Perspectives on the Tech Revolution
By Bharanidharan Rajakumar
Transitioning to the common core math standards has been challenging to everyone such as administrators, teachers, parents and most importantly students, for a variety of students. The goal posts have been moved, teachers were not adequately prepared for the changes and as result test score plummeted (by more than 30% in some cases) and student confidence was harmed.
However, most teachers still feel that the common core math standards are a move in the right direction but hope that communication between administrators and teachers will improve. Communication in the industry is getting an upgrade so that all teachers have access to the latest and greatest information with regard to their profession. To help promote the development of online and local professional development communities, the Department of Education is putting together “Connected Education Month”. LearnBop will be participating by helping organize online webinars and offline events to provide free training sessions on the common core, data driven instruction and using technology to create a response to intervention system. We look forward to supporting teachers and students as they make the transition to the common core and focus more intentionally on college and career readiness.
A lack of a sufficient technology infrastructure to all schools puts some schools at a disadvantage while other schools take advantage of the latest innovations and move ahead. The FCC conducted a survey in 2010 in which half the respondents reported slower connection speeds than the average American home. This of course makes it impossible for these schools to take advantage of cutting edge learning technologies that can be easily accessed online. Our personal experience illustrates the need in low income homes as well. One parent called me to thank me for our program to prevent summer learning loss for 6th-9th grade mathematics but said that she said the program didn’t work for her daughter since the page would freeze. During our conversation we realized that the issue may be her internet connection since she is lives on the 4th floor but the router in her building is in the lobby. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind trying to access our program in the lobby or at a library. She called me back a day later and said that the program worked perfectly in the library. For many of us, accessing the internet at home is a given but in education, teachers are unable to provide all students with the latest technologies due to a lack of infrastructure at school and a lack of access at many of their homes making the chalkboard and whiteboard the go-to technologies. Schools who have the technology as you can imagine have an advantage.#
Bharanidharan Rajakumar is the CEO of LearnBop.
