Education Technology

DECEMBER 2019 | EDUCATIONANDCAREERNEWS.COM

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EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

Why Brittany Wagner of “Last Chance U” thinks students need better access to tech Online How teachers can improve student learning with the principles of user experience

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Understanding the Future of Learning Educational technology (edtech), when used correctly, is a powerful tool that can help enhance students’ learning and growth.

As technology has become ever-present in our daily lives, edtech has become an essential learning tool. Our recent “Learning in the 21st Century” survey found that: • E ighty-five to 91 percent of parents, teachers, and the general public say edtech helps students get new information and ideas • Sixty-two to 72 percent say edtech helps students find new learning strategies • Fifty-three to 65 percent say edtech helps with organizational and task management skills Using tech wisely Edtech alone is not a magic wand that can boost educational achievement. Nor should it be considered as a replacement for teachers. Instead, it must be woven into evidence-based powerful learning environments and experiences. Through coaching, continuous improvement practices, and opportunities to further their own learning, teachers should be fully supported as they tap into innovative edtech that helps students engage and achieve.

Karen Cator, CEO, Digital Promise

How Technology Can Transform Student Learning Equitable access to learning technology can help bridge educational gaps for students around the country.

Imagine students in a rural school having access to the same electron microscope as their big-city peers. Or a student who’s legally blind working side-by-side with classmates to design a functional electric car.

These are just a few of the ways technology is transforming education.

Bridging the gap But even as the future we envision starts to appear in our schools, there remain gaps that must be addressed so that every learner has the opportunity to thrive.

The smart use of learning technology can accelerate the right solutions.

Our schools still struggle to provide an education where every student has

We can only accomplish this if every teacher is prepared to thrive in tech-enabled classrooms from day one.

Joseph South Chief Learning Officer, International Society for Technology in Education

the resources they need to be successful regardless of their neighborhood or zip code.

Reimagined tech We need to ensure that students everywhere have opportunities to use digital tools actively for creative problem-solving. And that takes more than wires and devices. It requires us to rethink what it means to teach and learn with students at the center.

Teachers matter Research shows that 96 percent of teachers think education technology increases student engagement in learning, but 43 percent say they haven’t received the training they need to teach with technology. When we have students in every school who actively use technology to learn and create, and teachers who are skilled in using technology in transformative ways, our education system can play a powerful part in closing equity gaps.

As educators and parents, the power is with us to use those tools to give every single student a transformative learning experience that meets their needs. n

Publisher Katie Konfino, Brianna Roberts, Dalila Radoncic Business Developer Gretchen Pancak, Joelle Hernandez Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Keziah Makoundou Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Sydney Scott Director of Sales Shannon Ruggiero Director of Business Development Jourdan Snyder Director of Product Faye Godfrey Content Strategist Vanessa Rodriguez Cover Photo Tiffany Pryor All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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The Language of Learning

How Technology-Based Language Development Solutions Accelerate Learning

Horace Mann once coined the phrase, “Education is the great equalizer.” As such, language is its foundation; the foundation of all learning. While it’s important to develop language skills at a young age, not all children have the same access and exposure to acquire the fundamental language skills needed to be successful in school and daily life. That’s changing and technology is helping close the gap.

Researchers have documented that during preschool years, children living in poverty are often exposed to lower quality and lower quantity language-learning environments1. According to literacy nonprofit Reading Is Fundamental, 34 percent of students entering kindergarten lack the basic language skills needed to read. In the most recent Nation’s Report Card only 35 percent of fourth graders were proficient in 2019, down from 37 percent in 2017. Students who are not proficient readers in the third or fourth grade are at high risk of dropping out of school.

Poor reading ability has detrimental effects for future income, employment opportunities, and participation in society.

“We are passionate about providing equity of access to learning for all students through teaching with technology,” says Jeremy Cowdrey, president of Imagine Learning, a PreK-8 digital curriculum company. “We believe every student has the right to fulfill

PHOTO: IMAGINE LEARNING

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their unique potential. Our goal is to meet students where they are and provide educators with datadriven insights that inspire teaching and learning breakthroughs.”

The company started 15 years ago with the concept that language should be an asset to help children reach their full potential. First, they offered a program to help students learn the English language in context with developing both language and literacy skills.

Now, more than 3 million students across the country benefit from Imagine Learning programs daily. The adaptive suite of Literacy, Math, and Assessment solutions are powered by the Imagine Learning Language AdvantageTM — a theory of action that promotes rigorous and equitable development of language that enables students to have deeper comprehension, engagement, and enjoyment of learning.

one benchmark of success, the Imagine Learning team is more proud to help teachers amplify confidence and inspire learning breakthroughs for their students.

