Friday, January 30, 2015

How to Effectively Test Teachers with Technology

By Sean Scarpiello

This may come as a surprise but, Finland has one of the most successful education systems. This has been proven by international standardized tests and graduate success. When comparing Finland’s education system with that of the United States, there are a few large differences, one of which is how teachers in Finland are treated. All Finlandian teachers must meet a range of difficult requirements and pass challenging tests to become educators. In fact, all educators in Finland must have a Master’s degree in order to teach. While it would be extremely difficult to overhaul the setup of the educational system of the United States to model that of Finland in the near future, there are still some routes that the United States schools can take to mimic the archetype of Finland’s educators system.

Teachers in Finland are held in higher regard, much like doctors and college professors are held in the United States. This is due to Finnish teachers continuing their education  through further education, much like doctors and professor in the United States. In the United States, the idea of grading a teacher becomes a concern because  people fear that grading teachers on their students’ performances (on standardized tests) will cause teachers to simply “teach the test” to students. However, a new company called Panorama Education is looking to change all of this by grading teachers in such a way that stimulates improvement and better outcomes for students.

Panorama Education tests teachers through the use of surveys given to students in order to assess how well teachers are doing. Teachers will not receive an actual grade on their performance, but these surveys will collect data on what students are thinking about the teachers performance. In fact, some schools surveyed have shown that some teachers subconsciously spend more time helping male students in the classroom while other surveys revealed that some departments in school are focusing less on special needs students. While these surveys are not intended to be used to get rid of teachers, they can help shed light on some problem areas that need to be improved. Panorama Education actually works through a technology based system that collects the paper and pencil based surveys completed by students and analyzes the results.

Currently, many schools look to make improvements in their system by hiring outside contractors to come in and examine teachers and students in classrooms. These firms are expensive and must take place over the course of many months. Panorama Education on the other hand is much less expensive and schools can expect data back almost instantly. Panorama education can be even more effective than outside education consultants as schools hear exactly what their students are thinking about regarding their teachers and classes. Overall, Panorama Education can be a huge success as it fosters an improved education for a greater number of students through the advent of new technology.


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Technology in the Classroom: Helpful or Harmful?

By Samantha Cleaver

Kids gravitate towards technology—if your child heads straight for the video games or Facebook after school, you know what we’re talking about. With a world of information at their fingertips nowadays, it seems like kids should be finding it easier than ever to succeed in school. However, as more classrooms invest in the latest technology, test scores remain the same, bringing its effectiveness into question.

“Incorporating technology into the classroom requires a double innovation,” says Shelley Pasnik, director of the Center for Education and Technology, Educators who receive new technology must first learn how to use the equipment and then decide whether or not it supports the class objectives and curriculum.

For example, an instructor may restructure a lecture into a group activity, having students conduct online research to boost their understanding. With such a vast reference tool, the students might pose questions that no one in the class, not even the teacher himself, can answer. Many teachers and schools choose to avoid this situation by discouraging the use of computers in a well-organized lesson. Their latest shipment of Smartboards, ELMOs, or iPads stays locked in a closet as they struggle to find the time to effectively incorporate them into the curriculum plan.

Despite the challenges, incorporating technology into education still has proven benefits, especially when it comes to personalized learning. From math games that adjust the level of difficulty as players progress to electronic books that talk and respond to the tap of a finger, products that personalize the learning experience for students often benefit their understanding. An interactive game is more engaging than a book, so technology often promotes more practice and review in areas requiring memorization, such as spelling, math and geography. This frees up time in the classroom so educators can focus on skills like problem solving, character development and critical thinking.

Technology also makes it easier to spend more overall time on learning. “After school and weekend time can become effective learning time with the right technology,” says David Vinca, founder and executive director of eSpark Learning, an education company that focuses on bringing iPads and iPods into the classroom. Much like how smart phones extend the workday by allowing professionals to send emails anytime, educational technology extends the school day for kids who will happily play multiplication games or review grammar on computer programs.

