STEM

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

How to Manage Cell Phone Use in Your Classroom

In today’s technological world, there is no escaping the smartphone phenomenon. The average person uses their smartphone anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day. Most people are even checking their phones every 15 to 20 minutes while they’re awake. The ways in which smartphones have become such an essential part of modern life is staggering, and something to be aware of when teaching in a classroom.

Smartphones can be both a great educational tool and a great distraction in the classroom. It should come as no surprise that almost every child in the US owns or has access to a smartphone. Statistics show that 56 percent of children age 8 to 12 have a smartphone. That number jumps up to 88 percent of teenagers ages 13 to 17 have or have access to a smartphone. And a whopping 91 percent of middle and high school aged students primarily access the internet via their smartphones.

This change in the way we interact with technology and integrate it into our lives has come dramatically and fast. It’s sometimes hard for teachers, many of whom grew up in an era with no mobile phones or even the internet, to adapt to this fast-paced technological generation. While smartphones can easily be the downfall of your students’ attention spans and performance, they don’t have to be. More and more educators these days are incorporating modern technology and students’ own smartphones into their classroom to engage and excite students about learning. Below you will find useful tips on how to manage cell phone use in your classroom, and use it for your teaching benefit.

Establish Expectations

At the beginning of the school year or semester, it’s a good idea to be blunt with your students about what you expect of them when it comes to using their smartphones in class. This is also the time to tell them about any plans to incorporate technology into the classroom. The best way to create a set of rules when it comes to cell phone usage is to do it together with the students.

Set aside a class period at the beginning of the year where you and your students talk about the best way to keep their attention focused on classwork.

Include a clear list of times that it is and isn’t appropriate to be using your phone in class. It’s also important to agree on and clearly lay out the consequences of breaking the rules. You can even write up a contract or agreement laying out all of the expectations and effects you agreed upon as a class, and have them read it over and sign it. This way students know what to expect, and there are no surprises when they’re caught using their smartphones.

Engage Your Students with the Technology

The best way to manage cell phones and other technology isn’t to ignore it, but to use it as an educational tool. There are several different apps such as Socrative and many others that you can easily incorporate into your classroom and use for fun activities. These apps engage students by allowing them to use their own smartphones or mobile devices in an educational setting. Using these apps for activities like exit tickets—activities students have to do before leaving the class, or bell ringers—activities that students do at the beginning of each class period, can bring diversity to your curriculum and keep the interest of even your most distraction-prone students.

Take the Time to Walk Around the Classroom

It’s hard to tell whether or not your students are staying on task when you can’t see their screens. You can easily fix this by re-arranging the desks into a semi-circle or small group design, making their screens more visible to you. Another solution is to increase the time you dedicate to walking around the classroom. If students know that you’re likely to come their way with little to no warning, they’re more likely to stay on task. You can also tell who is busy with other distractions on their phone or mobile devices, by those that exit out of tabs quickly or double tap their home screen when they realize you’re walking by.

Don’t Be Afraid to Take Them Away

It’s just as important to engage your students with technology as it is to give them a break from it. They’re on their phone all day every day, at school and at home. While they may not be fans of the idea, it may be beneficial to both their attention spans and mental health to designate a technology-free period of time. A sure-fire way to enforce this technology-free time in the classroom and rid your students of any temptation to check their phone while you’re not looking is to have students put their phones in a basket or on your desk. By eliminating all temptation and ability to check their phone for a portion of the class, the can focus better on the task at hand. This strategy works great for group discussions, tests, and quizzes when students have the hardest time focusing.

Give Your Students a Tech Break

Every 20 to 30 or so minutes, give your students a chance to check their phones and have some free time. Most students claim to experience anxiety when they’re unable to check their phone for more than 20 minutes. Giving your students three minutes to respond to text messages, look at their notifications, and check social media gives them a chance to get some anxiety out so it’s not distracting them when they should be focusing on learning.

Can you think of any additional ways that teachers can manage cell phone use in their classrooms?

 

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Is a tuition-free policy enough to ensure college success?

Lindsay Page, University of Pittsburgh and Stacy S. Kehoe, University of Pittsburgh

Across the U.S., many soon-to-be high school graduates are excited to begin college. Over the past decades, rates of college enrollment have increased. In 1950, only 16 percent of young people had at least some college exposure. By 2012, this figure rose to 63 percent.

Such trends should be seen as a positive but for the fact that too many students who begin college don’t finish. Among a recent cohort of students enrolled in four-year degree programs, only three in five completed their bachelor’s degree within six years.

Further, socioeconomic gaps in college completion are large. Among students from high-income backgrounds who recently started college, three-quarters earned a degree. In contrast, under half of low-income students who matriculated earned any kind of postsecondary credential. Of particular concern is the fact that gaps in degree attainment have widened over time.

To address some of these concerns, Democratic presidential candidates have proposed improving college access and success for the most disadvantaged students including making public colleges and universities debt-free or tuition-free.

In our own research, we have investigated the many barriers students can face in accessing and succeeding in college. So, what does rigorous evidence tell us about potential solutions? Is a free college tuition policy sufficient for improving college access and success in the U.S.?

College costs and financial aid

Public college costs have risen substantially over time and faster than the rate of inflation, as state and local budget allocations have failed to keep pace with rising enrollments.

Over the two-decade period from 1995 to 2015, the average net cost of college attendance, inclusive of room and board, at public four-year institutions has risen from US$8,450 to just over $14,000. For families in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, this implies that sending a child to a public four-year institution would require over 40 percent of the annual household budget.

