parents/guardians

Best Restorative Justice Practices and Sites for Educators [Restifo]

On 08/25/2021, in ideas, K-12 related, leadership, parents/guardians, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, trends, United States, vision/possibilities, youth, by Daniel Christian

Best Restorative Justice Practices and Sites for Educators — from techlearning.com by Diana Restifo
Best practices, resources, guides, sites, and more for implementing restorative justice in schools

Excerpt:

In recent years, the conversation around school discipline has shifted from the punitive-based approach to an admittedly more complex, holistic approach known as restorative justice (RJ) or restorative practices (RP). Using carefully facilitated conversations, students, teachers, and administrators work together to solve behavior problems in schools. There may still be suspensions or expulsions—but as a last resort, not first.

The following articles, videos, guides, professional development opportunities, and research are a great starting point for educators and administrators to learn what it takes to institute restorative practices in their schools—and why it matters.

Nice work by IFF for early childhood learning spaces in MI

On 08/18/2021, in K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, Michigan, parents/guardians, teachers, teaching & learning, youth, by Daniel Christian

Nice work by IFF for early childhood learning spaces in MI

Excerpt from the IFF website:

Learning Spaces
IFF Learning Spaces aims to increase capacity and improve access to quality early childhood education (ECE) in Detroit, MI and Southeast Grand Rapids, MI.

The free program offers community-based ECE providers:

Grants and consulting services to improve ECE facilities and transform spaces into safe and inspiring learning environments, laying the foundation for positive early childhood experiences.
Technical assistance

Given COVID-19 and its long-term implications, IFF experts are on the ground with Detroit- and Southeast Grand Rapids-based ECE providers to assess facilities and provide funding to align with mandated state guidelines.

The Michigan Learning Channel is now available through your antenna on ALL Michigan PBS stations!

On 08/13/2021, in learning, learning ecosystem, Michigan, parents/guardians, platforms, reading, society, student-related, television, writing, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Michigan Learning Channel is now available through your antenna on ALL Michigan PBS stations!

Best YouTube Sites and Channels for Education — from techlearning.com by Diana Restifo
Take advantage of the fantastic free educational videos YouTube provides.

Excerpt:

How to Watch YouTube Videos Safely

Are smaller class sizes without the pitfalls possible? Pandemic pods make the case [Jochim & Pillow]

On 06/25/2021, in education, education reform, ideas, innovation, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning preferences, learning spaces, parents/guardians, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, technologies for your home, by Daniel Christian

Are smaller class sizes without the pitfalls possible? Pandemic pods make the case — from crpe.org by Ashley Jochim and Travis Pillow

Excerpt:

Pandemic pods were borne by necessity as families faced urgent needs for childcare and remote learning support. But they also offer fresh solutions to an age-old education problem: how to dramatically lower class sizes without diluting teacher quality and falling into traps that have snared traditional class size reduction efforts.

By leveraging pandemic innovations in student support, school systems recovering from the COVID-19 crisis may be able to recreate the high level of individual attention students saw in successful pandemic pods.

As one pod educator told us: “This is probably the most professionally satisfied I’ve been in my entire career. . . . Being able to be one-on-one and form relationships with kids. I can tell you every single one of their strengths, I can tell you their weaknesses. . . . I’ve never been able to do that before in my life, except with my own child, and that’s super powerful.”

From DSC:
I really appreciated this part too: “Learning pods brought new adults—including families and community-based organizations who hosted pods—into the process of supporting student learning.” It’s even more of a community-based effort…a new meaning to the use of teams. 🙂

The Future of Career Technical Education (CTE): What Educators Need to Know [Bendici]

On 06/16/2021, in career development, future, parents/guardians, participation, society, United States, vocational / trades, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Future of Career Technical Education (CTE): What Educators Need to Know — from techlearning.com by Ray Bendici
Career technical education is gaining expanded interest and funding support in the wake of the pandemic

Excerpt:

Career technical education (CTE) is currently receiving increased attention as it is expected to play a key role in the recovery from the pandemic. New skills, approaches, and funding introduced over the past year are helping to drive expansion of programs as many employers continue to struggle to find qualified workers.

