Did you stop by our booth at ISTE 2015?

Our displayed flyers and reports from our ISTE 2015 booth are available for download. Visit our website to download the materials, or click on the thumbnails below:

  

  

  

Click here to visit our data findings website

Article by Julie Evans in Educational Leadership: "A Vision for Mobile Learning: More Verbs, Fewer Nouns"

Are you a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)? If so, check out this month's issue of Educational Leadership, featuring an article about students' views on mobile learning by Julie Evans.

If you're an ASCD member, click here to read the full article.

About ASCD: Founded in 1943, ASCD (doing business as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is the global leader in developing and delivering innovative programs, products, and services that empower educators to support the success of each learner. The association provides expert and innovative solutions in professional development, capacity building, and educational leadership essential to the way educators learn, teach, and lead.

CoSN 2015: The Eight Essentials for Success in Mobile Learning

Tuesday, March 17

9:15-10:15am - M301

Focus Area: Pioneering Innovation

Click here for more information

Presenters: 
Chris Dede, Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies, Harvard University
Julie Evans, CEO, Project Tomorrow

Description:
Researchers and developers have generated many insights about how to design, deliver, and evaluate highly successful mobile learning projects. These strategies for effective development and sustainability are summarized below, categorized as “8 essentials”:
• Purposeful planning for mobile device usage
• Leveraging content and curriculum that is mobile-empowered
• Understanding the power of Internet access
• Preparing educators effectively
• Securing leadership buy-in
• Building personal learner efficacy and capacity for self-directed learning
• Measuring project results with meaningful metrics
• Creating an ecosystem that is sustainable and scalable
Applying these strategies will greatly increase the chances for success of a mobile learning initiative.

This session will present examples illustrating successful use for each of the eight strategies. Participants will gain insights into how to develop, implement, and evaluate mobile learning initiatives.

Infographic: Mobile Learning in the United States

In honor of Mobile Learning Week 2015, we created this handy infographic based on mobile learning data pulled from Speak Up 2014. Click here to view the full image, or click on the smaller version above. Let us know what you think!

Additionally, if you participated in Speak Up 2014, your data is now available for viewing! Click here to access your data or retrieve any lost passwords.

Memo #5 from Mobile Learning Week 2015

Paris, France

February 27, 2015

The last day at this year’s Mobile Learning Week was a research seminar. The goal of the seminar was to bring together researchers as well as practitioners and policymakers to discuss the types of research that is available and needed around mobile learning, with an eye this year on women and girls.  With our longstanding interest and work in mobile learning research, I was excited participate in these discussions and to be part of the closing MLW2015 panel about the intersection of mobiles, women/girls and leadership.

At first glance, these three terms or concepts – mobile devices, women/girls’ empowerment, leadership – may seem to be an odd mix with little apparent commonality.  Each is a rich topic in their own right and in many circles, justifies their own dedicated conferences and research.  That is why this year’s Mobile Learning Week, as a collaboration between UNESCO and UN-Women, was such a fascinating idea and experience.  The big question is where do these three weighty concepts intersect and how can they be leveraged together to yield greater impact for all.  With the benefit of hindsight now, it is obvious that through the week’s keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions and workshops, the real goal of this year’s event was to uncover this unique intersection.  Not an easy task but one that I think was very successfully summarized in this closing panel.  I felt honored to be able to share my interpretation of this challenge (and potential solutions) as a panel participant.  Here is a short synopsis of some of the remarks I shared on this panel.   

