When it comes to learning, giving students access to a magical mix of high-quality teachers, technology, and the opportunity to develop skills such as collaboration sets them on the right path.

But educational gaps remain–gaps in technology access, in achievement, and in opportunity. The right blend of pedagogy and technology, however, can help close those gaps.

During a session at CUE’s 2017 National Conference ^[1], Toni Robinson, director of professional development for Discovery Education, explored some of the ways technology can give students equal learning opportunities.

Closing educational gaps comes down to access, achievement and advancement.

Access

“We can’t speak about access without speaking about success,” Robinson said. “There’s no way to get success if you don’t have access.”

When it comes to ensuring students have different types of access, including access to high-quality educators and to technology, Robinson recommends looking at successful access models and replicating them.

“The end goal is not access–the end goal is success,” she said.

(Next page: Achievement and advancement)

Access to teachers: Students need and deserve access to high-quality teachers who are invested in students’ futures, who are, and who want to make a difference in students’ lives. But enrollment in teacher prep programs is declining across the country, and developing a strong teacher pipeline is very important.

Access to learning spaces: Creative, innovative and flexible learning environments that give students safe and respectful places to learn are key. Spaces should reflect the work world and the global world students will enter.

Access to technology: “We live in the digital age. There’s no going back,” Robinson said. “It’s a moral imperative that we provide students with the opportunity to interact with technology during their academic career.” Teachers have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and with realizing students might have more technology knowledge and proficiency. Exposure to both technology and high-quality digital content helps students achieve success.

Access to relevance: “For far too long, we’ve taught topics that just aren’t relevant, where students don’t see the connection to their lives,” Robinson said. “Technology gives us the opportunity to make things relevant.” For example, lessons on proportion could be applied to finance or game design. Lessons about angles could incorporate diagrams from basketball games. “That high-interest content that is engaging and of interest to students makes all the difference,” she said.

Access to content and real-world experiences: Content should be robust and relevant. It should engage students and help them see beyond their classroom and learn in the real world. Technology can bring real-world experiences to students’ classrooms.

“Technology allows us to extend the learning beyond the barriers of the classroom,” Robinson said. “We have to think big and act small–break down the walls that divide our classrooms and step into this world that is at our fingertips. Whether you have one device or 30 … we have to stop teaching the way WE learn and teach students the way THEY learn. Teach to their future, and not to our past. Before students can see themselves as forces of change, we have to empower them to do that. That’s how we provide access.”

Achievement

“We live in a time when students receive more information than we ever did at their age. The skills they need [will help them] decipher what’s true, what’s not, what’s important, what’s helpful, and they also need to be able to develop their own content as well,” Robinson said.

Educators have to know that students are preparing for jobs that are just emerging or that haven’t been created yet. The skills students learn today will help them get ready for those jobs of tomorrow, she said.

Those new skills for achievement include creative communication, social and emotional competence, sense-making, relevance, and curation.

Educators can help boost student achievement through agency, personalization, and authenticity.

Agency: How much power are we giving students to determine their own learning? is teacher or students doing most talking? Who is the primary driver of the lesson? who is initiating what’s going to be studied? teacher or student? we really have to think about making sure we’re releasing some of that control and turning it over to students, and that can be a little daunting.

Personalization: Think about who selects learning goals and how material is going to be learned. Who determines how it’s going to be assessed? It doesn’t mean just giving choice in terms of the paths students take, but also giving them a choice in how they want to be assessed and how they want to demonstrate that they’ve learned.

Authenticity: Is the work that students are doing reflective of work practitioners do? Is it reflective of what happens in the real world and is the work they’re doing contributing to a larger audience? “If we limit the audience to just the classroom or just the school, we’re really doing our students a disservice,” Robinson said. “They have an opportunity to speak to a broader world today than we did. Creating opportunities means giving students authentic work and challenges, and making sure their voices are being heard.”

Advancement

“To advance, we really have to start seeing things a little differently,” Robinson said. This includes looking for the “pertinent negative”–looking for what isn’t there, along with identifying what is there, to get the full picture.

“As educators and as school districts, we have to decide how we are going to move along with change. What is it our teachers need to help them get on board? Don’t do it for the sake of using technology, but do it strategically, capably, purposefully, and in conjunction with pedagogy,” she said. “The teacher is still the most effective and important factor in the classroom that is going to affect student achievement and advancement, but we also have to be abreast of what’s coming.”

Educators also should make sure they are giving students chances to create and collaborate in order to advance.

“If we want students to advance, [make sure] we’re giving them opportunities to construct knowledge and open them up to outside learning opportunities. Think of existing problems out there today that they can actually impact.”

“I think this conference is unique in that all the sessions are educator-led, rather than vendor-led. It’s a conference for teachers by teachers. Think of it like education’s version of a Star Wars convention. That’s the level of passion and engagement we see,” said PR Specialist Beth Cherry for CUE.

As national conferences grow and fade, like stars in an ever-evolving educational cosmos, it’s been interesting watching the rock star-esque growth in popularity of the CUE conference, billed as a conference specifically dedicated to teacher and administrator professional development.

According to CUE, the aim of the PD-packed conference—held this year March 15-18—is to provide edtech professional development to schools, districts, and local educators on the infusion of emerging technologies to better prepare students for college and careers ahead. And the best way to provide PD is to encourage educators to learn from the best experts: their peers.

“When you come to CUE, it’s like jumping into an educator’s playground, and all around are your peers waiting to play with you,” explained Cherry…and it doesn’t hurt that this playground is located in California’s Palm Springs.

And the playground, it seems, is going to be packed this year: with an annual average of six thousand attendees, registrants for this year’s CUE conference is already at seven thousand—and that’s just teachers and administrators.

Content to Experience This Year

This year’s lineup of dynamic Keynote Presenters ^[2] includes:

Taylor Mali, poet, former teacher and author of What Teachers Make. Mali is considered the most successful poetry slam strategist of all time, having led six of his eight national poetry slam teams to the finals stage and winning the championship a record four times before anyone had even tied him at three. A native of New York City, Taylor was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. He is a vocal advocate of teachers, having performed and lectured for education professionals all over the world. Mali will share stories and poems from the classroom including “The Impotence of Proofreading,” “Miracle Workers,” and “What Teachers Make.” Be reminded why you chose to do what you do by one who has been there and survived. For more information, visit www.taylormali.com.

