Edtech

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch, Teachers

7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

Technology in the classroom can be so much more and so much better than the stereotypical cell phone going off in the middle of class. With higher-learning institutions offering up programs like a BSN-RN/MBA completely online , technology can be a major tool, both regarding pedagogical resources and regarding connecting with the younger generation. But how does this work?

The top seven important concepts to understand when examining the use of technology for educational or instructional purposes include:

1) Active engagement with the learning material.
Technology is interactive, and students learn by doing, researching, and receiving feedback. This helps students become passionate about what they are learning. For example, they may study geography using interactive software such as Google Maps or Google Earth, instead of looking at a picture.

2) Use of real-world issues.
This model encourages the use of real-world problems in the classroom. By using the Internet, students can research real issues happening at that moment that are related to the classroom curriculum. This helps students understand that the lesson being taught refers to real problems and real people.

3) Simulation and modeling.
Simulation software helps to bring to the classroom real activities that would be impossible to see without technology. By using specific simulation tools, students can see planetary movements, how a tornado develops, or how dinosaurs lived. Modeling software offers similar features. Instead of the static models used in previous decades, these tools allow students to see the dynamic characteristics of models.

4) Discussion and debate boards and forums.
By using the Internet or software tools, students can create online groups, Web pages, and virtual communities that connect them in real time with students and teachers anywhere around the world. They can receive feedback from their teachers and share questions and concerns about their lessons. By listening to and reading about others’ opinions and feedback, students refine their thinking, reaching higher levels of comprehension and deeper understanding. Online communities also present the opportunity for students to interact with others around the world.

5) Working groups.
Technology-focused education doesn’t involve a class of students learning by themselves, staring at a book. Working groups foster group activities, discussions, and debates, and they encourage the establishment of democratic group dynamics.

6) Coaching.
Teachers play more of a coaching role these days. They aren’t just instructors who deliver a lesson. Rather, they support and guide student activities as coaches do. They provide feedback and coaching to the class so that students receive the appropriate information and academic training. Teachers guide students in developing skills in problem solving, research, and decision-making.

7) Formative assessment.
Teachers ensure that students are learning not only the concepts, but also how to use the technology resources they have. Technology-focused activities mostly require critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Teachers work as facilitators, providing constant feedback, enabling students to achieve deeper levels of understanding.

Teaching is all about introducing students to a whole world of concepts that they didn’t know about yet. Technology in the classroom is like a foray into modern invention – and you get to be the expedition leader. Rather than viewing digital devices and Internet spaces as a threat to your duties, view them as unexplored areas of growth for both you and the young minds trusting you to show them what’s out there.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Matthew Lynch published in Diversity

4 ways to get long-term English learners back on track

A guest post by Douglas Chrystall 

Districts around the country are struggling to teach English language learners (ELLs). An especially challenging subset of ELLs are long-term English learners (LTELs). According to ASCD, “a Long-Term English Learner is a student who has been enrolled in U.S. schools for more than six years, is no longer progressing towards English proficiency, and is struggling academically.” These students are often orally bilingual but don’t have the ability to read or write English for academic purposes. In school they try to fly under the radar, faking understanding whenever they can. This makes them the least engaged students in class—and because they perform below grade level in reading and writing, they struggle in all subjects.

In turn, their lack of academic English hurts their overall performance at school. LTELs are most at risk of dropping out. Students who drop out of school early are most likely to get into trouble with the law and find themselves in juvenile detention when they are younger than 18—and in prison when adults. Unless we help these students learn academic English, they are stuck in a vicious cycle that becomes more and more difficult to escape.

As an example of how limiting it is to not speak English in America, a 2005 census report found that 60% of people who don’t speak, understand, and write English at a fourth-grade level will not find full-time employment. And those who do find full-time work will earn, on average, half as much as their English-speaking counterparts.