Shortly after his confirmation, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona posted an open letter to U.S. students and their families in regard to his plan for education. In it, he suggests that a heavy focus on CTE will be an essential part of what’s next in education.

Move over, blue- and white-collar jobs: The workforce color spectrum is expanding [Britt]

On 06/11/2021, in 21st century, business, career development, change, corporate / business world, future, generational differences, organizational change, parents/guardians, society, student-related, technology (general), training / L&D, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Move over, blue- and white-collar jobs: The workforce color spectrum is expanding — from chieflearningofficer.com by Frank F. Britt
Here’s how gray-, green- and pink-collar jobs will define the post-COVID future of work.

Excerpt:

In 2015, a report from Burning Glass and General Assembly called attention to the rise of a new type of occupation. These roles combine technology skills with positions that haven’t historically required them, like analysis, design or marketing. Burning Glass called those positions “hybrid jobs.” Today, in a rapidly digitizing labor market where tech skills are fast becoming table stakes, we might just call them “jobs.”

Back when that report came out, so-called hybrid jobs were largely a white-collar phenomenon. But today, we’re witnessing a rise in demand for digital skills that is transcending desk work — and, in fact, may be transforming the entire “color spectrum” of the American workforce.

None of these are really white- or blue-collar jobs. We might think of them, instead, as gray-collar (at the intersection of manufacturing and technology), pink-collar (allied health and the care economy) and green-collar (clean energy). These are the jobs that will define the future of work. And they’ll be the majority of jobs in the U.S. before we know it.

Technology Made Special Education Parents Better Advocates During the Pandemic [Tamez-Robledo]

On 06/05/2021, in accessibility / UDL, assistive technologies, collaboration, communications, communities of practice, education, education reform, neurodivergent/special needs, parents/guardians, by Daniel Christian

Technology Made Special Education Parents Better Advocates During the Pandemic — from edsurge.com by Nadia Tamez-Robledo

Excerpt:

Those are lessons that should stay in place long after our current era of remote learning, says research analyst Lane McKittrick, who focuses on special education and families at the Center on Reinventing Public Education. She recently co-authored a report on how charter schools effectively supported students with disabilities during the pandemic and is blogging about the topic.

McKittrick’s disappointment didn’t just come from her role as a researcher. She’s also a mom to four children, three of whom are deafblind.

The schools that most successfully served their special education groups were those that prioritized communication and learning about families’ needs, McKittrick found in her own analysis.

The best advice I can give you: Become a student of your child [Kessler]

On 05/24/2021, in attention, engagement / engaging students, homeschooling/homeschoolers, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, lifelong learning, more voice more choice more control, parents/guardians, participation, passions, youth, by Daniel Christian

The best advice I can give you: Become a student of your child — from raisinglifelonglearners.com by Colleen Kessler

Excerpt:

One of the best pieces of advice I give a parent is to become a student of their child. To really pay attention and discover what your child is interested in, passionate about, or wants to explore further so you can use that information to design the best homeschool ever. In today’s episode, we revisit a conversation with Andrew Peterson all about how to practically become students of our children. You will also find all of our best resources for becoming a student of your child…

Why Tech Companies View the Job Search As Big Business — from edsurge.com by Ayesha Khan

Excerpt:

A pre-pandemic study shows that more than 4 in 10 college degree holders are underemployed and are likely to remain that way for decades to come. This coupled with the astronomical cost of college and mounting student loan debt raises a need for alternative pathways into America’s workforce. The current college system is not putting all Americans to work.
…

Jobtech has the potential to be more effective for job seekers by aligning their aspirations more directly with the needs of employers. Unlike higher education institutions, a jobtech company’s profit and survival depend on people getting placed in good jobs.
…
The success of these businesses hinges on securing opportunities for job seekers. This guarantees customer satisfaction, repeat business, positive margins and a healthy, sustainable business model.

