This statement is how Americana Association of School Administrators’ Executive Director, Dan Domevech, describes teen students connection with innovation.  It also creates an effective point in which to continue my discussion from last week.  In this discussion, I would like to elaborate specifically on cell phones as classroom tools.  Also, I would like to address valid concerns about the use of such devices in instruction.

In my last article, I demonstrate how iPhones can be used in social studies settings – specifically with geographic information systems (GIS) and other map skills.  However, not every cell phone owner has this level of technology available to him or her.  There are other applications that can be used with standard cell phones.  One is the texting activity I mentioned; using Google’s text service.  Another application is mentioned in Oklahoma’s NewsOK, in which texting extends beyond social studies, and beyond the classroom.  In the latter situation, the author mentions a Spanish teacher from Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, Florida who uses cell phones for scavenger hunts and homework reminders.  She sends text messages to her students in Spanish to seek out various people and things within the school.  Through this interactive and seemingly fun activity, students get the opportunity to apply their language skills to a much more tangible level.  The homework reminders help students to complete expected tasks with greater success.  I suspect there are many other applications in many other subjects for the use of cell phones as teaching tools.

As there are two sides to every story, there are also two sides to any tool or learning aid.  With cell phones, I’ve demonstrated positive aspects, but there are two major concerns that parents and/or educators may possess.  First, one may be apprehensive, worrying that only a few lucky cell owners will be able to participate in such activities – leaving the majority of students high and dry.  Have no fear.  According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, last year 71% of teens owned cell phones – with no observed differences among race or socioeconomic status – and that rate is growing rapidly.  Additionally, the project states that two in five students send text messages on a daily basis.  Yes, there is still a notable minority of teens without cell phones, but those students could engage in paired or group versions of activities, such as the Spanish scavenger hunt and others.  Therefore, all students can participate in learning through technology.

A second concern about using cell phones as academic tools lies with the issue of cheating.  A recent poll claims that up

Courtesy Tech Corner

to 35% of teens have been caught using phones in the act of dishonest academic behavior.  Further, US News reports, in a story about 21st century cheating, that 75% of parents believe this form of cheating is taking place in their children’s schools, but only 3% of parents believe it is their sons or daughters doing the deed.  These are not numbers to sneeze at.  One might say the easy solution is to ban cell phones from schools.  I agree with the principal at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey (See above US News link), who says, “I think it’s a little bit naive to think that that’s going to solve the problem.  If you have a culture in your school where . . . there is an expectation that students are honest about their academic achievements, where students and the administration promote it, I think you decrease the opportunities for students to cheat.”  We as educators need to be a serious and consistent about cheating with phones as we are with cheating by sneaking answers the old fashioned way.  Further, banning cell phones will not stop students from using them, and it will defeat the idea that technology can be embraced as positive learning tools.  As I mentioned in my previous article, we must model safe and proper behavior – this is not limited to technology.

In closing, I simply want to state that technology is an inseparable part of students’ lives.  They may not see the learning potential of such innovation, but they are learning and are motivated to use this innovation.  Unfortunately, not everything they’re learning through these media is beneficial to their development – in the contexts that they presently use them.  Just as we model right and wrong with younger children, we should model right and wrong with older children in their use of cell phones, social networking sites, and other interactive communications.  For these reasons, we must include such entities in our classroom instruction.  By doing so, we are providing safe, appropriate, and cognitively developmental applications for things students are going to utilize regardless of our viewpoints on the matter.  Further, doing so also makes curriculum more relevant and meaningful for our students.  Let’s encourage our teen’s fascination with technology, not discourage it.

iPod, circa 1985. Courtesy Hypebeast

I grew up in an analog world.

As a child, my world consisted of corded phones that only extended the length of one room, a distinction between local and long distance rates, and pay phones as the only method of calling home.  In this world, if people wished to message friends or relatives, they would hand-write letters and drop them in mailboxes on street corners; such messages might reach their recipients in two days.  All news in this world was reported either via morning newspapers found on doorsteps, televisions that used dials, or the man behind the butcher’s counter at the neighborhood market.  Finally, if students in this world wanted to create impressive research papers, they would thumb through drawers of card catalogues at the library, walk the aisles to retrieve dusty volumes, and create finished reports produced by typewriters.  How 20^th Century!

