[Linenkugel] Technology in Education - edweek.org

edweek article:  technology-in-education

The rapid and constant pace of change in technology is creating both opportunities and challenges for schools a few of them are listed below

Opportunities

Challenges

greater access to rich, multimedia content increasing use of online course taking to offer classes not available widespread availability of mobile computing devices that can access the internet expanding role of social networking tools for learning & professional development growing interest in the power of digital games for more personalized learning

schools are forever playing technological catch up as digital innovations emerge that require upgrading schools technological infrastructure & building professional development programs creating a digital divide based largely on the quality of educational technology, rather than just simple access to the internet rapide evolution of these also makes it increasingly challenging to determine what works best

Hottest Issues & Trends in Educational Technology

Technology Infrastructure

• demands have changed from a focus on simply gaining connectivity to finding enough bandwidth to run more complex applications in classrooms:
• streaming audio and video

• Federal Communications Commission:
• 97 percent of schools across the country had Internet connectivity as of 2010 (FCC, 2010).
• Far fewer were able to successfully meet the need for higher speed access
• National Broadband Plan - March 2010

• October 2010 revised the E-rate
• federal program that subsidizes school purchases for Internet connectivity, - allow schools to use E-Rate dollars to gain connectivity via dark fiber networks, among other reforms.

- “stated theory behind the reform was that by allowing more options for

connectivity, schools could in theory gain more bandwidth while at the

same time drive down cost because increasing the speed of fiber networks generally involves a one-time upgrade rather than consistent, periodic expenditures to secure more bandwidth via other connections.”

• Spring of 2011
• data released as part of the ongoing Speak Up research by Project Tomorrow found that restrictive Internet filtering was the top student complaint about Web use in 2010
• Five years earlier, the chief complaint was connectivity speed
• Federal government’s perceived desire to focus its efforts as a facilitator of infrastructure access has become somewhat controversial among education technology advocates.
• especially evident when it became clear that the Enhancing Education Through Technology, or EETT, program, was in jeopardy.
• was initially funded at $700 million annually but had dropped to $100 million by 2010 = only federal program within the U.S. Department of Education’s general funding devoted specifically to education technology
• it was defunded as part of a federal budget compromise in the spring of 2011 (Education Week, April 29, 2011)
• Huge differences in technology infrastructure remain among schools in the United States

Research

• Interesting topic due to the fast pace changes that are continuously happening
• Vast majority of the studies available are funded by the very companies and institutions that have created and promoted the technology, raising questions of the research’s validity and objectivity.
• In addition, the kinds of studies that produce meaningful data often take several years to complete—a timeline that lags far behind the fast pace of emerging and evolving technologies.
• The studies that do look at the effects of mobile technologies on learning are often based on small samples of students involved in short-term pilots, not the kind of large-scale, ongoing samples of students that educators and policymakers would like to see (Education Week, Feb. 23, 2011).

• There are a handful of large-scale studies that do point to trends and observations in the education technology field
• ProjectRED
• research initiative linked closely with the One-to-One Institute, - supports one-to-one laptop initiatives in K-12 schools, released a study about successful implementation models of education technology in October 2010.
• results found that most of the schools that have integrated laptops and other digital tools into learning are not maximizing the use of those devices in ways that best make use of their potential.
• Key Implementation Factors  (Rank Order of Predictive Strength)

1. Intervention classes: Technology is integrated into every

intervention class period.2

2. Change management leadership by principal: Leaders provide

time for teacher professional learning and collaboration at least

monthly.

3. Online collaboration: Students use technology daily for online

collaboration (games/simulations and social media).

4. Core subjects: Technology is integrated into core curriculum

weekly or more frequently.

5. Online formative assessments: Assessments are done at least

weekly.

6. Student-computer ratio: Lower ratios improve outcomes.

7. Virtual field trips:With more frequent use, virtual trips are

more powerful. e best schools do these at least monthly.

8. Search engines: Students use daily.

9. Principal training: Principals are trained in teacher buy-in, best

practices, and technology-transformed learning.

• U.S. Department of Education in 2009 released:
• meta analysis of more than 1,000 studies

followed by a revised version of the report in September 2010

• researchers cautioned that the vast majority of the studies in the meta-analysis = students in higher education, and as a result, the conclusions drawn may not be applicable to K-12 education.
• “In fact, a major finding of the meta-study was the severe lack of rigorous research studies regarding online learning in K-12 (U.S. Department of Education, 2010).”
• The Speak Up survey, which is conducted annually by Project Tomorrow  nonprofit research organization—and Blackboard, Inc.
• surveyed nearly 300,000 students, parents, teachers, & other educators
• results:
• an increased interest from educators in mobile learning, as well as an increase in the number of students who own mobile devices such as smartphones, regardless of economic or demographic differences
• an increased interest in online learning and blended learning opportunities, as well as electronic textbooks