Virtual healthcare at bat. Telelegal on deck.https://t.co/K6XkQejw0Y pic.twitter.com/byRS5jDVtn

— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) April 29, 2021

Virtual IEPs should stay — from crpe.org by Katy Bateman and Lanya McKittrick

Excerpt:

When the pandemic hit last spring, schools across the country shifted out of sheer necessity to virtual meetings to discuss students’ Individual Education Plans (IEP). But the move has had some unanticipated benefits, with some educators and parents praising them for their convenience and for empowering family members to be more active participants in discussing their educational needs.

The virtual IEP meetings should stay—at least as an option—even after the pandemic abates.

Virtual IEP meetings can make scheduling and attendance easier for parents and teachers alike. One parent noted the benefits to her as a busy working mom:

“I think one thing [my family] is seeing is there’s a lot of things we could just do that didn’t require us to have to go in [the school building]. . . . I don’t mind coming in, but [virtual is] easier.”

Artificial intelligence and the future of national security — from news.asu.edu

Excerpt:

Artificial intelligence is a “world-altering” technology that represents “the most powerful tools in generations for expanding knowledge, increasing prosperity and enriching the human experience” and will be a source of enormous power for the companies and countries that harness them, according to the recently released Final Report of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

This is not hyperbole or a fantastical version of AI’s potential impact. This is the assessment of a group of leading technologists and national security professionals charged with offering recommendations to Congress on how to ensure American leadership in AI for national security and defense. Concerningly, the group concluded that the U.S. is not currently prepared to defend American interests or compete in the era of AI.

Also see:

EU Set to Ban Surveillance, Start Fines Under New AI Rules — from bloomberg.com by Natalia Drozdiak

Excerpt:

The European Union is poised to ban artificial intelligence systems used for mass surveillance or for ranking social behavior, while companies developing AI could face fines as high as 4% of global revenue if they fail to comply with new rules governing the software applications.

Also see:

Wrongfully arrested man sues Detroit police over false facial recognition match — from washingtonpost.com by Drew Harwell
The case could fuel criticism of police investigators’ use of a controversial technology that has been shown to perform worse on people of color

Excerpts:

A Michigan man has sued Detroit police after he was wrongfully arrested and falsely identified as a shoplifting suspect by the department’s facial recognition software in one of the first lawsuits of its kind to call into question the controversial technology’s risk of throwing innocent people in jail.

Robert Williams, a 43-year-old father in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, was arrested last year on charges he’d taken watches from a Shinola store after police investigators used a facial recognition search of the store’s surveillance-camera footage that identified him as the thief.

Prosecutors dropped the case less than two weeks later, arguing that officers had relied on insufficient evidence. Police Chief James Craig later apologized for what he called “shoddy” investigative work. Williams, who said he had been driving home from work when the 2018 theft had occurred, was interrogated by detectives and held in custody for 30 hours before his release.

Williams’s attorneys did not make him available for comment Tuesday. But Williams wrote in The Washington Post last year that the episode had left him deeply shaken, in part because his young daughters had watched him get handcuffed in his driveway and put into a police car after returning home from work.

“How does one explain to two little girls that a computer got it wrong, but the police listened to it anyway?” he wrote. “As any other black man would be, I had to consider what could happen if I asked too many questions or displayed my anger openly — even though I knew I had done nothing wrong.”

Addendum on 4/20/21:

Aiming for truth, fairness, and equity in your company’s use of AI — from ftc.gov by Elisa Jillson

Improving Digital Inclusion & Accessibility for Those With Learning Disabilities [Kreisa]

On 04/17/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, adult learning, assistive technologies, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), business, colleges, communications, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, education, education technology, faculty/staff, formal learning, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning preferences, media/film, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, participation, policy, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, quality, remote teaching and learning, society, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, videoconferencing, virtual tutoring, vision/possibilities, visualizing information, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web design and production, web-based collaboration, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Improving Digital Inclusion & Accessibility for Those With Learning Disabilities — from inclusionhub.com by Meredith Kreisa
Learning disabilities must be taken into account during the digital design process to ensure digital inclusion and accessibility for the community. This comprehensive guide outlines common learning disabilities, associated difficulties, accessibility barriers and best practices, and more.

