Jul
2016
Digital Literacy for St. Cloud State University
By Karen Johnson May 17, 2016
After surveying more than 4,650 educators, we learned that teachers are essentially trying to do three things with data—each of which technology can dramatically improve:
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The U.S. Department of Education has increasingly encouraged and funded states to collect and analyze information about students: grades, state test scores, attendance, behavior, lateness, graduation rates and school climate measures like surveys of student engagement.
The argument in favor of all this is that the more we know about how students are doing, the better we can target instruction and other interventions. And sharing that information with parents and the community at large is crucial. It can motivate big changes.
what might be lost when schools focus too much on data. Here are five arguments against the excesses of data-driven instruction.
1) Motivation stereotype threat.
it could create negative feelings about school, threatening students’ sense of belonging, which is key to academic motivation.
2) Helicoptering
Today, parents increasingly are receiving daily text messages with photos and videos from the classroom. A style of overly involved “intrusive parenting” has been associated in studies with increased levels of anxiety and depression when students reach college. “Parent portals as utilized in K-12 education are doing significant harm to student development,” argues college instructor John Warner in a recent piece for Inside Higher Ed.
3) Commercial Monitoring and Marketing
The National Education Policy Center releases annual reports on commercialization and marketing in public schools. In its most recent report in May, researchers there raised concerns about targeted marketing to students using computers for schoolwork and homework. Companies like Google pledge not to track the content of schoolwork for the purposes of advertising. But in reality these boundaries can be a lot more porous. For example, a high school student profiled in the NEPC report often consulted commercial programs like dictionary.com and Sparknotes: “Once when she had been looking at shoes, she mentioned, an ad for shoes appeared in the middle of a Sparknotes chapter summary.”
4) Missing What Data Can’t Capture
Computer systems are most comfortable recording and analyzing quantifiable, structured data. The number of absences in a semester, say; or a three-digit score on a multiple-choice test that can be graded by machine, where every question has just one right answer.
5) Exposing Students’ “Permanent Records”
In the past few years several states have passed laws banning employers from looking at the credit reports of job applicants. Employers want people who are reliable and responsible. But privacy advocates argue that a past medical issue or even a bankruptcy shouldn’t unfairly dun a person who needs a fresh start.
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more on big data in education in this blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=big+data+education
By Joshua Bolkan, 01/26/16
“According to the study, U.S. educators believe technology’s potential for distraction will wane as digital culture and infrastructure mature in the next five years, giving way to other concerns like privacy and security in 2020,” according to a news release. “However, these present and future apprehensions don’t stop many U.S. educators from allowing personal electronics in their classrooms. U.S. teachers have a higher tolerance for personal devices in the classroom than do British and Australian teachers. In fact, the study shows that 48 percent of U.S. educators say students can bring technology to class for educational purposes, and one in seven U.S. educators allows any electronic device as long as it doesn’t distract other students.”
University of Minnesota, McNamara Alumni Center – Twin Cities Campus. April 8, 2015
Full program available here: https://guidebook.com/g/adt/
Randy Bass
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/randall-bass/14/94/77
flipping disruption into Design
there are two type of universities: the ones that are in control of change and the ones, which are pressed to change.
what kind of education is needed at this moment of history.
Assumptions: 5-10 years will be for a first time outcompeted in terms of delivering information and degrees. What is that the university can do distinctively well that WWW cannot do: mentored learning and the arc of learning (beyond collection of granular separate learning)
book: The New Division of Labor. http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Division-Labor-Computers/dp/0691124027
External forces of potential disruption: 1. MOOCs, nearly free education, 2. skilled-based learning (Codeacademy, Udacity), 3. data analytic 4. public pressure on access, metrics of impact.
Gartner group (http://www.gartner.com/technology/home.jsp) hype cycle : overvalued in a short term and undervalued in a long term. MOOC is excellent example.
NMC: competing models of education.
learning analytics. adaptive learning, intelligent tutoring etc. Open Learning Initative. http://oli.cmu.edu/
In the 19th century, railroads companies which were in the business of railroad companies went under; the ones which were in the business of transportation survived. Parallel, universities, which are in the business of delivering information will die out; the ones, which will survive must look to a very different picture.
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10594685/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10594684/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10693434/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676389/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676375/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676361/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676372/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676385/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676376/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10594850/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676323/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10734863/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676358/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10676369/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10595018/
https://guidebook.com/guide/33541/event/10595040/
http://www.edudemic.com/what-comes-first-the-curriculum-or-technology/
The SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, represents the stages of tech integration: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. This model challenges us to assess and reflect on not only how we integrate technology into our curriculum, but also how we modify, redefine and transform our classrooms through its use.
Integrating technology into the classroom can be exhilarating, fun, and at times a little scary. That said, I’ve often found that teachers are hungry for more information, and welcome the chance to bring new ideas to the classroom.
In the end, if teachers and their administration are ready to embrace the messiness and the risks that sometimes come with technology, the reward is that your school’s curriculum – which must be strong to start – can truly be taken to the next level, and beyond. Otherwise, we’ll all be still left trying to figure out how an abacus works.
The 12 Characteristics of A Critical Thinker Teachers Should Be Aware of
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/09/the-12-characteristics-of-critical.html
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2013/12/04/social-media-explained/
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2013/11/17/connectivism-and-traditional-learning-theories/
Top 10 Social Media Management Tools: beyond Hootsuite and TweetDeck
16 Ways Teachers Use Pinterest
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/02/16-ways-teachers-use-pinterest.html
Curate Content
Organize ideas
Collaborate with others
Allow students to use Pinterest
teachers said they feel they are “bombarded by games,” but despite the overall belief in the engaging quality of games, there remains “skepticism about how much games are actually helping.”
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/
A Resource of educational web tools and mobile apps for teachers and educators