Keynote: STEM should include arts education

Piontek said educators must adapt to students' cultures and desire to be connected through technology.
Piontek said educators must adapt to students' cultures and desire to be connected through technology.

Not only do global learners create global leaders, but the world’s future depends on education focusing on creative and innovative science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning, said ISTE closing keynote speaker Jeff Piontek.

“I think we need to focus on STEAM–science, technology, engineering, arts, and math,” Piontek said to loud applause from the conference attendees. “Arts and creativity are needed in the future.”

Piontek, a Hawaii-based educator, was selected as “the people’s choice keynote” after a five-month modified crowdsourcing project. Piontek was nominated for his attention to excellence and his approach to delivering digital age education to digital age education to digital age students.…Read More

Thoughts from the show floor

Interactive technologies can inspire classrooms.
Interactive technologies can inspire classrooms.

Which came first…the chicken or the egg? I sometimes wonder about that when I’m in the exhibit hall at educational technology conferences like ISTE. When you look around the show floor, I wonder if I’m seeing the latest trends that educators are interested in. Or am I looking at vendor booths offering hardware, software, and services that will become more prevalent in our classrooms in the near future? Maybe it’s a mix of both…or maybe I’m just over-thinking things again as I’m prone to doing.

Not everyone makes it to the exhibit hall because they’re busy in sessions. So like a hash tag watcher on Twitter, they experience the exhibitor booths vicariously through others. When people ask me what the exhibit hall was like, I enjoy answering by mentally playing some of the fun “what if” games.

For example: “What if you had to describe the exhibit hall in one word? What would it be?”…Read More

Study: Student access to classroom tech limited

Students said their top priority is having their own computing devices.
Students said their top priority is having their own computing devices.

Just 8 percent of high school teachers said that technology is fully integrated into the classroom; and the technology that is available is primarily used by teachers, and not students, according to the results of a national survey of more than 1,000 high school students, faculty, and IT staff members. As a result, 43 percent of students said they are not–or they are unsure if they are–prepared to use technology in higher education or the workforce. CDW-G conducted the 2010 21st Century Classroom Report to understand how students and faculty are using technology.

“A decade into this century, the door to 21st century skills remains locked for many students,” said Bob Kirby, vice president of K-12 education for CDW-G. “Today’s students need an interactive learning environment in which the technologies that they use outside of school are integrated into the curriculum. With that in mind, districts need to focus on providing a hands-on technology experience that translates to students’ futures, whether in higher education or the workforce.”

While high school IT professionals provide support for technology such as wireless internet access, student computing devices, interactive whiteboards, and even virtual learning, less than half of faculty members are designing lesson plans that enable students to use technology in class, and just 26 percent of students report they are encouraged to use technology throughout the school day.…Read More

ISTE focuses on excellence, global education

Today's students will be tomorrow's problem solvers.
Today's students will be tomorrow's problem solvers.

The 31st annual International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE, formerly NECC) conference kicked off in Denver with inspiring and thought-provoking comments from ISTE President Helen Padgett and Jean-Francois Rischard, former vice president of the World Bank and author of High Noon, which discusses alternatives for solving the world’s largest problems.

ISTE 2010 will explore excellence in education, and Denver is a fitting place for that exploration, because teachers are explorers, pioneers, and visionaries, Padgett said.

New teaching methods, and focusing on students’ educational needs, is making a difference in classrooms across the country, and Padgett cited best practices throughout the nation by those who seek to improve schools. And innovation happens not just locally, but globally, as global partnerships and lessons shape U.S. education.…Read More

S.C. district increases student motivation, confidence, and success

In many cases, students' growth more than doubled the expected growth targets. In eighth grade, for example, more than one-third of students doubled their expected growth targets in every subject.
In many cases, students' growth more than doubled the expected growth targets. In eighth grade, for example, more than one-third of students doubled their expected growth targets in every subject.

The leap from elementary school to middle school can be daunting, particularly for students who struggle academically. Each day, students working below grade level not only toil to keep up with their classmates, but to retain their confidence. Every reading passage or math problem they don’t understand creates frustration and anxiety, and chips away at their resolve to stay in school.

Research shows that ninth grade is a bottleneck for many students who find their academic skills insufficient for high school work. One reason the ninth grade finishes off so many students is that many of them have already been struggling and disengaging for three years or more before entering high school (Balfanz and Letgers 2006).

As such, the challenges facing middle school educators are significant. How do we fill in learning gaps while maintaining a consistent focus on grade level standards? How do we engage struggling learners who tune out during remedial instruction? How do we help students journey through middle school with their self-confidence intact?…Read More

Michigan uses online learning to reach at-risk students

Online learning can help many groups of students succeed and excel.
Online learning can help many groups of students succeed and excel.

As a struggling high school student in metro Detroit, Kyle Grigg faced a terrible prospect. Last spring, Kyle was asked by his public high school counselor to leave the school because he did not have enough time to make up lost credits and graduate. Kyle knew he didn’t want to be one of the 20,000 students who drop out of Michigan public high schools each year–but he didn’t know what else to do.

