**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 Nick Grantham
Overview
Remind (formerly Remind101) is a one-way messaging service created specifically to help teachers communicate with their school community as simply and safely as possible. Allowing students and parents to sign up via text, email or online using a unique class code, the service keeps phone numbers completely hidden so teacher-student-parent communication is 100% private and secure.
As the main purpose of the Remind platform and app, simple and secure messaging is the primary use for most educators. This could be an alert to students when work is due, a reminder to parents to fill in permission slips, weather information, school closures or even just a motivational quote or message for the day.
2. Send more than words
One of the huge advantages Remind has over conventional SMS is the ability to attach files to messages. As long as the attachment is less than 10MB in size, any file type can be used. Try sending an end of week happy snap of your class to parents each Friday to keep them feeling connected. Attach a map or flyer if you are messaging about an event. Even attach a pdf copy of the homework, just so parents know exactly their children are working on.
3. Archiving message history
One key safety feature of Remind is that you cannot delete messages once they are sent. This ensures there is always a clear record and trail of your messages and allows you to stand over every interaction you have made. What is particularly useful is that the system also allows you to easily download a PDF copy of every message you have made. This is extremely useful for archiving, potential legal requirements and any administrative requests.
4. Send messages from the future
Remind lets you schedule messages to be sent at any time in the future (unfortunately the past is not yet possible…). This works extremely well for setting project deadlines or dates for upcoming tests. This way messages can be created when you think of them rather than at awkward times or when you may not have the capacity to craft the message carefully.
5. One way conversation
Make sure to remember when using Remind that it is a one way communication channel. If you need to have a discussion or require feedback from parents or students, email, phone or face to face conversation may be a better option. Over time you will find that certain individuals react better to certain communication mediums, so although Remind may not allow replies, you can use it as a trigger speak or mail on a subject further.
The founder of Fractus Learning, Nick Grantham is an Australian educator living and working in Dublin, Ireland. With a background in education, engineering and digital product development, Nick launched Fractus Learning in 2011 to connect people with a shared passion for technology and how it can bring education to life.
Decades of data show girls outscoring boys on a range of language skills. Four ELA teachers share their best practices for closing the gap.
A guest post by Dr. Jackie Arnold
“Girls are better readers than boys” is an educational generalization that happens to be backed up by decades of data. According to the 2015 “Brown Center Report on American Education” from The Brookings Institution:
Girls outscore boys on practically every reading test given to a large population. And they have for a long time. A 1942 Iowa study found girls performing better than boys on tests of reading comprehension, vocabulary, and basic language skills. Girls have outscored boys on every reading test ever given by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—the first long-term trend test was administered in 1971—at ages nine, 13, and 17.
Given this reality, our task as educators is to do our best to spark boys’ interest in reading and keep them at it. For some advice on how to make this idea a reality in the classroom, I asked teachers from Salem Community Schools in Indiana to share their best practices.
Find Out What They’re Interested In
According to fifth-grade teacher Bev Sweeney, “The boys especially like the sports and vehicle stories and the gross and silly, plus mysteries.” Fourth-grade teacher Melissa Nicholson said that, when her boys are allowed to choose what they read, “the ‘gross and scary’ books are some of their favorites.”
Boys are also engaged by stories that they are familiar with, said Amy Collins. “As a fourth-grade teacher, I find it easy to find reading lessons that interest boys in my classroom, due to the fact that we study Indiana history and we focus on Native Americans, the Civil War, and the American Revolution. My students love to tie our Social Studies and reading together.”
Fifth-grade Language Arts teacher Susan L. Shields relies on the power of great characters. “It is important to ‘hook’ young readers by offering them interesting characters to which they can relate,” she said. “The students in my classroom love the characters developed by Gertrude Chandler Warner in The Boxcar Children series, as well as the characters brought to life by Beverly Cleary in the Henry and Beezus books. The students come to view these characters as their ‘book friends’ and are truly sorry when the book ends because they have to tell their ‘friends’ goodbye.” And, she added, “Offering boys characters of similar age and gender will usually increase the amount of independent reading boys are willing to do.”
