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trends

Ed Tech News Roundup: Sight, Sound, and AI Tech

by Andrew Roush January 31, 2020

written by Andrew Roush

Howdy, folks! Welcome to another in a series of periodic ed tech news roundups. We hope you enjoy this one, and if you have a story you’d like to see included, let us know.

2020 Visions

Early in the year, experts, publications, and educators are thinking to what 2020 might bring to education.

Talia Milgrom-Elcott explores four major trends the education entrepreneur expects to play a crucial role in shaping education this year. [Forbes]
Education journalists identify five trends of their “factors that will drive education in the coming year.” [Education Drive]

Automation Nation

Former educator and education writer Jill Barshay explores the ways in which artificial intelligence can be used to make teaching more efficient — and what’s possible today. [The Hechinger Report]
Ed tech consultant Carolina Milanesi reports on the latest trends in AI, how it might drive education forward, and how it will affect the teachers of the future. [Forbes]

Listening to Learn

Recorded books aren’t new, but the rise in popularity of audio books on connected devices has also seen audio books integrated into the learning process more broadly. Now we’re beginning to measure the effect and impact of audio books in schools.

A new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that listening to audio can “light up” the same areas of the brain that are used when reading. [Discover]
Journalist Melissa Pandika reviews recent research on audio books and asks the question: Does listening to a book “count” as reading it? [Mic]

… And Finally

Viral challenges have been popular for years now. Some raise money for charity, some are just for fun. Still others can cause trouble — like when an attempt at the “Outlet Challenge” caused electrical damage in an Amarillo-area school. [KVII Amarillo]

Photo: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

January 31, 2020 0 comments

Insights Learned From Your Speak Up Data

by Jennifer Bergland October 23, 2019

written by Jennifer Bergland

I am going to be very up front with my intention in writing this blog. My goal is to persuade school district technology directors or other administrators to seriously consider having their school or district participate in the annual Speak Up Survey.

Speak Up is a research tool districts use to learn what students, educators, parents, and the community have to say about educational issues. Yes, there are quite a few questions on the survey that deal with technology, but there are many other types of questions that will provide you with some much-needed insight into the attitudes of your stakeholders.

For example, in last year’s survey, they asked several questions about social and emotional learning. They also asked students how they prefer to learn subjects like math or science. Oh, and did I tell you that the survey is completely free and that they make it really easy for your district to participate?

A Texas-Sized School District

In order to help you see how a school district administrator could use this data, I’m going to take the state of Texas’ data and pretend I am the technology director of the “Texas School District,” covering the entire state. Let’s see what the data tells me about my district or what questions come to mind when I review the data.

Community

First, I’m very interested in the use of technology in my community. 78% of the members of my community use the internet to conduct research and 76% use mobile apps. 75% of my community use technology to watch an online video to learn how to do something. This tells me that a large portion of my community has internet access and is using it for research and to learn new things. However, it appears there is still some type of digital divide in my community. Is it an access or a skill problem, or both? I’m also surprised that only 26% of my community say they use Twitter. Since I spend a large amount of time on Twitter, I had assumed others did, too. This lets me know that I need to use a wider variety of social media to communicate with the members of my community.

Students

There are a series of questions in the survey that are posed to middle and high school students to see how often they seek ways to learn something because of their interests. This helps me see how students are using technology when they are looking for specific information or want to learn a skill. Only 9% of both middle and high school students post a question on a discussion board or a forum. Do we need to be more intentional in using this type of application? Do they just not know how, or have they found better ways to seek answers to their questions?

There are a greater number of students who are researching the internet for information: 32% of middle schoolers and 42% of high school students. Students are also using YouTube and other video services to learn how to do something. 42% of my middle school students and 57% of my high school students often use videos to teach them a skill. I need to talk to the instructional staff to see if we are taking advantage of this type of technology. Should we be posting short videos that teach one of the standards our students are struggling with? If so, what skills do my teachers need to know in order to do this and what technology do they need?

Teachers

Speaking of teachers, I really want to know what they are doing with technology. The data tells me that 45% of them are customizing digital content they find online to meet their students’ needs. This sounds an awful like Open Educational Resources (OER). Hmm, maybe we need to have more conversations about OER.

SpeakUp I also discovered that 43% of my teachers are facilitating student collaboration projects using online tools. This is such a great skill. How can I leverage these teachers to help other teachers do this as well? Also, I’m pleasantly surprised that 44% of my teachers are using an online curriculum. However, I want to know more. What is the frequency? Are they occasionally doing this or is this something they use every day? I also want to know what they are using. Are they using the district’s Learning Management System, or is it an online textbook?

