VOLUME 40 / NUMBER 3 TECHLEARNING.COM
IDEAS AND TOOLS FOR ED TECH LEADERS
I
OCTOBER 2019
HOWit’s DONE
Support Blended Learning/Automate school forms processing/Create a Personalized learning network/Use video for reflection/And more! Page 32
WHAT NEW FOR SCHOOLS? See page 39 for more.
FIVE WAYS PROGRAMMING HAS CHANGED EDUCATION. See page 22 for more.
I
$6
O
C
T
O
B
E
R
2
0
1
9
|
V
O
L
.
4
0
N
O
.
3
CONTENTS FEATURES
16
HOW CAN SCHOOLS BETTER USE DATA TO PERSONALIZE LEARNING?
By Tara Smith A conversation with Alex Seeskin, author of “Using Data to Improve Schools from the Ground Up.”
10
18
THE DEAL WITH DATA
20
IMPLEMENTING A BLENDED, PHONICS-BASED LITERARY APPROACH
Researchers and practitioners explain their “practice-driven” approach to data.
By Melissa Cassada Balancing technology and one-on-one instruction.
22
TOP 5 WAYS THAT PROGRAMMING IN EDUCATION HAS CHANGED
By Steven Lahulier The case for including programming in education as a way to improve mathematics skills and executive functioning among other areas.
39
37
28
26
A SANDBOX FOR THINKING
28
DISTRICTS SHARE STUDENT DATA SECURITY PRACTICES
32
HOW IT’S DONE
By David Warlick An excerpt from “The Days & Nights of a Quiet Revolution— Challenging the What, How & Why of Education in the Digital Age.” By Annie Galvin Teich Proactive district leaders on keeping student data secure.
Four school and district leaders share how they’re making it work.
PRODUCTS
21 REVIEW: EPSON BRIGHTLINK 697UI INTERACTIVE PROJECTOR 36 REVIEWS BY TOM’S GUIDE 39 WHAT’S NEW: TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS 4 EDITORS DESK Let’s Get It Done 6
TRENDING
12 BIG IDEAS 30 EXECUTIVE BRIEFS 31 BACK OFFICE BUSINESS
Tech & Learning (ISSN-1053-6728) (USPS 695-590) is published monthly (except July and December) by Future US, Inc., 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036-8002 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tech & Learning, PO Box 8746, Lowell, MA 01853 Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
3
EDITOR’S
note OCTOBER 2019
FOLLOW US
twitter.com/techlearning Group Publisher Christine Weiser christine.weiser@futurenet.com CONTENT Managing Content Director Kevin Hogan kevin.hogan@futurenet.com Contributing Editor Annie Galvin Teich
A
Advisors Carl Hooker, Andrew Wallace,
gainst my better judgement, I will make the assumtion that you are reading this ditty the old-fashioned way— ink on paper. Of course it could be on your tablet or mobile. Or you may have clicked to it online at techlearning.com. But let’s pretend it’s the dead-tree edition for the sake of argument. It’s still a great way to read isn’t it? As much as we like to tout the advantages of the paperless this and digital that, browsing through magazine pages is still one of my favorite ways to consume content. The reason? Curation. While online newsfeeds and social media sites are bursting with edtech ideas and commentary and debate and criticism and insults and downright dreck, you can generally be assured a print publication will have at least made an attempt to give the reader a solid parcel of insight, news, and analysis. Because of these sentiments the editors have decided to start a new section of the print publication called How It’s Done. These articles are the curated “Best Of ” part of the Tech&Learning mission—providing tools and ideas for edtech leaders. Except these short essays have an addendum—Tools and ideas for edtech leaders by edtech leaders. These aren’t bylined by product managers or PR agencies (not that we don’t like those folks!) that you AS MUCH AS WE can find online but by actual administrators and educators LIKE TO TOUT THE working in schools today. ADVANTAGES OF We like to think that this curation of information along THE PAPERLESS with the print-based format of information dissemination THIS AND DIGITAL continues to be a valuable tool for you and your work. Of THAT, BROWSING course, as always, we love to hear about your best practices, THROUGH no matter what platform you prefer!
MAGAZINE PAGES IS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITE WAYS TO CONSUME CONTENT.
4
| OC TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
VOL. 40 NO. 3
www.techlearning.com
LET’S GET IT DONE
— Kevin Hogan Managing Director, Content kevin.hogan@futurenet.com
|
CO R R E C T I O N A corrected version of the article Repurposing School Libraries as Vibrant Learning Hubs and Centers of Change from our September issue, appears on the techlearning.com website.
Marianthe Williams, Steve Baule, Jean Tower, Hank Thiele, Jenith Mishne, Frank Pileiro, Patricia Brown, Phil Hintz, Ken Wallace, Rick Cave, Chris Aviles, Diane Doersh, Mike Jamerson, Rico D’Amore, Todd Dugan, Grace Magley, Andrew Marcinek, John Marcus, Laura Chesson, Jon Castelhano, Karen Fuller
Production Manager Heather Tatrow, heather.tatrow@futurenet.com Managing Design Director Nicole Cobban
Senior Design Director Lisa McIntosh ADVERTISING SALES Sales Manager Allison Knapp, allison.knapp@futurenet.com SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.techlearning.com and click on About Us, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 8692, Lowell, MA 01853. LICENSING/REPRINTS/PERMISSIONS Tech & Learning is available for licensing. Contact the Licensing team to discuss partnership opportunities. Head of Print Licensing Rachel Shaw licensing@futurenet.com MANAGEMENT Senior Vice President, Content Chris Convey Vice President, Sales John Bubello Head of Production US & UK Mark Constance Head of Design Rodney Dive FUTURE US, INC. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10036
All contents © 2019 Future US, Inc. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Future and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/ all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.
NEWS TRENDING ANDTRENDS THE LATEST NEWS & STATS AFFECTING THE K-12 EDTECH COMMUNITY
top10 WEB STORIES
From techlearning.com
1
2
3 4
5
A Template to Help
6
Students Tap into Their Genius Potential Set aside class time each week for students to work independently on a project related to their interests or passions.
7
21 Things Every 21st-Century
Educator Should Try This Year (2019 Version) This update of a 2014 list will help us grow as learners and educators. Try one or two of these fresh ideas in your classroom this year.
8
Makerspaces A to Z: Impactful
Resources to create meaningful makerspaces that are powerful learning environments.
9
Google Slides for “Lab
Reports” (Update) Streamlining the slide template with instructions, video, and rubrics.
AV Goes Accessible
10
The innovative use of AV features to benefit all students is making learning more inclusive.
Is Your Chromebook Care
Policy Complete? Here’s How to Amp It Up Tips for thinking beyond the legal aspects of device care.
| OC TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
“As trends and technology change often, it’s important to keep evolving and growing as learners and educators as well.” —Carl Hooker “While platforms can and will change, for personal life right now, love it or hate it, Facebook is winning. Groups, partnered with messaging, beat the alternative. Phone, email, or other sharing is not required. Instead just tell someone to connect with you in the group.” —Lisa Nielsen
The Best Chromebooks
of 2019 The best Chromebooks now are not just more powerful than ever, but they’re also more flexible and boast longer battery lives.
TOP TWEETS
Back to School with
Sphero Robots Cool programmable robots transform the way kids learn and create through coding, science, music, and the arts.
20 Sites/Apps Every Teacher
Should Try for Back to School Games, assessments, puzzles, keyboarding, math practice, digital canvas, and more!
5 Things You Need
to Know About Kahoot’s Summer Update New features for this highly engaging way to connect students with content in the classroom.
F I N D L I N K S AT W W W.T EC H L E A R N I N G .CO M
6
BLOG BITS
@MatthewXJoseph: Empower students to find a country, cause, or issue to research and create a positive message @Buncee or Public Service and have teachers tweet it out or send out in a way to support the country, cause, or issue. @KenWallace207: Every staff member at every school should strive together to be the reason why every student is known, loved, heard, respected, challenged, and supported to be a true learner. Be the journey with them and for them. This is the magic and science of great schools.#WednesdayMotivation
TRENDING
APPS OF THE DAY FROM TECHLEARNING.COM
Digital Promise Reports on How Teachers Are Using Technology
App of the Day picks are selected from the top edtech tools reviewed by Common Sense Education.
The New LVP National Survey from Digital Promise finds broad support among the following groups for the use of technology in schools:
78% teachers 69% public school parents 75% of the general public However, perceived disadvantages include less student collaboration, additional screen time, costs, data privacy concerns, and doubts about effectiveness.
SOURCE: DIGITAL PROMISE
INOVA for Education: Top-Notch Interactive STEM Teaching Resources
Videos, articles, and interactives are available on topics including Ancient Worlds, Body+Brain, Evolution, Military+Espionage, and many others.
How teachers use technology in their classrooms and how much choice they have.
Film It: Free Filmmaking Lessons for Any Classroom
The free Film It site consists of a set of filmmaking lessons that give students the training to make their own short films without feeling intimidated.
ADVANCING LITERACY WITH LARGE PRINT 43% of 3—12 graders reported a reduction in feelings of anxiety about reading 60% of 6–8 graders said they could focus better and didn’t lose their place due to distractions 54% of 3–12 graders said that school reading experiences would be more enjoyable if all books were large print.
New research From Thorndike Press and Project Tomorrow suggests large print books improve student reading confidence and comprehension skills. FOR FULL REPORT: WWW.GALE.COM
8
| OC TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
Add Video to Any Classroom Lesson with TED-Ed
TED-Ed is a website featuring a curated series of educational video lessons on a huge variety of subjects.
TRENDING
Automation Educators can increase time engaging with students by automating scheduling, grading, and other tasks that lend themselves to automation.
Integration AI solutions can integrate with other IT initiatives and IoT-driven networks to provide personalized learning for students.
5 Roles AI Solutions Have in K–12 Classrooms Schools using AI should define how these solutions can drive positive outcomes before allowing them to access student data. Effective AI in education can be grouped into five general roles.
Acclimation Pew Research data shows that 95% of students have access to smartphones and 45% are online almost constantly. AI in schools can help acclimate students to the pace of technological change.
Delineation AI-driven analytics can delineate key markers to help educators design an effective classroom experience to drive digital transformation.
Identification With data analytics, AI can help spot critical areas of student and teacher performance so potential problems can be addressed early. SOURCE: EDTECH MAGAZINE
F O R M O R E G O TO W W W.T EC H L E A R N I N G .CO M
E-RATE NEWS: C2 REFORM COULD BRING $100M+ PER YEAR The E-Rate program provides $871.2 million in support annually for on-campus “Category Two” (C2) networking projects. Funds For Learning estimates that the real demand for C2 E-Rate discounts is $1.055 billion annually. To address the real needs of all school and library sites adequately, the analysis suggests that a total of $184 million in additional E-Rate support is needed each year. Funds For Learning recommends a $30,000 per site budget floor; a $260 per student budget cap (for schools); a $6.00 per square foot budget cap (for libraries); and adoption of a consolidated budget system for school districts. Funds for Learning believes that this combination of changes would provide the necessary financial support and would do so in a manner that best suits the varying needs of different applicants.
The gap between the actual vs. reported demand for E-Rate C2 discounts.
