In September 2011, the U.S. Department of Education sponsored a new project called Digital Promise. The bipartisan, public-private initiative will fund research in educational technology and will bring leading technologies into the classroom to help students with problem areas such as STEM subjects. Review the main directions of this project using the provided link (the underlined title of the project in this paragraph).
Share your thoughts on which initiatives could be particularly helpful for the development of next-generation learning environments in Alabama schools and colleges. Focus on your own subject area and grade level. Do not forget to click the Publish button when you complete your typing. Click the Home button at the bottom of the page to return to the Course Blog page.
There are two initiatives that I think would particularly help my grade level and subject area, 9th-12th grade mathematics: (1) Leading Video Game Company Establishes Education Prize and (2) “GeoGames" that help students analyze data across geographical areas to solve real-world challenges.
ReplyDeleteFor high school students gaming, the internet, and cell phones are a major part of their daily lives. Gaming is a great way to help my students learn about graphing and computers as this is the foundation of any video game. Helping my students connect real-world applications to what they are learning is a great way to keep them engaged and interested in the content. Also analyzing data allows them to think critically and think outside the box.
All of the initiatives, as far as I can see, would help our students greatly. The Nature Conservancy and Morgridge Family Foundation Partnering to Create Digital Content for Kids is planning to translate content to other languages. This is great for Alabama, because with all the new car and steel plants coming to our state we have more students that speak English as a second language. Also, Launch of 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge, will partner with different organizations that will give our students positive role models and keep them out of trouble.
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ReplyDeleteMegan,
DeleteIt's great that you are thinking outside the box and see some positive developments that will affect minority students, like ESL learners. AZ
Before this course, I knew technology was a growing subject in our school, but I am now having a better understanding and grasp of all the ways that is possible. All the initiatives could be particularly helpful. In my circumstance, I am working with sixth graders in Math. For the development of next-generation learning environments in Alabama schools and colleges for these students, the "Launch of 2012 National STEM Video Game Challenge" seems appropriate. I am observing at a Magnet School of Math & Science. I believe that with how fast technology is advancing, it is pertinent that our students excel in these subjects. The STEM video game is a wonderful way to encourage and intrigue students to want to "play" and to learn.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the "Online tutors that assess a student's real-time comprehension and tailor learning strategies" would be fantastic. So many of our students need that extra time and attention to grasp concepts in mathematics. Having these virtual tutors would be a interesting and important new way of pushing our learners forward.
I have to admit, I'm skeptical about the Digital Promise initiative because it is such a major undertaking. If this initiative could uniformly serve all public schools, therefore, leveling the playing field for all (i.e., eliminating the "have nots"), this would be a success. If this initiative can persuade the private sector to invest in all of our public schools, bringing them "up to date," this would prove successful.
ReplyDeleteI think three initiatives could be helpful in doing this:
1) Transforming the market for learning technologies.
2) Creating a buyers' consortium to demand better prices and higher quality.
3) Encouraging entrepreneurs to develop game-changing innovations by promising to buy them.
I think that the Digital Promise initiative, if followed through, could be very beneficial. These are the same steps private businesses have been following for years to stay ahead of the curve. It is time our education systems get on board. Being able to determine faster what is working and what is not will help reduce wasted time in the classroom. The initiative to encourage entrepreneurs to drastically improve innovations will help create a better product being produced. The video game and digital challenges will lead to increased competition which will lead again to a better quality of product being produced. It definitely helps to get students attention when it is video games being produced. The Digital Promise initiative appears to be very promising!
ReplyDeleteAccording to Digital Promise, NSF is investing money to support research with the goal of promoting learning using advanced technology. I think it is important to compile, analyze, and evaluate the research before implementing it into various school district. I am concerned that they want to spend a large amount of money. The New Analysis by Council of Economic Advisers states that “a well-trained workforce is essential to economic growth and competiveness.” This presents a problem in regards to proving the resources needed to effectively train the vast amount of teachers in all the schools.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that the programs would be beneficial for students. One program that I am interested in is the Portal 2 program provided by Valve. It would provide teachers with lesson plans, online activities, and other resources to help students learn. Portal 2 focused on helping students with science, technology, engineering, and math. RSweeney
I always knew that technology is changing every day. There are always new gadgets that can be used educational as well as something fun. I am always looking for ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. Students are looking for that attention with a computer or gadget to learn. They can use the gadget almost better than we can! As educators, we must change while technology is changing to stay up to date and help our students learn.