As any doctor will tell you, prevention is better than cure. A dollar spent on a student today is $20 saved in ten years’ time. While learning English won’t solve all of the challenges facing today’s LTELs, it will certainly help them on their way. Here are a handful ways that educators can help these students improve their chances of learning English, staying in school, and eventually finding good jobs.

Start early. Students who gain a grasp of academic English in elementary school have a much better chance at succeeding in the classroom. Those who start later in life are much more likely to become classified as LTELs.

 Keep LTELs (and other ELL students) in mainstream classes. Rather than isolating these students—who, as I mentioned before, already have a tendency to be quiet and withdrawn—keep them in classes with their wider peer group in two ways.

First, teachers should make a point of engaging these students in class so they get as much experience as possible speaking academic English. Second, schools should provide them supports they can use outside of class time to accelerate their English learning. Lessons that use video and sound can help “jumpstart” a student who might be stuck at a certain level.

 Use students’ knowledge of their native languages to strengthen their English. Bilingual students can help teach their native language to others. For example, a teacher could explain a concept in English and then ask a bilingual student to teach the same concept to the class in his or her native language. Not only does the bilingual student get the experience of translating, but the other students get to hear from a native speaker.

The language-teaching platform Lingo Jingo also uses this “bilingual” approach to help LTELs practice their English. They can learn new topics in their native language and then learn the same content in English. This method improves students’ understanding of new concepts as well as the academic language they’ll need to continue through high school and beyond.

 Track performance and act on the information collected. For students who are at risk of “falling through the cracks,” a little bit of data can go a long way. For example, knowing which learning activities students have accessed; how much time they spent on an activity; how many times they repeated each activity; and what key words, phrases, or concepts students have mastered can help teachers see exactly where students are succeeding and where they might need more help.

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Douglas Chrystall is the co-founder of Lingo Jingo, an award-winning language-teaching platform designed for language educators. Under his leadership, the company recently received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Institute of Education Sciences and the U.S. Department of Education. Douglas has worked in the software industry for more than 20 years, and is the author of several technology patents in use today. He is extremely passionate about how IT can improve educational outcomes, and works closely with local schools on the best use of technology.

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Digital Storytelling for Younger & Older Learners

By Marisa Constantinides   Picture this: …a teacher holding up her laptop or tablet and a circle of children listening to her and following the digital images of her imagination, completely absorbed in the world she has been weaving for them through her narration.Now Picture this: The image is the same, it’s just the technology that changes, and books were new technology in the history of mankind, too, not so many centuries ago!

Storytelling & Language Acquisition

Much has been written about the importance of storytelling; bedtime stories form a part of our first contact with books, with language, as well as forge bonds between parent and child, storyteller and story listener, both engaging in a type of communication that goes beyond the narrative itself.

Very wisely, teachers of young learners, have been replicating this model of learning in young learner classrooms around the world.

Stories help children acquire…

… language
… values
… knowledge
… cultural identity
… cultural awareness

Stories help children develop…

… cognitive abilities
… oracy and literacy
… numeracy
… ability to concentrate
… auditory ability
… multiple intelligences
… critical thinking
… creative thinking

Moreover, all this is done naturally, in a way that appeals to the child echoing the process of L1 acquisition when stories and images play such a strong part in developing language skills.

Storytelling & Educational Objectives

Storytelling and story creation cover a wide spectrum of educational objectives. In the revised Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive domains, creating appears at the very top of Higher Order Thinking Skills and remembering – according to this taxonomy, appears as a Lower Order Thinking Skill. Even in Bloom’s own ordering. In the original  model creating did not feature but instead “Synthesis” was mentioned a higher order thinking skill which is very much an alternative way of describing creative thinking.

 

With the exception of ‘analyzing’, which is perhaps not suited to young learner classes, I would suggest that by using story telling activities which lead to storymaking by the learners,  you satisfy most of the educational objectives shown in Bloom’s taxonomy* – both lower and higher order cognitive domains.

Even if ‘remembering’  and ‘understanding’ are seen be at the lower order end of the cognitive abilities scale, they are equally important and vital in the process of learning anything; recalling language and concepts is a necessary building block for language acquisition.