All ELA teachers at Salem use the personalized learning environment myON,which helps students find books they’ll like by having them complete an “interest inventory.” The system then delivers a selection of books geared to the individual student. Of course, finding an engaging book is one thing, but getting boys to read the whole thing is another.
Keep Them Motivated
Sweeney said that her secret to making boys want to keep reading is to “read a portion of a book to them and stop when they want to hear more.”
Once a boy starts reading a book, Shields monitors whether it too hard for him by giving benchmark assessments from time to time. And, she said, “Because myON offers a quiz at the end of each book along with quick results, students earn tickets from our classroom economy for each correct answer. This also serves as motivation.”
During reading groups, Nicholson motivates students by having them listen to or read books with a friend. “The boys especially like this,” she said, “due to getting to work with a buddy. Also, the different voices used in the stories really pull in my readers to engage them in the plot.”
Shields also gives the students in her Language Arts class 10 to 15 minutes a day for silent, sustained reading. She uses the website Book Adventuredaily to assess boys’ comprehension of the chapter books they choose.
Giving boys a choice of reading material and the support they need to get through it has paid off for Shields. In her class, she said, “boys are reading as much as or more than the girls. The average number of tests passed on Book Adventure for the boys in my class is 5.9 for the year. The average number of books for the girls is 5.0.”
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Dr. Jackie Arnold is the Director of Assessment and Program Improvement at Salem Community Schools (IN).
**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 column by Edgar Wilson
Mobile learning is still missing the “mobile” component.
Educational technology, while still developing, is already sufficient to enable travel study to become a core component of almost any distance-education model. While many of theproponents for online learning have focused on accommodating working professionals (whose time demands make traditional, campus-based programs impractical), the opportunities in online learning for traditional students have been slower to incorporate travel study.
If the toolbox of online learning is designed to free students, it is natural they should be able to take their education on the road. Whether spending a week participating in a regional conference, or going abroad for an intensive period of immersion, there are many valuable experiences that simply don’t translate to course work.
A key criticism of distance learning models is the absence of a campus with all the community, socialization, and collaborative activities that happen only on campus. Dispatching online students to foreign or remote locations could more than make up for this supposed deficit.
Personal development, networking, accountability, independence—travel study demands all of these, in ways traditional or online programs may not. Travel study provides much more than the “missing” classroom. Both students and administrators are beginning to recognize thatjoining online learning with travel study provides enrichment beyond what any single educator or piece of technology can do.
But travel study not only fits well within (and supplements) the distance education model, it may even help balance theory and application by putting unique demands on students and their nascent skillsets.
Travel study (both domestic and abroad) necessitates a profound adjustment to different social and cultural norms. In a global economy replete with virtual teams, connectivity through time zones, and international cross-cultural coordination, soft and hard skills play an equal role. STEM education especially could use a rich liberal arts supplement to better strike a practical balance between scientific and social training.
Thechallenges of accommodating local custom and bridging cultural divides are instructive. Taking advantage of travel programs while maintaining engagement with a targeted STEM program could lend context and emphasize the soft skills that make technical knowledge valuable.
The chorus of demand for greater academic focus on STEM subjects has missed the fact that STEM-centric skills are all but uselesswithout additional soft skills. Employers are already decrying the gap between learned workers and those capable of communication, creative thinking, and problem-solving; STEM students need more liberal arts sensibilities in their journey to the field. Travel study is a powerful way to provide it. There is also practicality to placing study in a less isolated environment, considering the subjects exist in an international playing field. STEM students must be globally competitive, and need to learn in a more integrated environment.
The mobilization of learning technology lifts traditional barriers to travel study. Virtual classrooms, digital textbooks, and especially responsive assessments and learning applications have a natural fit in the online learning environment. The pedagogical instruments of the past are anachronistic in this new learning environment; so, too, should the tethers that bind students to classrooms and campuses be cut.