I am a little disappointed that only 9% of my teachers are creating their own online professional learning networks. I had pretty high hopes that platforms like Twitter could help connect educators, especially those who may be the only one that teach their subject at their school. Maybe I need to do my own survey to see if, in fact, that is the case. Maybe the 9% are the teachers who do not have a colleague at their school that teaches their subject. Sounds like I need to do some more digging.

Finally, there is one question I am very interested in. It asks the teachers what they need to more efficiently and effectively speakup integrate digital content, tools, and resources into their daily instruction. 51% said they wished they had a classroom set of digital devices. 49% said they needed to know that their students had adequate broadband access outside of school and 46% indicated they were concerned that they didn’t have consistent, reliable internet access within school. Maybe I need to have my staff do some focus groups related to internet access and speed. Looking at my network resources, they should have adequate bandwidth, but maybe something is happening on campus that I am not aware of. While my team is on campus, I probably should also have them ask teachers about the availability of technical support since 47% of the teachers indicated it was lacking. And lastly, my teachers still need time to plan with their colleagues (60%) and additional professional development (50%). I need more staff to be able to meet this need!

Whew, I learned this much in less than an hour by looking at this data. This will come in handy when I go to the superintendent and tell her I need more funding to do the things she wants me to do. It will also help me know where I need to place my time and energy.

Your Turn

Seriously, I gained this information in less than an hour. Just think what you and your team could glean from your district’s data.

If nothing else, I hope you will sign up to watch one of their webinars so that you can learn more about the survey and how it can assist you in your work. On October 23, you can watch the livestream of Julie Evans, the CEO of Project Tomorrow, provide a congressional briefing on the latest data. Julie does an excellent job of weaving a story with the data. She is always extremely interesting. In addition, check out this site for other webinars the Speak Up team is hosting.

Register Now

The Speak Up survey is open until June 30, 2020. What are you waiting for? Register today!

Photos of student and teachers by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Photo of hands and laptop by Mimi Thian on Unsplash

October 23, 2019 0 comments

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Announcements/Important Dates Professional Learning

Find the Right Tools for Your School at the Innovative Learning Strategies Conference

by Susan Meyer August 4, 2017

written by Susan Meyer

As a reader of the TCEA TechNotes blog, chances are you are an ed tech news maven. That means you likely hear about at least five new trends that are going to “transform education” every day. But therein lies the problem. We live in a world where new technologies and resources are coming out at lightning speed. Some tools and strategies really will provide incredible opportunities for learning and engagement while others will be style over substance and will disappear as soon as the next shiny robot, app, or software comes along.

They all promise the world. Students will be the most engaged they’ve ever been. Critical thinking skills will abound. Classroom management will become a breeze. It’s as if your curriculum was written just to be correlated to this new product. But how do you separate the true innovations from the flash-in-the-pan fads?

Enter: The Innovative Learning Strategies Conference

TCEA is here to help you figure out what technologies and strategies will best benefit your schools, classrooms, and libraries. We designed our new Innovative Learning Strategies Conference to provide the research-backed answers you need to select the best technologies and resources for your students.

The conference will tell you more about a number of hot topics from adapted teaching and blended learning to augmented reality and Future Ready Schools. Informative, interactive sessions will answer questions about the topics you want to know more about, such as:

What’s the real value of edcamps, Open Education Resources, and PBL?
What does leading research tell us about the effectiveness of Minecraft, makerspaces, and gamification?
How are Skechnoting and 3D printing best utilized in the classroom?
What barriers to implementation might you face with authentic assessment and globalized learning environments and how might you overcome them?

You’ll get the answers to these questions and more for all the tools and strategies at the forefront of education. Overall, you’ll leave with a concrete road map for what will work best for your school and environment and how to effectively implement those technologies and ideas.

Are You Ready to Spread Innovative Ideas?

The Innovative Learning Strategies Conference is intended for campus and district administrators, curriculum specialists, department heads, and other educators in leadership positions. We want to provide valuable information for thought leaders and influencers to share with their schools and departments. Because of your participants in this learning event, you will be able to gather great information and resources and spread it far and wide to have a huge impact.

The learning experience will take place in the TCEA Conference Center in Austin, Texas on September 13 – 14. For full details on how to register, hotel offerings, and a detailed schedule, visit the Innovative Learning Strategies website.

We hope to see you in Austin this fall so you can get the information you need to find the right technologies and learning strategies to transform your school!

August 4, 2017 0 comments

CTO/CIO Educational Trends Leadership

Digital Learning Trends

by Lori Gracey May 22, 2017

written by Lori Gracey

The Speak Up 2016 survey results are starting to come in, and they’re showing some interesting trends in digital learning. Below are the seven concepts that are bubbling up to the top right now.