As we approach the second decade of the 21^st Century, technology constantly evolves and continues to increase its presence in our lives.  How many of you could go through a single day without receiving an email, text message, or tweet?  Do you acquire most of your news from a paper or from a website?  Have you noticed your mailbox becoming emptier and your inbox becoming fuller over the past year?  Are you guilty of Googling, or have you wiki-ed recently?  Does the word “spam” cause you to become angry, or to become hungry?  The world has become digital.

Technology is part of our everyday lives – and in no group is this truth more prevalent than in the lives of today’s students.  Most teenagers are very familiar with technological wizardry than us not-as-cool adults. Most teens have their own cell phones and can be reached at all times.  Also, text messaging, for instance, has become like a second language to most high schoolers. Finally, social networking, such as Facebook, allows students to express themselves and communicate with other teens online.  Literally a new dialect of the English language has evolved from this culture.  Words such as “text” and “friend” are now verbs as well as nouns.  “Text me later,” and “He friended me,” are part of this vernacular.

While these examples demonstrate the accessibility of technology to students, they also bring to mind potential dangers

iPod, circa 2009, Courtesy Let's Go Digital

that accompany this level of their accessibility, as well as the potential distractions to the classroom during school they steal students’ attention away from the curriculum being taught.  While these dangers and distractions are real and they must be considered, I wish to offer an innovated idea.  If educators incorporate some of this technology into their lessons, not only can they recapture the attention and motivation of these young men and women, but they also offer the ability to model safer and more productive ways in which these innovations can be used.

With the possession of technology comes the need for responsible use of that innovation.  With cyberstalkers and identity thieves lurking in the dark recesses of the internet superhighway, students need to be mindful of the information they share with others and post on social networking sites.  Additionally, teens need to use great discretion when sending text and picture messages, even to those people they trust most – not because of these acquaintances themselves, but because anything transferred digitally has the potential of being viewed or accessed by third parties.  Am I suggesting that teen students not use Facebook, cell phones, or iPods?  Certainly not!  I merely think it is crucial that safe and discrete uses for technology be modeled by the adults in their lives – teachers are prime candidates for implementing such modeling.

I know there are several people out there who believe social networking, cell phones, and iPods are just toys that distract students from “real learning”.  I used to completely agree with this line of thinking myself, having seen iPods and cell phones covertly – and almost – hidden from my view as a substitute teacher.  Why did the students hide their gadgets from the teacher’s line of sight?  They felt guilty – guilty of being caught using items that weren’t part of the curriculum – in a school that didn’t see them as appropriate curricular tools either.  It was modeled to these kids that technology serves no effective role in the learning process.  I would like to end that idea here.

Digital and web-based devices can indeed be modeled as safe and educationally relevant tools in the classroom.  Allow me to expound on this revolutionary claim.  First, let’s look at cell phones.  The iPhone by Apple, for instance, is more than just a simple cell phone.  This product can be used to send text messages and to use applications.  Google provides a text messaging service that supplies information for local news, weather, sports scores, and locations of certain businesses.  By texting a question to 466453 (G-o-o-g-l-e), Google will answer with a reply text message within seconds.  Through the Apple Store, thousands of phone applications – for any use or purpose you can imagine – are within your students’ reach.  And most of them are free of charge!  Such applications include Google Maps, which can be used in the myriad ways traditional maps can be used.  Also, there are GPS applications that can be used to teach about geographic information systems (GIS) in the social studies classroom.  Next, weather applications can be used to study climate in specific world locales.  Finally, the iPhone itself contains a web browser, which turns the device in essence into an additional classroom computer, for researching information over the web.  The iPod Touch, while not being a cell phone, can still utilize this application and web technology, thus serves as a classroom computer as well.

Courtesy Wishful Thinking

Finally, web-based social networking tools, such as Twitter and Facebook, make for great ways to acquire news and other academic curriculum, while also connecting with other students around the world – making our increasingly global community more so.  Twitter is a social networking website that provides information, posted by members, in small statements of 140 characters or less.  One of the most useful applications of this tool is the posting of web links for such things as news stories, discussion boards and article related to specific topics.  As such, Twitter makes for a great real-time, technology-based research place.  Personally, I gain much of my world news and information regarding cutting edge education issues by utilizing my network connections on Twitter.  Facebook is another tool useful in the classroom.  Facebook contains member pages, but also “groups” and “fan pages” for almost any topic a person can imagine.  Many of these pages contain topic-related discussion boards and links to related web articles.  One relevant use of fan pages could be the establishment of private fan pages – where all member requests are approved to the discretion of the creator of that page.  Within such a private page, a discussion board could be set up as an online debate site.  By having the debate site online, students could weigh in on their sides of a particular issue when convenient – thus it would not be necessary for the entire class to be present at the same time.  Students could also use the page to post link they find online which are relevant to that topic of debate.  There are many other effective uses as well.

