Writing in the Stream

 

For quite some time.

From The New York Public Library:

Here’s an excerpt from an NPR article/interview with Sir Ken Robinson. Basically, he says

1.) Look at the curriculum. Are there arts in addition to STEM?

2.) Look at the quality of teaching.

And 3.):

“Look at what’s on the walls. Is there kids’ work on the walls? Exhibitions? That also taps into the overall culture — you know, what sort of values are school promoting and how closely does it work with parents and the broader community? I think these are all reasonable criteria for the health and vitality of a school.”

I’m excited to hear that both Geogebra and Desmos have both released apps that can allow students to use their phones as graphing calculators during tests, potentially eliminating the need for expensive graphing calculators (as long as all students have their own smart phones, and that they have enough free to space to download the app).

One app creates a log of phone use during the test, and indicates with a color coded bar (green for good, red for violation) at the top of the app whether students have used internet or other applications during the test.

Definitely something that can help with equity, because not all students can afford to purchase $100+ graphing calculators. And why should they want to anyway, when most of them already have a personal computer in their pocket that can do everything a graphing calculator can, and more?

If there is a way for teachers to make sure students aren’t cheating, like these apps allow, then by all means, we should let students use the app instead of buying a redundant device.