As we learn from the annual Speak Up data, while girls and boys have similar perceptions on the value of digital tools and resources, including mobile devices, on their learning, the way they want to use technology can be very different. Girls are particularly interested in using mobiles to connect, create and collaborate with others.  Underlying these activities is a deep felt passion to share ideas and to have a voice in local as well as wider range issues that affect their lives. After spending the week with conference representatives from all over the globe, I have a new appreciation for the immense power of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to enable girls and women to have a voice, a voice that in many parts of the world is not socially or culturally the norm.  In that sense, the impact of mobile devices on women and girls is indeed a new sense of empowerment.  And while we don’t often think about that in the United States, I think the impact can be similar in many circumstances.  Beyond sharing ideas, we also learn from Speak Up that girls like the idea of using their mobile devices to create and share various forms of content.  This type of content creation can be to develop skills or to gain feedback from others on their work. Earlier in the week, I learned about an interesting Silicon Valley nonprofit called Technovation (http://www.technovationchallenge.org/home/) that provides a program and competition for girls around mobile app development to solve local problems. This type of activity brings together the idea of skill development with content creation in a way that has high relevancy for girls.  Again more empowerment at play!

When I think about the types of skills that girls are acquiring through their use of mobile devices and mobile-enabled content, the concept of developing a next great generation of women leaders comes clearer into focus. When I talk with corporate and university leaders about the types of skills that today’s youth need to acquire to be successful in the new economy and society, the refrain is amazing consistent.  The skills that have the highest value include communications, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and computation thinking.  These are also the same skills that leadership gurus say are essential for leadership in a global, information-intensive era.  As noted earlier, the girls themselves articulate the relationships between their use of mobile devices and the development of these types of skills. Given the need for the development of new skills, and a new attitude about the potential of women and girls to be full participants in leadership roles in work and society, the responsibility of mobile devices in supporting these twin goals cannot be ignored.  It simply makes common sense now.  So, as we close out this year’s Mobile Learning Week, our new discussions post-2015 should be not about if access to mobile devices is important for women and girls, but rather, what we need to do to position these tools to enable and empower new capabilities and opportunities for all.  I look forward to continuing this discussion throughout the year and leveraging what I have learned at this year’s Mobile Learning Week to inform our work at Project Tomorrow.  

Memo #4 from Mobile Learning Week 2015

Paris, France
February 26, 2015

This year’s Mobile Learning Week was a collaboration of UNESCO and UN-Women.  The collaboration led to a unique theme of how to empower women and girls with mobile devices.  The keynotes, panels and breakout sessions therefore focused on this intersection of technology and gender, and the topic of gender-sensitivity was front and center throughout the week.  But let’s be candid.  Some people do not know what gender-sensitivity means, and too many people have misunderstandings and wrong assumptions around women and girls’ interests in mobile learning.  My goal with this blog posting is to demystify the important topic based upon the research that we did for this week’s workshop. Let’s jump in by examining this gender-sensitivity from several levels!

Why is this topic important? 
Based upon the Speak Up data as well as results from several mobile learning evaluations conducted by Project Tomorrow, we have observed that mobile learning has a gender component.  When students are asked about how they want to use a mobile device to support their learning, girls and boys have different aspirations for schoolwork usage. For example, middle school boys want to use a mobile device to find online videos to help them with homework. Comparatively, middle school girls are often more interested in using their smartphone or tablet for collaborations with classmates, taking notes in class and communicating with classmates and teachers. Despite best efforts, instructional materials including digital content that are used with mobile devices may not be as gender sensitive as they could be.  Given that reality, it makes sense that we should dig more deeply into how digital tools and resources are either reinforcing or debunking traditional gender based norms and/or stereotypes. The goal therefore should be to more gender-sensitive or responsive in our plans for and use of those digital tools so that all students have an equitable opportunity for education.    

What is the definition of gender-sensitivity?  
There is an extensive body of research on the many terms used when discussing gender issues in education including gender-unequal, gender-blind, gender-specific and gender-sensitive.  Per the research, the three defining characteristics of gender-sensitivity are as follows:

• Gender-sensitivity considers gender norms, role and relationships 
• It takes into account the impact of policies, projects and programs on women/girls and men/boys 
• And it tries to mitigate negative consequences of the gender impact.

Comparatively, gender-blind see no differences between how girls and boys approach instructional materials or technology.  Instructional materials that are gender-unequal or bias are developed to favor one gender over another.  Gender-specific is similar but without the inherent negative consequences.