In sum, we weren’t raised in the same world as our students.  The ways in which the majority of people receive their information is not the same as they did when we were kids.  However, many classrooms and schools are just now moving forward from the antiquated methods we used so long ago.  Our students are on the cutting edge of technology and its use, but haven’t adequate guidance in how to safely and constructively use that technology.  We can’t take this innovation away from our children – nor should we – but we need to teach them how to use it and not get hurt doing so.  Part of that responsibility should fall on parents, but not all of it.  As teachers, we often spend more time with students than any other adults, so the responsibility of modeling safe and effective technology usage falls just as much on us.  Our world is only going to innovate faster and faster over time – we need to keep up if we truly care about the next generation of leaders.

Courtesy Computer History Museum

It has been quite a reflective day.  I spent some time comparing my life as an elementary school student in the 1980s – and as a high school student in the 1990s – with that of the students I teach now, almost three decades later.  So much has changed, in terms of educational instruction and technology, in the elapsed time between generations.  Sure, my grade school owned computers for instructional purposes.  However, most were housed in the computer lab, and a handful of others were distributed to luck classrooms.  My fifth grade classroom was one of those.  The teacher kept a schedule at her desk, specifically for assigning timeblocks of computer time.  During each math class, a lucky 10-year-old would have 20 minutes to sit in front a monochrome Apple IIe and complete addition, subtraction, and multiplication drills.

In seventh grade, I finished my school days in the computer lab.  These computers made the Apple IIe look like the newest Corvette in comparison.  The lab had monochrome images as well, but on television screens that were plugged into Tandy CPUs.  Yes, Radio Shack made computers once upon a time.  Once students at the school reached seventh grade, they would learn computer programming – if Simple BASIC can still be considered computer programming.  I would not see another Apple IIe again until my tenth grade computer science course.  If I was fortunate, I would sit at one of the color monitors.  This was instructional media at its best – at least in suburban Kansas.

When I returned to a public school classroom in 2001, it was as a teacher’s aide at Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas.  Since my own high school graduation, the presence of computers in the classroom had greatly increased.  The room where I assisted served as both the tenth grade English classroom and the journalism room.  As such, many computers where housed there.  Again, the computers were Apples, but all used color monitors, possessed internet access, had printer capabilities.  Rather than simply being a classroom novelty or a programming tool exclusive to computer courses, one of these computers could be used to record student grades – therefore making the paper-bound gradebook less essential to teachers and increasing the progression of digital instruction.

Let us fast forward to 2008, when I began my first student teaching internship, in fulfillment of graduate school requirements at Fordham University.  Autumn semester found me in observation and teaching roles at a progressive middle school on New York City’s Upper West Side.  In this school, not only did Apple computers reside in each classroom, but also something new lived in the computer lab – a SMART Board.  One of many classroom tools classified as Promethian devices, the SMART Board accomplishes many tasks the standard computer cannot.  During the autumn internship, the tool – which resembles a projector screen – was uses as a computer screen, electronic whiteboard, and overhead projector.   As you can imagine, these abilities increased the scope of instructional materials available to teachers.  Teaching with web tools, internet sites, and online movies provides a whole new level of instruction not possible during my school days.  Along with this new media technology also comes the ability to reach more student modalities, more learning needs, and more types of disabilities.  Inclusion classes are the way of current pedagogy, and so the increased presence of technology within lessons are crucial.  If you are a teacher reading this article, then I assume this information is old news.  Whether news or not, I hope these words provide context for a possible next step in classroom media – eReaders.

Most readers are familiar with Amazon.com and its hottest hardware devise: the Kindle.  eReaders possess several featuresconsumers appreciate, most notably as tools for reading their favorite books.  Other features include backlighting for reading in dim locations, audio capability for visually impaired individuals, and an electronic notebook for recording important notes about those literary works.  So eReaders expand the access of books to a wider population.  Perhaps these features allude to implications in the classroom.

Given the access eReaders could provide to students with visual impairments, learning disabilities, and students with other needs, perhaps they could become vehicles by which technology increases its prevalence in the classroom.  As published in the November 9 edition of Education Week, Fordham University researchers Michael S. Miles and Bruce S. Cooper, some of the benefits of using eReaders as textbooks include “ease of carrying; cost, access, and uses; instructional options; eco-friendliness and durability” (2009).

