The 104 Smartest Public Colleges In America

AP Photo/John Raoux

Does your school make the cut?

If you want to be surrounded with some of the smartest students in the US and get the most bang for your buck, you may want to consider one of the following universities.

From our recent list of the smartest colleges in America, we pulled out the top 100 public schools. These colleges offer brainpower and affordability, since the average annual cost of attending an in-state public school is $8,500, according to US News & World Report. Compare that to the average private school cost of $30,500 — a difference of $22,000 a year.

In order to determine a school’s overall smarts, Jonathan Wai, a Duke University Talent Identification Program researcher, analyzed the average standardized test scores that schools report to US News. (Those that did not report scores are not included.)

These tests are often criticized, but research shows that both the SAT and ACT are good measures of general cognitive ability and give a reasonable snapshot of the brainpower level of that school.

ACT scores were translated into SAT scores (math + verbal) using this concordance table, so that all schools could be compared using one metric. Then, an average of the 25th and 75th percentile was computed (see a full description of the methodology and limitations here).

On the following ranking, a (2) next to the school’s name indicates that some or all students aren’t required to supply scores; a (3) indicates that the school did not supply all students it has scores for, or did not tell US News if it had; a (4) indicates that the data is from a previous year, rather than from the most recent year; and a (9) indicates that the school may not require scores from all applicants and that it may not have submitted data for all students.

Here are the smartest public colleges in America:

Smarts Rank	School	Average SAT
1	Georgia Institute of Technology	1385
2	University of California-Berkeley	1375
3	College of William and Mary	1365
4	United States Air Force Academy	1360
5	University of Virginia	1355
6	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	1340
6	Colorado School of Mines	1340
8	University of California-Los Angeles	1320
9	University of Maryland-College Park	1310
10	University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill	1305
11	Ohio State University-Columbus	1300
12	Binghamton University-SUNY	1294
13	University of California-San Diego	1290
14	University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign	1285
14	New College of Florida	1285
16	United States Military Academy (3)	1283
17	United States Naval Academy	1280
18	United States Coast Guard Academy (3)	1275
19	University of Pittsburgh	1270
20	SUNY-Geneseo	1269
21	United States Merchant Marine Academy	1267
22	University of Wisconsin-Madison	1265
22	University of Florida	1265
22	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	1265
22	Missouri University of Science & Technology	1265
26	University of Texas-Austin	1260
26	University of Texas-Dallas	1260
28	University of California-Santa Barbara	1250
28	Stony Brook University-SUNY	1250
30	Clemson University	1245
30	Miami University-Oxford	1245
30	Truman State University	1245
33	University of Georgia	1240
34	North Carolina State University-Raleigh	1235
34	College of New Jersey	1235
36	University of Washington	1230
36	University of Connecticut	1230
36	CUNY-Baruch College	1230
39	Florida State University	1225
39	Auburn University	1225
39	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (3)	1225
42	Virginia Tech	1220
43	University of California-Davis	1210
43	Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick	1210
43	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	1210
43	University of Maryland-Baltimore County	1210
47	University of Colorado-Boulder	1205
47	University of Tennessee	1205
47	University of South Carolina	1205
47	Michigan Technological University	1205
51	Purdue University-West Lafayette	1200
52	University of Delaware	1195
52	University of North Carolina-Asheville	1195
54	St. Mary’s College of Maryland (3)	1190
54	University of North Carolina-Wilmington	1190
56	University of Vermont	1185
56	University of Alabama	1185
56	University of Oklahoma	1185
56	University of Alabama-Huntsville	1185
56	New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	1185
61	Texas A&M University-College Station	1180
61	University of Central Florida	1180
63	Pennsylvania State University-University Park	1175
63	Indiana University-Bloomington	1175
65	SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry	1170
65	University of South Florida	1170
65	CUNY-Hunter College	1170
68	University of California-Irvine	1165
68	University of Iowa	1165
68	Michigan State University (3)	1165
68	University of Missouri	1165
68	Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge	1165
68	University of Arkansas	1165
68	University of Minnesota-Morris (3)	1165
75	College of Charleston (3)	1160
75	Christopher Newport University (2)	1160
77	University at Buffalo-SUNY	1155
77	Salisbury University (9)	1155
77	University of North Florida	1155
80	George Mason University (2)	1150
80	Florida International University	1150
80	Virginia Military Institute	1150
83	University of Nebraska-Lincoln	1145
83	Iowa State University	1145
83	University of Kansas	1145
83	Arizona State University-Tempe (2)	1145
83	University of Cincinnati	1145
83	University of Kentucky	1145
83	Oklahoma State University	1145
83	University of Alabama-Birmingham	1145
83	University of Louisville (3)	1145
83	James Madison University	1145
83	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse	1145
94	University of California-Santa Cruz	1140
94	New Jersey Institute of Technology	1140
94	University of Houston	1140
94	Georgia College & State University	1140
98	Appalachian State University	1135
99	University of Massachusetts-Lowell	1130
100	Colorado State University	1125
100	University of Wyoming	1125
100	SUNY-New Paltz	1125
100	CUNY-Queens College	1125
100	University of Michigan-Dearborn	1125

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly included the University of San Diego, a private institution. The list has been reranked and updated with a new total of 104 schools, due to the five-way tie for No. 100.

Here’s How Study Breaks Boost Learning

Originally posted in The Huffington Post | By Carolyn Gregoire

The patterns of brain activity recorded in this fMRI scanner revealed how mental rest and reflection on past learning activities can boost future learning.

Students in school are rarely given opportunities to rest and reflect on the knowledge they’ve acquired, but a new study suggests that giving the mind a little targeted downtime could be a highly effective way to boost learning.

The brain mechanisms that are engaged when the mind is resting and reflecting on previously acquired information can boost future learning, according to research from the University of Texas at Austin, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To demonstrate this ability, researchers asked 35 adult study participants to memorize pairs of photos in two separate series. In between each series, the participants were given some time to rest and think about anything they wanted. Participants who used the time to reflect on the first series of photos, according to brain scans taken during the break, then outperformed themselves on the subsequent series. This was especially true in cases where minor details of information overlapped between the two tasks.

