While this fact might seem farfetched – especially as tweets about #Top10FavouriteOasisSongs, Kim Kardashian, and the fact that Bachelor Ben choose America’s most hated woman Courtney as his wife last night abound Twitter cyberspace – it has merit as studies indicate that when used correctly, Twitter can boost student grades and inspire those who are typically less engaged to communicate with their teachers.
The study found that while social media in the classroom vastly hurts the learning environment and students’ performance, it can help “in big ways” when done correctly. Researchers recently completed two case studies to compare the effects of Twitter on schools. In the first case study, Twitter use was required and in the second it was optional. In the first example, the social networking site was used for class discussions, asking questions, forming study groups and required Twitter assignments and other relevant class materials; in the second group, it was used for class discussions and projected on screen during class. The results of the survey indicated that the first group had an average GPA that was 0.5 points higher than the other group.
But how can that be when 18- to 21-year-old students are bound to be more interested in checking to see if their school made it into the NCAA tournament (go Cuse!), then they are with commenting on social hierarchies and feminism in “Jane Eyre.”
Well, researchers contend that the GPA can improve but only when three best practices are followed for using Twitter in the classroom. The first is that professors must participate because when professors don’t engage with students on Twitter, optimal benefits cannot be reached. Moreover, Twitter use must be structured. The final step is that Twitter must be required.
As someone who is a bit doubtful as to why we really need social media for personal use, I have to say that I am not all together that shocked by these survey results because I have never for a second doubted the ability of social networking to bring advantages when used for commercial or educational purposes. And, just as businesses need to be on Twitter and Facebook, as that’s where their consumers are, schools need to figure out how best to use these social networking tools in the classroom as that’s where their students are.
The one thing that is resonating loud and clear every day more that I am in the “real world” is that social networking is huge for businesses – from the large enterprise to the SMB. Employees need to know how to use social media for business purposes so that they can help their companies grow their fan bases, increase their exposure and refine their customer engagement strategies. I’ll go so far as to say that in another few months don’t be surprised if you are inundated with job postings from companies looking for a Social Media Manager (if you haven’t seen them already) – someone whose chief job is to handle companies’ social networking sites and respond to negative critiques immediately. The real world expects you to know how to use these sites, so why not get a head start using them in college?
Sure, tweeting about a homework assignment or holding a group discussion via Twitter is a bit different than having a customer discussion through Twitter, but the overall goals are the same – figure out how to communicate your point in 140 characters or less; develop respect for the importance of real time answering; and become adept at using 21st Century technology tools.
I am happy for the schools and teachers who have already realized that bringing Twitter and Facebook in the classroom – in the right format – can be of great service to their students. You are preparing them for a business world that will not only expect them to be familiar with these tools, but practically demand it.
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Well, for students at McPherson College, not only will you look un-cool if you show up at “Intercultural Communication” class, taught by Dr. Becki Bowman, assistant professor of communication, but you will be violating Bowman’s declaration that Intercultural Communication will be a “paperless class.”
From the very first day of class, students will not be handed one single piece of paper – no paper tests, syllabi, or assignments. Conversely, the 20 coeds will be given iPads to use during the semester and they will turn to these trusty tablets for taking tests, researching, reading textbooks, writing and turning in papers through a wireless application called “Bump.” Once the semester is completed, students will have the opportunity to buy the iPads for $200, as opposed to the $499 it costs brand new.
According to Bowman, going paperless will lead to a more interactive, engaging classroom experience.
“They get more interested in the class. They retain more information. They’re more engaged,” Bowman said in a recent article. “I think the way our country is moving forward with technology, it’s a great skill for them to have.”
For sophomore Josh Dunback, the paperless classroom idea is a novel one that is both exciting and “a little surreal,” he said.
“Having a device that’s as expensive and advanced as this, it’s a great idea to have the college experiment with going with these,” he said. “I think we’re starting to get to a day and age that people know how to use the technology. I think paperless is going to be the way to go in the future.”
In my opinion, Dunback is 100 percent right as paperless will be the way of the future. With medical files, receipts, banking transactions, and sales deals already paperless, it is only a matter of time before schools catch up.
