Ed Tech Blog
Introduction
Wi-Fi on school buses might sound like just a fancy idea but in reality, it is a trend that is already shaping up across different school districts.
Some people might argue that school buses are for relaxing or bonding between students, but have you thought about the students who come from marginalized areas characterized by limited broadband connection or no access at all?
In fact, a report by the Federal Communications Commission indicates that almost 19 million Americans don’t have access to fixed broadband service that meets the threshold speeds. The situation is also evident in rural areas, where approximately 14.5 million people don’t have access to this valuable resource.
Wi-Fi on school buses presents a huge opportunity to bridge this gap by helping students from marginalized areas stay connected even after school.
Here are some reasons why schools should embrace the idea of having Wi-Fi-enabled buses.
Equal Learning Opportunity
Lack of access to the internet is a huge stumbling block for some students because it means falling behind on assignments and access to other digital resources beyond the classroom.
While some kids find the school buses to be a perfect place for a nap or chit chat with friends, students from marginalized areas would find Wi-Fi on school buses to be a great opportunity to clear their assignments, either on their own or with the help of teachers, if any, present on the bus.
Having Wi-Fi on buses presents an equal opportunity for disadvantaged students to access school resources or generally be connected to the digital world just like their well-connected peers.
After School Support
Students need support not just while in school, but also outside school. While some students have the privilege of reaching their teachers digitally after school, some rely on that time during transit to...
Read more: How Wi-Fi on School Buses is Bridging the Digital Divide and Improving Productivity
Artificial Intelligence is a term that is thrown around a lot. It is one of those buzz words that immediately captures the attention of people and kids alike. Although you might imagine A.I. as humanoid robots that take over the world by developing intelligence, the reality of it is very different. A.I. algorithms are computer programs that assist human beings in whatever they are trying to do. Just like how an Alexa made ordering things online much easier, A.I. algorithms in the classroom can make learning that much easier for students. We will go through all the different ways that an A.I. software in a classroom might be the teaching assistant that every teacher is looking for.
There is an argument to be made that the best way to improve the learning experience of students is to make sure that their teachers are only focused on teaching them. Bogging down teachers with tasks that are not related to teaching is a sure-fire way to decrease the quality of education. A.I. applications have progressed enough that they can check the attendance of the classroom with computer vision, they can also grade multiple-choice tests easily and accurately. A.I. applications can make sure...
Read more: Using Machine Learning to Build the Classroom of the Future
Part 2 – Multifactor Authentication & Mitigation Strategies
Once you enhance your security by integrating ideal password management practices, the next logical step is to integrate Multi-Factor Authentication (Henriquez, 2019). With Multi-Factor Authentication, you confirm your identity with both an account password and a secondary code. There are generally three (3) ways you receive this code. Via email and via text message are the two most common ways the average person receives a secondary code. This makes it so that if someone gained access to your account’s password, that person would not be able to gain access to the account without the secondary code. The idea being that a perpetrator is less likely to have gained access to both the account in question and, for example, the email address where you receive secondary codes. Receiving codes via text message could be considered more secure, because the device is with you and typically only accessible on your phone, rather than an email address which can be accessed anywhere via the internet. The third way to receive your code is, perhaps, the most secure way of making use of Multi-Factor Authentication. In this instance, you use an authenticator app to receive the...
Read more: Responding to Potential and Successful Cyber-Attacks Against US Schools - Part 2
Part 1 – Ransomware Attacks & Password Management
In December of 2021 my school district suffered a cyber-attack. For us, this was an entirely new type of crisis to cope with. However, we learned that this is a phenomenon that many public-school district’s in the United States have experienced, are currently experiencing, and are likely to experience going forward (Klein, 2022a).
The attack on our district was a Ransomware attack. This type of cyber-attack is one in which the perpetrator gains access to your system and then locks you out of your own data (Goldsborough, 2016). Through the process of recovering from the attack, we learned that coverage for Ransomware attacks is now an integral part of many school district insurance policies. Organizations that are locked out of their data often decide to pay the ransom rather than loose the data. In our case, specifics about the attack were restricted, and so we (the teachers) primarily learned what we did about the attack by making observations.
While cyber-attacks are a more recent occurrence for public school districts, cyber-attacks and Ransomware attacks have been occurring, in general, for the past decade. This causes one to wonder what has led to the...
Read more: Responding to Potential and Successful Cyber-Attacks Against US Schools - Part 1
Understanding Media Literacy
In 2013 Andrea Quijada spoke about the importance of media literacy education via a TED Talk, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In this talk she describes her childhood and the desire to have the power to know the absolute truths of the world (from knowing if someone was telling the truth, to knowing if a widely accepted societal truth was valid). As she grew, she found herself inundated with lessons regarding media literacy education, namely via her parents. Quijada describes key elements of media literacy, which primarily include the understanding of a media’s text, subtext, and the ability to deconstruct media using both. She uses several advertisements to demonstrate the uses of these items. The text is shown to be the literal message that a particular media is giving to the viewer. The subtext is described as the personal connections one has to a particular message, and the many potential ways in which one interprets the message (and hidden message if applicable) based on their perspective. Quijada explains that deconstruction is the process that one undergoes in order to unravel the meaning and hidden meanings of a media and to ultimately evaluate that media’s truth.
Media Literacy...
In only a few decades time, cell phones have become a necessity for the everyday lives of students (Maddox, 2012; Obringer & Coffey, 2007). In 2009, The Speak Up National Research Project stated that 98% of high school students had access to a cell phone (Learning in the 21st century, 2011). Given this, the purpose of this paper is to examine cell phone use in secondary education settings and to make a clear decision as to whether or not secondary settings, as they currently exist, are bettered or worsened by student cell phone use.
Perspective 1 will suggest that secondary settings are improved by classroom cell phone use. The following specifics will be evaluated: timely communication in emergency situations, understanding of proper cell phone etiquette as a crucial element for functioning within the educational system, the instructional value of text messaging. Perspective 2 will suggest that secondary education settings are made worse by classroom cell phone use. The following specifics will be evaluated: cell phones as distractions of student and teacher learning, cell phone use policies and their infringement of parental upbringing rights, possible inequalities among students, administrative concerns about student cell phone use.
Perspective 1: Cell Phones Enrich...
Read more: Perspectives on Cell Phone Use in Secondary Education