The biggest problem in empowering online students to study abroad is overcoming their sense that “a year abroad” still means “a year away.” The physical demands of the traditional classroom make travel study a complex process. Even though virtual learning models often dispense with such elements, the mindset of students (and, perhaps teachers) has yet to fully adapt.
Currently,university degrees are expensive whether delivered online or in person. Realizing the money-saving potential of digital programs could, over time, translate to lower prices, making travel study programs even more practical.
When all that is necessary to attend class and submit work is an internet connection, travel study’s key requirement is the same as online study: time management. Balancing work with school and family sets an excellent precedent for students who will need to balance the unique academic, professional, and personal experiences travel study opens up to them with their commitment to online learning.
The best online learning candidates tend to be students who are organized and self-motivated. Ensuring travel study does not devolve into an extended vacation requires some of the same traits. Bringing the two together may be the natural extension of changing educational models in the 21st century.
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Edgar Wilson is an Oregon native with a passion for cooking, trivia, and politics. He studied conflict resolution and international relations and has worked in industries ranging from international marketing to broadcast journalism. He is currently working as an independent analytical consultant. He can be reached via email here or on Twitter @EdgarTwilson.
In January 2014, Reid Sagehorn, a student at Rogers High Schoolin Minnesota, jokingly tweeted “actually yeah” in response to a question about whether he had made out with one of his high school teachers.
The public school, acting on the tweet, suspended himfor seven weeks. Sagehorn, a member of the National Honor Society, fought the suspension in a federal court, claiming the actions of school officials violated his First Amendmentright to free speech.
Did the school have the right to punish him for his off-campus expression? It turns out – no.
In August 2015, a federal judgerejected the school officials’ motion to have the case dismissed. After all, the court found that Sagehorn made the post while away from campus, during nonschool hours, without using the school’s computers. And last month Sagehorn collected a settlement of more than US$400,000.
Sadly, Reid Sagehorn’s case is not unique. For at least the past 15 years, schools across the nation have engaged in Orwellian overreaches into the homes and bedrooms of students to punish them for their off-campus, online expression regarding classmates, teachers and administrators.
Despite the bevy of cases, the issue of whether schools can punish students for off-campus, online speech remains unresolved.
Cases where school kids were suspended
For instance, in April 2015, a federal court in Oregon considered a case called Burge v Colton School District 53 in which an eighth grader was suspended from his public middle school based upon out-of-school comments he posted on his personal Facebook page.
And in September 2014, a federal court in New York considered a case called Bradford v Norwich City School District in which a public high school student was suspended “based on a text-message conversation he had with another student regarding a third student while outside of school.”
Judge Glenn Suddaby observed in Bradford that “the Supreme Court has yet to speak on the scope of a school’s authority to discipline a student for speech that does not occur on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event.”
Silence from the Supreme Court
Indeed, a key problem here is that the US Supreme Court has never ruled in a case involving the off-campus speech rights of students in the digital era.
Public school students do possess First Amendment speech rights, although those rights are not the same as those of adults in nonschool settings.
A case in point is the Supreme Court’s famous 1969 proclamation in Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District that students do not
“shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
A key problem has been the silence of the Supreme Court on free speech rights of students. Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA
In this case, a divided court upheld the right of students to wear to school black armbands emblazoned with peace signs as a form of political protest against the war in Vietnam. The majority reasoned that such speech could be stopped only if school officials had actual facts to believe it would lead to a substantial and material disruption of the educational atmosphere.
But Tinker was an on-campus speech case. And although the Supreme Court has considered three more student speech cases since Tinker, none involved either off-campus or digital expression.
A chance to resolve the issue
Schools today are trying to exert their authority far beyond the schoolhouse gate. Some courts have allowed these efforts and others have rejected them, but now the Supreme Court has a prime opportunity to resolve the matter in a case called Bell v Itawamba County School Board.
In January 2011, a Mississippi high school student, Taylor Bell, was suspended from Itawamba Agricultural High School after he posted, while away from campus during nonschool hours, a homemade rap video to Facebook and YouTube.
