Dennis Pierce, Author at eSchool News

Can technology help schools prevent AI-based cheating?

Dennis Pierce — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Since the public release of ChatGPT took the world by storm last fall, many educators have worried about students using the highly advanced, artificially intelligent chatbot for cheating on school assignments by passing off AI-generated work as their own. But if AI can be used to produce written content, can it also be used to determine whether a piece of writing was created by AI or by a human being?

That’s what Turnitin is hoping to do with a new feature the company has added to its existing writing tools. Beginning April 4, all Turnitin products—including Turnitin Feedback Studio (TFS), TFS with Originality, Turnitin Originality, Turnitin Similarity, SimCheck, Originality Check, and Originality Check+—will include AI detection capabilities for existing users.

Turnitin began working on detection capabilities for GPT3, the underlying technology upon which many AI writing applications are based, nearly two years before the release of ChatGPT.

“Educators told us that being able to accurately detect AI-written text is their first priority right now. They need to be able to detect AI with very high certainty to assess the authenticity of a student’s work,” said Turnitin CEO Chris Caren.

How to ensure digital equity in online testing

Dennis Pierce — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 09:57:00 +0000

The SAT will be moving online for students in the United States beginning in 2024. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam will be taken entirely online next year. Many other states already have fully online tests—and in response to the pandemic, graduate entrance and career certification exams have shifted online as well.

But as more high-stakes exams transition to an all-digital format, experts warn that students who are not as digitally literate as their peers could be placed at a disadvantage. As the trend toward wholly online testing continues, education leaders must consider how to ensure digital equity for the students taking these exams.

A study published in 2019 by Ben Backes and James Cowan from the nonprofit, nonpartisan American Institutes for Research found that students who took the Massachusetts state exam online performed worse, on average, than students of similar abilities who took the same test on paper. The difference was less dramatic for second-time test-takers, suggesting that familiarity with the digital format played a key role in the discrepancy.

“There may be systematic differences in students’ comfort level with (computer-based tests) depending on their access to computers in the home and at school,” the researchers wrote.

The differences were quite pronounced, equating to about five months of learning in math and 11 months—more than a full school year—in English language arts. Students from low-income families, those with disabilities, and English language learners were disproportionately affected.

‘Digital skills gap’ threatens innovation

Dennis Pierce — Mon, 30 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

The skills required for success in the new economy were already changing. Now, COVID has sped up these changes dramatically.

As researchers warn of a growing “digital skills gap” that threatens to hold back innovation, experts are calling on schools to rethink instruction so that it more closely aligns with emerging workforce needs.

The global pandemic has quickened the pace of technological development around the world as services that had not been digital before moved online and others that were performed by humans became automated. This rapid digital acceleration has created a huge demand for more highly skilled workers who can develop software, program machines, and support new innovations.

“There are just not enough people with the right digital skills to enable the transformation that companies are seeking,” said Salil Gunashekar, a research leader and associate director at RAND Europe who focuses on science and technology policy.

RAND Europe, the European arm of global research firm RAND Corp., issued a report in March that describes the worldwide digital skills gap in stark detail. The report should serve as a wake-up call for education leaders in the United States and elsewhere to think about how instruction should change to meet employers’ needs more effectively.

“Employers are actively seeking employees with digital skills in order to adapt to an increasingly digitalized environment,” the report says. “While the demand for digital skills is high, supply is low — and businesses often struggle to find talent for digital roles.”

Consider these statistics:

A global survey of companies with more than 1,000 employees across a wide range of industries found that more than half (54 percent) agreed that a shortage of digital talent has led to a loss of competitive advantage and that if the digital skills gap isn’t closed soon, there will be negative impacts on product development, innovation, and customer experiences.
In European countries, the report noted, 57 percent of organizations find it hard to fill ICT specialist roles. This trend exists in other parts of the world as well; for instance, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the demand for software developers will grow 22 percent through 2030.
The world’s major economies stand to lose up to $11.5 trillion in potential growth by 2028 if the digital skills gap isn’t addressed.

Here’s the biggest mistake educators make with remote learning

Dennis Pierce — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 10:00:50 +0000

