EDU 6240 Scholarly Article Review

            Stapa, M.A., Ibrahim, M., & Yusoff, A.  (2015).  Engaging vocational college students through blended learning:  improving class attendance and participation.  Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 204, p.127-135.  Retrieved online from <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815047734>. 

Review of Engaging Vocational College Students through Blended Learning

The article I chose to review centered on the use of blended learning in vocational programs.  The research, performed by Stapa, Ibrahim, and Yusoff, attempts to tackle the issue of attendance and participation at vocational programs (2015).  After a comprehensive overview of “Voc-learning” as they call it, the scholars conclude that offering a blended learning format that allows for online and face-to-face meetings is the best solution in improving attendance and student participation (Stapa, Ibrahim, & Yusoff, 2015).  Doing this, they argue, is a viable option because of the current high school generation’s comfort level with technology use, particularly social media (Stapa et al., 2015).  The general idea is that class content can be introduced and discussed online, examples can be viewed using social media or video sharing sites, and then students can meet in face-to-face to apply what they have learned in a hands-on setting.  In the end, however, the scholars conclude that much more research on the topic of blended learning within the vocational setting needs to occur (Stapa et al., 2015).

I found this article to be very intriguing.  In just a few short weeks of this course, for example, we have learned that online learning can be very effective.  We have also learned that it can be utilized in many different ways.  For me, the blended model is the one that I feel holds the most promise because of the same reasons the scholars cited in their article.  This model allows for students to engage content in an innovative manner, yet it also allows for direct, in-person guidance by a teacher during face-to-face meetings.  Furthermore, I feel that such a model could be used at several different grade levels and in several different subject areas.  One question that I still have, however, is how official attendance is tabulated for the online sessions.  As part of our AYP goals, attendance rates must meet a certain benchmark, and I would like to know more about what the effects of online class sessions are on such a category.  Additionally, I am curious about whether or not the vocational school that many of our district students attend, IVVC, utilizes any online learning in any of its programs. 

While I think that blended learning in the vocational setting lends itself more to high school, I can also see the benefits of such a program being used in a middle school setting.  For example, I know that we used to offer some vocational classes at the middle school level, such as woodshop, sewing, and cooking, a long time ago.  However, as budgets were cut, so were the vocational offerings at Plano Middle School.  If, however, some sort of online learning program were utilized, many of those classes could be offered again.  Students would not even have to leave the building during non-face-to-face meetings; instead, they could simply meet using our school library or one of the many labs we have.   In a blended format, one instructor could meet online with students from several different districts at the same time, and then they could rotate throughout the different schools throughout the course to provide hands-on learning opportunities and help develop student skills in person.  Furthermore, I would argue that if such a program were offered at the middle school level to many of our students with attendance and participation issues, then their attendance and participation would improve dramatically.  This, in my opinion, would occur because whatever is offered could be more interesting to them than the traditional core subjects of math, language arts, science, and social studies.  All in all, I feel that a blended learning program that is linked to Voc-learning could be a winning combination.

Review of "Senators Push for Digital Equity for All Students"

Senators Push for Digital Equity for All Students

LINK:  http://www.centerdigitaled.com/k-12/Senators-Push-for-Digital-Equity-for-All-Students.html

Roscorla, T.  (July 13, 2015).  Senators push for digital equity for all students.  Center for Digital Education.  Retrieved fromhttp://www.centerdigitaled.com/k12/Senators-Push-for-Digital-Equity-for-All-Students.html .

Tanya Roscorla’s article, Senators Push for Digital Equity for All Students, outlines some potential changes to current education legislation (2015).  In it, Roscorla explains that there are two items from the 2015 Every Child Achieves Act that are being proposed as amendments to the existing Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2015).  Amendment 2153 would create government-funded pilot programs to create and test different ways to provide access to students from low-income families, while Amendment 2154 would earmark funds to study how grand the impact of the lack of Internet access for these students is (Roscorla, 2015).  The article goes on to identify different ways that some districts are already providing Internet access to low-income families, including Wi-Fi on busses and Internet kiosks in common community areas and businesses (Roscorla, 2015).

