Personalized Instruction Via Technology

In a review of various studies by Noel Enyedy, an associate professor of education and information studies at the University of California-Los Angeles, it concludes that education technology deployed in the name of personalized instruction yields modest improvements in educational outcomes, at best, in some cases, and none at all in others. 

Based on his findings, Enyedy advises district officials to take several steps when weighing the merits of personalized instruction: 

·       Invest incrementally in technology. 

·       Conduct more research on the effects of personalized learning in K-12.

·       Set clearer definitions about the features of technology, and expectations for personalized instruction in the classroom. 

·       Test and validate software and hardware tools. 

·       Make professional development part of the implementation.

Enyedy, N. (2014). Personalized instruction: New interest, old rhetoric, limited results, and the need for a new direction for computer-mediated learning. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/personalized-instruction

Classroom Door Greetings Increase Academic Engagement

A recent survey found that greeting students at the classroom door boosts academic engagement and behavior. The researchers determined that making eye contact, saying students' names, and offering encouraging words inspires students to put more effort into their own learning. Results revealed that the PGD strategy produced significant improvements in academic engaged time and reductions in disruptive behavior. Moreover, results from a social validity questionnaire indicated that teachers found the PGD strategy to be feasible, reasonable, and acceptable. The limitations of this study and implications of these findings for teacher pre- and in-service trainings are discussed.

Cook, C. R., Fiat, A., Larson, M., Daikos, C., Slemrod, T., Holland, E. A., Thayer, A. J., & Renshaw, T. (2018). Positive greetings at the door: Evaluation of a low-cost, high-yield proactive classroom management strategy. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 20(3), 149-159. https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1098300717753831

Internet Connecting the Classrooms

According to a new analysis by the nonprofit broadband advocacy group EducationSuperHighway, more than 44 million students now learn in classrooms with high-speed internet connections, up from just 4 million five years ago. The group’s 2018 State of the States report says such “incredible progress” puts the U.S. on the cusp of providing broadband connections to nearly every public school in the country, the goal set by President Barack Obama in 2013. The report states that the median bandwidth delivered by districts meeting the FCC's minimum connectivity target has continued to grow, showing schools' desire to continually expand their internet usage.

EducationSuperhighway (2018). 2018 State of the states: Expanding digital learning to every classroom, every day. San Francisco, CA: EducationSuperhighway. https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/esh-sots-pdfs/2018%20State%20of%20the%20States.pdf