Education Special Section
Classrooms are set up in different sections, such as a kitchen, home, science area, reading nook, or water area, for kids to engage in social interactions with others and learn valuable skills based from play. Academic or didactic, teacher-directed programs are structured with a curriculum involving planned activities guided by teachers and designed to prepare students for a kindergarten-type setting. Either method for learning prepares young children for their future interactions, both socially and educationally. Finding the learning style that best suits your own child’ s needs will set him / her up for success.
K-12 Education It is early in education that students start to become competent in utilizing the tools needed in our society. Reading, writing, math and language skills are all core competencies that need to be mastered at a young age and are critical for a student’ s success. Education is being shaped by incorporating different styles of teaching, accessing new technologies to enhance learning, and ensuring that students leave high school with a sense of confidence to enter the workforce or to continue on to higher education. A variety of trends, disruptions and technologies are shaping the way K-12 schools face their biggest challenges.
Engage Parents and Caregivers
Parents can’ t advocate for their children if they aren’ t given the tools to do so. The National Education Association states that by monitoring, supporting, and advocating for their students, parents and caregivers can ensure that their children have an opportunity to be successful in school. By working with your students to set goals, make sure they are on track for academic success, holding them responsible for their education, and advocating for them, their peers, and their entire school community, you are doing a service that will have a valuable outcome for all involved.
Data and Analytics
Relationships between K-12 teachers and college educators used to be solely focused on college transition programs. Now, the focus is shifting to partnerships based on formal research studies, professional development, or joint technology and curriculum initiatives, as EdTech Online states. Data-driven research is being gathered and assessed by college educators
and results are being implemented in the form of metrics to keep individual students on track to graduate. If an individual student falls“ off track,” teachers utilize that information to determine a course of academic intervention. This form of individualized learning is being employed across the country with positive results.
Adaptive Learning Technology / Resources
Addressing individual learning gaps continues to be at the top of priority lists for student achievement in the classroom. Adaptive learning technologies have already proven successful in the classroom and are a growing piece of the education puzzle. As the infrastructure needed to support these types of initiatives is more easily accessible and widespread, teachers are finding ways to incorporate these technologies into blended learning programs, according to EdTech Update.
IoT in the Classroom You may be unfamiliar with the term IoT( Internet of Things), but you likely use it every day. IoT is a network of devices connected to the internet that deliver realtime insights to connected devices, such as cell phones, laptops, or even your television. These“ smart” devices offer a unique benefit in the classroom in the form of interactive whiteboards, e-books, 3-D printers, security cameras, and attendance tracking systems. Use of IoT can remove barriers to learning such as location, language, and economic standing.
A recent TEDx article highlighted a Fargo, North Dakota, teacher, Kayla Delzer, and her use of technology in the classroom. She believes it can revolutionize education, but only if used correctly.“ Using technology simply for the sake of using it is wasteful,” Delzer says.“ If tech doesn’ t transform your classroom, your teaching or your students’ learning, skip it.” One easy rule of thumb: If a project can be done using paper or pencil but you’ re doing it on a computer or device, it’ s not transforming your classroom. The possibilities for technology in the K-12 classroom setting are endless and, if implemented correctly, change the course of education as we know it.
Change in Educator Practices / School Infrastructure
Although technology is getting all the hype for being a game changer in the
education industry, the real success comes from teachers and their active role in ensuring the proper employment of that technology in making a difference in learning. According to Education Week, 90 percent of teachers agree that technology gives them the ability to tailor lessons and homework assignments to the individual needs of students. Yet, teachers and schools who rate their system-wide technology integration on a lower scale don’ t have as much hope. Buy-in from educators, school leaders and board members, parents, and the community is critical when looking to successfully integrate new technologies into a curriculum. The change in how teachers are teaching and how students are learning requires a complete shift from room layouts and resources needed for students, to continuing teacher education and administrative observations. Each piece of the education puzzle needs to be thoughtfully addressed in order to successfully accommodate a new way of learning.
“ What technology allows us to do is amplify and expand the repertoire of techniques that effective teachers use to elicit the attention, effort and engagement that are the basis of learning,” Michelle Miller says in Minds Online.“ The tools we use can and do change us but when we use these tools mindfully, we can remain in control of those changes, shaping them to benefit our students.” As schools are implementing the infrastructure needed for technology advancements in the classroom, teachers are being tasked with providing their students with a more individualized approach to learning. Professional development for these teachers is critical to ensure that they are not stretched too thin and their budgetary resources are properly allocated. Support from administrators and coaching from peer mentors in how to approach this new way of teaching has proven to increase the likelihood of success in the classroom. In addition, classroom evaluations are being reconfigured, as sitting in the back of a classroom no longer accurately assesses a teacher’ s effectiveness in this new learning environment.
The World Economic Forum states that 75 percent of educators and students feel there is a gap in their ability to meet the needs of a growing IT-focused workforce. In addition, 90 percent of organizations currently have an IT skills shortage; by 2020, it is estimated that there will be 1.5 million jobs in the digital industry across the globe. These statistics alone make technology integration into schools a necessity. Not only will our young children come out of their education prepared for a role in a booming industry, but our teachers will have the confidence in knowing that they’ ve provided their students the best opportunity for success. ■
GREENSBURG SALEM ❘ FALL 2018 21