Aside from the obvious benefits of paperless classrooms – such as no more “the dog ate my homework” excuses, back pains from heavy backpacks, and fewer trees having to die – there are some bigger advantages to a paperless classroom as well. Most importantly, it prepares students for the workforce they will eventually enter, a workforce that has given rise to the term BYOD (bring your own device).
In today’s work environment, employees oftentimes have a laptop, second computer screen, a tablet, and a business cell phone. Seldom do people show up to meetings with notebooks as computers and tablets are simply more efficient. Accordingly, kids who are taught to use these technologies at an early age will be able to edge out the competition during job interviews as these skills will become just as valuable as good communications and writing skills.
Already we are seeing a divide at the workplace in that students who were taught how to type and use computers at a young age are outperforming work colleagues whose typing and computational skills might be adequate as best. Those employees are churning out emails at a rapid fire pace, completing duties faster and bringing to their office interactive ways to hold meetings – such as video conferencing.
Bowman is simply at the head of a race that is about to start. Whether it’s a laptop or a tablet, schools need to start figuring out ways to make their students 21st Century ready.
]]>From iPhones to iPads to iTouches, to anything i-related, Apple has certainly never been one to take a nap when it comes to technology innovations. But, its latest announcement appears to have less to do with i-madness and more to do with my favorite topic – education.
Sure, Apple has already dipped its feet in almost every tech pool – from gadgets to tablets to gismos galore –but now it appears that the empire wants to take a stab at something a little less techy and a little more “schooly.”
Some industry analysts are surmising that the big announcement is that the company is planning on improving its iBooks platform –which was recently upgraded to include sound, video and other features. Others are more convinced that Apple will announce tools to help create interactive eBooks, or the “GarageBand for eBooks,” and expand its current platform to distribute them to iPhone and iPad users. And, still, others are confident that perhaps Apple is ready to take a stab at the digital textbook nascent market.
While the new venture might propel Apple into a more vast education landscape, Apple has done a great job showing its support for education thus far. Most importantly, the company has unveiled a series of educational learning apps that bring an interactive component to everyday lessons. In particular, Apple has made quite a splash in the special education market with apps like the Autism Timer, which offers a digital timer for students with autism; the Proloquo2Go, which offers picture-based communication for children with communication disorders; and iWriteWords, which encourages fine motor skills.
Moreover, through the iPad, Apple has been able to bring video conferencing to the classroom which allows students to go on virtual field trips, collaborate with students from foreign countries and participate in interactive dialogues. Even more, last year, the company teamed with Teach for America in an iPad donation program that helped put thousands of the devices in classrooms around the country.
With a company like Apple spearheading a new initiative, the possibilities are truly endless. Now, back to my dreams of digital textbooks and an app that helps you prioritize which homework assignments to do first…
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It may appear so as the search engine King is not on the receiving end of holiday cheer lately.
Today, Consumer Watchdog – a nonprofit consumer advocate group – cautioned the third largest school district in the nation, Chicago Public Schools, against implementing an email system from Google as it searches for a new system. It’s chief rationale? That Google was not able to successfully implement an email system for the City of Los Angeles, despite its reports to the contrary.
In a letter to the Chicago Board of Education, Jamie Court, Consumer Watchdog president, and John M. Simpson, the group’s Privacy Project Director, warned: “On its Google Apps For Government website the Internet giant cites Los Angeles as a success story. It is not. Rather it has been a saga of a series of missed deadlines, broken promises and an inability to deliver a system that meets security needs two years after the project was started.”
“In Los Angeles Google has been unable after two years to meet the security requirements of the Los Angeles Police Department,” wrote Court and Simpson. “This should not be surprising; the fact is that Google is an advertising company. This is where 96% of its revenue came from in 2010. It's not a computer services company, so the resources it devotes to serving governments and school districts are small and the errors Google will continue to make will be huge.”
Chicago Public Schools has asked for proposals to implement an enterprise email, collaboration and archiving system for 45,000 employees and 430,000 students by next summer. The request for proposals asked for a solution capable of meeting the needs of 500,000 users with the possibility of increasing to one million in the future. Google Apps is one of the solutions being proposed by seven bidders.