SOURCE: FUNDS FOR LEARNING
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
9
GETTY IMAGES/CAVAN IMAGES
TRENDING
UNCERTAIN FLIGHT PLANS FOR DRONES IN SCHOOLS When it comes to drones, some districts are still sitting on the sidelines stalled by safety and liability concerns. At the other end of the spectrum, there are districts that are developing curriculum for the design, building, and maintenance of drones. All drones fly in FAA controlled airspace, and all drones must be registered with the FAA even if they are being used for educational purposes. Drone pilots must be licensed by the FAA. These rules apply to every state and school district. Wake County (NC) Schools had grounded all drones, but they may be allowed back into the air soon. Under Wake’s new proposed rules, drones could fly over schools for educational and commercial uses but not for recreational use. Drones
10
| O C TO B E R 2 019
would need to be registered with the district’s Risk Management Department, and schools that want to operate drones need written approval from the superintendent. In Colorado Springs (CO) School district, Ray Sevits and David Steele have been certified by the FAA and now use drones in their teaching. Sevits’ middle schoolers learn the physics of how the aircraft work and how to fix them when they crash or break. At the high school, Steele’s students design and build their own drones and prepare for FAA certification. In West Shore (PA) School District, Chris Champion, coordinator of instructional technology, used his experience to help the school board
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
formulate its drone policy. Champion began as a hobbyist and is now an FAA certified drone pilot. Middle- and high-school classes are learning how to code in order to program outside drones. Nearby districts recognize drones as an emerging trend even those that have not yet formulated policies. Richard Fry, superintendent of the Big Spring (PA) School District, predicts they will have courses on drones soon. It’s just a matter of time until drones will be integrated into the curriculum. Drones will become more common in schools once districts have formulated and adopted viable policies that protect students and educators and limit district liability.
BIG IDEAS
EMAIL IS DEAD HERE’S THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATION
12
GETTY IMAGES/JANE_KELLY
By Lisa Nielsen
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
BIG IDEAS
PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
What is the future of communication? Forget inbox zero. For most of us in the workforce, that’s not practical these days. Unfortunately, most emails today are junk, other clutter, and/ or spam. With hundreds or thousands of emails piling in, they’re difficult to keep track of. In addition, more and more email providers are starting to charge for email—once an account begins to bloat with all this junk, users are asked to fork over a monthly fee. And on top of all of this, email is on the road to being considered personally identifiable information. That means email directories or lists may be a problem because they are, or could be, violating general data protection regulations. So, what’s the future of communication?
ONLINE COMMUNITIES
It’s not texting. By design, texting often doesn’t work well across platforms. It’s also not the best format for organizing, sharing, planning, and more. The other issue is that it requires having the phone numbers of those with whom you’re communicating—which is another personally identifiable information issue. While there are some text platforms people can join with an invite code, these still aren’t popular. While platforms can and will change, for personal life right now, love it or hate it, Facebook is winning. Using Messenger as part of Groups beats the alternative. Sharing phone, email, or other contact information is not required. Instead, just tell someone to connect with you in the group.
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION For professional communication, there’s Facebook Workplace, Slack, and Teams. It’s no longer necessary to share your email address
Everything in One Box 24/7 Support
WHOLE CLASS
STEM
Professional Development
THE DEATH OF EMAIL It’s becoming harder and harder to track, keep up with, sort, and stay on top of the few priority emails that do come through. Email is evolving toward the point of extinction—and that’s okay. Change is hard, but the time has come for all of us to adapt to the newer and more effective methods of communication through online communities. Lisa Nielsen (@InnovativeEdu) has worked as a public-school educator and administrator since 1997. She’s a prolific writer best known for her award-winning blog, The Innovative Educator.
Boxlight has what you need to create the classroom your schools, teachers, and students need to succeed. Our comprehensive solutions help students learn more effectively, develop essential skills, and improve outcomes. The best part is you don’t have to use multiple vendors—Boxlight can help with it all.
COLLABORATION
ASSESSMENT
or phone number. Instead, simply share with others how to link up with you in the appropriate platform. Once you’re in a platform, you don’t have to worry about email-related issues. Phone or video conferencing is available in most platforms. Best of all, the junk and spam is generally handled well by moderators and community members.
Educator Community
Our technology and software empower both educators and students in all forms of learning, enabling real understanding and enhancing student achievement. Whether it’s whole-class learning, smallgroup collaboration, formative assessment, or STEM-based learning, Boxlight offers solutions that enable teachers to easily and effectively enhance student success. In addition, our technology is integrated seamlessly with our dynamic MimioStudio™ software, allowing your teachers to create new interactive lessons or utilize current ones—no matter the platform. We support you with an online teaching community, flexible training, and 24/7 technical support.
See everything Boxlight has to offer at boxlight.com/everything. 2 YEARS IN A ROW!
BOXLIGHT.COM
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
NEW | ROBOTICS | CLASSROOM SOUND SYSTEM | 4K FLAT PANELS
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
13
BIG IDEAS
1. WHAT DOES STEM MEAN TO STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS IN THE CULTURE OF A SCHOOL? So many schools have jumped onto the idea of STEM education. The integration of STEM topics is important, but what does it mean for a building or district? We must be careful not to amplify these topics while putting less emphasis on other areas of the curriculum. Teachers, administrators, and students should understand that STEM will be a way to engage students in all content areas.
2. ARE THERE ANY UNINTENDED RESULTS AS WE EMPHASIZE STEM?
G ET TY
IM AG ES /N O N G PI M M Y
Science, technology, engineering, and math are wonderful areas of study and embrace the idea of future job growth and good salaries. Schools have addressed this idea by extending the STEM acronym with extra letters. We now find STEAM (include the arts), STREAM (include reading), STREAMIE (include everyone).
Ten Questions to Ask when Creating a STEM Culture in Schools By Michael Gorman
If you are new to or planning for a STEM school, take a look at the following tips as you make your plans. Already a STEM school? Then use these questions to determine your next steps on this amazing journey.
14
| OC TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
3. HOW DOES YOUR BUILDING, DISTRICT, AND COMMUNITY DEFINE STEM? Before bringing in a STEM program, collectively decide on a definition for STEM in your learning community. I like to think of STEM as a verb and not just four nouns. It is the process of students working, thinking, and connecting throughout the entire curriculum. Please note that I stated “a building, district, and community definition of STEM.” Everyone should be able to provide the same definition. While this might seem obvious, it is not always the case!
4. WHAT DOES A LESSON OR UNIT LOOK LIKE WHEN STEM IS INFUSED? Is there a process that the school or district is ready to embrace and provide training on? This should involve some type of inquiry method that allows for student exploration while supporting curriculum standards. This might include the 5E’s—a constructivist learning model, design thinking in education, deeper critical thinking processes, or project-based or problem-based learning. It must start at the basic lesson level before expanding to units of study. In many places, it transforms classrooms.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
5. WHAT DOES A STEM CLASSROOM LOOK LIKE? I mean this both physically and pedagogically. How does the pedagogy integrate with the physical classroom? Remember that STEM builds a culture of connected and authentic learning. Before implementation, educators should visit some STEM classrooms and schools. If there are not any available, take a look at PBL, Montessori, or Reggio Emilia classrooms. When visiting, spend more time observing students than teachers. Order your technology
CMY
K
BIG IDEAS
based on lesson needs and standards. Avoid the shiny toys. You will notice your technology dollars are spent more efficiently!
6. WHAT MODIFICATION(S) MAY BE NEEDED TO THE DAILY SCHEDULE? In the beginning a school may have dedicated STEM time, but the goal is to bring a STEM culture to every classroom every day! That schedule change could be a long term goal and may vary among schools. How can classes and students be shared to allow for trans-disciplinary learning? What subjects can be paired together and allow for team teaching? There may be a need for longer learning periods. Perhaps teachers can find ways to connect even in a traditional schedule. It all takes time, so remember… small steps.
sure all students are learning content. How do we assess, not just the nouns, but also the verbs in our standards? Do we have rubrics that incorporate the 4C’s and other soft skills? I see what I call “STEMIE” lessons that are based on few standards and with no assessment. How do we move beyond this? When we are intentional with standards and assessment, the standardized test will be satisfied.
8. WHAT QUALITIES DO STEM STUDENTS HAVE UPON GRADUATION AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS IN EDUCATION?
7. HOW DO WE GET READY FOR ASSESSMENT IN STEM?
We are preparing students with universal skills required to work in any career. We need to determine these skills and qualities as we build our STEM programs. How do we build these attributes into lessons and units and also into assessments? A STEM program must help students determine a career pathway and find passions that engage them.
I like to say that STEM assessment goes beyond the standardized test. As we use an inquiry and IFP AV Tech Ad - Aug 2019 Bleeds.pdf 1 8/13/2019 11:09:09 AM collaborative approach it is important to make
9. WHAT ARE A LEARNING COMMUNITY’S CONNECTIONS
FOR STEM? The community outside the school’s walls is important for authentic learning. A STEM school must look for connections that make learning relevant for students. Databases can be created to identify professionals, institutions, business, industry, and government entities that can be partners for real world learning. These partnerships should be a two way street. The real benefactors will be your students!
10. HOW DOES A SCHOOL OR DISTRICT SUSTAIN THE STEM MOMENTUM? All initiatives begin with a lot of energy. Often, there is a particular champion or group. How do we share ownership with the entire institution? There may need to be some ongoing professional learning to reinforce the STEM culture. Michael Gorman oversees one-to-one laptop programs and digital professional development for Southwest Allen County Schools near Fort Wayne, Indiana. Read more at 21centuryedtech.wordpress.com.
Connect to an interactive world. Introducing Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels.
Packed with useful annotation tools, Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels combine 4K UHD resolution and 20-point multi-touch capabilities to make interactive collaboration easy in classrooms, lecture halls, boardrooms and other shared spaces.
86”
Product features: • • • • • • •
4K UHD resolution Up to 20-point multi-touch capabilities Ready-to-use whiteboard and annotation tools Blue Light Filter, anti-glare glass and wide viewing angle Plug and play compatibility with Windows, Mac and Chrome OS devices BYOD collaboration—wireless content sharing via iMirror and ScreenShare Built-in Cloud Drive with easy access to Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive
Learn more about Optoma Creative Touch interactive flat panels at Optoma.com. © Copyright 2019 Optoma USA
75” 65”
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
15
How Can Schools Better Use Data to Personalize Learning? A Conversation with Alex Seeskin By Tara Smith
W
hile most US high-school students aspire to earn a college degree, less than one in three succeed. One of the primary goals of the University of Chicago’s To&Through Project is to empower K–12 educators with the research, data, and resources they need to move more students to and through high school and college. “Our work is research based and practice driven,” says Alex Seeskin, director of the To&Through Project and one of the authors of “Using Data to Improve Schools from the Ground Up.” Knowing that data can be critical for educators as they help students learn and achieve their potential is one thing, but applying the often overwhelming amount of data in practice is another. “We’re data rich and information poor,” says Seeskin. He identifies some key areas of focus for districts as they seek to harness the power of data: identifying barriers to student success, building systems to curate data, professional learning—and patience.
SMOOTHING TRANSITIONS “One of the biggest problems facing schools is the transitions students have to navigate all the time—between grade levels, schools, and even classes,” says Seeskin. “Students are vulnerable at each one of these, as they move from one set of relationships and systems to another. It’s hard to personalize experiences for students when we don’t know what challenges or successes they faced in the last grade, school, or class. When a student moves from a math to an English class, for example, the English teacher often has no idea what’s happening in that math class and how that student is interacting with material in math.” It’s critically important, therefore, for teachers to look at data together. Only when they have a holistic picture of each individual student can they personalize learning and offer the support students need. This is especially true of SEL, says Seeskin. “We encourage schools to build these
16
| OC TO B E R 2 019
structures and to make it a priority for teachers to talk together about common students and shared groups of students.” Research also shows that a student’s GPA and attendance are much better indicators of future success than test scores, which tend to predict test scores, Seeskin says. “So we need to understand and pay attention to those indicators as we intervene and personalize work with students.”
