How Education Fails Technology....

Interesting article from “edtech digest”:

How Education Fails Technology (And What to Do About It)

Education has failed technology. Yes, you read that correctly. Education has failed technology.

To understand why this is, not vice versa, requires understanding what the research literature makes clear: It is possible to get all children learning at levels beyond their respective aptitudes. The same literature, however, makes clear that such levels of learning rarely occur outside one-to-one tutoring settings. Let’s unpack these seemingly contradictory statements to shed light on why education has failed technology and what we can do about it.

Nearly three decades ago, Benjamin Bloom (author of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives) led a research effort to find methods of group instruction that were as effective as one-to-one tutoring through which students performed two standard deviations higher than their classroom educated peers. Bloom named the target of his search the 2-sigma problem. The research-based solution he found was simple, yet profound. If certain instructional practices are used and specific conditions met then one teacher, instructing a group of students in a classroom, could help the students attain 2-sigma. The practices he identified that make 2-sigma possible include reinforcement, cues and explanations, corrective feedback, and cooperative learning. The conditions include student classroom-participation, student time on task, and classroom morale.

Read the entire article at http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/how-education-fails-technology-and-what-to-do-about-it/

Regards,

Stan Freeda

Educational Technology and Online Learning

NH Department of Education

Digital Learning Day

I don't have much time - as usual to post so I am going to copy content from the digitallearningday.org site below. It is Feb 1. If you love ed tech get involved! It's not about the gadget it is about high quality education environments for today's learners! Please get involved!

http://www.digitallearningday.org/

Sign Up Now for Digital Learning Day 2.1.12

Join us as we create a national awareness campaign to celebrate innovative teachers and instructional strategies. Technology has changed the way we do everything from grocery shopping, to listening to music, and reading books. It’s time to take action to leverage this potential with more innovative uses of technology in our nation's schools to ensure every student experiences personalized learning with great teaching.

What is Digital Learning?

Digital learning is any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen the student learning experience. Digital learning encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practice, including using online and formative assessment, increasing focus and quality of teaching resources and time, online content and courses, applications of technology in the classroom and school building, adaptive software for students with special needs, learning platforms, participating in professional communities of practice, providing access to high level and challenging content and instruction, and many other advancements technology provides to teaching and learning. In particular, blended learning is any time a student learns, at least in part, at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and, at least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.

What is Digital Learning Day?

Digital Learning Day is a culminating event in a year-round national awareness campaign to improve teaching and learning for all children. On Digital Learning Day, we are asking everyone – no matter your comfort with technology - teachers, librarians, school leaders, afterschool programs, community groups, parents – to Sign up and be counted in this effort by

• Starting a conversation - at a PTA/PTO meeting, in your school, department, library, or community-based organization about your goals for your students and how digital learning can help meet their needs. Watch our National Town Hall meeting on 2.1.12 and participate virtually. Watch our daylong webcast and pass it on to others who care about student learning! Not sure where to start? Check out our Getting Started section (coming soon) and soon you'll be on your way!
• Trying one new thing - sample an online lesson, use mobile devices in class, start a wiki, use digital storytelling, start a project-based learning unit, but above all, challenge your teaching, learning, and pedagogy and see what digital technology can do for you and the students you serve! Check out our resources and toolkits and go digital!
• Showcase success - submit a video of how you are innovating to give the students you work with the best learning experience possible! Better yet, have your students take the lead and show us how digital learning works for them!

Digital Learning Day is not just for schools: learning takes place in many environments, so libraries, community or afterschool programs, and other groups along with parents and students are all invited. Sign up today, learn more, and join us for a celebration of innovation. Visit our toolkit section to get started!

An outstanding resource! Ideas to Inspire. This is a great presentation of books to get people reading! Pass it on and check out the other great resources at Ideas to Inspire

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IPAD Pilot Project

This is a report on an IPAD pilot created by students:

Dr. Helen Barrett's EPortfolio Academy Online

You can pay for a faciliated course and credit or participate for FREE independently/selfpaced. This begins the first week of January. Below is information provided by Dr. Helen Barrett:

The course content of the first course of the E-Portfolio Academy is online as both a self-paced and facilitated course:
Introduction to E-Portfolios in K-12 Schools
https://sites.google.com/site/k12eportfolios/

The facilitated course is open for registration through Paypal or school purchase order:
http://electronicportfolios.org/academy/register/intro.html
(Send me an email for the mailing address to send a school purchase order for group registrations... or attach PDF version to email.)