ReplyDeleteThe initiatives that I think could be helpful are the National STEM video game challenge. Video games are something that most children can relate too. I have researched STEM many times and learned tid-bits about it throughout my undergraduate studies, and I have loved this initiative because it combines core subjects into something amusing to children. They learn by doing and creating then they learn subjects that they are not thinking about. I also think the “GeoGames” would be great! This would be great for 4th grade and higher. I teach 5th grade and I know that my students would enjoy solving real-life situations in the world. I teach Language Arts/Reading so I rarely get to “teach” my students about geography but I try to incorporate it when I can; especially after I learned that most of my students do not know what a continent is or where one is located!! My cousin is a middle school teacher in Northeast Alabama. She went through training over the summer for robotics. The pictures and topics she discussed were amazing. They had a lot of fun in this training, can’t you imagine how much fun the students would have if they teachers had fun!?
KAllsup
I am very skeptical of this new Digital Promise. There are some things that just cannot be taught using a computer. I am going to be teaching English to 7th-12th graders. In English, many of the things you study are considered classics and have been around for many years. I know that History and Science books are outdated as soon as they are released, but English is a different story. The rules of grammar do not change and have not for a long time. The only thing I think might be beneficial is the National STEM Video Game Challenge. Since so many teens spend so much time on the computer and playing video games, I believe this one might actually be a success. The only problem see with it is trying to get students to play an education video game.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the Digital Promise Initiative could be very beneficial to all students if fully funded and used properly. I am observing a sixth grade social studies class this semester and I feel that the National STEM Video Game Challenge and the Online Tutors would be very beneficial to the students. The Stem video game challenge would be great for social studies. We just finished a section on famous inventors and having the students develop a video game where they could invent anything they want would encourage the students creativity. The students could not only develop that game for Xbox one of the partners, but they could also develop the game so that it can be used as an app on the i-phone, mac-book, or i pad.
ReplyDeleteThe online tutors program would be great for any age, but I think that the sixth graders I am observing would definitely benefit from having an online tutor to give them immediate feedback on their note taking guides. The students read the sections in the chapter and then are given a note taking guide that also becomes part of their study guide and if they could receive immediate feedback on their answers along with explanations instead of having to wait until the next day in class I feel that they would learn more about social studies and would be more encouraged to do their best.
LHicks
Funding has always been and will always be the major challenge of public education. The Digital Promise will be no different. Proper implication and funding of any initiative is key to its success. I can see this initiative being beneficial to all grade levels K-12.
ReplyDeleteThe one initiative that I see benefiting my students the most is the online tutors program. Many times I have students who need a little extra explanation, but not a full intervention. Having an online tutor to help those students would be ideal since I am usually having to pull my lower students to reteach the whole lesson.
Technology is a great tool for teachers and it helps them make learning fun and interesting. Technology is important for our students as our world is becoming more technologically advanced. One initiative I feel will benefit my students is:
ReplyDelete•"GeoGames" that help students analyze data across geographical areas to solve real-world challenges. These are fun and educational games developed to help students sharpen their geography skills. I have found this is a weak subject area for my fourth grade students. And, students need more experiences solving real-world challenges. The second one I'd choose for my students would be:
•Online tutors that assess a student's real-time comprehension and tailor learning strategies. Students always need additional help, and all children learn on different levels. The learning strategies being tailored to the students is a great asset to have.
JFeltman
There are many advantages to the Digital Promise. A few that would be beneficial to my students would include: The educational software as a personal tutor and rapid testing of promising new technologies. The personal tutoring software would be amazing because in reality we only have 30 minutes of intervention each day, and that's if we are lucky. When students get behind a whole grade level in math it is very difficult if not impossible to catch them up.
ReplyDeleteIf rapid testing for promising new technologies could be done then the school system would not waste money on programs that are not effective. If we knew what technologies worked it would accelerate the pace of learning, but the key word in their description was "schools with the flexibility to try new things". All of these things would require the schools to be flexible and also receiving promised funding. The funding is typically the first problem though.
LBowling
I think the Digital Promise could be beneficial, but I don't think we should completely stray away from hands-on experiences/learning activities. In order to be able to write, we have to be able to hold a pencil. Technology is a wonderful tool that enhances learning, but we should continue to embrace some of the foundational skills, such as handwriting, that are important to literacy development.
ReplyDeleteI think the online tutoring program would benefit first graders. Kids love technology and enjoy the immediate feedback that computer games/programs give. Also, these programs usually provide teachers with some sort of skills diagnostic report.
Additionally, I think the GeoGames would help kids connect to other people and communities around us. It would help them apply skills and knowledge to a real problem. This would help children understand citizenship, the importance of taking care of the Earth and each other, as well as civic responsibilities.
