By Sean Scarpiello
It is often easy to take on the mindset that more technology in schools will improve the quality of education. While this is true with the proper implementation of technology, it is more important that parents stay involved in the education of their children. Studies have consistently shown that students with parents and guardians who remain active in their education achieve more in school and later in life. By combining the effectiveness of parental involvement in education and the ease of technology, FreshGrade enables parents and teachers a clear line of communication to track the educational progress of students. FreshGrade helps parents learn more about their children’s education and allows teachers to communicate a highly detailed assessment of students that goes way beyond a traditional report card.
Teachers can easily sign up for a FreshGrade account at no cost to the school or their students. From here, teachers can update parents directly as learning goes on in the classroom. For instance, if a teacher notices a student struggling or excelling in an area, they can instantly send out an update to parents. FreshGrade has an easy-to-use format that includes a gradebook, calendar, and more. Plus, there are webinars and tutorials offered to teachers and parents if they run into any difficulty navigating FreshGrade. This technology is available for use on any computer, tablet, or smart phone through an app available for the Apple App Store and Google Play. There are applications available for teachers, parents and even students.
On the parent side of FreshGrade, there is 24/7 access to a comprehensive student portfolio which is updated by teachers in real time. Here, parents can learn what their children are learning about in school, along with their strengths and weaknesses. It also keeps parents updated on when projects and homework assignments are due. Parents are also able to have a conversation on FreshGrade that goes beyond the traditional parent-teacher conference. Here, parents can hear suggestions on how to improve and supplement their child’s education from their teacher. This can be in the form of direct messages from teachers, as well as pictures, audio-recordings, videos, and other documents sent privately from the teacher.
One added benefit is that students can also have access to this material. Much like having a report card updated daily, students can see where they are struggling. Plus, this also empowers students as it enables them to tell their teacher discreetly where they are having trouble. Teachers are then able to easily respond to students’ issues in the form of a video, audio, or other format. I think this would be particularly useful in a subject like math. If a student is having trouble with a certain type of math problem, they can contact their teacher right when they are facing this difficulty. Teachers can then reply with a video of how to complete this type of problem in more detail. This lets students receive an individualized approach to education and they can watch the video over and over until they gain an understanding of the material. Plus, students do not have to wait until their next class to try and grasp difficult concepts.
FreshGrade is such an amazing technology because it can connect students, teachers, and parents in such a clear and concise manner that is completely free for everyone involved in the process of education. For teachers, this is a particularly useful tool because it offers even more resources than a link of communication for parents. Overall, there is no reason why all grade school students should not have access to this technology, as it improves the quality of education through the creative application of technology.
Source: http://web.freshgrade.com/
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
To Test or Not to Test
By Serenity Lewis
Source: http://www.topeducationdegrees.org/standardized-testing/
Source: http://www.topeducationdegrees.org/standardized-testing/
Sunday, August 10, 2014
The Importance of a Mentor
By Sean Scarpiello
While schools are always trying to be up to date with the latest technology or newest textbooks, there are some factors that go into a high quality education that are not material. It has been highly proven that students with parents who are actively engaged in their children’s education are more likely to succeed, but I also feel that all students need a mentor in addition to involved parents. A mentor can supplement a student’s education because it forces them to take their own initiative in their education. Parents’ roles in education are to really push their children to do their work and succeed whereas effective mentors enable students to become self-motivated to accomplish their dreams.
A good mentor can be anyone. For example, they could be a famous politician, businessperson, or celebrity, a neighbor, family member, a family friend, and even a teacher. A mentor can even be someone successful in a field completely outside of a student’s specific interests. Really, a mentor is someone a student can look up to with qualities that they can try to emulate, such as passion for their field, strong interpersonal skills, or personal drive. When students recognize these important qualities in a mentor, it puts them in the driver seat and helps them to improve themselves independently of their parents.
Further, students should have multiple mentors which play a number of different roles in their life. In my experience, I found a fantastic mentor when I was young who is a neurologist at my local hospital. Aside from his strong work ethic which was evident the instant we met, I noticed that he was truly passionate about his job and his patients. Plus he showed deep compassion with patients and could offer them help in a friendly and serene manner. As I tried to emulate these qualities in my own life, I began to see changes in my personal, professional, and academic life. Another mentor I was fortunate enough to have in college operated in a completely different manner. For my senior capstone experience in college, all students were paired up with a professor to guide them through writing a thesis on a topic the students could choose. The professor I was paired up with had a reputation for always advising the best and hardest working students on their thesis. Early on, she made it clear that she expected our best work and would settle for nothing less. My own motivations for working hard were initially based off of meeting her high expectations, but as she continued to challenge all of her advisees to meet deadlines before our peers with other thesis advisors, all of us found we were ahead of everyone else. This same mindset was contagious and spread through other aspects of our lives where I saw personally that I became bored if I was not challenging myself to achieve more each day.