Financial aid helps. But is that enough? Dollar image via www.shutterstock.com

Providing financial assistance to low-income students does improve college success. Studies that have rigorously examined the impact of lowering college costs have indicated benefits. For example, the Florida Student Assistance Grant, which provides low-income students with an additional $1,300 grant on top of Pell Grant funds, increased six-year bachelor’s degree attainment rates from 21 to 26 percent. The Wisconsin Scholars program, which provides a $3,500 annual grant for low-income students to attend a Wisconsin public university, similarly increased on-time graduation for recipients from 16 to 21 percent.

However, at least one recent analysis should give policymakers and advocates pause about turning to universal free tuition as a strategy for improving college success. Matthew Chingos of the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, found that such a plan could yield disproportionate benefits to higher-income rather than lower-income students and families across the country.

Therefore, while such a policy may improve outcomes for low-income students, it would also be providing a substantial benefit to students who already have a high likelihood of accessing and succeeding in college.

Understanding challenges to college success

An important point to recognize from the Florida and Wisconsin studies is that, even among students who received additional grant funds, college completion rates remained low. How, then, can we improve rates of college success, particularly for those students at greatest risk of attrition?

To answer this question, we must understand the nuanced challenges that students can face, beyond issues directly related to college affordability.

Consider the challenges faced by one student, let’s call her Veronika, in starting her college career. We learned about her experience through ongoing research investigating the factors that contribute to college success. A very strong high school student, Veronika was a mother of two when she was admitted to her state’s prestigious public flagship university.

Although thrilled at the prospect of college, Veronika struggled to identify affordable childcare in the vicinity of the university. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to attend school while also caring for her children. She needed financial aid but also additional guidance.

Fortunately, Veronika received this support through a college success program with which she was affiliated. The program not only helped her locate affordable childcare near campus, but also counseled her to petition for an increase of financial aid to cover the cost. Her initial aid package had not considered child care expenses.

Another student, Marcus, transitioned successfully to college but retained responsibility for supporting his family financially. The dual demands of being a full-time student and working to provide for his family became too much. Marcus stumbled academically, was placed on probation, and lost his financial aid.

The same college success organization stepped in to provide just-in-time financial assistance in addition to guiding him to develop a plan that struck a manageable balance between school and work.

Low-income students need more than free college

How much of a difference does it make when students are provided more comprehensive support, including personalized counseling, and not just financial aid?

To inform this question, we collaborated with Ben Castleman at the University of Virginia and Gumilang Sahadewo at the University of Pittsburgh to rigorously examine the impact of one such progam – the Dell Scholars Program.

The Dell Scholars program aims to support low-income and first-generation college students by providing a combination of scholarship aid and “…ongoing support and assistance to address all of the emotional, lifestyle, and financial challenges that may prevent scholars from completing college.”

Students need other support services as well. Girl image via www.shutterstock.com

This support includes prematriculation counseling sessions as well as regular tracking of student progress and follow up, as needed, to guide and support students throughout their post-secondary career. We studied 1,800 Dell Scholars selected from nearly 40,000 applicants over six cohorts and attending hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the U.S.

We found the program led to substantial improvements in bachelor’s degree attainment. For example, for the cohort we could track for a full six years, the program increased bachelor’s degree attainment from 61 to 75 percent.

Experience from other scholarship programs

Other studies also point to evidence of college success through comprehensive college supports.

Researchers Charles Clotfelter, Steven Hemelt and Helen Ladd investigated the impact of the Carolina Covenant, which supports students from low-income backgrounds to attend University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The program began in 2004 exclusively to provide need-based financial aid. By 2007, however, the program also provided students with additional counseling and support services.

The researchers found that the program improved the four-year degree completion rate for qualifying students by eight percentage points but only for those cohorts who were provided not just financial, but also non-financial support.

Similarly, at the City University of New York, the Accelerated Study in Associates Program (ASAP) which works with low-income community college students, provides support that includes financial aid, special classes, additional advising and career services, free public transportation and free use of textbooks.

Researchers Susan Scrivener and Michael Weiss found that the program increased associates degree attainment from 18 percent to 33 percent within 2.5 years of students beginning the program.

Critics may argue that ASAP is too expensive, given that it results in substantially higher per student investment. Researchers Henry Levin and Emma Garcia have shown, however, that because the program so effectively improved degree attainment, it led to lower costs on a per-graduate basis.

Taken together, this work points to looking beyond blanket solutions such as free college tuition for all. Many students, and particularly those from low-income backgrounds, face challenges that go beyond simply meeting tuition.

Awarding such students with packages that include financial aid bundled with counseling and other support is likely to yield more success in improving overall degree attainment rates. In contrast, universal free tuition would invest fewer resources where they are needed and more where they are not.

The Conversation

Lindsay Page, Assistant Professor of Research Methodology, University of Pittsburgh and Stacy S. Kehoe, PhD Student, University of Pittsburgh

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

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Blended Learning: How to Make it Work in Your Classroom

Blended learning is more than just a hot new trend in education—it’s the way classrooms of the future will work. The concept behind blended learning is to take the best elements of in-person classroom instruction and online instruction and combine them. In a blended classroom, students attend classes in person and watch lecture videos or complete online activities.

Why use the blended approach?

Blended learning is the best of both worlds. Online courses, especially in higher education, have become extremely popular. Online courses allow students to watch lectures and complete classwork when and where it’s convenient for them. The rise of online classes has allowed adults who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend college to earn their degrees while continuing to work or raise a family.

However, there are some drawbacks to online learning. Many students feel that it is impersonal. Students can feel isolated without the in-person support of classmates. It can also be difficult to get help from professors or ask questions in an online course.

By combining online and in-person elements, educators today are creating the best learning environment possible through blended learning.

