The importance of getting off to a good start is relevant to almost everything it seems! We thought we’d help you get off to the best possible start to 2016 and help pave the way towards a second half of the year filled with EdTech and STEM learning!

Coding Has its Place in the Future of Many Kids

Most informed parties seem to be in agreement that students learning coding and other new-age STEM skills will certainly be beneficial for them and may even be necessary in their futures. Our world is changing—something that’s readily apparent to a lot of us, but others are often shocked by just how much today’s workforce uses technology and relies on a very specific set of skills. So, as early on as elementary school, teachers are now exposing kids to basic coding in STEM classes and kids, generally, are responding to the immersion favorably. This is due in large part to modern tools, like the Kano Computer and Ozobot Evo, making coding fun and easy, but teachers also realize the importance of making sure their students are engaged. Their future may depend on it.

It is expected that, as time goes on, more people will be expected to know how to code, but experts are predicting that reading code will become a whole lot easier in the next few years. When the language is easier to learn, it will become more popular. Theoretically, we should be able to communicate with computers and indicate that we want them to perform whatever complex task we need done. The technology in place currently does not permit for this kind of advanced communication, but, with the right minds on the job, it soon could. Conceiving a way to communicate with computers will require a specialized way of understanding the language or, who knows, maybe the conception of a whole new language.

So, to be perfectly honest, we really don’t know with any kind of certainty what directions technology will allow us to explore in the coming decades, but we do know one thing. Coding and STEM skills are vitally important for the next generation of the workforce. The likelihood of today’s middle and high school students landing a legitimate job after college seems more and more likely dependent upon their ability to write and understand code. Much of the properties of code may change in the next couple decades, but there is no reason to believe it will be going away any time soon. Learning to code, for today’s students, could literally be their ticket to a better future.

How to Excel at Blended Learning

Blended learning has the potential to play an important role in preparing kids for the future by providing deeper learning experiences and hands-on instruction in a meaningful way. Any subjects can be blended in any way that teachers can creatively fathom. All grade levels are able to benefit as well. Group work facilitated by the use of technology not only familiarizes kids with tech, but introduces them to key skills like collaboration and communication. The rush to blend learning is finding its place in education and the results could have great effects on students’ futures.

To institute effective blended learning, there are, of course, some things educators should focus on and some they should try to avoid. One of the best ways to enhance learning with technology is to personalize it so that educators can identify those students who may be ready to move forward. Blended learning should also offer fresh approaches from traditional ways of learning, giving increased student control over the pace of their learning. Further, it should align with educational standards so that kids continue to gain the knowledge they need, but also build key STEM skills in the process and make it easier for teachers to select instructional materials.

The in-class portion of blended learning must remain consistent with the learning goals of educators and the school, meaning that each day’s task as well as the subsequent homework has a specific purpose. Teachers also need to incorporate on-the-go formative assessments to gauge the effectiveness of the lessons and be sure to stay consistent throughout the process. Since teachers should have support from their administrators as well as their permission to fail, they should be willing to try many different things—even if their first approach works. And, finally, ongoing collaboration throughout the school year will do wonders for enhancing blended learning in the 21st century classroom.

8 Minutes That Matter the Most

They say there are eight minutes in every class that matter the most. So, say there are seven classes in a school day and eight vital minutes in each of them. That’s 56 minutes for teachers to make an impact. The eight minutes we are referring to combine four minutes at the beginning of the class and four at the end. It may not seem like a whole lot of time, but it can truly be a game changer when it comes to learning and retention, especially when technology is involved. If teachers do not have an enticing hook at the beginning of the lesson and/or fail to realize the end result, then time has been wasted.

Teachers want their students to be absorbed. They want them to care about the material that is being discussed and foster a real excitement about what they are going to be doing. Much like a good book, today’s teachers are faced with the challenge of capturing the attention of their students and keeping it for a 40- or 60-minute class or whatever the case may be. Lessons should start off by strongly activating students’ prior knowledge on the subject, creating anticipation and/or establishing goals that should be accomplished. If the lesson does not effectively accomplish at least one of these, then student interest immediately wanes. There are, of course, many ways to do this, so get creative—that’s what you want out of your students, right!? You could open with a short video clip, get kids comfortable by sharing good news, integrate other disciplines to show their relevance in more than one subject or have them write for five minutes, answering an essential question related to the material.