During reflection, the researchers theorized, the participants were making mental connections that helped them to later absorb information that related in some way (even loosely) to the information that they had previously acquired.

“Nothing happens in isolation,” lead researcher Dr. Alison Preston, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Texas, said in a statement. “When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that new information. In doing so, you embed the new information into your existing knowledge.”

The findings counter previously held assumptions that older memories are likely to interfere with new learning. In at least some cases, the findings show, prior memories can act as helpful connections when acquiring new knowledge.

“We’ve shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning,” Preston said. “We think replaying memories during rest makes those earlier memories stronger, not just impacting the original content, but impacting the memories to come.”

It’s important to note, according to Perston, that participants were not necessarily actively reflecting on the previous learning experience.

“In fact, our participants did not know they would later be learning related information — so, they knew of no reason to try to remember what they had just been shown,” Preston said in an email to the Huffington Post. “We think that it is more likely the case that memory replay during periods of rest is an automatic process — the brain automatically reflects on past experiences to make memories for those experiences stronger.”

Preston’s findings are in line with a number of studies which have found that when the mind is at rest (engaging in mind-wandering or daydreaming), parts of the brain that aid in memory storage and consolidation, as well as information retrieval, are highly active.

“This study is consistent with an emerging body of research suggesting that the capacity to imagine the future draws on the same mental machinery required to remember our past,” Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, psychology professor at Penn University, who has studied mind-wandering extensively, said in an email to the Huffington Post. “Our deep storehouse of memories is part of the Default Network (or as I like to call it, the Imagination Network), which facilitates not just learning, but also perspective taking, imagination, creativity, future planning, reflection, and morality.”

22

Nov 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

Don’t Teach For America

“Education reform” that helps only your resume

By Sandra Y.L. Korn October 23, 2013

The Red Line

Last month, I got an email from a recruiter. An associate of Teach For America, citing a minor leadership role in a student organization as evidence that I “have distinguished [myself] as a leader here on Harvard’s campus,” asked me to meet with Harvard’s TFA representative on campus. Dropping phrases like “race and class,” “equal opportunities,” and “educational injustice,” the recruiter promised that I could have a significant impact on a classroom in an underserved community.

I have thought for many years about teaching high school history. But I stopped replying to this email after a few exchanges.

I am not interested in TFA.

For one, I am far from ready to enter a classroom on my own. Indeed, in my experience Harvard students have increasingly acknowledged that TFA drastically underprepares its recruits for the reality of teaching. But more importantly, TFA is not only sending young, idealistic, and inexperienced college grads into schools in neighborhoods different from where they’re from—it’s also working to destroy the American public education system. As a hopeful future teacher, that is not something I could ever conscionably put my name behind.

Princeton alumna Wendy Kopp originally founded TFA with the mission of filling teacher shortages in U.S. public schools. The program, which helps young college grads find placements teaching in public schools after they graduate from college, combines the persistence of a five-person recruiting team with the cache of a competitive on-campus-interview process. It has quickly become one of the most popular destinations for Harvard seniors after graduation.

Clearly, some Harvard students still believe that TFA’s model of recruiting young idealists, throwing them into five weeks of intensive training, and then placing them into schools in neighborhoods very unlike the ones they came from is truly the answer to everything from income inequality to underfunded public school systems. Perhaps they even think that teaching is such an unattractive profession that bright college graduates should be bribed with a feel-good resume booster to fill the vast shortage of competent teachers in the United States.

But it has become increasingly clear to anyone who thinks critically about teaching that there’s something off with TFA’s model. After all, TFA alumni repeatedly describe their stints in the American public education system as some of the hardest two years of their lives. Doesn’t it bother you to imagine undertrained 22-year-olds standing in front of an crowded classroom and struggling through every class period? Indeed, most of the critiques of TFA in The Crimson have focused on students’ unpreparedness to teach.

However, unpreparedness pales in comparison to the much larger problem with TFA: It undermines the American public education system from the very foundation by urging the replacement of experienced career teachers with a neoliberal model of interchangeable educators and standardized testing. If TFA intended to place students in schools with insufficient numbers of teachers, it has strayed far from its original goal. As an essay by Chicago teacher Kenzo Shibata asked last summer, “Teach For America wanted to help stem a teacher shortage. Why then are thousands of experienced educators being replaced by hundreds of new college graduates?” Journalist James Cersonsky notes that veteran teachers and schools alike may suffer from this type of reform: “Districts pay thousands in fees to TFA for each corps member in addition to their salaries—at the expense of the existing teacher workforce. Chicago, for example, is closing 48 schools and laying off 850 teachers and staff while welcoming 350 corps members.”

Chicago is not the first city where Teach For America has tried to replace veteran teachers with new recruits. Two years ago, The Crimson quoted the president of the Boston Teachers’ Union as saying, “Teach For America claims that it does not come in and take positions from incumbent members. That is a lie. They are doing it in Boston…Their arrogance is appalling.” Cersonsky and blogger EduSchyster have meticulously documented TFA’s connections to dozens of charter schools as well as education reform advocacy organizations that focus on standardized testing and privatization instead of grassroots community involvement and student voices. In doing so, TFA is working directly against the interests of teachers, students, and communities alike. Neoliberal school reform is the true “educational injustice” here.

Happily, Chicago does provide a model of truly community-driven and progressive education advocacy. Last summer, the Chicago Teachers’ Union organized with parents and students to advocate for quality public education including smaller class sizes, more staff like school nurses, less standardized testing, and progressive taxation structures for school funding.

I don’t mean to vilify students who’ve chosen to recruit for TFA—I’m sure they have only the best intentions of helping underserved students—but I would like to call on my classmates and current TFA corps members to reconsider their decision to be part of this program. TFA has positioned itself as an ethical alternative to Wall Street for college seniors looking for a short-term commitment. We should all have questions about how much we can actually help to fix structural problems with just a month of training and a few years of work.

Sandra Y. L. Korn ’14, a Crimson editorial writer, is a joint history of science and studies of women, gender, and sexuality concentrator in Eliot House. Her column appears on alternate Wednesdays. Follow her on Twitter @sandraylk.

