Key points:
The summer of 2023 brought with it a declaration from our Executive Director of Technology that it would be the Summer of AI. As a digital learning team, we were assigned the responsibility of exploring the full spectrum of AI in education. The broad nature of this request led to investigations of AI in cybersecurity, data science, marketing, healthcare, and education. Our AI deep dive resulted in the development of three guiding principles: high standards and expectations, future ready skills, and cultural proficiency. Each principle directly aligns with the district’s vision, mission, and core values. The three guiding principles have become the foundation which underpins all AI professional development, communication, and future planning. As AI evolves to become an ever-present part of education, there must be a systemic imperative for K-12 school districts to cultivate an ethically-driven mindset. From district office operations to kindergarten classrooms, the integration of AI must be navigated with a moral compass, steering the use of AI toward the collective good while safeguarding against its potential pitfalls. Our AI guiding principles started this process of building an ethical AI mindset, which provided pathways to critically question AI in our system. As we reflect on our work to this point in time, we have identified four spaces (District, School, Classroom/Teacher, Student) in which we have worked to explicitly address ethical AI usage. Defining AI in each of these spaces has resulted in the emergence of specific questions that guide AI usage and encourage innovation with AI. For schools trying to figure out how to start on this AI journey, we hope that these guiding questions can be used to jump start the process. Questions are meant to be used in iterative cycles as organizations develop around AI and as AI continues to evolve. For the purpose of this article, AI ethics in education will refer to principles that govern the use of AI so that individual rights, privacy, and well-being are respected within the entirety of the educational ecosystem. This framing of AI ethics in education considers the implications of AI’s decision-making capabilities, data usage, and potential biases, ensuring that AI tools are used to enhance educational outcomes without increasing inequities (Akgun & Greenhow, 2022; Hagendorff, 2020; Nguyen et al., 2023). Additionally, the broad term of artificial intelligence (AI) in this context will be defined as the branch of computer science concerned with creating systems that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence, including generative AI technologies that produce content, solve problems, and adapt to new information within the educational sector, aiming to support and enhance learning processes and outcomes. District: The foundation of ethical AI integration At the district level, ethical AI use is about setting a precedent. Districts must develop guidelines that balance innovation with responsibility (Holter, Rummel & Skadsem, 2024). These guidelines should address privacy, equity, and security while fostering an environment where AI tools enhance cultural proficiency and educational standards. Questions for the district might include:
School: Building an ethical AI culture Schools must create a learning environment where ethical AI use is part of the culture. This involves professional development for staff, inclusive innovation, and community engagement to demystify AI. Potential questions include:
Teacher: The ethical AI practitioner Teachers are the front-line practitioners of ethical AI use in the classroom. They are responsible for selecting, implementing, and evaluating AI tools that support their pedagogical goals and students’ needs. They are also role models for their students, demonstrating critical thinking and ethical reasoning when using AI. Potential questions include:
Student: The ethical AI learner Students are the primary beneficiaries and users of AI in education. They are expected to engage with AI tools as learners, creators, and consumers of content. They are also the future citizens and leaders who will shape the direction and impact of AI in society. Potential questions include:
The journey toward integrating AI into K-12 education ethically is a collaborative endeavor requiring engagement at all levels. By addressing the unique considerations within districts, schools, classrooms, and the student body, we lay the groundwork for an education system that not only prepares students for the future, but does so with a strong ethical foundation. This article serves as a call to action for educational leaders to engage with AI responsibly, ensuring that technology enhances the learning experience without compromising our commitment to our core human and organizational values. References Akgun, S., Greenhow, C. Artificial intelligence in education: Addressing ethical challenges in K-12 settings. AI Ethics 2, 431–440 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-021-00096-7 Hagendorff, T. The Ethics of AI Ethics: An Evaluation of Guidelines. Minds & Machines 30, 99–120 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-020-09517-8 Holter, A., Rummel, & Skadsem, H. (2023) Bloomington Public Schools: Digital Learning AI One-Pager. https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR-N4hgLDay6Io5LnEoq7IDqUU_H0g10s-Z5UbfiJET-JlrH_OTUf_8j0akNJAfc9MLlOimZuirHSWG/pub Holter, A., Rummel, & Skadsem, H. (2024) Bloomington Public Schools: AI in BPS- Guiding Principle https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WHTy3Uc0uMwLOZ68yidZwwz7o3K4UpgBVK4wEiCWAOM/edit?usp=sharing Nguyen, A., Ngo, H.N., Hong, Y. et al. Ethical principles for artificial intelligence in education. Educ Inf Technol 28, 4221–4241 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11316-w via eSchool News https://ift.tt/e6mNkG3
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Key points:
In the face of constrained time and resources, decision-makers in the K-20 education sector require accessible, cost-effective, and efficient solutions to tackle their most urgent challenges. Among these challenges is student mental health. The pandemic has brought about heightened levels of depression, anxiety, and a diminished sense of belonging among students. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the student mental health crisis is unequivocally the defining challenge of our time. Unaddressed student mental health needs are associated with behavior problems, school violence, substance abuse, dropping out, and poor academic performance (Darney et al., 2013). A science-backed and scalable solution for this mental health challenge is to provide students with an anonymous questionnaire that provides personalized feedback and supportive resources in the areas of mental health, well-being, social support, and psychosocial areas relevant to school persistence and achievement. This includes a growth mindset and a sense of belonging to their school or college. These screening tools, often referred to as universal mental health screeners, are not in the purview of most school administrators; however, when they become aware of these types of tools, most express strong interest in their own school using one (Wood & McDaniel, 2020). Furthermore, major educational and psychological organizations, such as the National Association of School Psychologists and the American Psychological Association, are recommending the use of universal screening (Albers et al., 2007). Science-driven for greater success A key component of this type of solution is its research-based approach. Studies show that screening students for mental health functions serves as intervention and prevention of developing mental health issues (Desrochers, 2006). As a result, schools and colleges reduce their present and future expenses and help cultivate a more healthy, connected, and successful student population. Additionally, a good universal screening tool is scientifically validated, and they are specific to the age group it is supporting (Glover & Albers, 2007). Anonymity for more personalized results As a whole, students are concerned about their personal information, such as mental health and social support, being associated with their school record and shared with guardians. Because student identifiable information is not gathered in these assessments, they are more likely to provide truthful responses and as a result they can receive greater personalized feedback. This anonymity also encourages periodic use by students, especially during times that are most challenging. Comprehensive and brief Another vital component of this solution is its comprehensive nature and brevity. Questions that constitute a good screening tool assess the most quintessential factors of mental health, functioning, and academic achievement. Using research findings from the past decades and most recent studies in education and psychology, a screening tool can be parsimonious. These factors include individual traits, social support, and relationship with parents, among others (Credé & Niehorster, 2012). Research consistently shows a link between greater social support and increased well-being (Batool & Ahmad, 2013). Similarly, having a sense of belonging in school is shown to support greater college persistence and degree completion (Hausmann, Schofield, & Woods, 2007). As a result of homing in on these domains and selecting short, validated measures, it’s possible to keep the questionnaire brief and increase student survey completion rates. Immediate feedback to students Mental health questionnaires provide students with immediate personalized results and resources to bolster each of the key domains measured. The results highlight key areas of strength and areas for further development. Provided resources could include immediate access to services, such as the 988 hotline for mental health services, online resources, and other tools, which can all be used in real time and can be accessed at any time in the future. Furthermore, personalized feedback can be kept by the student so that they can track their trajectory over time, and they may choose to share their results with a closely trusted circle who can provide further support. Low-cost implementation and easy tech management Online mental health assessments can be low cost for schools and institutes of higher education. For example, a universal screening can be sent out to students via email, made accessible on school/college websites, and provided as a part of academic advising and counseling services. Furthermore, the tool can be integrated into a school or college orientation process. Schools and colleges can work with a trusted third party to host the survey on the third party’s server, to ensure student confidence in their data remains unassociated with their academic records. Promising future direction Equipping K-20 decision-makers with science-backed, scalable, and cost-effective mental health solutions empowers their ability to address challenges effectively. With strategic implementation of these types of tools —at the onset of the academic year, during orientation processes, at key intervals throughout a term, and making it accessible via course syllabi, school or college websites, and counseling centers—can significantly enhance the mental health and overall success of students throughout the course of an academic year. References: 1.Albers, Glover, T. A., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2007). “Where are we, and where do we go now? Universal screening for enhanced educational and mental health outcomes.” Journal of School Psychology, 45(2), 257–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.12.003 Belfer, M. L. 2008. “Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders: The Magnitude of the Problem across the Globe.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines 49: 226–236. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01855. x. 2.Batool, S., & Ahmad, A. (2013). “Impact of perceived social support on psychological well-being of teenagers.” Sci J Psych, 1-6. 3. Credé, M., & Niehorster, S. (2012). “Adjustment to college as measured by the student adaptation to college questionnaire: A quantitative review of its structure and relationships with correlates and consequences.” Educational Psychology Review, 24, 133-165. Darney, D., Reinke, W. M., Herman, K. C., Stormont, M., & Lalongo, N. S. (2013). “Children with co-occurring academic and behavior problems in first grade: Distal outcomes in twelfth grade.” Journal of School Psychology, 51(1), 117-128. 4. Desrochers. (2006). “Prevention in practice: Resources for school psychologists.” Communique, 35, 1-4. 5. Glover, T. A., & Albers, C. A. (2007). “Considerations for evaluating universal screening assessments.” Journal of School Psychology, 45(2), 117-135. Hausmann, L. R., Schofield, J. W., & Woods, R. L. (2007). “Sense of belonging as a predictor of intentions to persist among African American and White first-year college students.” Research in Higher Education, 48, 803-839. 6. Juechter, J. I., Dever, B. V., & Kamphaus, R. W. (2012, December). “Mental Health Screening and Academic Outcomes in Elementary School.” In School Psychology Forum (Vol. 6, No. 4). 7. Wood, B. J., & McDaniel, T. (2020). “A preliminary investigation of universal mental health screening practices in schools.” Children and Youth Services Review, 112, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104943 via eSchool News https://ift.tt/n4wJNmE Look Whos TalkingCode.org Founder and CEO Hadi Partovi on the Hype and Hope of AI in edtech4/1/2024 
In true grand finale fashion, #CoSN2024 will wrap up #CoSN2024 with a pair of industry heavyweights talking through what might be the most momentous point in edtech history. You can listen and read Mike Trucano’s thoughts further down the page. Here, Hadi Partovi shares some preliminary insights for what will undoubtedly be a highlight of events next week. Have a listen: 
Hadi Partovi is a tech entrepreneur and investor, and CEO of the education nonprofit Code.org. Born in Iran, Hadi grew up during the Iran-Iraq war. After immigrating to the United States, he spent his summers working as a software engineer to help pay his way through high school and college. Upon graduating from Harvard with a Masters degree in computer science, Hadi pursued a career in technology starting at Microsoft where he rose into the executive ranks. He founded two tech startups that were acquired by Microsoft and Newscorp respectively, and he has served as an early advisor or investor at many tech startups including Facebook, Dropbox, airbnb, and Uber. Read more: Look Who’s Talking—Code.org Founder and CEO Hadi Partovi on the Hype and Hope of AI in edtechIn 2013 Hadi and his twin brother Ali ‘94 launched the education nonprofit Code.org, which Hadi leads full-time as CEO. Code.org has established computer science classes reaching 30% of US students, created the most broadly used curriculum platform for K-12 computer science, and launched the global Hour of Code movement that has reached hundreds of millions of students spanning every country in the world. In the spirit of the topic, we had ChatGPT assess the interview. The transcript captures a conversation between two speakers, primarily focusing on the implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education. Speaker 1, identified as Hadi, provides insights into the current state and future prospects of AI in the educational landscape. Key points discussed include the potential of AI to revolutionize education, the evolving role of teachers, challenges related to student safety and ethical considerations, and the necessity for schools and educators to adapt to technological advancements proactively. List of Takeaways:
Below is a machine-generated transcript of the interview. 00:00:04 Speaker 2 OK, Hadi. Thanks so much for your time. I really appreciate it. 00:00:08 Speaker 1 Thank you for inviting me. It’s wonderful to speak with you. 00:00:11 Speaker 2 Let’s jump right into it next week you will be down in Miami at CoSN of 2024 talking about, I guess I would say, what else? But AI, the the topic is certainly something that has taken the oxygen out of the room for a lot of other topics when it comes to education, technology, hugely important but. 00:00:31 Speaker 2 As I mentioned to Mike, sometimes I wake up in the morning and I and I wonder if. 00:00:35 Speaker 2 Maybe it’s not all being overblown, but then other mornings I wake up and say no. Of course that this is the the the the, you know, the greatest thing since sliced bread. Maybe we can start off by talking about where you you find yourself in with this topic after so many decades of being on the on the cutting edge of of innovations when it. 00:00:55 Speaker 2 Comes to this stuff. 00:00:57 Speaker 1 That’s a great question. I I would say I think the impact of AI and education is probably being under blown overblown and I don’t want to sound like I. 00:01:08 Speaker 1 You know, I I’ve lived in the world of technology for decades, so I’ve seen many hype cycles of things that were hyped up that turned out much smaller than the than they turned out to be. But I’ve also seen things that turned out to be much bigger than anybody imagined, you know. And if you think about. 00:01:27 Speaker 1 The invention of the personal computer, the World Wide Web, the smartphone AI is of that scale and larger. The other thing I would say with AI is you know. 00:01:40 Speaker 1 AI isn’t 1 technology, it’s like an entire body of work that is progressing quite rapidly, and it’s not one thing. It’s not like it’s a it’s not like this. There’s this weaker, intelligent thing that was becoming smarter. It’s like a whole bunch of people creating all sorts of different software that are going to be able to do things that. 00:02:00 Speaker 1 Software was never able to do and the pace at which they’re progressing is accelerating and so how big of an impact it has on education depends on how far out you look. So the today’s chatbot interface is going to look prehistoric compared to. 00:02:16 Speaker 1 The the conversational Avatar version that we’ll have by the end of the decade. And if you think about, for example, the smartphone, when the first iPhone came out, that iPhone looks prehistoric compared the version we got 10 years later. It didn’t have. It couldn’t take video. People don’t remember that the first iPhone. 00:02:36 Speaker 1 Couldn’t take video, it didn’t have an App Store. Literally. The App Store came after the iPhone. Either #2 or #3, so we are still in the early days. 00:02:49 Speaker 2 So. 00:02:49 Speaker 1 What I’m saying is less about the hype of the current AI we have, but where things are going. 00:02:54 Speaker 2 Yeah. How about when it comes to kind of the the popular perceptions and I think this happens with a lot of new technologies that there’s a certain level of fear that that creeps in at the beginning with with when there’s not a lot of knowledge. So you know the, the the boogeyman of. 00:03:10 Speaker 2 A students being able to cheat better than they could ever cheat before and nobody will actually study anymore and B the idea that AI will somehow take over the role of a human teacher. Can you tackle both of those in terms of what you see as a a threat or promise? 00:03:29 Speaker 1 Sure, there’s a third which is less about education, which is AI will take all our jobs. 00:03:36 Speaker 1 And and I’ll start with that one first before talking about whether it’s cheating or whether it’s going to replace teachers. You know, in the short term, it’s not AI that’s going to take people’s jobs. It’s somebody who knows how to use AI better, will take your job. And so teaching students and teaching. 00:03:56 Speaker 1 Everybody how to create with AI how to do the work you’re currently doing, but doing it better, more productively, more efficiently, more creatively, just doing a better job with AI is going to be one of the most valuable types of education. 00:04:10 Speaker 1 And and if you think about that, then working back to the students and is it cheating and we need to redefine the the definition of what cheating means or redefine the goal posts of what our school system should be teaching students. Because where one person might see a student that’s cheating. I see a student that’s learning how to use AI. 00:04:31 Speaker 1 And the the. 00:04:34 Speaker 1 That student is going to be much more employable than the student who didn’t do any cheating, but also didn’t learn at all how to use AI. And so we change what we think teaching is trying to what the goal is, and I’m not trying to suggest that students should learn nothing and just let AI do everything for them, because obviously as we know. 00:04:54 Speaker 1 Today’s AI has lots of shortcomings, but learning those shortcomings, learning how to work around them, and how to combine the knowledge the students brings to the table, plus how they can harness this technology to its best use. That’s going to be what we need to be teaching. And when it comes to teachers. 00:05:14 Speaker 1 First of all, we have a teacher shortage globally, so if anything can offset the work done by teachers by reducing their workload, that’s not replacing their jobs. That’s just softening the extreme. The difficulty of the global teacher shortage. We’re far from a world of having wow, there’s so much. 00:05:34 Speaker 1 Teaching being done by AI that that we don’t need teachers, that’s that’s, that’s not the we’re worried about. I do think the role of a teacher is going to shift from being the content expert to being the human connection, the facilitator, the coach, the mentor at. 00:05:52 Speaker 1 And honestly, if you ask lots of teachers, they find that their day-to-day time is being spent, not one-on-one with students, not in a way where they’re connecting with the students. But it’s like grading homeworks, preparing lesson plans, doing paperwork, and then doing this one to many lecture where they don’t have enough time for that to really teach that individual. 00:06:13 Speaker 1 Kid, because there’s so many of their kids and so we should, with AI, get to a point where the student is getting more personalized education and more personal personal time with their teacher. 00:06:26 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:06:28 Speaker 2 So you think about the, uh, the audience, that you’re going to have there at at cozen next week and you know our, our readers and listeners who are. 00:06:36 Speaker 2 Executives and school districts, you know, around the country around the world, how should they be thinking about this topic? I mean, how does this really affect their day-to-day administrative say of a of a school or a district? And how could they take these ideas and apply it to what they’re doing every day? 00:06:59 Speaker 1 The first thing I’d say, and most people already know this, but it’s really important to dwell on realizing that AI isn’t a thing that is now here and now you just and we’re done. And now we need to react to it. It’s a thing that’s coming. It’s like it’s come a little bit and there’s going to be more and more and more and more. 00:07:19 Speaker 1 You know, we just went through this. 00:07:22 Speaker 1 Quite terrible pandemic that arrived in March of 2020 and changed our lives. And then like now, we’re recovering from this thing that happened. AI is not a negative, it’s a positive. It’s going to make so many parts of education better, but it’s not arriving on one date, it’s. 00:07:42 Speaker 1 Imagine if somebody told you that over the next 10 years there’s going to be waves of improving and rapidly changing technology that are going to change education, making it more personalized for students, more engaging for students and helping teachers. 00:07:58 Speaker 1 You know, reduce their workload and giving them more of a chance to mentor students. And that’s there’s going to be changes every year, that mentality of being comfortable with change is the most important change that school administrators need to do, recognizing that it’s not just about chat LGBT, it’s about, you know, Co pilots being built into all of the office. 