The Tech Edvocate

Top Menu

  • Advertisement
  • Apps
  • Home Page
  • Home Page Five (No Sidebar)
  • Home Page Four
  • Home Page Three
  • Home Page Two
  • Home Tech2
  • Icons [No Sidebar]
  • Left Sidbear Page
  • My Account
  • My Speaking Page
  • Newsletter Sign Up Confirmation
  • Newsletter Unsubscription
  • Our Brands
  • Page Example
  • Protected Content
  • Register
  • Request a Product Review
  • Shop
  • Shortcodes Examples
  • Signup
  • Start Here
    • Governance
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • The Edvocate
  • Topics
  • Write For Us
  • Advertise

Main Menu

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • The Edvocate Podcast
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue

logo

The Tech Edvocate

  • Start Here
    • Our Brands
    • Governance
      • Dr. Lynch’s Personal Website
        • My Speaking Page
      • Careers
    • Write For Us
    • Contact Us
    • Books
    • Edupedia
    • The Edvocate Podcast
  • Topics
    • Assistive Technology
    • Child Development Tech
    • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech
    • EdTech Futures
    • EdTech News
    • EdTech Policy & Reform
    • EdTech Startups & Businesses
    • Higher Education EdTech
    • Online Learning & eLearning
    • Parent & Family Tech
    • Personalized Learning
    • Product Reviews
  • Advertise
    • Request a Product Review
  • Apps
  • Tech Edvocate Awards
  • The Edvocate
  • Pedagogue
  • Screencasting Adds Engagement to K—12 Classrooms

  • 6 Resources for Teaching about Artificial Intelligence

  • How New Innovative Features in Classrooms Support EdTech

  • Distance Learning during the Pandemic: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond

  • Generational Differences Affect Tech Initiatives In Higher Education

  • Mixing And Matching: How To Blend Online Learning And AI

  • Understanding Institutional Reasons to Move to Cloud

  • How to Get Your Educators Excited About Using Edtech

  • Teaching Intelligence: Digital Literacy In the ‘Alternative Facts’ Era

EdTech NewsHigher Education EdTech
Home›EdTech News›Social media and video games in classrooms can yield valuable data for teachers

Social media and video games in classrooms can yield valuable data for teachers

By Matthew Lynch
July 4, 2016
Spread the love

This article was written by Nick Pandolfo

Social media, video games, blogs and wikis are playing increasingly important roles in classrooms across the country. Some worry that incorporating more social media and other technologies into education is leading to too much computer time, as well as to a generation of students deficient in the face-to-face social skills needed to survive in the workplace. Proponents say schools need to find ways to use these technologies to improve teaching and learning, or else risk losing the attention of digital natives.

A paper released earlier this week by the Brookings Institution addresses how social media, blogs and video games are improving education by increasing access to people and information in various forms, including Twitter feeds, blog posts, videos and books. These tools are also increasing people’s ability to share information with networks and contribute their own thoughts.

In a panel convened at Brookings yesterday to discuss how technologies like social media and video games are influencing education, the hot topics of “analytics” and understanding student data were discussed. Constance Steinkuehler Squire, a senior policy analyst in the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and an expert on the educational uses of video games, said that beyond increasing student engagement, video games create valuable “data exhaust” by tracking each student’s progress.

“The data you can get from a student interacting with the game is compelling,” Squire said in the panel yesterday. “And it opens up an entire new area of formative assessment—and the mapping of formative assessments and learning analytics—to a game-type environment, which has been of a lot of interest, both private and public.”

The idea is that the data collected by video games and social media sites can be provided, sometimes in real time, to teachers who can then use it to better understand their students and tailor instruction to meet individual needs.

Janet Kolodner of the National Science Foundation said that data collection will come to be about more than that. She mentioned that NSF just launched a project on “big data”—a term that encompasses the gathering of extremely large amounts of data to which analytics are applied to reach new insights—and said that big data will play a much bigger role in education in the future.

“Big data is also being used so that if we have kids learning in the context of games or kids learning in the context of tutoring systems, that the system will be able to analyze that student’s work and their understanding and be able to give the right kind of feedback at the right time to help them deepen their understanding,” Kolodner said.

Companies like Knewton, Junyo and the Learn Lab in Pittsburgh and are all creating such systems that are being used by many schools across the nation.

