Brain Spects helped us know what was going on with our son. If you don’t know, you don’t understand. If you don’t understand, you don’t know how to help them. If you don’t know how to help a child, they are lost to the world. Take time to learn and understand.
In our blog post of Oct. 6, 2014 we panned blended learning, and now, in what follows, we are about to say blended learning is the greatest thing since sliced bread. If we were politicians we would be labeled as flip-floppers, a derogatory term in the political argot. But, thank goodness we are not politicians, but an educator (C) and a technologist (E) coming to a new understanding of what the future holds, amongst higher-minded colleagues who eschew fallacious ad hominem arguments.
Here’s the reasoning behind the evolution of our thinking:
Simply put: we painted blended learning with the same brush as personalized learning 1.0. Our bad!
But now … we have seen the light! <Smilely face goes here>
In an excellent 2011 article by Heather Staker of the “Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation” (formerly the Innosight Institute), she defined blended learning as follows:
“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.”
We can easily live with the above definition of blended learning because of the phrase “at least in part through online delivery.” Personalized learning 1.0, e.g. the pedagogy used in Carpe Diem schools, takes online delivery to the extreme, it seems to us. But, as we argue below, what we see coming to K-12 classrooms is absolutely consistent with the definition of blended learning. Please read on!
Here’s the deal: 1-to-1 is the new normal: Between BYOD (bring your own device) and school-provided devices, it is clear that over the next two to three years every student in every classroom in every school in the United States will be using a computing device for learning. Many, many schools in the United States are already at 1-to-1. But the two- to three-year time period is there to acknowledge the sad and disturbing fact that the digital divide still exists, though it’s not talked about very much anymore.
(See a new report by Commonsense Media that documents quite vividly the reality of the digital divide. And ES is experiencing the digital divide first hand in the Detroit Public Schools; 1-to-1 access to a computing device, at least in the elementary schools ES is working in, is still, most disturbingly, a dream. But we digress; we will return to the digital divide, however, in a later blog post.)
In classrooms, then, where there is 1-to-1 access, of course students will spend time, “in part”, during the school day using the computing device to access open-education resources (e.g. informational Web sites, simulations, video) available on the Internet to run apps to support artifact development (create a text-based report augmented with graphical media, develop a concept map, construct a drawing or animation, etc.) and, yes, maybe even to be drilled by some adaptive learning app. Those classroom uses of computing devices are perfectly consistent with the definition of blended learning given above.
For example, Figure 1 (below) depicts a blended learning lesson used in a Michigan sixth-grade science classroom recently. The app mediating the lesson is called “LessonLauncher“; LessonLauncher is written in HTML5 and thus it is device-agnostic – LessonLauncher runs in virtually all browsers (Edge, IE, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.), and LessonLauncher is free. (Interested in using LessonLauncher? Please send ES an e-mail: soloway@umich.edu)
In LessonLauncher, a teacher provides students with a roadmap for a Blended Lesson – a playlist in the millennials argot. For example, in Figure 1, clicking (or tapping if LessonLauncher is running on an iOS/Android/Windows tablet) the “Start Here Activity 1 WeRead” node brings up an article about Bromine and condensation. Clicking (or tapping) on “Initial Bromine Condensation Model WeSketch” brings up the WeSketch app where students can construct a drawing that represents their understanding, their model, of how bromine condensation happens. WeSketch is “collabrified” so two or more students work in WeSketch co-creating that model, in real-time. In total, the computer-mediated lesson depicted in Figure 1 contains eight computer-based learning activities, e.g., reading material on external Web sites, answering questions, drawing a model, etc.
The lesson depicted in Figure 1 is absolutely consistent with the definition of blended learning given by Staker. No, the students enacting the lesson in Figure 1 are not being drilled by an online, adaptive learning program, but the students are going online for some portion of the lesson. (Technically, the students are also online when they are working collaboratively, answering questions, making drawings, since the Internet is being used to keep the collaborators’ artifacts in sync. But the online aspect of those collabrified apps is really a second-order issue.)
Here comes a prediction – and you can take this one to the bank – it’s that solid:
Prediction 1: Over the next two to three years, there will be a dramatic increase in the number of lessons – blended learning lessons – that are computer-mediated and comprise a roadmap, along with the computer-based learning activities, just like the lesson depicted in Figure 1.