By engaging your learners in digital storytelling activities you take care of more than just language forms; you also integrate the language skills in a most natural way.

  • Listening to stories can very naturally lead to story telling 
  • Reading stories can equally naturally lead to story writing 

Storytelling and making appeal to our affective domain as well – we connect with other fellow humans and to the collective human experience through storytelling

And, finally, by engaging your pupils in digital story telling activities, you are not only helping their language acquisition processes but also preparing them to be digitally literate and more successful 21st century learners .

Digital Storytelling & Adult Learners

We feel compelled to tell stories.

We tell each other stories every day of our lives, stories meant to help us connect, stories that echo our friends’ stories which makes us feel closer to them, stories that amuse or stories we invent – literary would exist without this strong human need.

Stories are a major part of how we communicate and how we teach – often, they are more powerful than direct instruction. They seem to reach parts that lecturing or direct instruction often are unable to!

Narrating & Adult Communication

Whether learning English on a general purpose course or on a specialist language focus programme, narration is an important part of developing fluency.

Personal narratives or anecdotes can motivate adults to produce long turns, to sustain talk for longer than the disjointed fragments of question and answer conversations common to a language lesson.

  • They can be rehearsed and satisfy the adult learner’s need for meaningful and motivating controlled practice
  • They provide more concrete evidence of progress to the teacher (and the learner herself/himself)
  • They are great for homework which can be recorded digitally in some way – adults are more likely to be motivated by this time of homework assignment.
  • They can build the basis for great presentation skills, which seems to be a skill more and more in demand in a world of online conferences, google hangouts, product presentations and online tutorials uploaded on you tube.
  • They can form the basis of good report writing
  • They can help the adult user establish and maintain better personal and business relationships with other L2 users.

Stories help adults with …

… language
… cultural awareness
… social awareness
… motivation
… oral & written fluency

Stories help adults develop…

… confidence
… social relationships
… ability to sustain talk or writing
… ability to concentrate
… auditory ability
… multiple intelligences
… critical thinking
… creative thinking

Some tools for digital narration

There are too many tools to include in just one post. Digital narration/storytelling is truly worth exploring and to that end I have included some great links for further exploration at the end of this post.

Example 1 – with Voicethread

In this Voicethread, the image  serves as a prompt for prediction. The learners record their version of the story before they hear the teacher narrate what actually happened

The image/prompt is a Word Cloud, another great tool which can lead to  written or oral narration. The students study the phrases, attempt connections, create episodes and sequences before they embark on their own story.

 

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Comment:  The students could equally well be asked to write their own version before they hear or read the original story; thus the prompts can lead to speaking, writing or both

Example 2 – with Creaza

A story animation created with this tool to show how you can use familiar themes with a twist to get adults to narrate. The story of Little Red Riding Hood has been used as an example as it was rewritten by American humorist James Thurber in 1932

N.B. The original version can be used with younger learners (though that one is pretty scary too :-) )

 

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You can find more ideas on how to use this type of animation – or similar ones that you can create with Xtranormal, GoAnimate or other similar tool, by reading a previous blog post of mine on Animating  Stories. 

In my original post, I used Jing – a free screencast tool – to capture  the story animation and to record my voice narrating it, something which the students can be shown how to do.

Postscript

The ‘digital’ aspect of storytelling is not a must to make a storytelling lesson a great success, although some of the tools – if available – will create an enhanced experience for younger and older learners alike, and may motivate further.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Marisa Constantinides runs CELT Athens, a Teacher Development centre based in the capital of Greece, and is a Course Supervisor for all courses, including the DELTA Cambridge/RSA Diploma, the Institute of Linguists Diploma in Translation and off-site seminars and workshops on a variety of topics.

This post originally appeared on the blog TEFL Matters and was republished with permission.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Is it OK to spank a misbehaving child once in a while?