00:08:06 Right. 00:08:19 Speaker 1 And productivity tech that you use. 00:08:22 Speaker 1 AI being added to every bit of Edtech? Then what are we going to do to reinvent homework so that it’s not considered cheating to use AI with it would actually. It’s considered required to use AI when you do homework. How do we change assessments? We’re going to need to change the learning standards, the goal posts of what students need to learn, and we don’t need to do all those things. 00:08:43 Speaker 1 Because of the ChatGPT that came out a year ago, we’re going to need to be doing those things because of stuff that’s going to be coming out every year over the next 10 years and beyond. 00:08:51 Speaker 2 Now, how how much do you think we need to worry about the students themselves? I mean, you made the point about, you know, the first version of the iPhone not having those tech and tools. And I remember writing articles back then about, you know, the the. 00:09:06 Speaker 2 The dangers of. 00:09:07 Speaker 2 Phones in schools and the the. 00:09:10 Speaker 2 The use of these devices students are using these devices whether we like it or not. All the time now. Is it the same thing with AI? I mean is it will? Will this the kids themselves not see this as much of A novelty as just something that’s always been around and are comfortable with? 00:09:28 Speaker 1 First, I would say that student safety is something schools should take seriously. I mean, schools both in this country and internationally are suing the technology companies for having created technology that addicted their children and different people are making arguments about whether that’s having a negative impact on those kids. 00:09:48 Speaker 1 And you know. 00:09:51 Speaker 1 Ultimately, the schools are responsible for the kids, schools and parents bear that responsibility. Tech companies aren’t necessarily the ones you know. They’re their responsibility as a profit motive, ultimately. And so it’s really important to to think how to make sure this is embraced in a way that’s. 00:10:11 Speaker 1 Safe for kids, ethical as well. But safety is even more important. Yeah, ethics is hard to define and different people have different opinions about what is ethical. But we don’t want kids to get addicted. We don’t want kids to get badly misinformed to get indoctrinated, because who knows what AI might teach kids if it’s not? 00:10:32 Speaker 1 If it’s done without guardrails and you know indoctrination means different things to different people. But all of these types of things, AI bias in One Direction or the other are all negatives. 00:10:46 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:10:47 Speaker 1 But I do believe the greatest risk is doing nothing. So the greatest risk is pretending that you know one of the most important technological shifts in the history of humanity isn’t happening, and we’re just going to keep doing everything the way we always happen. That’s that’s not going to work. But. 00:11:06 Speaker 1 When it comes to figuring this stuff out, that there’s some very obvious things schools should be doing, providing teacher training on on just what is. 00:11:14 Speaker 1 The AI using AI to save teachers time. There’s no risk there. We have a teacher shortage. AI is a solution to save teachers time so that our existing teachers aren’t feeling as overworked and underpaid. Those are some really obvious things. Teaching students how AI works and what its shortcomings. 00:11:35 Speaker 1 That’s also a real no brainer. You know the idea that you’d graduate from school and not learn how AI works, but you’re still learning. 00:11:43 Speaker 1 Or. 00:11:44 Speaker 1 The other subjects in science that teach you. 00:11:46 Speaker 1 How the world? 00:11:47 Speaker 1 Works seems seems outdated. These are the obvious things schools should do and then buckle up for more change. 00:11:53 Speaker 2 Yeah. Well, howdy. I want you to keep your powder dry for next week. There’s a lot of great ideas here, and I know you and Mike will put on a good show when it comes to helping the the, the audience and by extension, our readers and our listeners to kind of wrap their their hands around this. So again, I appreciate your time and look forward to. 00:12:14 Speaker 2 To seeing you next week. 00:12:15 Speaker 1 All right. Thank you so much. It will be great to see you. 00:12:17 Speaker 2 Right. 00:12:18 Speaker 1 Bye bye. via eSchool News https://ift.tt/u1s6I4Y
#CoSN2024 might not begin in person until next week but eSchool has already started the conversation. We had the chance to interview keynote speaker Mike Trucano, Visiting Fellow at the Center for Universal Education, Brookings Institution on to get a sneak peek on his ideas and insights into what could be the most impactful technology to affect education in history. Here’s the description: “This is not your average keynote; it’s a visionary dialogue that explores how education must adapt to a changing world. Discover the future of learning in the AI age and gain insights into the innovative solutions reshaping classrooms.” Have a listen. 
Michael Trucano is a visiting fellow in the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, a global think tank based in Washington, DC, where he explores issues related to effective and ethical uses of new technologies in education. Current areas of inquiry include artificial intelligence in education, the use of digital educational credentials and, more broadly, emerging edtech policies, initiatives, and institutions after the pandemic. Trucano comes to Brookings from the World Bank, where for 26 years he provided policy advice, research, and technical assistance to governments seeking to utilize new technologies in their education systems. In this role, he was adviser to, evaluator of, and/or working-level participant in large-scale educational technology initiatives in over 70 countries, including China, India, South Korea, Uruguay, the United States, and in many countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. He most recently served for eight years as the World Bank’s global lead for technology and innovation in education and co-founded its edtech team, which coordinated assistance to governments around the world as they deployed remote learning programs in response to extended school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. A co-author of the World Bank’s edtech strategy, Imagining Human Connections, he also led research under the World Bank’s flagship Systems Approach for Better Education Results program related to the use of new technologies (SABER-ICT), edited a related working paper series and co-authored a book on Getting Textbooks to Every Child in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also helped found a number of nongovernmental and research initiatives related to the uses of new technologies in education, including the EdTech Hub and the mEducation Alliance, and serves on the board of Digital Promise. In the spirit of the keynote, here’s what Chat GPT4.0 thought about our conversation. Create an executive summary and list of takeaways from this transcript: Executive Summary: The conversation between Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 delves into the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education, particularly in the post-COVID era. They discuss the excitement and challenges surrounding the integration of AI in educational settings, ranging from administrative tasks to instructional support. Key points include the potential of AI to aid decision-making, concerns about cheating, the evolving role of teachers alongside AI, and the need for a nuanced understanding of AI’s implications in education. The speakers anticipate lively discussions at the upcoming conference (CoSN 2024) as attendees reflect on practical strategies and the future of AI in education. List of Takeaways:
Overall, the conversation underscores the dynamic nature of AI’s integration in education and the need for informed discussions to navigate its implications effectively. Below is the machine-generated transcript: 00:00:05 Speaker 1 OK, Mike. Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it. 00:00:09 Speaker 2 It’s great to speak with you today, Kevin. Thanks a lot. 00:00:11 Speaker 1 And it’s great to see you again. I guess you know via zoom, which you know again in the in the age of post COVID, a lot of conversations are happening. But fortunately this time next week. 00:00:23 Speaker 1 I’ll be sitting listening to you up on stage in person at cost in 2024. Looking forward to it. 00:00:29 Speaker 2 Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And I mean COVID, we, we we’re all used to this modality of zoom or teams or Webex or whatever you want to whatever you use in a given day. But I mean there’s no substitute for being there in person and you know. 00:00:41 Speaker 1 100% Miami doesn’t hurt either, right? 00:00:44 Speaker 2 Miami doesn’t hurt either, and yeah, and just the, you know, the conversations about the conversations and the side stuff. 00:00:50 Speaker 2 And. 00:00:51 Speaker 2 The one challenge I have with all the zoom stuff, everything seems so formal still that you need to sort of schedule. 00:00:56 Speaker 2 Well, something that’s impromptu and that’s a great thing. And the cousin brings together just a great group of great group of people, some. 00:00:58 Speaker 1 Yes. 00:01:03 Speaker 1 Absolutely, yeah. The the spontaneity and the the conversations, that kind of just kind of spring up from from nowhere in the hotel lobby bar or even at like airplane gates as as as you’re leaving. That’s the the best part I think. 00:01:18 Speaker 2 Yeah, wherever. So I’m, I’m looking forward to it. Looking forward to, I mean everything the opportunity to share some of the thoughts and perspectives about things that I’ve been working on to hear, I mean and and and what we’re going to talk about right now that with with with Heidi who went out pretty well and to hear his latest thoughts and just in general to sort of take the pulse of people in person about. 00:01:38 Speaker 2 What they’re working on, what their challenges are, what the maybe. 00:01:42 Speaker 2 Maybe what answers they have, but at least you know what better questions they might have than they had when we started this whole generative AI journey in earnest. Not. 00:01:46 Speaker 1 Yeah, well. 00:01:50 Speaker 1 Well that, that’s it and it’s it’s, it’s that I never thought that there would be a more used acronym than COVID in this decade. But AI has certainly kind of taken that mantle for for better obviously. But it is certainly a topic that just continues to just dominate. 00:01:50 Speaker 2 Too long. 00:02:09 Speaker 1 And take the oxygen out of anything when you’re talking about education and technology. And I have to say it’s dating myself as a an old time technology at tech journalist. Some days I wake up and I’m like, is this all being overblown? And then other days I wake up and I’m like, no, it’s it’s not being overblown that this is something that is so. 00:02:31 Speaker 1 Insidious into all aspects of not just education, but society in in our lives that. 00:02:37 Speaker 1 It’s just so we’re not able to. 00:02:40 Speaker 1 I’m not able to to wrap my head around it, so maybe you. 00:02:43 Speaker 1 Can help me out there? 00:02:44 Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think we all collectively turned to wrap our head around this and you know and and whether it’s, you know, sort of oversold in the short run, undersold in the long term. I mean, this is going to be this stuff. And one of the challenges is like, what are we talking about? I mean, I get, you know, pitch decks from companies. And I was like, oh, there’s a bullet point on AI there. 00:02:57 Yeah. 00:03:03 Speaker 2 I don’t think the product has changed yet. I think it’s going to change radically in the future. Is these these business analytics stuff they were doing. They had a couple of algorithms in or does that mean it’s AI is, are they talking about something? I mean, are they using generative AI? Is that the new thing they’re doing? Are there sorts of analytics are happening in the background that they’re now just because of? 00:03:24 Speaker 2 The the business and the excitement we all have that they are just surfacing more in a more straightforward way in a more prominent way in the product. You know, sometimes it’s tough to tell. And that said there is so much interesting stuff happening. There’s so much. 00:03:38 Speaker 2 Opportunity. There’s so much confusion and yeah, leading into the space it is it. There’s an excitement in the space. And like you, I’ve been around and for for quite a while when you know when the Internet started in a big way to in the in the States and in in Canada and Europe to make inroads and I feel that same sense of excitement. 00:03:59 Speaker 2 And confusion and like where should we be talking? I mean I remember. 00:04:03 Speaker 2 For. 00:04:04 Speaker 2 30 years ago, a long time ago, someone coming in and talking about, you know, the revolutionary potential of TCP IP in education. I mean, that’s a conversation that nobody really needs to have. Maybe some people at a technical level need to done. But some of the conversations are on AI, you know, figuring out at what level we should be talking, how technical should we be talking about things, how not. 00:04:24 Speaker 2 What’s really important, what isn’t, but I think whatever is happening now is going to be, you know, fundamental to the way a lot of sort of products and services happen in the education space and the way a lot of our interactions with each other are mediated, for better, for worse. 00:04:38 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00:04:40 Speaker 1 Can you divvy it up for me? I mean, because there’s so many different aspects of it. You know, one of the ones that I think in the in the mainstream press and over the past year kind of started to create a little bit of a boogeyman to the, to the concept of AI. It was on the instructional side, right. Kids are going to cheat. Teachers are going to lose their jobs when. 00:04:59 Speaker 1 These AI overlords come in and and and take everything over, and then he had the other end, where it’s just kind of. 00:05:05 Speaker 1 Basic administrative duties that we all have, and no matter what sort of industry that we’re that we’re living and working in, we’re already using it, right. I mean, if if you’re using it a grammar speller, I mean that’s kind of the AI to a certain degree or even when we use Google as kind of an AI. 00:05:24 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:05:25 Speaker 1 Your your own personal kind of scale there or of how you differentiate. 00:05:28 Speaker 1 8. 00:05:29 Speaker 1 The different aspects of AI and Ed. 00:05:32 Speaker 2 Yeah. And building out like a framework for understanding or even just a way to communicate about this stuff, certainly. I mean there are there are as aids in decision making, yeah. 00:05:42 Speaker 2 That. That’s one big area and I think and whether it’s decision and and then how important those decisions are and you know where there are consequential decisions about, for example, some kid getting assigned to this class or not or passing a class or or getting a a A grade on this test or not. 00:06:02 Speaker 2 Being allowed into this program consequential, there are some consequential decisions. 00:06:06 Speaker 2 That are being made either by AI or potentially by a or made in in a concert with some sort of tool that I think are increasingly relevant, important. We should be talking about. There’s a move in some case people exploring, you know, how can we use, you know, AI and assessment? Well, of course, we’ve been using AI and asset. 00:06:28 Speaker 2 And some people have from in ways that are crude, are sophisticated for, you know, certainly over a decade now. I did some work in the former Soviet state, the country of Georgia, and they’ve been using computer adaptive testing for high stakes tests for for a dozen years or so. So this some of this stuff isn’t new necessarily. 