I have been extremely fortunate to have some fantastic mentors which gave me self-motivation. If more students had these sorts of figures in their lives, I’m sure there would more students who would try to improve themselves independently. A good mentor could get a student to put down their video games and read on their own to improve their vocabulary or go for a run to improve their physical fitness for gym class. Parents do play a vital role in a student’s success, but often times it is the mentors in a student’s life that are overlooked. Teachers and professors are in the best position to be mentors for students because they interact with students every day. However, this does not mean others cannot play meaningful roles in the lives of students. We all have a famous person we look up to and everyone can appreciate the story of someone who came from nothing and has become an outrageous success. The thing about mentors is that most of the time the mentor does not understand just how big of an impact they are having on the lives of those who look to them for guidance. In all, if educators can introduce their class to mentors, we can expect the students to drive themselves to success in and out of the classroom.
While schools are always trying to be up to date with the latest technology or newest textbooks, there are some factors that go into a high quality education that are not material. It has been highly proven that students with parents who are actively engaged in their children’s education are more likely to succeed, but I also feel that all students need a mentor in addition to involved parents. A mentor can supplement a student’s education because it forces them to take their own initiative in their education. Parents’ roles in education are to really push their children to do their work and succeed whereas effective mentors enable students to become self-motivated to accomplish their dreams.
A good mentor can be anyone. For example, they could be a famous politician, businessperson, or celebrity, a neighbor, family member, a family friend, and even a teacher. A mentor can even be someone successful in a field completely outside of a student’s specific interests. Really, a mentor is someone a student can look up to with qualities that they can try to emulate, such as passion for their field, strong interpersonal skills, or personal drive. When students recognize these important qualities in a mentor, it puts them in the driver seat and helps them to improve themselves independently of their parents.
Further, students should have multiple mentors which play a number of different roles in their life. In my experience, I found a fantastic mentor when I was young who is a neurologist at my local hospital. Aside from his strong work ethic which was evident the instant we met, I noticed that he was truly passionate about his job and his patients. Plus he showed deep compassion with patients and could offer them help in a friendly and serene manner. As I tried to emulate these qualities in my own life, I began to see changes in my personal, professional, and academic life. Another mentor I was fortunate enough to have in college operated in a completely different manner. For my senior capstone experience in college, all students were paired up with a professor to guide them through writing a thesis on a topic the students could choose. The professor I was paired up with had a reputation for always advising the best and hardest working students on their thesis. Early on, she made it clear that she expected our best work and would settle for nothing less. My own motivations for working hard were initially based off of meeting her high expectations, but as she continued to challenge all of her advisees to meet deadlines before our peers with other thesis advisors, all of us found we were ahead of everyone else. This same mindset was contagious and spread through other aspects of our lives where I saw personally that I became bored if I was not challenging myself to achieve more each day.
I have been extremely fortunate to have some fantastic mentors which gave me self-motivation. If more students had these sorts of figures in their lives, I’m sure there would more students who would try to improve themselves independently. A good mentor could get a student to put down their video games and read on their own to improve their vocabulary or go for a run to improve their physical fitness for gym class. Parents do play a vital role in a student’s success, but often times it is the mentors in a student’s life that are overlooked. Teachers and professors are in the best position to be mentors for students because they interact with students every day. However, this does not mean others cannot play meaningful roles in the lives of students. We all have a famous person we look up to and everyone can appreciate the story of someone who came from nothing and has become an outrageous success. The thing about mentors is that most of the time the mentor does not understand just how big of an impact they are having on the lives of those who look to them for guidance. In all, if educators can introduce their class to mentors, we can expect the students to drive themselves to success in and out of the classroom.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Practical Knowledge 101
By Sean Scarpiello
Throughout grade school and high school, students learn many important subjects such as chemistry, calculus, foreign languages, literature and more. However, by the time we graduate high school, many of us are not ready to take on the real world. While many of the classes that make up the curricula of American education are important, there are other vital subjects and experiences that can easily be taught in schools for low to no cost.