What do you think?  Should schools adopt eReaders as standard teaching materials to replace textbooks, given their capabilities; or should such a transition be done with caution, if ever at all?

Courtesy Beboy

Over the last several years, school districts throughout the nation have struggled with finding enough qualified special education teachers to meet their needs. These shortages occur for a number of reasons, but seem to occur mostly in urban and low socioeconomic (SES) areas. Several recruitment plans have been attempted, however relatively unsuccessfully. Research suggests why this problem continues, why recruitment solutions are ineffective, and more successful ways to decrease this issue.

It is necessary to ask why a deficit of qualified educators exists. One reason is that the number of students classified with the need for special education services is increasing over time—especially in poorer student populations. A second reason for such shortages is the increasing credentialing requirements for special education teachers—probably linked to the expectations stated in No Child Left Behind (NCLB). A third reason is attributed to the high rate of teacher turnover in urban schools (Zascavage, Winterman, Armstrong, & Schroeder-Steward, 2008). Nedra Atwell (2007) explains that much of the observed turnover stems from unqualified teachers who: 1) are placed in classrooms due to the already existing shortages, 2) are in unsupportive teaching environments, 3) receive inadequate skill preparation for those teachers, and 4) transfer to easier schools. Therefore, the issue of unqualified special education teachers increases.

How have school districts been addressing these concerns? Not effectively, according to research on special education. Some recruitment incentives attempted in Texas, for instance, have included college scholarships, tax credits, and student loan forgiveness for general education teachers who pursue dual certification in special education. Other ideas implemented include the expansion of teacher education programs by incorporating special education courses, as well as financial support for paraprofessionals to encourage the completion of bachelor’s degrees (Zascavage, Winterman, Armstrong, & Schroeder-Steward, 2008). Some states, such as California for example, offer alternative incentives to untrained teachers. The two primary incentives in California are emergency special education permits and internships. Both programs, supplemented by professional development, result in certification (Esposito & Lal, 2005).

While many education experts think the recruitment attempts mentioned above have accomplished little in eliminating these teacher shortages, they do offer further solutions. As Zascavage, et al. (2008) claim, effective solutions can only work if the general perceptions of special education change. The authors think that change must occur from within—through students themselves. By establishing peer tutoring programs and social support groups in high schools, an informed and eager new generation of teachers can develop. Such programs provide positive and rewarding experiences for teens, who may choose to pursue special education as a future career path. If special education and general education students can interact academically, more acceptance of the former can occur, therefore eliminating the stigma that often is placed on special education.

Esposito and Lal (2005) suggest a new idea to increase the recruitment of certified special educators from the pool of

Courtesy Long Term Teacher

existing classroom teachers. The authors propose an innovative and accelerated alternative credentialing program for the state of California. This program specifically is modeled after the Profession Development School (PDS) model, and targets low performing Title I districts. The main features of this accelerated program include retention of current special educators, recruitment of general educators who wish to transfer into special education, and accelerated credentialing through preparing professionals to work in multiethnic, multilingual, and low-SES schools. The hope is that through this accelerated credentialing program teacher comfort will increase and turnover will decrease.

In closing, special education’s needs increase over time, and so demand for qualified teachers increases, too. A paradox exists in that the schools with the greatest needs often repel the most qualified educators. If more effective recruitment, development, support, and retention programs are instituted, special education programs in low-SES urban schools might increase the likelihood of attracting highly skilled teachers, keep those teachers, and increase student achievement. Only skilled and supported educators can create skilled and supported students.

References

Atwell, N. (2007). Increasing the supply of highly qualified teachers from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Western Kentucky University. (ERIC Document). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Zascavage, V, Winterman, K., Armstrong, P., & Schroeder-Steward, J. (2008). A question of effectiveness: Recruitment of special educators within high school peer support groups. International Journal of Special Education, 23(1), 18-29.

Courtesy Princeton Theological Seminary

One of the most-discussed issues within modern education circles is parental involvement in schools. Teachers want to get their students’ families more involved; parents want to know how to do so, given many perceived obstacles; and students want to know their parents care about their achievement. However, involving parents in the school community is not an easy task. Teachers and parents differ on what it means to be involved, and parents perceive roadblocks in their involvement. To compound this problem, most school systems lack concrete implementation of organizational goals when it comes to families in the learning community (Zarate, 2007). This essay looks at parental involvement within the Latino community, since this group provided many examples of how cultural differences can inhibit and challenge parent-teacher-student communication.