Mali’s TED talk on What Teachers Make 

(Next page: 3 other rock star keynoters at the CUE conference)

Dr. Jo Boaler, Mathematics Education professor at Stanford University and co-founder of youcubed ^[3], which aims to give teachers, parents and students the resources and ideas they need to inspire and get excited about math. Boaler is also an analyst for PISA testing in the OECD, and author of the first MOOC on mathematics teaching and learning. Her latest book is Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students’ Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching (2016). She serves as an advisor to several Silicon Valley companies and was a White House presenter on girls and STEM. She was recently named one of the eight educators “changing the face of education” by the BBC. Boaler will discuss how new knowledge from brain science is showing a clear path for mathematics learning that is both exciting and inspiring for teachers. She will share recent and important research on the brain and mathematics learning that has profound implications for students’ mathematics achievement.

George Couros, educator in the area of innovative leadership, teaching, and learning and author of The Innovator’s Mindset, has worked with all levels of school, from K-12 as a teacher, technology facilitator, and school and district administrator. Couros is also the creator of Connected Principals.com, an initiative that brings educators and leaders together from around the world to create powerful learning opportunities for students. Couros will discuss how educators will need to go beyond the ideas of “fixed” and “growth” mindsets to create the learning opportunities that students and school deserve. You can connect with George on his blog, The Principal of Change ^[4] or through Twitter @gcouros.

Cathy Hunt, an advocate for the creative integration of technology in education, and probably best known for her work on iPadArtRoom ^[5]. Hunt has developed ground-breaking programs for students around the world that combine hands-on, tactile, and collaborative ways of working with mobile devices. As an award-winning educational consultant, presenter, author, and experienced Arts Educator at St Hilda’s School on Australia’s Gold Coast, she has worked with tens of thousands of teachers globally to connect creative technology and cutting-edge pedagogical approaches with diverse learners. Hunt will provide educators with a new perspective on creative technology integration. According to her, “A redefinition of creativity is required for the contemporary student in the context of an unpredictable future, a world of fast-paced development and complex problems. But when we look beyond the buzzwords and catch phrases, what does ‘being creative’ really mean? Have you considered that every moment in teaching is a creative act? Or that to be creative is to be ‘fully human’?” Cathy can be reached on her website at www.ipadartroom.com ^[5] or through Twitter @art_cathyhunt.

CUE Conference Information

Keynote presentations will be live streamed at www.cue.org/live ^[6]. The Welcome Keynote from Taylor Mali on Wednesday, March 15^th at 6:00pm is free and open to the public.

Even among the 300+ educator-led sessions and special events happening within the Conference Program, there are crowd pleasers that have become instant classics, such as LeRoy’s Big Idea Contest ^[7]. The contest returns this year for its second running. Presenting before a panel of edu-rock stars at the CUE National Conference, each of the six finalists will present an even bigger version of their “Big Idea” that first nabbed them a spot in the finale.  By a combined vote of the edu-rock star panel and the audience, one educator will be named the next “LeRoy Finkel Fellow” and receive a $2,500 fellowship to help bring their big idea to and the event is free and open to the public. The Showcase reflects today’s focus on STEAM, the Maker Movement, and Common Core.

Other notable events on the educator playground include the CUE STEAMpunk Playground ^[8] that brings together top STEAM teachers who will lead on-going, hands-on sessions featuring tools like: robots and flying drones, Minecraft, 3d printing, coding, and programming; and the CUE Student-Powered Showcase ^[9]: student technology-integrated curriculum projects – and the students that power them – present their projects live on Saturday morning.

To register or for more information, visit www.cue.org/national ^[10]  | #cue17

Trends point to a handful of major ed-tech focus areas that grab educators’ attention

A few years ago the education world found itself entranced by the iPad, a powerful tablet that promised to revolutionize one-to-one programs and revitalize teacher engagement with technology in the wake of sweeping mobile device adoptions. For years, the iPad seemed to dominate educators’ discussions. Now, that storm seems to have passed, as educators and ed-tech enthusiasts are broadening their horizons and looking to the future.

Last week, a group of educators from California and across the U.S. converged on a Napa Valley high school for the Fall CUE 2014 Conference ^[11], centered around a theme of next-generation learning.

Here are 5 takeaways from the sessions, tweets, and conversations that came up time and again during the conference, and which offer a revealing glimpse into the types of technology and interventions educators are turning to now.

(Next page: The five ed-tech conversations dominating educators’ conversations)

1. Google is everywhere. Glancing at the conference schedule, observers might be forgiven for wondering whether Google is now the new Apple. Although that claim may be tenuous at best, given that Google, in one way or another, has always been a classroom mainstay, there were an uncanny number of sessions devoted to Chromebooks, Google Classroom, Apps for Education, and deep dives into niche tools (think Google Drawing or the social studies godsend, Google Tours). More than a few hours were devoted to picking apart every facet of Google Apps for every conceivable classroom environment. Simply put, a solid integration framework across a range of platforms seems to be pushing Google into more classrooms and onto more educators’ lips than ever before.

2. But the iPad isn’t going anywhere. Given that, at last count, schools have invested more than $400 million ^[12] getting iPads into student hands, it would be rash to expect them to drop of the radar so precipitously. Now that the initial gold rush has died down, educators are looking at more intentional uses. Some speakers hailed from districts with renowned iPad success stories and were eager to share their stories; others promoted sessions that went “beyond giving you a shopping list” for apps. These days, educators appear likely to embrace the iPad’s strengths, accept its weaknesses, and engage in thoughtful discussions on finances and the merits of sharing devices.

3. Games have arrived—-in a big way. Gaming and gamification have bubbled just under the ed-tech surface for years, even cropping up on the New Media Consortium’s trendsetting Horizon Report ^[13] from time to time. The snowball growth of Minecraft in the classroom, however, may finally be helping to tip the scales. While Minecraft was on many educators’ minds at the conference, attendees also listened raptly to a teacher speaking in a large auditorium who described infusing her middle-school classroom with “XP” and level-ups—-terms closely associated with role playing games. Indeed, GameDesk’s Lucien Vattel, a conference keynote speaker, built his talk around the benefits of experiential learning, the brain science behind fun and lasting memories, and gaming’s facility for teaching difficult concepts to students while removing what he called the “fear of failure.”

