STEM

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

The Rachael Ray Show surprises Kindergarten teacher with Redcat Audio Systems

I just love a heartwarming holiday story – especially when teachers and students are the beneficiaries.

Kindergarten teacher Heidi Solivan got an early Christmas present when the classroom technology she was fundraising to buy was donated instead. Solivan had four Redcat audio systems from Lightspeed Technologies at the top of her classroom wishlist and was surprised with the fully-donated systems on an episode of The Rachael Ray Show that aired on November 24.

Producers from the show contacted Lightspeed Technologies, a leading provider of classroom audio solutions, after they found Solivan’s GoFundMe page that had about $775 raised so far in donations. Solivan teaches a full-day, full-inclusion class with special education students, English language learners, and students who struggle with attention or hearing difficulties. The speech pathologist at Solivan’s school purchased one Redcat system last year and Solivan had access to it for one week. That was enough to sell the Kindergarten teacher on the system, which includes a microphone on a lanyard so students throughout the classroom can hear the instructor without vocal or hearing strain.

The producers told Solivan that she would be doing a Skype session with them about the need for the Redcat systems but then surprised her twice: Rachael Ray was waiting on the other end of the Skype chat, and the postal worker delivered the systems right to Solivan’s door during the session.

Solivan has already put the systems to use, and says that they are “going to allow the students to hear every sound that we’re making, and it will allow us to slow down and be clear. We won’t have to raise our voices to get their attention, because we’ll already have it.”

Solivan added her thankfulness to Lightspeed Technologies and encouraged other classrooms to work towards incorporating the Redcat systems.

“Every classroom teacher should have this,” Solivan said.

You can check out the entire segment on The Rachael Ray show here:

A little more about Lightspeed Technologies

Lightspeed classroom audio systems allow teachers to speak in normal conversational tones while being assured that every child has an equal opportunity to hear all of the instruction. The no-installation Redcat provides clear, low-volume, highly intelligible sound that is evenly distributed throughout the classroom so every child hears every word. The company’s audio system for small group instruction, Redcat, gives teachers the ability to gain insights into small group interactions and learning. The Topcat has become the premier solution for new construction and renovations due to its ease of installation, wireless connectivity, and remarkable audio quality. For more information about Lightspeed classroom audio products, visit www.lightspeed-tek.com.

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

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement

Hands-on chemistry comes home

Science is one of those topics that just has to be experienced to be understood. When I was a public elementary school teacher, I truly saw the importance of hands-on activities where science was concerned. For kids to be able to connect to what is truly magical about the world around us, they have to feel it, touch it, and experiment with it.

Finding ways to come up with experiments to perform, and the money to do it, is harder to do than it sounds. Even if you have both the money and supplies, giving kids the one-on-one time in class to really understand and perform the experiments is challenging. That leaves a lot of the responsibility to parents to help instill a love and comprehension for science to their kids. Finding that time, energy, money and expertise (not every parent completely understands scientific concepts, like chemistry, themselves) can feel futile. Kids needs extra help with science, though, more than ever. Consider these statistics:

All of these factors add up to a need for convenient, expert science tools that parents can implement at home and kids can have fun doing.

Convenient Chemistry at Home

I recently got a behind-the-scenes look at MEL Science, a company that offers an interactive chemistry experiment subscription service that pairs the best of hands-on learning with mobile technology. These standalone education packages include:

  • 38 (!!) interactive chemistry sets
  • Free mobile app for tablets or smartphones
  • Website access to other science facts and stories to complement the experiments

The MEL Science subscription is designed to last for the course of a year, with 3 monthly packages with 1 to 3 experiments each (so each customer gets a total of 4 to 7 experiments per month). The experiments are strengthened by a complementary mobile app that essentially works as a virtual 3D microscope and a website with in-depth information on the projects and science behind them.

The company was founded by a small group of self-proclaimed “science geeks” who saw the need for better at-home science options when they had children of their own. The combined expertise and personal passion are what makes MEL Science so unique in the Ed-Tech field, I think.

