youth

The new kids on campus? Toddlers, courtesy of Head Start [Nadworny]

On 03/19/2024, in community colleges, parents/guardians, youth, by Daniel Christian

The new kids on campus? Toddlers, courtesy of Head Start — from npr.org by Elissa Nadworny

Now that Sarah Barnes’ son, Samuel, 2, is enrolled in Head Start, it’s lifted an extra stress off Barnes’ shoulders. “It just makes life a little bit easier having child care right on campus,” she says. “I can literally walk over here between classes and check on him.”

Barnes is among the nearly 4 million U.S. college students raising children while getting a degree. More than a third of those students attend community colleges.

Single mothers, like Barnes, account for almost half of student parents, and the vast majority of them have incomes at or near the poverty line, which means they’d qualify for Head Start.

But it’s hard to take advantage of that program if you don’t know about it, and if there isn’t a center with a convenient location.

The Edtech Insiders Rundown of SXSW EDU 2024 [Kornell, Sarlin, & Morin] + other K12-related items

On 03/19/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), curriculum, education, education technology, emerging technologies, faith, health, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, music, society, sociology, teachers, trends, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Edtech Insiders Rundown of SXSW EDU 2024 — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Ben Kornell, Alex Sarlin, and Sarah Morin
And more on our ASU + GSV Happy Hour, GenAI in edtech market valuations, and interviews from The Common Sense Summit.

Theme 1: The Kids Are Not Alright
This year’s SXSW EDU had something for everyone, with over a dozen “Program Tracks.” However, the one theme that truly connected the entire conference was mental health.

36 sessions were specifically tagged with mental health and wellness, but in sessions on topics ranging from literacy to edtech to civic engagement, presenters continued to come back again and again to the mental health crisis amongst teens and young adults.
…
Theme 2: Aye AI, Captain
Consistent with past conferences, this year leaned in on the K12 education world. As expected, one of the hottest topics for K12 was the role of AI (or lack thereof) in schools. Key takeaways included…

AI Literacy: A New Graduation Requirement and Civic Imperative — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Mason Pashia

Key Points

There is still time to ensure that all of your students graduate with an understanding of how AI works, why it is important and how to best use it.

What would it look like to make a commitment that come graduation every senior will have at least basic AI literacy? This includes an appreciation of AI as a creation engine and learning partner but also an understanding of the risks of deepfakes and biased curation. We’re entering a time where to quote Ethan Mollick “You can’t trust anything you read or see ever again.” Whether formal or informal, it’s time to start building AI literacy.

New Alabama Education Law Represents Small But Significant Advance — from forbes.com by Jeanne Allen

More than 50 years later, across the street from the church and concerned with declining education and the pace of social change, brothers Anthony and Fred Brock founded Valiant Cross Academy, an all-male academy aimed at “helping boys of color become men of valor.”

Valiant Cross embodies King’s hopes, pursuing the dream that its students will be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, and working to ensure that they are well prepared for productive lives filled with accomplishment and purpose.

“We’re out to prove that it’s an opportunity gap, not an achievement gap” says head of school Anthony Brock. And they have. In 2022, 100 percent of Valiant seniors graduated from the academy, pursuing post-graduate options, enrolling in either four- or two-year college, or established career-training programs.

This is a scary, messed up situation in K12 — hackers targeting young public school students

On 03/19/2024, in education, education technology, K-12 related, leadership, parents/guardians, privacy, student-related, teachers, the downsides of how people use tech, youth, by Daniel Christian

Hackers are targeting a surprising group of people: young public school students — from npr.org

“This breach was actually really huge,” Gravatt says. “And it wasn’t just school records. It was health records, it was all sorts of things that should be privileged information that are now just out there floating around for anybody to buy.”

It’s an example of a growing nationwide trend in which hackers are targeting a surprising group of people: young public school students.

As school districts depend more on technology, cyberattacks against those systems, and the sensitive data they store, are on the rise. While it’s hard to know exactly how many K-12 school systems have been targeted by hackers, an analysis by the cyber security firm Emsisoft found 45 districts reported they were attacked in 2022. In 2023, that number more than doubled, to 108.

He says stealing a child’s identity may seem counterintuitive because they don’t have resources of their own, but it can cause “a lot of havoc.” Parents don’t necessarily monitor their children’s credit and bad actors can easily open up bank accounts, rack up debt and apply for loans in a child’s name.

“And as a result, cyber criminals can abuse the credit records of minors for many, many years before the victims learn about it,” Levin says.