Ronald W. Pies, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Spanking, or, as it’s formally known, “corporal punishment,” has been much in the news of late.

Out on the presidential campaign trail there was Senator Ted Cruz’s revelation that

If my daughter Catherine, the five-year-old, says something she knows to be false, she gets a spanking.

And recently, in Canada, following a call by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to prohibit spanking, the Liberal government has promised to abolish a parent’s right to physically discipline children. Along similar legal lines, in June 2015, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the state was justified in denying foster parenting privileges to a couple who practiced corporal punishment and supported spanking or paddling children. The couple in the case had argued, unsuccessfully, that physical discipline was an integral aspect of their Christian faith.

According to a recent Washington Post article,

America is slowly growing less supportive of spanking children. But a majority of Americans still support it.

So, is it okay to spank a misbehaving child, every once in a while?

By way of personal disclosure, my wife and I don’t have children, and I try not to sit in lofty judgment of couples whose kids present very difficult behavioral problems. But as a psychiatrist, I can’t ignore the overwhelming evidence that corporal punishment, including spanking (which is usually defined as hitting a child with an open hand without causing physical injury), takes a serious toll on the mental health of children.

Why parents spank children

In a review of corporal punishment in the United States, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toledo Michelle Knox noted a striking irony in the American attitude toward corporal punishment.

In the United States, it is against the law to hit prisoners, criminals or other adults. Ironically, the only humans it is still legal to hit are the most vulnerable members of our society – those we are charged to protect – children.

What makes parents spank kids?
Lauren, CC BY-NC-ND

Knox, like many mental health professionals, cites a strong correlation between corporal punishment and child abuse, noting that “…spanking is often the first step in the cycle of child abuse.”

What may begin as the parent’s well-intentioned wish to discipline a child often ends with the parent’s mounting anger and worsening blows.

It isn’t that the parent is “evil” by nature or is a “child abuser.” Often, the parent has been stressed to breaking point, and is not aware of alternative methods of discipline – for example, the use of “time-outs,” removal of privileges and positive reinforcement of the child’s appropriate behaviors.

Impact of spanking on children

The psychological toll on children subjected to corporal punishment is well-documented.

In 2011, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNA) issued a statement noting that,

Corporal punishment (CP) is an important risk factor for children developing a pattern of impulsive and antisocial behavior…[and] children who experience frequent CP… are more likely to engage in violent behaviors in adulthood.

Similarly, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in a 2012 statement, concluded that,

…although corporal punishment may have a high rate of immediate behavior modification, it is ineffective over time, and is associated with increased aggression and decreased moral internalization of appropriate behavior.

In short, spanking a child may seem helpful in the short term, but is ineffective and probably harmful in the long term. The child who is often spanked learns that physical force is an acceptable method of problem solving.

Parents vs. researchers

But wait: aren’t there exceptions to these general findings? Aren’t there times when a light rap on the backside can do a misbehaving child some good – or at least, not cause any significant harm?

Many parents think so, but most specialists would say there is little evidence to support such claims. That said, Dr Marjorie Gunnoe, a professor of psychology at Calvin College, and her colleague, Carrie Lea Mariner published a study in 1997 that concluded that, “for most children, claims that spanking teaches aggression seem unfounded.”

Gunnoe and Mariner argued that the effects of spanking may depend on the “meaning” children ascribe to it. For example, spanking perceived by the child as parental aggression (as opposed to nonaggressive limit setting) may be associated with subsequent aggressive behavior by the child.

Spanking can lead to child aggression.
Greg westfall, CC BY

And, to be sure, some parents have argued that it is the misbehavior of children that leads to spanking – not the reverse.

Nevertheless, there is a strong consensus in the mental health community that any form of corporal punishment can cause harm.

Dr Catherine A Taylor (of Tulane University) and colleagues concluded in a 2010 review that

…even minor forms of corporal punishment, such as spanking, increase risk for increased child aggressive behavior.