Who will produce those computer-mediated lessons? All y’all, as they say in Texas! You, the teachers who are on the cutting edge of technology and education, along with your colleagues who are more curricularly-focused – you all will produce such lessons, post them to a marketplace, e.g., teachers-pay-teachers, Curriki – or maybe a new website devoted to the “blended learning, computer-mediated lesson economy”. And, it will become a standard-operating procedure for teachers to come to that site/those sites to find lessons they can easily tweak for their students.
We are ready to make two more predictions:
Prediction 2: Over the next two to three years a new generation of curriculum-building/distributing/managing tools will come available to enable curriculum-creating teachers and small curriculum-creating companies who are producing this new generation of blended learning, computer-mediated lessons.
Prediction 3: These new tools will foster the explosive growth of a marketplace for computer-mediated lessons – a marketplace that is virtually non-existent today.
Who will produce those tools? Not the mega-textbook companies; they are going the way of the music CD producers. When Prediction 2 happens – and it will – those tools will enable the disrupters to swoop in and take the curriculum business away from the mega-textbook publishers; those tools will enable those disrupters to create – and market – a new generation of computer-mediated lessons!
(Aside: you can take Predictions 2 and 3 to the bank, also; they are as solid as Prediction 1.)
blended learning is indeed the future of computer use in the K-12 classroom. The formulation of blended learning described in this blog post may diverge from the blended learning orthodoxy; no biggy. The fact is, the term “blended learning” does very accurately describe what is happening in a classroom where learners are using their 1-to-1 computing devices to engage in their computer-based, computer-mediated lessons. Yup, blended learning is the future!
Under Stress, Students in New York Schools Find Calm in Meditation
By ELIZABETH A. HARRISOCT. 23, 2015
Fourth graders at Public School 212 in Queens practice mindful exercises in the classroom. Credit Lindsay Morris for The New York Times
On the first day of the new school year, the schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, stood in an elementary school classroom in Queens beaming at a hushed room full of fourth-grade children sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“Please let your eyes close,” said a small boy named Davinder, from his spot on the linoleum.
Davinder gently struck a shallow bronze bowl.
Gong!
“Take three mindful breaths,” he said, and the room fell silent.
“Do you do personal visits?” Ms. Fariña asked after the exercise was over. “Like to offices?”
In schools in New York City and in pockets around the country, the use of inward-looking practices like mindfulness and meditation is starting to grow. Though evidence is thin on how well they might work in the classroom, proponents say they can help students focus and cope with stress.
At the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School in Windsor Terrace, 15 minutes are set aside at the beginning and end of every school day, when students must either meditate or sit quietly at their desks.
The goal of mindfulness exorcises, practitioners say, is to get students into the habit of calming themselves and their minds. Credit Lindsay Morris for The New York Times
“It’s built into the schedule,” said Linda Rosenbury, founding principal at Brooklyn Urban Garden, a middle school. “Everyone clears off their desks. They shouldn’t be chewing gum, but if they are, they spit it out. Their hands are free. We ring a bell.” A building full of preteens and teenagers goes quiet, she said.
“It used to be that you wouldn’t say ‘meditation’ in polite company,” said Bob Roth, executive director of the David Lynch Foundation, a charitable foundation founded by the director of “Blue Velvet,” that promotes and teaches Transcendental Meditation to adults and children, including those at Brooklyn Urban Garden. “Now we’re working with all the large banks, we’re working with hedge funds, we’re working with media companies. People are having us come in as part of their wellness programs, and that wasn’t the case even two years ago.”
While Transcendental Meditation entails silent inward repetition of a mantra, a mindfulness exercise might ask children to focus on breathing in and out. In a classroom, both activities have similar goals; the idea, practitioners say, is to get students into the habit of calming themselves and clearing their minds so they can better focus on the day’s lesson.
“We’re putting it in a lot of our schools,” Ms. Fariña said about mindfulness, on the first day of school, “because kids are under a lot of stress.”
The Department of Education does not keep track of how many schools have mindfulness programs, but a spokeswoman said that grants and professional development seminars have provided some training to school staff members.
The city’s Move to Improve program has also taught nearly 8,000 elementary school teachers how to use activities in the classroom that can include things like mindfulness, balance exercises and stretching.
In many cases, schools are finding their own way. To mindfulness, in particular.