Blended learning in the K-12 classroom

First and foremost, educators need to know their students. Teachers at the K-12 level must be aware of the level of access to technology their students have at home. Blended learning will look very different in a school where the majority of students don’t have access to high-speed internet at home versus a school where every student can log in at home.

For classrooms where most students can’t get online from home, blended learning is still an option. Teachers can set up a schedule where students alternate between digital and traditional learning modes in the classroom. Two or three days a week could be devoted to completing online activities, while the remaining days might look like a more traditional classroom.

Teachers should also consider which elements of their classroom lend themselves best to a digital approach. Interactive activities, like class discussion, might be best in person, where students can talk face-to-face. Hands-on activities, such as science labs, obviously won’t translate well into a digital format either.

Other elements, like lectures, readings, or assessments, can go online. With activities like readings or lectures, students may prefer an online approach that allows them to move at their own pace, stopping when they don’t understand something.

Blended learning in higher education

Blended learning has become extremely popular in higher education settings. Blended classrooms allow greater flexibility for students and can encourage non-traditional students to pursue higher education. This approach also saves professors time, as they can record a lecture one time and use it indefinitely, rather than delivering the same lecture to multiple classes each semester.

One common approach to blended learning in the college classroom is to use a flipped classroom method. In the flipped classroom, students watch lecture videos or complete readings on their own. During class, students discuss what they learned or complete supplemental activities to enhance their understanding.

With this approach, classes can meet in-person less frequently. Instead of meeting twice a week, professors might assign lecture videos and readings for students to watch on their own time. Class can then meet once a week to discuss, ask questions, and work with the information they’ve learned.

Just like K-12 educators, college professors must think carefully about which elements of their classroom will work best online. Difficult topics that students typically have lots of questions about may not work well in a digital format. Professors must also make sure that they are available online to help students, just as they would be in person.

How have you incorporated blended learning into your classroom? What works well, and what struggles have you encountered?

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

How to Use Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

Artificial Intelligence may seem like something from the future, with its inclusion in sci-fi thrillers and movies. While AI has yet to take over the world with destructive prone robots, it is becoming more and more prevalent in our everyday lives. Whether we know it or not, most of us probably use AI every day for simple tasks like taking a picture, parking our car, asking our phones what the weather looks like, or using our personal home assistants to turn on the lights.

Our technology has yet to reach the level of self-awareness, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t being used in creative and innovative ways every day including the classroom. Artificial Intelligence in the classroom is still a relatively new concept, but one that is being explored by many researchers and educators alike. Read below for some ways that artificial education can be used in your classroom and how it’s becoming the future of education.

Automating Menial Tasks & Saving Teachers Time

Teachers are some of the hardest working professionals in our society. This has a lot to do with all the work they take home with them long after the bell rings. Things like grading tests and homework can take up a lot of a teacher’s day, leaving them with less time to focus on lesson planning and engaging their students. With the help of artificial education, menial tasks like grading can be automated saving teachers loads of time.

Today, the technology exists to automate grading for multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank assignments. Software that can grade writing and essays is being developed as we speak and is improving automatic grading for the better. Think of artificial technology that grades students work as a TA, but one that costs significantly less than a yearly salary and doesn’t require sleep. With less work for teachers, artificial education can give them more time to create engaging and creative classroom activities, and work on their own professional development.

Using Software to Adapt to Students’ Needs

There’s no doubt that every student has their own unique style of learning. That’s why one-size-fits-all teaching methods are often so criticized. With artificial intelligence, it is now easier for teachers to accommodate the individual students’ learning needs. There exists a variety of learning programs, software, and games that are adaptive to different levels and learning styles. Artificial education like this responds to students’ specific learning needs and puts emphasis on topics that students are struggling with. Artificial education also allows students to work at their own pace, instead of trying to keep up with the classroom.

Teachers can use AI software and games in the classroom to make sure every student is learning what they need to succeed at their own comfort level. Some teachers may be concerned that this level of artificial education could be used in the classroom as a way of pushing out the need for human teachers. In the ideal situation, teachers and artificial education would work seamlessly in a classroom to assist students with topics they are struggling with. The teacher is still a main facilitator and educator in the classroom. Artificial education gives teachers more time to work individually with students and help them reach their full potential.

Artificial Education as Tutors

In the busy lives of working parents and exhausted teachers, it can often be difficult for struggling students to find quality and affordable help outside of the classroom. As of today, artificial tutors haven’t completely wiped out the tutor job field, but advancing technology could soon make that possibility into a reality. Artificial intelligence run tutors can make it easier for students to access the help they need. Students won’t have to spend time traveling to a tutoring facility and parents won’t have to shell out big bucks for a private tutor.

With the help of AI tutors, students can get help essentially 24/7 in subjects like math, writing, and language.

Making Education Global

Thanks to artificial education, students now have the ability to learn anywhere, anytime. This means that if a student has to miss school for personal or medical reasons, they can easily stay caught up with the school work via artificial education software. Students also have the ability to learn from anywhere in the world, making higher quality education for rural students and those in low economic areas accessible and affordable.

With the help of AI, students can learn more from home and come to the classroom with a set of core competencies that teachers can then build on. Artificial education is leveling the playing field of education for students across the globe and giving those without access to quality education equal opportunities.

Bottom Line

While artificial intelligence and education may seem like a futuristic invention, it’s present in our lives and education systems today. With the help of artificial education, we can make both students’ and teachers’ lives easier. Artificial education gives every student the opportunity to receive a quality education, takes the load off teachers, and individualizes learning.

 

 

 

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

25 Ways that EdTech Benefits Teachers and Students

EdTech is everywhere in today’s classrooms, with more teachers using technology than ever before. But what are the real benefits of using tech in the classroom? Let’s take a look at some of the ways EdTech benefits both teachers and students.