I SEE THIS A LOT—A SCHOOL CAN HAVE ALL OF THE DATA AND RESOURCES THEY NEED, BUT THEY DON’T SEE IMMEDIATE CHANGE AND GO LOOKING FOR A SILVER BULLET.” CURATING DATA “Schools and practitioners often feel they’re drowning in data, and time is a valuable resource,” says Seeskin. “The key is to help them curate the data so they know what to pay attention to when— at different times of the school year, for example. We need to build tools that funnel the right data to schools and practitioners—and that also funnel the data they don’t need away from them. Data needs to be understandable and accessible so teachers can make decisions quickly.” Practitioners need support as they learn to use data and make these data-based decisions. Professional learning should include a technical component as well, Seeskin says, to ensure that the technical problems most schools face don’t sabotage adaptive learning. Trust and collaboration are also key building blocks to success. “There needs to be trust between the system and practitioners and
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
discussions around who’s best equipped to make decisions at different levels within a district,” says Seeskin. “And it’s important to take time to consult with other schools facing similar challenges.”
PLAYING THE LONG GAME “This is incredibly challenging and complicated work, and there are very few easy answers,” says Seeskin. “I see this a lot—a school can have all of the data and resources they need, but they don’t see immediate change and go looking for a silver bullet. I see systems and schools pingponging between new initiatives every year. That type of change is frustrating, exhausting, and often demoralizing.” Instead, he says, schools need to be comfortable with somewhat slow, incremental progress. “We have to play the long game and build systems and structures and a culture that enable us to invest in process over results. We have to have patience. We can’t change a school in a year. When you take the longer view, you begin to think about gaining trust and buy-in from those who matter most and crafting solutions alongside them.” This patient view of the bigger picture applies to every step of the process, beginning with the launch. “I’m a huge believer in starting with one thoughtfully chosen school, grade level, or even teacher rather than launching a new initiative across 100 schools tomorrow. There’s real power with starting with an N of 1 and going slowly, recognizing that there will be failure. It’s probably not going to work the first time, but that just means you haven’t figured out how this approach works in your context. When the system is willing to iterate with the first school, by the time they get to the second or tenth school, the intervention is more mature, and they’re able to offer better guidance and respond more quickly. When you give interventions or initiatives a chance to adapt to the surrounding context, they work much more often.” The research, stories, and resources at https://toandthrough.uchicago.edu illustrate how To&Through’s research-based and practice-driven work is impacting schools and students.
1. PREPARE
THE DEAL WITH DATA Researchers and practitioners from the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium), the Network for College Success (NCS), and The To&Through Project explain their “practicedriven” approach to data in Practice-Driven Data: Lessons from Chicago’s Approach to Research, Data, and Practice in Education. The UChicago Consortium has conducted more than two decades of research on Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and helps build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters most for school improvement and student success. NCS helps build CPS high school leaders’ capacity to respond to emerging research and data with actionable strategies for improvement through ongoing professional learning. The To&Through Project is an initiative that utilizes NCS and the UChicago Consortium as partners to integrate research, data, and professional learning to move more students to and through high school and college. This combination of research, data, and professional learning has yielded significant improvements in CPS students’ educational attainment, as well as some important lessons with implications for educators in Chicago and across the country. These lessons are:
Build Capacity to Facilitate Hard Conversations Using data to guide school improvement means that the conversation around the data is just as important as the data itself. In order for data to improve student outcomes, educators must be able to use data in conversations about their practice. Our work in Chicago has underscored the importance of building educator capacity to have hard data conversations that clarify what the problem is and what the solutions might be. This requires investing in the capability of one person or a few people at a school to lead data-driven conversations, and it also requires strong school leadership to support a culture of data-driven improvement.
2. FOCUS
Prioritize Research-Based Indicators In a relatively short period of time, CPS, like a great many school districts across the country, moved from a system in which educators were thirsty for any data to one where they could drown in data if they weren’t careful. The proliferation of data meant that educators needed to find ways to focus their discussions on the most important data. It’s the role of researchers to work with educators and develop high-leverage indicators that can help them focus on what matters the most for future student outcomes. Data system designers can then integrate these indicators into the data that reaches schools. Finally, educators and school leaders can then incorporate this data into their ongoing work, using these indicators to track progress and examine patterns both within and across schools.
3. MAKE MEANING
Develop Shared Ownership over the Implications of Research When using data for improvement, accessible research findings give school and district leaders the opportunity to infuse their data work with research evidence. This in turn builds educators’ sense of ownership over the problems of practice raised by the research as well as their commitment to changing adult practice to improve student outcomes.
4. STRATEGIZE
Use the Right Data at the Right Time
Decision making in schools varies from big-picture strategy to fine-tuning interventions with individual students. Each of these decisions—and everything in between—benefit from the right data at the right time. The data system should provide schools with different data for different levels of decisions, with researchers evaluating popular strategies across contexts to determine the potential for scale.
5. DISRUPT
Identify and Stop Inequity Decades of public discussion on the need to reduce achievement gaps has done little to produce more equitable outcomes for American students. In Chicago, we use data not only to highlight differences in student achievement, but also to push educators to examine the beliefs, practices, and institutional conditions that create inequitable outcomes for our youth across the district. Everything from the intentionality of the conversations at the school to the organization of the data ecosystem to the design of the research itself has implications for equity. Taken together, these five lessons from Practice-Driven Data: Lessons from Chicago’s Approach to Research, Data, and Practice in Education form an approach to data use that focuses stakeholders at various levels on the most important goals and features of a data ecosystem that has the potential to catalyze systematic improvements in student outcomes. An excerpt from the December 2018 report New Knowledge and Developments in Public Education, published by the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute.
18
| OC TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
Implementing a Blended, PhonicsBased Literacy Approach A balance between technology and one-on-one instruction ignites special ed students’ love for reading. By Melissa Cassada
W
hen the district announced our transition to a phonicsbased literacy approach using a new reading program two years ago, I was a little skeptical. I’ve grown used to administrators telling me that a new piece of tech will fix things and make class better for students. Gradually moving toward a blended learning environment for teaching reading meant we had to trust a program to deliver effective lessons that meshed well with teacher support. We all went into training with some concerns. I was lucky enough to have a student teacher that year, so while she taught a few periods out of the day, I had time to study our new approach to teaching reading. The more I learned, the more I believed that this was what my students needed: technology that helped them to break down and sound out each syllable of a word. After two years of implementation, I’ve seen major change in my students. Some of my students with reading disabilities came to my class reading 35 words a minute. Without adequate progress, they’re liable to feel defeated and believe that their inability to read is just part of their school experience. To see them smile and get to 90 words a minute makes my year. Here are a few ways I made the transition to a blended learning environment while jumpstarting my students’ love for reading.
COMBINING ONLINE WORK AND FACE-TO-FACE INSTRUCTION During the first year using the new program, Reading Horizons Discovery, the students and I
20
| O C TO B E R 2 019
walk into class and ask, “Can I read to you?” They practically beg. Their love for reading has come alive. were actively learning it together. After the first year, I was confident in using the program, mostly because my students’ progress was something I’d never seen before. While the computer components of my class were beneficial for both myself and my students, walking through activities faceto-face with students was still crucial. We usually start with a whole-group lesson. I like to get my students to stand up and do work around the room before they log in to their computers for a lesson. During this time, I can use my assessment data to pull students aside for individual lessons based on who didn’t pass the last lesson. The computer component allows me to identify what their needs are. First I want to know what my students understand and what they don’t, then I interact with them to help them through their struggles.
SETTING SPEED AND QUALITY GOALS I like to supplement my lessons with what we call a “One-Minute Read.” We read the same passage for a week. On the first day, we read it for one minute, assess how far in the reading we got, and set a goal for the end of the week. We set the goal based on speed and quality. If students meet the goal at the end of the week, I give them candy. With this short activity every day, they get a chance to practice their reading fluency alongside their phonics. In the beginning of the year, they often groan when I tell them it’s time to read. It’s not long, though, before they see themselves meeting their goals, and they smile widely. They see the benefits of quality practice. They
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
APPLAUDING IMPROVEMENTS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL Sometimes students feel a little defeated when they open up their standardized tests and see a long passage. It’s intimidating if they’ve never encountered dense text. But showing them that they know the words on the page changes their attitude toward reading and testing. Breaking down each syllable of a word teaches students how to put words together by sounding them out. It teaches them to look for certain clues in a word that tell them how it sounds. It clicks for my students. My students are more engaged and thrilled about their growth. Their reading fluency has improved, and their reading scores have gone up hundreds of points on their standardized tests from the beginning to the end of the year. The program reinforces my lessons, and I think the combination has been a game changer. When my students reach their goals, big or small, I celebrate with them. To other teachers considering a transition to blended, phonics-based learning, I would say this: Success isn’t going to happen overnight. There will be days where you feel like it’s not working. When I go home at night, I run through the day in my head and assess what worked and what didn’t. Then I head into class the next day with a clean slate. There’s always room for improvement. The important thing is to keep going. There are days where you’ll have to regroup, but little by little, you’ll see it really is making an impact. Regardless of their level, a phonics-based literacy approach moves students forward. Melissa Cassada is a special education teacher at Lewison Elementary School in Evans, Georgia.
PRODUCT REVIEWS
EPSON BRIGHTLINK 697UI INTERACTIVE PROJECTOR http://bit.ly/BrightLink697Ui n Retail Price: $3,299.00; Brighter Futures Educational Pricing—$2,499.00
By Phil Hintz
E
pson describes its BrightLink 697Ui ultra shortthrow interactive display as “the ultimate academic collaboration tool,” and it’s nothing short of amazing. It boasts a full high-definition image of up to 100 inches diagonal from as close as 10 inches away from the screen. It is a powerhouse with great projection and many collaborative and interactive features. The native resolution on the 697Ui is 1920x1200 (Full HD) WUXGA widescreen, and the color brightness is a whopping 4400 lumens. When installed on a wall painted with “idea paint” (dry-erase marker paint), the display’s true interactivity came to life. The 697Ui comes with a one-year subscription to the SMART Learning Suite of interactive tools, including SMART Notebook. The 697Ui allows for wireless projecting from any device (including iOS, Android, Chromebooks, and Windows-based computers and tablets) as well as content sharing back to these devices.It also offers built-in PC-free whiteboard tools for interactive collaboration in the classroom and with offsite participants.
QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS The 697Ui is easy to install on a variety of surfaces and simple to calibrate for instant interactivity. Even with classroom lights on, it presents a bright and engaging image.
TOP FEATURES • The Full HD projection at 4400 lumens is outstanding in any room setting. • The interactive capabilities and PC-free tools work with any device — or even without a device. • The collaborative aspect of sharing to and from any device wirelessly is a must for engaging today’s classrooms.
OVERALL RATING: I give this projector a five-star rating. When purchased using Epson’s Brighter Futures Education program, the 697Ui offers so many learning resources for the money that it would be hard to decide to go with anything else.
EASE OF USE
Everything from the onscreen setup to setting up the license for the SMART Learning Suite and navigating the PC-free whiteboard mode is easy to follow and userfriendly. Our teachers really liked the spotlight and reveal tools which allowed them to present using virtual versions of a sliding paper on an old transparency projector. The PC-free annotation tools can also be used with document cameras and DVD-players that are connected to the display to bring those tools to life with more engaging learning opportunities.
CREATIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY We first used the 697Ui in a gym during a band concert to project a video on a wall behind the band. Because the projector could be placed within 10 inches from the wall, it was easy to place it behind the band and project a huge picture on the wall. In one of our libraries, a librarian used the 697Ui for interactive presentations of books she projected and read aloud to classes. She could use her finger or the supplied stylus to turn each page virtually and circle main characters, and she could also highlight key vocabulary words with the interactive highlighter.
SUITABILITY FOR USE IN A SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT Because of the ease of setup and installation and the fact that Epson supplies all of the necessary mounts and mounting tools, this projector is perfect for use in any school or classroom. With the 697Ui, schools don’t have to buy both an interactive whiteboard and a projector in addition to software for creating interactive presentations. This projector is an amazing collaboration tool—within the classroom and for connecting with other classrooms.
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
21
TOP 5
WAYS THAT PROGRAMMING IN EDUCATION HAS CHANGED By Steven Lahullier
The trend towards programming in education has gone through many changes over the past forty years. Seymour Papert’s Mindstorms (1980) was one of the first works to propose a link between computer programming concepts and computational thinking skills. The ideas and concepts have evolved along with the technology. Modern scholars have made the case for including programming in education to improve math skills and executive functioning, among other areas. Here are the top five ways in which programming in education has changed over the last 40 years: TOP 5, CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 �
22
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
1
AVAILABILITY.
Programming in education is now more readily available than ever. Web 2.0 applications and free resources enable almost anyone, regardless of their affiliation with a school, to access resources to learn programming. Students can now teach themselves programming and no longer need a book or a teacher with special qualifications.
2
ACCESSIBILITY. Increased access to devices and more 1:1 initiatives have also increased ac-
3
BARRIERS TO ENTRY. Increased availability and accessibility do not necessarily mean
4
JOB OUTLOOK. There are more and more jobs in technology, and projections are for signifi-
5
cess to programming resources. In addition, the proliferation of free programming resources has contributed significantly to accessibility. Websites like code.org and applications such as Scratch offer free resources that anyone can use to learn and practice programming skills. Resources like these enable educators to use programming across the curriculum. Both code.org and Scratch, for example, can be used to supplement and enrich lessons in any subject.
there are lower barriers to entry for programming in education. Code.org offers many learning experiences in a game-based learning environment. Scratch also provides activities and tutorials that give even the youngest learners opportunities to learn programming. These resources are considered low-floor, high-ceiling resources. This means that the amount of time it takes to be able to use these resources successfully is minimal (low-floor), and the variety and level of complexity of what can be accomplished with these resources is high (high-ceiling). Code.org and Scratch are certainly not the only programming resources, but they are among the most widespread.
cant growth in fields involving technology and programming. It’s more important than ever, therefore, that schools not only teach programming but also implement STEM-related programs to ensure that students are prepared for future work environments. Not that many years ago, basic computer skills were a bonus that an employee brought to a job, regardless of what job they were seeking. Now basic computer skills are expected in most fields, and advanced computing and programming skills are an advantage in every field.
HOUR OF CODE.
Hour of Code has changed programming in education in a huge way. With millions of students participating in the annual event held in December during Computer Science Week, the popularity of programming continues to grow. As a result, toys, games, and other learning tools with a focus on programming are widely available.
All of these changes and trends have meant that millions of students are learning computational thinking, computer science, and other associated technology skills. Dr. Lahullier is the Coordinator of Technology Services for Midland School #1 with the Rochelle Park (NJ) School District.
24
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
GETTY IMAGES/PRZEMYSLAW KLOS/EYEEM
A SANDBOX FOR THINKING An excerpt from The Days & Nights of a Quiet Revolution—Challenging the What, How & Why of Education in the Digital Age By David Warlick Promoting computer programming is an aspect of technology in education that we would get right, and then wrong, and then right again. We emphasized programming in the 1980s, partly because that was what you did with computers—but more importantly because of the critical habits of mind that it instilled. Logo was a programming language that was developed for just this purpose. Created by mathematician and computer scientist Seymour Papert at MIT, the language enabled students to use computer code to move a digital turtle around on the screen. Dragging a pen behind it, the turtle’s programmed movements could result in drawing exciting geometric designs. Papert wanted to provide a way for students to learn math by giving them a
26
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
language with which they could think mathematically in order to produce images. It was a way of using the computer as a machine for helping us learn to think—a revolutionary notion. Unfortunately, our ideas about computers in education changed as instructional software became more plentiful. Computers as tools for thinking changed to computers as teaching tools. The new software was designed to trick our children into learning the math, reading, grammar, social studies, and science in a way that supported our existing curriculum. In other words, we were giving teachers a tool with which they could continue doing what they were already doing, without advancing the what, how, and why of education.
COMPUTERS AS TOOLS FOR THINKING CHANGED TO COMPUTERS AS TEACHING TOOLS. THE NEW SOFTWARE WAS DESIGNED TO TRICK OUR CHILDREN INTO LEARNING THE MATH, READING, GRAMMAR, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND SCIENCE IN A WAY THAT SUPPORTED OUR EXISTING CURRICULUM. Today, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, we are starting to rediscover the value of that initial approach, learning and teaching computer programming for the habits of mind that it promotes. Coding has also become “cool”! Personally, I am convinced that much of what I have accomplished in my career and my continued learning comes from my initial introduction to computers and the requirement that I learn to program them. They have always been my Swiss army knife, a multipurpose tool with which I can shape and reshape solutions to my particular needs. For me, it
is a uniquely personal tool. As more and more literature emerged in the early 1980s about the potentials of computers in the classroom, I tried to duplicate some of the software I was reading about. Since my school never budgeted for software, I developed basic word processing and database programs for our TRS-80 computers. Inspired by Logo, I wrote a program that simulated some of its features. My students could write code that created images on the computer’s screen. Even though it lacked the powerful mathematical underpinnings of Logo, it still gave my students the sense of control over the technology that programming engenders. Because I was learning to use computers by programming them, and because my work was mostly ignored by everyone around me except my students, I remember those years as intensely exciting—and liberating. The imagination that I so vehemently associated with teaching was unleashed by a growing knowledge and understanding of this universal machine. I was also becoming increasingly aware of critical realms of knowledge and thinking skills that we were not teaching—and it was clear to me that we needed to rethink much of the what, how, and why of education. This would require a revolution. David Warlick is an educator, author, programmer, and public speaker. An early adopter and promoter of technology in the classroom, his story chronicles more than thirty years of technological advancement and the revolution it has ignited in how we conduct schooling.
USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1 Javelin™ Active Optical Plenum Cable Data transfer rates of up to 5 Gigabits per second!
CUSB3-AP* P l e n u m R at e d Of f e r s b e r - o p t ic n o i se im m un it y No ad d i t io na l p o we r s up p l y r e q u i r e d Su p p o r t s al l U SB 3. 0 d e v ic e s T h in a n d e x i bl e w it h b e nd ra d iu s of 0. 3 i n c h
SERVING YOU SINCE 1984 hallresearch.com 714-641-6607
Districts Share Student Data Security Practices By Annie Galvin Teich
P
arents and educators read about the latest security breaches every day in news headlines. These breaches are why protecting the privacy of student data is one of the most urgent challenges districts face. In the past, security breaches have happened primarily to consumer organizations. Increasingly, education technology breaches are perpretrated as hackers find district information systems relatively easy to access. To protect their data, districts need a comprehensive data security policy that defines precisely the pieces of student data they keep and why they keep it. This includes a review of all third-party technology vendors. Districts need to understand the terms of each vendor’s privacy policy for every digital tool and online resource they use. It’s a huge task. At a recent Tech & Learning Leadership Summit, district leaders shared the ways they’re keeping student data safe. These leaders believe it’s the responsibility of districts to be proactive about student data privacy issues. They say all districts should be educating parents and training teachers on the importance of student privacy and personally identifiable information (PII). Federal privacy laws apply to all states, and states are being proactive about creating legislation to protect student data.
and districts, trade organizations, policy makers, and vendors. As part of the partnership, vendors understand their common responsibilities across the state. At Cypress Fairbanks, we’ve established a process that limits information given to vendors. We also know how to identify data breaches, and how those breaches should be reported to the state. Districts should understand that teachers and administrators are your weakest link. They need training. One way to see exactly who needs training is to send out a phishing email.” Check out the Cypress Fairbanks ISD cyber-
KAREN FULLER, director, network infrastructure and communications, Cypress Fairbanks (TX) ISD: “We started to take data privacy and security seriously about three years ago. Texas State Bill 820 defines what districts need to do to protect PII. Texas also developed a partnership with the Student Data Privacy Consortium, a group of schools
28
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
security webpage. It includes links to resources on student data privacy, cybersecurity awareness, cybersecurity current events, and an approved resources database.
PETE JUST, chief technology officer and chief operations officer, MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis, IN: “The state of Indiana has developed grants and CyberSecurity initiatives for K–12 schools. It includes funding for a K12 Taskforce. There is a grant to establish managed security services, and a
Data Privacy Resources Here are some resources to help launch or augment your district data security program: The US Department of Education website features guidance and resources about data security for districts. https://studentprivacy.ed.gov
GETTY IMAGES/FOTOMAY
All 50 states have introduced student privacy laws since 2013, although not all laws have been enacted. Forty-one states have passed 126 laws on student data privacy. Find where your state stands here. www.ferpasherpa.org/state-laws
growing “CyberSec Resource Hub” for Indiana K–12 specific resources. We recently hosted a CyberSec Sim (Cybersecurity Simulation) at our statewide CoSN CTO Clinic with 150 tech leaders and we’re making the Sim available to use with their district teams. “At the MSD of Wayne Township, we have a student data privacy agreement that we ask all data-related vendors to sign. We’ve done significant cybersecurity marketing and have run phishing campaigns (via InfoSec) with our staff for the past 18 months. These campaigns have improved the ‘water cooler conversations’ and end-user security compliance significantly. For the past two years we’ve also implemented a calendar of CyberSecurity reviews based on standards from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that include penetration testing from different vendors.”
ELLEN MCDONNELL, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction, and technology, Tuckahoe (NY) Union Free School District: “New York state has a new Data Privacy Law (Ed Law 2-d) which is changing the landscape of accountability and responsibility regarding not just student data, but staff data as well. Though the law has passed, regulations from the State Education Department are still in the works and we’re all in a holding pattern on specifics. In the meantime, we’re creating full lists of software used, including those free titles for teachers to use, redrafting our policies, and training our staff on cybersecurity.” ANDREW WALLACE, director of technology, South Portland (ME) Schools: “Maine’s Student Data Privacy Consortium is managed by the Maine Educational Technology Directors Association (METDA). We worked with a local law firm to create a common privacy agreement. Once one school gets a vendor partner to sign, any member school can use the agreement.” District leaders find value in sharing their work with one another at Tech & Learning Leadership Summits. If you’re interested in participating in one of these events, you can read more about them at www.techlearning.com/news/tech-and-learning-leadership-summits.
The Forum Guide to Education Data Privacy from the National Center for Education Statistics outlines how states and districts can support data best practices to protect the confidentiality of student data. www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/NFES2016096.pdf The Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) is designed to address the day-to-day, real-world, multi-faceted issues that schools, states, territories, and vendors face when protecting learner information. SDPC’s vision is to develop common activities, artifacts, templates, tools, and effective practices. https://privacy.a4l.org National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) offers policy questions and approaches. www.ncsl.org/research/education/student-data-privacy.aspx Pledge commitments align with existing federal law and regulatory guidance regarding the collection and handling of student data and encourages vendors to articulate their practices clearly. www.studentprivacypledge.org The Future of Privacy Forum hosts events that are usually free. www.privacycalendar.org The CoSN website defines student data privacy as the use, collection, handling, and governance of students’ personally identifiable information (PII). This includes any and all information that can be used to identify, locate, or contact an individual student—such as name, address, student ID, and login information. Common Sense Education has videos and articles about how parents and teachers can protect students’ data privacy. They also have an information security primer for evaluating edtech software.