I got a chance to look at the app, site and some of the experiments being performed and I actually walked away with a greater understanding of chemistry than I had before. It certainly made me want to get my hands on more of the experiments that MEL Science offers. It was fun, and fascinating, all at once.

According to MEL Science, this subscription service “actually teaches you chemistry instead of showing tricks with a scientific slant.” In other words, young learners aren’t just supposed to be impressed with the flash of science, but they should walk away with a real understanding of the underlying concepts of the experiments. What’s more – parents don’t need to worry that the experiments are unsafe for their kids. There are no explosions. No harmful chemicals. Just safe, but fun, experiments that can be done at home.

A Better Approach to Science Learning

The service that MEL Science offers in its subscription chemistry sets fills a gap that this generation of students desperately needs: hands-on science experiments connected to internet and mobile technology. There is a lot of political rhetoric out there pushing STEM education but our actions have not yet caught up to those lofty words. Science learning starts in our P-12 classrooms and should be supported at home whenever possible. Giving parents easy-to-use tools helps the push for higher science achievement and also serves as a family bonding experience. The student-teacher-parent combination is truly what is needed for the strongest science outcomes, we just have to make it a priority.

To learn more about MEL Science and its chemistry experiment subscription series, visit MelScience.com.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Report: Higher education not translating to lower unemployment

Globally, there is an uneven balance between proficient workers and the amount of available jobs matching their skill level and expectations, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The ILO released the 9th edition of the Key Indicators of the Labor Market on November 16 and parts of it aren’t pretty when it comes to the state of higher education around the world. Though the education level of the worldwide workforce is improving, this increase in higher education doesn’t necessarily translate to lower unemployment on a global scale.

Of the 64 participating countries, the report indicates that all but 2 demonstrate a measurable increase in share of the workforce with a tertiary education over the last 15 years. The largest rise in education was observed in Canada, Luxembourg and Russia. However, individuals with secondary level education don’t necessarily posses an improved chance of locating and securing a job. Tertiary graduates may be less likely to be unemployed in high income systems, yet more likely to be unemployed in low or middle income economies.

The report also indicates that workers in high income countries produce 62 times the yearly output of a worker in a low income system and 10 times that of an employee in a middle income economy. Nonetheless, middle income economies have documented the most productiveness during the last 15 years.

Unfortunately, the average unemployment figures from 112 countries with comparable information increased in 2007-2014, from 6.4 percent to 7.2 percent.

Unless the mismatch between competent workers and the number of accessible jobs is addressed, a decline in economic growth and development may be felt internationally.

 

 

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Diversity

Does music education make children smarter?

It’s no secret that throughout the United States, music education programs are being eliminated due to funding. However the benefits these programs can bring are critical to young children’s development, and I believe music may even hold the key to closing the achievement gap between white children and minority students.

Based on research, early music education illustrates clear emotional and cognitive benefits for children. Increased processing of visual and spatial information, improved literacy, greater ability to learn a second language, academic accomplishment and perseverance are some of the traits associated with incorporating music education throughout youth. When learning to play an instrument, different parts of the brain are required to coordinate at once, which leads to stronger neural pathways. Additionally, children’s auditory systems are enhanced from this, and memory improves. This type of growth serves to heighten brain development throughout childhood, the benefits of which last through adulthood.

A recent study has demonstrated that it only takes 20 days of music education for there to be cognitive advancement in 90 percent of subjects. The evidence is overwhelmingly in support of music education and the positive outcomes it has on children.

Unfortunately, even in the cultural mecca of the world, most New York City public school students don’t enjoy access to music education throughout their schooling. It is important to fill the gaps in some way and non-profit organizations such as, Education Through Music, are volunteering to fill this void. Although their involvement is of positive benefit to the students involved, it is the hope that these non-profits will become part of an enhancement plan, rather than a substitution for school-based music education.

I think that music is more than just a supplementary learning tool; it is a necessary academic skill. Incorporating the right music programs in traditionally at-risk student populations has the potential to enhance learning and an interest in it – and to transcend some of the barriers that may make it difficult for minority, socio-economically challenged and other at-risk students to succeed.