  1. Increased student engagement

When students get to use technology, they’re automatically more engaged. Kids love technology, and incorporating it into lessons gets students excited about learning. Adding technology to existing lesson plans can boost student engagement without requiring teachers to do a lot of extra work.

  1. More collaboration

Technology makes it easier for students to collaborate with one another. Students can work on projects together, communicate effortlessly at home or in the classroom, and share their work online.

  1. Improve digital literacy

Digital literacy is a fundamental skill for students in the 21st century. Knowing how to use technology and the internet will be required in almost every job that students might have in the future. By incorporating EdTech into the classroom, teachers can help students improve their digital literacy.

  1. Automate grading

In the past, teachers have spent hours after school and on weekends grading papers. There are tons of EdTech tools that can cut down on this time, automating grading and making measuring student progress simple.

  1. Get student data

EdTech can also make measuring student progress through data much easier. Many programs can automatically give teachers data on students, quickly and easily showing what skills students have mastered and what they need to work on.

  1. Stay in touch 24/7

With technology and the internet, students and teachers can stay in touch all the time. There are a variety of apps that allow students to communicate with teachers (without teachers giving out their personal email or phone number). Students can get homework help and teachers can send important reminders.

  1. Keep up with classroom management

There are lots of EdTech tools designed to help teachers with classroom management. Teachers can keep track of student behaviors and keep parents informed using technology.

  1. Flip the classroom

The flipped classroom, where students learn through reading or lecture videos at home then do projects or discuss what they learned in the classroom, is only possible through EdTech. This innovative new way of teaching and learning is taking the world of education by storm.

  1. Have more fun

EdTech can make learning more fun. There are tons of educational games and apps that get students excited and turn learning into a game instead of a chore.

  1. Get creative

With EdTech tools, students can do more creative work. Students can create online presentations and digital art to showcase what they’ve learned.

  1. Go paperless

Going paperless is a popular way for schools to save money (and reduce their carbon footprint). By putting more materials online and utilizing technology, teachers can cut back on the number of copies they make and save paper.

  1. Publish and present student work

Instead of creating a presentation that no one outside the classroom will see, students can use the internet to publish their work for the entire world to see.

  1. Do more research

Learning how to do research is an important skill that teachers have always taught. EdTech just makes it easier. Students can complete research projects without spending hours in the library and can even continue their research at home.

  1. Learn to code

Computer programming is an increasingly in-demand skill. There are a variety of tools for teaching students how to code, even in elementary school.

  1. Teachers save time

Before the rise of EdTech, teachers spent long hours creating lesson plans and grading papers. With technology and the internet, teachers can find lesson plans and free materials online. Plus, apps and programs designed to grade student work can save even more time.

  1. Raise test scores

EdTech can help improve student achievement and raise test scores. Tools that help with test prep and measure students’ progress can help teachers bring up scores.

  1. Bring the classroom home

With EdTech, learning doesn’t have to stop when students go home. Students can continue their learning at home using the internet.

  1. Find free materials

Teachers don’t have to pay for workbooks anymore. There are tons of free materials online that can help busy teachers throw together lesson plans in minutes.

  1. Turn review into a game

There are tons of apps available that turn review activities or test prep into fun games for students. This can make otherwise boring review fun and exciting.

  1. Personalize learning for every student

EdTech helps teachers differentiate learning. Students can each work on something different on their individual devices, with each student focusing on their own areas of weakness.

  1. Include ELLs

Technology can help English Language Learners feel included in the classroom. The internet makes translating materials easier than ever, allowing beginning English learners to participate in activities that would otherwise be too difficult.

  1. Stop buying expensive textbooks

Thanks to the internet, schools no longer have to spend money each year on new textbooks. Information is readily available online, and it’s more up-to-date than with old print books.

  1. Provide remediation

There are lots of resources available to help remediate students using EdTech. Students who are below grade-level can use EdTech tools to get caught up.

  1. Provide acceleration

EdTech isn’t just for remediation—it can also be used for acceleration. Students who are bored with the material the rest of the class is working on can complete additional projects and accelerate their learning using EdTech.

  1. Bring your classroom into the 21st century

It just makes sense to incorporate more EdTech into the classroom. Teachers are responsible for preparing students for a 21st century world, and exposing them to technology is a part of that.

What other benefits does EdTech have for students and teachers? Tell us how you’ve seen EdTech benefit classrooms.

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

20 Math Apps for Students of All Ages

*The Edvocate is pleased to produce its “Best of the Best” resource lists. These lists provide our readers with rankings for education-related blogs, twitter accounts, influencers, products, etc. These lists are meant to be fluid, and for that reason, they are regularly updated to provide up to the moment information.*

Math is known to be one of the most boring subjects in kids’ eyes. So, how can teachers make learning math more interactive and more fun? True, teachers can make up games to teach a math concept that involves every student. But, when teachers need to help students in small groups or one-on-one, how can they make sure that other students are actively practicing math skills?

One of the great aspects of having iPads in the classroom is the availability educational apps. With these apps, students can individually learn, practice, and have fun with different subjects and concepts. Luckily, there are many good, quality math apps for students of all ages.

#1 Prodigy Game – This app is free for teachers and aligns with math curriculum for grades 1-8. It contains over 1,200 crucial math skills, keeps track of student learning and statistics, has virtual manipulatives, and animated avatars.

#2 Math Evolve – For younger students, this app has a sense of Space Invaders to it. There is a “Story Mode” and a “Practice Mode” to choose from. Students learn, practice, and improve skills in multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction.