Furthermore, clinical studies have shown that reducing parents’ use of corporal punishment can reduce children’s subsequent aggression.

Parents who believe they have no alternative except to spank their misbehaving children do not need finger-wagging lectures from clinicians.

But they do need professional support and education, aimed at reducing their level of stress and increasing their use of alternatives to corporal punishment.

The Conversation

Ronald W. Pies, Professor of Psychiatry, Lecturer on Bioethics & Humanities, SUNY Upstate Medical University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership

Behavior matters: Fostering a successful mindset

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Justin Foster 

As an elementary school counselor, one of the favorite parts of my job is teaching my guidance lessons. During a guidance lessons a counselor will touch on topics such as citizenship, friendship, anger management, and how to deal with bullying to name just a few. Generally my lessons have a theme for the year and build off the previous lesson. My goal is to conduct one lesson a month for each grade level (my school is K-4).

I am a big proponent of personal responsibility and while that may seem simplistic, something we can all agree upon, base off of stories I have seen recently in the news dealing with young people in schools and bad behavior this is not the case. In my opinion there is an epidemic of violence in schools involving students against each other, and students towards school staff members. This is something that for some reason does not get the attention in the media that it should. This violence impacts the quality of our young people’s education and needs to be address more on a national level. This will no doubt have an impact on the economic well being of many communities and our nation as a whole.

For me teaching students how their behavior affects them and those around them is just as important as teaching manipulatives in math or decoding words. Teaching coping skills and conflict resolution are some of the most important things one will learn in school. One of the issues that I have seen through my career in education is that there are far too many parents who don’t foster and nurture a mindset of school success in their children. School too many times is seen as a necessary evil or something that is just done by going through the motions. Waking up, going to school and coming home is not all there is to receiving the best education possible. School must be looked upon as a vehicle for future advancement and success in society.

Fostering a Mindset

The dictionary defines mindset as a mental attitude or inclination and a fixed state of mind. Working off this definition the attitude that must be taken by all regarding school is that it is for students of school age one of the most important things in their lives. A mindset that views the school experience as one that works best when rules are followed and respect is shown at all times no matter our emotions at a particular moment is critical.

Just in the past three weeks I have seen stories of students assaulting teachers, students refusing to comply with simple school rules and authority. I have watch several YouTube videos showing students fighting each other in school while peers just stand around and in many cases record them. What type of mindset or attitude says it is normal to disobey simple request such as putting away a cell phone in class or that body slamming a principal is appropriate in any form? Who among us really thinks that a school with such chaos and mayhem on a regular basis is an environment that is conducive to learning at an optimum level? Respect, both respect of self and others is one of the most important qualities any school aged student must have in order to reach their full academic and individual life potential.

This has to be instilled at home by parents and caregivers. All the guidance lessons in the world can’t counterbalance parental apathy or parents that do not regularly discuss with their students how important education is and how their attitude towards school will impact their success. No matter how much you may not like your neighborhood school for whatever reasons, it is important to view it as a place that for now is preparing your student for success. Many of us have had bad experiences at the dentist or at a hospital, but we still understand the need for both. Believe it or not most teachers in public education teach because they love the profession.

A certain reverence should come with this role, a reverence that in times gone by was more prevalent, that now sadly is not. Engaging with young people of all races and backgrounds gives most educators tremendous satisfaction. For me as a male educator I love not only teaching my content area but also serving as a role model to students of all races and backgrounds and teaching them the importance of their behavior and why it matters. In order to succeed academically behavior matters!

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Justin A. Foster currently works as a public school counselor in Pennsylvania and has over a decade of experience working with youth and families in both public and private education. Justin is a speaker, author, and educational consultant who enjoys working with students, parents, community leaders and others with a vested interest in being positive influences in the lives of our young people. You can contact him at [email protected] or on twitter @ justincounsels

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Educational Technologies and Concepts that Every Teacher Should Know: Part III

Click here to read all the posts in this series. 