Education thought leader Alan November isn’t shy about discussing what he believes is a key misstep that many educators are making in shifting to web-based instruction during the pandemic. Instead of taking the same techniques that teachers have used in their classrooms for years and trying to apply them within a remote learning environment—an experience he compares to forcing a square peg into a round hole—November believes teachers and administrators should view the pandemic as an opportunity to reinvent education. Related content: Lessons and leadership during remote learning “We’re trying to recreate the traditional school experience online,” he says. “What we should be doing is looking at models for learning that are very different.” How to structure remote learning in a way that leads to deeper learning and engagement is a question that remains very relevant, even as the current school year winds down. New guidance on reopening schools from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that students be spaced six feet apart when they return to school, at least initially—and K-12 leaders will have to apply some ingenuity to make this happen. If leaders follow the CDC’s recommendations, one option might be to have cohorts of students alternate between in-person and remote learning when schools reopen. This means online learning is likely to continue in at least some capacity this fall. Empower students to take charge of their learning Based on initial data, it appears many educators will need to change their practices if they want to engage students in learning online. Even after working to bridge the digital divide by distributing more than 100,000 laptops and tablets to students since mid-April, the Chicago Public Schools found this effort hasn’t resulted in more remote learning. Although 93 percent of the city’s students now have access to digital lessons from home, 58,000 students—about a quarter of the student population—didn’t log into the learning management system at all during the week of May 11, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. November believes a lack of student motivation is the problem, and it can be traced back to the design of online instruction. “The system isn’t designed to motivate,” he says. “Don’t blame the kids.” He isn’t alone in his assessment. Tom Daccord, co-founder and CEO of EdTechTeacher, says educators are at one of three stages in leading remote learning. Most are at stage one, he says, in which they’re simulating their physical classroom environment online. They’re using synchronous learning tools like Zoom or Google Meets to deliver information and lead class discussions, just as they would in their regular classroom. “They’re striving for continuity during a period of great turmoil,” he explains. While this can be comforting for both educators and students, it’s not the best use of the online learning environment, Daccord asserts. In stage two, teachers are using sophisticated online tools such as screencasting software and polling apps to create more active learning environments. This results in deeper engagement for students, he says—but it still puts the teacher at the center of the learning process. Teachers can get to stage three, Daccord says, by reframing the central question from “How can I teach” to “How can my students learn,” which puts students in charge of their education. “Instead of having students watch a screencast, have them create videos and podcasts,” he advises. “When students are creating their own content, they’re constructing meaning—and they have more autonomy over their learning.” Consider how students like to learn on their own When designing high-quality remote learning experiences, educators should take inspiration from how students like to learn outside of school, November believes. For instance, students enjoy seeing what their peers have created, especially if it’s video content. They spent countless hours watching content generated by other teens on sites like YouTube and Instagram.

5 ways to create a community of learners

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 10:00:16 +0000

Relationships are the foundation of learning. When students feel connected to their teacher and their peers, they’re more likely to thrive. How can teachers forge these connections within a remote learning environment? For education consultant Lainie Rowell, that’s the central question facing educators as they’ve moved instruction entirely online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cultivating a community of learners is critical,” says Rowell, an author and international speaker who facilitates professional learning for the Orange County, Calif., Department of Education’s Institute for Leadership Development. Building community has always been important for educators. In an online learning environment, where teachers and students aren’t face to face every day, it’s even more critical for success. If students don’t feel like a valued and important member of a community of learners, then they aren’t as likely to engage in lessons remotely. Rowell hosts a podcast called “Lemonade Learning” with fellow educator Brianna Hodges, director of digital learning for Stephenville ISD in Texas. Based on ideas they discussed in their podcast and that Rowell shared in an interview, here are five effective strategies for building a community of learners online. Engage students in norm-setting. Just like they would in a face-to-face setting, teachers have to establish ground rules for acceptable behavior in learning online. Involving students in this process helps build a sense of community. “When students help us develop those norms, they’re going to feel so much ownership [of the rules] that they’re going to be more likely not only to follow those norms but actually help you enforce them,” Rowell says. Use get-to-know activities. “I actually believe there’s a potential to get to know your learners better through a blended and online model than through a traditional face-to-face model of instruction,” Rowell says. “Just being in the room with someone doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting to know them.” The key to building community in an online setting is to be “super-intentional about it,” she observes. For instance, teachers can use an app like Flipgrid to have students create short videos introducing themselves to the class. Doing this in an asynchronous format gives students the space to be creative, without putting them on the spot. Provide frequent opportunities for discussion, sharing, and collaboration. Use discussion boards, chats, breakout rooms, and other online forums to facilitate class discussions online. Teachers might find that students who are hesitant to contribute to a class discussion in a traditional classroom are more inclined to participate online. Have students use Google Docs, blogs, or video to share their work with the class, and ask them to comment on each others’ work. Have them use digital collaboration tools (Google Apps, Microsoft Teams, or any number of applications) to work together on projects. “Whenever kids get to work together to create new things, that’s really where the magic happens,” Hodges says. Be generous with your teacher presence. Students need to feel supported, Rowell says. They need to feel like a teacher is present with them throughout their learning journey. “We don’t want them in this asynchronous abyss, where they feel the teacher’s presence on Zoom and then the rest of the time they feel completely alone,” she explains. Aside from sending frequent emails and calling students who might need intervention, teachers can establish this presence asynchronously by creating short, daily videos to welcome students or introduce a topic. “Videos can be endearing, allowing kids to feel like you’re there with them,” Rowell says. “They can watch the videos over and over again; maybe they’re having a rough day and they need to feel like you’re there.”