Ten years ago, Meriden Public Schools in Meriden, Connecticut started using Imagine Language & Literacy for its bilingual programs. Since 2015, the program has been implemented in all of the district’s elementary schools.

“Imagine Learning programs are embedded into our core content,” says Mark D. Benigni, Ed.D., superintendent of Meriden Public Schools. “It’s part of what we do now.”

Since then, their Smarter Balanced Assessment third-grade reading proficiency is up 20 percent; student performance in the Smarter Balance Assessment is up 25.6 percent; and there’s a 35 percent increase in students scoring Level 4, the highest standard, on the assessment.

Results Imagine Literacy students are 1.8 times more likely to outperform their peers on state tests and Imagine Math students are 3 times more likely to be proficient on state tests. And while performance on state assessments is

Personalized approach The technology is a supplement, not a replacement for the teacher.

And it can both support and improve the ways teachers help students learn.

For example, “Our programs recognize when a student is hav-

ing trouble in a certain area, it flags that issue for the teacher and informs individualized instruction. The teacher can then provide one-on-one support to help that student understand the topic and advance,” says Cowdrey.

The programs also offer unique access to live teaching support both in and out of school from certified, bilingual teachers. This provides equitable educational opportunities to all students and aligns with national initiatives for edtech equity.

Urgency The educational technology gamifies content, which is appealing and interactive for children. Dr. Benigni says it’s a positive use of screen time.

“It’s a learning tool,” he says.

“The careers of tomorrow are going to require our students to be digital learners. We would be remiss if we weren’t preparing them to live in a world where technology plays a key role.”

“There’s room for traditional learning and tech in the classroom. Both have to work in tandem to accelerate the learning for students,” says Emma Sanchez, retired principal and executive director of language acquisition and development for the Chula Vista Elementary School District, the largest elementary school district in California.

Sanchez believes there’s a sense of urgency too. “This is the responsibility of the entire educational community,” she says. “We all share this responsibility to ensure every learner’s academic success.” n Kristen Castillo 1

Chiang, Walsh, Shanahan, et al., 2017 MEDIAPLANET • 3

In the age of increased privacy laws and cybersecurity threats, student safety is more important than ever.

There is nothing more important to parents than the safety of their children. In this digital age, the threat to children has expanded to online predators and risks. Schools are focused on teaching children how to understand, manage, and protect their digital footprint.

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New regulations Since 2000, federal laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act have mandated actions necessary to protect children’s safety online, yet serious challenges remain in keeping students and their personal information safe. Amelia Vance at the Future of Privacy Forum agrees that superintendents are overwhelmed by constant changes in the student privacy legal landscape.

Cybersecurity threats Superintendents are also dealing with numerous cyber threats.

School districts are constantly subject to hacks and phishing attempts to get access to employee bank accounts or install ransomware.

The primary challenge to privacy and security is human. Few districts have technical expertise or can afford to hire new personnel to increase cybersecurity protection. Therefore, educating

staff and parents about how to protect student data becomes essential. The School Superintendents Association (AASA) and 39 other national education organizations co-signed the Student Data Principles to define why we collect student data and to encourage policymakers to consider cybersecurity a national threat. n Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, The School Superintendents Association

PHOTO: AASA, THE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION

Keeping Schools and Student Privacy Safe in the Digital Age

Why It’s Critical to Close the Teacher Diversity Gap SPONSORED

Children of color make up 45 percent of public K-12 students in the United States, but the teaching workforce doesn’t reflect that diversity.

In fact, 83 percent of teachers are white. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) says it’s time to close that significant diversity gap.

Saying schools should be reflective of the diversity that we have in our communities, Randi Weingarten, president of AFT, believes it’s critical to hire and retain teachers with diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.

“It's important for children to see people who look like them in their classrooms,” she says. “It's a positive exposure to role modeling, it reduces stereotypes, it reduces implicit bias.”

Weingarten says it’s equally important for white students to see teachers of color because it debunks stereotypes,

reduces implicit bias, and increases understanding.

Benefits Children who experience diversity in school perform better academically, emotionally, and socially.

Research shows students in integrated classrooms have better test scores than peers in non-integrated classrooms. For example, in a 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress math test of fourth-graders, low-income students attending wealthier schools scored about two years ahead of low-income students attending high-poverty schools.

Another study, which was published in the journal “Child Development,” reported middle school students from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds feel safer, less lonely, and less bullied if they attend diverse schools. The same study, of diverse schools with many ethnic groups of relatively equal size, found there was less prejudice and more tolerance of students of differing ethnicities.

Researchers believed teachers treat all stu-

dents equally and more fairly in diverse schools.

Additionally, research suggests diverse classroom environments promote creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

Challenges Weingarten says teachers often feel a lack of respect. They want better wages too.

Another issue is the underfunding of historically black colleges and historically Latinx colleges, which traditionally have been the pipeline for diverse teachers.