As we look back on our educations or help our children through their education, we see that all students are constantly asking “when will I use this in life?” Many teachers come up with creative ways to describe a time when the difficult or abstract concept can be used to answer this question before continuing on with the material. In reality, the majority of the facts and raw data we learn in school are forgotten after the final exam. Instead, teachers should focus their students’ efforts on improving analytic and problem solving skills. For example, I work for a small pharmaceutical company where I use an expensive piece of equipment that separates out molecules by size and then forms a graph based on the size of each molecule. By integrating the graph- finding the area under the peaks of data on the graph- we are able to test the purity of cancer drugs. During my schooling, I took a semester of differential calculus followed by a semester of the more difficult integral calculus. Here, I memorized integration rules, struggled to understand Maclaurin series, and tried to wrap my head around finding volume by the rotation of equations. Overall, I look back and see I that spent a lot of time working through grasping difficult concepts rather than applying knowledge and improving problem solving skills. While it is still important to know the basic framework of integrations, we have computer software in the lab which automatically integrates the data for us. For students, it is disappointing to look back and see a year of classes wasted on memorizing formulas when this time could be better spent working on critical thinking or developing hands-on skills. Alternatively, I took an Anatomy class, which is typically associated with memorizing parts of the body, and found that I improved my problem solving skills due to how the course was structured.
Another argument that could be directed especially towards high school is the need for classes on practical knowledge. Too many people today graduate without knowing how to do their taxes, balance a check book, apply for a loan, or many more of the everyday activities needed to be a functioning adult. Additionally, if people aren’t able to fill out tax information or budget their money properly, there can be some huge consequences. I find it frustrating that I can find the volume of a bullet or a doughnut using calculus, but I still need my parents to look over my tax information. I know of many adults who continue to struggle with personal finance, understanding credit, and even gaining comprehensive knowledge of software such as Word or Excel.
To address these issues, high schools could teach or sponsor online classes where students can learn the ins and outs of being a functional citizen. Many students graduate high school and college without some very important skills and experience which could have quickly and effectively been taught as part of the curriculum. A computer or tablet can be a great medium to teach a class on finance which can be simplified using interactive graphs and easy-to-digest visuals. Further, classes on computer applications can teach students all the possible formulas and statistical tests that can be run in excel. Many students who are preparing to graduate would be willing take these classes as they know they are going out into the real world.
In all, schools can effectively use technology and online based platforms to teach students skills, problem solving, and practical knowledge. Also, there are many classes that can be restructured to include many of these skills while leaving out unneeded memorization of formulas and specific details. The use of technology can present these highly beneficial skills in a way that is interesting and interactive for students, while remaining at minimal costs for schools.
Throughout grade school and high school, students learn many important subjects such as chemistry, calculus, foreign languages, literature and more. However, by the time we graduate high school, many of us are not ready to take on the real world. While many of the classes that make up the curricula of American education are important, there are other vital subjects and experiences that can easily be taught in schools for low to no cost.
As we look back on our educations or help our children through their education, we see that all students are constantly asking “when will I use this in life?” Many teachers come up with creative ways to describe a time when the difficult or abstract concept can be used to answer this question before continuing on with the material. In reality, the majority of the facts and raw data we learn in school are forgotten after the final exam. Instead, teachers should focus their students’ efforts on improving analytic and problem solving skills. For example, I work for a small pharmaceutical company where I use an expensive piece of equipment that separates out molecules by size and then forms a graph based on the size of each molecule. By integrating the graph- finding the area under the peaks of data on the graph- we are able to test the purity of cancer drugs. During my schooling, I took a semester of differential calculus followed by a semester of the more difficult integral calculus. Here, I memorized integration rules, struggled to understand Maclaurin series, and tried to wrap my head around finding volume by the rotation of equations. Overall, I look back and see I that spent a lot of time working through grasping difficult concepts rather than applying knowledge and improving problem solving skills. While it is still important to know the basic framework of integrations, we have computer software in the lab which automatically integrates the data for us. For students, it is disappointing to look back and see a year of classes wasted on memorizing formulas when this time could be better spent working on critical thinking or developing hands-on skills. Alternatively, I took an Anatomy class, which is typically associated with memorizing parts of the body, and found that I improved my problem solving skills due to how the course was structured.