E-learning

• Online learning in many forms is on the rise in schools of all types across the country.
• menu of options often includes:
• full-time, for-profit virtual schools; state-sponsored virtual schools; supplemental online learning courses offered by brick-and-mortar schools; and charter schools presenting a hybrid option of digital material coupled with face-to-face instruction
• The International Association for K-12 Online Learning, or iNACOL,
• estimates that more than 1.5 million K-12 students were engaged in some form of online or blended learning in the 2009-10 school year
• end of 2010 = supplemental or full-time online learning opportunities were available in at least 48 of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia (iNACOL, 2010).
• At the end of 2010, 27 states plus the District of Columbia had full-time online schools serving students statewide, according to iNACOL’s report, “A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning.”

Pros

Cons

Some schools say it saves money and allows them to offer a wider variety of courses, including Advanced Placement classes can help with scheduling conflicts when a face-to-face class is provided only at a time when a student already has another obligation online courses can provide highly qualified teachers for classes otherwise not offered by a school credit recovery = One of the fastest growing areas of e-learning some researchers say students have had the most success with hybrid or blended education

“But full-time virtual schools also face the reality that for many students with two parents working outside the home such a scenario is not an option. Such students often cannot tap into full-time online schools for that reason, and virtual school providers acknowledge that their version of education works best, particularly in the lower grades, when an adult is present to assist.” However, some educators and education experts have questioned the quality and academic rigor of these programs (Education Week, April 28, 2010).

Mobile Computing

• following factors help make use of mobile devices popular & increased new trend:
• Increasing access,
• growing acceptance
• decreasing cost
• the digital divide between the affluent and disadvantaged still exists, mobile devices appear to have the potential to close it, at least in terms of access
• “According to the “Horizon” report. The report predicts game-based learning will be widely adopted by mainstream classrooms within two to three years (New Media Consortium, 2011).”
• Instead of educational software, e.g. Math Blaster or Reader Rabbit, students and teachers are much more likely to incorporate Web-based educational games into classrooms, which are often available for free
• The National Science Foundation has played a large role in providing funding for the research and development of Web-based science games such as Crystal Island
• Educators hope that games and simulations will:
• provide a way for students to picture themselves in career paths they may otherwise would not have chosen, especially in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects
• offer students a way to connect what they are learning in class to (simulated) real-world situations in a safe and low-cost environment (Education Week, March 17, 2011)
• may help students learn by helping them visualize processes they otherwise could not see, such as the flow of an electron or the construction of a city
• can also promote higher-order thinking skills, such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork (MIT, 2009; National Academies Press 2011)

Edu Week Spotlight

• Challenges of using game and simulations for student learning:

• creating a healthy marriage of an engaging and entertaining game with educational objectives and goals is a challenging process that has yet to be perfected.

• To create and design games with the kind of high-resolution graphics and complex situations that children are used to seeing in commercial games takes a large amount of funding and time that educators often do not have.

• finding the time and resources to train teachers who may not be familiar with game-based learning is a challenge for most schools.

Social Networking

• what social networking tools work best and how to deploy them (Digital Directions, June 16, 2010) is now a new focus for schools
• Some schools are using:
• mainstream social networking tools, like Facebook,
• promoting school events to organizing school clubs
• more academic purposes related to assignments and class projects
• Some concerns:
• wary about security
• advertising
• information-sharing
• social interaction in such an environment
• ePals and eChalk:
• are more restrictive
• often allowing teachers and school officials:
• limit not only who can join
• also who students can talk to and interact with
• often provide safety features that can detect foul language or bullying phrases and alert a teacher (Education Week, June 15, 2011)
• I have never heard of these two but will check them out for sure
• Some benefits:
• allow students to work cooperatively on projects in an online environment that feels familiar to students
• often report that a student who does not speak up in class will be more engaged
• these sites allow instructors to extend the school day
• professional development for educators
• Wikis and blogs
• allow students to work collaboratively and share their work with a limited or unlimited number of people
• Skype
• popular with teachers, particularly for allowing their students to connect with peers in other parts of the country or the world
• Voicethread
• archives and indexes images, videos, text and audio, are popular with all ages of students, including at the elementary level (Education Week, June 16, 2010)
• I have not used either of these but have used a little of blogs in my class - I can see the benefits of including all of the above in my

classes

• This article was very informative!  Great to see and hear about the timeline of technology in Education.  With taking these courses I have become more aware of ALL of the benefits of using technology in our schools and hope to continue to be on board with our districts efforts in making it the most effective for our students.
  We are very fortunate in OHLSD and have been providing all that we can to enable all of our students the ability to explore and be exposed to using technology in the classroom.  It would be great to have a blog to have a discussion board of what our district teachers use and how they feel it benefits them in their specific classroom.... maybe add this option to Jay and Christians site that they created for PD?