#3 Mathboard – Designed like a chalkboard, Mathboard focuses on encouraging students to figure out math problems themselves, rather than trying to guess the answer. It comes with numerous modes, such as multiple choice and a mode where students can work out the problems by hand.

#4 MathPentagon – Aptly named, MathPentagon is a group of apps that focus on five different math curriculums: ratios, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and statistics. There are even more extensions that focus solely on the Common Core math standards for each grade.

#5 Addition and Multiplication Math Bubbles – Based on the Chinese Multiplication Table, this game has two modes. In the timed mode, students try to get as many points as possible in the limited time. In survival mode, if students make a certain number of mistakes, the game is over.

#6 Free Graphing Calculator PocketCAS lite – A perfect app for any grade, this app saves students and teachers the money of having to buy individual graphing calculators. Not only does it have the same functions as a graphing calculator, but it also has a 3-D plot option.

#7 Chance Lab – Created for elementary grades, Chance Lab helps students explore probability. They can flip a virtual coin, spin a spinner, or roll a die any amount of times and examine the results in numerous formats.

#8 Math Reference – With over 1,400 formulas and equations, this referential app helps students work on not only math problems but also physics and chemistry projects. It even includes numerous tools such as a unit converter, mathematical terminology definitions, and diagrams.

#9 SAT Math Trainer – This app is perfect for students in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. With numerous questions that emulate SAT Math questions, students can practice for this major test during free time they have in their math class.

#10 ABC Mouse – ABC Mouse is a wonderful tool not only for math teachers but all elementary school teachers. This educational app that covers all the basic core subjects from preschool to 2nd grade has won numerous awards for the way it helps to teach young students.

#11  Jungle Time – Featured by the New York Times, Jungle Time includes a multi-lingual talking clock and animal faces to help young children learn to tell time. It includes face clocks, digital clocks, even Roman numeral clocks.

#12 Motion Math – Created for grades K-6, Motion Math helps students master some of Common Core’s most challenging mathematical standards. There are many visual, adaptive games to help build math fluency, conceptual understanding, and love for math.

#13 Operation Math – This app has a mystery story line to it; students are spies who need to defeat the evil Dr. Odd by completing different mathematical missions. Students can create their own spy avatar and many of the missions are timed.

#14 Team Umizoomi Math: Zoom into Numbers – Based off the popular Nick Jr. show, this app helps young children (ages 3-5) count, identify numbers, compare numbers, add, and subtract.

#15 Mathemagics – Metal Math Tricks – This math app helps students learn tips and tricks to doing math more easily in their head. It even includes practice sessions. This is perfect for older students who are worried about time on standardized tests.

#16 Quick Math Pack – Quick Math is a multi-app bundle, including individual apps focusing on mental arithmetic, times tables, fractions, and telling time. These apps are all timed, helping students to be quicker in solving math problems.

#17 Math Vs Zombies – Reminiscent of the popular app, Plants vs Zombies, Math vs Zombies allows students to fight virtual zombies from taking over the world by using simple math skills. This is a fun game that also helps students master elementary math skills.

#18 Wolfram Alpha – Wolfram Alpha is not just for the math classroom but any classroom at any grade level. This comprehensive resource has guides, tools, and references to help students master any curriculum.

#19 Mathspace – This app replaces a hardback math textbook. With over 30, 000 interactive questions, Mathspace covers the Common Core from grades 6-12, as well as other nationalities’ math curriculums (Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong).

#20 Apollonius – Created for Geometry classes, Apollonius allows students to create geometric constructions that they would have otherwise created with rulers and compasses.

Although some of these math apps are free, many aren’t. However, they are all very affordable—the majority are under $5. But, the price is worth the success of students mastering math skills while having fun.

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Explainer: how campus policies limit free speech

David Hudson, Vanderbilt University

Colleges and universities are supposed to be places where freedom of expression flourishes. Sadly, that is not the case. At a recent debate on the Yale University campus, 66 percent of the attendees supported a proposition that “free speech is threatened.”

Places of higher learning seem more interested in “safe spaces” rather than in freedom of expression. Several incidents across campuses illustrate this. Recently, at Emory, students complained after they found chalk messages scrawled around campus voicing support for Donald J. Trump.

Last year at the University of Ottawa, a yoga class designed for handicapped people was suspended because the student federation thought it was a form of “cultural appropriation.” And at Smith College a student sit-in blocked media from entering unless reporters agreed to explicitly state support for the movement in their coverage.

Illustrating how contentious the debates have become, two of the most respected American comedians, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld, said that colleges are eager “not to offend anybody.” Some students at a private Ivy League school even signed a petition to repeal the First Amendment.

Ideally, colleges and universities would foster an exchange of competing and controversial ideas. The reality is much different. Some colleges and universities limit discourse by silencing speech that might offend others through so-called speech codes and free speech zones.

In studying free expression issues for more than 20 years, I strongly believe such polices have led to a chilling effect on speech. They also have led to a mentality where students do not wish or want to face an opposing viewpoint.

So, what are these policies?

Combating hateful speech

First, let’s look at speech codes on campuses. A speech code refers to a set of provisions or regulations that limit certain types of offensive or harassing speech.

Colleges and universities usually don’t call their regulations speech codes. Instead, they refer to them as anti-harassment policies.

It was in the 1980s and 1990s that more than 300 colleges passed these policies to combat hateful speech. Schools tried to address harassment of gays and lesbians, women and members of other ethnic groups. The policies were further enforced when white students wore blackface for sorority and fraternity parties. Many schools were trying to achieve more diversity in their student bodies.

The intent was good. Many of these policies sought to prohibit speech or conduct that created an intimidating or harassing environment on the basis of race, sex, religion, or other criteria.

