An attention grabbing headline taken from the conclusions in a recent report produced for US Department of Education. The analysis found that, on average, students doing some or all of the course online would rank in the 59th percentile in tested performance, compared with the average classroom student scoring in the 50th percentile. That is a modest but statistically meaningful difference.

Full report available free here

The study looked at online versus traditional classroom teaching from 1996 to 2008. Some of it was in K-12 yet there were too few studies to warrant statistical significance. However, Picciano and Seaman (2009) estimated that more than a million K–12 students took online courses in school year 2007–2008 and interest in hybrid approaches that blend in-class and online activities is increasing.

Yet although online learning appeared to be well researched as an effective option for undergraduates, graduate students and professionals in a wide range of academic and professional studies, the number of K–12 studies is too small to warrant much confidence in the mean effect estimate for this learner group.

It strikes me as an interesting paradox when demand is increasing that the research which would support the increased use is not available. Online or digital learning can be a great resource to engage learners using a different medium. However, until the research catches up we would be wise to ensure that online learning activities should be an enhancement to more traditional forms of education rather than a replacement.

Many teachers have come to the view that in order for learners to engage with their education in the 21st Century, they need to have greater access to the technology that is now embedded into their every day lives. Our youngest generation are learners born into a world where mobile devices, games consoles, the internet, interactive TV and constant 24-7 multimedia are common place. Children are being exposed to technology from a very early age, yet research has shown that some of these children do not know how to use it effectively because they do not have the support at home. So should our schools be helping them by putting technology at the heart of the curriculum? If we are preparing our youngest generation of learners to be prepared for roles that they will fulfil in the future then technology will, undoubtedly, be at the heart of that.
There is a growing interest in finding ways to use technology in classrooms. Ollie Bray a teacher in Scotland has recently won the Microsoft European Innovative Teachers Forum Awards for his use of Nintendo DS and ‘Guitar Hero’ to engage with his pupils. This may cause a ripple of horror amongst more traditional teachers or parents. But engaged learners are better learners so shouldn’t we be grabbing the opportunity to engage with children with both hands?
So playing games at school maybe shocking but the technology is now there to use to enhance the educational experience and teach children how to use the technology. Win-win – they learn on two levels. Allowing children access to online educational games makes learning fun as well as learning how to navigate the computer even from a very young age.
Ebooks have already proved particularly successful with low-ability and reluctant readers. A larger proportion of boys fall into this category than girls. Not only do they reflect the young learner’s world more appropriately than paper books but children still find technology ‘cool’. Therefore, reading on personal electronic devices or laptops individually or together on a whiteboard makes those who are reluctant more interested. A key element in successfully remediating struggling readers is helping them learn to enjoy reading. Even capable readers can enjoy quality content via eBooks and because they are a different medium to paper they can be actively encouraged to read more.
I was shocked when I saw the statistic that one in five children currently leaves UK primary school without reaching the expected level in reading and writing. If we can use the technology to engage them perhaps this statistic would change? Getting children to read more has been proven to increase literacy levels. Does it matter in what medium they increase their exposure to reading?
Children are being prepared for jobs that do not exist yet. The way in which they are educated needs to prepare them for the exponential change they will see in their life time. Technology is one of those changes. We should be doing what we can to equip them with the skills they need to interface effectively with technology. I am not suggesting we throw out traditional methods of teaching but that we embrace the technology that can engage our youngest learners to ensure they are equipped with the skills they will need in their changing lifetime.

I was recently reading a report by Ofsted [an independent education review body in the UK] about literacy trends in schools.
The report is available here.

“The gap between schools in their understanding of the uses of new technology partly reflected the very differing views that schools held about English, the changing nature of communication and pupils’ literacy needs in the 21st century. The most effective schools understood that ‘ICT has fundamentally altered… how we think about reading and writing’. As technology has changed, so the literacy needs of pupils change. This always involves adding new skills rather than simply replacing old ones.”

This is fundamental. We need to view the use of technology as beneficial to engaging students as well as adding to the skill set that they will require in the future. The skills required to read and enjoy a novel are different to those needed to skim emails, or text messages or extract pertinent data from an electronic report. However we cannot forget the basics. Reading and writing are skills, in my view, that need to remain no matter what technological advancements are made.

What do you think?

Recent articles in the press report that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking at creating paperless classrooms by introducing digital textbooks. One report here.

Although budgets may be driving Mr Schwarzenegger’s current decision could this be the start of using technology to a greater extent in education? Can ebooks comfortably sit side by side with traditional media whether in the form of a textbook or fiction? Indeed, can using this technology enhance a student’s learning?

