Ed Tech Blog
![3D Printers for School and Education](https://www.makerbot.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/header-rep.png)
Have you ever dreamt of imagining something into existence? If so, then 3D printing is just the technology for you and your classroom. Students of all ages love the technology of 3D printing because it feeds into a basic instinct of creativity that all of us have. Learning and teaching how a 3D printer works has never been easier, and the prices of good models have been dropping ever since they first started making them for the masses. In this post, we will investigate different ways a printer can be used in the classroom, which are firstly, what we call "concept printing", secondly, printing models for a classroom, and finally, printing your imagination. We will also go through some things to look out for when you buy a printer for the classroom.
The world around us is changing every single day. Why should our classrooms be stuck in the 20th century? That is why we should always investigate ways to bring what makes the outside world interesting, into our classrooms. That may include laptops, phones, the internet, and now you can include a 3D printer in that list. Introducing a 3D printer into the classroom will give the students to actively implement what they have learned. Imagine a classroom where a teacher will teach a concept to a group of students, who then have to go and figure out how to print the concept into the real world. A teacher might be teaching how a pulley works, then the students might need to go and print the different types of pulleys themselves. This will cause students to make errors and learn from them. A trial-and-error method of learning is very effective if they are not stuck at a dead-end and get disinterested. This is where the teacher comes in, the...
![FCC Approves School Bus Wi-Fi Hotspots Under COVID-19 Emergency Connectivity Fund - School Transportation News](https://stnonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/WiFi.jpg)
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...
Read more: How Wi-Fi on School Buses is Bridging the Digital Divide and Improving Productivity
![What is Machine Learning Course](https://www.fsm.ac.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ml-e1610553826718.jpg)
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
![What Schools Can Learn From the Biggest Cyberattack Ever on a Single District](https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/95/af/3710065b4a95b36262fee3796b36/cybersecurity-11172021-507059935.jpg)
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
![Cyber Attacks on Schools: Who, What, Why and Now What?](https://erepublic.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/15ea944/2147483647/strip/true/crop/6588x3435+0+520/resize/840x438!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Ferepublic-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3e%2F97%2Fe1fb95044bbd943bd15052241a48%2Fhttps-download.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZCI6ICJzaHV0dGVyc3RvY2stbWVkaWEiLCAiayI6ICJwaG90by80MjgwMjU1NDEvaHVnZS5qcGciLCAiZGMiOiAiaWRsXzEyMyIsICJlIjogMTY0NDkwMDk5MCwgIm0iOiAxfSwgIlU2Qld2ek1IRzJCQXhabHg0dVFVTzRWL2VvdyJd%2Fshutterstock_428025541.jpg)
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
![Opinion: Media literacy is essential education - The Fulcrum](https://i0.wp.com/thefulcrum.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Media-Literacy_Macrovector-via-freepik-scaled.jpg?fit=2560,1404&ssl=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...