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
29
EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 1
Virtual Reality Helps Students with Disabilities
A recent issue of the Hechinger Report highlights how VR is becoming an important tool for serving students with disabilities. In Danvers (MA) Public Schools, Jeff Lieberman, director of technology, says, “VR allows students to go places and see things virtually without actually having to go there.” The district has created their own VR experiences as well as using prepackaged products such as Floreo, which helps students with autism spectrum disorders practice interacting with police officers and TSA agents. Floreo also helps students learn calming techniques through mindfulness instruction and practice those techniques in difficult places, like busy train stations. Lieberman says that VR allows students a “low-stakes opportunity to practice critical life skills.”
2
The Scientific Debate over Teens, Screens, and Mental Health
NPR reports that more teens and young adults, particularly girls and young women, are depressed and anxious than in previous years. One theory is that smartphones and digital media are partly to blame. Professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University is the researcher most often associated with this theory. Not only does the increase in depression coincide with the introduction of the smartphone, but she also notes that teens who report spending the most time on their smartphones (five to seven hours each day) are twice as likely to report being depressed as those who use their phones for one to two hours each day. Twenge believes that social media is the primary cause of depression. Other researchers, such as Katherine Keyes, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, do not concur with Twenge’s findings. Keyes says that there isn’t a linear relationship between screen use and mental health. In the case of heavy users, smartphone use may be a symptom rather than a cause of depression. She advocates a “bidirectional” relationship among teens, screens, and mental health—teens who are already struggling are more drawn to screens and more likely to form unhealthy relationships with
30
| O C TO B E R 2 019
media. The time they spend online might make them feel worse.
3
Gesture Technology Holds Potential for K–12 Students
Google’s Project Soli uses miniature radar to detect touchless gestures. The project has been approved by the FCC, so Google can proceed with developing the technology to turn a person’s hand into a universal remote control. For schools, these motion-sensing devices can be useful for sharing screens and collaboration. Microsoft’s HoloLens AR headset can recognize hand gestures to allow users to click buttons, choose menu items, and swipe from one screen to the next. One study looked at middle- and high-school students who used a virtual chemistry lab equipped with Microsoft Kinect gesture technology. The researchers found that students using the virtual lab had improved retention and were better at solving complex lab tasks. Just as taps and swipes are consistent across touchscreens, developers will need to standardize the types of gestures that devices recognize.
4
Girls Would Do Better on STEM Tests if Exams Were Made Longer
Newsweek reports on a new study that determined girls would perform better on tests if the tests were longer. This could help close the gender gap in STEM fields. In the study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers found that girls are better at sustaining their performance over a longer period of time than males are. Researchers looked at PISA data from 2006 to 2015 across 74 countries. Females did better on verbal reading, and males did better on math and science tests. But after two hours of tests, the gender gap was completely offset. Study co-author Matthijs Oosterveen, researcher at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, told Newsweek: “The study documents a female strength in test-taking that has largely been ignored and that deserves visibility and recognition. Gender differences in test performance in math and sci-
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
ence have generally been perceived as a female weakness. The findings in this study could serve as a counterbalance to the gender stereotypes shaped by this perception.” Gender-balanced test scores might help governments achieve their targets in promoting gender equality in the study and pursuit of STEM subjects as careers, Oosterveen said.
5
Samsung Offers $3 Million to U.S. Public Schools Who Use STEM to “Solve for Tomorrow”
For the 10th consecutive year, Samsung has launched the annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, which challenges 6th—12th grade public school students and teachers to use STEM to address issues in their communities. The contest empowers thousands of students to create innovative solutions that transform local com-
munities. In celebration of the 10th anniversary, Samsung is increasing the prize pool by $1 million—awarding $3 million in technology and supplies to classrooms as they advance through the contests. “The issues today look a little different than when we first launched the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest 10 years ago, but year after year, students and teachers rise to the challenge, tackling complex issues from climate change and disaster recovery, to the opioid crisis and school safety,” said Ann Woo, Senior Director of Corporate Citizenship at Samsun Electronics America. “As we celebrate this 10-year milestone, we reflect on how Solve for Tomorrow has transformed from an environment-focused contest into a project-based learning initiative that fosters critical thinking and creative problem solving among thousands of students across the country. We look forward to seeing how students will continue to meet the emerging challenges of a new decade.”
BACK OFFICE BUSINESS Georgia State University’s College of Education and Human Development Receives $1.2 Million Professional Learning Partnership Grant to Support Teacher Training Clayton County (GA) Public Schools, Georgia State University’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), and Curriculum Associates will partner on a new program with middle-school teachers to implement the county’s math curriculum in their classrooms. The partnership will allow CEHD faculty and doctoral students to collaborate with master teachers and coaches to provide supplemental support to Clayton County middle-school teachers implementing the math curriculum. The work is supported by a twoyear, $1.2 million grant to CEHD from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal is to provide ongoing professional learning opportunities for teachers that will help them teach the math curriculum effectively and improve student achievement. In particular, the focus will be on students of color and those who live in low-income communities. In addition, the grant team will develop manuals and teaching modules that other school systems in Georgia and around the country can use to implement this math curriculum at the middle-school level.
Study Reveals Value of Differentiated Instruction in California’s Bay District Schools During the 2017–18 school year, Bay District Schools rolled out Achieve3000, a differentiated literacy solution, in elementary classrooms and with sixth through tenth graders who required additional support. Findings from the year-long intervention show that when students are given equitable access to differentiated resources, it becomes easier for them to make learning gains while building foundational knowledge. Of elementary students who completed 80+ Achieve3000 activities with a 75 percent first-try score, 85 percent made learning gains on the FSA. Bay District Schools maintains a strong focus on literacy throughout their schools and curriculum. By collecting achievement data, teachers within the district are able to make instructional decisions that reflect the differing needs of students. The district will continue to utilize Achieve3000 to support students and teachers.
Peachjar Helps Iowa City School District Students Gain Access to Extracurriculars Research suggests that extracurricular activities offer important academic, social, and emotional benefits for students. To ensure that every student has access to these opportunities, Iowa City School District implemented Peachjar, a cloud-based platform that distributes important updates and information about community resources in the form of digital flyers. Parents can access flyers through a smartphone or computer anytime, anywhere. The platform elevates student outcomes by connecting K–12 families with life-changing school and community resources. Peachjar’s digital flyers are made WCAG 2.0 A and AA compliant, so they can be read by those who are visually impaired with the help of a screen reader. The adoption of Peachjar has helped families in Iowa City School District understand the value of extracurricular activities and has removed barriers to student participation.
Simbli Board Management Software Now Available to All ISBA Districts eBOARDsolutions, Inc. and the Idaho School Boards Association (ISBA) announced a new partnership to make Simbli board management software available to all ISBA member school districts. Featuring six core integrated modules, Simbli brings together meetings, planning, policies, evaluations, documents, and communications into one board management software solution. Founded in 2007, eBOARDsolutions was developed originally to help the Georgia School Boards Association member boards increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Today, eBOARDsolutions’ flagship board governance software solution, Simbli, is used by over 1,200 school boards, nonprofits, and governments in 25 states. The company is proud to maintain a 99 percent annual renewal rate. The partnership with ISBA will provide more than 550 locally elected school board members and several hundred charter school board members throughout Idaho with the option to subscribe to Simbli’s board management software solution.
UPCOMING 2019 EVENT } December 5-6 | New Orleans, LA Theme: Digital Equity
LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Attendance at a summit is complimentary for those invited by Tech & Learning. To be considered, please complete this short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TLSummit19
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
31
HOW it’s DONE School and District Leaders Share How They’re Making IT Work
5 Ways to Use an LMS to Support Blended and Online Learning ANN BAUM, Instructional Technology Director at Gettysburg Area School District in Gettysburg, PA
how this new development would apply to them. Teachers discussed the collaborative nature of Google and how students could leverage those capabilities. One session, for example, focused on how to use Here’s how our district uses the itslearning learning management system Google to complete assignments and its role as a collaborative tool to manage our commitment to providing personalized, blended, and that works both in and out of the classroom environment. That was a online learning to our middle- and high-school classes. valuable exercise, because we basically trained the students and teachPersonalized and blended learning are quickly becoming ers how to use Google with itslearning and set them educational standards in K–12, and our 3,000-student district up for success. was an early adopter of online learning as a key to creating a • Emphasize interactivity. We helped teachers more customized experience for our students. At the high school build interactive, engaging online courses that could in particular, we’ve implemented both a 1:1 initiative and an be delivered remotely, starting with advanced social online learning approach that finds students learning 80 percent studies and English classes. Using the LMS’s mesonline and 20 percent in the traditional classroom setting. saging feature, for example, students can have quick Of course, any initiative of this size “touch-base” conversations with teachers requires good organization, orchestraon an as-needed basis. We prepared the tion, and technological support. For kids to take online classes, but we used us, that meant implementing a learning more of a blended approach that included management system (LMS) that would teacher support. serve not only as a central hub for all of • Develop coursework with the end in our learning content and interaction but mind. Figure out what you want students FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT that also would integrate directly with to accomplish in a specific unit or lesson, STUDENTS TO ACCOMPLISH IN A Google Classroom. Here our top tips for and then work backwards to map out SPECIFIC UNIT OR LESSON, AND successful LMS implementation: exactly how they should get there. Do this THEN WORK BACKWARDS TO MAP • Kick it off with a pilot program. before asking students to jump into the OUT EXACTLY HOW THEY SHOULD Don’t expect to throw everyone on the system and get started on their work. StanGET THERE. DO THIS BEFORE new LMS and have them pick it up and dards and objectives come first, so gather ASKING STUDENTS TO JUST JUMP run with it. Instead, start with a few any outside resources that are needed (for RIGHT INTO THE SYSTEM AND teachers and branch out from there. linking). When working with teachers, I GET STARTED ON THEIR WORK. When I came on board a few years ago, always tell them that once they’re ready to we started using the enriched virtual get into their modules and activities, they model for a few pilot classes. For 12–18 need to ask themselves questions such as: months, the kids were online 80 perHow am I going to create those? How am cent of the time and in the physical classroom 20 percent of the time. I going to set those up? What assessments am I going to build into the We began onboarding with our high-school seniors, with the students system? coming in at the beginning of the course, and then we brought on the • Create interesting learning spaces on campus. We created some interestteacher handling the assessments. Teachers could also schedule certain ing learning spaces at our high school, including some learning commons days throughout the semester, but the majority of their work was done places. Some of our seniors took advantage of the option to not come in for online and managed through the LMS. I helped those teachers build second period. In other words, a lot of them still came in for first period, interactive, engaging online courses that could be completed almost but then they worked in the learning commons area. That way, they could totally off campus. talk to a teacher in person if they needed to. • Show them how to use it. We brought two classes of high-school This helps students see that what it “looks like” to be in school can be students together in a combined class so they could learn more about online, offline, at home, or at a coffee shop.