At Public School 212 in Jackson Heights, Queens, the school Ms. Fariña visited on the first day of classes, a literacy coach named Danielle Mahoney began doing regular mindfulness exercises with some classes the year before last, while taking a one-year certification course.
Last year, the school converted a large closet in a subbasement into a room devoted to mindfulness, complete with dim illumination and a string of rainbow Christmas-tree lights, allowing users to switch off the harsh fluorescent light overhead.
This sort of homegrown effort has created a patchwork effect; “mindfulness” might look a little different in every school.
“It’s a bottom-up process,” said Mark T. Greenberg, a professor of human development and psychology at Penn State. “You have very early adopters who are very interested in the ideas, and they are trying out different ideas and venues.”
Some districts, however, are experimenting with a more holistic approach. In Mamaroneck, N.Y., in Westchester County, the district has funded mindfulness training for teachers and parents in each of its six schools, and is encouraging the use of mindfulness exercises as part of an effort to address the social and emotional needs of students.
In Louisville, Ky., more than half of the city’s public elementary schools are expected to participate in a randomized study next year that will teach mindfulness exercises to some students as part of a so-called health and wellness curriculum.
Donna Hargens, the superintendent of the Louisville district of Jefferson County’s public school system, said that in classrooms a teacher’s reflex is to say, “ ‘Focus! Why aren’t you focusing?’ But what does that really mean, and have we given them any tools to help them do that?”
Research in a classroom setting appears to be picking up steam. In Britain, researchers from Oxford and University College London are studying whether teaching mindfulness in schools can improve the mental health of students, and some studies have shown benefits for many adults. Still, little is truly known about how, or even whether, children benefit from the practice in an academic setting.
“It definitely doesn’t address poverty, and it may not work for everybody,” said Patricia Jennings, an associate professor at the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and the author of a book called “Mindfulness for Teachers.”
Mr. Greenberg of Penn State cautioned that even if the practice does provide benefits for students, the research has yet to explain how.
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Staying Centered |
First Year Pitfalls
As a former mentor for new teachers, and, currently, as an instructional coach, I help new teachers avoid common pitfalls and find the wisdom that makes teaching a fulfilling experience. New teachers, whether right out of college or transitioning to a second career, often come into their new schools with abundant enthusiasm that can revitalize a department or grade-level team. Too often, however, that spark dims and is eventually snuffed out as a teacher tries to traverse the education landscape without the support of a competent guide. Avoiding these common pitfalls can help a teacher’s first year become the beginning of a satisfying and fulfilling journey.
Pitfall #1: Wanting Your Students to Like You
Of course, we all want our students to like us. The reality is that most will, but there might be some who won’t. All too often, new teachers spend a great deal of brain power on how to persuade students to like them, which is the quickest way to alienate students. I have seen every technique that you can think of: letting students misbehave, bribery, self-deprecating humor, class parties, and so on. These techniques only lead to a disorganized and ineffective classroom full of disgruntled students.
So, what is the secret to success? It’s simple, actually—students will like you if you do your job. Students are in school to learn, and if you help them do that while providing a safe and respectful environment, they will like and respect you. This is especially true of hard-to-reach students. If you can help them succeed, you will witness something powerful and beautiful. Offering stickers and allowing misbehavior does not possess the transformative power that good teaching provides.
Pitfall #2: Wanting to Change Too Much Too Soon
New teachers enter their careers with freshly written philosophies of education and a plethora of new ideas. They are eager to get into the trenches and change students’ lives. But many teachers make a crucial mistake by trying to change too many things too quickly. You have a long career ahead of you and plenty of time to make your mark. Remember that other teachers in your department or grade level have years of experience and most, if not all, are willing to share their wisdom and lesson plans if you just ask. Your first year will be difficult enough without trying to create all new curricula. Additionally, failing to ask experienced teachers for help may cause them to perceive you as a “knowitall,” even though that is not your intention.
The first step to build trust and collaborative relationships is to work with those around you, take what they have to offer, and offer your input when appropriate. As you move into your second year, when you have established trusting relationships with your colleagues and you understand the school district’s curriculum and philosophies, offer your ideas more frequently.
