K-12 Tech Director - Issue #2 - Q1 2019

Q1 | 2019 | ISSUE #2

Featuring: An inside look at Apple’s newest iPads! see pg. 20

Best of FETC 2019 We’ll dive into the Top Exhibits from this year’s Future of Education Technology Conference Q1 | 2019

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ISSUE #2

Digital Citizenship for Schools

What Age Should Kids Learn to Code?

What are the best practices for students in this digital age?

How young is too young for children to learn to code?

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K-12 TECH DIRECTOR MAGAZINE

06 12 14 Best of FETC 2019

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The Dell 3100 is Coming!

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Digital citizenship for Schools: Best practices

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How to: Build the Next Generation of Electrical Engineers

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Apple Announces its 2019 iPads

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At What Age Should Kids Learn to Code?

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K-12 Tech Humor

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About K-12 Tech Director Magazine K-12 education is going through what could be considered a digital transformation. Studies show that students who use devices such as iPads and Chromebooks at school are more engaged in their classes and receive better test scores. K-12 Tech Director Magazine brings you the latest and greatest news, articles, insights, and best practices for educational professionals that work in this digital age.

IS AT THE HEART OF THE TECH REVOLUTION, SHEPHERDING IN A NEW GENERATION OF DIGITAL CITIZENS THAT BECOME TOMORROW’S GLOBAL LEADERS.

Do you have a story that the K-12 Tech Director universe needs to hear? Please let us know! We would love to tell it to the world.

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RyanMoore

Senior Editor

Lead Research

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CraftBot from CraftUnique CraftBot 3D printer was designed and built from scratch in order to develop the ultimate tool for beginners and experienced users alike. It’s an easy to use, plug-and-play device that allow classrooms to go from unpacking to printing their first-ever 3D object in minutes. https://craftbotusa.com/

MyBot MyBot was conceived and developed to fulfill a need in education for a simple way for students to explore robotics and coding in the classroom. The majority of robotics platforms offered do not allow for them to explore the field of robotics and coding without introducing the complexities of the equipment itself. https://modernroboticsinc.com/mybot-education

Lü Lü engages kids to move and learn by gamifying physical education in a new and innovative way. Dodgeball learning without the dodgeball pain! https://www.play-lu.com/

Vex Robotics The world faces an unprecedented need for new innovators, thinkers, and problem solving leaders. Vex’s goal is to create engaging, affordable, and powerful solutions that immerse students in STEM through the excitement of building and programming educational robotics kits. https://www.vexrobotics.com/

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Brenthaven Brenthaven’s Edge Headphones and Headsets are nearly indestructable with a twistable headband and breakaway tip adaptors. The case is loaded with K-12 friendly features including durable, wipe-clean earpads, a 5-foot braided cord, and they’re drop-tested to protect from falls up to 6 feet.

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https://brenthaven.com/

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Kid Spark Kid Spark Education programs make it possible for any caring educator to teach STEM, even with their youngest students. All Kid Spark Education STEM programs include curriculum, educational media, online professional learning, and other STEM resources. https://kidsparkeducation.org/

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Make Block Targeting the STEM education and entertainment markets for schools, educational institutions, and families, Makeblock provides the most complete hardware, software, content solutions, and a top-notch robotics competitions, with the aim of achieving deep integration of technology with education. https://www.makeblock.com/

Reflex Math Full of games that students love, Reflex takes students at every level and helps them quickly gain math fact fluency and confidence. Educators and parents love the powerful reporting that allows them to monitor progress and celebrate success. https://www.reflexmath.com/

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BirdBrain Technologies With BirdBrain schools can turn anything into a robot using craft materials and electronic components.