When his high school doors closed behind him, Kyle’s lifelong opportunities become severely limited. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average annual income of a dropout is $24,000, which is 60 percent below that of high school graduates. Kyle didn’t want to bus tables for the rest of his life, but finding even a low-skill job in Michigan has become increasingly difficult. Michigan’s 14.3 percent unemployment rate currently leads the nation. With limited earning potential and low chances of gainful employment, it’s not surprising that many dropouts end up in correctional facilities or prison. The New York Times recently reported that, on any given day, a dropout is five times more likely to be incarcerated–with the cost of lifetime incarceration exceeding the cost of public school education by a factor of two or three.

While Kyle’s story is striking, it is hardly unique. By pushing out students who are failing and unlikely to graduate, as well as truants and students with behavior problems, schools can raise their test-score averages and graduation rates while reducing suspensions and dropout rates. Many times, this happens when school systems do not quickly identify and support students who are struggling or exhibiting other early warning signs of dropping out of school, like disengagement and poor attendance.…Read More

The 21st century classroom

Classrooms across the nation can connect via Skype.
Classrooms across the nation can connect via Skype.

The only thing that stays the same is the fact that everything changes.  Just as the hands of time manipulate the world around us, so has the student learning experience, climate, and anatomy of the classroom.  The evolution of technology and the academic experience in public education is in full throttle.

Take a moment to sit back and contemplate a classroom where the students are assessed both formatively and summatively with authentic, valid feedback without outside peer influence.  Imagine a classroom where the teacher can evaluate and analyze student performance in “real-time.”  Envision collaborative instruction on one side of a metropolitan area, using team teaching, with another teacher on the other side of the same city.

With 21st century resources available, teachers are cognizant and equipped to use every teaching strategy and technology tool mentioned in this illustration.  “Best practice” is not only apparent, (i.e. collaboration, assessment, classroom management, evaluation, self reflection, etc.) but more efficient.  In Bowling Green, Ky., two colleagues, serving in two separate elementary schools, are maximizing 21st century teaching strategies and tools.  These educators communicate via video conferencing in conjunction with other media to present to two diverse student bodies to meet all learning needs.…Read More

Colleges click the ‘like’ button on social media classes

Drury University students can earn three credits if they complete the new Social Media Certification Program.
Drury University students can earn three credits if they complete the new Social Media Certification Program.

From public relations in social media to the potential marketing power of “mommy bloggers,” colleges and universities are offering graduate-level certificates focusing on the business side of Twitter, Facebook, and a host of other sites that draw Americans from every demographic.

Social media courses have sprung up on college campuses as social media web sites—once seen as a virtual playground for bored college students—have become central to marketing campaigns, branding items, and communication with customers, group members, and alumni, for example.

Drury University in Springfield, Miss., announced this month that it would join a handful of schools nationwide offering social media certificates geared for graduate students and business professionals hoping to learn the latest in Facebook and Twitter-based marketing and how search engine optimization can bring more web users to a company’s web site.…Read More

New Visions for public schools

A web-based solution was essential for the school system.
A web-based solution was essential for the school system.

New Visions is an outside organization contracted by the New York City School District to support schools instructionally.  Thus, it is contractually responsible for school performance on student achievement tests without direct legal supervisory authority over school staff.  As such, New Visions targets various instructional levers within each school. Through highly specialized departments focusing on different aspects of education, such as leadership and teacher development, data analysis, and operational re-engineering, New Visions attempts to build learning capacity through multiple tactics in a school.

New Visions for Public Schools is a nonprofit advocating for systematic reform of New York City public schools. As a partnership support organization (PSO) contracted by the New York City school district, New Visions provides instructional and operational support to a portfolio of 76 public schools, most of them high schools.

As a growing organization with an increasing number of support services offered, New Visions urgently needed a web-based solution to manage and track initiatives, capturing school and student-level data that would enable New Visions to iteratively modify both strategies and resource allocations across its 76 schools in real-time. Acumen Solutions helped New Visions to achieve this goal, using an innovative adaptation of Salesforce.com (a popular cloud computing customer relationship management application) to the educational environment and the New Visions operating model.…Read More

Reading instruction: Getting it right the first time

 

Early reading comprehension is essential for later academic success.
Early reading comprehension is essential for later academic success.

 

In his sweeping 2004 article, Preventing Early Reading Failure, Joseph Torgesen established that the reading skills students acquire in their earliest elementary years are critical predictors of their academic success throughout elementary, middle, and high school. It’s during those early formative years, Torgesen contends, that we need to closely monitor growth and provide the appropriate interventions for struggling students.…Read More

UNC expects to save $100K through eBilling

UNC could save $100,000 a year by switching to eBilling.
UNC says it could save $100,000 a year by switching to eBilling.

Paying bills online is nothing new for 20-somethings, but the University of North Carolina’s elimination of traditional snail mail in sending out tuition bills means students will have to grant bill-pay account access to their financial handlers: mom and dad.

The 28,000-student Chapel Hill, N.C., campus announced recently that it would do away with paper bills sent through the mail and switch exclusively to eBills sent to students’ university-issued eMail accounts beginning in July. The switch could save the university $100,000 annually, according to the announcement.

eBilling is an option available at many colleges, but few institutions have gone to an entirely electronic billing system, higher-education experts said.…Read More