From DSC:
This is a deeply troubling situation, and yet another example of what occurs when people don’t care about each other. They only want to make money — and they don’t care about how they go about doing that. (LORD, help us!)

As the article suggests, the impacts of these breaches can last for years. When sensitive information is lost in a breach, that information can come back to haunt young people as they try to get jobs, get into colleges, build positive credit reports, and more.

So we need to invest in the hardware, software, and people to protect that data.

Young people coming out of college, cut up those credit cards the first time you can’t pay them off!

On 03/16/2024, in Daniel S. Christian, economics, parents/guardians, productivity / tips and tricks, relationships, strategy, student-related, surviving, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Young people coming out of college, if you can’t pay your credit card every month, cut it up. The higher interest rates can put you in hugely stressful, costly situations.

Per Bloomberg: But while the US economy has avoided a recession and unemployment has remained low, pic.twitter.com/bSWLZi1KJd

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) March 16, 2024

…that doesn’t mean everyone is having an easy time of it. Some Americans feel increasingly pressured by the surge in the cost of carrying their debt. Delinquency rates on their credit card debt and auto loans are now at the highest in more than a decade.

Just a serious note of caution for you and for your future families.

And speaking of youth and personal finances — and seeing as it’s tax time — also see:

Topic no. 501, Should I itemize?

Deductions reduce the amount of your taxable income. In general, individuals not in a trade or business or an activity for profit, may take a standard deduction or itemize their deductions.
…
You should itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions if the total amount of your allowable itemized deductions is greater than your standard deduction or if you must itemize deductions because you can’t use the standard deduction. You may also want to itemize deductions if your standard deduction is limited because another taxpayer claims you as a dependent. Itemized deductions, subject to certain dollar limitations, include amounts you paid, during the taxable year, for state and local income or sales taxes, real property taxes, personal property taxes, mortgage interest, disaster losses, gifts to charities, and part of the amount you paid for medical and dental expenses.

What is executive function? [Belsky]

On 03/13/2024, in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), biology, memory, neurodivergent/special needs, parents/guardians, participation, professional development, psychology, student-related, teachers, user experience (UX), youth, by Daniel Christian

Executive function is a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn, work, and manage daily life. Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions, and handle emotions, among other things.

Snapshot: What executive function is
Some people describe executive function as “the management system of the brain.” That’s because the skills involved let us set goals, plan, and get things done. When people struggle with executive function, it impacts them at home, in school, and in life.

There are three main areas of executive function. They are…

Let’s Celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st!!!

On 03/13/2024, in adult learning, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), neurodivergent/special needs, society, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Let’s celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st! The theme is “End The Stereotypes.”

And for me, there is no “normal” anymore. That’s a word that has increasingly been pushed out of my vocabulary. I don’t believe in it anymore.

Along these lines, here’s one of the quotes from the website:

Some people think that people with Down syndrome can’t live ‘normal’ lives. That’s wrong! And what is ‘normal’ anyway?

My life is similar to lots of my family and friends. I went to my local school, I’m involved in a local orchestra and the scouts. I am training to be a teaching assistant.

All of this for me is ‘normal’, just like everyone else.
.

Also see:

Let’s Celebrate World Down Syndrome Day 2024 on March 21st!!! — from charityfootprints.com

Also see:

[Opinion] It’s okay to play: How ‘play theory’ can revitalize U.S. education [Samstag] + other items re: pedagogy within K12

On 03/12/2024, in credentialing, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, interaction design, interactivity, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, microlearning, multimedia, music, pedagogy, play, student-related, teachers, youth, by Daniel Christian

Guiding Students in Special Education to Generate Ideas for Writing — from edutopia.org by Erin Houghton
When students are stuck, breaking the brainstorming stage down into separate steps can help them get started writing.

Students who first generate ideas about a topic—access what they know about it—more easily write their outlines and drafts for the bigger-picture assignment. For Sally, brainstorming was too overwhelming as an initial step, so we started off by naming examples. I gave Sally a topic—name ways characters in Charlotte’s Web helped one another—she named examples of things (characters), and we generated a list of ways those characters helped one another.

IMPLEMENTING BRAINSTORMING AS SKILL BUILDING
This “naming” strategy is easy to implement with individual students or in groups. These are steps to get you started.