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https://www.birdbraintechnologies.com/our-robots/

Bloxels Bloxels EDU is an intuitive platform for creating video games in the classroom. When students build games, they become the writers, artists, designers, and developers of their own interactive stories. http://edu.bloxelsbuilder.com/

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Modern Robotics MyBot MyBot introduces a new and innovative approach to educational robotics. The innovation is highlighted by the Fusion Controller, a Wi-Fi based design that harnesses the power of the Raspberry Pi paired with custom designed hardware. https://modernroboticsinc.com/mybot-education

QBall Qball is the throwable microphone that lets students and teachers pass it around easily… and SAFELY. https://www.buyqball.com/

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Creator Bot Creator Bot Creator Bots introduce both kids and parents to robotics, engineering, and coding in a fun and engaging format. https://www.creatorbot.co/

Crossflight Sky Solutions Crossflight teaches drone basics, safety, and legal requirements so districts can rest easy knowing their advanced classes won’t cause any catastrophes. https://www.crossflightskysolutions.com/

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Ozobot

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As one user says, “Ozobot understands children learn best through play. Even the youngest learners can grasp key concepts of coding, collaboration and problem solving with Ozobot.” https://ozobot.com/stem-education

K-12 TECH DIRECTOR MAGAZINE

Keyboarding Online Keyboarding Online is an intensive course that will teach beginners how to type and experienced typists to type faster. Covered are: alphabetic keys, punctuation, numbers and symbols. https://www.keyboardingonline.com/products

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Teachlogic Sapphire Teachlogic is a hands-free, lightweight, and hardly noticeable microphone worn on a lanyard or clipped directly to the teacher’s neckline collar. http://teachlogic.com/product/sapphire-irt-55irt-60/

Custom Manufacturing Solar Kit Want to spark your kid’s solar power passions? Custom’s STEM kits do just that, with their Portable Educational Equipment & Training System for use with grades 3-12. They provide science experiments on electrical, geographic, and solar energy. https://www.custom-mfg-eng.com/

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Patent Dive Patent Dive knows that meaningful innovation education isn’t just an enriching activity for kids.

The workforce actively rewards people who have patent knowledge, through better opportunities and higher wages.

Robotis

http://www.robotis.com/

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https://www.patentdive.com/educator/

Robotis presents a wide variety of engaging robotic technology to boost classroom tech training programs.

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TeacherGeek Teacher Geek students will learn science and engineering concepts through experimentation, grow their understanding and evolve projects through the design and engineering process. https://teachergeek.com/collections/all-products

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Web Around

Web Around provides an affordable, collapsible, portable web cam background and green screen that helps students instantly become engaged in video and communication products. https://thewebaround.com/

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Weird Enough Productions Weird Enough Productions uses media content to change hearts, and media literacy education to change minds. They use the influence of media to change the world for the better. https://weirdenoughproductions.com/

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In the educational sector, Dell has again continued their expansion with their latest flagship Chromebook Laptop – the 3100 and the 3100 2-in-1. The 3100 has a semi-rugged design that can be supplemented with a separate protective case. It’s got a spill-resistant display, and other features designed for the unpredictable, and often destructive educational environment.

With an entry price of $249 the Dell Chromebook 3100 is the cheapest of their new EDU laptop releases. It boasts an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 16GB or 32GB of storage.

The notebook measures about 12in x 8.2in and weighs 2.9 pounds, putting it right in the middle for normal EDU specifications. It has a 42 watt-hour battery and a 65W USB Type-C power adapter.

While these indicate it is a junior-level device, it does have 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 and optional support for a gorilla glass touchscreen display.

Dell’s Chromebook 3100 2-in-1 model has similar specs, but it has slightly more weight at just over 3 pounds, has a 360-degree hinge, comes with a choice of 32GB or 64GB of eMMC storage, and can support 4GB or 8GB of RAM.

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Digital Citizenship for Schools: Best Practices from Scott Smith | former CTO to the Moorseville Graded School District

The mission of the Mooresville Graded School District is to prepare every student, every day to be a responsible citizen in a globalized workspace, economy, and community. This means being a great citizen in-person, as well as in the new digital world of education.

Students are – to say the least – extremely social creatures. They bond, group, pack, and connect with other students. It’s almost always the case that they gather together to communicate, see, help, and share with each other.