The proposals are expected to be considered at the board’s Dec. 14 meeting.
And, according to Consumer Watchdog, Chicago Public Schools might want to pay extra close attention to its RFP from Google.
As the consumer advocate group contends, although Google was supposed to provide email service to about 30,000 Los Angeles city employees with help from CSC, Google managed to put only 17,000 city employees on the system. Even though the company assured the city two years ago when the project was launched that it could meet this demand, Google still cannot meet the security requirements of the Los Angeles Police Department and other city employees involved in law enforcement, according to reports.
And if the word of Consumer Watchdog is not enough, included in the letter is a statement Randi Levin, City of Los Angeles ITA general manager and chief technology officer, wrote Google last year about the problem.
She said, “These failures are wholly unacceptable to the City of Los Angeles. CSC and Google have repeatedly committed to meet particular deliverables on specific dates, only to reveal, at the last minute, that the set deliverables/dates will not be met. CSC and Google’s behavior goes beyond a mere failure to communicate in a timely manner, and instead, on several occasions, has risen to the level of misrepresentation.”
In today’s teaching environment, virtually everything is handled via email. Sure teachers might convene once a week for faculty meetings and have in-person conferences with parents, but these gatherings are almost always followed up with by emails – emails that delineate exactly what was discussed and in some instances students.
Crucial information is being sent via email every day – from a student’s test score to students’ IEPs (individualized educational plans) to information on students’ financial backgrounds (when you are talking about private schools and admissions). Imagine the travesty that can strike if the email system is hacked and this information is sent to the wrong school community member.
But don’t take my word for it. I asked my co-worker Rich Steeves, who was a teacher before heading over to TMC, to weigh in on the recent Google Apps issue and school security.
“Email is an increasingly important tool for educators. It allows them another avenue of contact for busy parents. A teacher can send an email right away in class, as soon as a child does something wrong (or right), instead of waiting for after school or a planning period to call home,” Steeves said. “In districts where students have email, too, that allows them another way to contact teachers. They can’t call us, but if they have email, they can drop us a line.”
“But if Google cannot provide security, this is an issue,” he added. “It would be a disaster if email, which oftentimes contains confidential information, is hacked. I think any district would value email security over most other concerns when selecting a vendor.”
Guess Santa’s helpers will have to check back in on Dec. 14 to see if Santa has changed his mind about bringing a lump of coal to Google Apps for the holidays.
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In fact, instead of having to remember what I got on that Spanish quiz weeks ago (to figure out how what I had to score on the upcoming quiz to get an A for the semester), I could just go to Blackboard and glean all my grades for the entire semester.
And for teachers – whether they are at the high school or college level – Blackboard allows instructors to have one central hub in which students can be directed which contains all relevant coursework and information. In so doing, it puts responsibility in the hands of students and cuts down on time spent in class completing menial tasks (like handing out homework assignments).
“We enable clients to engage more students in exciting new ways, reaching them on their terms and devices — connecting more effectively, keeping students informed, involved, and collaborating together,” Blackboard officials explain on their website. Well stated if you ask me.
But now, in this era of apps and smartphones, Blackboard has gone mobile with Blackboard Mobile Central, which makes that great user interface and campus life accessible on the go. Now students can get on-demand access to essential campus information, when and where they need it. For example, a student can use the app to figure out how to get around campus, see what events are happening and locate books.
I’m a little jealous, if I am being honest (especially since as a young college freshman I seldom knew how to find my way back to my dorm which was a good three miles – or so it seemed — from the campus quad.)
It seems others are a fan of the service as well. According to recent reports, mobile apps deployed by Blackboard have reached nearly three million downloads and currently more than 1,100 higher education institution and school districts worldwide use Blackboard Mobile native applications. The apps have been accessed by students, faculty, staff and alumni in 127 countries.
"The ability for an institution to immediately reach its community and provide direct access to course content and campus life services through mobile devices is critical to improving the overall campus experience," said Kayvon Beykpour, vice president and general manager of Blackboard Mobile, in a statement. "We look forward to seeing continued momentum as colleges and universities pursue mobile initiatives and discover ways we can help empower their communities through our product offerings."