Educators also find it easier to track and assess student progress with the help of technology. At the end of each lesson cycle in eSpark’s app, students record a video summarizing what they’ve learned, and email it to their teacher. If a student consistently misspells words of a certain pattern, the teacher will know immediately and reintroduce that specific skill. This kind of data-driven information is invaluable for teachers who want to revise and review.

Consider these three tips when you consider your child’s daily interaction with technology:

Look for Connections. When students use technology, it should be within the context of larger learning goals rather than in isolation. “Technology used in isolation is less effective than when it’s integrated into a curricular set of activities,” says Pasnik.

Don’t Assume. There are a lot of facts floating out there, and everyone has an opinion. Base your understanding of education technology on reliable sources. Pasnik suggests asking your child’s teacher about how technology is incorporated into the curriculum.

It’s all in the Application. The success of any tool depends on how it’s used. Ask how a gadget or program furthers higher thinking, basic skills, or the child’s ability to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize ideas. This way, you’ll ensure that it’s being used for more than its novelty.

Technology may be changing the experience of education, but the role of teachers and parents grow increasingly important as they become the experts and guides for new learning resources. Teachers remain the constant in an ever-changing classroom environment, which will continue to shift with the technological tides. Vinca agrees. “However technology is used in class, it has the opportunity to be a game changer.”

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Quizlet Continues to be an Innovator in No Cost Education Technology

By Sean Scarpiello

Quizlet, an online-based education application, has been around for years as a beneficial education tool. Essentially, Quizlet acts as a digital flash card builder which allows users to test themselves on their course material. While this concept seems simple enough, Quizlet has grown over the years to include even more features, that I recently discovered after using this application.

Users can begin by simply signing up and once completed they have access to unlimited space for an infinite amount of flashcard. Further, students or teachers can share their accounts with each other, thus granting them access to many sets of flash cards to use as a study resource. To use Quizlet, users simply type in the word or question they would like to remember on one side of the card and then enter the definition on the other side of their digital flashcard. One feature that Quizlet has recently added to aid users is an automatic defining function. For instance, if a student is trying to learn new vocabulary words, they can simply type in the vocabulary words and click define. Quizlet then pulls up a list of common definitions for this vocabulary word from which the student can pick the meaning they are looking for, thereby eliminating the tedious and time consuming process of typing out long definitions. In addition to this, Quizlet also now offers a language translation tool. In this section of the application, students can type in their list of  English words (or any other language) and then click on the language they would like their word list to be translated to. This function is extremely useful for students in a language class, as they can increase the number of flashcards in a matter of minutes. Then, since self-testing is an active form of learning where students are deeply engaged in material content, Quizlet enables students to quickly memorize long lists of words which need to be integrated into their knowledge.

Beyond these new functions, Quizlet now offers more than a simple flashcard to read and flip on a digital platform. Now, Quizlet has testing and game functions where students can convert their flashcards into a multiple choice, true/false, or matching quiz. Students are able to design  their own quizzes as well,  the number of questions they would like in each quiz. Quizlet then tracks students’ progress and helps highlight which cards the students  needs to improve upon. The game function offers two games: a speed matching game and a space race game. Here, students can time themselves on how quickly they can recall their flashcard data in a competitive and fun way. While these functions are best used on a laptop or other computer device, Quizlet also has an app available for all devices. Which enables Students to  log into their account  from anywhere and test themselves on the same sets of flashcards from their computer. Overall, this really makes integrating vast amounts of knowledge easy as students have access to thousands of flashcards in seconds.

During the past few years, it is fantastic that Quizlet has continued to grow and improve on its already brilliant idea. Furthermore, Quizlet offers all of its contents and ease of learning to students at no cost. Plus, it enables students to collaborate with each other through account sharing functions. Therefore, Quizlet has continued to be an innovator in the education field by bringing improved education technology to students at no cost.