Manning, Laura

SPRING 2020

Early Literacy

Roach, E. (2019, May 23). Education in Mexico. WENR. https://wenr.wes.org/2019/05/education-in-mexico-2. https://wenr.wes.org/2019/05/education-in-mexico-2

"First published in 1987, World Education News & Reviews (WENR)
is an authoritative news and information source for professionals in international education.
Published 10 times a year by World Education Services, a not-for-profit organization
specializing in the evaluation of foreign academic credentials, WENR keeps readers
abreast of education developments around the world and includes practical “how-to”
articles on credential evaluation, international admissions, and recruiting."
From their Website:
https://wenr.wes.org/

I found this 32-page article written/posted by Eric Roach to be very enlightening about
the politics of the Mexican education system. It helps us to understand the
differences and barriers to education in Mexico.
For the purpose of my research, I focused on ages 3-9 years old.

"Since 2008/09 academic year, all Mexican children are required by law to attend three years of early childhood education beginning at age three." This has resulted in 72 percent of Mexican children having a public preschool education nationwide an increase of 42 percent in six years.

Public libraries are not an integrated part of Mexican culture. Children's reading rooms are available. They are collections of children's book for onsite use only. Mexico City has some big collections, IBBY for example, yet they are not local library systems. What a luxury a local

Library is!

Supporting Early Literacy in Mexico by teachers and parents is tricky. Books are expensive here. There are not a lot of options for used picture books. And the beliefs around early reading vary widely. Oral language and storytelling is traditionally how Mexicans teach their children. In classrooms presentations are created at an early age. I believe the answer is to create online public libraries for Mexican children. This would support their reading learning in an age when being literate is more important than ever. It could also support indigenous languages by keeping their stories for future generations.

Enabling Inquiry Learning in Fixed Schedule Libraries

Christina Young

Stubeck, C.J.(2015). Enabling inquiry learning in fixed-schedule libraries. Knowledge quest, 43(3), 28-34. 

Summary: In the article “Enabling Inquiry in Fixed-Schedule Libraries: An Evidenced-Based Approach”  Carole J. Stubeck describes her frustration with her fixed schedule as she tries to implement a guided inquiry model. Her first year in her district she attempted a guided inquiry project during her fifth-graders’ weekly library special. She describes it as successful, but found it took five months to finish. In collaboration with a fifth-grade teacher and a district curriculum specialist she developed a Civil War unit and then adopted an “action research” plan which involved an adult cycle of reflection, action, observation, and reflection as they taught and assessed the unit. 

Students accessed information through something they called “3-D Library Learning”, an online learning environment that they set up using Edmodo. Students accessed the library for their Civil War unit not only during their fixed library time but also virtually in their social studies classes through the resources she had added to the Edmodo site . They kicked off the unit by borrowing Civil War resources from a local museum and conducting a museum walk in the library.  Students blogged and chose topics that were relevant to them. Technology and collaboration helped overcome the obstacles of the fixed schedule.

Evaluation: My two biggest takeaways from this article are 1) the action research that the adults used to constantly reflect upon their own practices during the unit and 2) the use of technology to help overcome not only the barrier of the fixed schedule for students but also the barrier of lack of common planning time for the adults involved in the project.

OERs as a Social Platform

Peretiako-Soto, Alexandria

Cohen, A., Reisman, S.l, & Sperling, B. B. (1 October 2015). Personal spaces 
in public repositories as a facilitator for open educational resource usage.  
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(4), 
156-176.

Summary: 

OERs are offering many benefits to educators and students as they allow for free
access to many resources. Learning object repositories are a popular means of 
sharing OERs as well as storing them and accessing them. A study was done on 
OER user behaviors such as use, commenting, learning exercises used for, and 
content building materials. Both OER collections and users are growing over time 
showing that they are becoming increasingly important and popular. There are 6 
types of contributors to the OERs studied: teachers, librarians, admins, faculty, 
students, and other. Faculty members were markedly high in uploading content as 
well as submitting learning exercises. OER repositories show high rates of reuse 
of materials, with almost 30% of content being reused. The ability for personal 
expression among repository users would be beneficial. Many repositories require
member status to upload, edit, or comment on resources, but allow anyone to view 
them.