While every district, school, and individual classroom operates in its own way, new technologies and education concepts will affect K-12 education across the board. I want to look at these technologies and education concepts that every teacher should know in the third part of this five-part series.

Online Tutoring. Online learning has revolutionized the way K-12 and college students are able to accomplish academic feats, despite circumstances that may have stood in the way of their success. Access to learning materials and even instructors via webcams provides flexibility to students who need options outside the traditional classroom setting.

What about tutoring, though? The supplemental education services industry is expected to make over $10 billion per year annually in North America by 2017, and it’s no wonder. As students face higher pressures in classrooms, companies like Sylvan and Kumon make millions every year by encouraging parents to bring in their students and pay a premium fee to have them tutored one-on-one.

Aside from the cost, tutoring outside school hours is inconvenient for both parents and students who already have tight schedules. After a day in school, kids are not keen to head back into a traditional learning environment, which can mean a lot of extra tension between parents and kids that surrounds an already-anxious experience. No one likes to feel lost in subject material but the traditional tutoring setup is just too rigid to work for everyone.

But what if the same flexibility that is afforded to regular K-12 and college classes was extended to tutoring too? Of course, many online tutoring options are already available but as an industry, online tutoring lacks the sophistication of the larger-scale academic offerings. As demand for this form of flexible learning rises, though, tutoring in remote ways will see a spike in popularity and availability.

Students are already native online learners and virtual tutoring could open the doors for a lot of breakthroughs – and at a greater convenience and lesser cost to students. These emerging companies just need to look for ways to set themselves apart from the outdated model of in-person tutoring to provide the most help and succeed.

Cloud computing. When it comes to greater educational collaboration, cloud computing has unlimited potential. This is true for teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-parent, and teacher-to-student applications. By using a common location, academic expectations can be better accessed, along with actual student work. Instructors can also share learning materials and experiences through the remote opportunities that cloud computing provides.

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

Alternative input devices. These tools are designed to allow students with disabilities to use computers and related technology easily. Some alternative input devices include touch screens, modified keyboards, and joysticks that direct a cursor through use of body parts like chins, hands, or feet. Some up-and-coming technology in this area is sip-and-puff systems, developed by companies like Microsoft, to perform computer functions through the simple process of inhaling and exhaling. On-screen keyboards are another area of input technology that is providing K-12 learners with disabilities better use of computers and mobile devices for learning.

Speech-to-text options. This technology is making mainstream waves through its use in popular cell phones like the Android-platform Razr M. While it is a convenience tool for people without disabilities, speech-to-text provides a learning advantage for students who have mobility or dexterity problems, or those who are blind. It allows students to speak their thoughts without typing and even navigate the Internet. speech-to-text options can also “talk back” to students and let them know about potential errors in their work.

LAMP. Language Acquisition through Motor Planning, or LAMP, connects neurological and motor learning in a way that makes communication easier for students with autism and related disorders. These principles have proven especially helpful for students who do not speak or have very limited verbal skills. Paired with technology, LAMP principles empower a growing student population with autism to effectively communicate and reach higher academic achievements. LAMP is present in technology – from specially made computers to learning apps.

Sensory enhancers. Depending on developmental patterns, children may need to learn differently than their peers. Instead of ABCs and numbers first, a child with language delays may benefit from bright pictures or colors to learn new concepts. Sensory enhancers may include voice analyzers, augmentative communication tools, or speech synthesizers. With the rapid growth of technology in the classroom, these basic tools of assistive technology are seeing great strides.

In coming posts, we will look at more technologies and concepts that every teacher should know.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

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Matthew Lynch published in International Education

Malala: Education, not drones, is key to fighting terrorism

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafza has a message for President Obama: stop fighting terrorism with more violence, and invest those resources in education.

Speaking to a crowd at the Forbes Under 30 summit in New York City, the 17-year-old Pakistani young woman said that she believes attacks against terrorists through drone technology and other ground violence only further the problem. Killing a few terrorists will not squelch the larger problem —  only education can do that. She said she had expressed those very sentiments to President Obama in a private meeting.