In the video, Bell criticizes in no uncertain terms two male teachers for their alleged sexual harassment of minor female students. A version of rap that describes the resulting controversy is available online.
In August 2015, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuitnarrowly ruled that high school officials in Mississippi did not violate the First Amendment speech rights of Bell when they punished him for posting the video because it allegedly threatened two teachers.
In a ruling against Taylor Bell, the Fifth Circuit majority concluded that the rule from the Tinker case applies to off-campus speech:
when a student intentionally directs at the school community speech reasonably understood by school officials to threaten, harass, and intimidate a teacher, even when such speech originated, and was disseminated, off-campus without the use of school resources.
One of the judges in the case, James Dennis, writing in dissent, ripped into the majority for broadly proclaiming “that a public school board is constitutionally empowered to punish a student whistleblower for his purely off-campus Internet speech publicizing a matter of public concern.”
Judge Dennis stressed that the rule from Tinker, which requires school officials to reasonably predict a substantial and material disruption will be caused by speech before it can be stopped, does not apply to off-campus speech cases.
Why the Supreme Court should hear the Taylor Bell case
Some minors inevitably will post and upload – while away from campus and using their own digital communication devices – allegedly disparaging, offensive or threatening messages and images about fellow students, teachers and school officials on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat.
The key question, then, is whether and to what extent public schools, consistent with the First Amendment, may discipline students for their off-campus speech.
In November 2015, Bell filed a petition with the US Supreme Court asking it to hear his case.
As Bell’s attorneys argue, the court should take the case because whether or not Tinker applies to off-campus speech cases has “vexed school officials and courts across the country.”
Briefs from the attorneys for the school aredue January 20, and the court will decide whether to hear Bell later this spring.
The bottom line is this: public school students deserve the right to know, pre-posting and pre-texting, what their First Amendment rights are when they are away from campus.
They must, in other words, be given fair notice. The court should hear Bell to let them know precisely what their rights are. It is an issue not likely to go away soon.
In previous articles, I wrote about some emerging educational technologies and technology concepts that every teacher must keep track of to be more effective in the classroom, from virtual laboratories to prototyping. In this final installment of this series, you will discover even more concepts that will revolutionize K-12 education as we know it. A couple of these must-know technologies would have been unbelievable a few years ago. Take a look at the following five:
Student-led planning. When special education students reach high school, they are being called upon more and more to have input into their individual learning plans. This is to prepare these students for more independence in adulthood. It also gives teachers more insight into the methods these students favor when it comes to learning. Instead of dictating what and how special education students should learn, student-led input helps chart the course toward academic and life skills.
Holography. Holography was just science fiction a few years ago, but it’s now becoming a reality in some fields, such as medicine. This imaging technique, which allows one to see a 3-D view of an image, has yet to become a part of everyday classroom activities. Holography introduced in classroom activities would change entirely how some subjects are taught. Biology, physics, astronomy, and chemistry could be taught on an entirely different level (S. H. Kim & Bagaka, 2005).
Time-management tools. These tools are variations on calendar software. They can be used to schedule your appointments, or you may want to take advantage of more complex features. Some tools can be viewed online, affording access for more than one student at a time. A teacher can arrange appointments or make a note of due dates for assignments so that all students in a class can keep track of such details. Most of these tools allow the option to put some information in private mode, too, so the administrator can choose which calendars people can see and which cannot. Most of these tools include a feature allowing teachers to arrange meetings and groups.
Virtual reality. Experiential education has been used as an instructional method for years. Field trips have always served to introduce students to real-world issues, to supplement learning by helping students get a fresh perspective on what they have learned in books. Technology using virtual reality, however, has introduced new levels of experiential education. Virtual 3-D worlds allow students and teachers to visit places otherwise impossible to visit without it. They can go to space, deserts, or foreign countries without physically traveling there.
