Ed-Tech Pros Talk Education Transformation

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Lisa Barnett: Kids have been using technology tools from a very young age to learn everything from counting to coding, which has created a generation of learners who are used to having information at their fingertips 24/7. The modalities they’re accustomed to are very interactive and tailored to their needs and interests. If these kids are asked to sit and listen to long periods of lecture in a classroom, how well do we think they’re going to respond? Education is transforming to respond to the needs of this new generation. Education is adapting to this new idea of personalized content. There are now many resources that offer different ways to learn the same concept, so if one method doesn’t work, another can quickly be found that will. Technology can also provide fantastic assistance in the area of accessibility and accommodations to even further meet the needs of individual learners.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

Technology can be an amazing facilitator of differentiation techniques by providing additional resources and tools that will give teachers far more ways to differentiate for content, process, and product. We know that differentiated instruction can directly impact student outcomes as it tailors the educational experience to the needs of the students. Technology can also help efficiently measure student outcomes and analyze this information in new ways to provide the best learning experience possible for each individual learner.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

First and foremost, don’t force it and don’t make it about the technology. There’s been such profound pressure on teachers to integrate technology into the classroom that too often we lose sight of what we’re using it for. Just bringing a device into the classroom doesn’t accomplish anything.  But when technology becomes a partner in the learning process that aids teachers in personalized learning, it can be powerful. 

If a student has reading or processing difficulties, using tools such as Google Images or Flickr to create a slideshow before reading can help that student make connections. Another example is Newsela, which allows a teacher to take the same article or story and easily adjust it to the various reading levels of their students.

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

Data will continue to have an ever-increasing role in education. By bringing together more and more data regarding students and their outcomes from the multiple sources of information available in a district, and by working work to analyze that data more deeply, educators will be able to truly personalize education at new levels and understand how to support all of their students.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Salvatore Patalano: The impact technology is having on education is virtually boundless – particularly in the methods we use for delivery. Technology puts a wealth of information at the hands of students instantaneously and allows educators to create more immersive and collaborative environments. Given the rate technology is changing and evolving, my money is on virtual learning that will offer effective and efficient education to anyone, anywhere.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

So far, the data does not indicate significant improvement in outcomes as a result of technology in the classroom. Schools may purchase a significant amount of technology, but teachers are left on their own to figure out how to integrate it into their curriculum. We can’t just provide access to technology. Vendors need to rethink how we build solutions for education, and prioritize teacher adoption and utilization that allows the teacher to focus on the outcome instead of having to become an IT expert.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

Teachers can utilize technology in almost everything they do inside the classroom, including research, collaborating with students, communicating with parents, scheduling events, individualized learning, and group teaching. This places a significant amount of pressure on teachers to integrate technology into their curriculum. Teachers must understand how to apply technology to various teaching methods and course materials. Infinite possibilities exist providing the technology distract from their teaching. 

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

Technology’s greatest impact will be its ability to significantly improve outcomes and shorten learning cycles. Software and hardware will be combined to create rich learning environments at individual and group levels and promote distance learning. Educators will be able to see the effectiveness of their lessons in real time, versus testing as their primary means for measurement. Leading vendors, such as Lenovo Software, will focus on solutions to make educational technology more user-friendly.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Johan Hägglund: Over the past few years we have seen some big transformations within education including more flexible online learning options, flipped and blended learning models, digital assessment and remediation tools, and increased penetration of one-to-one programs in schools. Technology helps drive a bigger trend in schools, which is more and more focus on the student and empowering them to succeed.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

Students today are digital natives and very comfortable using technology—more comfortable than using pen and paper. One area where technology obviously improves student outcomes is in assessments, exams and remediation work. Asking them to perform their best using pen and paper just makes a stressful situation worse. Letting them take the tests digitally allows them to focus on the actual performance in an environment they feel comfortable in.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

By digitizing some of the areas in the classroom teachers can reap many benefits. One of the most important ones is saving time on assessment grading and other administrative work, time they can spend on teaching, inspiring, and mentoring students. Another great benefit that technology enables is equalizing the opportunities for students by eliminating things like teacher bias, which we know from research is a real problem.

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

First and foremost, I believe educational institutions will go digital and we’ll see a widespread adoption of digital assessment in secondary and tertiary education. I also think the vast amount of data that gets collected will help drive more adaptive testing solutions. With adaptive learning and assessment, the experience becomes personalized to the student’s needs and will increase the student outcomes, similar to what you see from students who benefit from personalized tuition. Artificial intelligence can also add value to the learning process by assisting learners with self-assessment as well as social simulation and a deeper understanding of learning contexts.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Ken Spero: One of the most important skills we need to teach our children is critical thinking, which can really only be developed effectively through experience. One of the key ways to capture and deploy experience is through branching simulation, which provides students with an opportunity to both experience the concepts being taught and exercise critical thinking in applying them.