Trend #1

No surprise here. Superintendents are reporting that funding, bridging the achievement gap, and staff morale are their top concerns. These are the same concerns that have topped their list for the past six years. However, the level of concern on these topics has increased this year.

With the attacks from the media recently on the teaching profession, it’s certainly understandable why staff morale is low. And with reduced funding at both the state and national levels, there is even more reason for teachers to be unhappy right now. The achievement gap, despite the best efforts of our educators, seems to be growing as the digital divide across our country grows.

Trend #2

There is some good news, however. Campus leaders are reporting that data-informed instruction, social media communications, and online assessments are making a difference with today’s students. Other technology enhancements that seem to have a positive ROI include videos, simulations and animations within instruction; cloud-based applications and tools; student access to mobile devices in school; and online professional development for teachers. These might be good trends to investigate for your district this next school year. (If you need help planning for and implementing any of these, TCEA can help. Just email Dr. Bruce Ellis to get started.)

Trend #3

Online videos and online games top the list of digital content being used in the classroom now, with online curriculum and online textbooks following closely behind. The key takeaway from this result is that school districts (and their technology staff) must be planning for and providing greater bandwidth and more WiFi access as the need for online learning continues to grow. This is a trend that will only continue to grow over time.

Trend #4

Student use of devices shows some interesting changes. 58 percent of high school students and 25 percent of middle school students are now bringing their own devices to school for classwork. But how they choose to use those devices on their own is different from how their teachers are directing them to use them. When teachers direct, students use them to:

Do Internet research (81%)
Play educational games (60%)
Take online tests (50%)
Read online articles (37%)
Use online textbooks (32%)
Watch teacher-created videos (29%)

But when self-directed, those same devices are used by the students to:

Check grades (74%)
Look up class information (54%)
Email teachers (41%)
Receive reminders (39%)
Take notes (39%)
Take photos of assignments (29%)

This seems to indicate that the learners are using the technology for more productivity uses on their own, which may mean that they have internalized and adopted them more completely than their teachers. This would be a good discussion topic for future educator inservices.

Trend #5

This is a continuation of the previous trend, which shows that the four main groups surveyed (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) all remain on different pages when technology use for learning is discussed. According to the report, “Few teachers say they regularly assign Internet-dependent homework, more principals think Internet-dependent homework is being assigned, but students say they regularly use the Internet to help with homework.”

Trend #6

The report shows that social media is playing a larger role in learning for all surveyed.

In 2011, 50 percent of students in grades 6-12 said they could not access social media tools at school. In 2016, only 38 percent of students had the same complaint.
Nearly half (45 percent) of teachers said that they pinned a lesson on Pinterest in the past year and 19 percent use Twitter to follow education experts or fellow educators.
Eight of ten school principals say they are using social media to communicate with parents and students – 61 percent said it has a positive impact.

There continues to be a divide between social media used by students (Instagram and Snapchat) and that used by adults (Facebook). But 44 percent of students do say that social media is a must-have for their learning.

Trend #7

Parents more than ever prefer receiving a personal email from their child’s school. Face-to-face meetings and text messages were a distant second, as you can see from the chart below.

From a report by Project Tomorrow

The results of this extensive survey with its longitudinal data should be shared and discussed at district leadership meetings and professional development sessions in every district. What are your students telling you?

May 22, 2017 0 comments

Educational Trends

Six Ed Tech and Learning Predictions for 2017

by Lori Gracey January 4, 2017

written by Lori Gracey

It’s that time again when we put on our magic hats and pull out our crystal balls to make predictions about the important trends coming in the new year. I didn’t want to be left out, so here are what I believe will be the hot topics for 2017.

#1: Collaboration Finally Becomes King

The days of learning in isolation are finally over as free and inexpensive collaboration tools like Flipgrid, Slack, Skype, Today’s Meet, Google Drive, and more become used regularly in all classrooms. Educators have realized for a long time that we learn better and retain more if we work with others while learning. With the plethora of resources to make this happen easily, students and adults alike can now grow together, regardless of their location.

#2: Learning Is More Hands-On

With the huge growth and interest in the maker movement and the push to return to more “real-world” courses like those found in CTE (Career and Technical Education), student learning becomes more hands-on in all subject areas. The evolution of virtual and augmented reality makes this even easier, especially for those complex concepts that have long troubled both teachers and students alike. And the power of robots to teach coding, problem solving, and collaboration add to the hands-on emphasis.

#3: We Stop Talking about BYOD

In 2017, BYOD becomes the norm. Students are not only allowed to bring their own devices to use at school; they are strongly encouraged to. And those who can’t afford a device are provided one by their district. Teachers stop trying to know everything about all technologies and focus again on strong pedagogy and core content knowledge.