32
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
HOW it’s DONE Easy as ABC: Reimagining School Technology JOE GRIFFIN, Chief Technology Officer of Keller Independent School District
to mail or hand deliver the documents. Today, new employees submit the necessary information online via an electronic form, (www.laserfiche.com/products/electronic-forms) eliminating For over 21 years, Keller Independent School District (www.kellerisd.net) has a giant pile of paperwork and a trip to the post office. After submitting their served a diverse community and has been recognized as one of the fastestforms electronically, an automated workflow (www.laserfiche.com/products/ growing school districts in Tarrant County, Texas. Today, we have around business-process-automation) guides the documents through the necessary 35,000 students and over 4,000 staff members, and are continuing reviews and approvals process. Onboarding is now to grow every year. Despite our size, we’re committed to providing completed in a matter of days rather than months, and an exceptional experience for both students and teachers in the everyone involved is kept up to date on the progress classroom and on campus. with automated email updates. During our most recent period of rapid growth, it became clear There was some initial resistance to adopting the to us that we needed a more efficient way to scale operations. There new technology, which is to be expected when you’re was a lack of uniformity across key business processes, and every trying to change the way things have always been done. department—from HR to the front office However, our HR implementation acted as and maintenance—was leveraging a differa catalyst for district-wide adoption once ent technology solution to get things done. other departments saw the success of the Every team had a different way of doing solution. With employee buy-in, we began things, which ultimately created informato think bigger. What else could technology tion silos, delayed our work, and started to help us achieve? Student records manbuild a culture of mistrust due to a lack of agement (www.laserfiche.com/products/ AFTER ELECTRONICALLY accountability. Student success has always records-management) was the next frontier. SUBMITTING THEIR FORMS, AN been our priority, and we knew that it was As our student population grew, it AUTOMATED WORKFLOW GUIDES time to reimagine our operations to better became clear that our paper-based student THE DOCUMENTS THROUGH fit the needs of our students and commurecords management system no longer fit THE NECESSARY REVIEWS AND nity. the needs of our district. With so many APPROVALS PROCESS. ONBOARDING In 2017, Keller ISD began a Visioning students, it was important for us to be IS NOW COMPLETED IN A MATTER process (www.kellerisd.net) to help redefine able to retrieve and reference critical OF DAYS RATHER THAN MONTHS, the district’s focus in the coming years. information quickly while maintaining AND EVERYONE INVOLVED IS KEPT Nearly 3,000 individuals in the commusecurity—something that was becoming UP TO DATE ON THE PROGRESS nity responded to the district’s Visioning increasingly difficult with physical paperWITH AUTOMATED EMAIL UPDATES. survey and participated in four educational work. Once, for example, a staff member summits with representatives from six was transferring student records between stakeholder groups. A key area of focus in campuses when, during the transport, they this journey was to determine the Keller were stolen from her car. The records had ISD technological identity and to define more clearly how we would address to be recreated, which caused delays and a gap in available information. the need for innovation. Obviously, we needed a more secure way to manage and transfer student Through the Visioning process, we identified Laserfiche (www.laserfiche. records. com) as an enterprise content management (www.laserfiche.com/supportNow, Keller ISD leverages Laserfiche to manage enrolment documents, learn/what-is-ecm) (ECM) solution that would address our technology and test scores, sensitive personal information, legal documents, special educainnovation needs. With a clear roadmap to success, we deployed our first tion records, and more. Laserfiche solution in our HR department (www.laserfiche.com/solutions/ Today, Keller ISD uses technology in almost 100 percent of the district, human-resources) to address our new employee on boarding process which in departments including HR, finance, and student services. We’re planning lacked consistency, clarity, and efficiency. to expand our use beyond administrative operations and to improve more Previously, there was no official process in place to onboard new employprocesses for students and their families. These processes include student ees. It could take weeks, or even months, before the process was complete— enrolment, field trip permissions, career and technical education applicadepending on the person or department involved. Sometimes the onboardtions, and more. Our goal is to provide students and their families with user ing process involved more than 30 pieces of paperwork that needed to be logins to our technology platforms so that they can better manage their own filled out manually. Once new employees completed the paperwork, they had educational journey.
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
33
HOW it’s DONE 5 Ways to Make Your PLN Work for You RITA MORTENSON, Educational Technology Coach, Verona Area High School
instructional strategies for teachers to use in the classroom, I turned to my PLN and learned about a variety of SOS strategies (Spotlight on Strategies) https://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/category/trending-topics/spotlightAs the educational technology coach and a district personalized learning on-strategies found in the new Discovery Education Experience. Educacoach for Verona Area High School, http://vahs.verona.k12.wi.us in Verona, tors are united by a common desire to see all students succeed, so you’ll Wisconsin, a key part of my role is supporting my colleagues as they learn to find that PLN members will always share their expertise, passions, and integrate technology into the classroom. We’re in our fourth year as resources with you. a 1:1 iPad school (K–12), and we’ve made great strides in our digital • Use your PLN to source virtual presenters or guest transformation. In order to do this, I’ve been working actively with speakers. Guest speakers and content experts are a great teachers to develop lessons and content for our 1:1 iPad environment way for students to learn from others around the world. to meet the needs of all learners by incorporating universal design for I’ve found that my PLNs are an abundant source of learning principles. passionate individuals willing to share information via Personally, I’ve found that Professional Learning Networks Google Hangouts or other conferencing software. (PLNs) can be an immense benefit to teachers who want to continue • Use your PLN for personalized professional to grow their classroom practice. I’m a learning. Educators are lifelong professional Discovery Educator, Apple Distinguished learners by nature. In addition to participatEducator, Google Innovator, and ISTE Arts ing in their school system’s formal professional and Technology PLN Leader, and in each learning programs, many educators are unof these PLNs I’ve learned valuable lessons dertaking their own, self-directed professional and made tremendous connections that learning through their PLNs. Through book EDUCATORS BY NATURE ARE support my work each day. clubs, discussion groups, interactive courses, LIFELONG PROFESSIONAL I couldn’t do my job, or be the educator and weekly webinars, PLNs can be a great venue LEARNERS. IN ADDITION or person I am today, without my PLNs. for educators seeking to continue their profesTO PARTICIPATING IN THEIR If I post something in an area that I know sional learning through non-traditional means. SCHOOL SYSTEM’S FORMAL members of my PLNs view or visit, such as Furthermore, many organizations such as PROFESSIONAL LEARNING Twitter, Facebook, or various blogs, within Google, Apple, and Discovery Education offer PROGRAMS, MANY EDUCATORS 24 hours I’ll have answers to questions, professional learning. ARE UNDERTAKING THEIR OWN, shared resources, or people volunteering to • Use your PLN to support or challenge your SELF-DIRECTED PROFESSIONAL support me with a project. perspective. I find that my PLNs offer a window Here are five ways you can immediately to the larger educational community and can LEARNING THROUGH THEIR PLNS. put a PLN to work for you: support or challenge my perspectives. Through • Use your PLN to collaborate with my PLNs, for example, I can learn what it’s like others or answer questions about to teach in rural schools around the United topics and content. My PLNs are a tremendous support to me, because States or in other parts of the world. It’s refreshing to learn how other if I need a collaborator on a project, or if I’m uncertain about how to educators around the world would approach a problem or find solutions address a problem or an issue, I can turn to my PLNs for support and to challenging issues. No matter what idea I’m looking to explore, I can answers. Often, answers to a problem I’m having or resources for a always count on my PLNs to challenge my thinking and provide a way for challenge I’m facing have already been solved or found by one of my me to connect with others outside of my organization. PLN colleagues. At our PLN opening day kickoff last year, one of the presenters men• Use your PLN as a source for creative and effective resources. I love tioned that we’re better together. I believe that and apply that truth on my that educators share. Recently, I needed to learn more about how I could educational journey. PLNs are a wealth of information and professional incorporate digital citizenship into various content areas. I turned to social support, and I encourage all of my colleagues to find a PLN that will support media and my PLNs and received responses immediately. In seeking new their needs.
34
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
HOW it’s DONE Seeing the Whole Lesson with Video Reflection AMY HENDERSON, 11th grade English teacher at the Wonderful College Prep Academy in Delano, California
the students are showing patterns of correctly rewriting the equations. However, the teacher notices that, in the actual assignments, the majority of the graphed equations are incorrect. Noticing this pattern can help the teacher see what material he or she might need to re-teach. This is good practice. But how would that planning change if the math teacher had a video recording of the lesson for that day? By reviewing the actual minutes of the lesson, the teacher can more accurately analyze their instruction to determine the cause of the students’ misunderstanding. Perhaps the teacher needed to provide additional information or try a different approach to explain the concept. With this practice, the teacher is not simply reteaching what students may have missed. Rather, the teacher is evaluating how to reteach so that the same mistakes are not repeated. This is best practice.
As a teacher, I spend the majority of my planning time trying to find new and insightful ways to engage my students, to give clear instructions, and to relate content to them. I remember planning one lesson specifically with these things in mind. The material and assignments were rigorous, I differentiated my instruction, and my students laughed at a joke I cracked during class. Based on all of these factors, I considered the lesson a success. But when I graded the work, I found that only a handful of students completed the assignment correctly. Where did I go wrong? I don’t go out of my way to be boring, give terrible directions, or be condescending. In fact, like most teachers, I try to do the exact opposite. But if teachers are trying so hard not to make these kinds of mistakes, why do we continue to make them? The short answer is that we don’t always see our mistakes exactly as they LITTLE UNNERVES A TEACHER happened. MORE THAN HAVING TO WATCH How might my attitude and response THEMSELVES TEACH. IN MY FIRST to my lessons change if I could actually YEAR OF TEACHING, I KNEW THAT witness them from the perspective of the I HAD A LOT TO LEARN, BUT I WAS students?
NOTICING (AND FIXING) BAD HABITS
Video reflection is incredibly helpful for specific, targeted lessons, as well as for noticing patterns in instruction. For example, when reviewing a series of video recordings in my classroom, I noticed that HESITANT TO RECORD MYSELF. I favored the right side of the room when SURELY, MY MEMORY OF THE FROM GOOD PRACTICE teaching and when circling the room to LESSON WAS ENOUGH TO TO BEST PRACTICE answer questions during independent LEARN FROM AND REFLECT Little unnerves a teacher more than work time. ON. I WAS WRONG. having to watch themselves teach. In my In five specific lessons, I taught almost first year of teaching, I knew that I had a the entire time from the right side of the lot to learn, but I was hesitant to record classroom and directed my focus to those myself. Surely, my memory of the lesson was enough to learn from and students nearly twice as often. Subsequently, these students participated reflect on. more and had more questions answered than those on the other side of the I was wrong. Towards the beginning of the year, I began recording room. When I became aware of this completely unintentional pattern, I videos of my lessons to share with a mentor using the video coaching was able to refocus my teaching and deliberately work around the room so platform Edthena. The first time I watched a video of myself teachthat all students were engaged and had equal opportunity to answer quesing, I’m pretty sure my eyes started to bleed a little. My directions were tions and provide comments. terrible and confusing and my jokes, though funny, were sometimes Whether you’re a first-year teacher who needs some honest, sometimes distracting. brutal, feedback, or a seasoned teacher who’s stuck in a rut, video reflection Watching an entire class’s reaction to my lesson showed me that only a helps to expedite progress in an authentic and rigorous way. few students were actively engaged. While I admit that realization was a bit Nobody likes to look at their flaws, and yet that’s exactly what preof a blow to my ego, it was also an incredible step towards my progression cedes improvement: knowing that we need to improve. I’ll admit that and improvement as a teacher. video reflection can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable at first; but, as By using video reflection in the classroom, teachers are able to educators, comfort is not our end goal. Our goal is to teach effectively engage in a more accurate reflection on lessons and how they relate to and inspire our students. We ask them to trust us, to be vulnerable. So, student outcomes. For example, consider a math teacher who gives out what better way to show them our dedication than to hold ourselves to an assignment on rewriting and graphing equations. During class, all the same standard?
