Check out the latest trends!

So what are the hot tech trends in education today? There seem to be so many that it's difficult to wade through the sea of what is hot and new. When I recently discussed the issue with my very fabulous friend Brooke Brown, a teacherpreneur who always seems to know what is the latest and hottest thing going on in the world of education, we talked about the trends of communication and individualized learning. If there are two things I really see transforming education, it is the ability for teachers to communicate quickly and efficiently with students and parents, and it is a teacher's or school's ability to truly give students an individualized education. No more teaching to the middle. 

Class Dojo and similar apps are becoming extremely popular. And as we learned in our class, with a click of a button, a teacher can send a parent a notification that little Suzie has received a gold star for being a good sharer, or that she forgot to turn in her permission slip for the big zoo trip. Just like that -- with one click. It is this technology and cultural norm that I have really watched change over the last decade. I remember printing off 20 D and F letters, hand addressing them, and sticking them in the mail tray at work. Hand addressing, people!!! And I remember trying to make phone calls to parents and struggling to find a home phone number that wasn't disconnected or no longer connected to my student. My, times have changed. If anything, communication can now feel overwhelming. I now have to make sure to reply back to the fifteen parents who have emailed me in a day. The world seems much more connected, and our technology is undoubtably building this bridge between families and schools. Edmodo, Remind 101, Showbie, Class Dojo, they all make communication smoother and easier for teachers and families. 

Individualized education is also what I see making great strides. And, as a teacher, I believe that it is technology that is going to allow teachers to develop better and more personalized instruction for students. As a parent and a teacher, I think that this is an incredible and wonderful shift. We all know that individualized instruction is what is best for students, but there has been no way to actually do that until now. When I was a kid, some kids were reading the blue level SRA's and some were on the orange, and that was about it for individualized instruction and then it was time to get back to the math worksheet.  But now, there are all kinds of apps and instructional tech companies that gauge student learning and allow students to practice and grow at their own pace. Language Arts Friendzy and other apps allow students to practice ELA or math individually. It gives them feedback as they go, and such apps will keep targeting certain skills it sees a student struggling with. A new edtech company, Knewton, claims that it assesses student learning and will even reteach core knowledge issues that it sees lacking in students, meaning that Knewton is able to "see" that Bobby is struggling with understanding Active voice because Bobby doesn't really have a good grasp of subject-verb agreement. Knewton will reteach those core skills Bobby is having trouble with. 

Communication and individualized instruction are both key to bettering education. I'm excited to see what the future brings. I fear that this teach may put me right out of a job, but, as usual, I'm hoping for a world and future where there is room for very flawed humans and our perfect computers ( who want to secretly destroy us!!) to exist together in harmony.