Technology has provided these students with entirely new community paradigms, which are places they digitally inhabit – as a digital citizen. As this technology becomes more prolific and complex, K-12 around the country have struggled to define what online etiquette should be for students who are online in any form. This has become critical, given the steep rise in cyberbullying, sexting, and even suicide that has come from the misuse of technology.

Scott Smith, who was the Mooresville Graded School District (MGSD) CTO for 8 years, and an Assistant Superintendent for 3 years, helped define and deploy appropriate digital citizenship a decade ago, when many schools were not focused on it… Along with most other schools, MGSD didn’t focus on this early, and what it truly means to be a good digital citizen. The etiquette, (or ‘Netiquette”, as Scott says) defines how you act online, what things are appropriate to put online, how to you respond to posts online, cyber bullying management, and data privacy. It 14

also impacts content research and creation, defining what is a copyright vs. “copywrong”, when you cite your sources, and what’s a valid Internet source.

In setting up the Mooresville Digital Citizenship program, they focused on five different categories: 1. Identity, Reputation, and the Footprint You Leave 2. Relationships and Communication 3. Cyberbullying 4. Safety, Privacy, and Security 5. Creative and Copyright

Identity, Reputation, and Your Footprint: Today’s tech savvy students leave more of a digital footprint (or really a tattoo) than they would guess – a footprint that can be searched, shared, and seen by a huge, anonymous set of people. A responsible student is mindful of that, and takes control over their digital footprint, monitoring very closely what they post online. This means exercising diligence when posting the blogs, photos, and personal profiles. MGSD wants them to learn that although online information provides

K-12 TECH DIRECTOR MAGAZINE

it can make people feel, how to respond, and strategies on what they can do when they encounter it. Scott Smith wants to make sure that students understand it’s essential to tell a trusted adult if something or someone makes them feel angry, sad, or threatened online. an incomplete picture of a person, it can still affect how the world perceives that person.

Whether it’s “real” or “fake” personal information, people only see a portion of the complete persona, and that limited view defines students more than they would guess. Assuming different real or fake personas online carry both benefits and risks, both of which Scott wants his students to understand.

Relationships and Communication: Students are obviously social creatures, and the current crop of them communicates more prolifically than any other generation that ever existed. Email, text, chat rooms, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, and hundreds of other options give them the ability to connect and communicate with most of the earth’s population. MGSD wants them to understand the benefits of sharing information online and the potential risks of sharing inappropriate information – especially with people who might intend harm in the future.

This interaction becomes their “digital life” and connects them in more social and interactive ways than ever before, and it’s being leveraged by both friend and foe.

There are obviously dangers online in the form of online predators, but there are also people inside a student’s educational environment that could pose a more realistic form of inappropriate contact.

Safety, Privacy, and Security: Students know they can go to exciting places online, but MGSD wants them to follow certain rules to always remain safe in a notso-safe world. Scott wants them to learn to follow safety rules when they travel around the web, just as they would when roaming around the real world.

Many websites ask for or require user information that is private. Students need to know how to responsibly handle this type of request. Obviously some of the student’s information is private in nature and should

Students learn and explore best practices for approved communication tools like email to interact with fellow students, teachers, staff, and family within their schools and communities.

Cyberbullying: Children can occasionally act like bullies when online. MGSD makes sure students understand what cyberbullying means, how Q1 | 2019

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never be shared without a trusted adult’s guidance. Examples of that would be location/address, contact information, and health records. Students also need to know the protocols for creating usernames, and how to create secure passwords in order to protect their private information and accounts online.

Creative and Copywriting: MGSD students are introduced to a number of critical lessons on copyrights, fair use policies, and the generally accepted rights they have as content creators. Part of this is teaching them the basics – title, name, and date – for crediting creative work. Scot makes sure they understand the importance of citing work, as well as give themselves credit so others can attribute their creations when re-used or re-mixed. They also makes sure the students know how to do effectively and efficiently use a variety of searching strategies. He also stresses the importance of qualifying sources. In today’s digital age, anyone can publish anything they want on the Internet, so not all websites are equally trustworthy.