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
35
REVIEW Want to go deep? Our colleagues at tomsguide.com put any and every piece of tech available through its paces. Tech&Learning highlights the gear that works for schools.
Kobo Libra H2O Review in Progress: A Compelling Kindle Alternative By Henry T. Casey , Tom’s Guide
the Oasis and Paperwhite, and its 7-inch size is as large as the Oasis’ and bigger than the Paperwhite’s 6-inch screen. Oh, and it’s even got the display warmth setting that the Oasis offers. Kobo openly claims that this technology is meant to “ensure you aren’t kept awake at night,” which Amazon does not claim for the Oasis. For the most part, the Libra H2O’s backlighting is just as even as both of the Kindles, so it looks like the entire screen is illuminated. The one place it fails is the quarter-inch of space on the side of the screen next to the buttons, where the lighting is slightly dimmer. I wish the Libra H2O offered automatically adjusting backlighting, so I didn’t have to tweak that setting when I started reading. Amazon limits this feature to the $249 Oasis. The Libra H2O’s color contrast — which admittedly is not as important as text rendering — is also a bit below what I expect at this price. As I browsed the Kobo Store online, this caused book covers to appear slightly less clear in thumbnail form than on the Kindles I’ve reviewed in the past.
Amazon rules the e-reader mountain with its Kindles, but an old foe is refusing to give up the fight. That’s Rakuten, which just launched the Kobo Libra H2O ($169), an e-reader priced to sit in between the Kindle Paperwhite ($129) and the Kindle Oasis ($249). I’ve been testing it for a while now and I’ve found it to be an interesting alternative to the Kindle. Not only does it integrate local library books far better than a Kindle, but its interface is cleaner as well.
DESIGN: DIFFERENT DOESN’T MEAN BETTER The Kobo Libra H2O’s design stands out, and not in a great way. Much like a paperback book, the button-side of the e-reader curves upwards, almost like it warped during shipping. Also, when I’m spending more than $150 on an e-reader, I’d hope that it would be metal, and not the plastic that the Libra H2O is made of. The Libra H2O offers physical buttons for page turning and interface navigation, which Amazon limits to the super-pricey Oasis. Unfortunately, the Libra’s buttons are stiffer on the half that’s closer to the middle of the e-reader, whereas the Oasis’ buttons don’t have such an issue. Oddly enough, the buttons come mapped in the reverse pattern of what I expected, with the top button (it shifts no matter how you hold it) going back a page, and the bottom button moving forward. To fix this, you can tap the Gear icon in the menu bar to bring up Reading Settings and then tap Inverted. The Libra H2O measures 0.2 - 0.31 inches thick and weighs 6.8 ounces, making its overall dimensions similar to the Kindle Paperwhite (0.32 inches thick, 6.4 ounces) and the Kindle Oasis (0.13 - 0.33 inches thick, 6.6 ounces).
DURABILITY Rakuten says its HZO Protection gives the Kobo Libra H2O water resistance to the IPX8
36
| O C TO B E R 2 019
rating, with endurance of up to 60 minutes in 2 meters of water. That matches Amazon’s IPX rating for the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Oasis, and we will test it in one of our dunk tanks as we continue to update this review. While water resistance is a great feature, it’s become something of a standard, as Amazon offers it in the Paperwhite, which is $40 cheaper than the Libra H2O.
DISPLAY The Kobo Libra H20’s Carta E Ink display is sharp and offers about as many perks as you’d expect at this price. As I started Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror (Random House LLC, 2019), I saw that the publisher’s default font rendered crisply and clearly, making it easy to read paragraphs of text that were slightly more academic than I was ready for at the moment. At 300 ppi, the Libra H2O is just as sharp as
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
READING EXPERIENCE AND INTERFACE The Kobo Libra H2O’s interface reminds me of Apple’s old motto: it just works. When I reach for a book (or eReader), I just want the book itself, and not to be thrown into some social ecosystem. I don’t mean to constantly reference Amazon, but the Kobo Libra H2O reminds me of how good a Kindle interface could be if it just focused on the book. Opening Mat Johnson’s Loving Day (Spiegel & Grau, 2015) on the Libra H2O I was pleasantly surprised to not be asked about Goodreads integration, or get the metadata about the author, the cruft that Amazon plops onto it. And as I read Loving Day, I also noticed that Kobo doesn’t show you passages that other people underlined, a feature that I wish Amazon would disable by default (yes, you can turn it off yourself, but nobody wants to fiddle with the settings secKOBO LIBRA H2O, CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 ❱
REVIEW OurPact Parental-Control App Review: Gets Kids Involved
OurPact is one of the Best Parental-Control Apps for iOS Users
By Sean Riley, Tom’s Guide
rules first, and then installing the apps on the child’s device as the final step, simply feels like a better interaction. OurPact was also unique in that the process for setting up the child’s iOS device, for those interested in the Premium tier, was considerably more involved than it is for setting up a child’s Android device. In Android, you just download the app from Google Play and agree to its requests for permissions. On the child’s device, you install OurPact Jr. and you put OurPact on the parent device. Parents and children can use different platforms. But on iOS, the OurPact Premium tier required you to download a separate installer utility to a Mac or Windows computer. You then plugged the child’s iOS device into your computer, turned off “Find My iPhone,” backed up the device and finally restored the device. With the iPhone 7 Plus that I used for testing, the restore process alone took approximately 45 minutes, making the initial setup about an hour in total. Then you sign into your OurPact account from Safari on the child’s iOS device. At that point you are finally done and can create the profile for your child, a quick and easy process that identifies the child’s name, date of birth and, optionally, gender.
OurPact is a relatively recent entrant into the parental-control-app market. It launched in 2015 and had a significant focus on the iPad.
COSTS AND WHAT’S COVERED Unlike most other parental-control apps, OurPact breaks its features into three pricing tiers. Free users can control a single child device with up to five manual blocks per month and a single automated block schedule. Upgrading to OurPact Plus for $1.99 a month bumps you up to 10 child devices, unlimited manual blocks and unlimited automated block schedules. Finally, OurPact Premium, at $6.99 a month, delivers everything the service has to offer for up to 20 child devices, including unlimited manual blocks, unlimited automated block schedules and the rest of the features that will be covered later in the article. Unless you want to only limit the window of time during which your child can use his or her device, the Premium tier is the only option that really matters. There’s no discount for paying for an entire year; you’ll be paying the full $23.88 or $83.88 regardless.
APPLE FALL 2018 APP STORE POLICY ENFORCEMENT In the fall of 2018, Apple began to enforce previously neglected policies surrounding the usage of Mobile Device Management (MDM) by consumerfacing apps. A number of parental-control apps, including OurPact, used MDM to grant parents a lot of control over their children’s iPhones. (MDM is a level of software control, often provided by third-party apps or utilities, that’s supposed to be used only by enterprise IT departments when managing company-owned iPhones.) Apple’s change in policy enforcement disabled several features found in the OurPact Premium tier, including location tracking, geofencing, app organizing and usage allowance. The OurPact Jr. app intended for children’s iPhones was removed from the App Store. Parents still had control of a child’s iPhone
using the parental OurPact app, but the child was no longer able to view anything related to the restrictions the parent imposed, including remaining usage-allowance time. Existing or previous OurPact users could still install the OurPact Jr. app via their OurPact parent apps, but new subscribers are unable to do so.
APP MANAGEMENT
INSTALLATION We installed OurPact on a Google Pixel 2XL running Android 9.0 (Pie), an iPhone 7 Plus and an iPad Air 2. We used a 15-inch 2017 Macbook Pro running MacOS 10.13.6 to access the OurPact web portal. As with most parental-control apps, the first step toward using OurPact is to create an account on the website, in this case OurPact.com. You next add your child(ren) to the account, and OurPact immediately asked which type of device (Android or iOS) your child uses and guides you through the installation of the software on that device. With other services, this is typically the final step. It’s a fairly minor complaint about OurPact, but the other method of setting up the account and
The app-management screen in OurPact is simple to understand and operate. By default, every app is set to adhere to the schedule or manual blocks that you input elsewhere in the app. However, you can go through on an app-by-app basis and set each to “Always Blocked” or “Always Allowed.” Toggling “Always Blocked” will make the app seem to disappear from the child’s device; “Always Allowed” will leave the app available even during scheduled or manual blocks. At the time of this review, OurPact was the only service among those we tested that offered full app-management functionality on iOS as well as Android — even after the MDM policy change. In August 2019, after this review was first published, OurPact added “App Details,” which ports OURPACT, CONTINUED ON PAGE 38 ❱
WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
37
REVIEW Kobo Libra H2O Review in Progress: A Compelling Kindle Alternative
OurPact is one of the Best Parental-Control Apps for iOS Users
❱ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 36
❱ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37
tion of an e-reader). Even better, Kobo doesn’t pollute your home screen with ads, like Amazon is wont to do. The Kobo home screen also feels more relaxed and welcoming, with a smaller, more-minimalist menu bar at the top. Both Kobo and Kindle interfaces have a lot of similarities, though, as you tap the top right corner of a page to add a bookmark (though Amazon makes you tap a second time to confirm). Kobo’s also added a new “scrubber” mode for skimming throughout the entire book — formerly, it just let you preview or jump to other pages in the chapter you’re in. This change brings it to parity with the Kindle page navigation on single-page preview, though the Kindle also offers a 3 by 3 grid view, so you can see a bunch of pages at a glance at once.
information such as age rating, functionality and average user rating about each installed app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. It will also let parents know when new apps are installed on the child’s phone.
CONTENT: EBOOKS FROM KOBO AND LIBRARIES
OurPact doesn’t offer any specific SMS text-message management, so if you want to monitor the content of your child’s text messages or block specific contacts, then OurPact isn’t for you. But OurPact can block messaging apps, whether or not they handle SMS, completely. It claimed to be the only parental-control app that can block iMessage on iOS, and sure enough, it was the only app I tested that could. So while OurPact lacks granular control over or monitoring of text messages, you can at least limit the windows of time or the apps that your child can use for messaging.
Kobo’s eBook library is a serious allotment of more than 5 million titles. Amazon doesn’t publish its total number of eBooks, but Tom’s Guide editor Marshall Honorof pegs the tally at around 4 million. However, Amazon touts “over 1 million digital titles you won’t find anywhere else” on its Exclusives section, so I will be looking for anything important or popular Kobo is lacking that Amazon offers. While Kobo also sells audiobooks, the Libra H2O does not support that format. The files it supports range from books (PUB, EPUB3, PDF and MOBI) to images (JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF), text (TXT, HTML, XHTML and RTF) and comics (CBZ and CBR). Most importantly — especially for those without unlimited funds for books — Kobo makes it really easy to ‘borrow’ ebooks from your local library. You just connect your library card to the Overdrive platform and sign into Overdrive on the Libra H2O, and voila! your public library is now a source column on your home screen. The hardest part about the whole process was simply walking across the street from our office to set up an account.
BATTERY LIFE, STORAGE: ON PAR WITH AMAZON Rakuten and Kobo estimate the Libra H2O will last for weeks on a single charge, but it didn’t specify how many. I’ll make sure to keep track of how many days (with an hour of reading, with varied backlight usage, per day) it lasts on a charge for the final version of this review. The Kobo Libra H2O packs 8GB of storage, which it rates as enough space for “up to 6,000 eBooks.” The Paperwhite and Oasis also come with 8GB, but offer an option to pay $30 more to quadruple your storage to 32GB.
