Tutor.com- Post 12

Tutor.com is an online tutoring cite that allows one on one tutoring, for students to submit papers to be edited, ask math questions, take a practice test or even prepare for professional exams and college entrance test. In Alaska the one on one live tutoring is open 12-2 am, but you can drop off a paper or ask a question 24/7. One of the reasons I encourage my students to use Tutor.com is that some are extremely shy and soft spoken,(will not use our student success center), it is fabulous to have a resource that you can drop in a question or have a paper reviewed and you never have to speak face to face. For me, I have always been challenged as a speller, it is super embarrassing, but I developed tools with people I trust to work through this hurdle. I would have loved to have a resource like this while I was in college to avoid a lot of humiliation. For students who are a little more bold in communication, the practice test features offer feedback and extra support in areas that are individualized.

Pricing

For all students at Alaska Christian College this is free. There are bundles your school, district or institution can purchase or you could select individual tutoring offerings for as little as .75 cents a minute.

Tutor.com claims that 96% of their students report an increase in their grades……..I can say for any of my students who have used this tool, that is 100% the case!

Digital Story Telling-Post 11

This past summer, I lead a group of students from my church to a Youth Gathering in Houston, Texas. One of my favorite parts of travel is learning the history of the area and hearing stories of local people. As I was speaking to a friend about various non tourist things to do, she shared that her daughter was in school at Houston University and I should check out some of the local digital story telling. I Googled digital story telling in Houston and I was locked in to these short 4-6 minute videos with historical and artist components that shared the history of Houston. Stories are timeless and are a good way to synthesize and apply knowledge that you are passionate about or want to research. As an educator, I wanted to learn more.

What interested me most about how the university used digital story telling was that it was not isolated to literature or art, it was developed cross curricula. Areas that they have focused on were: art, engines of ingenuity, history, math, music, health/medical, pop culture, science, places, personal reflections, etc.

As I prepared to research this more thoroughly, I wondered what were the mechanics for building digital stories and could we affordably offer this to our students across age levels?

What do you need to set up a digital story?

• Pictures, images or short video clips (captured from phone, camera or internet)
• An idea
• Script (many cites suggest using a note card to keep things concise and under 6 minutes)
• A story board (visually lay out how your story will be set up and the flow)
• A Computer with some kind of movie maker, click here to check out some recommendations
• A good friend or colleague that will review, edit and provide feedback before publishing

Basically, the tools that are needed could be free with the basic programs found on your PC or Mac.

Research from Akyeampong (2018) states that digital storytelling “improves engagement, critical thinking skills and creativity”. The whole process of honing research skills, digesting and articulating stories to share that connect to a topic is certainly an out of the box assignment for any classroom. It inspires creativity, a sense of purpose, ownership and pride. I encourage you to look at The University of Houston’s work in all subject areas to be inspired to attempt something similar for a project you may have your students work on next term.

Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID)-Post 10

Unlocking the Magic of Bands with RFID

On planning a recent trip to Disney World, hysteria stirred when the magic bands arrived revealing our destination to a lifetime family getaway for our son’s graduation. What we didn’t realize was how powerful these little bands were. This magic unlocked almost unlimited access to anything we might need during our stay. These are a few features of the Magic Band:

• Paid for Meals/Snacks/Purchases
• Unlocked Doors
• Reservations
• Linked Special Dietary Alerts for Resturants
• Allowed Acess to Account balances on meal plans
• Gained access to parks (paired with biometrics)
• Could be used as a location device (for missing bands or children……one of ours ended up in the bottom of a water park)
• Provided access to secure areas (fast passes, special events)
• Plus they are fun and customizable

As we were on our way home, I was thinking of the endless possibilities for educational institutions without the Disney mega-billion dollar budget. Reviewing a cost analyze from a 2015 report from the Information Technology Acess Knowledge they break down passive RFID, active RFID, and active RFID rack/locators. Passive systems range from 10 cents-$1 each tag, $3,000 to $20,000 in readers, installations and configuration. (you must hire a specialized installer to set up) These chips last forever but have to be within close proximity of a reader to work. Active systems range from $15-$20 a tag and readers that cover a 3000 square foot area range from $1000-$1500. (and do not need a specialized support person, can inventory/track huge pallets at a time, but do not last forever because they contain low powered batteries) The racks or locators are used in conjunction with the active systems that report all the assets in any one area up to 3000 square feet range $150-$200.

Thinking about technology that supports the whole institution, not just the classroom

Benefits of RFID For the whole Institution

• Tracking and Inventory of library resources, IT, supplies, classroom materials, texts, furniture, food services, etc. without the cost of manual labor counting these goods.
• Can unlock doors (track safety and location of students) and unlock lockers
• Track Lunch balance accounts/pay for lunch without the need of having a personal present to manually input information
• Track class, lab, and extracurricular fees
• Can track/link transportation reservations and for Postsecondary institutions that might want to give the Disney experience; RFID can track and deliver suitcases to new students’ rooms with the right information
• RFID can unlock/access assessments and specialized learning platforms along with supply the statistics for these (when they began the assessment, ended the assessment, how long did it take to complete, along with a complete breakdown )
• Support Guided Instruction
• Take effortless attendance and lunch reports without the need for staff
• Make medical alerts for special dietary needs for lunchroom staff and medical alerts regarding medically fragile students for nurses (along with keeping up with immunization records)
• Automate purchasing orders when supplies run low
• Can allow access to games or special activities (prom, homecoming, dances, special trips…..may be coupled with biometrics)

There will always be concerns for people not wanting this information to be shared about their child, for these families, they can always opt out. As technology advances, we must not be afraid to think outside the box about how we will couple this with systems that have been reliable and efficient over the years, but we must be bold enough to let go of systems that are outdated and inefficient.

Images of Various RFIDs

Magic Bands

RFID tags

RFID IDs

Small flat RFID stickers for inventory

References Embedded in links:

http://itak.iaitam.org/simple-cost-analysis-for-rfid-options-choice-must-fit-the-organizations-needs-and-budget/