Let’s take a little bit more of the Blackboard Mobile-type apps and a little bit less of Angry Birds, yes?
]]>Well not unlike students, teachers are looking to get in on the power of collaboration and thanks to Skype, it looks like teacher collaboration just got a whole lot trendier.
Recently, Skype, the educational technology platform that currently has 16,448 educators signed up from 171 countries, announced a number of improvements to its free online education resource which is designed to help teachers create projects and collaborate with other instructors.
“We've seen and heard about some great projects on Skype in the classroom so far,” Skype blogger Jacqueline Botterill wrote. “To make it easier for you to find the right partners and the right projects we've made some improvements to how you create, share, and provide valuable feedback on projects.”
One of the first advancements is that teachers can confirm end dates for projects and hyperlink to additional content when they are creating projects or sharing resources. And for the teacher who has trouble meeting project interval goals? Fear no more as Skype in the classroom allows teachers to send email notifications to themselves reminding them that by Friday they ought to be done with chapter three of their thesis on “Classroom Management: When to Be Assertive and When to Hide under your Desk.”
In addition, the new version of Skype in the classroom makes it easier to share projects than ever before. Teachers simply need to get a Skype in the classroom badge which allows them to spread the word about their affiliation with Skype on their blogs and on the Internet. Teachers can also promote projects effectively by enlisting the help of Skype project sharing tools which teach you how to embed projects and share them more widely.
Finally, Skype has given team collaboration a whole new meaning as teachers can solicit instant feedback on their projects from teachers around the world who have already successfully completed similar projects. By clicking the “I’ve done this” button on the project page, teachers can leave feedback and content that they have used with similar projects.
Seeing as though I am not a teacher, I have deferred to my colleague TMCnet Copy Editor Rich Steeves, a former social studies teacher, to weigh in on just how helpful these new Skype teach collaboration features are.
“One of the toughest things about being a teacher is working in a bubble,” Steeves told me. “Your colleagues at school and your local community can see the good work you are doing, but, if you and your students put weeks of work into a huge project, like the school-wide Silk Road Fair that my middle school created, it's hard to share that with others. But with the Skype collaboration, we can tap into the experience of other teachers who have put on big projects, talk to educators in parts of the world that we were studying and recreating at our fair, and share our results with other teachers, so classrooms around the world could take our idea and run with it.”
The ease of being able to collaborate with teachers on Skype opens up a world of possibilities for teachers. As Steeves touches upon, thanks to Skype collaboration, projects that are created in small towns can grow legs quickly. For example, a small-town teacher in Wapakoneta, Ohio, can gain international recognition for the fruits of his/her labor.
Even teachers need a little help too, ya know?
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The district is about to earn some pretty nifty bragging rights as it will become the first in the state of New Jersey to implement a full algebra curriculum on iPads by introducing HMH Fuse: Algebra 1 app to students. The year-long pilot program kicks off Monday Sept. 12.
The HMH Fuse: Algebra 1 app, which comes with a tagline of “Light the Fuse of learning,” is the first–ever full–curriculum algebra app created for the iPad, according to company officials. With the app, students can enjoy learning the Algebra 1 curriculum in an engaging, 21st century way.
“The iPad's form-factor and wow-factor engage the digital generation in ways traditional learning methods cannot. Students watch video tutorials, swipe through pages, get just-in-time hints, and walk through complex problems at home or on the go,” HMH Fuse creators explain on their website.
At the Edison Township School District, 60 high school students will participate in a benchmark study during the 2011–12 school year, and during that time, administrators will identify the benefits of HMH′s digital program. The Fuse students′ progress will be measured against a control group in a traditional classroom.
The Edison Township School District needs to be commended for taking such a strong stance in introducing education technology innovation to the classroom. My hunch is that this pilot program was initially met with some dissent from parents and administrators who still believe that the good ol’ blackboard and chalk go a long way. Other parents might have been nervous that if their high school students got too familiar with iPads, they will start to demand that their parents to buy them iPads before heading to college. So, kudos to the district for sticking to its beliefs.