Another argument that could be directed especially towards high school is the need for classes on practical knowledge. Too many people today graduate without knowing how to do their taxes, balance a check book, apply for a loan, or many more of the everyday activities needed to be a functioning adult. Additionally, if people aren’t able to fill out tax information or budget their money properly, there can be some huge consequences. I find it frustrating that I can find the volume of a bullet or a doughnut using calculus, but I still need my parents to look over my tax information. I know of many adults who continue to struggle with personal finance, understanding credit, and even gaining comprehensive knowledge of software such as Word or Excel.
To address these issues, high schools could teach or sponsor online classes where students can learn the ins and outs of being a functional citizen. Many students graduate high school and college without some very important skills and experience which could have quickly and effectively been taught as part of the curriculum. A computer or tablet can be a great medium to teach a class on finance which can be simplified using interactive graphs and easy-to-digest visuals. Further, classes on computer applications can teach students all the possible formulas and statistical tests that can be run in excel. Many students who are preparing to graduate would be willing take these classes as they know they are going out into the real world.
In all, schools can effectively use technology and online based platforms to teach students skills, problem solving, and practical knowledge. Also, there are many classes that can be restructured to include many of these skills while leaving out unneeded memorization of formulas and specific details. The use of technology can present these highly beneficial skills in a way that is interesting and interactive for students, while remaining at minimal costs for schools.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Schoolfy: A Creative, No Cost Online Educational Platform
By Sean Scarpiello
With all of the different online learning platforms on market today, it may seem as if there are too many to choose from and that many are all the same. Platforms such as Blackboard, Canvas, and others work well, yet they still have their weaknesses. Schoolfy is a different type of learning platform that aims at individualizing education for each student while remaining affordable to bring education to all students. Just like all other online based learning platforms, Schoolfy gives 24/7 access to class materials wherever students can connect a device to the internet. Schoolfy also enables a clearer line of communication between teachers and students. Schoolfy is designed to avoid the weaknesses of other online learning platforms, while keeping in mind the needs of teachers and students.
One of the biggest benefits of Schoolfy is that it is completely free for anyone with a device and internet connection. This means any student with an email can log into any teacher’s Schoolfy account. Plus, teachers’ accounts can be made private, to share their material with just their students, or public. These public accounts allow teachers to share content with each other, whether these teachers are across the hall or across the country. Further, Schoolfy’s public account pages are a great resource for teachers to look into how other teachers are instructing similar courses, enabling them to bring new and more creative lesson plans into their classrooms.
In addition to the no cost benefit of Schoolfy, this learning platform also enables teachers to create capsules of data to share with their class. In these capsules, teachers can embed videos, links, quizzes, surveys, tables, photos, Microsoft documents, and more. Plus, these capsules have the capability to be shared on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Teachers are even able to share Schoolfy contacts with additional online based learning platforms that the school is using. In order to personalize these capsules of data for students who are struggling with class material, teachers are able to quickly and easily alter capsules and directly send them to individual students. Additionally, teachers can use capsules to survey or quiz students to see how well they are retaining material, thereby giving the teacher the ability to locate weak areas of the class overall which can later be addressed in class.
For students, Schoolfy not only makes education more individualized, but Schoolfy is easy to use. All of their quizzes, links, documents, and other assigned work are open on their own homepage of bright and colorful capsules of data. Here, students can easily view the subject, teacher, and the date the capsule was posted. Students can see everything that they need to complete on one, easy-to-read page, and they have access to the capsules of all other teachers across the country with public profiles. Therefore, they can complete the learning capsules of other teachers for extra practice if they need help in or are interested in a specific topic.
Overall, while there are many other online educational platforms available to teachers and students today, Schoolfy is a no cost option that anyone with a device and an internet connection can easily access. This means teachers and students can read through thousands of fun and interesting educational courses presented in a creative way. Schoolfy is an important educational resource that definitely has a place in the classroom as it is a no cost option for bringing a high quality education to students through technology.
Source: http://www.schoolfy.com/
With all of the different online learning platforms on market today, it may seem as if there are too many to choose from and that many are all the same. Platforms such as Blackboard, Canvas, and others work well, yet they still have their weaknesses. Schoolfy is a different type of learning platform that aims at individualizing education for each student while remaining affordable to bring education to all students. Just like all other online based learning platforms, Schoolfy gives 24/7 access to class materials wherever students can connect a device to the internet. Schoolfy also enables a clearer line of communication between teachers and students. Schoolfy is designed to avoid the weaknesses of other online learning platforms, while keeping in mind the needs of teachers and students.