Another concern of multiple audience members at the panel was the idea that advances in digital technologies would make school as we know it irrelevant. They suggested a day might come when students wouldn’t go to a school building at all, but would instead learn exclusively from mobile devices and virtual teachers. Kolodner put their fears to rest.

“I don’t think schools are going to go away,” she said. “Parents need to work, and you need a place to put the kids.” A wave of laughter spread across the room.

 

This article was originally published on The Heching Report. Read the original article

 

Nick Pandolfo writes for The Hechinger Report. A native of New York City, he majored in education at Eugene Lang College and later taught ESL for four years in New York, China and South Korea.


Spread the love
TagsEdtechedtechchatelearningSTEAMSTEM
Previous Article

Hit rewind: Coaching teachers virtually

Next Article

Shifting the field of view: science stories ...

Matthew Lynch

Related articles More from author

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    6 EdTech Companies That are Disrupting Early Childhood Education

    February 18, 2018
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Higher Education EdTechOnline Learning & eLearningUncategorized

    Diverse Conversations: An Online Course to Recruit Online Learners

    June 22, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • EdTech NewsHigher Education EdTech

    Why replacing teachers with automated education lacks imagination

    June 29, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechHigher Education

    What Are the Drawbacks of Using Virtual Reality in K-12 Schools?

    June 7, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTech

    Using EdTech to assess small group instruction

    June 29, 2016
    By Matthew Lynch
  • Uncategorized

    Trailblazers in EdTech: Jess Gartner

    July 28, 2017
    By Matthew Lynch

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEducation Leadership

    9 Tips for Being a Education Leader in the Digital Age

  • Assistive Technology

    Network Segmentation Boosts Wi-Fi Performance And Security For K-12 Schools

  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Edtech Innovations in China

Search

Login & Registration

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Screencasting Adds Engagement to K—12 Classrooms

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 1, 2021
  • 6 Resources for Teaching about Artificial Intelligence

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 26, 2021
  • How New Innovative Features in Classrooms Support EdTech

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 26, 2021
  • Distance Learning during the Pandemic: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 25, 2021
  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond

    By Matthew Lynch
    February 24, 2021
  • 20 Top Virtual Reality Apps that are Changing Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 11, 2017
  • 7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    March 4, 2017
  • Why Mobile Technology Enhances Instruction

    By Matthew Lynch
    December 14, 2016
  • What is the Future of Online Learning in Higher Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    April 2, 2018
  • 7 Roles for Artificial Intelligence in Education

    By Matthew Lynch
    May 5, 2018
  • 6 Resources for Teaching about Artificial Intelligence - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 26, 2021

    China Is Teaching Children about AI in Kindergarten. Should the US Be Worried?

    […] possibilities which is ...
  • How New Innovative Features in Classrooms Support EdTech - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 26, 2021

    The Significance of Technology in Your School

    […] Dictionary defines “Innovative” ...
  • Distance Learning during the Pandemic: Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 25, 2021

    Virtual Learning Apps, Tools, and Resources That We Love

    […] applications and platforms ...
  • Universities Deploy Chatbots To Aid Students In The Admissions Process And Beyond - The Tech Edvocate
    on
    February 24, 2021

    How Can We Use Chatbots in Education?

    […] chatbot is any ...
  • Let’s talk Tech – Sine up for Math
    on
    February 23, 2021

    7 Ways Technology Is Impacting Modern Education

    […] Lynch, M. (2017, ...

EdTech Policy & Reform

  • EdTech Policy & Reform

    How Much Bias Is Okay in Your School?

    Spread the loveThe algorithm has proven itself to be a handy tool when it comes to solving education problems. It’s also not without bias.  You may be wondering how some ...
  • EdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    Edtech Should Complement Good Pedagogy, Not Attempt to Replace It

    Spread the loveThe newest generation of edtech is downright amazing; it’s no wonder that various education stakeholders might be a little excited about its potential to transform education. However, edtech ...
  • EdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    How to Teach Kids to Communicate in This Digital Age

    Spread the loveWhen even the youngest children are spending the equivalent of a full work day looking at screens, it is perhaps no surprise that parents are wondering how to ...
  • EdTech FuturesEdTech Policy & Reform

    3 Reasons Why India Will Be A Leader in the EdTech Industry in the 21st ...

    Spread the loveAccording to a joint report by KPMG and Google, the online education industry is expected to grow at a healthy rate of 8 times to become a $1.96B ...
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Policy & ReformFeaturedFresh

    How Does Technology Immersion Shape the Brain?

