Lance Ford, Ph.D.
Education Advocate, Cisco Systems
What is the most encouraging industry trend you see happening that is benefiting both students and teachers?
One of the most encouraging industry trends for education is the evolution of low-cost, high-capacity flexible tools that can impact individual learning in a variety of environments. As connectivity becomes more ubiquitous in education, the financial challenge of acquisition has been a barrier for many organizations. The scale at which procurements have to be made, maintained and moved along via training can be overwhelming. With the advent of attractively priced devices that are supported and updated via the cloud, more schools can jump in. In the past, outcroppings of excellence in authentic technology implementation were isolated to geographies with abundant resources or “progressive” leadership. With the tools now available, teachers and students at a grassroots level can move the ball of implementation forward at the classroom level.
How can technology be incorporated in schools to help improve collaboration in the classroom?
Collaboration, and the use of technology to collaborate in the classroom, must be seen as a culture and not a one-off experience. It has to be OK for students to work together to apply concepts and solve problems. In the past, what business sees as collaboration would be defined as cheating in the classroom. In order for technology to be used collaboratively, this has to be acceptable within the culture of the learning experience. In my courses, we use Cisco Spark to team students together within the course. Once teamed, they have the ability to join and participate in a variety of subgroups to message, upload content, meet via video and dynamically whiteboard through the problem-solving process. For us this experience means that regardless of the device you bring in or the location from which you join, you can participate. The continuum of learning requires that collaboration ebb and flow as well. The technology chosen should allow for both synchronous, in class experiences as well as asynchronous (outside of class time) collaborative engagements.
In your opinion, how is educational technology affecting personalized learning?
Technology is providing an avenue for students to consume their curriculum via their own path on the devices that best suit their learning style. In my wife’s class, there may be 20 to 25 students physically in the classroom at once. However, each one of them may be in their own independent class. Some may be working in teams through curriculum while others may be on their own independent course. One of the things that this provides is the ability to remediate and accelerate as necessary through the curriculum. When a student “strikes a gold vein” in their course, they can dig deep and may choose to pursue advanced offerings. Many students leverage this opportunity to take multiple courses during the time that would be traditionally used for only one course. Living in a rural area, this opportunity means that students have the opportunity to take courses that otherwise simply would not be available due to an insufficient number of resources needed to hire specialized instructors.
What do you believe is the most important benefit of educational technology on learning outside of the classroom?
Learning is a continuum process, not just a scheduled experience. The technologies that learners leverage now help them transparently collaborate with peers and experts as learning unfolds. Just last week we had a student working on a process for class on a Sunday afternoon. He was able to forge ahead with research, post findings, ask experts and get teacher feedback in a seamless way. In our Cisco Spark enabled experiences we find that the learning experience outpaces the speed of email. Learners expect to have “just in time” access to the resources both on demand (e.g., docs, pics, websites) and live (e.g., peers, experts, teachers) that they need to not only understand but also apply the knowledge that they are gleaning. Recently, my students were involved in an interaction as a part of virtual office hours. I asked the students to take a screen shot from the device they were using as a part of the session. As I looked at the image from one of the iOS devices, I saw that there was only 1 bar of connectivity to the cellular network and the battery life was at 2 percent. Even though that student was on the end of her technological rope, educational technology outside the classroom allowed her to continue to be a part of the learning process.
Lillian Kellogg
Senior Vice President, Education Networks of America
What is the most encouraging industry trend you see benefiting both students and teachers?
The integration of cloud computing. It is the next stage of the instructional cycle — backpack to laptop to cloud. Students don’t need to carry around laptops with hard drives anymore because they can access everything they need from the cloud. Cloud technology allows for a variety of devices, enabling students to select the tool that best fits their learning needs and preferences. It is also reshaping how today’s teachers communicate and collaborate with each other, providing them with online platforms to form external professional learning communities as well as exchange information, resources and lesson plans.
How can technology be incorporated in schools to help improve collaboration in the classroom?
Our nation’s school districts are undergoing massive digital transformations and transitioning into collaborative, hyper-connected institutions of learning. Students and teachers now use technology to facilitate interactive online group discussions, engage in project-based learning exercises with professionals and experts from the greater global community, and extend their learning beyond the school day. From voice over internet protocol technology to student notification systems to cloud computing, today’s technology is intentional in its purpose. It enables schools to facilitate the collaboration needed to improve student learning, streamline operations and connect the communities they serve.
In your opinion, how is educational technology affecting personalized learning?
Technology provides teachers and students with the opportunity to personalize learning. The integration of real-time data analytics enables teachers to develop adaptive curriculums based on each student’s needs. Using the data, they can pinpoint a student’s strengths and weaknesses and immediately tailor their instruction accordingly. The advent of digital devices and resources is also empowering students with the ability to become content creators and drivers. Because they often have access to the same data as their teachers, they can monitor their progress to gain a better understanding of their own specific learning needs and adjust their approach accordingly.
What do you believe is the most important benefit of educational technology on learning outside of the classroom?