Teachers need emotional support this school year

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 10:00:29 +0000

At Hicks Canyon Elementary School in Orange County, Calif., students have been learning with digital devices since the Tustin Unified School District went 1:1 six years ago — so the shift to remote learning amid the coronavirus pandemic wasn’t as jarring as it could have been. Yet, it was still a profound change. “Teachers didn’t sign up for online learning,” says Assistant Principal Kristy Andre. “They signed up for in-person teaching.” Transitioning to all-online instruction has been physically exhausting for teachers. But it has taken a huge social and emotional toll as well. “The shift happened very abruptly. We went into spring break and then never returned to school,” Andre says. Not only were teachers forced to give up their spring break to create online assignments, but they didn’t have a chance to talk through the shift to online learning and its implications with students beforehand. Even though Hicks Canyon was a 1:1 school, teachers were at very different levels of proficiency in teaching with technology. “We had some teachers who didn’t know how to screencast or record a video of themselves,” Andre explains. “We were supporting them at the very basic level, showing them how to record video of themselves saying hi to their students or reading a story. And then we had teachers who were creating lessons on SeeSaw and Google Classroom that were rigorous and fun for students to complete. It spanned the entire gamut.” Regardless of teachers’ proficiency, the shift to remote instruction took a toll on everyone. “Teachers were putting in many more hours, because they were answering email and responding to students’ questions in addition to creating assignments and commenting on student work,” she says. “They were also sitting through weekly staff meetings about remote learning, which we weren’t doing before the pandemic.” Shifting instruction online put teachers in an unfamiliar spot. The stress this produced was compounded by the natural anxiety that teachers felt about the pandemic itself and its economic implications, like everyone else. “Teachers have been missing their students and realizing this is not how things should be,” Andre says. “The emotional toll this takes on adults as well as kids has been huge. I think everybody has felt a sense of fatigue from having to process all of this in the moment.” Making teachers feel seen and heard The emotions that Hicks Canyon teachers have experienced are familiar to many educators. K-12 leaders have been very mindful of supporting their students’ social and emotional needs during this stressful period — and they should remember that teachers need the same support as well. At Hicks Canyon, administrators have done many things to give teachers the emotional support they need. “Social and emotional learning are so important to us, and I think it starts with ourselves,” Andre observes. “If we’re not in tune with our own social and emotional well-being, then it’s hard to model that for our students.” The first thing school leaders did was to “name and normalize” the anxiety that teachers were feeling, she says: “We acknowledged what they were feeling and let teachers know that it was completely normal. That helps them do the same for their own students.”

Is it time to retire letter grades?

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 10:00:12 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly disruptive to education, hindering instruction and other services for thousands — perhaps millions — of K-12 students across the United States. But those who see the glass as half full would say it has also presented schools with a unique opportunity for change. Count Michael Horn among these optimists. In his podcast series “Class Disrupted,” Horn — an author and consultant who focuses on the future of education — has teamed up with Diane Tavenner, co-founder and CEO of the Summit Public Schools charter network, to discuss how the sudden shift to remote learning this past spring exposed the limitations of many educational structures we take for granted. Yet, it also suggests what might be possible if K-12 leaders are bold enough to see a new way forward, Horn and Tavenner agree. For instance, a lot of the time wasted in transitioning from one class to another during a traditional school day could be reclaimed for learning and practicing essential life skills, they say. The factory-style model that herds students in groups from class to class could be replaced by a more personalized, student-centered approach that caters to each child’s unique interests and learning needs. And the letter-grade system that schools have been using to evaluate student learning for generations could be supplanted by a mastery-based grading system that gives stakeholders much more insight into what students know. Rethinking the purpose of grades As Horn noted in his podcast, many school systems adopted a pass-fail grading system instead of giving out letter grades to students this past spring — and some even chose to give every student an “A” instead. Although their reason for doing so was well-intentioned — because not every student had the same access to high-speed internet service and other learning resources from home, it wouldn’t be fair to compare what students were able to accomplish — this practice revealed the shortcomings of using a letter-grade system in the first place. If everyone gets an A, what’s the point of even having a grading system? Or, as Horn asked in his podcast: “Do letter grades serve students? Do they serve learning? What would happen if we approached grading differently?” An assessment system should quickly communicate what students know and can do, Tavenner said. However, that’s not the purpose being served by letter grades today. A letter grade doesn’t give any deeper insight into what skills and concepts students know; it’s simply a shorthand for rating (and therefore ranking) a student’s ability. Letter grades were established when not every student was expected to go to college, and one of the functions of a school was to sort students by ability. Yet, K-12 education has advanced beyond this way of thinking. The goal of schools today is to ensure that every student learns foundational skills that are critical for success in work and life. “Why would we think the kids who know how to read 60 percent of the way, or understand algebra 70 percent of the way, would then later be able to read and understand complex texts or do advanced math?” Tavenner observed. “Plus, a blunt grade like that doesn’t communicate which part of the math or reading the student didn’t master. So what is the 60 percent? What is the 40 percent? It doesn’t tell you anything other than they don’t have a full foundation.” As Horn explained further during an interview, giving everyone an A or a pass/fail grade this spring was intended not to penalize students — but in reality it did just that. It shortchanged those who continued to learn by not capturing this growth, and it failed to serve the kids who weren’t able to learn as well, because schools now don’t have an accurate record of where their growth ended and what they still need to learn in order to advance or be ready for next year. A grading system based on mastery — whether it’s a portfolio that showcases student work, or standards-based grading that details the growth and mastery of discrete skills — would have addressed these issues. Having a richer tableau with which to document students’ learning “would have allowed schools to give students more substantive feedback on how students were progressing during remote learning,” Horn said, “while also affirming the learning that students continued to do from home.” Changing people’s mindset Moving away from the use of letter grades raises important questions: How can K-12 leaders implement a system that is more meaningful for students, while still giving colleges and employers the information they need to evaluate graduates? How can students differentiate themselves without using a grade point average? How can leaders reassure parents that breaking from convention won’t harm their children’s prospects of getting into an elite university? While these concerns should not be dismissed entirely, Horn believes they’re overblown.

Here’s why cyber security experts are concerned about remote learning

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 10:00:30 +0000

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned schools about an increase in ransomware attacks during the pandemic, with attackers exploiting Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections that allow school employees to log in to district servers remotely.

