Digital Discourse / Archives for Education

Seismic Shifts in Education: How and Why

November 26, 2012 By

Guest Post By Susan Littlewood, Director of Marketing & Sales, Victory Productions

What is the primary cause of the seismic shifts in education? All indicators point to the increased capabilities and availability of digital technology. Technology is performing the role of the great disruptor. It is an unsettling force in tradition-bound classrooms and schools.

It was only a decade ago that college publishers began using electronic tagging to speed up the production of printer-ready files. They began making their texts available electronically as PDFs and now are offering texts as interactive EPUB3.

Now the trend toward electronic books has reached high school and elementary schools. Heavy backpacks and book bags are being replaced by mobile devices, which are lightweight, increasingly inexpensive, and cool. Digital tablets and phones have entered the classroom opening new avenues for students to interact with the content they are learning and collaborate with fellow students and teachers, inside and outside the classroom.

Technology has enabled Open Source content, which is available to students and teaching professionals at all levels for all study areas from kindergarten through grad-school. Lab and classroom activities, engaging games and simulations, professional development materials, test prep and assessment programs can all be downloaded free from the Web. Khan Academy has burst upon the education landscape offering individualized instruction to students wherever they are in the world. To date, Khan Academy has delivered more than 200 million lessons.

The New York Times’ Sunday, November 11, edition of Education Life published an article, The Year of the MOOC. MOOC translates to Massive Open Online Courses. These take traditional online college courses to a new level. They are free to students and may offer certificates of completion. Information is online for everyone.

Bandwidth controls the availability of online information in schools. E-readers and tablets proliferate propelling the need for expanded access to technology as it is used now and will be used in the future. Paying for necessary upgrades concerns technology directors who are confronted by property tax caps and the difficult economic landscape. Planning for the online administration of the PARCC and Smarter Balanced Assessment tests, which are being written now, has begun. Practice tests may be scheduled in 2014 with the actual tests being given in 2015. http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2012/10/29/560584inexchangeschoolsbandwidth_ap.html

Technology has made the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) possible. The 45 states that have accepted the CCSS will test students on their knowledge of content and their ability to apply that knowledge through higher-order thinking skills. http://www.corestandards.org/frequently-asked-questions

Assessment tests now include technology enhanced items. These are the preferred performance-based items that require far fewer of the traditional multiple-choice questions. The increased capabilities of scoring and scaling have enabled the assessment industry to become more efficient for teachers and their students.

Technology is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. Flipped classrooms is one change. It refers to an instructional structure that requires students to read or research a topic after school as homework. When in school they work with their teachers to apply what they learned the evening before. The teacher is now available to demonstrate concepts and uncover student misunderstandings until all students have a workable understanding of the content.

Technology has given us collaboration tools that can be used to teach teamwork as a skill. Students work together to solve problems and work on research and other kinds of projects. The mindset driving students to study alone to gain a competitive edge is being replaced by a culture of collaborative problem solving.

Individual instruction on a scale never possible before technology is becoming a reality.
Adaptive learning is made possible by the ability to collect and analyze a student’s work in real-time. In adaptive learning situations, technology takes on the role of the teacher. Lesson Management Systems (LMS) collect data, notify students as soon as an incorrect answer is entered, and sends prompts or remedial instruction. These highly individualized interventions provide instant feedback that students can act on immediately. The teacher’s role is transitioning from sage-on-the-stage to a facilitator.

Advances in Big Data and data visualization systems are now being applied to education. The systems assemble data into visual patterns and reassemble it into other unexpected patterns. The patterns can reveal creative ways to improve educational outcomes of students. Now a student’s cognitive growth can be tracked from birth through graduation and into the workplace. With complete and detailed records, kids will no longer have the ability to reinvent themselves as they progress from elementary, middle, high school, through college and the workplace. Their statistics precede them.