            I think that this proposed legislation could be a good thing for students nationwide.  For starters, we know that curricula nationwide are enhanced so greatly by the utilizing the Internet and other technology.  In addition, we know that many families simply cannot afford individual Internet access within their homes.  These two pieces of legislation could tackle both issues.  Providing access to all students regardless of household income will go a long way in enhancing their overall education.  Furthermore, studying just how big of an issue the lack of Internet access really is will help give lawmakers the tangible evidence they will need to better address the issue.  The one thing that I think could cause difficulty addressing the latter is how daunting that task seems.  According to the article,

“The study would look at the amount of homework that needs to be done online, how lack of access at home affects educators and students, and what works well to address this problem” (Roscorla, 2015).  That, to me, seems like an enormous amount of data collection.  Moreover, I think that some teachers would see this as a sort of “big brother is watching you” approach and be apprehensive in regards to sharing information.

            In our school district, I think that this legislation would have big, positive implications.  We already have the necessary percentage of low-income families in the district to qualify for funds relating to these amendments.  Also, I know that, at least at my grade level, many students do not have a consistent, reliable source of Internet access that they can regularly use for academic purposes.  Many students go to the community library, but the problem with that is that many live so far away from it that going there is unrealistic and/or dangerous.  To alleviate that, I think that the district could utilize more Wi-Fi areas, perhaps by partnering with community clubhouses, parks, and local government buildings.  And, the idea of outfitting school busses with Wi-Fi connections (that could be filtered) is a great way to provide access to even more students.  The bottom line is that this problem is solvable and would immensely benefit our community.  

EDU6215 Journal Article #3

Citation

Saponaro, Tiziana.  6 Benefits of BYOD in the classroom.  ELearning Industry [Online]. October 25, 2014.  <http://www.elearningindustry.com/6-benefits-byod-classroom>.

Review of 6 Benefits of BYOD in the Classroom

Summary

It is inevitable that as technology continues to intertwine itself with education, educators must seek out new ways by which to infuse it into their classrooms.  In her article 6 Benefits of BYOD in the Classroom, Tiziana Saponaro makes her case for a novel idea:  allowing all students to bring their own devices to use during class.  Saponaro details six reasons for having students bring devices into schools, and she argues that all lead to increased student learning (2014).  She states, “I have seen increased learning outcomes and test scores, not to mention that my students are now more engaged in learning” (Saponaro, 2014).  Her reasons are as follows:  student participation increases, learning becomes student-driven, student collaboration and communication increases, it saves schools money, instruction is more personalized, and it is a new way of learning (Saponaro, 2014). 

Recommendation

Saponaro’s obvious recommendation is to infuse one’s classroom with devices brought by the students.  Her argument is compelling, too; the six reasons mentioned above provide a solid case in favor of personal devices.  Soponaro’s main basis of her proposal is built upon student engagement, and she continuously argues that students are more apt to learn if they can do so on their own devices in a student-centered manner (2014).  After all, anything that can deliver everything that the author outlines is something that all schools should do their due diligence on.  BYOD (bring your own devices), as Saponaro calls it, also goes beyond benefitting students; districts stand to benefit tremendously from incorporating such a plan (2014).  By letting students bring their own devices for school use, districts can save millions in technology costs that would otherwise be used for “the coolest technology that can be used for education these days” (Saponaro, 2014).

Reflection/Application

I very much agree with Saponaro’s recommendations.  Anything that improves so many facets of education is worth trying.  Furthermore, seeing as though many students turn to technology via their own devices at home, such as a phone, tablet, or laptop, for academic assistance, it makes sense to let them bring these things to school.  For instance, in a recent lesson requiring students to look up unfamiliar vocabulary words, a student remarked that he would just look the words up on his phone because it was easier than using a dictionary.  He did so, and the next day his assignment was perfectly completed.  There is no doubt that technology can make things easier, but in addition to that it is important to point out that the student easily completed the task on his own personal device that would have otherwise proven more difficult, and, at least to him, less engaging.

