December 2008 Archives

Here's an in-depth article from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiling one family which has enrolled its children in the Georgia Virtual Academy after deciding that online education is the right choice for them. The Georgia Virtual Academy has become one of the biggest in the nation, with about 4,400 middle and elementary school students.

Although enrollment in this school, and other online academies, is growing, some opponents of online education are worried about test scores from virtual schools. For example, at the Georgia Virtual Academy, 74 percent of 8th graders failed their state math test, compared with 38 percent of students in brick-and-mortar public schools, according to the article.

The school has addressed this problem by providing prep courses to help students prepare for the test, as well as information about the tests to parents and students, almost 40 percent of whom were previously home-schooled and may not have understood the importance of the tests, say representatives from the virtual school.

There are a couple of other concerns about virtual schools, such as the lack of daily social interaction that goes hand-in-hand with brick-and-mortar schools, and also, in the case of the Georgia Virtual Academy, there's not quite enough money to provide classes in the arts or foreign languages yet. The family profiled in the article explained that their children took extra lessons outside of school to supplement their education, but that might not be an option for all families.

At any rate, this article is a good read for those of you interested to see how online education is working, at least in one state. There are definitely some obstacles, and some advantages, but as the article says, it's just too new to have any hard-hitting data on what exactly the effects of virtual schooling are.

UPDATE: I mistakenly identified the school in the AJC article as the Georgia Virtual School. The article was actually talking about the Georgia Virtual Academy, which is a virtual charter school, NOT the Georgia Virtual School, which is run by the state. My apologies for this mistake, and thanks to those of you who brought it to my attention.

Posted by Katie Ash at 12:45 PM | Permalink | 7 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

There's an interesting story up on The Sacramento Bee about a new law that will take effect on Jan. 1 in California that allows school districts to punish students for cyberbullying.

Specifically, the law allows schools to suspend or expel students for bullying other students over the Internet, through text messages, and other electronic means. Part of the impetus for the passing of the bill was the case of Megan Meier, a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide after a complicated case of cyberbullying and deception on MySpace. (You can read more about that here.)

As cyberbullying becomes more and more of a problem for schools, I think it's only appropriate for schools to have the authority to be able to deal with it, just as they would a physical or verbal fight. At this point, cyberbullying—partly because of its anonymous capabilities—has become a major problem for many teens. A Pew Internet study (PDF) back in 2007 reported that about 13 percent of students had endured a rumor being spread about them online, and 13 percent said they'd received a threatening text message, email, or instant message. I can only imagine that those numbers have grown in the past year.

Digital Directions writer Michelle Davis wrote a fascinating story related to this topic a few months ago, if you're interested in learning more about how schools are dealing with the problems that arise with social-networking Web sites.

Posted by Katie Ash at 11:42 AM | Permalink | 2 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

I just finished up a story for Digital Directions today about what Obama plans to do for the ed-tech community and how that measures up to what prominent members of that community believe he should do once he takes office on Jan. 20.

As we mentioned before, Obama has pledged to put more computers in schools and expand broadband access to homes and schools as part of his economic-recovery plan that he hopes will create up to 3 million jobs. In addition, Obama has indicated that technology will play a much larger role in the infrastructure of government, something ed-tech advocates hope schools will take notice of and emulate.

One thing I didn't have room to talk much about in the story was the role of technology in increasing the transparency of government, which many ed-tech experts were excited about. Tracy Gray, from the National Center for Technology Innovation told me, "What [Obama's] trying to do, I believe, is make sure that all citizens who are interested have the option to better understand what government policies are, what the mandates are for our citizenship from a legislative perspective, despite whatever disabilities or handicaps they have, that they can get this information."

Kimberly A. Rice, the chief information officer for the Boston public schools, hopes that the same philosophy will be applied to education. "Our parents, families, and communities should expect that we make our [student] data transparent, whether or not they choose to use those tools," she said. "Student information, parent portals, access to student grades, ... are really important, and I'm finding it promising that [Obama is] setting that expectation for his own executive branch."

This was a very interesting story to report, and most everyone I talked with was enthusiastic and hopeful about what might happen when the President-elect takes office. It'll be a while until we know whether Obama will fulfill all the promises he made for ed tech on the campaign trail, and in light of the current economic, financial, and global downturn, it's unlikely that we'll see a whole lot of movement on this right away, but it's definitely something that—at this point—the whole ed-tech community is watching closely.