How can we become more gender-sensitive in our selection of instructional materials for use in classrooms by girls and boys?
As noted above, the research on this topic including case studies and implications for a wide range of instructional materials is available through multiple sources.  However, despite the extensiveness of the research, there is surprisingly very few resources that could be used by a teacher, school or district to evaluate the tools and content that they are using within instruction. For our workshop on Monday, therefore, we developed that kind of tool that can help you identify the gender-sensitivity of the digital content you may be using with students right now.  The Guide for Evaluating Gender-Sensitivity within Digital Content includes a list of “questions for consideration.”  The questions are categorized into four themes:  categorization, imagery and language, storyline and results.  While the guide will not give you a grade or score for your digital content, it will help to instigate new discussions around gender-sensitivity, the use of digital content within instruction, and education equity.  The best news is that you can access this guide on our website.  Check out both versions of the guide (one for digital content and a similar one for digital games) at www.tomorrow.org/UNESCOworkshop.html.  If you use the guide within your school, district or organization, let us know your thoughts on this new tool.

Memo #1 from Mobile Learning Week 2015

Paris, France

February 23, 2015

According to Dr. Patience Stephens, Director/Special Advisor on Education for UN-Women, it is no longer appropriate or tolerable to do a minimalist job of providing girls and women with the tools they need to improve their lives – most notably with a second-class education. What a true statement – so obvious, but still not reality, especially not in many places around the globe.  With that inspiration and a call to more fully examine how mobile devices in particular can enable and empower change for girls and women, this year’s Mobile Learning Week 2015 was off to a great start.  Today was the workshop day of the weeklong event and I was honored to be chosen from a field of 70 proposals to lead one of the 12 workshops today.  Additionally, our good friend, Dr. Kari Stubbs, Vice President of Innovation and Learning at BrainPOP asked me to participate in her workshop to provide Speak Up research support.  It was a fun and exciting day examining the intersections of STEM, digital learning, games, coding, mobile devices – and girls!  I am excited to share with you 2 big takeaways based upon the workshops today that I hope may lead to deeper discussions on these important issues in your schools, districts, organizations and communities. If they do, I would love to hear back from you!

Take-away #1:  The morning workshop was led by the BrainPOP team and focused on girls’ interest in playing learning games, creating their own games, and learning how to code using mobile devices. Speak Up data provided the contextual background for many of the learning experiences within this workshop.  What I especially liked was the high level of audience participation and interactivity within the workshop.  Participants had multiple opportunities to play different kinds of games and even try their hand at coding.  While playing learning games is always fun, the play/learn experiences was grounded in examining the content through the lens of gender-sensitivity.  While it may seem easy to identify Game X as a “boy-oriented” game and Game Y as “girl-focused,” the audience quickly realized that those superficial stereotypes were inconclusive.  Using a guide developed by Project Tomorrow for this workshop, the participants had a chance to do a deeper dive as game and content evaluators and in the process, learned a lot of about their own biases and potential blindness to gender issues in digital content, games and other instructional materials.  The guide is available with other workshop materials at http://www.tomorrow.org/UNESCOworkshop.html.   We already know that the inclusion of mobile devices increases student engagement in learning. But what if we could prove that using mobile devices helps create more gender-responsive, transformative learning environments for all students?    We have much more work to do in this arena but I was excited to see the level of interest in this topic amongst the Mobile Learning Week attendees. 