“Learning shouldn’t be something only those without disabilities get to do,” explains Seren Davies, a full stack software engineer and accessibility advocate who is dyslexic. “It should be for everyone. By thinking about digital accessibility, we are making sure that everyone who wants to learn can.”
…
“Learning disability” is a broad term used to describe several specific diagnoses. Dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, nonverbal learning disorder, and oral/written language disorder and specific reading comprehension deficit are among the most prevalent.

An image of a barrier being torn down -- revealing a human mind behind it. This signifies the need to tear down any existing barriers that might hinder someone's learning experience.

Harvard and its peers should be embarrassed about how few students they educate [Selingo]

On 04/13/2021, in economics, higher education, parents/guardians, society, trends, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Harvard and its peers should be embarrassed about how few students they educate — from washingtonpost.com by Jeff Selingo
Their minuscule admissions rates are a sign of failure, not success.

Excerpt:

Harvard’s announcement this past week that its acceptance rate fell to an all-time low of just 3.4 percent will be viewed by some alumni as a triumph — a sign of their alma mater’s popularity and prestige among high school grads. And some alumni of elite institutions like Yale (4.6 percent), Brown (5.4 percent) and Princeton (4 percent) may feel the same glow of pride. In actuality, these numbers are signs of institutional failure.

That some 55,000 applicants were denied the chance to attend Harvard — which, with its $42 billion endowment, is fully capable of serving more than 1,640 students in an incoming class — is no cause for celebration. Instead, the ever-declining proportion of applicants accepted at such top-ranked universities should spur them to consider making their freshman classes substantially larger. Such a move would be especially appropriate — and, perhaps, more imaginable — after a pandemic year when universities across the country have had to reconceive education in a multitude of ways.

From DSC:
I couldn’t agree more. These types of schools should pursue a much more noble goal and seek to educate the masses. Make far larger contributions in order to make the world a better place to live in. Open up the doors. Stop recreating the caste system we have in the U.S.

Also see:

The Endless Sensation of Application Inflation — from chronicle.com by Eric Hoover

Excerpt:

The numbers get bigger each year. Now they’ve reached a mesospheric level of madness.

Yes, we’re talking about application totals at highly selective colleges, a fixation for a jittery subset of the planet. In the 2020-21 admissions cycle, many of the final tallies broke records — and, surely, record numbers of hearts. The more applicants that apply to a hyper-competitive college, the more rejections it must deliver.

But what do such metrics really tell us? What, if anything, does the annual OMG-ing over these statistics add to up to? Let’s pause here and remember that application inflation isn’t new: Acceptance rates at many institutions have been plummeting for years. Also, a 35-percent increase like the one Tufts University just saw didn’t mean there was a 35-percent increase in highly qualified applicants with a prayer of getting in, or a 35-percent increase in applicants who meet each of the institution’s many needs.

DC: Yet another reason to implement/support Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

On 04/11/2021, in accessibility / UDL, adjunct faculty, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, distance education, education technology, elearning, faculty/staff, heutagogy, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learner profiles, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, multimedia, neurodivergent/special needs, online learning, online media, online tutoring, parents/guardians, pedagogy, remote teaching and learning, society, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, telecommunications, training / L&D, United States, universities, usability, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, youth, by Daniel Christian

DC: Yet another reason for Universal Design for Learning’s multiple means of presentation/media:

Encourage faculty to presume students are under-connected. Asynchronous, low-bandwidth approaches help give students more flexibility in accessing course content in the face of connectivity challenges.

— as excerpted from campustechnology.com’s article entitled, “4 Ways Institutions Can Meet Students’ Connectivity and Technology Needs“

Learning Ecosystems

The Future of Career Technical Education (CTE): What Educators Need to Know [Bendici]

Technology Made Special Education Parents Better Advocates During the Pandemic [Tamez-Robledo]

The best advice I can give you: Become a student of your child [Kessler]

Harvard and its peers should be embarrassed about how few students they educate [Selingo]

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