She did not outline his response to her thoughts, but merely said that he had “political” answers to her concerns.

The sentiments that Malala holds are actually pretty American in scope. In policy and practice, we believe that educating our children is a better use of energy than the futility of changing the minds of those already entrenched in one belief system or another. There seems to be a paradox though in how we behave here in the States, and how we act when dealing with issues outside the country. Instead of looking for a long-term solution to issues like terrorism, like the education Malala is emphasizing, we handle the immediate problem (that seems to return again with even greater fury).

Perhaps the “political” answers that the President gave to Malala are the necessary ones in order to keep us safe. But perhaps Malala’s suggestions should still be taken seriously, as a simultaneous initiative that could lead to long-term peace.

Do you think higher levels of education can really combat the terrorist mindset?

 

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Kids Need Role Models. Why Don’t We Use The Ones Right in Front of Us?

As a parent, when was the last time you were invited to your child’s school to share something personal and important to you? Maybe something interesting about your cultural background or your unique skills?

The answer, most often, is never.

As an educator, don’t you wish you could figure out how to get the support you want from the parents in your school? Wouldn’t it be great to understand what parents have to and want to offer to support your curriculum? To bring the broader world into the classroom and serve as role models?

Read the rest of this article on The Huffington Post.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers

6 Best Practices for Internal Communication in Public Schools

Written by Eric Walters and Karen Gerberry

Internal communication may be more important than many think. 42% of communication is  delivered   through   other   people.  Whether  it  is  information   needing  to  be communicated  to  teachers,  students  or  administration  a  student  success  is highly dependent on the frequency and quality of communication. Successful communication between teachers and parents is most common in schools with well-informed, effective educators.

Schools, realizing this, have implemented practices to communicate valuable information within their school systems. What are some of these strategies and what benefits do they provide to these school districts?

  1. Developing New Policies

School systems can often be dispersed, making meetings and collaboration difficult. With advancements in technology, however, sharing thoughts and ideas is becoming increasingly easier. In the past, in order to make policy changes, the school board would have to coordinate meetings between all interested parties to develop new policies. Now, with the use of wikis, administrators can access information regarding changes in the school district and make adjustments accordingly.

Not only has technology made it possible for people to access this information from anywhere at any time, but it has also expanded the reach of this data. Before the use of wikis, many parents and faculty were left out of the policy­making process altogether. Whether the problem was logistical or time related, some would argue that there was not an accurate representation of all interested parties.

By using technology to streamline an antiquated process, school districts have afforded many people the opportunity to provide insights and opinions on some of their most important educational concerns.

  1. Schools Employing Internal Communications Managers

With all of the responsibilities involved with being an educator, it is easy to get caught up in day today activities and lose sight of larger issues within the school district. Schools are realizing that a disconnect exists in the communication process and are becoming more active in increasing engagement with employees.

To assist teachers in becoming more involved with internal communication, some districts are employing Internal Communications Managers. These managers act as facilitators of information throughout the school district. Their primary responsibilities are to keep employees informed on major initiatives, events, and news affecting the school district.

Although this method is slightly different than wikis, the idea is essentially the same. The Internal Communications Managers help teachers stay involved by gathering the information and releasing it to interested parties, thus reducing teachers’ time devoted to the discovery of this information.

  1. Developing Employee Portals

There are many facets and resources on school districts’ websites that provide valuable information to visitors.  But, often, what lies within these sites are valuable portals tailored for specific audiences.

At this point, it is commonplace for both students and teachers to have portals in the school district website. Portals are valuable resources for educators to find information that pertains strictly to the data that is important to them. With the obvious value that these portals provide, think of the value that may be added if every school made these resources available to their employees.

  1. Being Recognized by Leadership

Few things at the workplace are more satisfactory than hearing how much your boss appreciates you.  So,  when  we  talk  about  internal  communication  in  schools,  it is important that we address the interaction between the school board and the educators. It is vital that the school board keeps acknowledge educators that are making an extraordinary effort to enhance students’ education. When board members recognize these educators, they need to implement positive reinforcement practices to encourage future innovation.