Big Data can also lay bare the effectiveness of teachers, schools, districts, and the educational systems of states. Their performance can be tracked, gauged, and judged. Salaries and ratings can be assigned on the basis of this data.

The power of technology is shaking up the quiet world of academia from kindergarten to university. This world has been traveling the same track since medieval times. Change opens the way to new business opportunities. This change is overdue.

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Ed Tech Opportunities in China

November 9, 2012 By

The large population and growing attention to education make China an enticing and interesting market for education technology expansion. SIIA’s recent webinar on China  outlined opportunities and challenges associated with entering this market.  Thought leaders Charles Callis(Vice President, Waterford) , Chris Livaccari(Associate Director of Education and Chinese Language Initiatives, The Asia Society) and Jim Teicher(President,  Cybersmart! Education Company) spoke in depth about their experiences with the Chinese market and country.

Five takeaways from the webinar:


  1. Do not think of China as one homogenous market. The country is geographically diverse, and each region is, in effect, its own market. In addition to geographical segmentation, there are differences between schools and grades, as well as between institutions and informal learning outside of school. Much of the purchasing is done on a local level, and large scale purchases by provinces is not common.


  2. English language learning is a huge market in China. There are approximately the same number of English speakers in China as there are in the US.  China and the United States are becoming more intertwined and shared language exchange is key in the view of many Chinese.


  3. Among the biggest drivers in the Chinese market are parents. With the one child policy and other cultural norms, it is common that parents will invest their own resources heavily in their child’s education.  These investments include private schooling (in the US and China) as well as heavy investment in after school study tools and programs.


  4. Tablets are increasingly popular in China because of their lower price point and enhanced capabilities, but infrastructure is the more challenging part of the equation.  Finding quality content to place on the tablets is increasingly important.


  5. In the near future, 70% of the population of China will be urban, causing stress on city schools and infrastructure and forcing options for distance and computer-based learning to become more common.

 

The SIIA Global Working group produces country specific webinars on a regular basis to expand SIIA members’ knowledge of global trends in education.  Any SIIA member interested in learning more about the China market or any prior spotlight country should visit our webinar archive.

 

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Highlights from SIIA Education Division Webinar Turning SIS/LMS Data into Action – Vendor Implications

October 18, 2012 By

This SIIA  webinar  presented data from the Closing the Gap: Turning Data Into Action project and provide valuable insights for SIIA members and others interested in SIS, LMS and related technologies, use of data for K12 instruction, and K12 technology purchasing and implementation issues.

The project was funded by the Gates Foundation, and the research was conducted by Gartner, Inc. in collaboration with the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The project has 5 major deliverables coming in the future months; see the Closing the Gap: Turning Data Into Action website for more information.

The project solicited input from many school districts and teachers around the country to get an on the ground view of the how LMS (Learning Management Systems) and SIS (Student Information Systems) are being implemented and used. It also provided information on how vendors can best work with districts to improve their usage.

Five takeaways from the webinar:

  1. Teachers, as the end user of most of the systems, need to have a role in the selection and implementation of both SIS and LMS platforms (as well as other technologies designed for their use).  But the survey found that most often is not the case. When asked about the district LMS or SIS, teachers often do not know the difference or even their purpose. Those that do know often are underutilizing the systems and using only basic functionalities such as grade reporting.
  2. Students & Parents want to have access to individual student data tracking progress and grades.  Several studies have shown that giving students access to their individual grades and allowing them to track progress produces better results.
  3. Integration and multi-device platforms are essential.  Schools, districts, and teachers want to be able to access the data from any location and device. There is also critical need for  interoperability  so that different applications work together to share data.
  4. Educators agree that the traditional model is not working anymore.  The industrialized classroom is poised for change.
  5. Predictive and/or prescriptive analysis in systems is key. Presenting and summarizing data is insufficient, and SIS, LMS and related technologies must provide actionable information. The importance of improving student activities and system use is high, and the systems need to produce outputs that can either predict positive changes or prescribe them when needed.