Posted by Katie Ash at 12:28 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

As many folks have predicted, I think we've just seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to distance learning, which is pretty much an umbrella term for any situation where a teacher interacts with students who are not in the same classroom, such as online classes or interactive-TV classes. This AP story examines how schools in Minnesota are using distance learning, mostly through Project SOCRATES. Distance learning is having a particularly strong impact in smaller, rural districts, according to the article.

"These classes are really crucial for school districts," said Dave Henning, SOCRATES E-learning manager, "especially some of the smaller ones in the region who don't have enough students to fill an entire class or have lost electives because of budget cuts."

The jury's still out, says the article, about how effective distance learning classes are, but the students don't seem to notice much of a difference.

Does your school district participate in distance learning? If yes, is it something that you would recommend to other districts?

Posted by Katie Ash at 10:50 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

This Business Week article is a good read for those of you wondering what exactly President-elect Barack Obama is planning to do for ed tech once he takes office.

The story talks quite a bit about President-elect Barack Obama's plans to provide computers with Internet access to schools as part of the economic stimulus plan that is currently being constructed. The details of the plan are still pretty sketchy, but based on what he's said at press conferences recently, the tech community will probably be seeing a big jump in the number of jobs available in that sector because of the plan, partly due to projects like broadband expansion to homes and schools.

You can read more about what Obama has in store for the ed-tech community in a transcript of his weekly radio address on Dec. 6. In it, he promises to put more computers into schools and increase broadband access for homes and schools.

The article also talks about the challenges that schools face as they begin equipping classrooms with computers.

In many schools, PCs have failed to aid students' learning or improve test scores, or equip them with the analysis and communications skills that today's workplace demands, according to studies. The problems include a reliance on paper lesson plans that don't factor in technology, and inadequate teacher training and technical support. Also at fault, say educators, is American classrooms' occupation with teaching kids strategies for raising standardized test scores to meet provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Without well-trained staff that seamlessly incorporate technology into the classroom, the computers get pushed to the back of the class with minimal use, says the article. And giving students assignments that are essentially worksheets on the computer doesn't even begin to tap into the advantages that having a computer can bring to education, experts say.

Posted by Katie Ash at 12:55 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Getting caught up on recent tech news, I ran across a couple of stories that I think are worth checking out.

This AP story talks about scientists who are starting to investigate how daily exposure to technology is affecting people's brains.

While violent video games have gotten a lot of public attention, some current concerns go well beyond that. Some scientists think the wired world may be changing the way we read, learn, and interact with each other.

There are no firm answers yet. But Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatrist at UCLA, argues that daily exposure to digital technologies such as the Internet and smart phones can alter how the brain works.

Most scientists seem to be concerned with a possible deterioration of face-to-face social interactions in today's digital youngsters, but others are worried that the way people are consuming information through the Internet could possibly short-circuit the pathways that lead to deep reading, reflection, and analysis. However, at least one researcher, Mizuko Ito from the University of California, Irvine, asserts that daily use of new technologies teach students 21st-century skills that will be essential by the time they are ready to enter the workforce.

Another AP story examines how students are starting to turn to YouTube for homework help. In particular, an organization called The Khan Academy has apparently helped many struggling math students figure out even their toughest problems.

The videos are appealing for several reasons, says Kim Gregson, an Ithaca College professor of new media. Students come to the videos when they're ready to study and fully awake—not always the case for 8 a.m. calculus classes. And they can watch the videos as many times as they need until they understand.

The organization is essentially one man, who, after explaining the same concepts over and over to his younger family and friends, decided to make YouTube videos which could be viewed multiple times.

Posted by Katie Ash at 2:21 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

Would you hire a French teacher who had certification, say, only in Spanish; or who had merely taken some undergraduate classes in French culture; or who once visited France but couldn’t speak the language; or who was a native French speaker with no preparation for teaching?

Of course you wouldn’t.

But weak certification requirements in computer science teaching are apparently allowing teachers with comparable gaps to teach computer science in U.S. high schools, according to a new report by the Computer Science Teachers Association.

The report, by CSTA’s Certification Task Force, finds that, in most states, preparation and certification for individuals who are becoming, or continuing as, computer science teachers are largely irrelevant and unconnected to the demands of the field.