4. Reaching students outside class. Curricular shifts—-such as the Common Core and a greater emphasis on STEM skills—-have made learn-by-doing technology a relatively easy sell for educators, and much was made of novel ways to reach students through after-school clubs and passion projects. Trendy tech and buzzworthy terms-—think maker spaces and 3D printing—-certainly commanded their share of airtime, but educators also discussed coding clubs, robotics competitions, and ways to engage girls in STEM subjects. Adapting famous concepts from tech behemoths was also a hit, and educators learned how to apply Google’s 20 percent time idea in the classroom, and training students to staff school Genius Bars, as a way to teach students valuable skills and relieve beleaguered IT departments.

5. The focus is still on students. At a time when so much technology and potential for learning is at students’ fingertips, speakers and attendees kept consistently focused on how technology can best benefit students. Keynoter and educator Diana Laufenberg pushed her audience to think creatively and critically about their strengths as educators and how they can use those strengths to best reach students through inquiry-driven, project-based classrooms. Elsewhere, educators discussed how best to engage students in learning in ways that were both authentic and relevant to students, and which taught them how to apply the skills they were learning to real-world situations. That last point was an idea later echoed by Laufenberg in her closing keynote. “It’s not what you know,” she told attendees, “but what you can do with what you know.”

Here are some highlights from the CUE conference exhibit hall

At the annual CUE conference ^[14] in Palm Springs, Calif., earlier this month, dozens of ed-tech companies showed their latest products for educators—including a new interactive computer game for learning world history and a way to find apps and other classroom resources aligned with the Common Core standards.

Here are some of the highlights from the CUE conference exhibit hall.

Belkin ^[15] announced three new ed-tech products at the CUE conference: protective cases and sleeves for Chromebooks; wired keyboards for iPads and Samsung tablets; and a system for securing and charging various mobile devices.

Belkin’s Air Protect Sleeve and Air Protect Case for Chromebooks help protect the devices from damage as they’re being used or carried. The $29 sleeve includes a separate bottom pocket that can store accessories and further insulates the screen from damage if a Chromebook is dropped. The $59 case zips open, allowing you to see the full Chromebook screen—and ventilation on all sides keeps the device from overheating.

Both the case and the sleeve are designed for 11.6-inch Chromebooks and can be used with other slim devices that size as well, such as a MacBook Air.

Belkin’s Secure Wired Keyboards are available in three different versions: a $29 model with a five-pin micro USB connector for Samsung tablets; a $49 version for 30-pin iPad models; and a $59 version for the new Lightning iPad connector. All three keyboard models are angled at five degrees for comfortable use and draw power from the tablet itself, so no battery is needed. They also work with mobile phones.

The Samsung version is available now, and the Apple versions—which are MFi (Made for iPad) certified—will be available in April.

Belkin’s Secure and Charge station is a lightweight but durable metal container for storing and charging any mobile device up to 11-inch Chromebooks. It holds up to 10 devices and is ventillated all around; up to three stations can be stacked on top of each other for full classroom coverage.

At 30 pounds, the Secure and Charge station is light enough to be carried from room to room, and it also can be bolted to an AV cart. It features a lockable door that can accommodate any type of school-issued lock, and its surge protector comes with a $15,000 warranty—meaning Belkin will replace up to $15,000 worth of equipment damaged from overheating or overcharging.

Belkin wasn’t the only company showing a product for storing and charging mobile devices at the CUE conference. Several other CUE exhibitors demonstrated similar types of products.

AVer ^[16], for instance, showed a new 40-device cart for storing and charging iPads, Android tablets, and Windows 8 devices, available in May for $1,499. And Black Box ^[17] highlighted a wide variety of Universal Computing Carts ranging from 18-slot to 40-slot versions; all come with a laminated wooden top to provide a smooth working surface.

(Next page: Five new products for teaching with technology)

Last year, Common Sense Media ^[18] introduced a free service—called Graphite ^[19]—that reviews hundreds of digital apps, games, and websites for their usefulness as teaching tools. During this year’s CUE conference, the nonprofit organization announced a new feature within Graphite that helps users find resources for teaching to specific Common Core standards.

Called Common Core Explorer ^[20], the tool lets educators search for apps, games, and websites by standard. For each standard, you can view a drop-down list of resources related to that topic. The list includes the name of each item, a brief description, its Common Sense Media rating, and its average rating by teachers. When you click on an item, you get more information and a link to its full review.

As of press time, Graphite contained reviews of more than 1,100 apps, games, and websites, and all of these have been mapped to the Common Core standards for math and English language arts, where appropriate. Common Sense Media is working on mapping these resources to the Next-Generation Science Standards as well, and this task should be done by the end of the calendar year.

E-Line Media ^[21], a publisher of game-based learning products, previewed a new digital game for teaching world history to students in grades 5-9.

Called Historia ^[22], the game has students team up to lead a civilization. In playing the game, students research history, debate strategy, and take risks that will determine the future of their people. Aligned with most middle school social studies standards, the game will be available for interactive whiteboards, tablets, PCs, and Macs.

A beta-testing phase begins May 1, and educators who are interested in participating can sign up on the Historia website.

For more news from this year’s CUE conference, see:

Google Apps spur rise of new ed-tech market segment ^[23]

Khan Academy now Common Core aligned ^[24]

PASCO scientific ^[25] previewed a new version of its SPARKvue platform for collecting, displaying, and analyzing data from field and lab experiments. With SPARKvue version 2.1, students will have one common user experience across all platforms, the company said—including iPads, Android or Windows tablets, Chromebooks, Windows or Mac computers, or interactive whiteboards.

The new version, which will be available before the next school year, also includes data sharing capabilities that will allow for real-time collaboration on lab activities.