However, the results were not good for the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
Policies at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin were invalidated on First Amendment free speech grounds.

At the University of Wisconsin, speech codes were adopted following racial incidents. JanetandPhil, CC BY-NC-ND

At the University of Wisconsin, for example, university officials adopted the speech code after several racially insensitive displays at fraternities. For example, one fraternity held a “slave auction.” A student newspaper and several others challenged the policy on the ground that the policies infringed on academic freedom and stifled some legitimate speech. In UWM Post v. Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin (1991), a federal district court struck down the policy, writing:

The suppression of speech, even where the speech’s content appears to have little value and great costs, amounts to governmental thought control.

Similar problems occurred at Michigan, which had its share of disturbing racially charged incidents. At Michigan, a student disc jockey allowed racist jokes to be aired. University officials reacted with a speech code. The problem was that officials applied the policy to chill the speech of students engaged in classroom discussion or academic research.

A federal district court judge invalidated the policy in Doe v. University of Michigan (1989), writing:

While the Court is sympathetic to the University’s obligation to ensure equal educational opportunities for all of its students, such efforts must not be at the expense of free speech.

The problem was that these codes were not drafted with sufficient precision. Courts ruled that these polices were either too broad or too vague.

Overbreadth and vagueness problems

A policy is too broad if it prohibits speech that ought to be protected in addition to speech that can be prohibited. In legal terms, this is called “overbreadth”. For example, a policy that prohibits “offensive and annoying” speech sweeps too broadly and prohibits lawful expression.

A policy is too vague if a person has to guess at its meaning. Vagueness is rooted in the notion that it is fundamentally unfair to punish someone when they did not know that their speech violated the policy.

For example, the University of Michigan had a policy that prohibited “stigmatizing or victimizing” individuals or groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, creed, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, handicap or Vietnam-era veteran status.

In Doe v. University of Michigan, a federal district court judge ruled the policy too vague, writing:

Students of common understanding were necessarily forced to guess at whether a comment about a controversial issue would later be found to be sanctionable under the Policy.

Controversies still abound over speech codes at colleges and universities. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) regularly challenges policies that it believes run afoul of the First Amendment.

In its annual report, the group contends that nearly half of the speech codes at 440 colleges infringe on First Amendment free speech rights. FIRE contends in its report that “any speech code in force at a public university is extremely vulnerable to a constitutional challenge.”

Restricting where students can have free speech

In addition, many colleges and universities have free speech zones. Under these policies, people can speak at places of higher learning in only certain, specific locations or zones.

Free speech zones limit expression to a few places on campus. Penn State, CC BY-NC

While there are remnants of these policies from the 1960s, they grew in number in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a way for administrators to deal with controversial expression.

These policies may have a seductive appeal for administrators, as they claim to advance the cause of free speech. But, free speech zones often limit speech by relegating expression to just a few locations. For example, some colleges began by having only two or three free speech zones on campus.

The idea of zoning speech is not unique to colleges and universities. Government officials have sought to diminish the impact of different types of expression by zoning adult-oriented expression, antiabortion protestors and political demonstrators outside political conventions.

In a particularly egregious example, a student at Modesto Junior College in California named Robert Van Tuinen was prohibited from handing out copies of the United States Constitution on September 17, 2013 – the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.

Van Tuinen was informed that he could get permission to distribute the Constitution if he preregistered for time in the “free speech zone.” But later,
Van Tuinen was told by an administrator that he would have to wait, possibly until the next month.

In the words of First Amendment expert Charles Haynes, “the entire campus should be a free speech zone.” In other words, the default position of school administrators should be to allow speech, not limit it.

Zoning speech is troubling, particularly when it reduces the overall amount of speech on campus. And many free speech experts view the idea of a free speech zone as “moronic and oxymoronic.”

College or university campuses should be a place where free speech not only survives but thrives.

The Conversation

David Hudson, Adjunct Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University

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Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Are income share agreements a good way to pay for college?

Robert Kelchen, Seton Hall University

Millions of Americans are struggling to pay for college. Nearly 10 million students and their families took out almost US$100 billion in student loans from the federal government in the 2014-15 academic year, pushing outstanding student loan debt to more than $1.2 trillion by the end of 2015.

The traditional way to repay student loans is to make the same monthly payment each month for 10-20 years, similar to how mortgages work. But this isn’t always the best setup for students, particularly as college doesn’t always pay off immediately in terms of increased earnings.

Newly released government data show that many students are having difficulty repaying their loans after leaving college. About 40 percent of students had not been able to pay any part of the principal within three years of entering repayment.

A new idea in paying for college in the United States is Income Share Agreements (ISAs), in which students agree to pay a percentage of their future income to a private company or lender in exchange for additional money to cover college expenses.

What is an income share agreement and is it a viable option for students?

ISA and past efforts

ISAs function similarly to certain types of federal loans, which allow students to tie their student loan payments to their income.

However, the amount that undergraduates can borrow under income-based repayment plans isn’t always enough to pay for college. The typical college student straight out of high school can borrow only $31,000 from the federal government for college with a current interest rate of 4.29 percent. This means many students may need to turn to expensive private loans as an alternative.

Technically, ISAs are not loans. Pie chart image via www.shutterstock.com

And here is where an ISA can help. Technically, ISAs are not loans since students don’t have to pay any money back if their earnings are not adequate. This means that if students don’t make money, they could pay back less than what they took out in loans. Instead of interest rates, lenders offer students contracts with the percentage of future earnings paid to the ISA provider and the time period based on a student’s major, year in school and amount borrowed.

