Into the Driver's Seat

"The proliferation of social media makes it imperative that young students understand the impact of these services and how to use them in an ethical manner. Digital citizenship is a hotbed issue right now as social media becomes a primary meeting place for people young and old.  If students are unaware of how to utilize these services in an ethical way, they run the risk of putting themselves or others in danger. With this in mind, there’s a huge opportunity out there to work on digital citizenship skills with children in school."

"It is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between alternative facts and real facts online. In a world where anyone can get online and write opinions as facts or even distort real facts to make them say what they want, it is hard for adults and children to have the digital intelligence to tell the difference."

"“Well, at least teachers don’t have to spend as much of their own money on school supplies this year if they’re teaching online,” mused a pair of ladies waiting for their Starbucks orders. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be farther from the truth for many teachers. Teacher expenses are higher than ever due to remote teaching. Teachers are used to spending their own money on supplies, but technology expenses add up in a whole new way. On top of the extra expenses, many teachers are bringing home less money due to education budget cuts."

Mr. Gil Maldonado continues to teach his social studies students thanks to Distance Learning. He adds that one of the benefits of using technology for his class now, is it will better prepare students for college. In McAllen ISD, all students have access to either an iPad or a Chromebook as a personal electronic learning device.

What can technology replace in the classroom? While it isn't enough to makeup for unengaging learning models, done well technology can change everything.

Teachers are using new apps to improve parent-teacher communication and, in some cases, bridge disconnects with ELL students.

"While there’s no exact formula for a seamless digital transformation, certain school districts are providing examples of how to take this on while keeping learners at the center of everything. Student agency is a top priority at Frederick County Public Schools in Virginia, and it definitely shows in their approach to technology implementation."

"Schools face endless security concerns. Facial recognition software shouldn’t be one of them. There seems to be an onslaught of danger, and it’s coming from every direction: physical, emotional, and digital. School leaders and teachers want to look after students and take care of their needs. They recognize that safety must come first."

Reports of cyberbullying rose in recent years, and though researchers quibble about what the numbers mean, they all agree there’s a problem.

The future of work should be on the top of everyone’s mind as it is smacking us right now in the face. As I have previously written, we are in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution, where rampant innovation and exponential advances in technology are changing the societal landscape.

"Rather than taking a traditional multiple choice test at the end of their unit on weather, sixth grade students at Gilbert Middle School in South Carolina created their own live weather reports—complete with green screens and fake snow. Down the hall, seventh graders used digital tools to design memes based on quotes from a novel in their English/language arts class."

Commentary: edWeb's Julia Ottesen shares how a free curriculum for K-12 students addresses a wide range of issues, from hate speech to time management.

"Given the opportunity to take notes by hand or on the computer, most students choose the latter. After all, modern technology offers plenty of benefits for writers.... Convenience, however, doesn’t trump old-fashioned writing by hand when it comes to learning. Writing by hand has benefits that technology has not been able to reproduce – yet."

Teachers often wrestle with two big questions: How do people learn, and how can they do it better in a constantly evolving context?

"The popular lesson-sharing site Teachers Pay Teachers first landed on Jenny Kay Dupuis’ radar a little over a year ago. Friends and social media users began alerting her that images and material from one of her children’s books, “I Am Not a Number,” about a young Indigenous girl sent to a residential school in Canada and based on the experience of her grandmother, had made their way into paid lessons on the site that she had never seen before."

A blog about digital leadership, pedagogy, learning, and transformative change in education.

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all the apps and sites and digital tools. Here are some tips to getting control and moving forward.

Principals are EdTech leaders in their schools. Explore how they can support classroom teachers’ innovative and effective use of online tools.

More and more schools are investing in technologies that scan social media posts, school assignments and even student emails for potential threats. Privacy experts say the trade-offs aren't worth it.

"At 9:00 on a Tuesday morning, an elementary school principal received a phone call. The principal of the next-door elementary called to say that a shady character was on their campus and likely headed to the next one. The principal receiving the call met the unidentified person at a side door and escorted him to the office on the premise that he had to sign in. While pretended to look for the sign-in sheet, the staff invited him to sit in the lobby and wait. The intruder was enjoying a cup of coffee when the district police arrived."

Alexa, do you really belong in the classroom? Read on to find out what are the most common options that teachers can choose from in terms of AI-powered smart speakers for the classroom:

"Suguey Carmona, a 14-year-old Latina student, published her first “Alexa Skill” in the Amazon Appstore this year. Alexa is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon where users verbally ask questions and the AI responds with an answer. If you want to ask Alexa to do specific things, such as power on your Xbox or order a pizza, your Alexa has to have that “skill.” Suguey identified a skill that had not yet been created, so she decided to program it herself."

PBL advocates say it helps students find relevance and develop a personal connection to lessons.

"Evolution, in its broadest sense, serves as a force to help humans move towards a better way of living given the current times or Zeitgeist.  It follows, then, that the education field should evolve as new opportunities and forces emerge and present themselves. But in general, this is not the case."

“For more than a century, educators have strived to customize education to the learner. Connected Learning leverages the advances of the digital age to make that dream a reality — connecting academics to interests, learners to inspiring peers and mentors, and educational goals to the higher order skills the new economy rewards.

Six principles (below) define it and allow every young person to experience learning that is social, participatory, interest-driven and relevant to the opportunities of our time."