Natural user interfaces. In its simplest definition, a natural user interface (NUI) uses the body’s movements to achieve certain outcomes. In the consumer market, examples of NUIs include the Nintendo® WiiTM, Xbox KinectTM, and the iPhone virtual assistant, Siri. The potential in the field of K–12 education is still being realized but will certainly lead to developments in the next half-decade. Students who are blind, deaf, or have physical disabilities or autism can better learn through use of this still evolving technology.
Advances in technology have influenced every aspect of modern life and are having an enormous impact on education. Technology can promote student engagement, immerse students in real-world issues, enhance discussions and workshops, and facilitate formative assessment. Plus, as students today are often digital natives, very familiar with technology.
However, the new technological advances do not come without their problems. There’s a significant digital divide between students with access to technology and students, mostly from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, who don’t have the same level, range, and consistency of access.
Furthermore, students may spend too much time using their devices and the Internet includes information that may be harmful as well as helpful. Without clear parameters, teachers may become overly focused on technology to the detriment of information transfer.
Nonetheless, these advances will prove to assist in the education of students in the near future. Observing the development of these technologies closely will reveal the ways in which they will change learning.
A new study has found an increase in nutritional school lunches and other meals since the implementation Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
In 2012 when the healthier food standards were implemented, naysayers voiced concern that fewer students would eat the school lunch. A new study has dismantled those ideas and found that meals have become more nutritionally wholesome and students are still eating them.
The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) was signed into law in 2010 and it called for larger portions of whole grains, vegetables and fruits. The nutritional school lunches also saw a reduction in calories found in lunches and breakfasts served at school.
Nutritional school lunches being eaten, too
In a report published earlier this month in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, a study from the University of Washington Nutritional Sciences Program found that the new, healthier meal standards have really impacted the quality of meals served at schools.
The scientists compared data collected in the 16 months before the standards went into effect with data collected in the 15 months after the implementation of the new standards. They examined the nutritional value of 1.7 million school meals that were picked out by 7,200 kids from an urban area in Washington. The findings showed that the presence of six nutrients went up: iron, protein, fiber, calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C.
The researchers write that these changes can be attributed primarily to the increased servings of fruits and vegetables in the nutritional school lunch standards.
Donna B. Johnson, lead author and a professor at the University of Washington, admits limits in their research and includes the fact that the study analyzed food that students chose, not what they consumed. She points out that plate waste has not risen since the changes of HHFKA took place — a huge finding that contradicts those who say school lunches are simply not being eaten as a result of HHFKA.
Other data is expected to come forward in the next year to confirm or negate this study’s findings on nutrition progress.
**The Edvocate is pleased to publish this guest post on virtual reality and education 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 Daphne Stanford
I recently came across an especially heated op-ed piece by Joshua Kim in Inside Higher Ed about the recent hoopla over virtual reality in education and was struck by its especially sour and weary tone. However, I can’t say I blame him. Like many educators before him—I remember because I, too, used to be a weary educator—here was another gadget or technological trend that was being said to change education unalterably, and for the better! But when it comes to virtual reality and education, I’m trying to be open minded.
Let us, rather, explore what virtual reality can do. One of the most common uses is virtual travel around the globe or to places not ordinarily feasible, in terms of a physical visit—via, for example, Google Expeditions. Recently, students at University of Maryland were immersed in a virtual classroom experience in order to test out a potential distance platform that simulates what it’s like to be in an actual college classroom, potentially allowing online students to have a more immersive, authentic-feeling experience. “You want the instructor to feel as if they’re right in front of you,” said Ramani Duraiswami, a computer-science professor and co-founder of the startup company VisiSonics. They showcased the technology recently at the university’s virtual-reality lab, called The Augmentarium. There’s a similar set up at Rutgers University with the use of Second Life to immerse students into a virtual reality with their classmates that is potentially more motivating than typical online interaction using instant messaging platforms.
