Digital Resources

Colleges are using advanced analytics to get the most out of communications with prospective students. In a recent article, Tom Green, associate executive director at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, discusses the use of analytic software and how it can help schools learn more about students. Analytics allow schools to see what prospective students are interested in, by tracking what they click on and how much time they spend on the school's website, and can even allow the school to personalize messages to students with that information.

A survey by Fidelity Investments shows 41% of investors from Generation Z (the ‘Zoomers’ – born late 1990’s to early 2010s) make financial decisions influenced by social media, considerably more than the survey's respondents from the millennial and Generation X categories. A Fidelity spokesperson notes "This is a generation seeking out financial content and there are more than 23 billion views on TikTok videos with the #money hashtag."

As new educational technologies are implemented in schools, it is important for parents and guardians to keep up with the latest in ed tech jargon, and even moreso for parents of kids who have learning differences as more and more inclusive educational technology, including text to speech and speech to text applications, begin to proliferate in the classroom. A recent article from Edsurge defines many of the new terms you may hear, as well as why each of them matter, and can be a useful reference.

Since the pandemic, digital books have become firmly part of the classroom and home learning landscape. Colleen Hoban, technology specialist for the Colonial School District in Delaware, offers a blog post with five tips for parents and educators as they expand their own digital collections, including maximizing features available when using digital books.

During the pandemic, teacher and student communications often suffered with the abrupt move from in person to online learning. A free new digital reflection tool, Along, can help teachers create personal relationships with students while allowing each student to feel seen and understood. The service lets teachers send thought-provoking questions to students, who can answer in a range of formats, including audio and video. Perhaps something to pass along as school kicks off, especially since some schools are pivoting to online learning once again given rising Covid case numbers.

While hopes remain high that online learning will be more limited this school year, Zoom recently released a Focus Mode feature aimed at limiting distractions for students. When the Focus Mode is activated, teachers can see all students in the Zoom "classroom," but students can see only the teacher or host as well as presentations.

Curious about what artificial intelligence applications are possibly coming to your children’s classrooms in the future?  An article in The Wall Street Journal profiles several and discusses the transforming role of teachers in the future. Despite the many technological advances, AI and education researchers still believe that a future where students might receive a personal robot or on-screen AI buddy along with their textbooks is rife with ethical and design challenges, citing ease of use, inclusivity and data use and privacy.

YouTube and Interesting Development have rolled out YouTube’s first worldwide campaign to show how easily creators can make Shorts. Advertisements use music from the world's top artists, such as The Weeknd, Camila Cabello, BTS and Doja Cat, and are running on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat as well as YouTube properties. This is YouTube’s push to attract tweens and teens away from TikTok, which has had more than 63 million installs and ranking first in nongaming app downloads almost consistently for the past 18 months, according to reports from analytics platform Sensor Tower. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp rounded out the top five in overall download rankings in July.

Non-fungible tokens are creating buzz in the tech world and could play a role in education, say teachers and students who are using NFTs. In a podcast, a high-school teachers, students, and others explain how they used NFTs -- which allow for creation of a one-of-a-kind digital file that is authenticated -- as a form of a transcript or as a way for art or music students to get their creativity out into the world. NFTs could also be a great way for students to have an authenticated version of their transcript – including projects done or papers produced – to present to a new school during a move or for college applications.

Parents should be glad to hear that one of the changes brought about by the pandemic is a greater emphasis on remote education during teacher training, says Jennifer Krawec of the University of Miami. Colleges and universities across the country are training future teachers to incorporate digital tools into the classroom, create virtual lesson materials and use videoconferencing software, so they are prepared to teach remote as well as in-person students.