Step 1. Introduce the student to the exercise.
Step 2. Select a topic for practice.
…

[Opinion] It’s okay to play: How ‘play theory’ can revitalize U.S. education — from hechingerreport.org by Tyler Samstag
City planners are recognizing that play and learning are intertwined and turning public spaces into opportunities for active learning

When we’re young, playing and learning are inseparable.

Simple games like peekaboo and hide-and-seek help us learn crucial lessons about time, anticipation and cause and effect. We discover words, numbers, colors and sounds through toys, puzzles, storybooks and cartoons. Everywhere we turn, there’s something fun to do and something new to learn.

Then, somewhere around early elementary school, learning and play officially become separated for life.

Suddenly, learning becomes a task that only takes place in proper classrooms with the help of textbooks, homework and tests. Meanwhile, play becomes a distraction that we’re only allowed to indulge in during our free time, often by earning it as a reward for studying. As a result, students tend to grow up feeling as if learning is a stressful chore while playing is a reward.

Similar interactive learning experiences are popping up in urban areas from California to the East Coast, with equally promising results: art, games and music are being incorporated into green spaces, public parks, transportation stations, laundromats and more.

And on a somewhat related note, also see:

Though meant for higher ed, this is also applicable to the area of pedagogy within K12:

Space to fail. And learn — from educationalist.substack.com by Alexandra Mihai
I want to use today’s newsletter to talk about how we can help students to own their mistakes and really learn from them, so I’m sharing some thoughts, some learning design ideas and some resources…

10 ideas to make failure a learning opportunity

Start with yourself:
Admit when you don’t know something
Try to come up with “goal free problems”
Always dig deeper:
Encourage practice:
…

From DSC:
Given this need…

We need to take more of the research from learning science and apply it in our learning spaces.
…I’m highlighting the following resources:

How Learning Happens — from edutopia.org
In this series, we explore how educators can guide all students, regardless of their developmental starting points, to become productive and engaged learners.

These techniques have resonated with educators everywhere: They are focused on taking advantage of the incredible opportunity to help children reach their full potential by creating positive relationships, experiences, and environments in which every student can thrive. In fact, the science is beginning to hint at even more dramatic outcomes. Practices explicitly designed to integrate social, emotional, and cognitive skills in the classroom, the research suggests, can reverse the damages wrought by childhood trauma and stress—while serving the needs of all students and moving them onto a positive developmental and academic path.

Also from edutopia.org recently, see:

How to Introduce Journaling to Young Children — from edutopia.org by Connie Morris
Students in preschool through second grade can benefit from drawing or writing to explore their thoughts and feelings.

The symbiotic relationship between reading and writing can help our youngest students grow their emergent literacy skills. The idea of teaching writing at an early age can seem daunting. However, meeting children where they are developmentally can make a journaling activity become a magical experience—and they don’t have to write words but can convey thoughts in pictures.

7 Digital Tools That Help Bring History to Life — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
Challenging games, fun projects, and a healthy dose of AI tools round out our top picks for breathing new life into history lessons.

We’ve compiled a list of seven teacher-tested tools, and we lay out how educators are using them both to enhance their lessons and to bring history closer to the present than ever.

Integrating Technology Into Collaborative Professional Learning — from edutopia.org by Roxi Thompson
Incorporating digital collaboration into PD gives teachers a model to replicate when setting up tech activities for students.

Ecosystems for the future of learning — from thebigidea.education-reimagined.org by Education Reimagined and the History Co:Lab

The intent of this report is to help communities build their capacity for transformation of education, advancing toward what our society needs most—a system that works for young people. It draws on the experiences and insights of innovators across the United States who are already answering this challenge—creating learner-centered, community-based ecosystems.
…
This report includes:

a landscape analysis of select communities creating learning ecosystems;
a framework that emerged from the analysis and can be used by communities to consider their readiness and appetite for this transformation;
an invitation to communities to explore and discover their own path for reimagining education; and
a call for national and regional institutions to listen, learn from, and create the conditions for communities to pursue their visions.

From DSC:
The above items was accessed via the article below:

Where Does Work to Imagine a Learner-Centered Ecosystem Begin? — from gettingsmart.com by Alin Bennett

Key Points

The Norris School District in Wisconsin exemplifies how learner profiles and community connections can enhance authentic learning experiences for young people, fostering a culture of belonging and responsibility.
Purdue Polytechnic High School demonstrates the importance of enabling conditions, such as creating microschools with access to shared services, to support a learner-centered approach while ensuring scalability and access to a variety of resources.