The bottom line is that iPads are where schools are headed and it’s best to introduce students to the technology as early as possible.
In truth, it is difficult to find one piece of technology that has been introduced to the classroom that hasn’t been met with even the tiniest bit of skepticism: from SMART Boards to TVs in the classroom to laptops in every room.
But the fact is that in 20 years, our classrooms are bound to look like something out of the Jetsons, with robotic teaching aids or holographic lesson plans. So let’s follow the suit of schools like Edison Township who are trying to remain ahead of the curve.
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In just a few months, Google+ has taken cyberspace by storm, garnering more than 25 million users since it was launched at the end of June. One of the most popular aspects of the site is that users can divide their contacts into groups and control which information they share with what group; sounds like a pretty fail proof teaching supplement right?
"I think it's fantastic," Esther Wojcicki, a journalism and English teacher at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, Calif., told The Journal in a recent article. "I can put my students in a circle and we don’t have to share everything with everybody, like you have to do on Facebook. That's a huge differentiator, and it's why I can use it in my classes."
Wojcicki, an initial beta user, said she will be using 82 of her 150 Google+ invitations this fall to get all of her students on the social network.
Aley Vaughan, an interactive marketing specialist at the Florida Virtual School, expressed a similar sentiment, noting that her school is currently exploring how best to implement Google+ into the curriculum.
"As an online school, our teachers interact with students in a completely different way than in traditional schools,” Vaughan said. “We actually encourage teachers to utilize social media tools to stay in contact with students. Each and every FLVS teacher is required to complete a social media training in order to represent FLVS and interact with students via social media channels. In addition, each employee is required to follow a strict social media policy. The reality is students are using social networks like Facebook and Twitter every day. In order to really get their attention, you have to be where they already are. Social media can be an invaluable tool in the classroom."
Google+ allows users to recommend a webpage or ad to their friends and family by clicking +1. In so doing, the +1s start appearing in Google’s search results so that users can search relevant and recommended pages.
For teachers, this might just be the first break when it comes to a social networking site that can be used safely in the classroom.
Let’s be honest: As much as we can defend teachers using Facebook to create study groups, post homework assignments and offer kids extra help after school, interacting with kids on Facebook brings up a whole other host of issues – such as blurring the line between personal and professional relationships. (Just take a look at what’s happening in Missouri now if you have any doubt).
But using Google+ for educational purposes seems pretty harmless to most – at least for now. With the ability to create private “circles” – almost like private classes—teachers can make sure that their students are protected. Moreover, since the site isn’t designed for sharing pictures from your booze-filled Saturday night or to join groups such as “When I was your age, Pluto was a planet” (yes, I am talking to you Facebook), it appears uncontroversial for teachers and students to be interacting on this site.
Only time will tell if cyberspace has actually created a social platform that is suitable for teacher-student interactions, but for now I say roll the dice teachers and relish in the fact that you might have actually cracked the code and figured out a way to use social media in the classroom safely.
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This September, in addition to getting new dry erase markers, creating new lesson plans and making sure SMART Boards are in tip top condition, teachers are tasked with scouring through their Facebook friend lists to make sure that they are in accordance with the new law. The law was created after an Associated Press investigation found 87 Missouri teachers had lost their licenses between 2001 and 2005 because of sexual misconduct, some of which involved exchanging explicit online messages with students, according to an MSNBC report.
But many teachers are speaking out against this act, noting that this law precludes them from getting through to their students on the very technology platform that kids use every day.
One English teacher in Missouri, Lucinda Lawson, argued that private messages on these social networking sites give "truly supportive teachers the chance to get help for them when they're in dangerous or compromising situations.”
Another teacher, Alan Maddock, wrote in an email to Gov. Jay Nixon in before he signed the legislation, "I am not a pervert and don't wish to be treated as one. I am very responsible with my Facebook pages and don't appreciate being assumed to be a danger to my students.”
Despite teacher concerns, starting Aug. 28 the law will take effect and will require local school districts to create written policies by January that outline "appropriate use of electronic media such as text messaging and Internet sites for both instructional and personal purposes."