18

Oct 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED’s in-house expert

Speaker David Epstein created a truly stellar slide deck for his talk at TED2014. When your slides rock, your whole presentation pops to life. Here, advice from our office slide master on making Keynote and Powerpoint presentations that communicate strongly. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Reposted from TED blog.Aaron Weyenberg is the master of slide decks. Our UX Lead creates Keynote presentations that are both slick and charming—the kind that pull you in and keep you captivated, but in an understated way that helps you focus on what’s actually being said. He does this for his own presentations and for lots of other folks in the office. Yes, his coworkers ask him to design their slides, because he’s just that good.We asked Aaron to bottle his Keynote mojo so that others could benefit from it. Here, 10 tips for making an effective slide deck, split into two parts: the big, overarching goals, and the little tips and tricks that make your presentation sing.

The big picture…

Think about your slides last. Building your slides should be the tail end of developing your presentation. Think about your main message, structure its supporting points, practice it and time it—and then start thinking about your slides. The presentation needs to stand on its own; the slides are just something you layer over it to enhance the listener experience. Too often, I see slide decks that feel more like presenter notes, but I think it’s far more effective when the slides are for the audience to give them a visual experience that adds to the words.
.
Create a consistent look and feel. In a good slide deck, each slide feels like part of the same story. That means using the same or related typography, colors and imagery across all your slides. Using pre-built master slides can be a good way to do that, but it can feel restrictive and lead to me-too decks. I like to create a few slides to hold sample graphic elements and type, then copy what I need from those slides as I go.
.
Think about topic transitions. It can be easy to go too far in the direction of consistency, though. You don’t want each slide to look exactly the same. I like to create one style for the slides that are the meat of what I’m saying, and then another style for the transitions between topics. For example, if my general slides have a dark background with light text, I’ll try transition slides that have a light background with dark text. That way they feel like part of the same family, but the presentation has texture—and the audience gets a visual cue that we’re moving onto a new topic.
.
With text, less is almost always more. One thing to avoid—slides with a lot of text, especially if it’s a repeat of what you’re saying out loud. It’s like if you give a paper handout in a meeting—everyone’s head goes down and they read, rather than staying heads-up and listening. If there are a lot of words on your slide, you’re asking your audience to split their attention between what they’re reading and what they’re hearing. That’s really hard for a brain to do, and it compromises the effectiveness of both your slide text and your spoken words. If you can’t avoid having text-y slides, try to progressively reveal text (like unveiling bullet points one by one) as you need it.
.
Use photos that enhance meaning. I love using simple, punchy photos in presentations, because they help what you’re saying resonate in your audience’s mind without pulling their attention from your spoken words. Look for photos that (1) speak strongly to the concept you’re talking about and (2) aren’t compositionally complex. Your photo could be a metaphor or something more literal, but it should be clear why the audience is looking at it, and why it’s paired with what you’re saying. For example, I recently used the image above—a photo of a container ship about to tip over (it eventually sank)—to lead off a co-worker’s deck about failure preparation. And below is another example of a photo I used in a deck to talk about the launch of the new TED.com. The point I was making was that a launch isn’t the end of a project—it’s the beginning of something new. We’ll learn, adapt, change and grow.

And now some tactical tips…

Go easy on the effects and transitions. Keynote and Powerpoint come with a lot of effects and transitions. In my opinion, most of these don’t do much to enhance the audience experience. At worst, they subtly suggest that the content of your slides is so uninteresting that a page flip or droplet transition will snap the audience out of their lethargy. If you must use them, use the most subtle ones, and keep it consistent.
.
Use masking to direct attention in images. If you want to point something out in a photo, you could use a big arrow. Or you could do what I call a dupe-and-mask. I do this a lot when showing new page designs, particularly when I don’t want the audience to see the whole design until I’m finished talking about individual components of it. Here’s the original image.Here’s the process for masking it. (1) Set the image transparency to something less than 100. (2) Duplicate that image so there is one directly over the top of the other. (3) Set the dup’d image transparency back to 100. and (4) Follow the technique here to mask the dup’d image. You’ll end up with something that looks like this.
You can use this technique to call out anything you want in a screenshot. A single word, a photo, a section of content—whatever you want your audience to focus on.
.
Try panning large images. Often, I want to show screen shot of an entire web page in my presentations. There’s a great Chrome extension to capture these—but these images are oftentimes much longer than the canvas size of the presentation. Rather than scaling the image to an illegible size, or cropping it, you can pan it vertically as you talk about it. In Keynote, this is done with a Move effect, which you can apply from an object’s action panel.
.
For video, don’t use autoplay. It’s super easy to insert video in Keynote and Powerpoint—you just drag a Quicktime file onto the slide. And when you advance the deck to the slide with the video that autoplays, sometimes it can take a moment for the machine to actually start playing it. So often I’ve seen presenters click again in an attempt to start the video during this delay, causing the deck to go to the next slide. Instead, set the video to click to play. That way you have more predictable control over the video start time, and even select a poster frame to show before starting.
.
Reproduce simple charts and graphs. Dropping an image of a chart into a presentation is fine, but it almost always disrupts the feel of a deck in unsightly fashion. If the graph data is simple enough (and you have some extra time) there’s a way to make it much more easy on the eyes. You could redraw it in the native presentation application. That sounds like needless work, and it might be for your purposes, but it can really make your presentation feel consistent and thought-through, of one flavor from soup to nuts. You’ll have control over colors, typography, and more. Here are some examples.
.

Lastly, I’d love to leave you with a couple book recommendations. The first is Resonate, by Nancy Duarte. It’s not so much about slides, but about public speaking in general – which is the foundation for any presentation, regardless of how great your slides are. In it, she breaks down the anatomy of what makes a great presentation, how to establish a central message and structure your talk, and more. (One of her case studies comes from Benjamin Zander’s charming TED Talk about classical music, a talk that captivated the audience from start to finish.) Think of this as prerequisite reading for my second recommendation, also by Duarte: Slide:ology. This is more focused on presentation visuals and slides.

