used for the coming school year. Software products take longer to approve than hardware, so if you’re pitching a new LMS get in with the spring rush.

Additionally, if your product takes a significant investment, spring is the time to approach schools. You will need to come in on a new budget, not pick up the slack of the previous year.

Summer Sales

Conversely, if you’re offering smaller applications for individual use or hardware, you may have an easier time in the summer. School officials only have so much time for sales calls. So, approaching them when they’re less busy with more substantial purchases will be a smart strategy.

Summer is also an ideal time to contact teachers if you’re using a bottom-up model. Teachers are busy in the spring and fall. Furthermore, most teachers plan their coming year in the summer months. Offering a system to help with classroom organization or provide interactive lesson plans will be more successful during the planning phase.

Winter Wonderland

While the budgets of most schools will be tapped by winter, you may be able to pull in some last minute sales. Smaller purchases like supplementary tools and hardware can be offered to use any unallocated funds before the new budget year.

Autumn Strategy

Regardless of your product, remember that schools officials are excessively busy in the autumn months. They will have a lot on their calendars with implementation of new software, student orientation and smoothing out bumps. The fall season is the best time for relationship building with current and potential clients.

Instead of pitching ideas, helping with product setup or giving teachers and administrators one on one attention is best. Making yourself an asset to teachers and administrators will be a smart move for future contact. Selling to schools is just like any high stake sales industry and requires a bit of schmoozing which will undoubtedly help you land meetings during the summer, spring and winter months.

The process of selling to schools is slow. Some purchases take weeks for approval; others may take up to nine months. Patience, resilience, and planning are the keys to success in edtech sales.

What plans have you found successful for school sales? How do you get your foot in the door with administrators? We’d love to hear your feedback.

 

 

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A Vision for the Future of Virtual Reality in Education

Virtual Reality (VR) is slowly taking over our entertainment industry. But what are the implications for other areas of our lives, such as business, health, and even…education?

While the educational realm generally takes longer than anyone else to embrace new technology, VR brings many implications for the schools of tomorrow.

Here are some ways in which VR might change the face of education in the future.

Experiencing “Real” Life

Students can get some idea of what life was like in ancient Rome through descriptive passages in a textbook, but this just doesn’t seem real to them. You could show them a video about the life of Syrian refugees, but it just won’t be the same as experiencing it.

Education as we know it today often falls short of presenting students with hands-on experiences. What if you could take your students right now on an immigrant ship as it arrives on Ellis Island? What if you could put them deep in the ocean to observe the habits of marine life firsthand? VR has the potential to bring these experiences to life for them and give them a deeper, more authentic understanding.

More Empathy

The bubonic plague. The Holocaust. The rigorous lives of the early American pioneers. We want our students to learn more than mundane facts and dates about these events. We want them to develop the capacity to feel what others feel and to empathize. Such empathy gives them a deeper and wiser perspective on events in the world today, and they cannot get this simply by reading a textbook or writing an essay.

Help for Struggling Students

Traditionally, it has always been challenging to deliver a quality educational experience to students with special needs. With VR, such students have a way to easily access deep learning regardless of their developmental or cognitive challenges. Virtual Reality levels the playing field, giving the same learning opportunities to all.

Imparting More Relevance in Traditional Learning Experiences

VR experiences can inform and enhance more traditional learning activities. A student who needs to write an essay about a Shakespearean play will gain a deeper perspective by experiencing the play virtually. If your class is learning a language by corresponding with a class from another country, this exchange can be more meaningful after witnessing life in the target culture first-hand.

Initially, Virtual Reality may be slow to take off in the educational sector. But once it does, it can offer our students an educational experience that has never been imagined before.

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How Early Should Kids Begin STEM Education?

Current research results are in favor of early childhood experiences for students, especially those who are disadvantaged. This education is the great equalizer because it provides a rich, common foundation for children who may have diverse backgrounds and experiences.

So what does that mean?

Students are capable of learning far more than you think they can. Most teachers will tell you that children will rise up to the standard you set, so you may as well elevate the bar for learning.

And that brings us to STEM education in early childhood. That’s right – early childhood is the perfect time to begin science, technology, engineering, and mathematics instruction.

Early is not too early

STEM learning fits in every grade level because the material is adaptable to the developmental age of the child. You may think there is no way for a child that young to engage in advanced engineering or mathematical concepts, but kindergartners have been doing algebra forever. You won’t see four and five-year-olds huddled in groups as they fervently work out quadratic equations, but you will see them solving for X.

Early childhood teachers routinely teach pattern recognition to their students. Walk down the early childhood hallway in a school, and you’ll see student work that displays their interpretations of patterns: circle-circle-square, circle- circle -square, circle-circle -square or square-diamond-circle, square-diamond-circle, square-diamond-circle.

Teachers ask their students to figure out what comes next in the pattern. Students may not realize they are solving for X (a difficult abstract concept), but they can recognize patterns in mathematics and science. The foundation for algebra – and other advanced concepts – takes place in kindergarten.

What does early STEM education look like?

Here are more ways young children can participate in STEM learning:

  • Science – Give students the chance to explore and understand the world around them with a variety of lessons in science.
  • Technology – Something as small as being able to differentiate between serifed and non-serifed fonts is a critical thinking skill learned in early childhood.
  • Engineering –Building a structure from given materials is an example of engineering.
  • Mathematics—Teach lessons that incorporate number sense and representation.

STEM lessons engage young students, satisfying the natural curiosity of a child, through fun, interesting and hands on projects.  Begin the lessons early.

A proverb from the Buddha states, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” It’s about having the right teacher at the right time, and early childhood can be the right time for STEM.