“You basically have a pipeline scarcity and you have competition from other fields. All of that creates this diversity gap,” says Weingarten. “We need to be really intentional in how we attract and keep a diverse workforce and in teaching.”

Retention It’s important to retain teachers of diverse backgrounds. According to a report from the Learning Policy Institute, teachers of color move schools or leave teaching at an annual rate of 19 percent, compared to 15 percent of their white peers.

In a federal teacher fol-

low-up survey, teachers of color said they left for various reasons, including concerns about compensation tied to student performance, lack of administrative support, lack of classroom autonomy and school influence, as well as poor teaching conditions, and other factors.

Advocacy AFT, which represents teachers, paraprofessionals, and school-related personnel, advocates for being deliberate about keeping pace with the changing student demographics. They’re creating support among educators, including mentorship programs.

They’re also preparing teachers to take certification exams. It’s especially important because bias has been found against candidates of color taking the exams. AFT is working with testing companies to diversify the board on which teachers sit and develop and vet test items. Test-takers are often required to pass exams that are outside of their specialization.

There appears to be a racial disparity in test results as well: on one testing company’s exam, 92 percent of

white test-takers pass the test’s reading portion compared to 68 percent of African American test-takers. In math, 72 percent of white test-takers passed, compared with 36 percent of African American test-takers.

AFT is working with that testing company and others to ensure there’s no testing bias.

Additionally, AFT is focused on intentionally creating more diversity pipeline programs through “Grow Your Own” initiatives across the country. For example, the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers engaged high school students interested in education to go into that field and then return to teach in Pittsburgh public schools.

These efforts and more can help increase diversity inside and outside the classroom.

“We need to strengthen our public schools, so that every neighborhood and every school is some place the parents want to send their children to, educators want to work, and kids have a welcoming and safe, and an academically enriching environment in which they thrive,” says Weingarten. n Kristen Castillo MEDIAPLANET • 5

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Dr. Elena Novak, associate professor at Kent State University, tells us about the benefits of an advanced degree in education technology.

How does earning a master’s degree in education technology benefit both educators and students?

Our master’s in educational technology is appropriate for anyone who is passionate about best practices for improving learning, teaching, and effective technology integration in educational and training settings.

Academic Counselor Brittany Wagner on Closing the Technology Gap in Schools Brittany Wagner, star of the hit Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U,” has spent her career helping college athletes in need. Now she’s talking about the technology gap in schools that’s hurting low-income students.

PHOTO: TERRY ZUMALT

Why You Should Pursue a Master’s in Education Technology

What area of education (math, science, English) is this kind of degree most applicable to?

The field of educational technology is content-independent and therefore applicable to any area of education. Our program focuses on effective technology integration in various contexts, including online and blended education, immersive learning technologies, nursing education, and workforce training.

What other career opportunities does a master’s in education technology open up?

Our graduates work in schools, community colleges, universities, the military, workforce training, and government agencies as teachers, technology coordinators, instructional designers, technology curriculum experts, online and blended specialists, educational technologists, multimedia and game developers, and training specialists.

What challenges do students face?

Poverty and our education system are the two biggest issues. Until we can close that gap of socioeconomic status and how we educate our children, I think we're going to continue to face the same issues over and over again.

Many schools these days give students iPads instead of textbooks. Is technology helping students?

It’s great that every student gets one. The problem with that is you don't have Wi-Fi. If you're a poor student and all of your schoolwork is to be done on this iPad, you go home and you don't have Wi-Fi. Technology is a good thing. It's a blessing and a curse. When we had textbooks,

we brought them home and we did our homework on a sheet of paper and pencil. But we've made the gap bigger with technology. Even if you give students the technology, if you're not giving them the Wi-Fi, you're not educating them on how to use this technology.

How did you handle this tech gap?

In east Mississippi, I had 200 athletes I was responsible for, and I fought for three years for the school to get me 10 computers.

It was so hard for me to get that point across to our teachers and our administrators — that we cannot expect our students to do every single thing online when we are not going to provide them a computer with which to do it. n Kristen Castillo

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How We Can Empower Teachers to Use Tech in the Classroom We asked Jane Snyder, chief marketing officer at Illuminate Education, how administrators and companies can use tech to support teachers and students.

Administrators can support teachers through the job-embedded professional learning and high quality, needsaligned tools teachers need to turn data into information.

Companies can ensure that teachers' needs drive their product and service offerings. Information-dense, high-impact tools — like high quality distractor rationales or intervention tracking — should fall out from the decisions teachers need to make.

Technology can enhance students’ learning experience in many ways, including: • Immediacy of feedback — with online assessment tools, students immediately understand what they already know and where they need more practice.