While the FBI’s alert is worrisome in its own right, it’s not the issue that keeps K-12 cyber security expert Doug Levin up at night.

Levin, a former director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association who now heads the consulting firm EdTech Strategies, is more concerned about what happens when millions of devices that have been removed from the protection of school district firewalls for five months are reconnected to district networks in August.

“Unless students, teachers, and administrators are IT experts, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they have had malware introduced to their device,” Levin says. “We have seen a spike in the number of COVID-related phishing scams, and malware can be introduced through the sites that users have visited, the links they have clicked on, or the material they’ve downloaded — and also through home routers that aren’t very secure. If you got your router from Best Buy or the cable company, you might not have changed the settings on it. Bad guys know that, and they look for devices they can compromise.”

He adds: “What I worry about is that when all those devices are reintroduced to school district networks, they’ll pass along malware or ransomware.”

Remote learning’s IT security challenges

The sudden shift to remote learning this past spring brought many challenges, including how to keep devices and networks secure.

While K-12 leaders grappled with immediate priorities such as how to deliver high-quality instruction remotely, how to reach and engage every student online, and how to answer stakeholders’ technical questions, it would have been easy for leaders to overlook cyber security — or at least not give this issue the full attention it deserved.

Learning and working remotely raises a few different cyber security challenges, Levin says, depending on how a school system has set up its IT infrastructure. “A lot of this depends on what tools schools were using and how prepared they were to go fully virtual,” he explains.

If school and district personnel have been logging in from home to applications hosted locally on school district servers, those connections need to be secure so that hackers can’t gain entry into district networks. “In the best of circumstances, schools have deployed virtual private networks [VPNs] to protect these connections and ensure that only authorized users could access local servers,” Levin says.

School employees using RDP connections to log in to local district servers from home is the scenario the FBI warned about in June. The agency observed that “cyber actors are likely to increase targeting of K-12 schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, because they represent an opportunistic target as more of these institutions transition to distance learning,” ZDNet reports.

A growing number of school systems are using cloud-based applications instead of hosting software on local servers. In these cases, students and employees have been accessing software directly from the cloud instead of logging in to district servers. “In general, their security posture remains largely unchanged,” Levin says.

However, in the rush to pivot to remote learning nearly overnight, many schools and individual teachers “have chosen to use new apps and services they have not fully tested or vetted,” he says. These cloud-based apps and services might not be very secure and may be susceptible to breaches.

How to ensure home broadband access for every student

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:00:52 +0000

When the coronavirus pandemic forced students into remote learning this past spring, many telecommunications companies stepped up to offer free or deeply discounted home broadband access to families who couldn’t afford it. Now, those temporary offers have largely expired — and yet remote learning seems likely to continue in at least some capacity when school resumes this fall. This raises key questions for K-12 leaders to resolve: How will students from low-income families connect to the internet to learn from home if they can’t attend school physically this fall? What role can school systems play in ensuring home broadband access for all students, given the budget crisis many districts will be facing next year? The simplest solution would be for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to lift the restrictions barring E-rate recipients from using their networks to extend broadband service into students’ homes. However, this scenario isn’t likely to happen, according to John Harrington, CEO of the consulting firm Funds For Learning (FFL), which helps schools successfully apply for E-rate discounts. In an interview, Harrington said that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai believes the agency doesn’t have the legal authority to lift this rule. Instead, he said, K-12 leaders must look to Congress for help — and Harrington urged leaders to contact their senators and representatives to lobby for more federal aid to support home broadband access. In May, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a second coronavirus stimulus bill, known as the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. The bill would provide $90 billion in additional money for K-12 schools and colleges, as well as $1.5 billion for an Emergency Connectivity Fund administered by the FCC to pay for WiFi hotspots and other home connectivity solutions to help with remote learning. (As of press time, the Senate had yet to take up the bill.) The HEROES Act is a good start, Harrington said — but it doesn’t come close to meeting the need for home broadband access across the United States. According to a report from Common Sense Media, some 15 million to 16 million students (about 30 percent) lack either high-speed internet access or a computing device to learn from home — and 9 million students lack both. What’s more, as many as 400,000 teachers face the same barriers in teaching from home. Using federal Census data, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that 9 percent of U.S. families can’t afford home broadband access, FFL says — which works out to 7.15 million U.S. households. Equipping these households with a digital device, broadband service, and internet security would cost an estimated $7.5 billion altogether, FFL calculates. Working with the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition and the State E-rate Coordinators Alliance, FFL has drafted a proposal that would close this gap. The plan, called the Remote Learning During COVID-19 Initiative, calls for $5.25 billion in federal funding for schools and libraries to provide broadband access for families who can’t afford it. The funding would be distributed according to the E-rate formula, with schools and libraries contributing a portion of the cost themselves based on National School Lunch Program data. More than 1,900 individuals and organizations have endorsed the proposal, including the American Library Association and personnel from hundreds of school systems.