Take-away #2:  In the afternoon workshop, the focus was on how to design, implement and evaluate a gender-sensitive mobile learning project.  I led this workshop with support this time from Dr. Stubbs. Based upon Project Tomorrow research in this area, we shared a new way of thinking about the evolution of a mobile planning project from a gender-sensitivity perspective, starting from the identification of your project purpose through the synthesis of research data to share with stakeholders.  But first we had to review what we meant by gender-sensitivity.  A simplified version is basically becoming more aware of gender norms, roles and relationships and how those inherent or un-intended biases or opinions influences students’ learning. The real goal here is to develop new mobile learning projects that recognize gender issues and then, strategically and deliberately create ways to minimize the impact of any gender-blind or unequal priorities or values. As you might imagine these workshop topics instigated new questions and ideas about understanding and identifying gender-sensitivity.  Several points that the audience made on this topic intrigued me; I need to do more thinking on several of the points raised. However, several questions came up as to whether the goal of gender-sensitivity was to right the wrongs of the past in terms of unequal learning opportunities for girls, or to aim for how gender issues can be mitigated to the point of truly equal education for all genders. Both approaches are important to consider especially because in some communities, there is an emerging “boy crisis” where male students are feeling like second class citizens in their schools and that perception is affecting their school performance.  Sound familiar?  So, how do we really design, implement and evaluate new mobile learning projects that enable girls to reach for the stars in educational opportunities while not dashing the dreams and aspirations of their brothers?   I have a few suggestions.  Check out the PowerPoint from today’s workshop.  Spoiler alert – the powerpoint includes brand new data findings from Speak Up 2014. Review, enjoy and pass it on: http://www.tomorrow.org/UNESCOworkshop.html.

Tuesday is the first day of the two day Mobile Learning Symposium.  The Symposium includes inspiring keynotes and plenary sessions – and a myriad of small, TedTalk like sessions on all kinds of topics related to girls, women and mobile learning.  It is going to be a full day.  Be part of the experience by following me on Twitter (@JulieEvans_PT).  I can’t wait to share with you tomorrow my new learnings from this event in our Memo #2 from Mobile Learning Week 2015!  

February 18th Webinar: Learn How Technology is Improving the Classroom Experience

Join executive leadership Michael Flood from Kajeet and Julie Evans from Project Tomorrow, for a webinar on Wednesday, February 18 at 4 PM EST. This event will focus on the findings of a two year long research study which took an in-depth look at the impact of 1-to-1 tablet implementation in elementary and middle schools. The project was sponsored by Kajeet with funding from Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach Initiative. Find out more about:

• Increased student engagement in lessons which resulted in higher scores
• Teacher adaptation to Mobile Learning which led to increased student reading and writing fluency
• At-home Internet access led to higher student/family engagement, contributing to academic success
• Detailed explanation of how Kajeet is working on bridging the digital divide

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Time: 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

Problems Registering?

Please contact Ayesha Lodhi at alodhi@kajeet.com for assistance.

Speak Up 2014 Snapshot for Parents

This is a special blog posting by Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, to share some selected , preliminary data findings from Speak Up 2014 (data collected from November 25th from 16,200 parents of school aged children nationwide). The final data results will be published in a series of national reports in spring 2015.

Mobiles for learning?  Parents say yes!

Over the past 12 years, some of the most significant data findings from the Speak Up surveys have revolved around mobile devices and their use within the classroom.  While we continue each year to uncover new findings about how teachers and students are using laptops, tablets and smartphones to support learning, both in school and at home, I think the data from parents about their opinions on mobile learning, and their willingness to support this trend should be of equal importance to school and district leaders.  Parents not only mobilists themselves (users of mobile devices) but increasingly they also see these devices as essential learning tools for their children.

When asked to identify the benefits of student use of mobile devices within instruction, parents’ top responses in this year’s Speak Up surveys reflect a triad of core advantages associated with digital learning. 

First, parents see mobile devices as providing their students with a gateway to increased access to learning content, most notably online textbooks (71 percent).   Parents place a high value on the role of digital content within learning today – and laptops, tablets, digital readers and even smartphones are an easy and convenient way for students to use that content anytime, anywhere.  The component of “anywhere learning” is further facilitated by the second core advantage of mobile devices.  Parents like the idea that their children could use a mobile to review class materials afterschool (67 percent), thus extending the learning day beyond the traditional 3 pm school bell.   This extension of the classroom experience, enabled by the mobile devices, also appears to yield an additional benefit of improving school to home communications for many parents as well (59 percent).  Finally, the third core advantage of mobile learning is the idea that these compelling, always on devices can increase student engagement in learning.  Almost 6 out of 10 parents say that increasing student engagement is a significant benefit of incorporating laptops and tablets within classroom instruction; teachers and administrators agree!      