• Empowering students as consumers of data — visualization and reporting tools engage students as primary stakeholders in their learning, progress, growth, and goal setting.

• Personalization — educational technology has made it more feasible than ever to provide curriculum, activities, and performance tasks that connect to student interests.

• Differentiation — with edtech, it's easier for teachers to meet students where they are.

• Teacher empowerment — ultimately, almost everything that impacts student learning and experience stems from our actions as adults.

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5 Ways to Advocate for Better Technology in Schools Technology in schools can be powerful in bolstering a child’s education, but we must make sure all children have proper access to these tools for success.

I

t should be no surprise that like most everything else these days, technology and education go hand-in-hand.

Teachers are harnessing technology to bring learning alive and deliver personalized instruction to students. Students are using technology to research subjects and connect with people and places around the world. Today’s employers are increasingly looking for workers with digital skills — even in industries that aren’t traditionally STEM-centric.

Integrating technology Technology has also made it more convenient for families to be involved in their child’s education and to engage in regular communication with teachers and school staff. Email, social media, portals, and other tools are being used by schools, teachers, and families to deliver news and important updates; share calendars, assignments, and activities; and have real-time conversations.

Having access to technology is essential for students to develop the skills they need to be competitive and for families to actively engage in their child’s education. However, among schools and across districts there are great disparities in available technology.

Increasing access to technology in schools is

critical to ensure all students have the opportunity for success — in the classroom and beyond.

Investments must be made to make sure every school has the proper resources and support to help every child learn and succeed.

Ways to help We must advocate at the federal, state, and local levels for robust and equitable investments in education and technology. Here are five ways to advocate: • Attend district and school board meetings and speak about the issue • Send emails and letters

and make phone calls to decision-makers • Conduct meetings with decision-makers or their staff • Use social media to get your message out, garner support, and mobilize • Work with the media to help raise awareness and increase support It is our duty to raise our voices for our own and every child to ensure they have access to technology as well as other opportunities that enable them to learn, grow, and thrive. Together, we can make every child’s potential a reality. n Leslie Boggs, President, National Parent Teacher Association MEDIAPLANET

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Cutting Edge Laser Technology Benefits All Students Committed to supporting school systems with the right technology, AP Lazer offers tools for teachers of STEM, STEAM, and other future-thinking curricula to facilitate real-world problem solving, creativity, and collaboration.

What better tool than a laser? “A laser machine can emotionally connect students of all ages with knowledge.

Students can use the laser to bring just about any idea to life. At the same time, they are learning complex topics like x-y-z motion, computer numerical control, and laser physics, all of which are the future of industrial applications. The collaboration and problem-solving opportunities that come with using a laser will help students thrive in a changing work environment. When students are emotionally connected with education, their interest and curiosity skyrocket,” says Dr. Tong Li, founder and CEO of AP Lazer.

AP Lazer technology provides endless opportunities for hands-on and project-based learning while enhancing any STEAM or STEM curriculum.

Ignite your student's desire to learn with cutting edge laser technology.

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Incorporating STEM Into Classrooms Is Easier Than You Think Teachers can bring STEM education into their classrooms by integrating technology for holistic problem-solving.

T

he term STEM can be daunting. Historically, teachers are trained to teach single subjects rather than simultaneously teaching a combination of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Algorithmic thinking As student groups systematically solve problems, they utilize computational thinking skills: the use of technology to formulate and analyze problems

and solutions, to reason abstractly, and to automate procedures through algorithmic thinking.

Put simply, a programming algorithm is a computer procedure that tells the computer what steps to take to solve a problem or meet a goal. The ability to write logical step-bystep instructions to solve a problem is in itself an algorithm, a procedure for solving problems much like the engineering design process and computational thinking.

21st century skills The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has identified a set of 12 categories of 21st century skills that students need in order to succeed in the information age, divided into three different types: learning skills, literacy skills, and life skills.

Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication are known as the “four Cs” of learning skills, while reading, writing, and arithmetic are considered the “three Rs” of life skills.

As students engage in classroom problem-solving activities, they are honing 21st century skills and their future success. Combine these abilities with readily available digital learning tools and visual learning tools, and students will be armed with necessary skills.

Digital learning Digital learning is any type of learning that uses technology, and includes using smartphones, computers, online games and simulations, social media, email, and blogs. The use of technology to assist in gathering, evaluating, and creating information brings STEM to life. n Nancye Hart, Interim Director, ITEEA STEM Center for Teaching and Learning™

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Tomorrow’s inventors are in today’s classroom.

That spark of curiosity. The drive to discover. Every child has the potential to create and innovate. We can help you surround them with inspiration – with maker spaces, technology, activities and curriculum – all designed to help ignite their imaginations today and help reimagine tomorrow.

Learn more at SchoolSpecialty.com/stem-steam

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