How to make remote learning easily accessible

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 02 Jul 2020 10:00:55 +0000

When school starts again in the fall, it’s likely that a significant number of students will still be learning remotely. To make classrooms less crowded and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many states and districts are considering a hybrid approach in which some students attend school and some learn from home, such as by having students alternate between in-person and remote learning. One of the key lessons learned in the shift to remote learning this spring was the need to make online instruction easily accessible to everyone. K-12 school systems have taken many actions to ensure that students have the technology they need to learn from home, such as distributing mobile devices and wireless hotspots to students who need them and even negotiating deals with internet service providers to extend free or discounted broadband service to low-income families. These steps are a good start, but they don’t go far enough in overcoming all the barriers teachers face in reaching and engaging all students remotely. Kindergarten teacher Ben Cogswell has some experience with this issue. He has been teaching for more than 10 years in the Alisal Union School District in Salinas, Calif. It’s a very agricultural community, with many migrant families who don’t speak English at home. When he began his career, he was teaching sixth grade in the sixth most densely populated community in the United States. As a former technology coach for the district, Cogswell helped get the district up and running with a 1:1 technology program that gave every K-12 student a Chromebook to take home for learning. Two years ago, he decided to return to the classroom as a kindergarten teacher, and he has been successfully blending traditional and digital learning in his classroom ever since — which prepared him well for the shift to remote learning this spring. Here are some strategies that Cogswell used to make online learning as accessible as possible for his students and their families. Take advantage of ubiquitous technology tools. Although his students all had school-issued Chromebooks, Cogswell didn’t assume that all families had home broadband access. In shifting to remote learning, he tried to design simple lessons that could be completed on a smartphone as easily as a Chromebook, recognizing that most families have a smartphone with a data plan even if they don’t have an internet connection. In his classroom, Cogswell would have students practice writing and then record themselves reading what they had written aloud using the free app Seesaw. Or, he might ask them to do a simple math activity, like “show me eight of something,” and then students would record themselves in Seesaw explaining their work and counting out the eight objects they assembled. This self-reflection and recording process accomplishes multiple goals, he explains: It reinforces the student’s learning. It allows parents to see what their child is learning in school. It gives Coggswell more insight into each child’s thinking — “making their thinking visible,” as edtech thought leader Alan November would say. And, it allows students to learn from each other. “Students are able to see other students’ recordings,” Cogswell says. “They can see: Did they make eight the same way as me, or in a different way?” He continued this practice as students were learning remotely. In fact, having students record themselves demonstrating their learning became his primary way of assessing students’ learning from home — and this process is simple to do with any mobile device, including a smartphone. Cogswell had also implemented a badging system in his classroom, in which he would use a 3D printer to print out charms to give to students when they reached certain milestones —like knowing all their letter sounds, learning 100 sight words, or counting to 100. He continued this practice remotely, with students practicing their skills from home and then using Seesaw to record themselves reaching a particular milestone. Parents picked up the badges their child had earned at the end of the year. “I had students who before COVID knew 40 sight words and after COVID knew all 100,” he says. “I was still able to assess my kids and have them grow.”

Teachers need emotional support, too

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 10:00:42 +0000

5 strategies for independent learning

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 10:00:32 +0000

Fifth-grade teacher Kim Voge has had students literally beg her to give them more writing assignments. As Jon Corippo, chief learning officer for the nonprofit group Computer-Using Educators (CUE), put it: “When do you see that ever?” Voge has also watched students who began her class too shy to ask questions blossom into confident, capable, autonomous learners who can ask for help or advocate for themselves. What’s her “secret sauce?” This 26-year veteran educator has created a culture of student-centered, independent learning in her classroom. As it turns out, this approach has served both Voge and her students exceptionally well in transitioning to remote learning during the pandemic, as neither have skipped a beat in moving the process fully online. Focus on student ownership A big concern for teachers in shifting to remote instruction has been how to manage students and make sure they complete assignments without watching over them all day. Teaching students how to learn independently — and giving them the practice they need to develop this skill — can alleviate this concern. When students take ownership of their learning, they’re well positioned to succeed in a remote learning environment, as Voge’s experience demonstrates. Voge, who teaches at Van Buren Elementary School in California’s Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, returned to the classroom last fall after serving as a digital learning instructional coach for seven-plus years. When schools shut down in March amid the coronavirus outbreak, her students already knew how to work in Google Classroom and create collaborative slide decks with their classmates. They were proficient in accessing information and completing assignments right from their Chromebooks. They even knew how not to intrude on each others’ slides and other essential digital citizenship skills. “We didn’t have a huge learning curve for how to learn remotely,” she observed. Just as importantly, Voge had been teaching her students how to be self-directed learners all year. “On that Friday when we left, I told my kids, ‘You’re ready for this,’” she recalled. “We had been doing this all year long, and we’d been preparing for remote learning — we just didn’t know it at the time.” Five strategies for success What were the things Voge had been doing in her classroom all year that prepared students for independent learning from home? Here are five strategies that mattered. Building relationships Like Lainie Rowell noted in last week’s column, building strong relationships with students is critical. When students feel like they’re part of a learning community — when they know their teacher and their peers are counting on them to come through — they don’t want to disappoint others. “The No. 1 thing is absolutely building relationships with your kids,” Voge said. “That trust factor is huge. When they know that you are there for them and they are there for each other, there is a magical interdependence that happens because of that. I could pretty much put kids in any grouping and they would work well together.” Establishing routines Creating routines that students become familiar with helps them learn to work independently. Voge has seen a lot of success with the EduProtocols model developed by Corippo and his colleague Marlena Hebern.

Five ways to build a community of learners online

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:00:45 +0000

Here’s the biggest mistake educators are making with remote learning

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 10:00:25 +0000

5 ways to celebrate this year’s Hour of Code

Dennis Pierce — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 10:00:44 +0000

The Hour of Code is a global movement by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to teach students about coding and computer science. The event takes place during Computer Science Education Week, which is Dec. 9-15 this year.