Parents’ perceptions about the benefits of mobile devices are more than a hypothetical discussion however.  Half of all parents of school aged children who completed a Speak Up survey  this year said they would like their child to be in a class where he/she could use their own mobile device to support learning.   While administrators’ views on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies is changing, this vote of approval for that kind of policy change should be a wakeup call for many school districts today.  Equally compelling for district leaders, parents appear to be willing to support that aspiration with a financial investment.  While 14 percent of parents say that they have already purchased a mobile device for their child to use specifically in school for academic purposes, an additional 44 percent say they would be willing to purchase a device for their child to use in class   if school policy allowed for that.  

Want to understand how supportive your school parents are for mobile learning?  Every school and district that participates in Speak Up and promotes the surveys to their parents, students and staff, receives a free report with both local and national data findings.  Speak Up 2014 surveys are open for input until December 19.  Local reports will be available February 5.  Here is your link to the surveys:  http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2014/

Twitter chat: Evaluating Mobile Learning

Did you miss our first #SUchat on October 21st? No problem - you can review our discussion on Evaluating Mobile Learning here, or click on the image below:

Join Julie for her first Twitter chat - tonight!

Project Tomorrow CEO, Julie Evans, is hosting her first Twitter chat TONIGHT! Join her at 8PM ET to discuss mobile learning. Check out some information below:

Topic: Evaluating Mobile Learning

Time: Tuesday, October 21st at 8PM ET/7PM CT/5PM PT

While attending the 2014 mEducation Alliance International Symposium, Julie will take content from the event and our report with Kajeet, "Making Learning Mobile: Leveraging Mobile Devices to Transform Teaching and Learning" onto Twitter during the "Evaluating Mobile Learning" Twitter chat. Join her to discuss how schools can use and evaluate mobile learning!

Additionally, the following questions will be discussed during the chat:

1. Why mobile learning? What are three words/phrases that represent the top benefits of using mobiles in the classroom?
2. What is needed to ensure that a mobile learning project is a success?
3. What is the best way to evaluate or measure that a project is successful?

If participating, be sure to use the hashtag #SUchat in your Tweets! We hope to see you on Twitter at 8PM ET!

Julie Evans is now on Twitter!

Project Tomorrow CEO, Julie Evans, is now on Twitter! She will be hosting THREE Twitter chats over the next few weeks regarding mobile learning, digital content and games in the classroom, and the benefits of blended learning. All chats will take place at 8pm Eastern Time. You can follow Julie at @JulieEvans_PT. Below you will find all the information you need to join us on Twitter: ▪ ▪ Evaluating Mobile Learning Join us on Tuesday, October 21st at 8pm ET to discuss mobile learning ▪ ▪ Digital Content and Games in the Classroom Do you use digital content and games in the classroom? Join us on Tuesday, October 28th to discuss! ▪ ▪ Blended Learning Benefits What are the benefits of blended learning in schools? Let us know on Thursday, November 6th! As always, don't forget to follow us on our Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. -The Project Tomorrow team

Evaluating Mobile Learning Time: Tuesday, October 21st at 8PM ET/7PM CT/5PM PT While attending the 2014 mEducation Alliance International Symposium, Julie will take content from the event and our report with Kajeet, "Making Learning Mobile: Leveraging Mobile Devices to Transform Teaching and Learning" onto Twitter during the "Evaluating Mobile Learning" Twitter chat. Join her to discuss how schools can use and evaluate mobile learning! If participating, be sure to use the hashtag #SUchat in your Tweets! Click here to sign up

Digital Content and Games in the Classroom Time: Tuesday, October 28th at 8PM ET/7PM CT/5PM PT Join Julie as she discusses the role of digital content and games in the classroom. Discussion will include findings from our September 2014 report with BrainPOP, "Digital Teachers, Digital Principals: Transforming the Ways We Engage Students." If participating, be sure to use the hashtag #SUchat in your Tweets! Click here to sign up