#4: Classrooms No Longer Look Like Classrooms from the 1900s

With an increased emphasis on the power of the environment on learning, schools being to rethink the way the regular classroom looks. Gone are desks in rows (and not in rows!). Instead, there is the beginning of flexible furniture that can adapt to student needs. In addition, the concept of the classroom as an assigned square box is being discussed as educators try to decide how to create innovative learning spaces with no new funding.

#5: Computational Thinking and Coding Grow

With the great help from organizations like Code.org, the need to teach all students at least the rudiments of computational thinking and coding is more widely accepted. In 2017, we’ll see a growth in the demand for computer science teachers, as well as in coding initiatives for elementary school students.

#6: Students Take Charge

Personalized learning, flipped learning, gamification, blended learning, and engaging formative and summative assessment tools add up to students being more in control of their learning journey. The content is still critical, but students will have more say in how they master it and how they demonstrate their mastery. (By the way, this rubs off on professional development for educators as they are given more choice in what they need to grow and become better.)

What Are Your Predictions for 2017?

I’d love to hear about your predictions for this brand new year. Please leave them in the Comments section below!

January 4, 2017 0 comments

Educational Trends

Tech Trends Heading Your Way

by Dr. Bruce Ellis February 16, 2016

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

This year will be filled with a variety of technology trends that are gaining in popularity. And just because something is popular doesn’t mean that it has valuable implications on education. These trends, however, do provide cause to consider them and how they can enhance teaching and learning. While some may not hit your district this year, they definitely are building momentum in many schools across the nation. Below are our predictions for educational tech trends this year.

CODING – Even if you don’t teach computer science, your students can greatly benefit from the logical thinking and problem solving that is reinforced through coding. Students as young as kindergarten are able to participate thanks to simple apps that start them on the basics. For more information on coding and how you can get started, visit code.org.
BLENDED LEARNING – More and more teachers are looking to see how they can augment their face-to-face time in the classroom with an online platform that allows for learning beyond the walls. Popular terms for blended learning include flipped classroom or flipped learning. You can easily start by using Edmodo or Google Apps for Education.
3D PRINTING – It seems that everyone wants in on the craze of designing and printing your own object. And with prices falling to less than $350 for a small 3D printer, many teachers are starting to put one on their wish list. Besides having students design and print items that are related to content they are learning about, many are also printing manipulatives to use in their classroom.
VIRTUAL REALITY – No longer is virtual reality confined to hard-core geeks. With Google Cardboard and Expeditions, virtual reality is becoming mainstream and using devices your students may already be bringing to school.
MAKER SPACES – Promoting problem solving and critical thinking is what maker spaces are all about. They may be as simple as a closet with recycled objects or as fancy as a room that would compete with brand-name craft and electronic stores. Either way, teachers are finding out how they can engage their students in fun learning activities with a purpose. Here is a list of sites that include how to get started by creating your own maker space. Or check out our blog about setting one up.
INTERNET OF THINGS – It doesn’t matter if it is a watch, a refrigerator, or your car. If it connects to the Internet, then it is part of the Internet of things. With more ways of being connected, teachers are realizing the growing need to reinforce good digital citizenship even in the early grades since their digital footprints may be started much sooner than they were with us.
ROBOTICS – Once reserved for schools like MIT, USC, and Purdue, robotics has revived many students’ love of learning and given them a realization of 21st century skills that they are really good at. Schools may be introducing it at the high school through Tech Apps courses such as Robotics Programming and Design or even in afterschool clubs using LEGO Mindstorm EV3. TCEA even has statewide robotics competitions for students to demo their talents!
DRONES – A popular novelty that has dropped significantly in price, many districts are now considering how these can be used for instructional purposes in specialized classes as well as considering future jobs that students might be interested in that involve designing, deploying, and managing drones. Learn more in this blog.
WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY – It seems that many teachers (and students!) are getting smart watches that connect with their phone to keep them more in touch with their friends and their online social networks. A few are even starting to add smart rings to their accessories. You can read about a variety of smart rings to learn which might be a best fit for you.
SMARTER, INTERACTIVE TOYS – Apps are evolving to include manipulatives that interact with the device to provide 21st century-style learning that goes beyond just learning the alphabet. Items such as the Osmo, CogniToys, and Ozobot are opening new learning avenues for students.

Which of these trends are happening at your school? Better yet, how are you preparing your students to compete with skills that prepare them for jobs that are just on the horizon? Let us know – we’d like to hear from you!

February 16, 2016 0 comments