Code.org has a database of free one-hour tutorials and activities that introduce students to coding and computer science. You can search for activities by grade level, subject area, comfort level with computers, and the type of classroom technology that’s available to your students, among other criteria.

If you want to build on the momentum you’ve established with these initial Hour of Code tutorials, or you’re overwhelmed with the number of choices available through Code.org, here are five great options to consider in your school or classroom.

SAM Labs

SAM Labs takes a kinesthetic approach to teaching coding for students in grades K-8. SAM Labs classroom kits contain interactive electronic blocks that connect wirelessly to the SAM Space app, making abstract coding concepts more tangible for students.

Each block represents an input or an output, such as a motor, a light, or a light sensor. Students use the SAM Space app to connect the blocks together. For example, if they connect a light sensor and a motor, the motor will run faster as they shine more light on the sensor.

The SAM Space app allows for blocks to be coded together in a simple and intuitive way. Visual, flow-based drag-and-drop coding allows students to take their physical blocks, drop them into a virtual canvas, and connect them together to create projects.

For the Hour of Code, SAM Labs has released a free ebook, “Implementing a District-Wide Coding Program,” as well as free Learning to Code lessons that help students in grades 4-8 learn block-based coding in a virtual canvas called Workbench.

Nepris

Nepris is an online platform that connects students virtually with STEAM professionals, so students can learn firsthand about STEAM-related careers. They can also see how the concepts they’re learning in class are applied within real-world settings.

For this year’s Computer Science Education Week, Nepris has scheduled at least eight video chats with coding and computer science professionals. Students will have the opportunity to learn what it’s like to be a software engineer, what skills are required to do the job effectively, and more.

Students can take part in these discussions live, as they’re happening, enabling them to ask questions of the presenter—or they can view a recording of each event.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy offers video tutorials for teaching students ages eight and up how to program drawings using JavaScript by designing their own snowman, as well as how to make webpages with HTML tags and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), a web programming language. Students finish the web programming tutorial by making their own greeting card.

In addition, students ages 12 and up can learn how to manipulate data in a database and make their own custom store—and students who are interested can extend their learning with videos that show them how to use variables, make animations, store data in arrays and objects, group their code into functions, and more.

Minecraft

With more than 100 million registered users worldwide, Minecraft is a popular way to introduce students to coding and computer science.

Minecraft offers four basic coding tutorials for students in grades two and up. The tutorials are available free of charge and work with all “modern browsers and tablets,” Code.org says.

Schools using the educational version of Minecraft for Windows, Mac, and iPad devices also have access to a free Minecraft Hour of Code lesson that explores artificial intelligence (AI) in addition to basic coding concepts. The lesson, called “AI for Good,” challenges students to train a computer to identify what causes fires, remove materials that help fires spread, and then bring life back to a forest destroyed by fire—all with code. The lesson was inspired by Microsoft’s AI for Earth team, who use AI to help solve global environmental challenges.

CodeCombat

CodeCombat allows students to learn coding in a scaffolded environment as they program a computer game by typing actual Python and JavaScript commands into a browser window.

In CodeCombat’s 2019 Hour of Code activity, students progress through multiple game levels. At each level, students will be given some starter code. They must finish the code to have their character complete a certain task, then run the simulator to check their work (and make changes if needed). The activity culminates with students using everything they’ve learned to create their own game from scratch.

Mindfulness instruction makes a big impact on learning

Dennis Pierce — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 10:00:48 +0000

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, a neighborhood whose history of gun violence earned it the moniker “Chiraq,” can be traumatic for students. Many students come to school having witnessed violence or abuse in their lives. When they take their seats for the morning bell, learning fractions or the parts of a sentence is often the furthest thing from their minds. These are the challenges Quinlan O’Grady faces each day as a teacher at Schmid Elementary School. And yet, her students are not only overcoming these challenges, they’re thriving — thanks in no small part to the use of mindfulness videos that give them effective strategies for coping with their emotions. Related content: 8 ways I embraced mindfulness this year In fact, O’Grady’s third graders last year performed 10 points higher than the national third-grade average on NWEA’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) benchmark exam. She attributes this success to a number of factors, one of which is her use of mindfulness content and other instructional videos from Adventure2Learning. Promoting active learning O’Grady began using Adventure2Learning’s instructional videos a few years ago as a way to promote active learning in her classroom. Adventure2Learning’s 7,000-plus videos, which are available for streaming, come with teacher guides and lesson plans and span a wide variety of subject areas--including math, science, social studies, ELA, art and music, physical education, and financial literacy. The videos are highly interactive and engage students in learning through their favorite medium. For instance, the science videos include experiments that kids can do either at home or at school. And a series of videos called “Adventure to Fitness” get students up and moving while they’re learning key content. Children run, jump, climb, paddle, and swim along with their guide, Mr. Marc, as he as he travels the globe in search of adventure, taking students on a virtual tour of places such as the Great Pyramids of Egypt. “My students love the videos because they’re super engaging,” O’Grady says. “They’re like a virtual simulation, and kids feel like they’re immersed in that world. They’ll even talk back to the characters.” When Adventure2Learning added mindfulness videos to its instructional library, O’Grady recognized this as a perfect opportunity to extend her students’ social and emotional learning (SEL). Teaching self-control Schmid Elementary already had a strong focus on SEL in place. Each day, teachers are encouraged to spend at least 10 minutes in the morning and another 10 minutes in the afternoon on SEL instruction. “Our philosophy is that students’ social and emotional needs must be met before they are ready to learn,” O’Grady explains. “If students aren’t able to regulate their emotions, we can’t expect them to be academically focused.” O’Grady has used this SEL time to show mindfulness videos from Adventure2Learning featuring singer, songwriter, and yoga instructor Bari Koral, as well as Fitbound yoga videos and other mindfulness content. She plays the videos in the morning before students begin working and later when they come in from recess. “This allows them to refocus and center themselves for the afternoon,” she observes.