Career-Connected Learning: Preparing Students for a Dynamic Future [Vander Ark & Andrews]

On 02/28/2024, in apprenticeships, career development, collaboration, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, project-based learning, real-world assignments, skills, student-related, teachers, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Career-Connected Learning: Preparing Students for a Dynamic Future — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Victoria Andrews

Key Points

Connecting young people with career awareness needs to start at an early age to provide them with the necessary landscape view of opportunity and skills.
Whether young people engage client-focused opportunities, internships, or endure academically challenging coursework, career-connected learning is an environment to cultivate a sense of self-awareness, determination, and direction, essential for their success in both education and life.

Also from Getting Smart, see:

CHILD: A Microschool Unlocking the Potential for Unique Learners — by Maureen O’Shaughnessy

Key Points

The success of adaptive learning is not solely based on the program, but rather on the people behind it.
Clarity on “who you serve” is critical to success.

Despite what we may see or hear, life is precious. [Christian]

On 02/15/2024, in Daniel S. Christian, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, faith, future, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, ideas, lifelong learning, morals/values, parents/guardians, relationships, religion, society, student-related, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
After reading the book entitled “Love & Hate” by Bill Halamandaris — a book about Henri Landwirth, the founder of the Give Kids the World Village — and “On Purpose” by Pamela Landwirth, I was struck with several thoughts. Below are just some of them:

There is enormous power in a vision.
People want purpose and meaning in their lives. They want their lives to count. To matter.
People want to work for an organization that is concretely making the world a better place in which to live.
People want to buy from businesses that are making a positive contribution to the world.
Both love and hate are powerful. But let’s choose to go forward with love.
Parents, grandparents, and/or other guardians of critically-ill children carry enormous, hidden burdens. Let’s try to notice those burdens and help them out.
Life is precious.

Let's remember this -- Despite what we may hear and see, life is precious.

From DSC:
Recently, a group from our church went to serve down at the Give Kids the World Village, in Kissimee, Florida. I wanted to relay the specialness of this place and say a few words about the Founder of the Give Kids the World Village: a man by the name of Henri Landwirth. Over the last few weeks in the Orlando area, the Holy Spirit helped me to think about the power of a vision, as both Walt Disney and Henri Landwirth were visionaries.

But first, it’s important to note that Henri survived FIVE concentration camps during WWII. He had no name there. He was known only as B4343.

Henri:

Was in concentration camps from ages 13-18
He lost both of his parents to acts of mass murder
Henri survived FIVE YEARS of hunger, torture, and horrendous conditions
He faced what looked like certain death several times

Yet as I was reading the book entitled “Love & Hate”, I kept wondering if I was seeing the fingerprints of God on Henri’s life.

After the war, Henri went in search of former Nazis, for whom he was filled with hatred. And while I don’t have time to relay the fateful day that changed Henri’s perspective and his life, the bottom line was that he didn’t want to become like his former captors the Nazis. Surprisingly and amazingly, he chose love, not hate.

Fast forward to Henri’s coming to America, working very hard, and climbing up the ladder of the Holiday Inn organization.

Then fast forward even further to the time Henri was looking for a location to build his vision. Quoting from page 139:

Henri took his checkbook and began looking for a location for Give Kids the World Village. He found it almost immediately in Kissimmee. When Henry looked at the lot, he could already see the Village there. Where others might have seen rows of burned orange trees and wetlands, Henri saw villages, a place for kids to fish, and a castle. “I could see it all,” Henri says, “as if my dream had already come to life.”

A few last notable things about the Give Kids the World Village:

According to the book by Bill Halamandaris, the Village was built with ZERO CONTRACTS and NO ADVERTISEMENTS from those who helped create the village! This is underheard of for $60+ million worth of facilities and the millions of dollars’ worth of donated services.
The Village has thousands of volunteers and it takes 160 volunteers per day to keep it running
Since 1986, Give Kids The World Village has welcomed more than 188,000 families from all 50 states and 77 countries.

So I want to leave you with the idea that we were witnesses of – and participants in – the tremendous power of a vision.

A Community Micro-Credentials Effort Connects Students to Local Employers [McCool]

On 02/14/2024, in business, collaboration, corporate / business world, credentialing, real-world assignments, skills, vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, youth, by Daniel Christian

A Community Micro-Credentials Effort Connects Students to Local Employers — from gettingsmart.com by David McCool

Key Points

Partnering credentialing opportunities alongside pre-existing regional initiatives is a great way to get buy-in and create momentum.