On the other hand, if the school board notices teaching practices that are less than expected, they can communicate this to educators and push for corrective action.

  1. Using Digital Signage

The challenges of communicating with staff in a public school system are apparent. Whether checking and responding to emails or logging into portals, communication can require a great deal of effort.

Because of this challenge, we are now seeing schools take the “billboard” approach throughout their buildings. These digital signs are easily recognizable and don’t require additional effort to absorb the information. Schools are using these billboards to display both general and emergency information.

If these signs are placed throughout the school, educators will also see them as they pass by. This eliminates the need to have a phone conversation or to send out a memo

to all interested parties. The digital signage creates a platform to simultaneously provide all of the necessary information to the entire staff.

  1. Remembering that Communication is Key

If we want educators to be as effective as possible, we need to keep them informed. Parent­teacher communication is crucial to student success, and in order to maximize the effectiveness of teachers we need to master the internal communication process.

With these 6 best practices for better internal communication in public schools you are sure to see an improvement in overall employee communication. A school that is engaged together will have students that succeed together. To kick off your communication this school year sign up for your FREE trial of Ving here. It is time to start using a tool that allows you to be in control of your communication and start knowing what is and isn’t working at your school.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

How to Save Time Lesson Planning, Grading This School Year

Teachers: if you could have one additional thing to help in your classrooms this school year, what would it be? More technology? Better behaved students? Less paperwork?

How about more TIME?

When all things are equally weighed, you’d probably spring for the time component (even though a few more iPads might be nice). Teachers spend 95 minutes per weekday outside the classroom on preparation and grading and the typical teacher workday is actually 10 hours and 40 minutes according to a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation survey. Early mornings, nights, weekends – you name it, and teachers are working during it. Teachers can’t just show up before the bell and leave when it sounds at the end of the day and expect to succeed. There is a lot of work that happens when students are not in their seats and it’s necessary work to support students.

What if those additional 95 daily minutes of prep and grading could be cut in half? Or even by 75 or 85 percent?

Teacher Prep goes High-Tech

I recently had the chance to demo Ogment, an educational content curation tool that “clips” relevant information online and saves it for teachers to use in lesson planning and execution. Unlike other systems that simply allow you to save links to reference later, Ogment actually “scrapes” the content so you have all the details, including images and videos, when you are ready to piece it together for a lesson. Ogment allows teachers grab content off the web and strip out the extraneous muck, align the content to standards, cite, format and enhance the content with other technology. In short, Ogment makes lesson creation much easier and less time consuming.

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Ogment offers The Stream – a treasure trove of content that teachers can search to find materials on the lesson at hand. Teachers can also collaborate inside The Stream and share content. Teachers can even add their own content to complete lesson plans. And all of the organized content is searchable.

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Teachers can project the content in their Ogment accounts for students and also manage assignments within the tool. A live curriculum mapping tool keeps both students and teachers on track, too. Customized lesson planning is possible based on student progress tracking within the tool, making it easy to modify lessons for students or student groups.

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The technology behind Ogment is so cutting-edge that it actually won a SIIA CODiE award, an AAP Revere award, and three Bessie awards when it was still in pilot program testing. It’s now officially rolled out to the public with the benefit of feedback from actual teachers and administrators in how the platform best works.

Ogment’s Relevancy in Today’s Classrooms

When I was a public teacher, I would have LOVED to have a curation tool like this so I had more time and energy to devote to my actual students. I know the digital native teachers-in-training in our colleges today can make an even bigger impact with the type of technology streaming that Ogment provides, too. By freeing up some of that time traditionally weighed down by research and compilation for lesson planning, teachers have more energy to inject into what actually matters: supporting student progress.

Want to start this school year off with better organization? Try a free 30-day trial with Ogment.

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