Blended Learning Benefits Time: Thursday, November 6th at 8PM ET/7PM CT/5PM PT Julie will be hosting a discussion on the benefits of blended learning while she is at the 2014 iNACOL Blended Learning Symposium. During this Twitter chat, she will include topics mentioned at the symposium, as well as data from past Project Tomorrow reports, such as our report, “2013 Trends In Online Learning Virtual, Blended And Flipped Classrooms” with Blackboard K-12. If participating, be sure to use the hashtag #SUchat in your Tweets! Click here to sign up

Thank you for your interest and continued support of Project Tomorrow! Be sure to stay updated on all things Project Tomorrow by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our Blog. Again, don't forget to follow Julie Evans at @JulieEvans_PT!

Around the Web Wednesday

Happy Around the Web Wednesday! Browse all the links below for the latest news and topics trending in education and technology. Be sure to let us know which article intrigued you the most!

Have you registered for Speak Up 2014 yet? Make sure you register to have your voice heard before our launch date on October 6th!

- The Project Tomorrow Team

Online Education Evolves as It Draws More Students - US News

How Virtual Reality Meets Real Life Learning With Mobile Games - MindShift

How Looking at Student Work Keeps Teachers and Kids on Track - MindShift

From Cell Phone Bans to BYOD - The Journal

Review of Common Core education standards begins in NC - News Observer
Ed Games Week Highlights the Emergence of Video Games in Education - Department of Education
What’s behind ‘bad’ math skills? - eSchool News

Around the Web Wednesday

Happy Around the Web Wednesday! Browse all the links below for the latest news and topics trending in education and technology. Be sure to let us know which article intrigued you the most!

Have you registered for Speak Up 2014 yet? Make sure you register to have your voice heard before our launch date on October 6th!

- The Project Tomorrow Team

Digital learning takes front row seat in classrooms - CBS News

San Francisco 49ers Go Long on STEM Education at Levi’s Stadium - TIME

Policymakers hail STEM education as a strong foundation, pushing innovation - Washington Post

STEM is incredibly valuable, but if we want the best innovators we must teach the arts - Washington Post

Mobile learning’s major impact - eSchool News

A Look Inside New Orleans Schools, Run Almost Entirely By Charter Companies - MindShift

Florida Polytechnic Library Goes Book-Free - NPR

There's still time to pick your panels for SXSWedu 2015!

We need your help! Julie Evans is featured in two proposals for SXSWedu 2015's Panel Picker, where educators can cast their votes for the most compelling ideas and ultimately shape the conference line-up. Voting ends on September 5th so make sure to give our sessions a "thumbs up" before time is out - you'll need to create a SXSW username and password if you don't already have one, but the process is simple and free! Learn more about the sessions below:

1. Paying it Forward: Leveraging Today's Female Voices
• This panel brings together female change agents intentionally gathered from across the ed tech space to examine the unique role women play at this nexus of education and technology. Research has demonstrated that the today’s young girls and women need role models in technology fields to develop self-efficacy in these fields. Whether you are examining how to further your own voice, grow your PLN, or mentor the next great generation of female ed tech leaders, this is a “must attend” conversation.
• Vote for this session here
2. Learning My Way: Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace
• Giving students 24/7 access to learning materials can dramatically improve education outcomes as proven in 40+ pilot projects. However, data shows that up to 30% of U.S. households have no access to high-speed broadband at home, and in some districts it’s as high as 70%. This causes many students to power down after school. We need a viable solution to address the gaps for those students without access. Learn about new mobile-centric solutions to enable safe and affordable 24/7 learning.
• Vote for this session here

Don't forget - voting ends this Friday on September 5th!