Plasq ^[26] demonstrated a new version of its Comic Life product at the CUE conference. Comic Life makes it easy for students to create comics, storyboards, and posters using digital photos—with no special artistic skills needed. Educators are using Comic Life to teach a wide range of subjects, Plasq said—and version 3 of the software introduces a script editor that lets users create stories right in the app.

Comic Life is available for Windows and Mac computers and iOS devices. The Windows and Mac versions cost $20 for a single-user license, with volume discounts available; if you buy 1,000 licenses or more, each one costs just $2.49. (These prices are one-time licensing fees, as opposed to yearly licenses.) The iOS version is $4.99 for a single user and $2.49 for volume purchases. A free 30-day trial version also is available.

During the CUE conference, SMART Technologies ^[27] previewed new software that creates a cloud-based collaborative workspace. Called SMART amp, the software connects devices to a “shared workspace,” where students can collaborate with each other and teachers can upload lessons and conduct real-time assessment.

The software will be available in April, SMART said. It will be licensed per student, with site licenses also available.

Follow Editorial Director Dennis Pierce on Twitter: @eSN_Dennis ^[28].

Many companies now sell products aimed at making Google Apps even more useful for schools

Student use of Google Apps is on the rise, and Google Chromebooks have exploded in popularity ^[29] within K-12 education. In response to these trends, a new niche market has emerged in ed tech, as many companies now sell products aimed at making these tools even more useful for schools.

Some of these companies were on hand at CUE’s annual conference ^[30] in Palm Springs, Calif., last week to demonstrate their products.

The Toronto-based company Synergyse ^[31] offers what it calls an “interactive training system” for Google Apps. The product gives schools an easy way to improve the productivity of staff and students by delivering user-friendly, guided instruction in how to use these tools, said Synergyse founder and CEO Varun Malhotra.

The training is accessible directly within Google Apps, so users don’t have to leave an application to learn how to use it. Synergyse is an extension for the Google Chrome operating system that integrates audio, text, and video guides into the Google Apps interfaces.

As of press time, Synergyse provided training for Google Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Sites, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. The product—which includes training in English, French, and Spanish—is hosted on the Google Cloud platform, and school leaders can generate reports on usage within their schools.

Synergyse costs $10 per full-time employee, per year, and if a school or district buys licenses for all of its employees, then student use of the product is free.

(Next page: A teacher dashboard that overlays Google Apps; a cloud-based web filter that integrates with Google Apps; and more)

California-based Hapara ^[32] has created a Teacher Dashboard for Google Apps that organizes activity within these apps by class and student. The software gives educators a “bird’s-eye view” of their students’ use of these tools, Hapara says—saving teachers time while allowing them to track students’ Google Apps usage and improve outcomes.

“The value of Google Apps for our organization has increased a thousand times with Teacher Dashboard layered on top for our teachers,” said Chris Liang Vergara, director of instructional technology for FirstLine Schools of New Orleans, in a promotion for Harpara.

An optional add-on to the Teacher Dashboard, called Remote Control, allows for real-time classroom management of Google Chromebooks. With Remote Control, teachers can see what their students are doing online, close student browser tabs, open specific URLs on students’ machines, and send students priority messages, the company says.

Teacher Dashboard licenses cost from $4 to $6 per student, per year.

Securly ^[33], another California company, sells a cloud-based web filtering solution built on the Google Apps Directory instead of Microsoft Active Directory.

Securly says it can block inappropriate search terms on Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines, as well as filter out age-inappropriate pages from social media websites. The software also lets educators provide a white-listed version of YouTube to their students—or, they can enforce the “safety mode” on YouTube to provide an “open but safe environment” in which videos flagged by the YouTube community are filtered out.

Because it’s built around the Google Apps platform, Securly integrates seamlessly with Google Apps for Education and Chromebooks, the company says. Take-home Chromebooks can be set up to rout web traffic through Securly with a simple setting in the Google Apps for Education control panel.

The devices don’t have to be provisioned individually; using Google’s zero-touch, cloud-based policy pushdown, they are provisioned with the Securly filtering policies automatically when students log in the first time.

Though it wasn’t at the CUE conference in Palm Springs, Spanning Cloud Apps is another company that sells a product aimed at making Google Apps use more productive for schools.

Spanning Backup for Google Apps ^[34] offers automatic or on-demand backup of the information contained in Gmail, Contacts, Calendar, Sites, and Drive, with a user interface that is so easy, students and teachers can resolve their own data loss issues, the company says.

The cost of the service is determined per user, per year, for an unlimited amount of data: $15 per year for staff and $10 per year for students, with a minimum of 50 users. Spanning Cloud Apps highlighted the service during the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) annual conference ^[35] in February.

Follow Editorial Director Dennis Pierce on Twitter: @eSN_Dennis ^[28].

Free website includes thousands of exercises for helping students prepare for the new standards at their own pace, founder Sal Khan announced

Over the last few years, Sal Khan’s free Khan Academy ^[36] website has become a go-to resource for teaching and learning math skills. During the annual CUE ^[37] conference in Palm Springs, Calif., on March 22, Khan announced a major expansion of the website that will help prepare students for Common Core math testing.

“While the standards may be common, we know that students are not—they each have their own learning journey,” Khan said. “This is why we are committed to personalized learning that lets students practice what they most need help on, at their own pace, at absolutely no cost.”

Khan Academy now includes thousands of new, interactive math problems ^[38] fully aligned to every Common Core math standard in grades K-12. Created and reviewed by 40 math educators, these exercises focus on conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and real-world applications of math.

Khan Academy users can search for exercises that address each strand within the standards by grade level. Every single problem for every single standard is accompanied by a step-by-step solution created specifically for that problem.

What’s more, Khan unveiled new grade-level “missions” aligned with the Common Core, to help students work through these exercises at their own pace. Each student will get his or her own learning dashboard that uses state-of-the-art, adaptive software to identify learning gaps and show progress. Students also will receive badges, energy points, and avatars as they complete each mission.

(Next page: New teacher resources from Khan Academy as well)

To make sure the materials are rigorous and fully aligned to the Common Core, Khan enlisted the help of several organizations involved in the design and assessment of the new standards, including Illustrative Mathematics and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

“Khan Academy has helped to make the Common Core math standards come to life in my classroom,” said Shelby Harris, a seventh grade teacher in Kuna, Idaho, who piloted the new content, in a press release. “It is my go-to resource when lesson planning, and my students are more prepared than ever.”