Moreover, the notion that doing so can save cash-strapped districts such a large sum of money, and the argument in favor of implementing this plan becomes more compelling.  A BYOD plan would ease the financial burden of needing to purchase one-to-one devices for all enrolled students.  Granted, there would still need to be a small pool of devices for those children who simply do not have their own personal device, but that would cause much less than outfitting all students with them at the expense of school districts.  A large negative, however, is monitoring students to ensure that they are actually using devices for academic purposes during instructional time, and that could prove to be highly difficult for a teacher.  Nonetheless, it is my opinion that the pros outweigh the cons, and that the incorporation of personal devices in the classroom is a good thing and one that I would be very open to trying in the future.

Universally, using media in the classroom, when properly done, can be extremely beneficial to students.  Sure, there can be distractions, but if students have already embraced media tools and technology, then why not use it to supplement curriculum?  As the world changes, schools need to be willing to adapt and adopt new tools to aid student achievement.  Clearly, as Saponaro illustrates, media tools can positively impact that.

EDU 6215 Journal Article Review #2

Citation:

Watters, Audrey (2014).  How will the ed-tech industry shape student reading? Knowledge Quest. Vol. 14 Issue 1, pages 16-21. Retrieved from Library Literature & Information Science database.  DOI:  97937358.

Review of How Will the Ed-Tech Industry Shape Student Reading?

Summary:

This article discusses two main ideas.  First, the author argues that thanks to pushes for Common Core by schools across the country, the ed-tech industry is booming.  The author states, “Focused on math and literacy standards, adoption of the CCSS will require schools to purchase newly and properly aligned materials.  The need for new materials is a huge boon to the ed-tech industry” (Watters, 2014).  That point is elaborated upon by explaining that the focus of using educational technology in school has shifted from preparing students for the workplace and improving school efficiency to preparing students to take standardized assessments that are now online or computer-based (Watters, 2014).  Because of this, Watters declares Common Core as a “big win” for the ed-tech industry (2014).   As she points out, “68 percent of school districts say they plan to purchase new instructional materials as they implement the new standards”, according to a recent survey (Watters, 2014).  This all means big money for technology businesses.   

Second, the author points out that a shift by schools to use Lexile rankings to measure the difficulty of texts is creating opportunities for ed-tech companies to make even more money (Watters, 2014).  The author argues that as more and more schools adopt the Lexile Framework, which is based on a computer-generated algorithm, more and more companies will create tech tools for schools that incorporate Lexile data, thus creating new, money-making opportunities for those companies (Watters, 2014).  Furthermore, schools are shifting away from fictional texts to more nonfiction, and they are starting to seek out digital, Lexiled texts over traditional print versions (Watters, 2014).  The reason for this is one of common sense; being digitized, computer programs aligned to the Lexile Framework can perform text-leveling work for teachers.

Recommendations:

The article is not really one that lends itself to blatantly recommending anything.  But, a takeaway of the article is that it would behoove districts to begin a transition to incorporate more educational technology, especially that which is directly related to Common Core and Lexile Framework, if they want to remain effective and competitive.  It seems as though the prevailing trend is one that is beginning to strongly favor the tech-savvy school.  This should have enough of an influence on students’ education to, hopefully, help them become more successful in this modern realm of education. 

Reflection/Applications:

This article does a good job of explaining how the ed-tech industry will benefit from Common Core and Lexile initiatives.  It also describes how technology will affect student reading.  Many of the curricular programs we use in my school are based upon Common Core standards, and many of these are web-based.  Also, I regulary use the Lexile Framework to find leveled historical nonfiction texts online that students can read and analyze.  Without such a thing, it would be much more difficult and time consuming for me to find leveled reading texts for students. 