SUMMARY: Scott’s goal with his Digital Citizenship program is to establish group norms to create a positive online community that promotes responsible and respectful digital behavior within the classroom. His goal is to create a group of upstanding digital citizens who exhibit exemplary attributes online, and encourage others to do so as well.

The key is for him to make sure students understand the “checklist” of needed items. That is the only way to ensure the Mooresville Graded School District can achieve its mission, where every student is prepared to be a responsible citizen in a globalized, digitized community.

This type of program is essential as students and schools move into the digital age.

We create technology that makes life better for everyone, especially students and teachers. Education is our inspiration. It motivates us to do, make, invent, and reinvent. Technology is the future of education.

And as such, it needs to be reinvented to work with education.

This is our calling. This is the new HP.

Keep reinventing.

Build the Next Generation of Electrical Engineers Most people only think about the electricity that powers our homes and gadgets when it’s lacking.

When the power is humming, we tend to take it for granted. The trouble is, the network that delivers the electricity to keep our lights on, known as the grid, is sometimes pushed to its limits. High demand can lead to blackouts and increased operational costs. As technology advances, the grid is being asked to do more and more… while the labor force to manage it dwindles by the year.

To be very, very clear, the problem of electrical engineering shortages should not be underestimated.

According to industry experts, about 25% of today’s electrical engineers are 55 years old or older. Once this mass exodus occurs, the industry will face a critical skills deficiency that could leave companies scrambling to fill many essential roles.

Yet with every great industrial challenge comes an industrial sized opportunity. The electrical industry, along with EDU institutions have to leverage the current scholastic student base to prepare the electrical engineers of tomorrow by equipping them with the skills, tools, and experience they need to make the transition to the next generation as smooth as possible.

This new generation of power engineers is needed to build and operate the world’s interconnected “smart grids” with advanced systems that incorporate renewable energy sources, advanced control systems, communications, signal processing, and security threat assessment and prevention. To fill the increasingly huge amount of workforce needed for global electrical engineers, students need to be inspired, empowered, and equipped.

overloaded with theory yet lacking the hands-on experience to hit the ground running. When it comes to educating students about complex subjects like this, how you teach and bring the subject to life is critical for student’s long term successes in the field.

Some K-12 STEM, Charter, Public, Private, and Home Schools are taking the leap and integrating this curriculum into their schools, with varying degrees of success. Most attempting this offer very limited modernized techniques, while relying on books, videos and online resources to provide the materials.

It’s up to educational leaders to empower this learning leap and build the next generation of electrical workers in a way that can successfully bring in a new era of engineering expertise.

There are 4 steps to establishing a successful engineering program in your district:

1) Show the dream.

Let the kids see all the cool gadgets and devices they could (and should) be working with. Light it up.

Shoot lasers. Flip the switch. Show the end result.

Let their little eyes go wide. The creation of a new pipeline of talent begins with interest. The industry should partner with educational institutions down to the elementary and middle school levels to build excitement about the robust opportunities available in the field.

Engineering programs are struggling to mentor younger workers, who emerge from said programs 18

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2) Emphasize the future job potential.

Electrical engineering as a field has incredibly strong potential for job growth. Educational leaders should harness this to make the career path attractive to students at all levels. Students want to know they have a future, along with a steady (fat) paycheck, and this is a way to give it to them.

3) Plan hands-on lessons.

This means you need to shift from books, videos, and online resources (basically, theory) to physical labs and exercises. This means giving future engineers access to tools and products similar to what they would be creating or using in the real world.

By integrating the concepts learned in the classroom with hands-on experiments, students gain a deeper and longer-lasting understanding of the topic. Introducing real-world application of engineering concepts at the K-12 level and providing them access to intelligent lab and building supplies will help accomplish this as well.

4) Embed the desire for lifelong learning.

Students must understand that everything they see today will be improved upon or replaced in the future. They will want that future knowledge to launch their careers in today’s world and continue to grow as professionals down the road.