It suggests that one contributing factor is ignorance among decisionmakers about what computer science is really all about.

“The current systems of pre-service education and teacher certification, if they exist at all, are profoundly disconnected from the discipline of computer science and the needs of teachers and students,” writes Chris Stephenson, the executive director of the CSTA and report co-author, in a statement accompanying the release of the report.

The report says that neglect of certification systems in this field is helping shrink the supply of computer science teachers and causing students to turn away from studying the subject.

As a result, many of the 1.5 million potential jobs in computing, communications, and information science and engineering that the U.S. economy could create by 2012 might go begging because there will not be enough highly skilled individuals to fill them.

Fortunately, the report by the Computer Science Teachers Association goes beyond handwringing. In addition to providing a comprehensive description of the issues relating to certification, it describes some current models for teacher certification from Georgia and Pennsylvania and Israel and Scotland.

The report culminates with the task force’s recommendation for a multi-level model of computer science teacher certification.

The recommended model addresses the different certification needs of new teachers; veteran teachers with certification in another area who have never taught computer science; veterans with certification in another area who have experience teaching computer science; and career-switchers with a computer science background but no teaching experience.

Posted by Andrew Trotter at 4:01 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

This paper (PDF) written by three researchers at Duke University puts a new spin on what educators should do about the "digital divide." After analyzing data from 2000 to 2005 of North Carolina public school students, the researchers found that there was a persistent gap between students who had access to computers with Internet access in their homes, which was most strongly tied with their parents' level of education (as in, those students whose parents were highly educated were more likely to have a computer in the home than students whose parents had lower levels of education). That's not really new information, but the researchers also found that having a computer was associated with "modest but statistically significant and persistent negative impacts on student math and reading test scores."

To break it down a little more, the researchers found that students who received a computer between 5th and 8th grade had a decline in their reading and math scores, overall. Students who did not have access to a home computer during this time generally did best on math and reading tests, and of those students who had a computer at home, those who only used the computer twice a month or less had the best scores.

The study also found that students with high-speed Internet access were less likely to report using it for school work and academic purposes and were more likely to use it for entertainment. However, Internet access had a more positive effect on students' academic achievement when there was effective parental supervision of the student's Internet activities.

Basically, having a computer with Internet access in the house makes it more likely that a student will spend more time goofing around on the computer than studying, unless he or she is being effectively monitored by parents. The Internet can be a positive tool for those who use it for schoolwork, but it can also be used as a time waster, and in that case, it will have a negative impact on student achievement.

This information could influence the way educators and administrators go about closing the digital divide and throw a wrench in the gears of 1 to 1 laptop initiatives and other programs that aim to boost achievement by providing greater access to the Internet. What this suggests is it's not really about giving every kid a computer, but more about what the kid does with the computer once he or she has it.

The paper does throw these programs a bone, though, by saying that there are skills that may not be directly related to math and reading achievement that students will learn through having access to a computer—like basic knowledge about software and 21st century skills that could be helpful when they're looking for a job.

What do you think? Will this data influence the way that educators make decisions about the digital divide and student achievement? Are 1 to 1 initiatives worth the effort and money in light of this study? How might educators and administrators address some of the concerns raised by these conclusions?

Posted by Katie Ash at 1:24 PM | Permalink | 8 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

This blog post at Hitwise, an online company that tracks trends through the Internet, notes that in the wake of the current recession, interest in online universities has continued to rise, as visits to traditional educational institutions have begun to decrease.

The post raises an interesting and important question: Will students whose families are feeling the pinch of the recession turn to online universities as a way to cut costs without giving up a college education?

A scathing report (PDF) released last week by the San Jose, Calif.-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education gives all states except California an F for college affordability. California received a C. According to the report, working class families must contribute about 40 percent of the family income in order to enroll a student in a public four-year college or university. Middle-class families contribute about 25 percent of their family income, and upper-class families pay, on average, 13 percent.

If this trend continues—and realistically, I don't see it going away—it's just one more reason for families to explore online universities as a viable alternative to brick and mortar higher ed institutions.

I'm also interested to see how this will play out in the K-12 arena. As school budgets become more and more strapped, perhaps looking into online classes will help schools meet the needs of students without breaking the bank.