17

Oct 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

10 tips for editing video

One of TED's video editors, Kari Mulholland, hard at work. Below, her editing advice. Photo: Biljana Labovic

The techniques that video editors use to shape their content reveal a lot about how people create meaning in the world. Editors have a deep understanding of how people think, feel, remember and learn, and we use this knowledge to build powerful, moving stories and experiences. The best editing decisions come from empathy — both for the people who exist virtually on the screen and for the audience watching them.The TED Talk editing toolkit is small when compared to ones used to cut a narrative feature or documentary. And that’s why it’s a good place to start as an introduction to the art of editing. We use continuity editing to maintain a consistent feeling of space and time over the duration of the talk. But overall, we strive to keep our edits invisible. What does that mean, exactly? I’ll make the invisible visible by editing a short excerpt from a TED Talk badly.

Now, compare that to the same excerpt edited competently.

What made the first excerpt so uncomfortable to watch was that the edits were unmotivated; every edit was random. Here are ten tips for making meaningful edits:

Choose the best camera angles for each moment. As you look at your footage, your goal is to balance speaker intent with the expectations of the web audience. Think about where the audience would want to be looking at different points during the talk if they were in the room — that will help you select the best camera angle to reconstruct each moment. By thinking about that, you are also choosing angles that help the speaker better express his or her story.

Use more close-ups and medium shots than wide shots. It’s important to cut between different camera angles so that the audience understands the space where the TED Talk took place. But once the talk is contextualized, close-ups and medium shots hold the most meaning for the audience. It’s engaging to watch speakers’ facial expressions and body language as they speak and, with a closer view, you can just see it better.

Watch a speaker’s body language and pay attention to the way they talk. Language is embodied. A speakers’ thoughts, words and breath are all revealed through their body language. Meanwhile, each speaker has a unique rhythm and cadence to their voice. If you pay attention to these things, it will provide a natural rhythm for your editing and it will all feel intuitive for the audience, too.

Cut on action. One way to make the edit between two shots seem invisible is by cutting on a gesture. The viewer watches the beginning of a motion that begins in one shot and follows it as it crosses the edit and finishes in the next shot. The completion of the gesture masks the edit. Here is an example of a cut made on the subtle gesture made as the speaker completes his thought and begins a new one.

Cut on words. The sound of a word, especially if it contains a hard consonant, can make an edit feel less obvious. When the word is one that is relevant to the main point of the speaker’s talk, the edit can also highlight that word and make it more memorable. Let’s listen to example of an edit cut on a word.

Keep things moving. The web audience has a short attention span. Framing a speaker’s words with multiple camera angles is more dynamic and interesting than holding on one camera angle for a long period of time.

Break up graphics. At TED, the slides that speakers use often stay on-screen for quite a while. We try to break the slide up into sections, so that only the relevant parts of the slide are revealed in time with the speaker’s words. This may or may not help in your own editing, but the point is: be methodical with directing attention.

Edit out mistakes. At TED, we do edit out both technical errors and speaker errors. We often mask these edits by cutting on action. Let’s take a look at an example of how this is done. First you will hear two sentences that are hooked together by an “um,” something many speakers do without realizing it.

Now the “um” is edited out, by cutting between two shots during an action-filled moment.

Think about who’s speaking and who’s listening. One challenge we sometimes get in the TED editing room: interviews. To explain the best approach to editing one, let’s watch a short excerpt from an interview Chris Anderson did with Bill Gates. In this example, only one camera angle is used.

Now let’s watch the same excerpt edited like a TED Talk.

The edits are motivated by the words spoken by both Chris and Bill. This works, but a better way to edit this interview would be to reframe Chris’ words with shots of Bill listening. Watch the same excerpt edited with footage of Bill Gates listening.

All of a sudden, the point of view of the interview shifts. Because the purpose of the interview is to give the audience an opportunity to know more about Bill Gates, watching the interview from Bill’s perspective is just more interesting.

Take some space from your edit. After spending some time with the same edit, it’s easy to become desensitized to the material. So it’s important to step away. Taking a break from an edit and returning with fresh eyes can help you maintain your sense of audience and help you do your best work.

Hope that these tips have been helpful. One thing I often think about when it comes to editing TED Talks: The Internet is still very young and doesn’t yet have its own, unique vocabulary for video editing … but one day it will. As new technologies introduce new models for telling stories, and audience expectations shift as a result, the way TED Talks are filmed and edited will change. It’s fun to imagine what the TED Talk of the future might look like.

15

Oct 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

Could the Apple Watch be headed to your classroom?

By Maureen Yoder 9/9/2014

Maybe you’ve heard of the Apple Watch. You may have even given some thought to its potential for education . But since it’s still not available to the masses, and its price tag will likely be out of reach of most school budgets for some time, you probably filed the idea under “fantasy” and forgot about it.

For you realists, I’ve got some news. Wearable technologies for the classroom are not a pipedream! The New Media Consortium’s 2014 K-12 Horizon Report, which highlights technological trends likely to affect education in the near future, recently predicted that wearable devices will be common in schools within the next four to five years. In fact, many wearables — mostly watches and armbands so far — are affordable and ready for prime time in the classroom right now.

Classroom applications
Activity trackers, such as Jawbone’s UP, Nike’s Fuel Band, Garmin’s Vivofit and Fitbit, were the first wearable gadgets to proliferate in schools. Physical education teachers and coaches have been using them to track students’ physical activity and fitness, then collect and graph the data so they can use it for problem solving and motivation. Some of these gadgets even let you award digital badges to students, who can use the armbands to track their own progress as well.

A new development in the wearable tech market is devices designed for the youngest students. Many of these new tools are meant to allow children to become independent while protecting their safety. In addition to a GPS tracking device, some of these devices let children quickly contact a preprogrammed set of individuals.

Wearable tech also holds a lot of promise for helping students with special needs. Those on the attention deficit and autism spectrums, for example, can benefit from devices that send them regular reminder alerts to pay attention, do their homework or take their medication.