The digital learning challenge that still vexes schools

Dennis Pierce — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:00:20 +0000

The latest Speak Up survey findings from Project Tomorrow reveal how far schools have come in making digital learning available to every student — and how far they still have to go to realize the full value of their edtech investment. Although the survey indicates that students in a majority of schools are now given a mobile device to use in class, there are mixed signals about the value this adds to their learning. For instance, when asked to identify the benefits of digital learning for students, 86 percent of teachers and 93 percent of principals cited greater engagement as the most significant outcome, instead of stronger indicators of success such as deeper learning or more sophisticated student work. Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, believes schools aren’t seeing enough value from digital learning because there are too few transformational uses of technology happening in schools today. “Too often, classroom technology implementations aim to mirror or replicate traditional learning modalities, such as using a mobile device to take notes or take a class poll,” Evans writes in a briefing paper about the survey results. “It’s difficult to demonstrate value or justify a return on investment with these substitution-type activities.” In schools where digital learning is most successful, she says, leaders have clearly articulated instructional goals and are focused on using digital devices to support personalized learning, student inquiry, creativity and collaboration, and other uses of technology that are more mature. Related content: Digital teaching and learning in the smartphone era Here’s a closer look at what the survey reveals about the state of digital learning in U.S. schools, where it falls short — and how one forward-thinking school system is achieving success. What the survey shows Nearly three-fifths of administrators who took part in last year’s Speak Up survey (57 percent) say their students are given a mobile device for learning in school, and 38 percent say students are allowed to take their device home with them. The type of device varies by grade level, the survey indicates, with the youngest students more likely to use a tablet and older students more likely to use a Chromebook. In fact, the survey not only shows a sharp rise in mobile learning over the last five years; it also reveals how Chromebooks have replaced laptops as the main device of choice for middle and high schools. In 2014, 50 percent of middle schoolers said their primary access to technology was in a computer lab. Now, just 25 percent of students in grades 6-8 say their edtech access depends on a visit to the library or computer lab. Sixty-four percent say they use a Chromebook in class — a 138-percent growth in student Chromebook use in just four years, Project Tomorrow says. With classroom access to a mobile device becoming more prevalent, “we would expect to see frequent usage by students of various online resources,” Evans writes. “However, that’s not necessarily the case.” While 83 percent of students in grades 6-12 say they use Google tools on a weekly basis and six in 10 report taking weekly online assessments, students use other types of digital resources less frequently. Only one in five middle school students uses digital primary-source documents, animations, simulations, or virtual labs as part of his or her regular schoolwork — and a majority of students (58 percent) say they rarely or never access these online tools. “These types of digital content represent learning activities that cannot be easily replicated without the use of technology. For example, students can potentially learn about the Civil War’s impact on the families of both Union and Confederate soldiers by reading their textbook. But a more in-depth and relevant learning experience can be gained by accessing primary-source photographs and letters written by soldiers to their families through the National Archives website,” Evans observes.

3 key parts of a K-12 coding or robotics program

Dennis Pierce — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 10:00:41 +0000

K-12 teachers and administrators have been listening to policy makers and industry leaders warn of the need for computer science instruction, such as a coding or robotics program, in U.S. schools for years. And the evidence they cite is compelling. For instance… Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates there will be 50 million new technology jobs created by 2030 as automation transforms the workforce. While artificial intelligence and robotics will change or eliminate many jobs, McKinsey says, these advancements will also create many new high-paying opportunities for computer scientists, engineers, and IT administrators. According to Code.org, there are nearly 500,000 open computing jobs in the United States right now, and yet the nation is not producing enough computer science graduates to fill them. Last year, fewer than 50,000 computer science majors graduated into the workforce. Although 58 percent of all new jobs in STEM-related fields are in computing, only 8 percent of the STEM degrees earned in the United States are in computer science, Code.org says. Related content: 11 educators share how they bring coding into the classroom Learning about coding and robotics can give students of all ages an effective on-ramp to computer science exploration. As educators Lynne Schrum and Sandi Sumerfield wrote for ISTE last year: “Robotics and coding provide hands-on and creative opportunities for learners to invent, solve problems, and create — perhaps the most appropriate implementation of STEM.” When taught well, these subjects can be fun and engaging for students. Yet, introducing coding and robotics into the K-12 curriculum can be very challenging. Few K-12 instructors have much specialized knowledge in these topics, especially at the elementary and middle school level — and tight budgets are often an impediment as well. Fortunately, a number of companies have recognized these challenges and have created resources aimed at solving them. As teachers and administrators look for simple ways to introduce coding and robotics into the curriculum, here are three key elements to consider that will make the process easier for everyone involved. Is the coding or robotics program widely accessible for students? To engage as many students as possible, a coding or robotics program should have multiple entry points that target various skill levels. Students should be able to learn and complete activities regardless of their experience or ability. For instance, a coding program should include both a visual interface and a text editor, removing the intimidation factor for novice students by allowing them to drag and drop blocks of code into place. As beginners progress in their knowledge, they would be able to switch to a text editor to write the code behind these blocks — and students who have some prior exposure to coding would be able to jump into the programming at this more advanced level as well. Related content: Early coding can greatly benefit students What’s more, the content should appeal to a wide range of students — not just boys or those who might be naturally drawn to math and technology, but also girls, students who are more creatively inclined, and those who don’t expect to pursue a STEM career. Research suggests that computer science instruction is more broadly appealing if it’s grounded in authentic projects and applications that demonstrate a real-world impact. “If you teach computing that is just focused on programming, you will attract some students, but to generate a diverse group … it is important to emphasize how computing makes a difference in society,” researcher Linda Sax from the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Financial Times.