The most important benefit is the facilitation of anytime and anywhere learning opportunities. Instruction is no longer confined to the classroom. Students can collaborate with their peers, view recorded lectures, communicate with their teachers or download classroom resources from any location with an internet connection. Community anchor institutions, such as public libraries, also play a critical role in supporting these new connected learning environments. Nationwide, these institutions are upgrading their network infrastructures and introducing innovative resources like coding classes and makerspaces to help meet the escalating connectivity needs and digital demands of their patrons and students.
How can school leaders address security issues such as DDoS and ransomware attacks that can disrupt digital learning and stifle operational systems?
Network security threats are real and looming. Experts predict that these types of incidents are on the rise and will only become more frequent, rendering every school district vulnerable to attack. As a result, schools are taking security issues very seriously and implementing strategies to protect their data from network vulnerabilities. A solid plan to address network security includes four main components: security policy and procedures, communication and professional development strategy, defined prevention measures, and incident response and mitigation.
How is cloud computing changing the learning dynamics and operational efficiencies in today’s education communities?
Cloud computing is mobilizing today’s school districts. Students have 24/7 access to their instructional resources, email, collaboration tools and learning applications. Whether they are at school, homebound, participating in an internship, or traveling, they can remain connected to their coursework and not lose any valuable instructional time. From an operational perspective, more school districts are migrating their applications and resources from on-site data centers to virtual servers because of the technology’s security, scalability and flexibility. The switch frees organizations and their technology staff members from the costs, disaster-related liabilities and burdens associated with maintaining physical servers.
Eric Sheninger
Senior Fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education
What is the most encouraging industry trend you see happening that is benefiting both students and teachers?
Technology is transforming learning and elevating the relationship between students and teachers. Tools have altered the time and space in which students and teachers are able to communicate and collaborate around learning. Through technologies like G Suite, students are engaging in a much different learning experience during project-based learning and writing assignments. A piece of student writing can become a diverse and substantive document allowing for the exchange of ideas, questions and recommendations between teacher, peers, authors and mentors. When technology is integrated in a pedagogically sound fashion, collaboration in and beyond the classroom fosters a greater relevancy and global awareness.
How can technology be incorporated in schools to help improve collaboration in the classroom?
Students crave a greater purpose and sense of relevance in their learning. We must seize the gift that technology provides to place the ownership of learning in the hands of each student and allow them to demonstrate conceptual mastery through self-selected tools and methods guided by his or her unique learning needs. This personalized learning experience represents a movement from the “what” to the “who” as teachers help facilitate student ownership by considering all aspects of a student’s need aligned to the assessment data that technology can make easily available. The result is better outcomes, achievement and engagement for all.
In your opinion, how is educational technology affecting personalized learning?
The use of mobile technologies has changed the way students consume content and construct new knowledge in order to learn in meaningful ways. These technologies allow learning to happen anywhere, anytime and with anyone. When aligned to the principles of instructional design, mobile technology affords students multiple pathways to mastery under the conditions where they learn best. By opening the opportunities once confined by the instructional day and expanding access to digital tools, students can naturally develop into lifelong learners where learning is the reward.
What do you believe is the most important benefit of educational technology on learning outside of the classroom?
We can no longer put the cart before the horse and expect technology to have a magical effect on learning. Industry trends are now focused on improving teaching, learning and leadership to ensure efficacy as part of any digital transformation. The International Center for Leadership in Education is leading in this space by providing innovative, evidence-based professional learning solutions aligned to research and success from practitioners in the field. Through the use of rubrics a critical lens is taken to evidence collected, which is then used to create a personalized strategic plan for improvement.
Shawn Mahoney, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer, McGraw-Hill Education
What is the most encouraging industry trend you see happening that is benefiting both students and teachers?
Improving educational outcomes — at scale — is crucially important. Now, with the support of technology and more widespread accessibility, addressing students’ individualized needs is more possible than ever. And perhaps, most interestingly, remediation is one of the applications in which personalized education technology has been proven to have the most promise for the future.
How can technology be incorporated in schools to help improve collaboration in the classroom?
Context is key to improving collaboration using technology. For instance, technology can be utilized to send daily newsfeeds to teachers and students to spark collaborative discussion related to current events. Similarly, multimedia interactives and simulations allow students to experiment and explore virtual worlds that might not be accessible without technology.
In your opinion, how is educational technology affecting personalized learning?
Personalized learning gives students more opportunity to become architects of their own learning path as the technology adapts to their specific needs. In addition, teachers gain access to analytics that can help them further tailor their instruction for individuals and in the classroom — ultimately resulting in significant improvements in students’ engagement, confidence and learning outcomes.
What do you believe is the most important benefit of educational technology on learning outside of the classroom?
Educational technology offers possibility, choice and the ability to regulate the where, whenand howof learning. Students can use products that adapt to their individual learning styles and unique circumstances. Digital tools also help make the most of limited study time, and learning can happen wherever and whenever students are ready.
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