Keep your focus on doing the best job you can, not trying to change what others do. Many new teachers are shuffled from classroom to classroom and end up teaching the classes that others don’t want to teach. Show your moxie as an educator by taking these things in stride and focusing on what you can do for your students, rather than who has the best classroom or the classes that you want to teach; those things will come to you in time. Innovation is wonderful, but make sure you mix that with wisdom from experienced teachers and administrators.
Pitfall #3: Taking It All Too Personally
Teaching is an extremely personal career. Most teachers enter the profession because they want to make a difference in the lives of young people. They want to be role models who lead and inspire others. Effective teachers are deeply invested in their careers, so it is easy to take things personally. And yet it is equally important to learn early that you must look at things logically and never make assumptions. This shift in perception is extremely difficult and will take practice.
For example, if a student misbehaves or has a meltdown, don’t assume that you know the reason. You may be sure the trigger was something you said, when in reality, it was something that happened to the student at home that morning. Or, if you get an e-mail from the principal asking for a meeting, don’t assume that you have done something wrong. There are many reasons you might be called on. If you find that the principal wants you to change something you are doing, do not assume that you have failed. Feedback makes teachers better, and without feedback, it is hard to know where you need improvement.
In the new landscape of teacher effectiveness programs, you can expect to have peers, administrators, and coaches observing in your room on a regular basis. Don’t become nervous and stressed about these visits. Instead, see them as opportunities and look for something to learn from every experience.
Pitfall #4: Burnout
Teaching is an extremely rewarding career, but it is also highly challenging. Don’t burn out by trying to do everything yourself. If your school doesn’t provide mentors for firstyear teachers, don’t be afraid to ask administration for one. Find out what your resources are at the very beginning of the year. Librarians, custodians, secretaries, instructional coaches, K–12 coordinators, and department heads are all valuable people to seek out. Most are just waiting for someone to ask for their expertise. Take the time to ask them what support they offer for you and your classroom. The right resources can save you hours of time and frustration. With the right attitude and a few tips for success, every new teacher can have a rewarding first year.
Amy Stenzel is an instructional effectiveness coach in Whitnall School District in Milwaukee, Wisc.
ASCD Express, Vol. 11, No. 4. Copyright 2015 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.
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Staying Centered |
Five Habits That Hurt Teacher Motivation
Teachers know that motivating students and engaging families is part of the job. Sometimes, however, just keeping ourselves motivated can feel like a full-time job. Although we may daydream about our students sitting attentively with a look of delight that shows their love of learning, this ideal is certainly not always the case.
Here are some reasons why your enthusiasm might be lagging and some tips for making it through the slump.
Classroom Task Creep
With all there is to do every day, it’s tempting to funnel your off hours into teaching tasks or turn your home into a satellite office for your classroom. Although this may seem like a sign of dedication, it’s likely that if you’re never 100 percent clocked out, you’re never 100 percent clocked in, either. For the kids’ sake and your own, mornings should always feel like the start of a new day, and Mondays should always feel like the beginning of a new week. This means putting realistic limits on the amount of work that you bring home, scheduling specific hours to work on it, and then using your personal time for your personal life.
The Never-Done To-Do List
As teachers, we are our own secretaries. Nothing reminds us of this like looking at a to-do list of administrative tasks, especially one on which certain items seem to be permanent residents. To keep your list manageable, break big goals into smaller jobs that can be fully completed in a reasonable amount of time. “Print student test scores” is a good, list-friendly item. “Analyze student data and form long-term plans for each student” is a multipart project more likely to shut down your engine than get you in gear. Remember that your goal, when putting something on your list, is to cross it off.
The Wish-List Pretending to Be a To-Do List
Another hazardous habit is adding items to a daily task list that are actually long-term goals or ideas for the distant future. Not only do these items stay on our lists, but they also constantly remind us of our shortcomings. With this in mind, don’t write, “Be better at parent contact” on your to-do list if you really mean, “Call Javier’s dad.” For ideas that you’re not ready to implement, set up a computer folder, or even start a designated e-mail account where you can send ideas when you’re on the go. The important thing is to keep wish-list items off your desk and off your list of things that need to get done this week.
Dispiriting Discussions
Dealing with kids all day can make you crave the company of adults, but not all adult conversations help equally. Teachers’ lounge gripe sessions may help let off steam some days but feel toxic on others. Other times, you can find it more discouraging to talk to the teacher down the hall who’s sure she’s doing a fantastic job and can’t wait to tell you about it. Just remember—productive conversations comfort rather than overwhelm. Pay attention to which types of discussions drag you down. Then, look for ways to cut them short, tune them out, or avoid them altogether.