All of the new wearables for students are easy to use and colorful. For educators, they offer a new way to motivate students to get active, keep on task and stay safe. And for students, they offer an engaging and convenient way to take responsibility for deadlines, track their own progress and feel secure while gaining independence.

Tools you can afford
Here are five new wearable tools designed for elementary students for $150 or less:

LeapBand by LeapFrog is an activity tracker designed for young children that incorporates gamification. It encourages active play and healthy habits with 50 fun challenges, such as “walk like a crab” or “pretend you’re popcorn.” An accelerometer measures activity throughout the day and awards points that allow children to play games with virtual pets and unlock surprise activities. Teachers can turn off the sound for classroom use. Teachers can monitor feedback, but federal regulations concerning data collection on children limit advertisers and other third parties from accessing the information. The device, which is water resistant, comes with a quick-start guide, a mini-USB cable for syncing and a rechargeable battery.Take a look at this review from CNET to see what it can do:Ages: 4-7
Price: $40
Apps: LeapFrog Petathlon Games (free)
The WatchMinder3 is a vibrating watch and reminder system invented by a child psychologist. Parents or teachers can program the watch to generate reminder vibrations, which are more discreet than audible alarms, as well as personalized display messages at scheduled times or intervals. The watch can help children â€” particularly those who have attention deficit or autism spectrum disorders â€” to stay on task and monitor themselves, allowing them to become more independent. It can also remind kids to take medications at prescribed times, to breathe or do other mindfulness activities or to exercise regularly. The device, which is waterproof and has a rechargeable battery, features on-screen programming, 65 preprogrammed messages and a countdown timer.Learn more about the WatchMinder in this video:Ages: Kindergarten through adult
Price: $69
Apps: WatchMinder (free)
HereO is a GPS watch for kids. Billed as “the smallest cellular-connected GPS tracking device in the world,” the watch features an accelerometer that sends an alert when it is shaken horizontally five times. A SIM card connects to a local carrier, which alerts teachers and/or parents if a child leaves a designated area. The device, which is water resistant and has a battery life of up to 50 hours between charges, is scheduled to be released in December.See TechCrunch’s interview with one of the device’s inventors to learn more about how to use it:Ages: 3-12
Price: Preorder for $149, which includes a three-month subscription. After the introductory period, the subscription fee is $4.95 per month.
Apps: None
Tinitell is a small mobile phone wristband with a minimalist design and a singular use. Its complete set of features includes one large button to answer or hang up a call, a microphone, a speaker, an on/off switch and volume control. There is no display. The beauty of this simplicity is that even pre-literate children can easily make calls. They just speak the name of the person they want to call into the microphone. Sound matching, rather than a full-fledged voice recognition application, identifies the name on a list of preprogrammed individuals and connects the call. They can also use the volume controls to scroll through the list and listen to the options before making a selection. The device can also take incoming calls, which an adult can limit to a predefined list of acceptable numbers, without the child having to press a button. The device doubles as a GPS tracker and is both water resistant and “sandbox-proof.” Though targeted to parents, many educators will find the Tinitell, which is set to be released in April 2015, useful for young children and students with special needs.Watch Tinitell’s Kickstarter video to see how kids might use it:Ages: 3-12
Price: $129
Apps: None
Pebble is a smartwatch you use in conjunction with your smartphone. Although this device is marketed mostly to the adult consumer market, its access to a wide range of apps provides a variety of powerful functions that students will find useful in and out of the classroom. Partners such as Evernote, which allows users to access all notes on their Pebble, are increasing the possibilities too. For instance, teachers could communicate with their students by sending notes to the entire class or individuals. Students can also set silent alarms on their devices as reminders of events throughout the day. Some teachers create virtual help desks and use Pebble as a classroom management system. Others have challenged advanced students to write an original app for the watch. The Pebble has an LED backlight display, 3D accelerometer, Bluetooth 4.0 and a battery that will run up to a week before it needs to be recharged.Want to see the Pebble in action? Check out the stop animation commercial the company’s interns made:Ages: Middle school to adult
Price: $150
Apps: Pebble Smartwatch accesses the Pebble app store, which houses a growing number of user-created apps. You can also use the PebbleKit JavaScript framework to allow iOS and Android apps to communicate with the watch, or you can create and publish your own Pebble apps.

11

Oct 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

Our Kids Can’t Wait….we have a moral obligation

By: Phyllis Lockett

About a decade ago in Chicago, there were at least 27 communities, mostly concentrated on the south and west sides, where over 75 percent of the schools failed state standards. Since then, we’ve helped open 80 new schools and set the bar for citywide improvements to public education, but the truth is that the zip code you are born in in this city still can define your life’s trajectory.

If you are a kid growing up in one of these communities today, unless you are lucky enough to get into a magnet, selective enrollment, or charter school, you have a 60 percent chance of graduating from high school. If you drop out, you have a 75 percent chance of being unemployed, and a very high risk of being incarcerated. Of the 30,000 freshmen who enter CPS high schools, only 8 percent will earn a college degree.

Yet, I have seen firsthand the power of next-generation personalized learning models that accelerate student achievement and increase student engagement while improving teacher satisfaction. Schools where teachers pinpoint each student’s needs, fast-track remediation, and exponentially advance students to the next level.

I have also seen the potential cost savings that these models can deliver, a concern in cities across the country, including Chicago, where the school system faces a $1 billion deficit each year.

Impossible? Go check out Chavez Elementary, a traditional public school in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood where 7th graders take algebra and advance to geometry as soon as they are ready. Or KIPP Create in our Austin community, and see how they achieved the greatest literacy gains among all KIPP campuses nationwide.

Education technology is a $1 billion industry in America, with accelerators and incubators popping up on both costs. It has caught the attention of policy makers, districts, educators and families nationally and right here in Chicago.

Yet, little is known about what tech tools actually work. Plus, educators are often on their own to integrate stuff developed far from experts in teaching and learning.

That is why I am starting LEAP Innovations, to hasten the introduction of next-generation of teaching and learning. The LEAP Innovation Hub offers a new and systematic approach to evaluating what works in the edtech marketplace. We will advance personalized learning to prepare Americans for 21st century skills by supporting pilot studies of instructional technology in schools and other learning environments, conducting research, and providing training space and programs to connect educators, entrepreneurs, tech companies, learning scientists, and students to create next-generation learning school designs, share ideas and co-develop solutions for critical learning gaps.