Flashback Friday: "Project Tomorrow Survey Reports on Latest Digital Learning Trends"

Happy Flashback Friday! Every Friday we focus on Speak Up data, articles, and press releases from the past. This week we're looking at K-12 Tech Decision's article, "Project Tomorrow Survey Reports on Latest Digital Learning Trends" from June 2014, which features data from Speak Up 2013. Check out their article below:

Digital equity is a growing concern for K-12 educators and technology professionals according to the latest Speak Up Survey conducted by Project Tomorrow, a national non-profit education group headquartered in Irvine, California. According to the survey, 46 percent of district technology leaders cite digital equity as the most challenging issue they face. This is up from just 19 percent in a survey conducted in 2010.

Project Tomorrow’s annual Speak Up National research project gathers information for schools and districts across the U.S. to provide insight on digital learning trends. The latest survey sought to provide answers to these three questions:

• How are K-12 students currently using digital tools and resources to support schoolwork activities?
• How are K-12 students currently using digital tools to enable out of school learning activities?
• What are K-12 students’ aspirations for using digital tools and resources within innovative learning environments

Other noticeable findings from the survey include:

• Girls in K-12 use technology for digital collaboration at higher rate than their male peers.
• 29 percent of high school boys say they are interested in a STEM career. Only 19 percent of female high school students reported an interest.
• The use of Facebook is declining among students in grades 6-12, but nearly 44 percent regularly use apps like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine.
• One-third of middle school students say they prefer to read digital materials rather than printed materials, however, more than half say online textbooks would be an essential component of the “ultimate school.”

Are you interested in learning more about what students, educators, administrators, and more have to say about education and digital learning? Click here to read our previous reports.

Don't forget that you can be a part of the conversation. Speak Up and have your voice heard during Speak Up 2014! Speak Up provides an easy way for students, parents and educators to participate in local decisions about technology, as well as contribute to the state and national dialogue about educational technology. Data from the surveys - including data regarding online classes - will be released in February 2015. Click here to register for Speak Up 2014 and mark your calendars for the survey's launch date on October 6!

Pick Your Panels: Vote Us Onto the Official SXSWedu Line-Up

We need your help! Julie Evans is featured in two proposals for SXSWedu 2015's Panel Picker, where educators can cast their votes for the most compelling ideas and ultimately shape the conference line-up. Voting ends on September 5th so make sure to give our sessions a "thumbs up" - you'll need to create a SXSW username and password if you don't already have one, but the process is simple and free! Check out the second session below:

Session two - Learning My Way: Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace

Giving students 24/7 access to learning materials can dramatically improve education outcomes as proven in 40+ pilot projects. However, data shows that up to 30% of U.S. households have no access to high-speed broadband at home, and in some districts it’s as high as 70%. This causes many students to power down after school. We need a viable solution to address the gaps for those students without access. Learn about new mobile-centric solutions to enable safe and affordable 24/7 learning.

Additional Supporting Materials

http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/pdfs/SU2013_MobileLearning.pdf

Questions Answered

1. Communicate how mobile technologies of the future can solve and enhance a new learning experience to help ensure today’s students are well prepared to be tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and engaged citizens of the world.
2. Start a conversation around new mobile-centric solutions to enable safe, affordable, and equitable 24/7 learning.
3. Learn how 24/7 access to their learning materials gives students, teachers and tutors the ability to improve education outcomes - and what you can do to diminish the digital divide in your area.

Speakers

• Julie Evans Project Tomorrow
• Vicki Mealer-Burke Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Organizer

Catherine Baker Qualcomm

Vote for this session here

Don't forget - voting ends on September 5th!

CoSN 2014 Attendees!

It's not too late to stop by CEO of Project Tomorrow, Julie Evans's panel session Tomorrow (3/21) at 10:30AM with Chris Dede!