The content of the two versions of the class is the same. There are three differences between the self-paced and facilitated classes:
1. The facilitated class has a cohort of students who go through the content together and carry on a facilitated asynchronous discussion.
2. I will be directly involved in the private discussions and will lead the cohort through the content, including live events.
3. The self-paced class is free; there is a charge for the facilitated class.

The discussion schedule will be provided only to members of the facilitated class through the Edmodo group. The discussion will be asynchronous, so there are no specific times to be online, but I will be scheduling some Google+ hangouts which will be synchronous (live), but not during the first couple of weeks.

The course interaction will be facilitated through an Edmodo group (private educational social network), Google+ Hangouts, and email group. Be sure to sign up for Google + and an Edmodo (teacher) account. Right after the New Year, I will also send invitations for the private groups to all registrants. The first facilitated course cohort will begin between January 2 and January 16. The next cohort is scheduled to begin in early April.

There are also supplemental courses:

• Implement Electronic Portfolios with K-12 Students using Google Apps
  Specific focus will be on the use of GoogleApps for Education. This course is for teachers who have already decided to adopt GoogleApps for Education. The content of this course includes the content of the Introduction course, with additional in-depth focus on using GoogleDocs, Google Sites, Blogger, YouTube, Picasa, Digication, Teacher Dashboard.
  Website: https://sites.google.com/site/eportfolioapps/course-lessons
• Implement Electronic Portfolios with K-12 Students using Mobile Devices
  Specific focus of this module will be on the use of iOS or Android Mobile Devices.
  Website: https://sites.google.com/site/mportfolios/course-lessons

Seven Practices for Effective Learning

Seven Practices for Effective Learning

7 Practices for Effective Learning.docx

McTighe, J, & O'Connor, K. (2005). Seven practies for effective learning. Assessment to Promote Learning, 63(3), 10-17.

Reflection:

This particular article hits right in my area of key interest. As a learner and teacher I have identified how having clear targets and sound assessment practices improves student motivation, satisfaction and ultimately success! In This article first identifies three categories of assessment: Summative (what has been learned?), Diagnostic (pre-assessment), and Formative (concur within instruction to guide teaching to improve learning).

Highlights of the 7 Practices:

1. Using Summative to frame the goals! Wow, that's a great idea! Creating the summative assessment and presenting to the class at the beginning of the course as a means of explaining the learning targets is brilliant! Simple but makes so much sense! "By knowing what the culminating assessments will be, students are bettter able to focus on what the teachers expect them to learn!" The example given suggests having a knowledge based assessment as well as a performance based assessment. - Let the students know what knowledge you will be testing them on and what they need to "create/perform" to demonstrate that they know how to apply that knowledge!

2. Show criteria and models in advance. Another simple and effective strategy! Show the students examples of finished work that meets the criteria, exceeds the criteria and show them what doesn't cut it. Use the rubric as you show these examples and have them identify where they fall in the rubric and why. Then, while the student is completing the work they have a much clearer picture on what they should be doing!

3. Assess before teaching...find out what students know by giving a formal or informal diagnostic assessment. This way you know where to begin!

4. Give choice. Students embrace choice and everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. By providing choice in output options you give students an opportunity to demonstrate competency using their strengths. This is motivating for the student. Make sure the choices reflect the target!

5. Provide feedback! Yes, students need to hear if they are on or off track. Encourage them when you can as this is very motivating.

6. Encourage self-assessment and goal setting. One thing I liked to do is conference with each student during a project while others were working. This way we could look at where they were at, what their personal goals were for the assignment and assessment and see if they needed any additional support to get there. It was a great way for me to see - who could slip through the cracks if they didn't get more attention and who was flying on their own.

7. I LOVE #7! "Allow new evidence of achievement to replace old evidence of achievement." I just had an issue with my son's teacher who gave him a ZERO because he couldn't get his fingers on the assignment he completed when asked. Turns out it was in his binder all along. He completed all the math problems and she gave him NO credit! My other son's math teacher gives him partial credit when he replaces evidence of learning.

Gabe Zichermann - Gamification in School

Why is it that the kids can sustain attention to video games for hours on end? Why can they learn things from scratch, fail and try again until they succeed without any adult pressure?

Fluid intelligence helps us problem solve - 5 things people do to improve this: 1. Seek novelty 2. challenge yourself 3. think creatively 4. do things the hard way 5. network -- hmm.... Do Video Games Make Us Smarter????