To help teachers prepare their students for the Common Core, Khan Academy is offering several new teacher resources as well, Khan said. For example, teachers can use a new Common Core Map ^[39] to quickly find math exercises by standard and assign them to students. They also can use real-time reports to track each student’s progress toward meeting the Common Core standards at any time throughout the year and identify which students might need more attention.

CUE (formerly the Computer Using Educators) is a professional learning organization devoted to educational technology. Nearly 5,000 K-12 educators and administrators gathered in Palm Springs for the group’s 2014 annual conference.

Many brick-and-mortar schools want to incorporate more online instruction—but how should teachers prepare for the newly popular blended classroom? An update to a national certification program for educators promises to help them teach in a blended learning environment.

Leading Edge Certification (LEC) ^[40]—an alliance of education agencies, nonprofit organizations, and universities—has updated its educational technology course, now renamed the Online and Blended Teacher Certification program ^[41].

In a shift from its previous focus solely on online learning, the eight- to 10-week course—which debuted last year—now includes both online and blended learning topics in each of its eight modules. Upon completion of the course, which follows iNACOL’s national standards for high-quality online teaching ^[42], educators should be well versed in designing, presenting, and assessing lessons in both an online and a blended learning environment.

Mike Lawrence, founding chair of LEC, said school leaders have expressed a strong preference for blended learning over pure online learning, according to preliminary results of the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN) e-Learning census ^[43] administered this spring.

“Traditional schools want to take advantage of existing facilities. [Moving to blended learning] is a much easier step than, ‘What, I’m never going to meet these kids?’” said Lawrence.

For more news about professional development, see:

New venture connects U.S. teachers online ^[44]

School groups craft seven-part plan for improving teaching ^[45]

Seven standards for effective professional development ^[46]

Each module of the course, usually covered in one week, requires educators to read a digital textbook, which includes embedded quizzes and other formative assessments. Educators prepare one or two assignments based on their reading: If the lesson was on accessibility, for example, one assignment might be to create a sample of accessible content.

Throughout the week, instructors post probing questions on the course discussion board, provide feedback on assignments, and hold virtual office hours on a platform such as Skype or Google Hangouts.

At the end of the instructional week, educators submit a longer, culminating project that goes in their digital portfolio. For the accessibility unit, students might create their own ADA-compliant videos complete with headings and captions.

After eight weeks of instruction, participants submit to their instructors a final portfolio and reflection based on the webpage-creator Google Sites. If the portfolio meets the program’s standards, the instructor awards the educator LEC certification.

LEC previewed the new course curriculum at the annual Computer-Using Educators (CUE) conference March 15-17. The program designers gave instructors of the original curriculum a period to review and make recommendations about the new content, and then revised the course in time for an early April launch, said Greg Ottinger, chairman of LEC’s Online and Blended Certification Committee.

About 150 teachers have taken the original version of the course and become LEC-certified as online instructors. “It was time to fill in the gaps and add in pieces that didn’t make it into the first version” of the course, Ottinger said.

One example of a new piece in the revised curriculum is accessibility—responses from district and classroom leaders to the original curriculum revealed a need for further information about how to make lessons ADA-compliant, Ottinger said.

The original certification focused strictly on online learning, and LEC planned to have one course for online instruction and a second course for blended instruction. But after course designers realized not enough of a gap existed between the two to warrant a second program, they instead “stripped down [and] reconstructed” the original course to address blended learning concerns, he said.

Several boot camps hosted by LEC and its core members trained about 50 instructors to teach the curriculum. By the end of the summer, the course will have certified close to 300 educators.

Educators interested in the certification course can choose which of the core LEC alliance member organizations to take it from: Alameda County Office of Education, California Technology Assistance Project, CUE, Contra Costa County Office of Education, Lesley University, Orange County Department of Education, San Diego County Office of Education, Santa Clara County Office of Education, or the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL).

Each of the core alliance members offers a version of the course, with some slight differences in format and presentation. For example, most but not all alliance members offer a face-to-face kickoff session at the beginning of the course.

For more news about professional development, see:

New venture connects U.S. teachers online ^[44]

School groups craft seven-part plan for improving teaching ^[45]

Seven standards for effective professional development ^[46]

“The basic curriculum is 100-percent the same, but each alliance member may facilitate the course slightly differently depending on the different tools [they have],” said Ottinger, who characterized these differences as “peripheral.”

Many districts are leaping into online education without properly training staff to make the switch from traditional to digital learning—and LEC helps make school leaders aware of the need for professional development, said Rowland Baker, director of TICAL.

At $450 to $500 for the Online and Blended Teacher course, the certificate program is a lower-cost alternative to a multicourse, university-taught program and can be a good option for experienced teachers who already have completed their graduate work, said Lawrence.

LEC on June 26 also announced the launch of another course, Leading Edge Administrator Certification, which aims to familiarize school and district leaders with educational technology and its needs and challenges. The alliance plans to introduce general ed-tech courses for classroom teachers, librarians, and professional developers within the next two years.

Through a Creative Commons license, all LEC curriculum materials are available for downloading free of charge. But completing the formal certification process can provide a resume boost and help teachers in their job-hunting, Lawrence said.

Lawrence also noted that upon certification, students become part of the LEC Ning—a social network just for LEC graduates—so “you come out automatically connected to a community that can answer those questions.”

Computer-Using Educators, Inc. (CUE) is thrilled to announce the relaunch of the Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM)! The ITM, available at www.infinitethinking.org ^[47] and @ITMshow ^[48] on Twitter, is a high-energy internet TV show directly targeted at K-12 educators, parents and students. The ITM is education in motion, and the show’s short format yields itself to viewing on any mobile device as well as standard desktops and laptops. Mike Lawrence, CUE’s Executive Director and ITM’s co-executive producer calls the show “Ed Tech Professional Development on the go.”

New episodes of the snappy, jam-packed web shorts (5-7 minutes) will be released once a fortnight and will feature real educators sharing tools and instructional practices that showcase “bright spots” in innovative classrooms around the world. “Sometimes all you need is an idea or to see something being used to send you off in an amazing direction.