In addition to business and marketing-based user-created experiences, there are also applications in simulating heart surgery. The medical field, in particular, is one of the frontiers that is being particularly well-explored. For example, at George Washington University, the nursing school uses a full-blown simulation lab for training future surgeons. Their lab utilizes mannequins that have a pulse; they also can speak, blink their eyes, and spurt blood! I suppose, strictly speaking the latter scenario more akin to theatre or an elaborate staging scenario, as opposed to virtual reality.
Apparently, “there has been an explosion in the use of simulation medicineto help physicians gain preparation for performing lifesaving procedures as well as approaching delicate or difficult situations related to patient care.” We can see this with programs that utilize virtual reality simulations, in the computerized sense: for example, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Virtual reality is being successfully used as an educational tool at institutions like Brown University to elucidate subjects such as anatomy and archeology in an interactive, 3D space. Similarly, a tool called Microsoft Hololens is being implemented into medical training classes at Case Western Reserve University in order to help teach anatomy.
Other smart uses of Virtual Reality and Education
One other exciting realm where Virtual Reality and education is being successfully utilized is physical rehabilitation. For example, a Spanish-based company, Neurodigital, is in the process of developing a device called Gloveone, which allows users to feel texture—for example, a recently returned combat veteran with brain damage is temporarily able to feel their dog’s fur coat. The glove uses ten different sensors and motors that vibrate when its user “touches” something in the virtual realm. Because of the potential for personal connection between the user and his or her personal, home-based environment, there’s an increased level of motivation to continue with therapy—more so than there would be without the virtual reality component.
There’s another way to look at all this virtual reality and education —returning, perhaps, to a perspective more similar to that of Mr. Kim in the Inside Higher Ed opinion piece I cited, at the beginning of the article. Jorge Suarez of Arizona State University writes about the potential dark side of virtual reality with the impending release of Oculus Rift VR goggles and the growing interpersonal detachment that the widespread use of virtual reality could further exacerbate: “Ironically,” Ramos writes, “because of social media, many people have become disconnected from the world around them, and have instead become so attached to their phones, that they have not been able to put them down and have decent face to face conversations.” He offers as an extreme example a 32-year-old man who died after a three-day gaming binge at an Internet café in Taiwan.
Although I don’t foresee a student dying anytime soon from the use of virtual reality and education in the classroom, it is wise to be aware of the pitfalls of over-reliance on technology and virtual realms. This caution can also be applied directly to education: we must remember that education is inherently relational; that, as Kim stresses in his op-ed, a higher quality education begins with deeper investment in our teachers, rather than throwing money at quick technological fixes and instructional gadgets. However, there is also a great deal of potential in much of this new technology. It is up to us to balance our use of quality instructional time and technology that we judiciously implement into our class time. I don’t know about you, but I know I’d much rather examine a human body in virtual form than in the form of a cadaver! But, then again, that’s why I didn’t go into medicine!
What uses can you think of for virtual reality in your classroom? Comment in the space below!
Bio: Daphne Stanford grew up near the ocean, and she loves taking pictures of the mountains and rivers in Idaho, where she now lives. She believes in the power of writing, education, and community radio to change the world. She hosts “The Poetry Show!” Sundays on Radio Boise. Find her on Twitter @daphne_stanford.
As the first tech company to announce its diversity statistics in May of 2014, Google admits to poor numbers again in 2015. A whopping 70 percent of Google’s workforce in 2014 was male, while just 3 percent of its U.S. staff was Hispanic and only 2 percent were Black. Google diversity, or lack thereof, is just a small sampling of the industry as a whole, though.
For 2015, overall gender Google diversity by in large remained the same. However, there was slight improvement with a 1 percent increase in the number of women in tech positions. There was also a slim increase in women in leadership positions within Google. However, the same can not be said for Hispanic and Black representation, as they remained at 3 and 2 percent respectively, and only 2 and 1 percent in technology-focused jobs.
How can Google diversity improve?
Though the figures are alarming, Google has committed to rectifying the situation and has invested nearly $150 million in diversity goals for 2015.