The project leaders conclude that the overall the impact of SIS and LMS systems in school districts has great possibility, but is under-delivering due to challenges with product features, selection and implementation.  The webinar and project resources provide much more information on the role of data collection and include helpful links, templates, and charts detailing the features of market-leading products. SIIA members who want to learn more can view the webinar or download the slides on SIIA’s webinar archive site.

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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SIIA Testimony to NY Education Reform Commission Calls for School System Redesign to Personalize Learning through Technology

October 17, 2012 By

I had the opportunity yesterday to provide invited testimony to the “New NY Education Reform Commission” appointed by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to study and make recommendations for the reform and improvement of the state’s education system. My submitted written testimony describes a comprehensive vision for redesigning education to pesonalize learning through technology, and then makes dozens of reccommendations around each of the Commission’s seven objectives.

My October 16 oral testimony is provided below and video archived (at 02:02:40):

On behalf of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and our 500 high-tech companies, thank you for inviting me today. I am Mark Schneiderman, SIIA’s senior director of education policy.

SIIA agrees with the Commission that, “Future generations of students cannot compete unless we dramatically reform our education system.”

Our industrial-age education practices are largely unchanged over a century or more:
- Too many students are disengaged, not due to lack of technology, but from undifferentiated resources, rote one-to-many instruction, and lack of attention to 21st century skills.
- Time and place are constants, but learning is variable.

Instead, our education system must be fundamentally reengineered from a mass production, teaching model to a student-centered, personalized learning model to address the dramatic change in student daily lives, diversity and expectations.

The mandate is not for marginal change, but for: redesign to free learning from the physical limitations of time, place and paper; and instead customize instructional resources, strategies, and schedules to dynamically address each student’s unique abilities, interests and needs.

The redesign of education can take place without technology and digital learning, but not at scale.  Technology is a teaching force multiplier and a learning accelerator.

This doesn’t mean computers replace teachers, or that all learning takes place online.

It does mean that we use the technology:
1. to collect and analyze extensive student learning data to a degree not otherwise possible;
2. to provide a differentiation of interactive, multimedia teaching and learning resources and student creativity and collaboration tools not possible from one teacher, book or classroom; and
3. to free teacher time from rote and administrative activities to redirect to more value-added instruction.

The result is a more effective teacher, a more highly engaged and better performing learner, and a more productive system.

SIIA’s 2012 Vision K-20 Survey of 1,600 educators found that interest in digital learning is high at about 75%, but only about 25% rate actual technology access and use as high by their peers and institutions.

Here are 10 SIIA recommendations to the Commission and state:

1. Eliminate the Carnegie unit (credit for seat time) as the measure of learning and replace it with a competency-based model that provides credit, progression and graduation based upon demonstrated mastery and performance.

2. Eliminate fixed, agrarian-age definitions of the hours of the school day and the days of the school year and instead provide flexibility for 24/7/365 learning as needed for student mastery.

3. Ensure all teachers have access to a minimum slate of digital tools and supports provided to other professionals, including instructional technology coaches and virtual peer learning networks.

4. Ensure all educators have the skills needed to personalize learning and leverage technology, including by updating the curriculum of teachers colleges as well as teacher licensure and certification requirements.

5. Encourage and support a shift from print-only curriculum to instead provide students with anytime, everywhere access to interactive digital content and online learning.

6. Create a statewide online learning authority for approval and oversight of virtual learning providers to New York students and schools, and loosen arbitrary limits.

7. Invest to ensure equity of technology and digital learning access to change the education cost-curve and provide opportunity to learn, while providing increased local flexibility in the use of state grant funds to meet unique local needs.

8. Set minimum expectations for school/teacher electronic communication with parents and families and support home access to student performance data, assignments and curriculum.