While the industry outlook is troubling, K-12 has the opportunity to prepare the next generation of skilled engineers for success. Soon students will be building open-source robots, wiring advanced electronic schemas, building and coding solutions and products, and more – all in a fun and engaging format for both kids, parents, and community. This will open an entire world of interactive projects for your children to become industry leaders of the future.

The EDU sector has deeply embraced the entry-level iPad 9.7” for use in classrooms by students, teachers, and administrators. Now, Apple is coming out with a new 10.5 inch iPad Air to give K-12 and higher education more options. This new iPad version has a remarkable 10.5-inch display with noticeably thinner bezels, a faster chipset that matches the power in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and a much improved, higher-resolution front-facing camera.

This new iPad Air has larger internal storage configuration options and has performance numbers that are double those of the latest iPad 9.7” model.

Some reviewers are making the comparison be-

tween this new iPad Air (2019) and the iPad Pro 10.5 (2017) which Apple has “end-of-lif-ed”, choosing to repackage the best components into this newer, better version.

The 2019 iPad Air release date is Monday March 25, when the first pre-orders will ship. At that time, many Apple followers believe could be a teaser about a rumored 7th generation of the iPad 9.7 inch, to help bolster the entry-level options for districts who have adopted the Apple platform.

For more information, please visit Apple.com.

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At What Age Should Kids Learn to Code?

In today’s digital age, coding classes, apps, and programs have become ubiquitous and are aimed at all ages, from toddlers through senior citizens. Kids are spending more time interacting with computers than ever before. Programming, in particular, has become the new literacy. According to a Computer Science Educational study, 90% of parents want their child to study computer science, particularly computer programming. However, the flip-side of the digitalization of society is that kids are spending more and more time in front of screens.

Studies show that too much screen time during formative years can be damaging to kids. More than two hours of screen time per day has been linked to developmental and psychological problems.

best to begin educating students in programming earlier than this. Planting these seeds sooner creates a strong foundation for kids to build on their programming skills throughout their formal education.

Coding Teaches Kids Essential Skills

This raises the question: How young is too young for children to learn to code?

Studies show that children are able to understand basic logic and three to five step commands by the age of four. These concepts are the building blocks to learning programming. Coding also teaches kids to use logical thinking and break down a large problem into smaller pieces in order to solve it. They learn that if the first solution doesn’t work, they need to think of another one and keep trying until the problem is solved. Coding can assist in developing these critical thinking skills in kids.

Early Childhood Is the Optimal Time to Learn New Languages

Coding Helps Kids Have More Fun with Math

It’s well known that children learn foreign languages much more rapidly than adults. In fact, the two-seven year age range has been shown to be the optimal time for children to acquire new language skills. Since computer programming is its own language, it makes sense that younger children would acquire programming skills most rapidly and are more likely to retain these skills than their older counterparts.

Coding can be considered as a “math language”. It allows students to use logic and calculation skills while also tapping into their creativity to create something tangible. Students who may not normally have

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a strong interest in math may truly enjoy coding, and they will grow their fundamental math skills without even realizing it. This can help boost their mathematical abilities and interest at a formative point in their education, which can benefit them throughout their schooling.

Coding is the Future Children who start learning to code early will have an advantage in life with more employment opportunities available to them in the future, no matter the industry. Computer programming skills are sought after in nearly every industry – healthcare, finance, government, retail, and more – not just the technology sector.

Programmers are in high demand as technology advances, and, because qualified computer programmers are sought after, they command high starting salaries.

Overall, there’s no such thing as “too young” for kids to start learning the fundamentals of coding, so long as it’s presented in a way that’s appropriate for their learning level. Though studies show that it’s important to limit overall screen time for kids, coding can be easily integrated into kids’ daily screen time allotment. With the prevalence of coding apps and games targeted to younger kids, they may not even realize they’re learning while they’re having fun!

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What are computers’ favorite snacks?

Microchips, phish sticks, and cookies.

But just a few bytes of each.

MARCH 2019 | ISSUE #2

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