ISAs have been in use in Latin America for more than a decade with providers such as Lumni financing the college educations of thousands of students. In the United States, there have been a few small efforts to introduce ISAs, but they have largely been unsuccessful.

In 2014, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Congressman Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) introduced legislation for an income share repayment option, with a similar bill introduced in 2015 by Representatives Todd Young (R-Indiana) and Jared Polis (D-Colorado). Lawmakers in Oregon too have been pushing a similar program called Pay it Forward. However, none of these attempts worked.

Purdue plan

More recently, in a first-of-its-kind development, Purdue University launched an Income Share Agreement plan “Back a Boiler” (originally “Bet on a Boiler”) program to help juniors and seniors pay for college. This name plays on Purdue’s mascot of the Boilermaker, a vehicle outfitted to look like the 19th-century steam engines that boilermakers built throughout the country, which fits the STEM-heavy university well.

Purdue is introducing an income share agreement plan.Wes Jackson, CC BY-NC-ND

Under the Purdue plan, students would be offered a contract that would specify, based on their major, what percentage of their earnings would be paid and for how many years. Students can receive money to cover any remaining financial need after grants and scholarships, with payment terms based on the total amount of money needed.

For example, a student majoring in biological engineering and expecting to graduate in 2018 would pay 3.32 percent of her income to Purdue for 96 months after graduation in exchange for $10,000 today, while an elementary education major would pay 4.97 percent of his income back for 116 months after graduation.

Students who make less than $20,000 per year will not need to pay anything back. Their maximum lifetime payment is capped at 2.5 times the initial amount of money provided.

One size does not fit all

Although some students could benefit from ISAs, they certainly aren’t for everyone.
So, who should consider income share agreements?

In my view, income share agreements make the most sense for three groups of students.

First, students in need of additional funds beyond federal loans should consider ISAs as a potential option. Second, since ISAs are technically not loans, they may appeal to students who are particularly averse to taking on debt to pay for college. Loan aversion is particularly common among minority and first-generation students. So a product that doesn’t come with fixed payments might benefit these students.

Not all students can access federal loans. PROJoe Brusky, CC BY-NC

Finally, not all students can access federal loans. About one million students attend community colleges that do not participate in the federal student loan program. Federal loans also aren’t available for educational opportunities such as bar exam prep for law students or “boot camp” courses designed to teach students particular skills outside the traditional college setting.

ISAs might be particularly well-suited to these types of programs that are closely tied to employment.

Not for high-income earners

Who might not be the right fit?

Students who don’t need to borrow beyond the $31,000 in federal loans for a bachelor’s degree are better off with federal loans.

This is particularly true for students who plan to work in public service fields and could benefit from the federal government’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, that can forgive debt not repaid after 10 years. The terms for ISAs likely aren’t as favorable, as private lenders may offer students contracts of longer than 10 years in order to at least break even. The 40 percent of students unable to pay down the principal on their loans are unlikely to get terms as good as with federal loans.

Students who think they’ll make a lot of money after college may not want to consider the ISAs either. ISAs require students to pay a fixed percentage of their income. So, they can be an expensive proposition for students who do really well even if the terms are better than for other majors.

These students would be better off taking on federal and private loans and then consider joining the growing number of students who are getting their loans refinanced by a new generation of private lenders, who are willing to give borrowers with successful careers loans on lower interest.

In theory, ISAs have a market, but whether students take up this new product will determine its success.

The Conversation

Robert Kelchen, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, Seton Hall University

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Matthew Lynch published in HBCU's, Higher Education

Most students borrow for college, but are they financially literate?

Catherine Montalto, The Ohio State University and Anne McDaniel, The Ohio State University

August is here, and many families are preparing their children for the next academic challenge – a college education.

By and large, a college degree is viewed as an important credential for gainful employment and professional success. At the same time, college is costly, and college financing strategies are complex.

Students and their families use multiple sources to finance college expenses. Most students borrow for their education. Three out of five college students depend on student loans to fund their education.

But, do students know the ABCs of financial literacy?

College finance options

The college process begins with estimating the full cost of college attendance. This includes tuition, housing and living expenses, such as food, books, cellphone plans and transportation.

The next step is to identify all resources available to pay college expenses, including the expected family contribution, scholarships and grants, college savings and wages from employment – if students plan to work.

Once college costs and available resources are carefully estimated, any shortfall in resources informs the need for borrowing. Scholarships and grants are awarded without strings attached. However, student loans come with an obligation to repay the borrowed amount once the recipient is no longer enrolled full-time.

Guidelines for responsible student loan use recommend minimizing the loan amount in order to have less debt to be repaid.

Decisions made by college students and their families regarding loans have direct and significant consequences during adulthood.

The inability to manage student loan repayment along with other financial obligations (i.e., housing, food, utilities, transportation) has been shown to impact career choice, home ownership, marriage, additional education, financial health and overall quality of life.

So, how do students decide the amount to borrow? What rules of thumb or strategies are used? How is use of these strategies related to financial knowledge?

How students make borrowing decisions

We lead the Study on Collegiate Financial Wellness (SCFW), which surveys a random sample of undergraduate students in order to understand their financial behaviors, decisions and wellness. Data from our study provide insights to these questions.

The 2014 SCFW study, with the most recent information from nearly 19,000 college students studying at 51 public and private four-year and two-year institutions, found that the majority of college students with student loans use one or more strategies to minimize the amount borrowed.

How are students making borrowing decisions? Application image via www.shutterstock.com

For example, data from our study showed over half of student loan users tried to borrow as little as possible (52 percent).

Additionally, 38 percent considered the total amount of debt that they expected to graduate with. Thirty-three percent considered the amount that had borrowed in the past when deciding how much to borrow for the school year.