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Can Digital Equity Close the Achievement Gap?

Closing the achievement gap has been a focus of those looking to improve education for decades. The term “achievement gap” refers to the gap between the test scores of low-income students (or students of color) and their wealthier (or white) peers. There are dozens of theories on why this gap continues to exist and what we can do to bring low-income students’ achievement levels up. In recent years, one idea has come to light that has promise—using digital equity to close the achievement gap.

Digital equity has also been the focus of education advocates for some years now. As digital technology becomes an integral part of our world and our schools, a gap has emerged in access to technology. Students from wealthier backgrounds tend to have greater access to the internet and digital technology when compared to their peers who come from poverty. This puts wealthier students ahead and adds another barrier for schools with a high poverty rate to overcome.

Some education experts now say that digital equity could help to provide a level playing field for all students. If all students have access to the same technology, it could help to close the achievement gap. It has already been established that students without access to technology have trouble completing homework assignments. While more than half of teachers assign homework that requires internet access, there are millions of children who live in homes where they can’t get online.

In theory, closing this digital divide could have tremendous effects for low-income students. Giving students from poverty access to technology certainly improves outcomes. Researchers at Stanford have found that, when used correctly, technology does indeed help boost test scores for low-income students.

However, digital equity is not a magic fix for closing the achievement gap. The achievement gap existed long before the invention of the internet. Creating true equality for all students is far more complex than simply giving them all laptops. Further studies have shown that even when students in high-poverty schools have greater access to technology than their peers in low-poverty schools, their test scores remain lower.

While digital equity is a part of closing the achievement gap, it’s not the solution. Digital technology can be used to widen the achievement gap or to help close it.

How has your school used digital technology to try to close the achievement gap? Do you think digital equity can close the achievement gap?

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Tips for Teachers Who Are Frustrated with EdTech

Educational technology can be exasperating.

The edtech arena itself is a vast one. No wonder teachers get annoyed, regardless of how much experience they have with technology or education.

Situations completely out of our control can also send the calmest teachers into a spin. You can’t control the weather, but that huge storm passing through your region can affect connectivity. In turn, connectivity is everything when using edtech. And of course, the storms always seem to be the worst when you need the Internet the most, like during high stakes assessment.

Here are tips for teachers who are frustrated with edtech:

  1. Walk away. Take a step back from the technology, or switch to another activity. Sometimes ignoring a problem for a few minutes allows your brain the opportunity to figure out the challenge. Just be sure to come back after your timeout.
  2. Let someone help you. Rather than feel bad that you don’t understand something, reach out. Educators like to help others learn. Try to get the right kind of help by finding that person on your campus who can explain it the way you will understand it. It may be a student who explains it best. Be okay with that.
  3. Figure out what you’ve gotten right so far. This one action can help you build on prior success and help you clear the present edtech hurdle as well.
  4. Read the manual. Most edtech products offer friendly instructions with illustrations and screenshots. The problem is that studying the manual is usually best done when you have time, not when you’re in the middle of transitioning 28 hyperactive kids from one activity to another.
  5. Chat about it. Not everyone likes to read a manual, and edtech companies know that. You can get excellent support and some of the best advice about product use by chatting with company reps on their website.
  6. Accept technology for what it is. If you’re expecting a one-size-fits all silver bullet, you won’t find it in edtech – or anywhere else, for that matter. Edtech is one of the many tools teachers use on a daily basis in the classroom; it’s not a panacea for everything.

Edtech doesn’t have to be frustrating if you have a few strategies to fall back on when things don’t go right. The benefits of incorporating edtech into your instruction outweigh the drawbacks – if you can overcome your frustration.

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Using Digital Storytelling to Amplify Your Students’ Voices

Digital storytelling is a fantastic way to implement technology and digital literacy into the classroom. Plus, it teaches valuable skills in a way your students will love! According to Educause Learning Initiative, “Digital storytelling is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component.”

Since your students are already using social media, memes, and gifs in their daily lives to tell stories, it is the perfect time to teach students how to use digital storytelling in a meaningful way. Teachers can use digital storytelling to teach students the art of storytelling while allowing students to take ownership of their stories with their own voices. Here are all of the ways that you can use digital storytelling to amplify your student’s voices.

Teaches Students the Art of Storytelling

Digital storytelling begins with having students write a script for a story. However, digital storytelling expands upon traditional storytelling by having students find digital content pieces that work to support the story’s main idea and its overall emotional tone. Students must use visual literacy, digital literacy, and technology literacy skills to make their stories come to life.

While teaching digital storytelling involves planning, your students will benefit from this opportune lesson. As Suzie Boss asserts, “Teachers who bring digital storytelling into the classroom are discovering what makes this vehicle for expression worth the effort. They watch students gain proficiency in writing and research, visual literacy, critical thinking, and collaboration.”

Allows Students to Take Ownership of Their Stories

Digital storytelling is a perfect time to allow your students to take ownership of their stories. They will be encouraged to write their own stories, as well as curate the most compelling digital content to make their stories impactful. In addition to writing the story and finding the content, students will also use technology to build their stories.

Ultimately, this will be their story from start to finish. Students get to choose the content that they believe is the most relevant, as well as the content that they like the most. Digital storytelling is fun for students, and it also gives them a sense of pride in their own creations.

Amplifies Their Personal Voices

Finally, digital storytelling amplifies their voices. It gives students an opportunity to express themselves creatively as all the digital images and sounds are unique to the individual student’s personal story. With the amount of digital content available, no two stories will ever be alike. As students work to discover themselves, digital storytelling is an effective teaching tool for self-expression and literacy.

Can you think of any additional ways that teachers can use digital storytelling to amplify their students voices?