Three key trends in robotics education

Dennis Pierce — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 10:00:40 +0000

Robots are hugely popular with kids. Want proof? Four of the 20 best-selling toys on Amazon during the 2018 holiday season were robots, robotics kits, or other electronic circuitry kits. So it’s not surprising that K-12 educators would turn to robotics as a way to get students excited about science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education.

Worldwide, schools spent $146.5 million on robotics products and curricula in 2018, and this figure is expected to grow annually by 28 percent through 2023, reaching $640.5 million by that time. Some of the many companies that sell robotics kits to schools include LEGO Education, Pitsco Education, Sphero, Ozobot, Modular Robotics, VEX Robotics, and BirdBrain Technologies.

Reasons for this surge

Why is the K-12 robotics market exploding? Educators are finding that robotics is a great way to introduce STEAM skills and concepts to students of all ages.

For one thing, robotics helps bring STEAM concepts to life through engaging, hands-on learning opportunities. Students enjoy being creative, and building and programming their own robot to do simple tasks allows them to flex their creative muscles. Along the way, students are learning key concepts in math, physics, coding, and engineering, and they’re seeing how these principles apply within real-world scenarios—so their learning is more likely to stick.

Related Content:

eSchool News Robotics Guide

The eSchool News Robotics Guide is here! It features strategies to help you effectively integrate robotics into instruction, along with tips to find the right robotics resources to successfully teach key concepts. A new eSchool News Guide will launch each month–don’t miss a single one!

Another reason for the surge in robotics education is that robotics is a rapidly growing industry. Integrating robotics into the curriculum exposes students to practical skills that could lead to a promising career.

3 things to consider when introducing a K-12 coding or robotics program

Dennis Pierce — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 10:00:02 +0000

K-12 teachers and administrators have been listening to policy makers and industry leaders warn of the need for computer science instruction in U.S. schools for years. And the evidence they cite is compelling. For instance… Global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimates there will be 50 million new technology jobs created by 2030 as automation transforms the workforce. While artificial intelligence and robotics will change or eliminate many jobs, McKinsey says, these advancements will also create many new high-paying opportunities for computer scientists, engineers, and IT administrators. According to Code.org, there are nearly 500,000 open computing jobs in the United States right now, and yet the nation is not producing enough computer science graduates to fill them. Last year, fewer than 50,000 computer science majors graduated into the workforce. Although 58 percent of all new jobs in STEM-related fields are in computing, only 8 percent of the STEM degrees earned in the United States are in computer science, Code.org says. Related content: 11 educators share how they bring coding into the classroom Learning about coding and robotics can give students of all ages an effective on-ramp to computer science exploration. As educators Lynne Schrum and Sandi Sumerfield wrote for ISTE last year: “Robotics and coding provide hands-on and creative opportunities for learners to invent, solve problems, and create — perhaps the most appropriate implementation of STEM.” When taught well, these subjects can be fun and engaging for students. Yet, introducing coding and robotics into the K-12 curriculum can be very challenging. Few K-12 instructors have much specialized knowledge in these topics, especially at the elementary and middle school level — and tight budgets are often an impediment as well. Fortunately, a number of companies have recognized these challenges and have created resources aimed at solving them. As teachers and administrators look for simple ways to introduce coding and robotics into the curriculum, here are three key elements to consider that will make the process easier for everyone involved. Is the coding or robotics program widely accessible for students? To engage as many students as possible, a coding or robotics program should have multiple entry points that target various skill levels. Students should be able to learn and complete activities regardless of their experience or ability. For instance, a coding program should include both a visual interface and a text editor, removing the intimidation factor for novice students by allowing them to drag and drop blocks of code into place. As beginners progress in their knowledge, they would be able to switch to a text editor to write the code behind these blocks — and students who have some prior exposure to coding would be able to jump into the programming at this more advanced level as well. Related content: Early coding can greatly benefit students What’s more, the content should appeal to a wide range of students — not just boys or those who might be naturally drawn to math and technology, but also girls, students who are more creatively inclined, and those who don’t expect to pursue a STEM career. Research suggests that computer science instruction is more broadly appealing if it’s grounded in authentic projects and applications that demonstrate a real-world impact. “If you teach computing that is just focused on programming, you will attract some students, but to generate a diverse group … it is important to emphasize how computing makes a difference in society,” researcher Linda Sax from the University of California, Los Angeles, told the Financial Times.