00:06:48 Speaker 2 But I think what’s new is that that potentially there’s there are there are higher stakes associated with the use of AI, something around making decisions you know will AI replace teachers. I mean will technology replace teachers, will the Internet replace teachers a long time ago centuries ago people asked will books replace teachers? 00:07:06 Speaker 2 If not in the STACK answer stack answer is no, but there were places some of what teachers do and maybe change how they teach. I think we probably all would agree to that and we’re now exploring how that’s actually going to play out. One of the when we’re talking about AI as a tool to help us. 00:07:26 Speaker 2 Automate certain tasks, administrative tasks so AI as automation if you will. I think there is. I mean a lot of things to be potentially excited about. I do push back on some of the. 00:07:37 Speaker 2 Some of the promises that, oh, this will free up teachers to do more of what teachers are best at. So the human side mean technology and education is one thing. Education is a fundamentally human endeavor. Yeah. And it’d be great if the tech and the AI is is part of the tech landscape, helps teachers to do more about what they’re able to do as humans. 00:07:57 Speaker 2 I do worry in some cases that if they’re more efficient at some of the administrative work by using AI, they might just be a sign more of it. So I think in all these things it’s it’s, you know, it’s some, is this gonna happen? 00:08:08 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:08:09 Speaker 2 Ah. 00:08:09 Speaker 2 Cheating. Do kids cheat? Well, kids, cheating before the good cheaters are probably cheating better now, or differently. There was this, you know, the study that came out from Stanford that didn’t find any appreciable increase in cheating, whatever that means. It depends on, you know, I guess how we define cheating and and the the tasks we assign to kids. 00:08:17 Speaker 1 OK. 00:08:29 Speaker 2 I think you know when speaking with some college, I’m all over the board here, Kevin. But is speaking to some college admissions officers in the last month or so. I mean, I hear they say like. 00:08:40 Speaker 2 I mean, we can tell immediately we we we read so many of these applications when they’re written by AI we know. 00:08:45 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00:08:47 Speaker 2 And so is that cheating? Is, is, whatever, they’re just. So I think some of the initial worry was understandable, but I think as we become not only more sophisticated users, but consumers of the use of this stuff, I think our attentions are directed in other places. I mean, I don’t think teachers are going to be replaced by AI any time soon. 00:09:06 Speaker 2 Where there aren’t teachers, it means there’s no teacher at home and you have some AI bot that can help. 00:09:13 Speaker 1 Why? 00:09:13 It’s not really. 00:09:13 Speaker 2 Replacing anything, certainly the the the potential for intelligent tutors, what even called to augment complement what teachers are able to do that’s real. We’ve had a promise for personalized learning for the last, I don’t know 3 decades and this is I think the next the big maybe potentially step change. 00:09:33 Speaker 2 And a lot of that stuff. So I’m, I mean I I it’s an interesting time to be working in this space. I think because there are there’s a lot and I think we’re going to look back on and say I can’t believe that we were worried about this when the real thing was to be worried about that. Can’t we were excited about this when the. 00:09:48 Speaker 2 Real thing was to be excited about that. 00:09:51 Speaker 2 And it’s like we continued. 00:09:51 Speaker 1 100% yeah, yeah. Fascinating. So when you think about the crowd at cozen, the the folks who are in attendance and as well as our, our readers and our listeners who are, you know, either teachers, instructional coaches, tech directors, superintendents probably have a certain level of savvy if if they’re at cozy to begin with. 00:10:11 Speaker 1 Or reading or listening to to E school. 00:10:15 Speaker 1 Use. 00:10:16 What? 00:10:17 Speaker 1 Do you hope the takeaways will be for them when we’re talking about your conversation with Hattie and what that means practically to the day-to-day of their working lives and strategies when it comes to dealing with this topic, either internally or also maybe? 00:10:38 Speaker 1 In in in context of communicating it to their their faculty and the wider community. 00:10:43 Speaker 2 Yeah. I think one of the, I mean one of the advantages we will have, how do you know will have is that this session at cosine will be I think the last one on the last day. So we’ll have had the opportunity to. 00:10:50 Speaker 1 Yes. 00:10:53 Speaker 2 The pulse of sort of the the attendees and and see what? Yeah, what they’re hearing, what they’re thinking, what they’re asking about. And I think some of that will be reflected, although we both of us have lots of things we would want to share and we want to make sure that that we are sharing stuff from our experience and and especially you know my place I’m at. 00:11:14 Speaker 2 The Brookings Institution. It’s a it’s a global think tank in Washington, DC, where I’m exploring lots of issues related to AI use and education by just talking with lots of people around the world and the extent that I can bring in some of the conversations that maybe aren’t conversations that. 00:11:29 Speaker 2 Folks are having in the US, for example, or in some US schools that are represented there and share those. Maybe some of those different perspectives and be able to take then the perspectives back with me as well. I mean one of the clear things is that while there was an initial, I mean people are using this both all the time and not at all. 00:11:48 Speaker 2 I mean initially like this is going to change everything. Well, we saw a lot and we still see a lot of sort of experimental use on the edges. 00:11:57 Speaker 2 That is dedicated use. I’m going to use Chegg PT to do this. I’m going to use mid journey to do this. We see. I imagine it’s I don’t have data on this. We see even more use embedded inside tools. I mean embedded inside your Google search and we have where they have copilot in your your school. Whether that’s offered as as part of what. 00:12:17 Speaker 2 Microsoft delivers to you where you have some version of Gemini and what Google offers to you. Whether you’re one of the places where open AI offers Chet GPT to schools that are embedded inside the tools you already use. I mean, I think that is going to be the use case that is going to be most relevant to the most. 00:12:31 Speaker 2 People, I think immediately and in the in the sort of near future, but we’re mostly talking about the use of the dedicated chat tools basically mainly. So I’m interested to see what if if that’s indeed the case, what people are observing in their schools and. 00:12:51 Speaker 2 In their work, or if not, I mean I I mean a I mean. 00:12:55 Speaker 2 It’s just. 00:12:56 Speaker 2 Quickly going to be everywhere and at the line between what’s Ed Tech and what’s an education, there’s going to be no line between them because every product and service is going to use this stuff. And I think the 1st, the 1st wave, but whenever there’s any new technology innovation, you know, what do you use the the new stuff to do, you do it to use, you do it, to do what you did before. 00:13:16 Speaker 2 Maybe just better, more cheaply with more people and you know that sort of replacement or automation type of innovation is what we’re going to see first. 00:13:26 Speaker 2 In this case, we talked about the second type of innovation, which was doing something you couldn’t do before, and we talked about that initially when Chachi, BT came out and what it was November 30th, 2022, and there was a lot of attention to that. And then there’s sort of it’s moved away from there and I’m really excited about what that is going to be. Again, when we have tools that are built with an AI first perspective. 