Last week, I played it safe with this law, contending that while it was “a little intense” to make Facebook friending illegal, the act had a lot of merit as well.
This week, I am more confident in asserting that this act will do more harm than good. It is so difficult nowadays for teachers to make an impact on students, particularly with the rise of distractions thanks to the Internet age. If students spend all their time on Facebook and Twitter, then that is where education needs to head. If students feel more comfortable sending their teacher a Facebook message about a homework question then asking it out loud in front of their peers than they should have that option. And if teachers want to be able to post educational reference links on their wall so that their students can get even more help, they should be allowed.
When you cast a dark shadow over helpful social networking sites, you take away a great educational resource for students.
]]>As one of the only girls in her undergraduate program at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, an elite engineering school in India, Pooja Nath had a hard time getting some extra help with her work when all the boys band together to collaborate on assignments. In fact, Nath recounts to the New York Times that she sat “on the sidelines just watching” as others got the homework help they needed.
That experience, however, served as the catalyst for her creating Piazza, a website in which students can post questions to their course page and then peers and educators can respond. Instructors are able to watch over the discussion, mark the best responses and provide comments of their own. Each Piazza homepage is tailored to the individual student, and coeds can enjoy threads of conversations with their peers and teachers until their questions are answered.
This new platform may at first sound similar to the fellow education technology platform Blackboard, which allows students and teachers to communicate via the Internet, but Piazza is designed specifically to accelerate response time as the average question will receive an answer within 14 minutes.
The site is pretty impressive, as evidenced by stats such as the average user spends two to three hours a day on the site and the site has expanded from three colleges to more than 330 in the last year.
As a student who had her fair share of frustration over learning the difference between sedimentary and igneous rocks in college (and yes I know I learned them in eighth grade too!) I can certainly say I would have loved this feature while I was a student. After all, if your schedule is booked when the professor has her office hours what do you do if you have a homework question? Call a friend? Beg them to give up a few minutes of their “Thirsty Thursday” pre-game ritual so that you don’t get an incomplete on the assignment? Not likely.
With Piazza, however, chances are that someone (either your peer or your professor) will be able to get back to you… and quickly. Boy those rocks would have been a whole lot easier.
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Almost six years out of high school, I can save face and tell you that I have a rudimentary understanding of the financial world (but, after all, how good can it be until I buy my first house or start actively planning for my retirement?) But the thought remains: If my generation had understood credit scores earlier, would more of us have been able to rent our first apartments without needing a guarantor? And if we had known about the importance of paying a credit card bill on time, would our parents still have had to bail us out?
Fortunately for many of you high school students out there, education technology leader EverFi is paving the way for financial literacy and helping you guys stay ahead of the game.
Recently, I had the chance to sit down with EverFi to hear about how its Financial Literacy Platform for High Schools, a platform that is integrated into the classroom to teach kids the importance of the Stock Market, credit scores and mortgages all through the use of technology, is taking the country by storm.
Before the program makes its way into the classroom, corporations come forward to fund the software so that the program can be introduced to a school free of cost. Once the school agrees to participate, the software is then integrated into school lessons. The platform, which operates in the cloud, allows kids to log in from all over the country and complete exercises having to do with the various sections of financial education. Kids receive financial literacy certification upon completion of the program.
When the program started three years ago, it was implemented in 80 public high schools by the end for the first year. Since then, the program has expanded to include 3,500 high schools and hundreds of thousands of students. In fact, some leading financial companies like Genworth Financial have been so impressed with the technology platform that Genworth now brings the program to every public school in the state of Virginia, about 320 schools.
In a time plagued by economic hardship, defaulted loans and bad credit reports, I can think of no greater program to bring into our schools, since learning financial literacy is unequivocally more important than learning how to use algebra to solve for FoG and GoF.
So for all you educators who may be reading my blog, please don’t leave your high school students unprepared for the real world and all its financial hardship. Adopt a program such as this. Because six years later, even as your students enter the “real world,” they may still be feeling lost in this complex world of dollars and budgets.
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