One of the biggest benefits of Schoolfy is that it is completely free for anyone with a device and internet connection. This means any student with an email can log into any teacher’s Schoolfy account. Plus, teachers’ accounts can be made private, to share their material with just their students, or public. These public accounts allow teachers to share content with each other, whether these teachers are across the hall or across the country. Further, Schoolfy’s public account pages are a great resource for teachers to look into how other teachers are instructing similar courses, enabling them to bring new and more creative lesson plans into their classrooms.
In addition to the no cost benefit of Schoolfy, this learning platform also enables teachers to create capsules of data to share with their class. In these capsules, teachers can embed videos, links, quizzes, surveys, tables, photos, Microsoft documents, and more. Plus, these capsules have the capability to be shared on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Teachers are even able to share Schoolfy contacts with additional online based learning platforms that the school is using. In order to personalize these capsules of data for students who are struggling with class material, teachers are able to quickly and easily alter capsules and directly send them to individual students. Additionally, teachers can use capsules to survey or quiz students to see how well they are retaining material, thereby giving the teacher the ability to locate weak areas of the class overall which can later be addressed in class.
For students, Schoolfy not only makes education more individualized, but Schoolfy is easy to use. All of their quizzes, links, documents, and other assigned work are open on their own homepage of bright and colorful capsules of data. Here, students can easily view the subject, teacher, and the date the capsule was posted. Students can see everything that they need to complete on one, easy-to-read page, and they have access to the capsules of all other teachers across the country with public profiles. Therefore, they can complete the learning capsules of other teachers for extra practice if they need help in or are interested in a specific topic.
Overall, while there are many other online educational platforms available to teachers and students today, Schoolfy is a no cost option that anyone with a device and an internet connection can easily access. This means teachers and students can read through thousands of fun and interesting educational courses presented in a creative way. Schoolfy is an important educational resource that definitely has a place in the classroom as it is a no cost option for bringing a high quality education to students through technology.
Source: http://www.schoolfy.com/
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Learning By Playing - the Best Way to Learn
By Alisandra Wederich
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
- Leo Buscaglia
Most of the time, we think of learning as coinciding more with work than with play. The word, "learning," tends to bring to mind images of textbooks and students bent over desks to study material, or even sitting at a computer doing online research. However, many teachers, and now some schools, are starting to acknowledge that hard work is not necessarily synonymous with great learning - in fact, playing and exploring are experiences that are scientifically proven to cause knowledge to more effectively stay with students.
In Los Angeles, a group of founders and teachers have created a school based on the notion that learning through playing is the best way for students to grasp and retain new material. Aptly named, the Playmaker School, the staff is dedicated to teaching students through nontraditional methods. Rather than teaching rote memorization of historic dates, for instance, the school instructs students on what tools are available to look up such information (this is the age of Google, afterall), and instead of pushing students to regurgitate such information, students are asked to question what this information means.
This is a school that, instead of teaching facts and figures outright, asks students to create meaning, make connections, and problem solve. It asks students to be curious, creative and persistent until the answers are found, and encourages students to use the technology available to them. It's definitely a groundbreaking new way of teaching students how to learn, and staff are constantly re-evaluating their methods to make sure that materials presented are challenging students as well as playful.
Students at the Playmaker School love it, of course. Nolan Windham, grade 6, remarked at how other parents would be critical of how much play was involved, and question if they were learning anything. He says:
"We’re thinking about how when we take in information, how to process it and how to create information and how to create media, how to create different things, and that’s what you are doing in your adult life. You’re taking in things, you’re taking in information, you’re taking in food, you’re taking in money and you’re giving out services, ideas like physical labor. Just all of those things you are giving and taking in, but here you are really learning the internal processing. How all these things work together and what they mean.
Reading about how the Playmaker School teaches physics through having students build model rollercoasters, or imagine and have to research what might happen if the world turned inside out not only feeds student imagination and creativity, but provides valuable teachable moments which educators thrive on. Ultimately, it is a step towards a better education system, but we are going to have to fight against an established system that teaches to standardized tests and regulated curriculum in order to ensure the continuation of such school and provide learning environments like these to more students.