Chicago is home to the nation’s third largest public school district, the largest Catholic school district, and one of the largest city college populations. Our region is a microcosm of the nation, so solutions developed can be used here – as well as nationally.

Across the country, we can no longer wait for innovative models of teaching and learning to pop up in isolation. That was just the beginning. We have to work together across all school models and learning environments to blend the best of what we have with the education technology innovations that are expanding rapidly across the globe.

Our kids can’t wait.

08

Sep 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

15 Ways to Keep Creativity in the #EdChat Conversation

Simply put. Creativity keeps me going. There is nothing comparable to witnessing a student present a project that not only represents what he has learned but who he has become. However, way too often the topics of standardized testing, lack of funding, political involvement, students’ data, and stressed out teachers dominate educational conversations. Quite frankly, it gets old. Sure, these topics deserve their fair share of time, but I fear creativity, a vital characteristic of an engaged and productive classroom, is somewhat overlooked at times.

In celebration of all those students secretly, and oftentimes audibly, yearning to create, let’s take a look at fifteen ways to keep creativity in the classroom.

1. Spontaneity and Creativity Warm-Up

Do you ever need to re-energize the class before embarking on a creative assignment? Try this fun and simple warm-up:

2. Wax Museum

Do you think asking your students to be silent and totally motionless is uncreative and boring? Not so. Take a look.

Need more information about this interesting activity? Click here.

3. 60-Second Recap

This one reads easily but works hard. Give it a try and watch your students have their most in-depth and challenging conversations as they try to mash up their understanding in such a short amount of time.

Check out this blog post for more details about the 60-Second Recap.

4. The Virtual Substitute

If you must be out of the classroom, leave your students with a Twitter hashtag, e-mail address, digital learning platform, and the most creative, and cheesy, substitute you can find. Who knows! You may just have a little fun yourself.

5. Kinesthetically Reinforced Learning

Sometimes to make the simplest things stick, a little physical activity is all that is needed. Check out this direct quotation with proper MLA parenthetical citation:

6. Time-Lapsed Video Tutorial

Some students’ projects just leave the class totally amazed and wondering, “How did you do that?” Well, giving a kid a chance to answer that question via a time-lapsed video tutorial could blow your mind even more. Watch this student use cans of spray paint as his artist’s brushes. Simply jaw-dropping.

7. Movie Trailer

Much like the 60-Second Recap, a lot of planning goes into creating a movie trailer. Take a look at this one, and I bet you never would have guessed it served as an AP Language project. Pretty cool, huh?

Care to see the full project? These students turned a backyard into a playground of assigned literary standards.

8. Long-Distance, Shared Classes via Video Conferencing

Want to liven things up a bit by joining classes across the county, state, or even country? Sure, it takes a lot of planning on the teachers’ sides, but the end results are phenomenal. Here’s a small peak into an AP Language writing assignment that was shared simultaneously by two classes nearly twenty miles a part.

This video was several weeks in the making. Click here for the blog post that drops all the minute details behind this video, and click here for the lesson plan that used Twitter to bring four classes in three different states together afterschool to discuss rhetorical strategies.

9. An Originally Written Song

This team decided to demonstrate their knowledge of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible through rap. Using Acoustica Mixcraft, strobe lights, smartphones, and video editing software, these Studio 113 students had a blast.

If you don’t have access to a microphone and any recording software, no worries. Just allow your students to use their smartphones and SoundCloud. Here’s how.

10. Visual Notetaking

Check out this example of notes from “Comics in Education.”

11. Interactive/Gamified Learning Structures

If the students are a bit bored with the content, ask them how to gamify the lesson. Better yet…create some off-the-wall interactive learning structure that involves improvisational acting, power cards, and backchannels. This is the foundation of the Revolutionary Battle structure.

If that doesn’t work, add some poker chips and a point system to spice up the undeniably boring multiple choice questions that are sometimes unavoidable. The Voting Chips structure does just that. Here’s the blog post outlining all details.

12. Mini-Movie

If you have plenty of time and a well-planned lesson, give students the autonomy to create a multi-camera video set to famous music lyrics. From the Rolling Stones to Matchbox 20 to Justin Timberlake, this video truly rocks.

13. Collaborative E-book

Having your students write and create a book used to sound nearly impossible. Not anymore. Get your bookmark ready and dive in to this collaborative e-book with pictures and videos. Click here for the accompanying blog post with video tutorials.

14. Celebratory Presentation

Don’t forget to invite the students to celebrate by presenting to a challenging audience. Here’s a peak into a presentation to a mini-conference of teachers and educational administrators.

15. Teacher Play

Perhaps the most overlooked, yet essential, aspect of fostering a creative classroom atmosphere is the necessity for teachers to play, to have fun, to enjoy their jobs. If not, why in the world should students want to grow up and become adults? To be miserable? Oh no. Rock it out, teachers. Rock it out!

Hey, awesome educators. Join in the conversation. What creative things are you witnessing?

06

Sep 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning

Today Digital Promise and Getting Smart released “Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning: Competency-Based Teacher Preparation and Development.” This white paper outlines the attributes of next-generation teacher preparation and makes recommendations to support the development of teacher preparation and development systems.

Co-authored by Getting Smart’s Tom Vander Ark and Dr. Carri Schneider with Karen Cator, President and CEO ofDigital Promise, the paper outlines how the role of teachers is changing amid broader shifts to personalized, blended, and deeper learning. In order for the current state of teacher preparation, professional development, and accreditation to evolve accordingly, the authors recommend professional learning opportunities that offer:

Some element of teacher control over time, place, path and/or pace;
Balance between teacher-defined goals, goals as defined by administration through teacher evaluation efforts, and school and district educational goals;
Job-embedded and meaningful integration into classroom practice; and
Competency-based progression.

In addition to the paper, don’t miss the complementary infographic, “Competency-Based Teacher Preparation & Professional Development,” that offers a visual outline of the paper content.