The Ill-Fitting Teacher Style
People constantly tell you to choose your battles in teaching. What they don’t tell you is that some of the battles not worth fighting are with yourself. Despite your best efforts, strengths and weaknesses from your personal life will carry over into your teaching style. You’re still more organized than creative (or more creative than organized). You’re still more ambitious than patient (or more patient than ambitious). The good news is that many different traits make a good teacher. No one has them all, and some of them can even contradict one another. Your goal is not to conceal your weaknesses or disguise them as strengths; it is to identify your true strengths and use them to reinforce potential weak spots.
So, the next time you feel your motivation waning, don’t despair—take a moment to examine if you’re guilty of any of these common motivation missteps, and adjust your attitude accordingly.
Roxanna Elden is a National Board-Certified teacher and the author of See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. More recently, she has created the “Disillusionment Power Pack,” a free, one-month series of e-mails for new teachers in which she shares journal pages, stories, and insights she would have shared with the first-year teacher version of herself. E-mails begin with signup and arrive every few days for one month.
ASCD Express, Vol. 11, No. 4. Copyright 2015 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.
PORTS is proud to announce the completion of the PORTS Unit of Study Common Core Alignment Project. All of the Units of Study are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. It has been exciting to note that our videoconference presentations are already aligned with the Speaking and Listening standards prominant in the CCSS:
Speaking and Listening: Flexible communication and collaboration
Including but not limited to skill necessary for formal presentations, the Speaking and Listening standards require students to develop a range of broadly useful oral communication and interpersonal skills. Students must learn to work together, express and listen carefully to ideas, integrate information from oral, visual, quantitative, and media sources, evaluate what they hear, use media and visual displays strategically to help achieve communicative purposes, and adapt speech to context and task.
To register for a PORTS distance learning program, complete the PORTS Registration Form (PDF) and email it to your local PORTS Program Coordinator or the PORTS Interpreter listed for a specific Unit of Study.
PORTS Registration Form (PDF)
5E Lesson Plans
PORTS is piloting a new format for our lesson plans called the 5E that better aligns with the critical thinking skills being promoted by Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards . The 5 Es of teaching science with inquiry are Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation. Our newest units of study, Mammals and Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle and Migration, are written in a three column version of the 5E lesson plan that shows teachers what to do and say, what types of probing questions to ask, and how students might respond.
Explore the art and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans through the art and artifacts of Hearst Castle (6th grade)
Ancient Civilizations Unit of Study
Soon students can explore the coastal resources of Point Lobos Natural Reserve and learn how Marine Protected Areas are being used to help protect them.
For now, you can check out the following units of study which are already discussing Marine Protected Areas.
Elephant Seals
Tidepool Ecology
Salmon Lifecycle
Science of Habitat Restoration and Protection
We will also soon unveil our new Marine Protected Areas online modules here.
Coastal Resource Protection Unit of Study
Explore Anza-Borrego Desert State Park to discover its stories of change, preservation, extinction and protection. (4th and 6th grade)
Students are introduced to the evolutionary history and adaptations of the northern elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Reserve. (7th grade)
Learn about the California Gold Rush from Columbia State Historic Park. (4th grade)
Explore the topic of immigration through the stories and lives of those who came through the US Immigration Station at Angel Island State Park.
Explore the mystery of Monarch butterfly lifecycle and Migration from Natural Bridges State Park. (Kindergarten – 3rd grade)
Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle and Migration Unit of Study
Find out about the unique redwood forest ecosystems of Humboldt Redwoods and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks. (6th grade)
Students are introduced to the life cycle of salmon and the importance of watersheds for their survival at Del Norte Redwoods State Park (3rd, 6th grade)
Students discover how human impacts degrade some of California’s native ecosystems and habitats while getting a first-hand look at the work California State Parks has done to restore the coastal sage scrub habitat at Crystal Cove State Park. (6th-8th Grade)
Science of Habitat Protection and Restoration Unit of Study
Engage students in researching information about their state representatives, the law-making process, and how they, as citizens, have a voice in government. (8th (adaptable for other grades)
State Government Units of Study
Experience life at the ocean’s edge and find out why life in the tide pools is no day at the beach. (4th, 5th grade) new test
Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook is a great place to observe weather. Students will learn about weather, climate and the story of this unique park in Los Angeles. (5th grade)
Weather and Climate Unit of Study
Explore how mammals are different from other animals by learning unique features of mammals and comparing them to reptiles, insects and others. (Kindergarten-2nd grade)
What is a Mammal? Unit of Study
Check out what else we have to offer!