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership

Learning to think or to work?

**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

Why are we learning this?

The anthem of disengaged students takes on new meaning when applied to America’s universities. It isn’t merely a question of individual lessons or trivial facts; when hyper-expensive degrees and all but unavoidable student loans are as much a rite of passage as walking the line at graduation, the meaning behind the mission deserves to be scrutinized.

Students today should be forgiven for feeling confused about just what they are supposed to be getting from school. In the classroom, lessons will often function to stimulate problem-solving, discussion, analysis—in short, getting students to think.

On the policy-making side, the goal is less abstract: school exists to prepare students to be productive workers. The message has become even more critical and urgent as the global economy proves that students around the world must all be competitive with one another. If our schools don’t create more productive workers, they will quickly find the jobs filled by immigrant labor, or face the prospect of the U.S. losing its status as an economic leader.

At the post-secondary level, the language still manages to distinguish between “trade schools” and universities; at every other level, the intersection of economic pragmatism and a more liberal arts-influence is less pronounced.

American healthcare makes for a powerful case study, as it is suffering from a similar polarity.

Primary care provider shortages mean that there is a demand for both bedside caregivers and administrators with overlapping occupational skills. Nursing is a trade, certainly: from administering medication to coordinating care, nurses are hands-on and highly skilled; yet administrators must also have the less tangible skill set of the entrepreneur, able to dissect complex organization systems and manage people effectively. They need the liberal arts training to think critically and creatively, as well as expertise in their trade.

Current continuing education requirements emphasize the tradecraft aspects of nursing, and it is up to individuals to find, finance, and complete the sort of advanced degrees that serve as a prerequisite for administrative careers. The needs are parallel, but the avenues for fulfillment have been segregated.

The answer to the compartmentalization of education—of learning hard or soft skills, of preparing for lifelong learning and lifelong doing—isn’t just a post-secondary consideration. Schools at all levels need to engage students on all levels—a model known in some sectors as kinaesthetic learning. This is more than a learning style; it is a pedagogical discipline that promotes learning by doing, activating curiosity as well as providing practical applications.

In a world (and an economy) where change is constant and disruptive, students and workers alike need the capacity to adapt quickly, apply knowledge constructively, and never treat the learning process as having a clear beginning and end.

The “why?” of academics cannot afford to be withheld; neither can soft skills be relegated to liberal arts instruction, while hard skills masquerade as cutting-edge STEM initiatives or high-demand trade fields. The artificial degree-to-career pipeline, and the accompanying price tag barring the way to higher earning through higher learning, obscures the reality that lifelong learning has become mandatory, not elective. All occupations—not just healthcare—need dynamic workers who both learn and do.

___________

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.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Higher Education

Is use of technology necessary in classrooms?

**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 Lucy Brown

There has been a dramatic change in the use of technologies in the last few decades and particularly in classrooms. Schools have had to invest heavily in the purchase of hardwares and softwares; set up internet access and train teachers to use technology. This has made the young people in education to be enthusiastic about technology and made them grow to use it more often. Some of them lack the extensive knowledge use of the technology they are embracing. Use of technology in the classroom is very important, though at times, opportunities to harness children’s skills and enthusiasm to improve learning in school are sometimes missed out.

Technology continues to be increasingly adopted and used by all educational institutions across the world, but examples of cutting edge technology being harnessed to transform teaching and learning remains the exception rather than the rule (Becta, 2009)

Effective use of technology is central to achieving the goals set out in schools. This is because, with technology, the learners are assured of enhanced teaching and learning activities; technology improves efficiency of systems and processes within the school and it also reduces the administrative burden on teachers. With it comes the advancement and exploration of future ways of working.

Students get an opportunity to learn beyond the confines of the school timetables and school gates when they incorporate technology in their learning system. It is very fundamental to students because it makes them to search for innovative ways of incorporating new technologies and the teachers get an opportunity to use them to advance the curriculum to suit its relevancy in the 21st century. With it, an already successful school will improve further. It is a tool for students to take control of their learning.