Posted by Katie Ash at 1:29 PM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)

This story in The Oregonian talks about how designing, creating, and coding video games is becoming a career path, rather than just a hobby, for this generation of students. The article notes that the number of colleges that teach video game design has increased from 50 to 200 in the past few years and that some high schools and community colleges in Oregon have begun to offer classes in that discipline as well.

Video game design can be applied to other subjects, as well, says the article. And students who might not be motivated to excel in those subjects are often "tricked" into enjoying them through video game design, says one teacher.

"They don't even know they're learning things," Fulton says. "They think they're just playing games. It's a trick."

I've written quite a bit about how games have the ability to capture the attention and motivation of students who otherwise might tune out during class, and this is a topic that seems to be on the minds of many educators and researchers at this point. But I do worry, however, as one commenter mentioned at the end of the article about how realistic it is for a student to expect to design video games for a living. Although video games constitute a multibillion dollar industry, like other sectors of the entertainment industry, very few people actually have the opportunity to design a successful video game.

Or maybe I'm being too cynical. As one student mentioned in the article, the skills needed to design video games can be applied to many different fields, not just the gaming industry. And I imagine as more research is done on gaming in education, the industry will continue to grow, opening up even more jobs and opportunities for ambitious game design students.

Posted by Katie Ash at 1:44 PM | Permalink | 2 Comments | TrackBacks (0)

’Tis the quadrennial season for groups to promote their special interests to the winners in the latest national election.

And yesterday, a coalition of organizations—including some education associations—were pumping up the prospects in Washington for extensive upgrades to the nation’s broadband networks, with education as one of the key areas that would benefit.

The diverse collection of allies issued “A Call to Action for a National Broadband Strategy” to President-elect Obama and the next Congress to develop and start implementing a comprehensive broadband strategy in 2009.

The two-page call to action lays out five goals that the groups agree belong in a national broadband strategy:

a. Every home, business, and public and private institution should have access to affordable high-speed broadband connections to the Internet.

b. Access to the Internet should, to the maximum feasible extent, be open to all users, service providers, content providers, and application providers.

c. Network operators must have the right to manage their networks responsibly, pursuant to clear and workable guidelines and standards.

d. The Internet and broadband marketplace should be as competitive as reasonably possible.

e. U.S. broadband networks should provide Americans with the network performance, capacity, and connections they need to compete successfully in the global marketplace.

Notice the phrases, “to the maximum feasible extent,” “pursuant to …workable guidelines and standards,” and “competitive as reasonably possible.”

Such hedges may be necessary to get signatures on the same page from industry players such as the Telecommunications Industry Association, the Utilities Telecom Council, Intel Corp., and Google Inc.; education-oriented groups such as the Internet2 consortium, EDUCAUSE, the North American Council for Online Education, and the American Library Association; and think tanks such as the Benton Foundation and the New America Foundation, which organized the Dec. 2 event.

The full list of current signatories is here.

Some ed-tech groups, including the Washington-based Consortium for School Networking, are not on the list, at least not yet.

CoSN’s chief executive officer Keith R. Krueger said in an e-mail that the group has “not yet taken an official position" on this particular call for broadband but would be formalizing its positions for the new lobbying season over the next month. CoSN has long been an advocate of making broadband more widely available to the nation's schools.

Broadband is high on many ed-tech groups' agendas, as you can read in Katie Ash's recent piece in Digital Directions.

The call for a national broadband strategy will likely reach receptive ears in the incoming Obama administration, which has already pledged to try to “get true broadband to every community in America” and said that Obama and Vice-President elect Biden “strongly support the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet.”

The Federal Communications Commission and the nation's telecommunications companies, of course, are vital partners in any effort to expand broadband access here.

The budget is the obvious barrier to greater federal involvement, considering the fiscal demands of the recession and the billions of dollars it will cost to bring affordable broadband to every rural hill and hollow and urban enclave in this country.

Obama has said, however, that he wants to relieve the nation's economic distress by investing heavily in its infrastructure, and I’m sure it is no accident that the paper declared, “Broadband is becoming as important to the United States as canals, railroads, electricity, telephones, and highways were in the last two centuries."

Posted by Andrew Trotter at 9:01 AM | Permalink | No Comments | TrackBacks (0)