(K-12th grade)
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Stay tuned to our #TransformationTuesday as cabins go from planning to breaking ground. (Image is artist rendering)https://t.co/s8NS31m0pn1h
Copyright © 2015 State of California
Passion In Education has been utilizing Edgenuity since it’s opening in 2010. We have assisted many students and parents. Students need options in education to meet their needs. If your student is currently struggling and needs another form of learning, check out The Bridge Virtual Academy for support courses, getting ahead, advancing in courses not offered in your current school and more.
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Enjoy the learning process. Find what works best for your learning style.
Editor’s note: In this post, we’re sharing some of the great work that colleges and universities are doing with the help of Google for Education tools. To learn more about Google’s solutions for higher education, come visit us atEDUCAUSE – the largest higher education EdTech event in the US – October 27-30 in Indianapolis, at #1110 in the Expo Hall. We’ll be demoing the latest products with Googlers, administrators, professors and students givingshort presentations throughout the week. And if you can’t attend EDUCAUSE, be sure to join our webinar with University of Texas at Austin on November 17th at 2pm EST / 11am PST.
Many higher education campuses are home to tens of thousands of students, thousands more staff, and dozens of buildings and academic departments — not to mention online learners. How do you create community and enable collaboration in academic settings that are the size of small cities, while making it easy for everyone on campus to learn and work together? Millions of students, teachers and administrators at colleges and universities around the world use Google Apps for Education to access their coursework from anywhere, communicate at any time, and share ideas for academic projects. In fact, the majority of U.S. News & World Report’s top 100 universities use Google Apps. Here’s how several major universities have brought professors, students and departments closer together.
Introducing new technology tools often means adoption delays and integration headaches. At schools likeGeorgetown University (case study), where Google is already the top choice of many students and faculty for email and collaboration, using Google Apps for Education for official school business was a painless transition.
The high awareness of Google Apps, and its seamless integration with other systems, was also a deciding factor at North Carolina State University (case study). “For the students, many of whom were already using Google, it really was a no-brainer,” says Sarah Noell, an assistant director in the school’s Office of Information Technology.
At the very largest universities, like the University of Michigan (case study) which has 43,000 students, separate schools and departments often choose their own email and collaboration tools — which means there’s no consistent way to share documents or manage email across the vast university community. With Google for Education, Michigan was able to unify all of its 19 schools under one collaborative solution. “When Google Apps for Education was introduced, there was a huge sigh of relief,” says Jeff Ringenberg, a faculty member in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department. “Previously, it was very difficult for students and professors to keep their information synchronized.”
Not only do schoolwide collaboration and productivity tools unify campuses, they make it easy to tap into course syllabi, reading lists and progress reports from professors. At Brown University (case study), moving from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps meant students no longer needed to carry their laptops around – they were able to choose any device on campus or pull out their mobile phones and immediately be productive. “All you need is a web browser,” says Geoffrey Greene, Brown’s director of IT support. “It doesn’t matter if you’re on your PC at home or on your Chromebook at work; you can do anything from any machine, anywhere.”
The students running Brown Market Shares, a food distribution program, use Google Drive to share meeting agendas and customer check-in sheets. “Using a Google Doc for our weekly meeting agendas, is useful because we can each add items to it before the meeting at any time of the day or night,” says Meagan Miller, an undergraduate student and Brown Market Shares’ communications coordinator.
With anytime, anywhere access, students and teachers need assurance that their projects can only be accessed by their chosen colleagues. Brown decided to adopt Google for Education in part because the university needed to protect in-progress research while encouraging collaboration from the campus community. The University of Texas at Austin made a similar choice: “What happens in the classroom should stay in the classroom,” says Christy Tran, a student intern working in CIO Brad Englert’s group. “Students can trust that they’ll have a safe learning experience.”