Historically, branching simulations were too expensive and time consuming to even consider as a tool for the classroom, but the current technology has made simulation a viable tool for both teachers and administrators to help improve engagement and student outcomes. By using simulations as part of a blended learning strategy, we are now able to add a very powerful and engaging tool to provide students with the opportunity to learn from experience.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

A key first step to improve student outcomes is to improve student engagement. If we can engage students, anything is possible. Rather than getting caught up in what the technology can do, let’s focus on what technology should do. One of the best vehicles for engagement at any age is storytelling. The challenge, of course, is to effectively and efficiently utilize this method in our schools. One of the key challenges with technology is availability. We need an approach that can add value at whatever level of technology a school, teacher, or student has the capacity for. The beauty of simulation is that it’s not rocket science— it’s simply a way of organizing one’s thinking. If a teacher has a good design idea, then almost any technology tool will do. All you need is a story. Technology is the enabler, not the driver, so this approach can used to engage and improve student outcomes anywhere.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

Given our focus on improving student outcomes, it’s only natural that we spend a lot of time on the challenge of assessment. We want to ensure that students actually know what they are being taught. Simulations provide the opportunity to efficiently capture realistic contexts that challenge students to make decisions and experience the consequences of their choices along a simulated timeline. The students then have the opportunity for reflection and feedback so that they can learn from their mistakes in a safe environment. Allowing learners to practically apply their knowledge dramatically improves retention and student outcomes.

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

The beauty of technology-driven simulations is that they manifest as a project-based learning application in both their development and delivery. When a teacher utilizes a simulation in a class, the student organically experiences the National Education Association’s four C’s: critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration. Over the next five years, as this approach gains traction, teachers will also have the opportunity to engage their students in designing simulations as well as playing them. By creating a simulation on a topic they’re being taught, students can learn from the experience of development, articulating decision choices and imagining respective consequences, and sharing their work with their peers.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Kathy Walter: It’s empowering students, teachers and administrators to deliver and process learning in more ways. Teachers are able to provide more learning options for students to take advantage of and administrators are able to more quickly process paperwork so they can spend more time on strategy and leadership.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

Giving students more ways to learn the same material means students have an increased chance of learning a concept in a way they can process it. When students can learn the basics needed to process their learning experiences in a way that makes sense to them, they are better able to actually improve their learning outcomes inside and outside of the classroom.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

Technology enables teachers to take learning beyond short class periods, opening more of their students’ days to learning and broadening the classroom to the world at large. Teachers also have greater access to online resources to provide a wider variety of learning options for their students. Rather than teaching to only certain students, teachers are able to individually target the needs of each student.

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

Everyone understands that learning extends online and that will continue. However, I see technology starting to have more impact now on the administrative side, facilitating teacher learning and paperwork. When staff and teachers running schools can use technology to streamline their non-classroom work, they can spend more time on innovating education and engaging their students.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Martin McKay: The rapidly decreasing cost of technology is making one device per student an economic possibility. This in turn allows increased access to digital learning resources such as video and interactive lessons that are enriching the learning experience. In the past, most learning had to be done in the classroom. Thanks to technology it can now happen anywhere.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

Research already shows that tools to support students’ reading, writing and comprehension skills are having a statistically significant improvement. This allows struggling learners to make additional progress on their own time. A big shift in the last few years from localized to cloud-based software has allowed learning analytics to track these learning improvements in real-time.

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

Practicing working with peers is key for kids to be future-ready. When every student has a device, collaboration becomes natural. Teachers can also use technology to represent information in different ways, such as interactive presentations, videos, storytelling, and video-conferencing with experts, and can ask kids to demonstrate their knowledge using the same methods.

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

Several technology trends are set to revolutionize education. Teachers will use augmented reality tools to allow students to look inside their own bodies to learn about physiology. Chat-bots with the intelligence of IBM’s Watson will be able to answer student's scientific enquiries better than many teachers. In developing economies, the impact will be massive. Kids who have never had access to an education will be able to get the highest quality education available as inexpensive tablets, pre-loaded with an entire curriculum, become readily available.

How has technology transformed our way of looking at education?

Anthony Salcito: Technology has transformed how we communicate, collaborate, and has provided access to an unlimited world of content that users both consume and create. This has changed how we learn and schools are starting to embrace this fundamental shift. Technology provides an opportunity for educators to extend learning beyond the classroom, anytime, anywhere. We can use this to help students achieve more and maximize their ability to make a positive impact on the future of our planet.

How are technology products improving student outcomes in the classroom?

Increasingly intelligent, data-powered learning tools are helping make learning more personal and predictive. Data is no longer a four-letter word. School leaders and educators are learning to harness the power of new analytics software to evolve from reporting on past performance to anticipating and impacting future outcomes.  

How can teachers utilize technology in the classroom?

Technology is great, but this is about your students and their potential. Technology needs to be a purposeful tool to connect students to each other, to deliver diverse and exciting content, and most importantly to extend learning beyond the classroom. Teachers are heroes and we need to celebrate their impact and recognize that technology has increased the need for innovative educators. Be fearless. Start with the why and not the what. 

How will technology continue to impact education in the next five years?

As devices and connectivity continue to become more ubiquitous, the opportunity to personalize learning for every student is on the horizon. Increasingly connected and immersive technology will be commonplace in classrooms. We have the ability to shift from a content-then-assessment learning paradigm to one where skills and applications become the core focus while time, place and methods become more flexible.