Generally speaking, Latino parents tend to view their school participation as mostly concerning life involvement, although – to a lesser degree – parents also see academic involvement as important. Life involvement refers to nurturing a child’s moral development, monitoring his/her peer groups, and ensuring his/her safety. Academic involvement, of course, refers to attendance of parent-teacher conferences, asking questions, monitoring homework, and holding their children to high academic standards. Latino parents see themselves educating their children in a joint endeavor with their classroom teachers (Zarate, 2007).

While those expectations theoretically place parents as very active members of the learning community, they often face challenges that limit connectivity to their children’s learning. One limitation identified by Zarate (2007) is interactivity in student homework. Since several parents in the author’s study were not high school graduates they did not feel equipped to assist their children as a result. Also, many of the parents spoke Spanish fluently and English very little, so perceived a communication hindrance.

Another limitation to parent participation the school community involves work demands. Many Latino parents in Zarate’s (2007) study were hourly workers who would need to sacrifice time and money if they were to attend school events during the day. Fear of job loss was a huge factor related to this challenge.

While these limitations are presented within the context of one culture group, they do exist in many other culture and socioeconomic groups. The obstacles mentioned above tend to frustrate many educators, because they tend to view potential involvement (i.e. parent-teacher conferences, open houses, and back-to-school nights) as essential for parents. Therefore, a conflict exists. Zarate (2007) provides examples that amplify this conflict. She tells about three incidents in which educators treat parents of honors students better than parents of other students because of their abilities to attend afternoon school events and to contribute more financially to schools. So the level of parents’ concern for their children’s education was wrongly being judged based on uncontrollable circumstances.

Parents and teachers become further frustrated by the above struggle when students’ expectations of their parents enter the equation. In her study, Zarate (2007) also spoke with the children of the Latino parents, previously interviewed, to learn how the students want their parents involved in their education. Some common expectations include: 1) following up about the students’ school day, 2) giving encouragement, and 3) providing discipline and structure. These comments closely track with the ideals their parents appear to hold, but are often unable to fulfill. What is to be done about this situation?

I want to suggest how middle ground can be found in this dilemma. First, Zarate (2007) mentions implementing training

Courtesy Grand Canyon Mission Network

classes, where educators provide curricular, language, and communication skills that parents need to keep up with their children’s classwork. Second, schools should employ translators that can aid in parent-teacher conferences and similar meetings. Third, schools need to plan events and activities during times most convenient for parents. Finally, Zarate urges schools and districts to implement measurable standards that explicitly mention what it means to be actively involved in education. I personally view all four suggestions as very crucial to building a functioning learning community.

Regarding measurable standards for involvement, there appears to be a lapse between the district level and the state level. This lapse is apparent through information provided by Agronick, Clark, O’Donnell, and Stueve (2009). The authors claim, “The basic tenets for parent engagement are laid forth in the NCLB Act and Title I registration.” For example, the Connecticut State Board of Education in 2006 called for the development and provision of programs that address parental literacy skills and student safety within schools. Further, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) in 2001 created “Parental Involvement Policies for Schools and School Districts,” which acknowledges parental need for guidance in learning how to best help their children, and, “encourages schools and districts to communicate such strategies.” NYSED also attempts to hold districts accountable to parental involvement programs by requiring them to report progress results. According to Zarate (2007), generally speaking, these requirements are being overlooked. My question is this: How effective are the state and federal agencies in maintaining accountability with districts? Unfortunately, my research leaves this question unanswered.

In reflecting on parent-teacher communication breakdown in multicultural environments, and based on research, my bias tends to lie within the parents’ point of view. Parents should not be judged as unconcerned or apathetic about their children’s academic achievement simply because their life constraints differ from those of schools or of other cultures. Further, I tend to adopt the Latino point of view mentioned earlier in that parents and teachers should work together to holistically raise children—with the parents’ primary focus being life involvement and students’ primary focus being academic achievement. As such, I believe it indeed does take a village to raise a child, and that providing academic guidance is my role in the village. To gain a better sense of my students’ challenges and strengths, I need to consider factors outside of the classroom. Communication with parents and other family members is crucial in that case. In order to do so, schools and teachers need to provide realistic opportunities for parents to participate in the conversation.

REFERENCES

Zarate, M. E. (2007). Understanding Latino parental involvement in education: Perceptions, expectations, and recommendations. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. (ERIC Document, ED502065). Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/