At UT Austin, home to 51,000 students, it’s not easy for professors to touch base with all of their students face-to-face. Google Apps lets feedback happen outside of class time or office hours. “I may only see students in class three hours a week, but we’re working together and editing classwork all the time, even on weekends,” says Angela Newell, a faculty member of UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business. “It allows us to move projects along much faster, and we can increase camaraderie with students.”
The University of Michigan’s Jeff Ringenberg collaborates with other teachers on his Electrical Engineering and Computer Science course syllabi and exams using Google Docs. “It eliminates the need to send thousands of versions back and forth,” he says. “We’ve streamlined the process of writing an exam, which frees me up to focus on communicating with students as opposed to generating content.”
There are many more stories about colleges and universities that are are re-thinking the ways they learn and work. If you’re in Indianapolis, we hope to see you in the EDUCAUSE Expo Hall at #1110. And if you can’t make it to the conference, be sure to join our webinar with University of Texas at Austin on November 17th at 2pm EST / 11am PST.
In a junior high class in Queens, New York, Ross Berman is teaching fractions. He wants to know whether his students are getting the key concept, so he posts a question in Google Classroom and instantly reviews their answers. It’s his favorite way to check for understanding before anyone has the chance to fall behind.
Across the country, in Bakersfield, California, Terri Parker Rodman is waiting at the dentist’s office. She wonders how her class is doing with their sub. With a few swipes on her phone, she finds out which students have finished their in-class assignment and sends a gentle reminder to those who haven’t.
Google Classroom launched last August, and now more than 10 million educators and students across the globe actively use it to teach and learn together, save time, and stay organized. We worked with teachers and students to create Classroom because they told us they needed a mission control – a central place for creating and tracking assignments, sharing ideas and resources, turning in completed work and exchanging feedback. Classroom is part of Google’s lineup of tools for education, which also includes the Google Apps for Education suite – now used by more than 50 million students, teachers and administrators around the world – and Chromebooks, the best-selling device in U.S. K-12 schools.
Here are a few of the stories we’ve heard from teachers and students who are using Classroom.
We built Classroom to help educators spend less time on paperwork and administrative tasks. But it’s also proven to be highly effective at bringing students and teachers closer together. In London, fifth grader Kamal Nsudoh-Parish stays connected with his Spanish teacher while he does his homework. “If I don’t understand something, I can ask him and he’d be able to answer rather than having to wait until my next Spanish lesson,” Kamal says.
Terri, who teaches sixth grade at Old River Elementary School, also observes that Classroom can strengthen ties and improve communication. “When a student doesn’t turn something in, I can see how close they are,” she says. “In the past, I couldn’t tell why they didn’t finish their work. I was grading them on bringing back a piece of paper instead of what their ability was.”
Resource room teacher Diane Basanese of Black River Middle School in Chester, New Jersey, says that Classroom lets her see her students’ minds at work. “I’m in the moment with them,” she explains. “We have dialogue, like, ‘Oh, are you saying I should use a transition?’ We’re talking to each other. It’s a better way.”
By helping them cut down on busywork, Classroom empowers teachers to do even more with every school day. “I no longer waste time figuring out paper jams at the school photocopier,” says Tom Mullaney, who teaches in Efland, North Carolina. “Absent students no longer email or ask, ‘What did we do yesterday?’ These time savers may not sound like much, but they free me to spend time on things that I consider transcendent in my teaching practice.”
In Mexico City, teachers at Tec de Monterrey high school and university switched to Classroom from an online learning management system that often added complexity to their workflow instead of simplifying it. Professor Vicente Cubells says he’s found the new question feature in Classroom particularly useful for short quizzes, because he can quickly assess learning and have an automatic record of their responses and grades. “The Classroom mobile apps have also become essential for our faculty and students, we use them to stay connected even when we’re not in front of a laptop,” Cubells said.
Teachers are some of the most innovative thinkers in the world, so it’s no surprise that they’ve used Classroom in ways we never even imagined.
Elementary school teacher Christopher Conant of Boise, Idaho, says his students are usually eager to leave school behind during summer break. But after using Classroom last year, they wanted to keep their class open as a way to stay in touch. “Classroom is a tool that keeps kids connected and learning as a community, well beyond the school day, school year and school walls,” said Christopher, who continued to post videos and questions for his students all summer long.
These endless possibilities are the reason why Diane Basanese, a 30-year teaching veteran, says that Classroom is the tool she’s been looking for throughout her career. “It has made me hungrier,” she explains. “I look at how I can make every lesson a hit-it-out-of-the-ballpark lesson.”