Forward thinking teachers will no doubt be exploring how technology can develop learning experiences for their pupils. They will know that learning is not transformed simply by the use of technology, but by how it is used creatively. This is where teachers can bring their greatest skills to the table, the application of the tools available to enhance learning. So whether it be ebooks or other media, students have a greater opportunity to learn when a variety of methods are employed to engage them.

I was reflecting the other day on the differences between my own education and that of my children. My memories are of blackboards and chalk, the teacher at the front talking at us as we furiously took notes, glued to the desk until it was time for lunch. I can remember very little of the content.

Whereas, in my own children’s education they are engaged in multi-sensory experiences. When they learn about a topic they create art, they create video, they create music, they use computers. They put their learning into different contexts which appeals to their different learning styles. Using a multi-sensory approach embeds their learning at a much deeper level.

But most importantly they are having fun. When they come home from school and can’t wait to tell me about what they have been doing it reinforces the learning yet again.

So for me the future of education has to be about finding different methods to engage children in learning, finding multiple ways to reinforce the message, using multiple tools to keep their attention. When their life outside school is a bombardment of multi-sensory experiences their education within school has to mirror that to keep their attention. Engaging our youngest minds, both in and out of school, by using a variety of formats and content has to make for a richer learning experience. What do you think?

In most elementary schools the utilization of computers is a fast growing tool to teach and introduce not only a different medium to children, but to aide in the learning of a technology that they will need for the rest of their education careers.

Technology use in schools is more than just learning how to access the Internet or typing skills it’s an understanding of the control of information children see, hear and learn. An understanding between the teacher, student and parents. Most children come into kindergarten with some knowledge of computers, even if it’s just observance of their parents using them. They know what they are and what they are used for. Being the little curious sponges that they are, when offered the chance to get to use them and behave like those they have seen use computers, it is an experience in of itself.

In Collected Research using computers with Kindergartners can be useful as well as frustrating; maintaining these guidelines can help your classroom, living room, or homeschooling environment become more relaxed and learning can take place.

1. Keep the lesson short and sweet. Something interactive, colorful or with music with help hold their attention.
2. Having programs that are open-ended and can be done as the student controls, with the  pace being set by the student.
3. Computers are used within the classroom, not set in another room or area. Something like “Centers” or “destinations” can be more accepted by the class.
4. The ability for audio to be used, so that those still working on letters and sounds can participate as well.
5. The use of media, such as a web cam or video camera to add to the picture or program they are using. This way they become part of the exercise.
6. After creating something the option to print it out and further color or bring home to share with others.
7. Programs that offer recognition and sound technology to emphasize sounds of letters or word phrases that can be followed along with.
8. Some of the greatest use of technology in the classroom is the option to have stories read through headphones as well as being able to follow along on a computer. A bonus would be to use story time that can be changed along with the flow of the story by the child listening and clicking on different points to enhance their story.
9. A subscription to a site like Wizz-e would provide another resource for online learning and reading.
10. A must is teaching children at a very young age what is and what is not safe behavior online. What to look at for and what to do in case they are asked funny questions online, who they can talk to about it and the understanding that some people are not good friends online.

Children have been reading through Scholastic for over 87 years. They give opportnites for learning by working with schools, teachers and classrooms to bring books into the hands of children. In addition to their in classroom marketing they are now offering online e-books, that work along side of BookFlix. This new resource pairs a fictional video storybook with a non-fiction ebook, to teach and entertain at the same time. With options to read along and cross refrence the non-fiction e-book. 

This new media is booming, the e-book industry is a “35 billion dollar” (cbc.ca) machine. Until recently childrens e-books have not been the majority of the market, it was advertized to adults and college students for a less expensive text choice. However, marketing to children through electronic media is becoming a unsurprising use of resources. With the majority of toys, games and televison shows having a onine counterpart the option for online learning though classic and neo-classic books is not an unwelcome resource.

Suzanne Murphy with Scholastic says:

‘I’d be hard pressed to say there won’t be a time when bedtime reading is with an electronic device.’

Some might be turned away by this fact, and argue that reading to children is one of the most memorable and rewarding parent/child experiences. I agree. I am not trying to say that e-books should replace those moments all togeather, but give another way to experience learning. Just as one uses online resoreces to learn and educate. E-books are another fomat that can inhance reading, learning and bring something different to the way a child recieves the information. 

“We’re so lucky to live in an era when kids can have books in multiple formats. Each format offers something that the other doesn’t,” said Francie Alexander, Scholastic’s chief academic officer.