We aim to supply teachers with those “Aha!” moments by having teachers, administrators and students demonstrate fun ideas for the classroom using the latest tools and technology available,” said Chris Fitzgerald Walsh, co-executive producer.

Hosting the web-based shows is Dr. Ramsey Musallam, a California-based high school teacher. “I cannot wait to see and hear how these videos help teachers approach the use of technology and new ideas in the classroom. The ITM model is really about inspiring teachers to think in different ways. Even if teachers don’t have time to explore and implement the latest technological devices, these web shorts will give them a different approach or way of thinking about material they’ve taught for years,” Musallam said.

The first episode of the redesigned show is available now on YouTube, and the second episode launches today along with the infinitethinking.org website. Subsequent episodes will air every other week and can be watched on both YouTube and at cue.org ^[49]. CUE plans on broader syndication for the show in the coming year.

Technology offers incredible potential for education, but it also presents certain perils that all education stakeholders must take care to avoid, said noted education historian and NYU professor Diane Ravitch on March 16 at the Computer-Using Educators (CUE) conference ^[50] in Palm Springs, Calif.

“I’m actually here to get some more followers on Twitter,” Ravitch jokingly told the audience, before diving into an illuminating discussion about the promise that technology holds for education and the pitfalls that accompany it.

“I’m genuinely excited by what teachers are able to bring to history, the sciences, economics, the arts. … For a century, educators have dreamed about student-centered learning, and now technology has the potential to make it real,” Ravitch said.

Educational technology helps students rise to a level of engagement and learning “far beyond” what a textbook can offer, Ravitch said, adding that textbooks often avoid sensitive or difficult topics from the past because publishers and those with a stake in adoption want the textbooks to be approved for student use.

Textbooks have been “plagued by a regime of silence and censorship,” and for years, educators have wondered how to expose students to true versions of the events they read about in their textbooks, she said.

“So what do you do? The answer is technology,” Ravitch said. For instance, educators can show videos depicting historical events or portraying scientific phenomena without editing.

“Technology is too big, too various, too wide open, and far too much for them to monitor,” she said. “It’s free, and they can’t make you edit out the controversial stuff—they can try, but I think it might be too hard.”

Ed tech has, in fact, helped spur new kinds of freedom.

“I appreciate what technology has done for your freedom of thought, your freedom to teach, and even more what technology has done to open the minds of students,” Ravitch said. “That is a revolution.”

Technology is full of promise for the adventurous teacher, and Ravitch said she has seen the potential it holds when teachers take educational technology to the next level and make learning challenging, yet still engaging, for students.

But technology has its perils as well, Ravitch warned. Teachers aren’t the only ones who see technology’s potential in the classroom—entrepreneurs see it as a way to make money, and policy makers see it as a way to cut costs and, in some cases, eliminate teachers.

Ravitch addressed online education providers and virtual academies that turn into big business for executives and investors. Some virtual-school providers have high teacher-to-student ratios and receive money for each student enrolled, without providing students with traditional brick-and-mortar benefits.

“Some advocates of online instruction say it will make possible reductions of 30 percent of today’s teaching staff,” Ravitch said. “The bottom line [for some] is profits, not students.”

Ravitch next turned to teacher evaluations, saying that some academic researchers believe “great teaching can be quantified down to the decimal point. They think they can deduce from these numbers which teachers are great and which can be fired on the spot.”

She continued: “They make these calculations without ever entering a classroom; they speak assuredly because they have data. The algorithm can’t be wrong, can it? Or can it? … Making public these value-added numerical evaluations demoralizes teachers. Without technology, no one would be able to make up such ridiculous ratings systems.”

The anonymity that technology offers is another peril, because while technology makes a world of information available to anyone with access, it also “brings out unbelievable meanness in strangers. … One thing that we have to teach our students is how to ignore cyber insults,” Ravitch said.

Cyber bullying differs from typical schoolyard taunts because the words are put online and often remain online for all to see, having a far greater impact on children, especially sensitive children.

A fourth peril revolves around the incredible amounts of information to be found online.

Students are “bombarded by information that has not been vetted by anyone—not everything you read is accurate,” Ravitch said. Wikipedia, she noted, is a “brilliant innovation,” but anyone can insert their strong or biased opinions, and those opinions will remain on a “factual” page until challenged or erased by someone with proper knowledge on the subject, if challenged at all.

Though technology helps us make progress, a certain amount of student insight and creativity might be lost with the advent of computers that are programmed to grade student essays. While certainly cheaper than human evaluators, “no machine can judge nuance, or irony, or tone, or some amazing bursts of creativity,” Ravitch said. “I fear the use of these programs will inevitably reduce student work. … I fear a loss of thoughtfulness” as students write papers to satisfy a computer.

Technology, she concluded, should be used to expand and challenge students’ views of the world—but should not stifle student and teacher creativity.

“This is the thinking of a world too flat for me. … Don’t let them flatten you,” Ravitch said. “Don’t let them give you a number—we are not cattle; we should not be branded. Let us dare to use technology as it should be used—to dream, create, explore, and learn without boundaries. Let us use the power of technology to say ‘No’ to those who want to standardize our minds and the minds of our students.”

At its annual CUE Conference this week, Computer-Using Educators, Inc. (CUE) will announce a collaboration with YouTube on an exciting video curation project designed for teachers. Through this project, a core group of teachers from within CUE’s membership will curate YouTube videos into playlists of high quality educational content that aligns with common core standards. These playlists will be organized on YouTube.com/Teachers ^[51] as a free resource for educators looking to use YouTube as a safe and free educational tool.

YouTube previously worked with a group of teachers to create more than 300 playlists of educational content. Through this collaboration, CUE will add an additional 200 playlists to round out coverage across math, English, science and history as well as regularly update the existing playlists with fresh videos. The effort will make the 500,000 educational videos already available on YouTube more useful for teachers and students around the globe.