Ever since we began working with teachers and students, it’s been rewarding and encouraging to hear their stories, collaborate to find answers to their problems, and watch those solutions come to life at schools and universities around the world. Lucky for us, we’re just getting started.
Preliminary graduation rate data shows more students are graduating high school in the majority of states.
Preliminary graduation rate data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that the vast majority of states, 36 total, saw increases in overall graduation rates during the 2013-2014 school year.
“The fact that graduation rates are up – something is different out there,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said Monday. “There is something in the water. These preliminary numbers give me hope that it will continue to get better.”
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States making the biggest gains include Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Oregon and West Virginia. Only six states experienced decreases in graduation rates while eight states saw no change.
The majority of states also shrank the achievement gap for black and Hispanic students, as well as for low-income students, students with disabilities, and those learning English.
The U.S. has posted record graduation rates for the last two years, with the country’s highest-ever rate – 81 percent for the 2012-2013 school year – announced earlier this year. The NCES plans to release final graduation rate data this coming spring.
The announcement helps bolster the education agenda Duncan has aggressively pursued ahead of his departure from President Barack Obama’s cabinet in December. Since taking office at the beginning of the administration, Duncan has pushed states to make various changes to their education systems, including by adopting common and more rigorous standards, implementing teacher evaluations based in part on student test scores and expanding charter schools.
[READ: Parents Support Testing, but Think There’s Too Much]
Using competitive grants like those available through the Race to the Top program, he was able to spur such changes. But the strategy has also garnered him his fair share of critics, many of whom equate it with federal government overreach.
“The goal is to provide better outcomes for students who are underserved,” Duncan said. “To do that from Washington would be the height of arrogance. What we did try to do is challenge people to challenge the status quo.”
Duncan said, however, that he wishes he had used his executive authority sooner in some cases, including to relinquish states from some of the most burdensome requirements of No Child Left Behind in exchange for their implementation of new education policies.
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“A lot was done too slow,” Duncan said. “We probably should have gone to [NCLB] waivers a year or two earlier than we did.”
The news of graduation rates continuing to rise comes as the department is focusing on ways to boost the number of college graduates by reshaping the federal student loan system and making it easier for students to navigate the admissions process.
“Our goal is to lead the world in college completion rates,” Duncan said. “We’re thrilled high school graduation rates are up. A million more students of color are going to college. But the goal is not to go. It’s to graduate.”
Image from a presentation of first-year findings via Harvard’s Center for Education Policy Research
Teachers who participated in a year-long study comparing video-recorded and in-person classroom observations found the video observation process fairer and more useful overall than in-person observations, according to a new report from the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University.
The report, “The Best Foot Forward Project: Substituting Teacher-Collected Video for In-Person Classroom Observations,” summarizes the findings of the first year of implementation of the Best Food Forward Project. The researchers studied 347 teachers and 108 administrators at schools in Delaware, Georgia, Colorado and California. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. Those in the treatment group received a video camera and access to a secure site to store and view recorded lessons, and those in the control group continued to use in-person classroom observations.
Initially, teachers in the video group were reluctant to record themselves in the classroom but acquiesced when they were given the option of controlling the camera and choosing which lessons would be submitted for review. At the conclusion of the first year, the researchers found that allowing teachers to control the video observation process did not affect administrators’ ability to identify stronger or weaker teachers because “teachers who were stronger (or weaker) in their submitted lessons also tended to be stronger (or weaker) in the lessons they chose not to submit.”
Giving teachers control over the video observation process resulted in numerous benefits for both the teachers and the administrators, according to the report. For the teachers, it increased their perception of fairness and made them more self-critical of their classroom instruction. For the administrators, it enabled them to shift their observation work to quieter times of the day or week and resulted in reduced teacher defensiveness during post-observation conferences.
Other key findings from the report:
The researchers have released a freely available toolkit to help teachers and administrators who are interested in piloting video observations. The kit includes “advice and a suite of resources for leveraging video technology for teacher development, choosing the right technology for the classroom, and protecting the privacy of students and teachers,” according to information from CEPR.
The Best Foot Forward Project report and the Best Foot Forward Video Observation Toolkit can be found on the CEPR site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached atleilameyer@gmail.com