    Spread the loveDo you wonder what all of the screen time we have is really doing to our brains? As edtech continues to rise in prominence throughout the world, this ...

EdTech Startups & Businesses

  • EdTech Startups & BusinessesOnline Learning & eLearning

    Using Nudge Theory in Your Corporate Online Learning Classes

    Spread the loveAfter reading this headline, you may be asking yourself, what is nudge theory? Nudge theory centers on positive reinforcement and inferred suggestions to motivate a person to complete ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Bringing Education into the Business World

    Spread the loveU.S. businesses spent nearly $20 billion on training in 2019. That number decreased by roughly half from the year before. Companies aren’t providing fewer professional development opportunities for ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    You Must Include These 3 Things in Your Edtech Business Plan

    Spread the loveDo you have a business plan? It’s the one question you’re going to be asked a lot as you begin your edtech business. The reasons to write a ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    Edtech Marketing Ideas to Implement Right Now

    Spread the loveEven if you do have the most exceptional edtech product or service in the world, you’ve still got to market it. Your sales and your success depend on ...
  • EdTech Startups & Businesses

    How Your Edtech Startup Can Make the Leap from Failure to Funded

    Spread the loveThe best ideas in edtech are often only ideas. They never become a reality because they lack the funding they need to get off the ground. Taking an ...

Digital Equity

  • Digital EquityDigital Leadership

    How Can You Assess the Tech Needs of Your Students Outside of School?

    Spread the loveToday, I received an email from the middle school principal in Los Angeles. She explained to me that the school that she ran was in one of the ...
  • Digital Equity

    It Is Time for the Edtech Industry to Stop Denying Its Equity and Race Problem

    Spread the loveThe EdTech industry is dominated by white employees, white leaders, and white entrepreneurs. If you doubt this statement, just attend an Edtech conference. Admittedly, educators and others don’t ...
  • Digital Equity

    How OER Can Help Overcome the Higher Education Equity Barrier

    Spread the loveThe cornerstone of the American dream is the ability to succeed in life regardless of one’s family of origin. And, for most people, that requires a college education. ...

EdTech Futures

  • EdTech FuturesOnline Learning & eLearning

    IT Trends To Watch As Higher Education Moves Into a New Decade

    Spread the loveEdtech couldn’t have hoped for a better launch into the new decade than the push the industry received from COVID-19. Even the most tech-resistant institutions and individuals have ...
  • EdTech Futures

    4 Emerging EdTech Trends in 2021

    Spread the loveCovid-19 has not only changed education as we know it, but it has forced education technology (EdTech) to up its game. EdTech has been crucial since the start of this ...
  • Adult EducationEdTech & InnovationEdTech FuturesEducation LeadershipEducational LeadershipHigher EducationHigher Education EdTechThe Future of Education

    Education Technology and the Future of Higher Ed Leadership

    Spread the loveEducation Technology (EdTech) has had a more significant impact on education than anyone expected. Now its effects are reaching into the field of higher education. In this article, ...
  • EdTech Futures

    Top Edtech Trends for 2021

    Spread the loveAre you ready to look ahead? Schools will soon be reflecting on what’s been working this year and what’s not. They’ll also begin thinking about their budgets for ...
  • Early Childhood & K-12 EdTechEdTech Futures

    In the Wake of Teacher Shortages, Schools are Turning to Virtual Teachers

    Spread the loveTeaching was once a greatly respected position, and today, morally it still seems to be of high value to many Americans. Institutionally, however, teaching no longer seems to ...

About Us

Since technology is not going anywhere and does more good than harm, adapting is the best course of action. That is where The Tech Edvocate comes in. We plan to cover the PreK-12 and Higher Education EdTech sectors and provide our readers with the latest news and opinion on the subject. From time to time, I will invite other voices to weigh in on important issues in EdTech. We hope to provide a well-rounded, multi-faceted look at the past, present, the future of EdTech in the US and internationally.

We started this journey back in June 2016, and we plan to continue it for many more years to come. I hope that you will join us in this discussion of the past, present and future of EdTech and lend your own insight to the issues that are discussed.

Newsletter

Signup for The Tech Edvocate Newsletter and have the latest in EdTech news and opinion delivered to your email address!

Contact Us

The Tech Edvocate
5322 Markel Road, Suite 104
Richmond, VA 23230
(601) 630-5238
advocatefored@gmail.com

Follow us

Copyright © 2021 Matthew Lynch. All rights reserved.