You guessed it: The final four minutes of the lesson are just as important as the first four. At the end of every lesson, teachers need to check for understanding otherwise what was the point of putting the material together? It doesn’t have to be high-stakes testing—in fact, fun assessments usually work better! Exit tickets can be used in a number of ways (student self-analysis, feedback, open communication), but are a quick way for teachers to see how effective their teaching was. They could also create social bulletin boards that mimic social media sites and function as a collaborative space for children to share ideas. Or, in the simplest way possible, have students write down one thing they learned from someone else on a Post-it note and stick it on the board. Read them aloud the next day and the core concepts will resonate much more effectively! Finally, kids love rewards. By developing levels of proficiency and offering kids rewards for reaching new heights, they become more motivated, feel more accomplished and become more competent. Try some out!

The Down Side of Grading

Think about it. Students’ futures—and even their immediate futures—are impacted every couple of months by a two-digit number of a letter near the beginning of the alphabet. If these marks do not exceed a certain, predetermined criteria for advancing their education, students do not get to advance. Grading has become a traditional and accepted form of determining readiness and absorption, but is it the best way? One bad test—one off day—could hold a student back and negatively impact their future. Grades can make the brightest students look bad or cast a student who has not been engaged, but rather spent the previous night cramming, as a model student. Is that for the best?

I’m sure we can all think back and recall a time when a teacher threatened to give us (or someone in the class) a zero for failing to turn in an assignment on time or administering a pass/fail exam at a crucial point in the term. If there are any teachers reading, hopefully you don’t feel too bad about being guilty of this. But, what does a “zero” actually accomplish? Nothing too constructive. Teachers generally give out zeros in hopes of scaring their students into mindlessly sitting down and spitting out a few subpar answers to important questions or demonstrating how they can solve a lengthy algebra problem. The problem with giving out zeros is that too many students simply do not care about the consequences that they carry. Some are even willing to take the zero in order to avoid having to do the work, which does nothing to help learning either.

While some might argue that if one student completes the assignment exceptionally and another ignores it altogether, the good student should get an A and the neglector should fail. Sure, it sounds good, but the purpose of education is to prepare kids for the future and simply letting them forget about their assignments does nothing for them. Students learn by doing and, without the promise of a rewarding grade or fear of failing, they should be given as many chances as they need to demonstrate that they know the material inside and out. The fact is that one zero is usually more than enough to destroy a student’s overall grade and damages morale rather than reflects what they have learned. When advancement is determined by student readiness and the mastery of STEM skills rather than a number in a column, the student then is future ready.

Trying BYOD? Take as Much Time as you Need

EdTech is an important part of today’s education and plays a significant role in the engagement of students and development of 21st century students. One of the most popular sub movements within the EdTech revolution is known as “Bring Your Own Device,” or BYOD. As you may have guessed, teachers in BYOD classrooms allow and encourage their students to bring their own mobile learning devices—tablets, laptops or smartphones—into class and use them as a learning tool. BYOD can spark new levels of engagement and get kids excited about learning interesting concepts while they get to use something they consider to be fun. Just how should you go about constructing your BYOD classroom, though?

It will take a certain amount of careful planning to successfully institute a legitimate 1:1 program in most schools. In fact, most educators start the planning process about a year ahead of time. A good time to begin planning is while the current school year is winding down—say May. This is the period when superintendents generally get the ball rolling and reach out to teachers to inform them of the plan and give them a chance to ask any questions they might have. Shortly after that, face-to-face meetings between the school’s technology leader and its teachers should take place before everyone heads off for the summer. The upcoming summer months are when the teachers will go to school. In some cases, BYOD initiatives require extensive professional development for the teachers involved, but depending on the proficiency of the specific group of educators, anywhere from 1-to-3 summer sessions should do the trick.

These sessions are pretty important for the teachers, especially those with less technical expertise. Some topics that should be addressed include what problems they hope to solve by enacting their BYOD movement, the importance of teaching digital citizenship and the best ways to go about that in the fall, the different operating systems they and their students will be using and pointers for how to use the technology to engage in collaborative work. Then, it’s time to try it out. The first year is generally a trial period in which teachers are constantly working to improve on mistakes and make the program run more smoothly. Around Thanksgiving Break, there should be another session for everyone to share the successes and failures they have had and the same should take place in May—a whole year after the onset! Finally, June brings the end of the school year and the chance for one final reflection session for everyone to view their progress and gauge how to move forward!

Good luck with all your EdTech endeavors in 2016 and Happy New Year!

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