Source: A School That Ditches All the Rules But Not the Rigor
It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.
- Leo Buscaglia
Most of the time, we think of learning as coinciding more with work than with play. The word, "learning," tends to bring to mind images of textbooks and students bent over desks to study material, or even sitting at a computer doing online research. However, many teachers, and now some schools, are starting to acknowledge that hard work is not necessarily synonymous with great learning - in fact, playing and exploring are experiences that are scientifically proven to cause knowledge to more effectively stay with students.
In Los Angeles, a group of founders and teachers have created a school based on the notion that learning through playing is the best way for students to grasp and retain new material. Aptly named, the Playmaker School, the staff is dedicated to teaching students through nontraditional methods. Rather than teaching rote memorization of historic dates, for instance, the school instructs students on what tools are available to look up such information (this is the age of Google, afterall), and instead of pushing students to regurgitate such information, students are asked to question what this information means.
This is a school that, instead of teaching facts and figures outright, asks students to create meaning, make connections, and problem solve. It asks students to be curious, creative and persistent until the answers are found, and encourages students to use the technology available to them. It's definitely a groundbreaking new way of teaching students how to learn, and staff are constantly re-evaluating their methods to make sure that materials presented are challenging students as well as playful.
Students at the Playmaker School love it, of course. Nolan Windham, grade 6, remarked at how other parents would be critical of how much play was involved, and question if they were learning anything. He says:
"We’re thinking about how when we take in information, how to process it and how to create information and how to create media, how to create different things, and that’s what you are doing in your adult life. You’re taking in things, you’re taking in information, you’re taking in food, you’re taking in money and you’re giving out services, ideas like physical labor. Just all of those things you are giving and taking in, but here you are really learning the internal processing. How all these things work together and what they mean.
If everyone could do [self directed learning], I think there would be so many more people that actually like school."
So far, the school has had raving reviews from staff, students, and parents, but there are many obstacles in the way of starting an education revolution. Standardized testing, core curriculum standard mandates, and other rules and regulations prevent this model school from rapid expansion. The education system has long been faulted with out-of-date techniques and tests, and perhaps the Playmaker School and its students are living testimony to why these things aren't necessary anymore. Unlike in most educational institutions, in the Playmaker School, if something doesn't work, teachers and students have the ability to change it. Teachers listen to their students, and allow the students to have agency in their own education so that students have the power to change a class for the better. If the education system as a whole would listen to its students, the revolution of our educational system would already be underway.
So far, the school has had raving reviews from staff, students, and parents, but there are many obstacles in the way of starting an education revolution. Standardized testing, core curriculum standard mandates, and other rules and regulations prevent this model school from rapid expansion. The education system has long been faulted with out-of-date techniques and tests, and perhaps the Playmaker School and its students are living testimony to why these things aren't necessary anymore. Unlike in most educational institutions, in the Playmaker School, if something doesn't work, teachers and students have the ability to change it. Teachers listen to their students, and allow the students to have agency in their own education so that students have the power to change a class for the better. If the education system as a whole would listen to its students, the revolution of our educational system would already be underway.
Reading about how the Playmaker School teaches physics through having students build model rollercoasters, or imagine and have to research what might happen if the world turned inside out not only feeds student imagination and creativity, but provides valuable teachable moments which educators thrive on. Ultimately, it is a step towards a better education system, but we are going to have to fight against an established system that teaches to standardized tests and regulated curriculum in order to ensure the continuation of such school and provide learning environments like these to more students.
Source: A School That Ditches All the Rules But Not the Rigor
Monday, June 30, 2014
Education Technology for Teachers
By Sean Scarpiello
Frequently, when education professionals discuss technologies for improving the classroom, they focus on computers and software that can be given to students. Tablets, online-based learning platforms, and other instructional technologies certainly improve the quality of education, but technology in education does not need to stop there. Putting the latest technologies in the hands of teachers will definitely enrich the quality of education for both students and teachers. In fact, many of these technologies are already available, yet are often underutilized.
One of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve education by having teachers utilize technology is through the use of fulfilling continuing education requirements (or professional hours) with online classes. Teachers can easily enroll in online classes or massive open online classrooms (MOOCs). In addition to being available at low cost, these classes are convenient to take as teachers can complete their coursework over the summer months or whenever it is best for them. In my experience, only one of my high school teachers was enrolled in classes during my semester in his AP Biology class. Often times in class, he would introduce some of the class material he was learning. Plus, he found that he was actively thinking as a student, making him describe unfamiliar concepts to our class more clearly. Further, all of my science professors in college were continuing their own research studies, keeping them up to date on the latest science which they would discuss in class. On the other hand, the high school teachers and some college professors that were not actively learning often had classes that seemed dry or out of date.