“The demand from teachers for well-organized and easily accessible online video playlists has been there all along. By presenting educationally relevant videos screened by active teachers and organized along common standards we hope to make teachers’ lives easier and their teaching more educational, effective and engaging,” said Will Houghteling, YouTube EDU Marketing Manager. “Working with CUE will build upon our YouTube for Schools initiative to make YouTube an indispensable and easy classroom resource. ”

Danny Silva, Professional Development Coordinator for CUE, states that having this project only strengthens what educators know already: “Creativity is what captures students’ imaginations and what reinforces lessons. These standards-aligned playlists will be a treasure trove of ideas — a place where everyone can go to be inspired and to inspire others. We are excited to collaborate with YouTube and to bring these new playlists to classrooms everywhere.” CUE will also provide professional development workshops for those interested in becoming more proficient with YouTube in the classroom and how to bring YouTube into the classroom.

Ed Tech Professional Development will be the focus of he Annual Computer-Using Educators (CUE) Conference in Palm Springs March 15-17, 2012.

More than 3,500 attendees will descend on the Palm Springs Convention Center to take part in the three-day educational technology extravaganza that boasts 150 vendors and over 200 booths. Attendees will participate in concurrent sessions and hands-on workshops to learn about the latest technological innovations for the classroom.

The conference’s diverse program offerings are not just geared toward K20 classroom educators. One of the many reasons this event is so popular and well attended is that there are workshops and topics from across the educational spectrum – for teachers to administrators to IT directors. There is something for everyone, and each year, thousands flock to the desert to find out what is new and what is being done creatively with technology.

This year, CUE caught up with several registered attendees to find out what they are most looking forward to seeing and doing at this year’s CUE Conference:

• For Alan Lutz, teacher at St. John’s Middle School in Orange, this trip to the desert will mark his 26th consecutive CUE Conference. “We just started using iPads at our school this year, and I’m looking for ideas on how to make the program better next year. I also want to look for new ideas for using our Promethean boards as well as the other interactive technologies we have at our school.”

• Dr. Christine Olmstead, Principal of Arovista Elementary in Brea, says she is excited to learn about “flipped teaching, common core and project-based learning.”

• Mike Guerena, Director of Instructional Technology at Encinitas Union School District is “hoping to learn more about how others are using iPads in the classroom and checking out the new technologies in the exhibit hall.”

• Andrew Schwab, Director of IT at East Side Union High School District, states: “As an IT Director, I’m looking forward to seeing the latest and greatest innovative uses of technology in the classroom and meeting up with fellow educators passionate about student learning in the 21st century.”

On-site registration opens Wednesday from 4:00-7:00pm, continuing Thursday and Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. This year’s conference will feature keynote speaker Diane Ravitch, noted educational historian and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, speaking for the first time on educational technology. Other keynotes include Randy Nelson and Marco Torres.

Educational heroes will be recognized through the CUE Awards program, several CUE Live! interviews will be published online, 2012 board candidates will be introduced, the 12th Annual California Student Technology Showcase will occur, and for the first time, there will be CUE Karaoke!

Hotel and symposium registrations are now open for the eLearning Strategies Symposium ^[52]. Recognizing the continued rise in online and blended learning, Computer-Using Educators (CUE) and the California Learning Resource Network
(CLRN) have joined forces to produce an annual two-day symposium dedicated solely to eLearning. The symposium debuts December 7 and 8, 2012 and focuses on K-12 educators, administrators, policymakers, industry, and advocates. The Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa will host the two-day event. Featured speakers will be announced in the coming months.

Symposium Registration

Early Bird registration is now open until June 30th. Only
$159, individual registration includes Friday and
Saturday sessions and a keynote/lunch on Friday.
Groups of three or more from the same school, district,
or organization may register for $149. Pre-registration
rates from July 1st through November 30th are $215. Onsite
registration, available only if space allows, will be
$299.

Register for the Symposium or reserve your hotel room
through the eLearning Strategies Symposium website ^[53].

Hotel Information

The Hilton, a short, free shuttle ride from Orange County (John Wayne) Airport, is centrally
located near the 55 and 405 freeways and South Coast Plaza. Single and double rooms, at
$129 per night, include free wi-fi, and discounted self-parking is available for $10 per day. Room
reservations must be made by November 4, 2012 to receive the group rate. Secure your room
through the eSS hotel reservation page ^[54], or call the Hilton directly and use the group code,
ELEARN.

Hilton Orange County/ Costa Mesa
3050 Bristol Street
Costa Mesa CA
(714) 540-7000

Diane Ravitch ^[55], historian of education at NYU, will speak on technology and its potential in education in her opening keynote at the 2012 CUE Conference ^[50] in Palm Springs, California.

Ravitch, an accomplished author, is no stranger to controversy nor does she shy away from topics that can lead to spirited debate. Since the 1970s, she has published more than 500 articles and reviews for scholarly and popular publications. She has led the charge to reform schools under both the Bush and Clinton Administrations and is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She has edited 14 books, written 10,and lectured both nationally and internationally.

This keynote marks her first in which she directly addresses the use of technology and its role in education. She will speak on Friday, March 16, 2012 between 8:00 – 9:45 a.m. in the Primrose Ballrooms B, C, D at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

Ravitch will be available to sign her book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education (New York: Basic Books, 2010), from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in CUE Corner, Oasis 1 of the Palm Springs Convention Center immediately following her presentation. Onsite registration is open March 14 from 4-7p.m. and 7a.m.-5p.m. on March 15 and 16. Educators and policy makers of all levels are invited to attend. Come early, as seating is limited.

California, a leading high-tech state in many respects, is trailing the nation when it comes to support for digital education – the enhancement of education, both in and out of the classroom, with technology. According to a recent assessment by the Digital Learning Now, a project that assesses states’ support and readiness for digitally enhanced education with 72 measures, California received the lowest score of any state.

“Bringing California’s education system into the 21st century absolutely needs to be a principal focus for California if it expects to bolster its innovation ecosystem and ensure the state’s competitiveness on a national and international scale,” said CCST Executive Director Susan Hackwood. “Involving every segment of the educational system, including the teachers, will be critical in the process. That is why the California Teacher Advisory Council ^[56] (Cal TAC) is taking a central role in our Digital Education Initiative.”