9. Support more flexible higher education policies that end seat-time requirements, allow students to demonstrate prior learning and complete course modules that fit their learning gaps, and receive student aid for study toward skills certifications valued in the job market.

10. Finally, recognize the role of the private sector, which invests hundreds of millions of dollars each year to develop and deliver educational technologies and digital learning. Support public-private research partnerships, and reform the RFP process to enable the private sector to share their expertise, vision and innovative business models.

Our nation’s continued success will require that our educational system adopt modern methods and means to remain not effective and relevant in the 21st century.

On behalf of SIIA and our member high-tech companies, I look forward to working with the Commission to further identify and advance a reform plan for New York education.

Mark SchneidermanMark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Government Forum, Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Legislation, Personalized Learning, Policy, Postsecondary, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Testing College and Career Readiness

October 9, 2012 By

Addressing the high levels of remedial coursework in higher education and better preparing students for college are important national challenges as the United States works to improve its educational and economic standing. Both are high on the agenda of PARCC (Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) and SBAC (SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium), the two assessment options for the Common Core State Standards implementation.

On a recent Alliance for Excellent Education  webinar, SBAC and PARCC leaders provided a good overview of their tasks, deliverables and timelines. Both will pilot their computer-based assessments in the 2013-2014 school year and fully implement in 2014-2015.

SBAC and PARCC are focused on the challenge of testing college and career readiness as defined by CCSS.  SBAC’s goal is to have their high school assessment qualify students for entry level, credit bearing coursework in college or university.  SBAC is working in collaboration with 175 public and 13 private higher education systems to ensure their assessments meet the rigor required by these institutions.

PARCC has established a 5 point assessment scoring scale to address college and career readiness. Students who score a level 4 or 5 will be exempt from college placement tests and will be able to immediately begin credit bearing coursework. A detailed description of the 5 levels can be found on slide 8 of the PARCC presentation.

SBAC and PARC leaders and states acknowledge that collaboration with Higher Education is key in developing accurate and constructive examinations for the common core curriculum, and securing their buy in for placement.

SBAC is releasing new samples on October 9th that give a better idea of the upcoming assessments.  To learn more about the samples and the implications for curriculum publishers and technology developers, SIIA members are encourage to attend SIIA’s October 11 webinar  that will help companies prepare for the assessment future.

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Teachers and Tech

September 20, 2012 By

One of the biggest myths surrounding educational technology has been that teachers will be replaced by computers (or tablets, or software, or any number of technological developments). But the reality is that there is room for both the teacher and education technology in the classroom. Technology is an aid to teaching, not competition for teachers.

Common Core State Standards expect students to gain deeper college and career-ready knowledge and skills, presenting the most significant challenge that schools and teachers must address in the coming years. Among the questions is the role of technology and digital learning. At the same time, many in K12 education are questioning our traditional “seat-time” system and looking to the alternative “mastery” model, again opening up opportunities for technology.

With Mathematics as one of the areas covered by CCSS and common Science standards moving forward as well, STEM leaders are excited about the opportunities in their field. At a recent STEM Vital Signs report release by Change the Equation providing a state-by-state measure of STEM education and related careers, panelist Carolyn Landel, Chief Program Officer of Washington STEM, remarked that the teacher should NOT remain the sole source of educational knowledge in the classroom. The teacher is not going anywhere, but with the amount and depth of material required for coverage in CCSS, there is a need for additional learning opportunities outside the traditional teacher-centered classroom.

This conversation at the event highlighted opportunities for innovative instructional practices made possible through use of technology in the STEM subjects. One person even commented that, “you can’t tell kids Math and Science are fun and then put them in the same boring class”. The need for innovative and effective STEM learning models presents a bright future for digital learning. For example, Change the Equation is releasing an online game-based learning program to show a variety of methods to promote and encourage STEM learning. The future for educational technology and teachers is encouraging in a CCSS future.