In the school at which I work, I have seen a dramatic shift towards educational technology over the last decade.  When I first started teaching, each teacher had one desktop computer, a TV with VCR/DVD combo player, and an overhead projector.  The school had one computer lab that was shared by the entire school as needed.  Grades were done using software, but other than that we were not really provided with any other form of technology.  In contrast, today we rely heavily on ed-tech.  Each teacher has a laptop for planning purposes as well as at least one additional desktop computer for student use.  We now have three computer labs and another three rolling (laptop) labs.  Students are assessed using online assessments such as PARCC and MAP.  Teachers collect and analyze data with web-based programs like PowerSchool, Mastery Manager, and AIMSweb.  Even communication has changed, going from phone calls to emails and Skyping.  All of this begs the question:  what will education look like ten, twenty, or even thirty years from now?

EDU 6215 Journal Article Review #1

Citation

Rico, R., Sanchez, P., & Pillares-Weissling, A. (2012).  A snapshot of latina/o bilingual teacher candidates and their use of ipads in an after-school technology program.  Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction. Vol. 14 Issue 1, pages 95-115.  Retrieved online from <https://ate.utsa.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/Snapshot%20of%20Bilingual%20Teacher%20Candidates%20and%20their%20Use%20of%20iPads.pdf>.

Review of A Snapshot of Latina/o Bilingual Teacher Candidates and their Use of IPads  in an After-School Technology Program

Summary

This study examined the effectiveness of using educational technology when teaching bilingual students.  The 2011 study was performed by surveying both bilingual teacher candidates and the students with whom they worked during an after-school program throughout one semester (Rico, Sanchez, & Pallares-Weissling, 2012).  During the study, candidates utilized IPads to teach literacy skills to bilingual students of varying proficiency levels (Rico, Sanchez, & Pallares-Weissling, 2012).  Students were assessed on their literacy levels prior to and following the study, and teacher candidates were surveyed regarding factors they believed impacted student achievement gains (Rico, Sanchez, & Pallares-Weissling, 2012).  Results showed that students improved literacy rates dramatically, going from 23% advanced to 55% advanced, and results were attributed to a combination of best practice-based teaching and the use of IPads and other technology within the curriculum (Rico, Sanchez, & Pallares-Weissling, 2012).  Student responses widely supported such a program; in fact, Rico, Sanchez, and Pallares-Weissling quote an anonymous student as saying, “Learning how to type and use the computer at age 14 was my most memorable technology experience”, (2012).  Based on this study and its results, it is evident that implementation of a technology-based intervention program can be effective.  One thing, however, that the authors are quick to point out is that using technology in a classroom is only effective if the teacher using it is properly trained on it and allows students to use it regularly; for instance, by using 1-to-1 devices as opposed to just using a projector (Rico, Sanchez, and Pallares-Weissling, 2012).

Reflection/Application

This study proves that programs that incorporate interactive technology to teach can be very effective.  Using educational technology allows students to interact with content in an engaging manner as opposed to what is done in many traditional classrooms.  It also opens students up to a vast wealth of online resources to supplement what they are learning about within a classroom.  I feel that the best approach to utilizing such a program would be to both use something like an IPad in conjunction with a traditional approach.  Teaching in such a manner would allow educators to introduce concepts from their curricula and then reinforce them or provide practice opportunities using the technology resources they have.  Many educators in my building are already using this approach and are wildly successful doing so.  These teachers have presented data that has shown significant growth in the areas of reading and mathematics, results that strongly correlate with those of this study. 

If I were lucky enough to have 1-to-1 devices for my classroom, I would use them to reinforce students’ literacy skills just as the teaching candidates did in the after school program in which they participated.  Reading and writing form the base of what we do within my content area, so I am all for any way that I can improve students’ abilities or help them become more successful readers and writers.  I know that there are many apps and online programs out there that can be used to assist in this, so I would seek out these items and incorporate them throughout the curriculum in order to reinforce strategies introduced during traditional class time.  All in all, incorporating educational technology in the classroom can prove to be highly effective and beneficial.