Evaluation:

This article was very interesting as it discussed not only the relevance and benefits 
of OERs, but also the social aspect of OERs. For instance, who is uploading content? 
Who is viewing it? Are people starting educational discussions amongst each other in 
the comments? Who is allowed to comment? As someone who is fairly new to the 
world of OERs, I was not aware that there were platforms used where content users 
and generators could interact with one another.

Key Trends & Technologies Impacting Higher Ed: The 2016 Horizon Report

Micka, Tracy.

INFO266, Fall 2016

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Hall, C. (2016). NMC Horizon Report: 2016 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-horizon-report-2016-higher-education-edition/

The highly respected Horizon Report (Higher Education edition) for 2016 has been released, highlighting the trends, challenges, and technology that will impact higher education over the next five years. The key trends accelerating technology adoption can be summarized as:

1. Advancing cultures of innovation:  Using technology as a catalyst, universities aim to foster a Silicon Valley startup / entrepreneurial culture in order to drive innovation that will have practical / commercial outcomes for the local community and even the global workplace.
2. Rethinking how institutions work: Research shows a gap between the needs of the 21st century economy and how students are currently being prepared for the workplace. Cross-disciplinary approaches and new competency-based credentialing programs are made possible by technology and work to expand educational opportunities while also enhancing the employability of graduates.
3. Redesigning Learning Spaces: Physical spaces on campus must accommodate the new pedagogies of student-centered, active learning which is project-based and hands-on, calling for multiple devices, mobility, collaboration, lots of bandwidth, and remote access. These new spaces mimic real-world work environments, not lecture halls.
4. Shift to deeper learning approaches: Critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and self-directed learning are the new buzzwords articulating the cornerstones of modern education. All of this works to help students make connections between their education and the real world. Technology- namely the internet, but also web 2.0 tools, virtual reality, robotics and even 3D printers- enables deeper learning by giving students unprecedented access to information, otherwise remote experts/practitioners, and to each other to collaborate, create, and share to an authentic audience.
5. Growing focus on measured learning: Data mining software, and the prevalence of online programs and learning management systems provide the basis for massive data gathering that feeds a growing industry in analytics and changes in student assessment. With the trend toward better matching student skills with workplace needs, assessment is morphing from measuring rote learning to tracking competency-based learning goals. Protecting student privacy in the midst of this data mining is a key factor for policy leaders.
6. Increasing use of blended learning designs: Online learning is gaining traction in colleges and universities as technology and multimedia make high quality, low-cost, and even free learning objects/content available. By integrating face-to-face classes with online offerings, universities can offer greater affordability, accessibility, and more personalization.  

The following six technologies have been selected as ones likely to have real impact in higher education over the short, medium, and long term:

1. BYOD (Short Term; 1 yr or less)
2. Learning Analytics and Adaptive Learning (Short Term; 1 yr or less)
3. Augmented and Virtual Reality (Medium Term; 2-3 yrs)
4. Makerspaces (Medium Term; 2-3 yrs)
5. Affective Computing (Long Term; 4-5 yrs)
6. Robotics (Long Term; 4-5 yrs)

My comments:

Understandably, I see a lot of overlap between the K-12 and the higher ed reports. Namely, the trends of attention to deeper learning and redesigning learning spaces, since everyone is rethinking how these institutions (schools and universities) work. As far as technology developments, both institutions will be impacted by makerspaces, robotics & virtual reality, and online learning which provides useful analytics to boost learning outcomes, but which needs to be balanced by privacy concerns. All in all, education is changing dramatically, fueled by disruptive technologies and the new pedagogies that spring from them.