New Strategies for Transformational Learning: Building Professional Development Capacity through Mobile Technologies
	Presenters	Julie Evans, CEO, Project Tomorrow with Chris Dede    Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies    Harvard University
	Description	Mobile learning for both students and educators is expanding and evolving rapidly. This session highlights insights from several mobile learning initiatives that span the range of new tools, media, and instructional strategies. Its focus is how mobile devices enable novel, effective forms of professional development that increase engagement and learning by both educators and students. Descriptions of exemplary projects across the country will provide you with strategies for leveraging mobile technologies to address key professional development challenges as well as enhance student instruction.
	Focus Area	Vision & Leadership
	Essential Skill 1	Instructional Focus & Professional Development
	Essential Skill 2	Leadership and Vision
	Audience	School System Administrators
	Room	Cardoza

Launching a BYOD Program: Complicated Yet Rewarding

Launching a Bring Your Own Device program in schools can be both exciting and complicated. While the addition of technology in classrooms and homes is exhilarating, school districts may struggle with important details such as making sure each child owns a device, providing a strong Internet connection, and questions around distraction. Although each school has different problems regarding BYOD, it can be agreed that the inclusion of mobile technology in learning environments will help shift instruction to be more collaborative, learner-driven, and inquiry-based.

Forsyth County Schools in Georgia tackled their BYOD program struggles by creating a learner profile (a set of criteria the school district wanted students to learn in school) and by changing the culture surrounding devices. By creating a learner profile, Forsyth was able to guide schools within the district to focus on critical thinking skills, students' readiness to compete in a global environment, and communication skills among other things. Furthermore, by changing the culture surrounding devices, the district was able to show students that mobile devices can be used for educational purposes and not just for texting and Facebook. The district has even incorporated social media into the classroom by introducing students to "back-channeling," which is an ongoing conversation on social media about what students are watching; back-channeling enables teachers to see how students respond to the material before moving to the next lesson.

To read the full article for "How BYOD Programs Can Fuel Inquiry Learning" (Mind/shift), click here. Have experience implementing a BYOD program at your own school? Let us know in the comments section of this post!

Report Release:

Making Learning Mobile 1.0:
Leveraging Mobile Devices to Transform Teaching and Learning

“This project represents a landmark study in the developing K-12 mobile learning space, this study is important because it gets beyond simply putting a tablet in the hands of students, and it examines how to effectively implement tablets within instruction to improve student learning”   —Julie Evans, CEO Project Tomorrow

As part of the Making Learning Mobile study, Chicago 5th grade and Fairfax County 8th grade students were provided with educationally-managed broadband Android tablets using the Kajeet Sentinel® platform to connect kids in school and at home. The objective of the study was to evaluate how the students used the devices, in school and out of school, to support their schoolwork and extend learning beyond the classroom.  While the majority of 8th graders in the Fairfax County study had high-speed Internet access at home, only 39 percent of the Chicago 5th graders had similar access.  Therefore, the Chicago study represented an opportunity to provide first-time home access to the Internet for many families, a ground-breaking initiative within Chicago schools.

While each study resulted in different findings based on the student grade level and demographics, some common results included:

• Students appreciated having a personal tablet because it made it easier for them to get online at school, review class materials whenever they wanted and read online textbooks outside of school all without competing for home computer access.
• Teachers creatively used the tablets in a variety of ways to engage students in learning, to increase student-teacher communications, and to support instruction.

The Making Learning Mobile study is continuing this school year within Chicago Public Schools.

Register for the webinar at http://tinyurl.com/webinarMLM and download the complete report from both school districts on the Kajeet website at: http://www.kajeet.com/4u/education/MLM-form.html.

About Kajeet®
Kajeet, the only wireless service provider dedicated to kids and education, is solving the digital divide in schools. Kajeet for Education provides portable Wi-Fi hotspots with school-managed off-campus Internet connectivity.  Giving teachers or administrators the ability to set access hours and filter out non-educational content, the Kajeet Sentinel® platform, gives students the access to essential academic resources on the Internet anytime, anywhere. The Kajeet SmartSpot™ is compatible with all devices students use today and is 100 percent compliant with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). For more information, please visit us at www.kajeet.com/education.

About Project Tomorrow

Project Tomorrow®, the national education nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering student voices in education discussions, designed and implemented this program evaluation for Kajeet for Education.  Project Tomorrow has 17 years of experience in the K-12 and higher education sector and regularly provides consulting and research support to school districts, government agencies, business and higher education institutions about key trends and research in science, math and technology education.