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Leaders or Laggards: The State Role in the Shift to Digital Content

September 7, 2012 By

The focus at the recent annual meeting of the State Instructional Materials Review Association (SIMRA) was the shift from print to digital. While paper weight and book binding standards remain on their agenda, the shift is symbolized in part by this group’s recent name change that replaced “textbooks” with “instructional materials.” I had the opportunity to present at the meeting, and had some timely discussions about the evolving state role in the digital world. Texas (see SIIA webinar), Florida (see SIIA summary) and West Virginia are among the states most proactive in helping lead their schools into the digital content future, while many states (with leadership from their SIMRA-member adoption director) are trying to catch up with their districts and understand their evolving roles and rules. A parallel but accelerated shift to digital is underway in state assessments with the leadership of PARCC and SBAC.

As background, SIMRA members administer the process used in 20+ states for instructional materials adoption, including identifying curriculum and technical requirements, soliciting publisher submissions, managing the peer review criteria and process, and coordinating the school procurement of approved materials (including with state funds to buy materials in states such as Texas, California and Florida). SIIA has advocated for years the need to update legacy rules that often create barriers to adoption of digital and online resources, and therefore limit local choice. While often this is simply about correcting for unintended consequences of legacy print rules, the issues are often far more complicated and reflect the still evolving views of instructional materials in the digital age. A leading example is dynamic content: State policies have traditionally required that content remain unchanged over the course of the six year adoption cycle, while digital resources can be seamlessly updated to remain current, accurate and meet evolving curriculum and pedagogical needs. Not surprisingly, SIIA has long advocated the flexibility for content to be updated and improved during the period of adoption.

Here are a few other trends identified at the SIMRA meeting:

  • State budget shortages continue, causing many states to delay adoption cycles or reduce funding and leaving many teachers and students with increasingly outdated materials.
  • Common Core State Standards are central to the process, but many state cycles are not aligned and adjustments are often not possible given the overall budget shortages.
  • Fewer states are funding instructional materials. In the traditional model, states paid for instructional materials, providing them the leverage to determine which materials are to be used. That is often no longer the case.
  • States are increasingly providing local control such that school districts can buy state approved materials, but can also buy any other instructional resources as well.
  • Some states are asking whether they should continue to target only single, primary tools of instruction (i.e., textbooks or their digital equivalents), or whether they should also adopt, for example, digital learning objects and modules to support teachers in dynamically assembling resources to differentiate instruction and personalize learning.
  • Some states are allowing the use of instructional materials funds for the purchase of the technology hardware needed to access those materials, though priority in general still for content.

States are working with SIIA, publishers and other stakeholders to address new challenges in reviewing adaptive instructional software and other robust digital content. For example, how do they review the full resource in cases where each student may be provided a unique, dynamic pathway through the content (compared to the relative ease of reviewing a more linear (e)textbook).

Also, as digital content shifts from supplemental to primary, format and platform are also increasingly of concern. State agencies, on behalf of local educators, seek to ensure the content they purchase is accessible from multiple platforms, as well as increasingly from their students’ personal/home devices. Some have floated the requirement that digital content must be accessible from every platform through a common format. While interoperability is a key goal, SIIA recommends for industry evolution of common standards and against regulatory mandates that could block use of many widely used technologies. SIIA instead encourages that states focus on ensuring publishers disclose system requirements to empower local decision makers with the information they need to determine what platforms and resources best meet their needs. This will enable technology innovation and competition, enhance education choice, and ultimately ensure the needs of teachers and students are best addressed.

SIIA encourages states to further lead the print to digital transition. In doing so, they must recognize that there is not yet any single best technology, curriculum or instructional practice solution for the use of digital content. Therefore, most importantly, SIIA encourages states to provide the investment, regulatory flexibility and technical assistance districts need to innovate as educators collectively and individually determine the best path forward.

Mark SchneidermanMark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Ed Tech Business Forum, Ed Tech Government Forum, Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Legislation, Personalized Learning, Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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