For more information, download the paper.

The full press release is copied below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Digital Promise and Getting Smart Share Vision for Preparing Teachers For Deeper Learning

White Paper Provides Guidance and Recommendations to Equip Teachers to Thrive in Deeper Learning Environments

SEATTLE, WA (May 1, 2014) – Education advocacy firm, Getting Smart, in association with the education innovation nonprofit, Digital Promise, today released, “Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning: Competency-Based Teacher Preparation and Development,” a white paper that outlines the attributes of next-generation teacher preparation and makes recommendations to support teacher preparation and development systems.

This paper is co-authored by Tom Vander Ark, CEO of Getting Smart, Dr. Carri Schneider, Director of Policy and Research of Getting Smart, and Karen Cator, President and CEO of Digital Promise. In addition to the paper, a complementary infographic, “Competency-Based Teacher Preparation & Professional Development,” offers a visual outline of the paper’s big ideas.

The paper outlines how the role of teachers is changing amid broader shifts to personalized, blended, and deeper learning. In order for the current state of teacher preparation and development to evolve accordingly, the authors recommend professional learning opportunities that echo the type of personalized learning that is recommended for students:

Some element of teacher control over time, place, path and/or pace;
Balance between teacher-defined goals, goals as defined by administration through teacher evaluation efforts, and school and district educational goals;
Job-embedded and meaningful integration into classroom practice; and
Competency-based progression.

“Drawing on examples from outside of the field of education as well as innovators in higher education and K-12, we build the case for competency-based teacher education,” said Vander Ark. “In the same way that student assessment is evolving to prioritize demonstrations of mastery over basic proficiency, competency-based teacher development would enable pre-service and practicing teachers to demonstrate knowledge and skills at regular intervals.”

“The design and implementation of a system of micro-credentials could support a shift to competency-based pathways for educators,” said Cator. “Such a system would include explanations of competencies, multiple opportunities to develop and learn, and a way to demonstrate and prove proficiency.”

“Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning” is the third in a series of papers from Getting Smart that explore how a focus on Deeper Learning competencies is changing the nature of teaching and learning in order to personalize instruction and better prepare students for college and career.

On Friday, President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Education to lay out a plan to strengthen America’steacher preparation programs for public discussion by this summer, and to move forward on schedule to publish a final rule within the next year. The Administration will encourage and support states in developing systems that recognize excellence and provide all programs with information to help them improve, while holding them accountable for how well they prepare teachers to succeed in today’s classrooms and throughout their careers.

“Rightfully so, the national conversation around personalization has been driven by what’s best for students,” said Schneider. “We are just beginning to scratch the surface of the possibilities for personalized learning to impact the teaching profession.”

To learn more download the full paper.

To learn more about Digital Promise’s work to reimagine teacher credentials, check out Digital Promise Micro-Credentials.

05

Sep 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

The Global Search for Education: The Top 10

“The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context.” — Adam Steiner

Diane Ravitch, Howard Gardner, Sir Ken Robinson, Pak Tee Ng, Pasi Sahlberg, Tony Wagner, Yong Zhao, Krista Kiuru, Peter Vesterbacka, Randi Weingarten, Jonathan Jansen, Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves, among others, have been chosen for our first Global Search for Education Top 10 List.We asked Adam Steiner, a technology integration specialist for the Holliston Public Schools in Holliston, Massachusetts and a doctoral researcher at Boston College, to make an assessment of the over 250 interviews we’ve published and give us his view of our top ten articles.Adam is the co-author with Elizabeth Stringer Keefe of a forthcoming book on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and technology (scheduled release date of March 2015 from Rowman & Littlefield). He joins me to discuss the Top 10 in today’s edition of The Global Search for Education.

Adam, I like your first selection – my 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch. How have The Global Search for Education articles helped you as an educator?

The Global Search for Education series takes important issues related to global education and gives them context. Given the various threads of my personal and professional life, the interviews have helped to put it all in a broader context and give it a larger meaning.

As a teacher, your 2012 interview with Diane Ravitch, in particular, represents the need for teaching to remain a respected profession. I know that my first few years of teaching were such a challenge and would have been impossible if I felt the community did not respect my work. Diane Ravitch rightly argues that a well-respected teaching profession requires higher expectations for teachers and stricter requirements for entry into the profession.

1. The Global Search for Education: The Education Debate 2012 with Diane Ravitch

“Diane Ravitch rightly argues that a well-respected teaching profession requires higher expectations for teachers and stricter requirements for entry into the profession.” — Adam SteinerCan I assume that the articles you selected as Nos. 2 and 3 on your list are related to your experience as a technology integration specialist?

Absolutely. Over the past five years, my professional focus has shifted from classroom teacher to technology integration specialist. My particular focus has been on the use of assistive technology in partnership with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to support inclusive classrooms. Singapore is an amazing example of a country that is using technology to help transform its educational system and there is no better person to speak to this than Pak Tee Ng, Professor at the University of Singapore – the best known expert on the Singaporean education system. He emphasizes that Singapore is seeking out uses of technology that transform teaching and not just prop up traditional modes. Tony Wagner continues this theme in my third choice when he talks about technology as a source of pedagogical transformation. In your interview, Tony talks about visiting a school system that had invested tens of thousands in interactive whiteboards in classrooms. Despite the innovative technology, the teaching had not changed – the devices were simply being used as sophisticated test prep tools. As a technology integration specialist, I find myself promoting and supporting the purchase of classroom technology. However, I am also constantly checking to insure that my work is promoting innovative teaching and not just equipment.

2. The Global Search for Education: Got Tech? – Singapore with Pak Tee Ng

3. The Global Search for Education: Education Technology with Tony Wagner

I was pleased that my interview with Yong Zhao made no. 4 on your list. As an education researcher, what interested you most about this article?