After reading about Digital Promise, I'm a little skeptical about it working in our area. I think it could work, but it won't. Funding for education here is not on a list of priority for anyone. It's sad. It's not news. Mobile, Alabama is not a leader in the technology era, either. I think technology is a great tool for our children to use. It makes learning fun! Mobile is kind of behind the rest of the country, though. Could this be beneficial? Yes. Will it happen anytime soon here? Probably not.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of real-time tutors that can tailor strategies for the student. Parents today are not taking the time to help their children like they did 50 years ago. This practice alone could be very beneficial to a lot of children in my school.
I believe the ESL classroom would benefit greatly from the National STEM Video Game Challenge. Asking students to create a new game that also challenges students in their core classes would be highly motivational. Students (and some teachers) spend hours playing video games. Several others dream of one day being a game developer. This is a great way to feed that desire and also teach them. ESL students could especially benefit from this because games tend to be the same all over the world. Playing and creating video games is one thing that could bring students together. I personally found the The Nature Conservancy and Morgridge Family Foundation Partnering to Create Digital Content for Kids highly interesting! I care greatly for our environment and hope that the next generation and generations after can enjoy nature as I do. This is why I find this particular program quite interesting in that is goes forth to educate students about conservation of our environment. How wonderful it would be if we could use this program in Mobile. There is so much natural beauty here.
ReplyDeleteIn reading about the Digital Promise it was interesting to see the change of technology in the classroom. Technology and Language Arts are usually a hard combination to demonstrate effectively within the classroom. The two initiatives that were interesting in regards to the high school Language Arts class were robots used for vocabulary and online tutors. Robots appeal to students of all ages and they word challenge the students to use their essential vocabulary and teach them to apply it in everyday life. Then tutors are always needed and online tutors would give students access from home. The Digital Promise is a program that over the years have been slowly developing, but is still not present in every classroom. Another initiative that would be helpful to all core subjects was the inter-disciplinary teams. Teams help the students to keep in practices the skills they learn in each class.
ReplyDeleteI'm very skeptical about Digital Promise. It seems like a very expensive project that will only require more money to properly implement in schools. Unfortunately, our schools do not have enough technology equipment. And no funding for it. I teach kindergarten, and if it was set up properly, the online tutoring would be a good program for my students. I'd love to see more technology reach our schools, I just don't see it happening any time soon. Sad but true.
ReplyDeleteLike Arlene, I am most interested in the new investments in online cyber learning. While I do not have the stats to bear it out, I would guess that many (though of course not all) struggling students come from homes where the parent or parents either did not achieve a high level of education themselves, or spend less time working with their children than other parents. Even if the parents did achieve a high level of education or spend a great deal of their time helping their child with homework, there is no guarantee that the parent will necessarily have the skills to help out a struggling child, especially as the child advances to higher courses (I wouldn't know how to properly explain proofs in geometry to my child- I haven't taken a geometry course in sixteen years). An online resource could help child whose parent may be unable to help them with their work- without the expense of involving a tutor. For example, If I am teaching "As I Lay Dying" to a senior student, and their parent reads at an eighth grade level, it is unlikely their parent will be able to help them understand a section of the book they just read. However, online tutor may be able to question them immediately after they have read, while it is fresh in their minds.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the drawback to such a scenario is that many of the children who would benefit most from such an arrangement may also lack the necessary tools to access it. If a child lives with a parent who struggles to keep the electricity on, having a computer and access to the internet may be a luxury they simply could not afford. However, if they could, I believe the online tutoring, in real time, would be a great benefit to the struggling student.
Digital Promise has the potential to totally transform the learning environments of our schools today. I believe it is beneficial to incorporate the digital environment into our students’ learning environment because it will gain their attention and make learning more fun. If Digital Promise is able to fund top notch research for the learning programs then it can be effective. But if the programs are not researched quickly and efficiently then educators will be left with a product that has not been proven to work. If these programs are proven effective while also keeping their prices down, I believe Digital Promise has much to offer.
ReplyDeleteI am going to be working in the social sciences field of education and one of the programs they talked about was “GeoGames”. “GeoGames” is a program that allows students to look at data from different geological areas and solve problems related to those areas. This would be a great addition to the classroom because it can teach students how to think critically. Critical thinking skills and analyzing skills are hard to teach because it is not something that is just taught by memorization. This game lets students solve real problems in our world through the engaging and interesting format of the video game. This is one example that shows Digital Promise as a beneficial change to education.