 Since Windows 95 effectively made the internet a household staple in developed nations, it has been increasingly clear that STEM literacy is no longer an optional skill. Ubiquitous to practically every industry, computing, critical thinking, collective problem solving, and digital literacy are essential skills that either empower or impair potential success. As the need for STEM literacy has grown at exponential rates over the past two decades, alarming gaps in STEM industries have surfaced (and even widened). In particular, racial and gender gaps in STEM fields (especially in positions of leadership) continue to plague executives across nearly every sector.
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At a recent tech showcase in Southeast Tennessee, I had a fascinating conversation with the User Experience Analytics Manager from a major retail conglomerate. He was demoing their latest software development. His company owns several malls in the US and they recently added free high-speed WiFi to each location. This was a strategic investment that extended far beyond the publicized interest in attracting customers back to brick-and-mortar retail. The WiFi installment gives customers free connectivity to the internet, but it also returns invaluable information to the mall owners. The moment a customer connects to the free WiFi, the mall immediately has access to portions of the user's digital footprint and their activity while shopping. The software allows the mall to create a heat map for each location that shows and analyzes customer traffic, average time spent in front of and in each store, time spent in the mall, number of stores visited, etc. He assured me (and I believe him) that they don't get any private or identifiable data, but they can see portions of each user's browsing data. More importantly, their analytics engine gets this information. Leveraging the same advanced analytics algorithms that large online companies like Amazon use to send you targeted adds (those adds where you Google "blue sweater" and then see a bunch of adds from Amazon on social media, showcasing a variety of blue sweaters), the mall is now able to sell analyzed, user-specific data to the retailers who lease space in their mall.
 As a self-identified "tech head" and a Director of Innovative Learning, I am constantly bombarded with opportunities to try and leverage emergent technologies to improve or enhance student experiences in the classroom. While I absolutely love and embrace this challenge, I am often concerned when I hear some of the rhetoric around technology integration in education. Let me clearly state up front that in the modern era, I believe it is irresponsible to fail to develop innovative solutions to ensure every student has access and opportunity to experience digital technologies in the classroom. If adults fail to provide equitable and expansive access to the types of tools that will be seamlessly and ubiquitously integrated in the workforce, then we fail to adequately prepare our students to thrive as adults
 We're celebrating Start Up Week this week in Chattanooga. The energy is palpable and the air is ripe with a sense of expectancy and possibility. Entrepreneurs live in a fast-moving world of what-if possibilities, solution pitches, product/service development, scaling, funding, funding some more, analysis, marketing, a bit more funding, leveraging human capital..... They live in a world that tries to provide scalable, sustainable solutions to opportunities as quickly as they can be found. While I have a long-standing personal philosophy of arguing against the call for education to be ran like "any other business," I am increasingly convinced that the ed world has much to glean from the entrepreneurial community.
 In December 2015, I read Pastor Mark Batterson's latest book, If. The book was written to inspire Christians to live life void of "if only" regrets by pursuing "what if" possibilities. While it is written in a spiritual context, the transfer to education was unavoidable for me. Over the past 18 months, I have informally interviewed more than 1,000 educators from across the United States. Without fail, all of them eventually point to testing as a substantial issue in public education. Those interested in reducing racial, socioeconomic, and gender gaps will point to the inevitable and well documented biases woven into high-stakes tests.
 There is a wave of momentum behind computer science (CS) education that is sweeping across the country. From Code.org's Hour of Code, to hacker-sessions, to digital making, computer science is clearly here to stay. As members of the CS community continue to develop creative strategies for convincing others that CS really is a fundamental skill that all students need to be familiar with, a number of intriguing discussions are surfacing that present unique challenges in the already bumpy landscape of American education. With an undergraduate degree in computer science, I am unquestionably biased to the importance of CS--I thought it was important enough 16 years ago that I chose to major in it. However, perhaps more importantly, as a father of 7 and 4 year old daughters, I am increasingly interested in the potential of CS in K-12 education and in efforts to curb the alarming data regarding the gender, racial, and SES gaps in computer science. When framed through the lens of a parent, the conversation gets really tricky really fast. I want to discuss some observations I have had as both a dad, and as a computer science educator.
In the previous post, I made a case for making more informed purchasing decisions with educational money...especially when it comes to purchasing EdTech. The following is a list of some common EdTech products that are purchased by schools and school systems contrasted with lower-cost alternatives that deliver similar, if not identical solutions.  Interactive White Boards
Tech Solution ($2,000 to $6,000) Use an interactive white board to allow students and teachers to interact with digital artifacts and display handwriting/highlighting on a single, integrated device. These are often used to display slideshows, enhance digital illustrations, and engage students in interactive games. Popular brands include SmartTech SMART Boards and Promethean Active Boards. While other solutions are available, the costs and benefits are similar. They deliver a great experience in the classroom and have become a staple in many schools. Low Cost Alternative ($185 to $750) Option 1: Use an Apple iPad (mini under $259) paired with Apple TV ($149) and a standard projector (as low as $300 -- but often already available in the classroom). You can achieve similar levels of interactivity with a variety of apps (like Doceri) plus you gain the added benefit of not requiring instructors or students to only interact from the fixed position at the front of the room. Option 2: Use a Chromebook (as low as $149) paired with Chromecast ($35) and a standard projector in a similar fashion as described above (this does eliminate the option for handwriting unless you have a higher priced Chromebook). |
Michael StoneClick here to read about the blog's author. My Books    KeynotesCleveland Rotary Club
Innovating Education Through Community Partners NEA Foundation The Promise of Public Ed Leveraging Teacher Leadership to Increase STEM Education US Senate Briefing The Need for a National Organizing Body of Digital Fabrication NACCE California Symposium Scaling Innovation through Partnerships Volkswagen eLab Ribbon Cutting Why Digital Fabrication can't be an Option NSTA STEM Leadership Developing, Incubating, and Implementing Public/Private Partnerships that Matter Chattanooga Fab Institute Revolutionizing Learning through Digital Fabrication HCDE Future Ready Institute Launch Developing PBL Units with Business Partners STEM Fellows Celebration Community Partnerships for Teacher Leadership TSIN Summit Scaling Innovation in Schools Remake Learning Days Dig Fab in the Community America Achieves Public/Private Partnerships Panel DigiFabCon Chicago Digital Fabrication in the Modern Classroom Redesign for Student Success (San Diego) Scaling Innovation through Digital Fabrication GE Leadership Summit Leveraging Innovative Technologies for Learning Texas Open Innovation Emerging Innovations in Education Indiana University Authentic PBL FFT Leading & Learning Boston, MA Connecting Global Ed reMake Education Summit Keynote National Governor's Asc. Coding with Governors US Dept of Education Round Table with Secretary John King TSIN Summit K-12 Pathways for CS Google Headquarters Ed Foo NASA Headquarters K-12 Education Panel White House Reducing the Racial Gap in Computing Boston Museum of Science Teaching with Toys US Dept of Education MSP CS Proposition Archives
October 2018
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