China is on a continual journey of self-examination of its own schools. There is no better guide in this irony than Yong Zhao, University of Oregon Professor and expert on the Chinese educational system. Dr. Zhao emphasized efforts to lessen the gap between wealthy and poor, powerful and powerless, a topic that has huge implications for the United States and our disturbing inequality. He described a pernicious selection of students into a hierarchical arrangement of schools and a need for a broad cultural shift that would measure the value of a school intrinsically rather than in comparison to other schools. The growing emphasis on large-scale standardized testing in the US would seem to run contrary to this effort.

4. The Global Search for Education: Focus on China with Yong Zhao

“Jonathan Jansen’s South African experience has powerful ramifications for any country looking to make significant reform. He emphasizes the importance of approaching reform with an eye toward systemic change rather than tackling issues in a piecemeal fashion.” — Adam SteinerNo. 5 on your list – a look at Finland’s education system for inspiration in the Global Search series.

I had the privilege to hear Dr. Pasi Sahlberg speak at Boston College and this interview illuminated several of the topics he discussed. Three points hit home with me. First, Finland has made a massive investment in teaching such that the profession is now one of the most sought-after jobs in the country. Second, there is an emphasis on equitable schooling that reaches every child rather than in boutique private or quasi-public schools. Third, emotional well-being is valued over test results. My fear is that the United States is moving in precisely the opposite direction on all three fronts.

5. The Global Search for Education: More Focus on Finland with Pasi Sahlberg

I was very pleased that you nominated my interview with Jonathan Jansen for the Top 10.

Jonathan Jansen’s South African experience has powerful ramifications for any country looking to make significant reform. He emphasizes the importance of approaching reform with an eye toward systemic change rather than tackling issues in a piecemeal fashion. Jansen also emphasizes the public-private partnership as key to making significant change.

6. The Global Search For Education: Education Is My Right – South Africa with Jonathan Jansen

As a parent, I know fun and learning resonates with you.

Helping my children with their homework, driving them to a soccer or gymnastics practice, or watching them listen to music or draw a picture – sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the many hats I wear, but there have been several interviews in the Global Search series that have helped me to manage these competing needs. This sixth interview I selected looked at technology and “fun learning” with several Finnish education leaders, including Krista Kiuru, Finnish Minister of Education and Science, and Peter Vesterbacka and Sanna Lukander of Rovio Entertainment, the creators of Angry Birds. We need to find ways for our kids to learn and to discover in fun and interesting ways. This is a challenge given the nature of elementary school education these days. How to find time for “fun learning” when there is so much math and literacy-focused homework to do?

7. The Global Search for Education: Fun and Learning with Krista Kiuru, Peter Vesterbacka, Sanna Lukander

“Howard Gardner covers a great deal of territory in this interview, from the role of the federal government in education to teacher education to charter schools, but what stands out most to me is his statement: “…education in the arts needs no justification in terms of ‘transfer’ to other subjects or to its generation of wealth; it is a ‘good’ in itself.” — Adam SteinerHoward Gardner had more to do with inspiring the Global Search series than he will ever know – tell me about no. 8 on your list.

8. The Global Search for Education: The Education Debate 2012 with Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner covers a great deal of territory in this interview, from the role of the federal government in education to teacher education to charter schools, but what stands out most to me is his statement: “…education in the arts needs no justification in terms of ‘transfer’ to other subjects or to its generation of wealth; it is a ‘good’ in itself.” This is a powerful reminder that we need to build in time for our kids to enjoy the arts. If schools are going to put primary emphasis on English and math skills, this becomes even more important.

We couldn’t have a Top 10 list without Sir Ken Robinson.

You had an amazing conversation with Sir Ken Robinson, in which he describes the arts as a discipline in the same way that math, science and English are disciplines. It adds another layer to Howard Gardner’s argument about the importance of the arts. Sir Ken also emphasizes the value of approaching art and other subjects in an interdisciplinary fashion.

9. The Global Search for Education: More Arts Please with Sir Ken Robinson

Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves have contributed so much great work to this series – why did you select this particular interview about the teaching profession?

For me, teaching has been too often a lonely profession. I have felt that my development as a professional was distinctly separate from the needs of my colleagues. This Global Search interview, in particular, addressed this loneliness and the need to improve the profession of teaching with a collective, collaborative approach. It approached the topic from the practical side by engaging Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, and from the scholarly side by connecting with Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan, professors and researchers on the cutting edge of educational change.

10. The Global Search for Education: In Search of Professionals – Part 1 with Michael Fullan, Andy Hargreaves, Randi Weingarten

C. M. Rubin and Adam Steiner

27

Aug 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

POSTED IN

Articles

DISCUSSION No Comments

TAGS

@jeffpiontek, diane ravitch, dinaeravitch, education. technology, Educational Technology, google "jeff piontek", Harvard Graduate School, Jeff Piontek, online learning, sir ken robinson, tony wagner, yang zhao

About Jeff Piontek

Recent Posts

Use this lesson plan to help students think deeply about the role of faked and synthetic media in their lives.

Relax….ChatGPT isn’t replacing teachers as much as this Panda isn’t replacing a scientist

AI and Writing: Detection….the next level.

Generative AI, NGSS and Lesson Planning….you be the judge…..

ChatGPT and the AI Revolution

Follow me on Twitter

Flickr Stream

The 104 Smartest Public Colleges In America

Here are the smartest public colleges in America:

Here’s How Study Breaks Boost Learning

Originally posted in The Huffington Post | By Carolyn Gregoire

Don’t Teach For America

“Education reform” that helps only your resume

The Red Line

10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea, from TED’s in-house expert

10 tips for editing video

Could the Apple Watch be headed to your classroom?

Our Kids Can’t Wait….we have a moral obligation

15 Ways to Keep Creativity in the #EdChat Conversation

1. Spontaneity and Creativity Warm-Up

2. Wax Museum

3. 60-Second Recap

4. The Virtual Substitute

5. Kinesthetically Reinforced Learning

6. Time-Lapsed Video Tutorial

7. Movie Trailer

8. Long-Distance, Shared Classes via Video Conferencing

9. An Originally Written Song

10. Visual Notetaking

11. Interactive/Gamified Learning Structures

12. Mini-Movie

13. Collaborative E-book

14. Celebratory Presentation

15. Teacher Play

Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning

The Global Search for Education: The Top 10