Technology is important in education in the classroom as it forces us to reconsider how people learn, how they are empowered and what type of learning and useful information is.  Technology is forcing educators to re-evaluate the very nature of what and how we teach and it is impossible to without them in schools.

With use of technology in classes, computer can serve as a tutor. This lessens the burden of teachers in the class, as they are just left with the role of guiding the students as they learn from the computer. It can also help with students who are slow learners; this is through the computer tutorials being repeated until the students who are falling out grasps what is being taught. This is the main advantage of technology in classrooms; teachers don’t have that time to repeat lessons over and over again.

Technology is really helping in fighting illiteracy in the world. A story is told of an American, Annaben Thomas (Bennett, 1999). She was unable to read even after several years in high school at a New York City school. She eventually enrolled herself in a computer program that taught her how to read and write. This was her last resort after she had tried everything humanly possible to learn to read and write to no avail. Her success story was published in an article “Computers as Tutors’ by Bennett.

But some critics view technology in the negative. They think that, with computers in the classrooms, students will be transformed into less fools. Boyle (1998. P.618) argues that information technology may actually be making us stupid. Some people who grew up in the pre-technology era also argue that the use of technology will take the emotion and heart out of the classroom (Wehrle, 1998).

Education serves as a window through which our imagination and curiosity can take flight into the unknown and enhance our creativity, and the use of technology in education plays a vital role in helping students to achieve their full development potential. Given the role of education in shaping students for the outside world, there should be a connection between the world and education, and that can only be achieved by incorporating technology in the classroom.

The advantages of having computers in classrooms outweigh the disadvantages. Technology is a positive supplement to bridge the gap between education and the technological world in which we live. Technology is setting a pace in students to jump start with marketable job skills.

Reference:

http://www.as.wvu.edu/~lbrady/wehrle.html

Warger, Cynthia L. Technology In Today’s Schools. [Alexandria, VA]: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1990. Print.

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

___________

This post is brought to you by Lucy Brown from Auvisa.org. Auvisa.org is an Australian visa agency, founded in 2011 by migration lawyers. Lucy has 11 years of teaching experience in chemistry before joined Auvisa.org.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Pioneering a ‘transnational’ university

*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 David P. Dauwalder, Ph.D.

Welcome to the San Diego-Baja California Binational Mega-Region.  

While that’s a mouthful, the term is now in wide use by U.S. and Mexican leaders and organizations to define the transnational  area consisting of San Diego and Imperial counties and the State of Baja California.  The region has an estimated population of 6.78 million, with 3.44 million in the U.S. and 3.34 million in Mexico, unified by a dense and complex set of transactions and relationships across the international boundary.  It represents the largest concentration of population along the U.S.-Mexican border.

By any measure, it’s a remarkable place.  The San Diego-Tijuana urban region is the largest binational metropolitan area in the U.S. and the largest in the world.  At its center is the globe’s busiest land-border crossing, with more than 100,000 people coming northward every day to shop, work, and study and for tourism and recreation.  Each month, more than one million U.S. citizens cross the border into Tijuana and back.  Despite the security enhancements on the U.S. side of the border, the two halves of the region are intimately connected demographically, culturally, politically, economically, and in so many other ways.

The vitality of the binational region is incontrovertible.  San Diego County is the state’s second-most populous, with a balanced, forward-looking economy based on universities and research, clean tech, the military, tourism, life sciences, aerospace, healthcare, maritime, and information and communications technologies.  Tijuana is now the second-largest city on the West Coast of North America, with steep population growth in recent decades.  It is a major center for manufacturing, especially in electronics, medical devices, aerospace, and automotive, integrated with the global economy.  Much of the manufacturing includes shipping goods at various stages of production

back and forth locally across the border.

Leaders in the U.S. and Mexico, from the head-of-state level down to grassroots communities, have put in motion historic, multi-faceted efforts to enhance international integration with a strong emphasis on education, especially teacher and student mobility.  These efforts are particularly vigorous in the binational region.