Google diversity funds are being used to recruit on non-Ivy League university campuses, which include state schools with diverse student bodies and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (or HBCUs). Current employees are being trained and participating in diversity enhancing projects. The investment is also being made in computer science education for girls and diverse underrepresented populations. Although 72 percent of Google’s leadership team is white, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, is Indian-born and committed to diversifying the company.
It’s clear that Google diversity numbers are incredibly lackluster. There is a huge imbalance in gender and minority representation. At the same time, Google deserves recognition for bringing this information to light and prompting the entire tech industry to take a closer look at its diversity figures. With Google’s investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, the proper steps are being taken to ensure that more women and minorities get into computer science and engineering programs and eventually, tech jobs in the first place.
For those who may not know, can you elaborate on what your state standards ask teachers to assess in terms of small group discussions?
Jennifer Looney: According to our third grade standards, students should be involved in teacher-led and student-led discussions.
Leah Janoe: Students should participate in small-group discussions by asking questions and answering questions appropriately, which includes answering the question thoroughly, giving enough detail, and most importantly helping the conversation build and continue through their input.
Ashley Scott: We’re also asked to determine if students can use proper verb tense and grammar through discussions with peers.
Why is it challenging for teachers to monitor small group discussions?
Alyson Hollon: The biggest challenge with small group discussions or team collaborations is being able to monitor each group’s discussions at once, so that any misconceptions are addressed.
Caroline Canessa: This area of teaching can be very challenging! Often times it is hard to know whether or not student conversations or focus on the task at hand, or completely off the mark. Also, students may pretend to be on task while the teacher is near, but then return to being off task as soon as the teacher leaves the area.
Jennifer Looney: Small groups are often spread out all over the class, so it is hard for a teacher to have the time to engage with all groups. It is also a challenge to talk to one group while also monitoring behavior in a group across the room.
RISD has found and is trying out a tool that allows teachers to monitor several discussions all at once. Can you tell us about it?
Ashley Scott: The Flexcat system comes with two teacher microphones and remotes, one large speaker, and six individual speaker pods. The microphones can be used to project your voice out of the large speaker or out of individual pods. The remote controls the volume of your voice. You can use your normal talking voice and it does a wonderful job making it louder for all students to hear. With the pods I can control which group I would like to speak to directly. The microphone comes with an earpiece, which allows for you to listen through the pod to that group. You can turn on the pod without the students knowing and listen. Students can also use the call button on their pod and speak to the teacher through their pod.
Jennifer Looney: The speaker pods allow you to have ears all over the classroom. From working with a small group at my teacher table, I can tell what a group in the hallway is discussing and talk to them directly to refocus them without interrupting precious teaching time.
How has the Flexcat changed the way you run your classroom?
Leah Janoe: The Flexcat allows me to hear students’ natural conversations with each other, especially when I can listen in and hear how students are explaining a concept to each other. As a math teacher, I can listen in and see what steps students are verbalizing during group work and help clear up misconceptions in that manner. With the ability to project my voice using the main speaker, I’ve noticed that my students can actually hear my from any point in the room without me having to yell while teaching.
Ashley Scott: My kids are highly motivated to share their thinking and “be the teacher” up at the front of the class wearing the microphone. I can also send a student into a breakout room with a pod to finish work or make up a test. I can pop in on the pod and make sure everything is going OK or they can call me if they have a question. There is also a place for headphones so you could send a child with a pod and headphones to another class to work and still be able to talk directly to the student. It provides so much freedom and flexibility.
How have students reacted to the Flexcat?
Caroline Canessa: The students think the Flexcat is a lot of fun! They always ask to use the microphone and love to push the call button.
Alyson Hollon: The students were shocked at first when they realize that I could listen to their conversations even when I wasn’t near them. This has really pushed them to remain on topic and have higher-level group discussions. It has also given students who normally don’t ask questions the opportunity to ask me direct questions, reducing their feeling of apprehension.
Leah Janoe: My students have loved using the Flexcat system because they can discreetly call me to ask for help on a problem. Students who normally would not ask for help feel more comfortable asking for help if they can do so without me having to walk over to address them.