OUTLOOK: AN OPTIMISTIC READ The Kobo Libra H2O looks to be the premium e-reader for those who don’t eat, breathe and live in the Amazon ecosystem. Not only does it get the basics right — a high-res screen for nice, lightweight interface — but it also streamlines the process of borrowing books from libraries. I still need to spend more time with it before I can give a final rating and decision on if it’s something I’d recommend you buy. I’ll update this review with testing notes about its battery life, water resistance and other parts of the experience when I provide a final score.
38
OurPact Parental-Control App Review: Gets Kids Involved
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
FILTERING Web filtering is pretty rudimentary in OurPact. If you tap on the icon in the lower left corner of the child’s avatar in the parental app, you get the option to “Block Adult Content” on your child’s device. This is simply an on/off toggle with no other options. The feature works across the major browsers. Thanks to the App Management features referenced above, you have control over whether the child can use an unsupported browser.
TEXTING MANAGEMENT
LOCATION TRACKING OurPact ticks almost all the desirable boxes with its location tracking on Android. The location pane allows you to quickly view a child’s current location, but the geofencing available through the Places functionality is a more interesting aspect. Places lets you specify a location (school, home, park, etc.) and then opt to receive a notification whenever the child’s device either enters or leaves that location. You simply enter an address for the location, then click-and-drag or pinch-andzoom on the map to create the boundary that will trigger your notification. Obviously, this feature is most useful for devices with cellular-data connections, but it also works with Wi-Fi-only tablets when they connect to a Wi-Fi network.
GRANT/BLOCK There’s nothing complicated about this feature, but front and center on the primary management page are two tabs marked “Grant” and “Block.” In two clicks, you can either grant your child additional time for the day or block the device for a specified amount of time. It’s a quick solution that doesn’t mess with any of the rest of your settings.
BOTTOM LINE OurPact is not without its problems. The lack of texting management and the quirks regarding the timer might both be significant issues, depending on your needs. However, OurPact is one of the easiest apps to navigate and control that I tested, and is also one of the best-looking. It should be on the short list for Android users, and, once again now, for iOS users as well, although the latter should also take a look at Net Nanny.
WHAT’SNEW TECH & LEARNING ROUNDS UP A SUMMARY OF NEW TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS
Vernier Software & Technology (www.vernier.com/ biology/physiology) launched the Go Direct Spirometer and Go Direct Blood Pressure sensors to engage students in hands-on data collection. These new sensors join the suite of curriculum resources for high school and college-level physiology which includes 11 Go Direct sensors and the Human Physiology Experiments lab book.
FIRST (www.firstinspires.org) and LEGO Education announced that the 2019-2020 FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Jr. seasons will task students to explore topics related to architecture, infrastructure, and sustainability of future cities, as well as a new offering for kids 4- to 6-years-old: FIRST LEGO League Jr. Discovery Edition.
The Hall Research ( hallresearch.com/page/Products/UHBSW2) UHB-SW2 is a wall plate HDBaseT extender kit comprised of a 2-gang wall plate Sender and a Receiver. The system is perfect for all commercial AV and K-12 installations and supports HDMI, USB 2.0 and VGA with audio input.
FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM. WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
39
WHAT’S NEW
hardware & software
Sphero (www.sphero.com), with the addition of the littleBits ( littlebits.com) line, will now feature a portfolio of
over 140 patents in robotics, electronics, software, and the Internet of Things. Teachers will have access to thousands of community-generated inventions and activities, and over a thousand lessons tied to NGSS, CSTA and Common Core standards.
ACCELERATE LEARNING STEMSCOPES MATH
(www.stemscopes.com) Accelerate Learning has released its first core mathematics program, STEMscopes Math. Available in English and Spanish, the new STEMscopes Math curriculum will be available for grades 3–5 and will then be expanded to grades K–8, with Common Core and custom state versions to launch in the coming years.
BULB DIGITAL PORTFOLIO FREE BULB+
(www.bulbapp.com/h/bulb-digitalportfolio-gives-accounts-to-all-teachers) bulb Digital Portfolios is giving all
Ashly Audio’s (www.ashly.com) new mXa-1502 Mixer Amp is an integrated product bringing four zones of mixing and DSP, plus 2 x 150W of power and programmable mic preamps and a complete DSP suite – all in a single, compact rack-mountable unit. Schools can use this for theater productions and auditorium presentations.
teachers bulb+, the company’s premium account, absolutely free. Now teachers everywhere can use bulb to fuel their professional growth and teaching. With a free bulb+ account, teachers can create personal collections, curriculum and resources, track professional development, establish learning plans, and more.
CAPSTONE PEBBLEGO RELAUNCH
(www.capstonepub.com/library) Capstone announced substantial enhancements to its PebbleGo database. Among the improvements include accessibility for children with disabilities,
simple navigation, text-to-speech on all articles, transcripts for all videos, screen reader support, alternative text and descriptive titles, access keys for keyboard-only navigation, and mobile responsiveness.
CATCHON
(www.catchon.com) CatchOn unveiled a brand-new platform that offers an add-on module for classlevel data. The new platform launched ahead of the 2019-20 school year. The comprehensive, device-agnostic solution will deliver the same great features and
FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM.
40
| O C TO B E R 2 019
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
software & online services CatchOn users nationwide have come to know and rely on.
CLASSCRAFT STORY MODE SEASON 1
(www.classcraft.com) Classcraft: Season 1 is a part of Classcraft’s new “Story Mode,” which is designed to help teachers improve student engagement, foster a positive school climate, and promote social emotional learning (SEL) through a series of stories set within the Classcraft world. Season 1 explores themes of self-discovery and human relationships.
CODE WITH GOOGLE
(edu.google.com) Code with Google combines Google’s free curriculum and programs that build coding skills—from beginner level to advanced—to help students succeed. Teachers can integrate CS First into their classroom, guide their high school students to the free code learning app Grasshopper to learn Javascript, or share CS scholarship opportunities with students.
CONSCIOUS DISCIPLINE & MAXLINK GROUP PARTNERSHIP
(consciousdiscipline.com) Conscious Discipline announced a partnership with Beijing-based Maxlink Education Group. Conscious Discipline’s
trauma-informed social and emotional learning best practices will be fully implemented in 10,000 preschool and kindergarten sites, primary and middle school classrooms and consulting centers in China by 2029.
CURRICULUM ASSOCIATES IREADY & READY CLASSROOM MATHEMATICS LEARNING GAMES (i-readycentral.com/articles/learninggames) Curriculum Associates has added Learning Games to its i-Ready and Ready Classroom Mathematics programs. The new interactive games provide engaging mathematics practice that strengthens students’ understanding of mathematical concepts—including fluency and number sense—and fosters a positive relationship with the challenging skills found in today’s elementary standards.
DISCOVERY EDUCATION
(www.DiscoveryEducation.com) To help educators welcome students back to the classroom after summer vacation, Discovery Education has added immersive new assets to its digital services, including engineering and biology programs from Science Channel, investigation and conservation content from Animal Planet, new content from Shark Week, Spanish availability for math videos, and more.
EDSBY CAPTURE
(www.edsby.com) Edsby now offers a mobile device application to help educators document
WHAT’S NEW
student progress and achievement. Edsby Capture, available via the App Store and Google Play, gives students and teachers the ability to easily capture photographs and video of their work, and create evidence items within the commercial Edsby platform. After a record is uploaded, it’s automatically added to the Edsby evidence stream and associated with relevant students.’
FOUNDATIONS IN LEARNING UPDATE
(www.foundations-learning.com) Foundations in Learning launched the Foundations Learning System, an integrated solution that combines a screener, diagnostic and intervention, along with curriculum guides and detailed reporting, to change academic outcomes for students from second grade through high school who struggle with reading comprehension and fluency due to poor word recognition skills.
GOOGLE FOR EDUCATION ORIGINALITY REPORTS
(edu.google.com) Google for Education launched Originality Reports, a new feature that helps both instructors and students ensure the authenticity of coursework by flagging any text that has missed citations and has high similarity with text on the web or in books. It is available through the Classrooms and Assignments feature.
FOR MORE OF THE LATEST PRODUCT RELEASES, VISIT US ONLINE AT TECHLEARNING.COM. WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
| O C TO B E R 2 01 9
|
41
software & online
ON DEMAND Check out the following resources from our partner sites:
MCGRAW-HILL ALEKS ALLSTAR EDUCATOR AWARDS
SQUIRRELS LLC DITTO TVOS RECEIVER APP
SKYWARD SIS & ERP SELF-ASSESSMENT: DISTRICTCHECK
XELLO
(www.mheducation.com/aleksallstars) McGraw-Hill announced the launch of the first annual ALEKS All-Star Educator Awards, a new awards program honoring outstanding educators. The inaugural 2019 program will recognize one K-12 teacher and one higher education instructor who have used ALEKS to achieve exceptional results, going above and beyond to help students succeed.
WEBINARS How to Launch an Instructional Technology Strategy Sponsored by: OverDrive Education
Strategies for Building Proficient K-12 Writers Sponsored by: Voyager Sopris
Content, patience and a plan: How to launch an instructional technology strategy Sponsored by: OverDrive Education
Strategies for Delivering Required ESSA Reporting and Supporting Student Success
(www.skyward.com) Skyward announced a new SIS and ERP self-assessment, DistrictCheck, developed in partnership with GreyEd Solutions, which helps school leaders collect feedback from stakeholders through a private URL. Then, the system organizes the data to give a detailed picture of the performance of each district’s systems and processes.
Sponsored by: BrightBytes
8 Ways Teachers Can Incorporate Technology into the Classroom Sponsored by: Voyager Sopris Check techlearning.com for updates
AD INDEX
2019
Blocksi 17
44
Hall Research
27
Lightspeed Systems
Deadline: October 15, 2019
7
15
Powerlogistics
2
SJSU School of Information
5
2019 Awards of Excellence Opens
As Tech & Learning celebrates its 40th anniversary, our editors and advisors will recognize 40 outstanding products in our annual Awards of Excellence contest. For 40 years, Tech & Learning has reported on how edtech products are improving teaching and learning. In keeping with this mission, our 2019 Awards of Excellence contest will focus on stand-out products that are improving the way educators work and students learn. To further celebrate our 40th anniversary, we’ve added a new category this year: Best re-invention of a classic legacy technology.
Netsupport 43 Optoma Technology
(www.xello.world/elementary) Xello, the K-12 college, career, and future readiness program, has launched Xello for Elementary. Created to engage elementary aged students, the program equips learners with a tailored experience that encourages self-discovery, creates career awareness and nurtures futurereadiness skills. Available in English and Spanish (U.S.), English and French (Canada).
40 Years | 40 Finalists | 1 Big Party!
Boxlight 13 Classlink
(www.airsquirrels.com) Ditto is a wireless presentation software made by Squirrels LLC, a creator of screen mirroring technology including AirParrot and Reflector. Ditto users can screen mirror multiple device types and up to four devices simultaneously with the new Ditto tvOS Receiver app. The app covers Chrome OS, iOS, Windows, and more.
https://www.techlearningawardsofexcellence.com/2019 #TLAOE19
FOR FOR MORE MORE OF OF THE THE LATEST LATEST PRODUCT PRODUCT RELEASES, RELEASES, VISIT VISIT US US ONLINE ONLINE AT AT TECHLEARNING.COM. TECHLEARNING.COM.
42
| OC TOB E R 2 01 9
| WWW.TECHLEARNING.COM
9000