As it happens, the Mega-Region offers a set of special opportunities to enrich and transform colleges and universities.  These opportunities are enhanced by exceptional developments in relations between Mexico, on the one hand, and a variety of key individuals and organizations in the U.S., the State of California, and San Diego County.

Preliminary at-border survey data suggest there are currently as many as 1,250 Mexico- originating university students in San Diego County, and that number could swell to 3,600 by 2025.  Additionally, Mexico’s demand for higher education is growing: nearly 55 percent of the population is under 30 years of age.  In addition, Mexico is the third-largest recipient of H1-B visas to the U.S. – visas aimed at well-trained non-immigrants, working for a short period.  In broad strokes, Mexican students are drawn to academic programs with practicums (co-op experiences and internships), short-term and research programs, and language acquisition.

San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world and has the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast.  So, not surprisingly, San Diego County is also home to the largest population of active-duty military and retired military in the U.S.  These individuals and their families enjoy substantial educational benefits.

Leaders in all sectors on both sides of the border have demonstrated a remarkable unity of purpose to foster closer relations and to profit from the advantages of the binational character of the Mega-Region.  Significant disciplined and coordinated bi-national initiatives to build shared infrastructure, to lobby jointly both Washington and Mexico City on regional issues, to promote educational exchange, and to raise awareness of the Mega-Region appear to be gaining support in both countries.  Regional leaders regard San Diego and Baja California as complementary assets.

These regional attitudes and initiatives coincide with an exceptional push at this time toward further integration of the three NAFTA countries, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. This push toward further integration responds to intensifying global competition from other multinational regions, particularly the European Union and eastern Asia and India.  This theme of North American integration was stressed repeatedly during the recent California-Mexico Trade Initiative X, the 10th annual delegation to Mexico City by the San Diego Regional Chamber.

For colleges and universities in Southern California and throughout the Southwest, the prospect of transnational education seems both natural and inevitable.  There simply is no better time for educational institutions to focus on transnational issues and on the aim of producing innovative thinkers and problem-solvers with the expertise to confront the challenges of transnational development from both a regional and a global perspective.  Drilling down, the question is how can universities – acting individually or collectively — amplify these institutional U.S. and Mexican regional relationships, using them to develop alliances and partnerships contributing to program development, student recruitment, facilities expansion, and financial support?

Thanks to today’s climate of interdependence, we’re all about to find out.

__________________

David P. Dauwalder, Ph.D., is Executive Vice President and Provost of Woodbury University in Los Angeles and San Diego.  

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Equity, Policy & Reform

Why the U.S. economy needs strong educational standards

In 1965, just 11% of jobs required post-secondary training, but by 2020, 65% of U.S. jobs will require post-secondary training. That’s according to the Committee for Economic Development that has put together a video series on how high academic standards positively impact the economy. The video below talks about how high educational standards are important for all workers — from entry level to upper management. Take a look:

 

In order to accommodate the need for these post-secondary educated workers, P-12 schools must have rigorous and effective academics in place like the Common Core benchmarks. I’ve always said that our public schools should be the great equalizer when it comes to giving all of our kids the American Dream. These classrooms SHOULD provide access to the same educational opportunities, no matter what the color of the child’s skin or how much money that child’s parents earn. That’s the ideal but it’s far from reality.

Implementing Common Core Standards is one way to improve the equality of quality education in our K-12 classrooms. States are still free to create the curriculum that makes the most sense for their students, but the basic agreement on what kids should learn, and when, should have some national guidance. We also know that to accommodate the rising demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math jobs, strong STEM learning initiatives must be in place in our classrooms. We owe it to this generation of students to equip them with what they will need to succeed academically and economically and Common Core Standards are designed to do just that.

You can read my commentary on the entire CED series here.

Check out:

How Common Core Standards level the K-12 playing field

Why the business community cares about Common Core Standards

 

  • no reactions
0
Share