Formed in 2005 by the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), Cal TAC is a group of master teachers who provide a valuable connection between the teaching community and the educational experts and policymakers who shape California’s educational system. Cal TAC is working closely with CCST to help carry out the Digital Education Initiative, a partnership including the California STEM Learning Network designed to ensure that California’s 21st century learning environments are grounded in digital learning.

Recently, the California Teacher Advisory Council (Cal TAC) took an important step in exploring the possibilities of digitally enhanced education directly thanks to Computer-Using Educators ^[57] (CUE), which hosted a workshop on using iPads.

“Cal TAC has been eager to connect with CUE to help bring digital education to the forefront of California,” said Cal TAC Chair Brian Shay, a Secondary Mathematics Teacher at the Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego. “These iPads are just the beginning of expanding our teachers’ knowledge base of digitally enhanced education.”

“CUE is proud to partner with CCST and Cal TAC to assist in this important exploration of digital teaching and learning,” said Danny Silva, CUE Professional Development Coordinator. “A major focus in our workshops is on applications that can be used in the classroom to engage and ignite student learning and creativity.”

The best part? The teachers get to keep the iPads after the workshop.

“Getting devices into the hands of teachers and training them in their use is an important first step,” added Mike Lawrence, CUE Executive Director. “I look forward to working together to increase the digital resources available to educators on all levels so that teaching and learning can extend across this increasingly digital educational landscape. California can and should be a leader in this space. Together, our organizations can help make this a reality.”

“The iPad workshop is an excellent opportunity for our master teachers to get a first-hand introduction to technology that has the potential to transform their classroom environments,” said Hackwood. “We thank CUE, which has hosted similar workshops around the country, for their valuable contributions in introducing transformative technologies into California’s classrooms.”

“The fact that California, the nation’s leading high-tech state, is trailing the nation in this regard is a serious wake-up call,” added Hackwood. “As CCST identified in its assessment of the state’s innovation ecosystem last year, digitally enhanced education must be a top priority for California. We are pleased to have the input and guidance of the master teachers in Cal TAC in carrying out the Digital Education Initiative, and thank CUE for generously making the iPad workshop possible. We think this will be a valuable step in the process of helping our teachers bring our state’s education system to the next level.”

Leading Edge Certification ^[58] (LEC), a national Alliance of nonprofits, universities, and educational agencies, has announced the launch of its national educational technology certification program. A first-of-its kind program, Leading Edge Certification provides educators a demonstrable way to show they know how technology changes teaching and learning in today’s classroom. Leading Edge Certification is grounded in educational technology and curriculum innovation, and is both vendor and platform neutral.

“We developed Leading Edge Certification to give K12 educators a recognition that would demonstrate the powerful use of innovative technology in their students’ learning,” said Mike Lawrence, Founding Chair of Leading Edge Certification.  “It provides a national certification program specifically for forward-thinking educational professionals in educational technology and curriculum innovation.”

Leading Edge Online Teacher Certification is based on the iNACOL National Standards for Online Teaching. The certification will give schools and districts assurance that Leading Edge Certified Online Teachers have the skills to effectively facilitate online courses, along with a solid understanding of how to enhance the learning opportunities for all students enrolled in their courses.

Leading Edge Certification for the Online Teacher is currently available, and is delivered by both Core and Stakeholder Alliance Members through online training or a blend of online and face-to-face trainings.  Future certifications will be available for the Administrator, Classroom Teacher, Teacher Librarian and Leading Educator (Professional Developer).

Leading Edge Certification for the Administrator will launch in mid-2012, and is being led by innovator Rowland Baker, Director of the Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership (TICAL).

To find out more about Leading Edge Certification, upcoming trainings, or to become an Alliance Member, visit www.leadingedgecertification.org ^[59].

Common Sense Media ^[60] has announced a partnership with Computer-Using Educators ^[57] (CUE) to expand its professional development program on digital literacy and citizenship. CUE, a California-based nonprofit that provides leadership and support to advance student achievement in the educational technology community, will power Common Sense Media’s training for teachers and educators through CUEtoYOU, a professional development program whose dynamic “lead learners” in K-12 and higher education hold workshops and in-person trainings for educators around issues of digital media technologies. This partnership will allow thousands of teachers around the world to access in-person training and professional development tools for teaching digital literacy and citizenship in their classrooms.

“We’ve seen through our work with both teachers and administrators that there is an increasing demand for on-the-ground training on how to teach the key issues facing students in a 21st century world,” said Rebecca Randall, vice president of education programs, Common Sense Media. “The CUEtoYOU program is a natural fit for Common Sense Media as we endeavor to reach as many teachers as possible with the curriculum and training they need teach their students to be good digital citizens.”

“CUE thrives on providing training and resources to educators across the globe,” said Mike Lawrence, executive director, CUE. “This partnership with Common Sense Media greatly enhances our ability to be a leader in the area of digital citizenship, and we’re thrilled to expand the great work of Common Sense Media to educators across the country.”

Common Sense Media’s digital literacy and citizenship curriculum –“Digital Literacy and Citizenship in an Connected Culture”—is a comprehensive K-12 curriculum designed to empower students to think critically and make informed choices about how they live and treat others in today’s digital world. The curriculum, which was co-created by the team of Dr. Howard Gardner and the GoodPlay Project at Harvard Graduate School of Education, covers topics ranging from internet safety and security to privacy and cyberbullying, using engaging content to inspire kids to be responsible digital citizens.

CUE will facilitate workshops for interested schools and districts designed specifically to help teachers and administrators understand the basics of teaching and implementing Common Sense Media’s K-12 curriculum. Each hands-on workshop will walk participants through the use of the curriculum and the corresponding parent media education program, provide resources and “take-aways” allowing for immediate implementation, and offer thorough training in the lessons and interactive features of the curriculum.

Since launching in August 2009, Common Sense’s education programs have been adopted by a network of more than 22,000 schools in all 50 states and 67 countries. To view all of their education programs, including the parent program, visit www.commonsensemedia.org/educators ^[61].

CUEtoYOU trainings on Common Sense Media’s digital literacy and citizenship curriculum will be available for interested schools and districts starting mid-March 2012. For more information about the trainings or to schedule a workshop, please visit www.cue.org/commonsensemedia ^[62].