In addition to online courses or other technologies to keep instructors’ minds sharp, teachers could also benefit by implementing technologies that improve the communication link between teachers and parents. This holds true especially in grade schools. It has been proven that students whose parents are more actively involved in their education are more likely to succeed. Therefore, if teachers and parents have a clear link to discuss their children’s progress, it will be easier to keep parents involved in the educational process. There are low cost and even free software solutions that teachers can obtain to send out group or individual messages to parents. Additionally, there are even online bulletin boards available where teachers can post updates, upcoming events, homework assignments and more. Parents can then easily check these messages and ask their children about what is going on in school.
Additionally, there is a lot of different software available to help make organizing class data easier for teachers. While Excel and even hard copies of grades in notebooks are commonly utilized by teachers, there are better options available. Some of this software even track the progress of individual students and can help analyze trends seen over time. Other software even tracks student homework completion, student contact information, attendance, and more. There are many different programs with different functions on the market available for teachers at reasonable costs. By investing in these technologies, teachers can be sure to get years of use out of them. Plus, they can spend less time organizing class information and more time on their lesson plan, reaching out to parents, and other strategies to improve class.
Overall, there are many different technologies that are easily attainable for teachers at low or no cost. While we often focus too much on getting the latest technology in the students’ hands, it would further benefit class to have teachers utilizing the best technologies available. With this in mind, by having teachers use simple, low-cost technologies in class, we can expect students to benefit from an improved quality of education.
Frequently, when education professionals discuss technologies for improving the classroom, they focus on computers and software that can be given to students. Tablets, online-based learning platforms, and other instructional technologies certainly improve the quality of education, but technology in education does not need to stop there. Putting the latest technologies in the hands of teachers will definitely enrich the quality of education for both students and teachers. In fact, many of these technologies are already available, yet are often underutilized.
One of the cheapest and most effective ways to improve education by having teachers utilize technology is through the use of fulfilling continuing education requirements (or professional hours) with online classes. Teachers can easily enroll in online classes or massive open online classrooms (MOOCs). In addition to being available at low cost, these classes are convenient to take as teachers can complete their coursework over the summer months or whenever it is best for them. In my experience, only one of my high school teachers was enrolled in classes during my semester in his AP Biology class. Often times in class, he would introduce some of the class material he was learning. Plus, he found that he was actively thinking as a student, making him describe unfamiliar concepts to our class more clearly. Further, all of my science professors in college were continuing their own research studies, keeping them up to date on the latest science which they would discuss in class. On the other hand, the high school teachers and some college professors that were not actively learning often had classes that seemed dry or out of date.
In addition to online courses or other technologies to keep instructors’ minds sharp, teachers could also benefit by implementing technologies that improve the communication link between teachers and parents. This holds true especially in grade schools. It has been proven that students whose parents are more actively involved in their education are more likely to succeed. Therefore, if teachers and parents have a clear link to discuss their children’s progress, it will be easier to keep parents involved in the educational process. There are low cost and even free software solutions that teachers can obtain to send out group or individual messages to parents. Additionally, there are even online bulletin boards available where teachers can post updates, upcoming events, homework assignments and more. Parents can then easily check these messages and ask their children about what is going on in school.
Additionally, there is a lot of different software available to help make organizing class data easier for teachers. While Excel and even hard copies of grades in notebooks are commonly utilized by teachers, there are better options available. Some of this software even track the progress of individual students and can help analyze trends seen over time. Other software even tracks student homework completion, student contact information, attendance, and more. There are many different programs with different functions on the market available for teachers at reasonable costs. By investing in these technologies, teachers can be sure to get years of use out of them. Plus, they can spend less time organizing class information and more time on their lesson plan, reaching out to parents, and other strategies to improve class.
Overall, there are many different technologies that are easily attainable for teachers at low or no cost. While we often focus too much on getting the latest technology in the students’ hands, it would further benefit class to have teachers utilizing the best technologies available. With this in mind, by having teachers use simple, low-cost technologies in class, we can expect students to benefit from an improved quality of education.
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