***

When Polk County schools began focusing on career and technical education in the spring of 2023, one of their goals was to help students succeed in the workplace by offering the opportunity to develop soft skills and earn micro-credentials to communicate with potential employers. The district collaborated with Education Design Lab, Muzzy Lane, Polk Vision, the Central Florida Development Council, and Southern New Hampshire University to make this dream a reality.

In its first few years, this collaboration has not only taught students valuable skills but has also provided employers with new recruitment opportunities and a linkage to a talent pipeline that they otherwise wouldn’t have had.

OpenAI is testing ChatGPT’s ability to remember things + other items re: AI in general

On 02/14/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, colleges, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education technology, emerging technologies, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, lifelong learning, Open AI, personalized/customized learning, platforms, professional development, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, tools, youth, by Daniel Christian

We’re testing ChatGPT’s ability to remember things you discuss to make future chats more helpful.

This feature is being rolled out to a small portion of Free and Plus users, and it’s easy to turn on or off. https://t.co/1Tv355oa7V pic.twitter.com/BsFinBSTbs

— OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 13, 2024

From DSC:
This would be huge for all of our learning ecosystems, as the learning agents could remember where a particular student or employee is at in terms of their learning curve for a particular topic.

Say What? Chat With RTX Brings Custom Chatbot to NVIDIA RTX AI PCs — from blogs.nvidia.com
Tech demo gives anyone with an RTX GPU the power of a personalized GPT chatbot.

? BREAKING: Nvidia just released Chat with RTX, an AI chatbot that runs locally on your PC.

It can summarize or search documents across your PC's files and even YouTube videos and playlists.

The chatbot runs locally, meaning results are fast, you can use it without the… pic.twitter.com/je3gzOs45I

— Rowan Cheung (@rowancheung) February 13, 2024

“Why Doesn’t Every Office Building Have A Microschool?” [McDonald] + other items from the PreK-12 learning ecosystem

On 02/13/2024, in assessment, education, K-12 related, parents/guardians, student-related, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

K-12 students learned a lot last year, but they’re still missing too much school — from npr.org by Cory Turner and Sequoia Carrillo

1. Students are starting to make up for missed learning
From spring 2022 to spring 2023, students made important learning gains, making up for about one-third of the learning they had missed in math and a quarter of the learning they had missed in reading during the pandemic.

2. Despite that progress, very few states are back to pre-pandemic learning levels

The Results Are In: Parents Favor School Choice — from realcleareducation.com by Hanna Skandera; via GSV

Parents want a choice when it comes to their children’s education.

A new report published by The National School Choice Awareness Foundation reveals that 72% of parents considered new schools for their children in 2023 — a massive 35% increase from 2022. Additionally, more than 70% of parents in nearly every state support the implementation of school choice policies.

This momentum has caught the attention of state legislatures across the country.

Why Doesn’t Every Office Building Have A Microschool? — from fee.org by Kerry McDonald; via GSV
“We are breaking down walls between communities and classrooms,” said Revolution School founder, Gina Moore.

Today, intrepid educators continue to try to make change within the traditional schooling system, but increasingly entrepreneurial teachers and parents are working outside the system to create innovative, accessible K-12 learning models that push beyond the four walls of a conventional classroom—literally and figuratively.

One such program is Revolution School, a private, accredited high school located in a downtown office building in Philadelphia that draws students from more than 25 zip codes across the city.

Revolution School focuses on meaningful internships where students, known as “Rev-terns,” partner with local businesses to learn workplace skills and gain valuable experience. Students also take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities at the nearby Community College of Philadelphia, accumulating college credits while being mentored by Revolution School teachers.

PROOF POINTS: Tracking student data falls short in combating absenteeism at school — from hechingerreport.org by Jill Barshay
A post-pandemic study of an early warning system indicated that family income makes a difference

Chronic absenteeism has surged across the country since the pandemic, with more than one out of four students missing at least 18 days of school a year. That’s more than three lost weeks of instruction a year for more than 10 million school children. An even higher percentage of poor students, more than one out of three, are chronically absent.

Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, calls chronic absenteeism – not learning loss – “the greatest challenge for public schools.” At a Feb. 8, 2024 panel discussion, Malkus said, “It’s the primary problem because until we do something about that, academic recovery from the pandemic, which is significant, is a pipe dream.”

Learning Ecosystems

The new kids on campus? Toddlers, courtesy of Head Start [Nadworny]

Let’s Celebrate World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st!!!

A Community Micro-Credentials Effort Connects Students to Local Employers [McCool]

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