The Office of the Office of Educational Technology (United States Department of Education) has come out with a remarkable work: 'Ed Tech Developer’s Guide'[1] The Report identifies 10 opportunities and suggests in pragmatic wisdom as to what can be done: Meaningful excerpts which have universal applicability including to emerging economies are attempted below:
No
|
Opportunity
|
What can be done by technology
|
1
|
Improving Mastery of Academic Skills
|
Apps to teach- To practice in realistic settings - interactive simulations- Think beyond delivering content—Tools
that enable students to build and create-Projects that encourage deeper exploration of a particular topic - Merging teaching and assessing to pinpoint knowledge gaps - Probes of understanding - identifying
competencies through formative assessments. - Educational games -Immersive learning experiences - Creating apps that put research-based methods into practice.
|
2
|
Developing Skills to Promote Lifelong Learning
|
Identify non-cognitive skills and behaviors - Believe that intelligence is malleable rather than fixed -Frame mistakes as opportunities to learn - Reward students who persist through solving difficult problems. (Non-cognitive skills such as perseverance, self-regulation, and effective strategies -Enhance student motivation and engagement )
|
3
|
Increasing Family Engagement
|
Engage families through technology- Provide information to caregivers about student progress and homework in
near real time and in languages spoken at home- Tool on a smart phone or in an offline mode for homes without an Internet connection- Help parents stay involved in their children’s school activities while balancing work or other responsibilities- Cultural orientation for new comers
|
4
|
Planning for Future Education Opportunities
|
Financial aid navigators- Course planners, Remote college counseling- College-to-career maps -Students plan for future - Future education plans- Helping school counselors increase both the reach and amount of support counselors- (Imagine a “jobs available at graduation” tool that uses labor statistics about job growth- Tools that interface with college course catalogs- Interactively plan various paths to college completion. Communicate with alumni so they can gain perspective and advice.
|
5
|
Designing Effective Assessments
|
Tools to help teachers create and share formative assessments-Automate grading- streamline feedback -Expanding assessment
item types (beyond multiple choice questions, etc.) - Detailed understanding of what students know and can do- Simulations- Heat maps- Ranking - Digital assessments--Measuring non-cognitive skills (such as persistence, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking).
|
6
|
Improving Educator Professional Development
|
Connect educators with each other and to educational experts-Help teachers reflect on their own practice- Provide educators support to master new strategies, techniques and tools
- Available on-demand- Differentiate for a range of levels of readiness and expertise
- Curate content so teachers can find appropriate support and ideas -Showcase content-Specific best practices- Aligning tools and resources to relevant professional standards-Designed according to principles of adult learning and foster a growth mindset
|
7
|
Improving Educator Productivity
|
Streamline workflow- personalize instruction-
Needs of diverse students- Create and share
Lessons-Effectively adjust instruction, teachers need to track student progress and identify areas of struggle- Student performance data
in real time-identify important trends-
Design tools that organize data visually for easier interpretation. -Share learning resources aligned with curricular standards.
|
8
|
Making Learning Accessible to All Students
|
The human-machine interface- Multiple ways
for users to interact with and respond- Interoperate with a screen reader- Advantage of accessibility settings in device operating
systems- Solving fundamental access problems in communication, organization, and social interaction is better- Delivery of learning must not clutter or confuse the delivery
itself- settings or controls within a separate functional area of the tool.
|
9
|
Closing Opportunity Gaps
|
Training for open education resources (OER),
- Curate content verified for quality and standards alignment -Curricular
content to improved teaching practices -Leverage the usefulness of Internet connectivity- Equity of technical accessibility in designing products- Slower systems should be able to access and experience application or service with the same ease as those using more cutting-edge technology.
|
10
|
Closing Achievement Gaps
|
Make a difference- Helping teachers- Involving
Parents- Strengthening non-cognitive skills- Targeting academic subjects-Improving accessibility - Promote equal education opportunities for all.
|
This reading is a part of the literature survey on the 'Internet of Education in Emerging Economies' Research by the author, Jayaram Nayar. He can be contacted at jaynayar@gmail.com
[1] U.S. Department of Education (2015) 'Ed Tech Developer’s Guide' http://tech.ed.gov
No comments:
Post a Comment