But about 28 percent, almost three out of 10 students, reported borrowing the maximum amount available in their package. And about 17 percent of student loan users borrowed the maximum available without also employing a strategy to minimize overall borrowing.

Low financial knowledge

The next question is, how well are students prepared to make these important decisions?

The SCFW included two financial knowledge questions to test whether respondents could understand the concepts of interest and inflation and had basic financial numeracy. These questions assess basic concepts of financial literacy – the knowledge and skill needed to manage financial resources effectively.

Nearly 80 percent of the college student respondents answered the interest rate question correctly. But only 59 percent answered the inflation question correctly. Just over half of the college students (53 percent) answered both questions correctly.

Students who answered the interest rate question incorrectly don’t understand that interest is earned not only on money deposited in a savings account, but also on previously earned interest – a feature known as compounding – while students who answered the inflation question incorrectly don’t understand that rising inflation reduces the buying power of money. Interest and inflation both influence how much our hard-earned money can buy.

These results are similar to previous research conducted in 2007-08 with 23-28 years old young adults.

In that study, the percentage of young adults answering correctly was 79 percent for the interest rate question, 54 percent for the inflation question, and 46 percent for both questions.

Knowledge influences borrowing

Some colleges provide either workshops or longer term courses on financial education, but the percentage of college students who receive financial education remains low.

When students know more, they save more. 401(K) 2012, CC BY-SA

Only one-quarter of the SCFW respondents completed a financial education course in college. Those that did were significantly more likely to answer both financial knowledge questions correctly (58 percent vs 51 percent). This difference is too large to attribute to chance alone, and suggests that financial education increases financial knowledge.

Using data from the SCFW on 7,180 students at four-year colleges, we wanted to see if financial knowledge and financial education were associated with strategies used to make borrowing decisions.

We controlled for many factors known to affect student loan borrowing, including student age, sex, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. We found that with higher financial knowledge, students were more likely to borrow what they believed they needed.

We found they budgeted and borrowed as little as possible, when they had financial knowledge.

Knowledge is power

While a college degree certainly pays off in the long run, the payoff can take longer if students have loans to repay.

This fall as students enter or return to college, it is important that they make thoughtful decisions about financing their education. Families making decisions about paying for college may also want to have discussions about how much students understand about finances or look for opportunities to take financial education workshops.

As the saying goes, knowledge is power, even when it comes to finances.

The Conversation

Catherine Montalto, Associate Professor of Consumer Sciences, The Ohio State University and Anne McDaniel, Senior Associate Director, The Ohio State University

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Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

Tips for Using iPads in the Classroom

In 2010, Steve Jobs announced the release of the iPad. Since this date, iPads have flooded into the workplace, the home, and the classroom. But, do these touch screens bring with them education qualities or are they just flashy gadgets?  Open Colleges states that 81% of U.S teachers think that tablets can enrich the educational experience and that students believe so too. So, if iPads have a benefit in the classroom, we need to start looking for ways on how to introduce them into the classroom and make sure that they work. This means setting rules, using the best Edtech and making sure that the iPad is used to its full potential.

 Eliminate Distractions

With free apps, online games and a world of content; iPads can offer too much of a good thing for learners. As an educator, this can be combatted by creating lessons plans that do not allow a moment for distracting or by downloading an app like ClearLock. This app allows teachers and parents to lock certain apps for a period. This ensures that all learners are only able to access the same apps at the same time and that they distractions are limited.

Live feedback

If every child is afforded the chance to have an iPad in the classroom, it can be used as great tool to gain live feedback. Shy and students with problems may feel more inclined to reach out in the privacy of their iPad accounts. This not only allows educators the space to tailor their feedback but provides insight into classroom statistics. Students no longer have to wait days for homework corrections, which in turn allows students and teachers to the chance to address problems as they arise.

Take a virtual field trip

Field trips are expensive and drown teachers in admin. With apps such as Google Maps, students can explore exotic parts of the world. Lesson plans can be centered around a particular location or let the students explore. The White House, zoos and art galleries offer virtual tours and 360-degree camera options. These apps are usually accompanied by worksheets and quizzes, allowing the classroom to morph into the Louvre.

 Connecting outside of the classroom

Half of the nation’s school districts use some sort of e-readers, and yet they are barely used outside of the classroom. While not all students are authorized to take their iPads home, those that can be engaging with the content outside of the classroom. Homework not only allows students more time with the class content but encourages them to connect with other students, videos that provide different explanations and abilities to upload assignments. This virtual connection is necessary if technology is to be successfully used.

Use the multimedia opportunities

iPads bring with them opportunities away from the traditional textbooks. The use of videos, audio, and Edtech products are opening doors for kinetic and visual learners. Educators need to offer students real opportunities to engage with the technology in their hands. iPads have built-in cameras, speakers, and other features, and if they are not being used, there is no point to including them in the experience. Specific edtech products allow educators to focus the features of the iPad that will be utilized in lessons. EdSurge is a great place to find a list of Edtech products that are compatible with iPads.

Displaying Digital Creations

The classroom, as a physical space is important for social interaction. iPads can be very solitary and as colorful as the online world may be, classrooms need to be just as decorated. The displaying of art, achievements, and inspiration is particularly important in younger grades as it creates a space that is conducive to learning and pride. Apps such as Printopia allow students to connect to printers at home or school. This app is equally useful for teachers who want to print out posters or charts.

Technology brings with it exciting uses, but without preparation and realistic expectations, it also can fail in the most organized classroom. Educators need to have a reason to use an iPad and in turn, understand the new problems and procedures that come with it. Using an iPad may be a great education tool, but it needs to be milked for all it is worth if it is to make a difference in the classroom.

 

 

 

 

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