Could you share an example of a time when the Flexcat allowed you to catch a student really shining that you would have otherwise missed?
Ashley Scott: This year I had a few students new to our school. Most of my class has gone to school with their peers since kindergarten, and it can be an intimidating situation to walk into. It took this student until the third week to raise her hand to share with the class. One day I called on this particular child to “be the teacher” and share her thinking with the class during math. I gave her the microphone and once she heard her voice from the back of the room, she immediately smiled and stood up straight. You could see how excited and proud she was. Without the microphone, there is no way anyone would have been able to hear her because she was so nervous about sharing with her new peers.
Jennifer Looney: I have a very intelligent student who prefers to only share a few words at a time whole group because she is so shy. When she is with her tablemates, however, she is very talkative. I am able to listen in on her responses in a more laidback situation. I know several students have anxiety about whole class answers and responding directly to a teacher. As this student was working through a table problem in math, she guided her peers to solve a multiplication problem. It was really great to witness her come out of her shell and collaborate!
Alyson Hollon: I have this one student who really struggles working with teammates. One day I was listening to his group as they were finishing up a lab and he explained to another teammate why the chemical reaction occurred and he explained it so well. At this time I was working with my small group students and if I didn’t have the Flexcat I would never have heard his wonderful explanation.
What are your thoughts on education these days?
Caroline Canessa: The world of education is just as challenging and rigorous as it has always been.
Alyson Hollon: Today’s education is changing from teacher lead to student lead. Our students need “21st century skills” to be successful today which changes the role of teacher in a 21st century classroom. Students are more motivated and want to be in charge in their own learning.
Leah Janoe: In these times, I am amazed at what students are learning and how they are being taught. The methods and topics that students are using are amazing and I cannot imagine having learned with so many technology tools when I was in school.
What are your thoughts on technology in education? Why?
Jennifer Looney: Technology is used, in some way, for every career out there. Students must graduate knowing how to use this technology. To exclude technology from the classroom would be a great disservice to our students.
Leah Janoe: I am so excited for (and slightly jealous of) the technology opportunities my students have to integrate into their classes and learning. I’m amazed at all the tools students can use to encourage their learning.
Caroline Canessa: Technology in education is critical. It allows students access to information that they may not otherwise be able to access at home. It also readies all students for the future – which is increasingly more and more digital world.
Any other comments or experiences to share?
Alyson Hollon: I honestly believe with all the technology that I have in my classroom, the Flexcat is essential and necessary. A Flexcat should be in every classroom.
Ashley Scott: I would not want to go back to teaching without the Flexcat!
According to a reportby Moody’s Investor Service, Americans colleges and universities are developing a wealth gap problem.
“One third of all assets held by colleges and universities” is with the country’s 10 wealthiest universities.
A few on the list include Harvard, Texas, Stanford, Yale, MIT, and Duke. Of the top ten, three are public universities. The rest are private.
Harvard, perhaps the nation’s most prestigious university, is also the country’s richest. In terms of wealth, Harvard is stout with $42.8 billion. That’s almost $10 billion more than the University of Texas, which comes in second.
Thereport also states that the country’s richest schools “capture the bulk of charitable gifts flowing to higher education” to the tune of 60 percent.
But one of the more interesting portions of the study lands with how many schools collect their revenue. The collection of tuition and student fees at the country’s top 20 private educational institutions has a median of 15 percent. That number jumps to 46 percent for public colleges.
Moody’s report concludes that because of the recovering economy and stock market, university endowments for the country’s wealthiest schools have aided in their increased wealth.
This report almost models how certain collegiate sports are fashioned. As power is concentrated in just a few NCAA conferences in sports like football and basketball that host big name schools like Alabama, Ohio State and USC, many kids will forgo opportunities at smaller schools in an effort to compete at larger, more competitive universities.
That example is a small sample size compared to the grand number of colleges and universities that many students have to choose from, but attracting the best and brightest to one’s campus is always easier when money flows as freely as spring water.