00:13:47 Speaker 2 Not as an add-on, not as functionality within the tool, but we have really AI first tools and I think we’re starting to see some of these things being touted and and some of the you know these pilot things that are out there and I’ll be interested to see how many. 00:14:01 Speaker 2 Of those are. 00:14:02 Speaker 2 In evidence, whether it’s you know, copilot for teachers, you know in interesting. 00:14:02 Speaker 1 Yeah. 00:14:07 Speaker 2 Useful ways. Their whole set of new things I think that are possible and also I’m interested in Kevin and you know. 00:14:16 Speaker 2 You know, we have a couple of big companies and they spend a lot of money and building these foundation models and then other people try to figure out how they can ride on top of that and in sort of an A costs an unbelievable amount of money to develop this stuff and find the talent to make things. But to start to see what’s happening at the edges with people experimenting with some of the small language models. 00:14:24 Yeah. 00:14:37 Speaker 2 Some of the more things at the edges, because I think those are going to be practical for schools and for users in all scores. So use cases that aren’t. 00:14:44 Speaker 2 Just the predominant one, which is. 00:14:45 Speaker 2 And you’re in a, you know, well resourced environment with good connectivity and and you have a good school budget to support you because that that’s only, you know, one portion of our our learning population. 00:14:57 Speaker 1 Yeah. Well, it’s it’s certainly as you mentioned, an exciting time in in the space. It’s it’s nice to be able to focus on on the future as as opposed to kind of. 00:15:08 Speaker 1 Sort of hunker down during COVID and to see all the new innovations that are coming out there. I really look forward. I want. I want you to keep your powder dry for next week, but you’ve already given us a really good taste of what should be coming up next week. So again, appreciate your time and your insights and look forward to seeing you in Miami. 00:15:28 Speaker 2 Thanks so much, Kevin and I look forward to reading and listening and seeing everybody in in Miami. 00:15:36 Speaker 1 Fantastic. 00:15:36 Have a great day. via eSchool News https://ift.tt/tnHYdR0 
SAN MATEO and OAKLAND, California -- IXL Learning, developer of personalized learning products used by millions of people globally, is excited to announce the acquisition of IXL Learning, the premier online English-language dictionary, as well as Thesaurus.com, home to the world’s largest collection of synonyms and antonyms. From mastering vocabulary to unraveling the origins of words, more than 40 million people rely on Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com each month to hone their literacy skills. The platforms process more than 1.8 billion word searches annually, making them go-to destinations for reliable word learning resources. The acquisitions strengthen IXL Learning’s portfolio of renowned language and literacy products, which includes Rosetta Stone, IXL English Language Arts, Vocabulary.com, SpanishDictionary.com, and ingles.com. “In a world brimming with countless words, Dictionary.com is a trusted guide that helps people navigate the English language and express themselves,” said Paul Mishkin, CEO of IXL Learning. “We are excited to collaborate and take significant strides together toward making education more engaging and accessible.” “Dictionary.com’s trusted brand and IXL Learning’s expertise couldn’t be a better match. We both strongly believe that anyone can harness the power and beauty of the English language to express themselves confidently,” said Dara Sanderson, CEO of Dictionary.com. “By combining our strengths, we will continue elevating Dictionary.com’s platform, making it an even more essential resource for learners seeking to expand their vocabulary and deepen their understanding of words.” Defining Dictionary.com There’s a word for that Informative videos, articles, and trending words from the news bring language to life, showcasing howwords are used in real-world contexts. Additionally, Dictionary.com features a diverse collection of interactive educational games, including crossword puzzles and word searches, that make learning effective and enjoyable. Thesaurus.com: A gateway to a world of words The Synonym of the Day feature keeps learners’ vocabulary fresh, while its companion newsletter provides detailed definitions and explanations of how to use the synonyms effectively. Understanding the nuances of words becomes effortless with the Compare Synonyms tool, which offers synonyms, antonyms, and definitions for each word. Unique filtering options based on relevance, complexity, and length allow learners to find the perfect word for any situation. Additionally, Thesaurus.com can be accessed through the Dictionary.com mobile app, enabling users to expand their vocabulary wherever they are. About IXL Learning About Dictionary.com and Thesaurus.com via eSchool News https://ift.tt/MJFy3u8 
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Educators today face myriad challenges in their classrooms, including low student engagement, staffing issues, funding shortages, and gaps in opportunity and access. But despite these challenges, there are bright spots in teaching and learning. Inspiring district leaders, classroom teachers, and school staff have found unique and innovative ways to engage students in learning, motivating students to see beyond classroom walls and truly immerse themselves in learning. Here’s what today’s educators have to say about AI, STEM, SEL, and more: In 2024, education will move to adopt AI–but slowly. Students are already using artificial intelligence tools, so now is the time for educators to catch up by learning how AI can improve teaching and learning, says Julianne Ross-Kleinmann, an Instructional Data Analysis and Technology Specialist with Ulster County BOCES. In the coming year, early adopters will continue to play with new AI tools to see how they can be used in education. They will have some amazing successes–and some failures–as they light the way forward and the rest of us endlessly discuss the potential uses and abuses of AI in our classrooms. Read more about Ross-Kleinmann’s thoughts on AI in schools. PBL isn’t used enough–let’s change that. The pedagogical approach to brings learning to life for students through hands-on engagement that lends itself to both differentiation and personalization, writes Kendall Stallings, a first grade teacher in Baltimore County. However, PBL is one of the most sensible solutions to the variety of needs teachers must try to meet for each student because it allows student autonomy and targets specific areas. The concept hinges on the idea that students complete a project on a single topic–ideally, they choose their own topics to promote interest and motivation–and, in doing so, dive deeply into that topic, ultimately becoming an expert on it. Projects can be individually completed or a collaborative effort, promoting group work and social skills. Because students control their learning in the PBL approach, differentiation is simple, if needed at all, as students conduct their own learning at their own pace and present their learning in a mode that makes sense to them. Find more PBL insight from Stallings here. Elementary-level STEM education fosters our future innovators. Dr. Yuvraj Verma, a teacher at Chalkville Elementary School in Alabama, notes that investing in STEM education from an early age nurtures the next generation of innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders. Elementary school years mark a critical phase in a child’s cognitive development. It is during this period that introducing STEM education thus becomes paramount so as to establish a solid foundation of fundamental concepts and problem-solving skills. These foundational years offer a unique opportunity to spark curiosity and creativity, thereby providing the basis for more advanced learning in later grades and beyond. Dive into Dr. Verma’s argument for elementary-level STEM. Data can empower districts to align teaching with student needs. Teachers can model responsible decision making, positive relationship building and other important SEL skills in everyday interactions, says Dr. Michael Mallery Jr., District Administrator for Social Emotional Learning with Windsor Public Schools. Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the district’s SEL program is its use of data to understand the impact of SEL efforts and inform change that enables district leaders to make efforts more effective. The district implemented Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), a nationally standardized, strength-based behavior rating scale for social and emotional competence. Data generated by this brief questionnaire helps educators screen, assess, guide intervention planning, monitor progress and evaluate outcomes related to SEL. Learn more about Dr. Mallery’s use of data in guiding SEL efforts. It’s possible to build student engagement in STEM classrooms. With the push to build STEM literacy and get more students–especially girls–into STEM fields, engagement is needed across science disciplines, notes Steve Millam, a physics and astrophysics teacher at Chaparral High School. It’s critically important to continue to find new ways to keep students inspired and engaged in STEM learning. The same is true–and arguably more important–for students who are less interested in science and STEM fields. Engagement, after all, is a critical contributing factor to students pursuing a STEM pathway in college and in the workforce. Here are 3 strategies Millam uses to build STEM engagement. via eSchool News https://ift.tt/9v54eiP 
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters. Emma Gonzalez Gutierrez has struggled to communicate with the teachers of her five children for years. She’s tried to stay engaged. She’s attended meetings, gravitated toward Spanish-speaking staff, and relied on translators, including her kids, over the years. Now, thanks to an app that McElwain Elementary, her Adams 12 school, started using this year, she’s found opportunities to engage in new ways with her youngest child’s education. Recently, the kindergarten teacher texted her on the app, ReachWell, which allows the teacher to text in English and parents to receive the messages in their own language. The teacher told Gonzalez Gutierrez that her daughter had won a student of the month-type award and invited her to come to the school to surprise her daughter when the award was presented. The small gesture that meant so much to Gonzalez Gutierrez. “For me it was very exciting,” Gonzalez Gutierrez said. “It was so valuable that she was able to let me know.” ReachWell and similar translation apps have become more common, and for some teachers, they’ve become crucial as educators work to communicate with the rising number of families that don’t speak English. The apps often allow the communications between parents and teachers to feel personal. Some teachers say it has helped parents open up about issues their child or family is having, which then helps teachers better engage with students. In addition to seeing text from teachers in their native language on ReachWell, parents can respond in their native language and teachers see the replies in English. Kayli Brooks, a teacher at Tollgate Elementary in Aurora, uses the app Talking Points, which also allows her to text parents. It also translates texts between parents and educators but does not require families to download an app. “Families will share that they’re struggling with transportation, or here’s why maybe they’re acting out, or they might text me and say ‘hey this thing happened at home and I think my child is going to be really sad at school today,’” Brooks said. “It’s a huge deal. Families want to be involved in their child’s education no matter where they’re from, no matter what language they speak.” Brooks said that since her Aurora school began using the app in 2020, she is much more successful at collecting permission forms, for example. With migrant families who are new to the country and are “kind of overwhelmed,” she said, texting them through the app has also helped them better understand basic information they need to get their children started in school. Communication that feels personal, through a text, is often more manageable for families than directing parents to online forms and resources, she said. Sara Olson, principal of McElwain Elementary, said the ReachWell translation app is “a tool that provides equitable access.” “It’s almost mind boggling to me that some of these folks have maneuvered schools for years not having access,” Olson said. “As a parent I can’t imagine not having access to the information, to the teachers. Every child and family member has a right to have that access.” Olson said she did not have trouble having all families at her school download the app. Zuben Bastani created the app ReachWell after he said he saw that some families at his child’s Denver school weren’t getting all the communications. He said he saw children excluded from field trips after arriving at school, unknowingly unprepared — wearing sneakers on the day of a snowshoeing trip, for example — because their families hadn’t understood the school communications. “It became real apparent, real fast, which families were aware and showed up and which weren’t,” Bastani said. The app is in use in many schools and districts in the metro area and across the country in places like Pittsburgh. In addition to schools, the company is also partnering with some emergency service agencies to provide emergency notifications — such as shelter-in-place or evacuation orders during natural disasters — that non-English speaking populations can receive in their home language. Jean Boylan, a community liaison at McMeen Elementary in Denver, also uses ReachWell at her school, but said she also has used Google’s translation app on her phone to greet parents face to face as they pick up students from school. She said staff are all looking for as many ways as possible to communicate. In her school, concerns about whether new immigrant families have access to the internet, have led staff to start printing materials too. McMeen is one of a couple dozen Denver schools that have enrolled a significant number of new students from Venezuela and elsewhere this year. But anytime they can communicate with the ReachWell app, it saves time and energy, Boylan said. The app helps because there are so many languages spoken by families. She said there’s a map in her office with at least 27 countries highlighted, reflecting where the school’s current families come from. Bastani said ReachWell has found that because parents have to download the app and self-select from more than 130 languages what their preferred language is, many schools find that they’ve been undercounting how many languages their families speak. On average, they discover 25% more languages after a few months, ReachWell leaders said. Boylan is now working with Bastani to build out a resource page that ReachWell offers in the app for families. It may include ways for families to access help such as for food or housing. For parents like Gonzalez Gutierrez, the personal communications they have with teachers are the most critical. Gonzalez Gutierrez said earlier this year, she realized her kindergartener had become frustrated with an online program the school used for kids to learn math. It was causing the child stress and fear and Gonzalez Gutierrez said she didn’t know how to talk to the teacher about it — until she realized that she could text her. Letting the teacher know what the problem was allowed them to work together to solve it. “It’s worth it,” Gonzalez Gutierrez said. “It’s been such a gift for me.” This story has been updated to reflect that users do not have to download the ReachWell app to get messages through ReachWell, though the downloading the app is an option. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools. Related: via eSchool News https://ift.tt/jt7iEpV 
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