In September 2011, the
U.S. Department
of Education sponsored a new project
called Digital Promise. The bipartisan, public-private initiative will fund
research in educational technology and will bring leading technologies into the
classroom to help students with problem areas such as STEM subjects. Review the
main directions of this project using the provided link and post your thoughts
on which initiatives could be particularly helpful for the development of
next-generation learning environments in Alabama schools and colleges. (Focus
on your own subject area and grade level.)
I think the initiative by the Urban Education Lab to research technology education to determine a 'best practices' is very exciting. One of the difficulties in math and technology education is that everything is moving so quickly that there are no standards for how to teach it. If they can determine the most effective way to teach technology, then we can adapt that to our environments. Having tech as a basis for math and science education creates more interest, so the initiative should help foster that with some direction on how best to teach.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the expansion of research that the National Science Foundation has committed to is very promising. I think literacy, or the lack thereof, in our student population in Alabama is crushing students' learning potential across the board. My content area is secondary math; however, I believe if this foundational problem were addressed, it would improve student performance in all subject areas. I liked the idea of robots assisting with vocabulary acquisition (not sure how that works, though), which should help with literacy. However, the most exciting initiative they are pursuing are the next-gen online tutors that can assess real-time comprehension AND tailor learning strategies to the student. With the work in literacy and online tutors in math, I believe that Alabama students could be catapulted into a whole new level of success.
ReplyDeleteI think all the technology talked about in this article is going to be great for our future generations to use in the classroom. Specifically, I think that augmented reality is going to be used quite a bit for STEM lessons. I have seen some schools that are already using augmented reality in the classroom and it is truly amazing. The class I observed using this learning tool was a middle school science class. They put on specially designed glasses that gave them the ability to learn about the human body in a truly immersive way. They could see a 3D form of the body and the different organs. It brought the learning experience to life more than simply reading a textbook ever will. After the lesson I asked the students about their thoughts on augmented reality in their classroom and they all said that it was the best part about learning. For students nowadays, technology is one of the best tools to encourage interactive learning. Augmented reality itself is not only a form of entertainment used in snapchat or facebook, but it is a great way to get students actively involved in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteThe Digital Promise Program has already made new strides just by its bipartisan support of members of Congress. In general, the country supports innovative technology that would give the U.S. a leading edge in education. Integrating technology in the classroom is essential in the development of learners to set the path for their goals. Technology and education are synonymous and preparing students early with programs implemented by Digital Promise not only teach new skills, but they have found ways to keep students engaged with the use of robotics, gaming and e-learning tools. The developers are worthy of so much credit for their efforts in R&D to tailor programs specifically for students K-12. The program is also structured around highly qualified educators who are the foundation of teaching. Teachers must be trained to implement new strategies into the classroom, and the success of the program is dependent on the budget, implementation and continued research and modifications. I included modifications because technology advances at a rapid pace.
ReplyDeleteI’m a big fan of video games, when I can find the time for them. I think the STEM Video Game Challenge sounds fun and exciting and could pique students’ interests in game design. So far nearly 20,000 games and game design packets have been entered in the contest since 2011 from all over the country, plus it’s got great outreach partners like the American Library Association and the Girl Scouts of the USA.
ReplyDeleteWhile each of the proposed initiatives that are mentioned in this article could be helpful in developing next-level learning environments, I believe that the key to keeping up with ever-changing educational technology is to have current and accurate research. The possibility of a robotic tutor service is one of the most forward thinking approaches I have come across. This would be revolutionary because there are no limits of the amount of information that could be programmed and relayed to pupils.
ReplyDeleteThe video game initiative is brilliant. From my own kids to my students, I hear about video games all day long. Using this to our advantage, creating video games that are appealing to students while focusing on STEM-based skills sounds like such a fantastic idea. Most all students play virtual games whether it's on their phones, computers, or gaming consoles, so why not tap into that interest and make learning fun!
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of points that actually excited me, as a science teacher. The use of augmented reality in a science lab class would be amazing! The ability to 'dissect' animals etc, would be a fantastic help, and I would imagine in the long run it would be so much less expensive, and certainly safer for students that could not injure themselves or others with tools used in laboratory settings. Another thing that I found interesting was the STEM video game aspect. So many of our kids are rooted so hard into video game playing, that incorporating that into a method of almost tricking them into learning would be great!
ReplyDeleteAs a special education teacher for students with very severe disabilities I am so often told about technologies that can make my students lives easier. However, I have none that really help them in my classroom. Either they are too expensive or too complicated for the student to learn how to use it. What really stood out to me was "Internet companies like Netflix and Amazon don’t make decisions on the basis of hunches. They use rapid, low-cost experimentation to continually improve their products." This kind of testing I believe could work so well in the realm of assistive technologies. I know they are not as widely used as Netflix and Amazon, but I believe the kind of strategic research and low cost changes could really impact this area. As cost and ease of use are the two biggest issues in why assistive technology is not as helpful as it could be for special education students.
ReplyDeleteI thought the League of Innovative schools was a good idea, because by banding together, the school systems have more weight to throw around when dealing with virtual monopolies and giants such as McGraw Hill. If one school district resists, it's negligible. But if multiple states agree to boycott the monopoly (assuming the states are aiming for cheaper prices) then it will send the producer/distributor scrambling to meet the states demands. It's effectively a union of consumers.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the R&D should be much higher than 0.2%. I understand public schools are drastically underfunded, so they don't have the ability to spend the 10-20% that some industries spend. However, 0.2% is not nearly enough to help education as an industry prepare for the future. Perhaps the onus for R&D lies not with the poor public schools, but with the publishing giants, as well as any other corporations who rely heavily on public school spending. Dedicating more of their resources towards R&D would not only help develop tools to better assist students in learning, but it would serve their own interests (profit) in the longrun.
The new investments from NSF towards Cyberlearning also stand to make a drastic difference in our classrooms, specifically in social studies. Instead of studying books from the '90s, students can have a more interactive learning environment with tools like "GeoGames" that assists students in examining different geographical regions and inform them on current events influenced by the geography of the regions. This would be useful in demonstrating how climate change has contributed significantly to the Syrian Civil War and how areas such as Southern California and South Africa are having increasingly worse droughts and wildfires every year. It's hard to effectively educate the children about the changes in the world around them if all the material is at least 15 years old.