Fundraising Companies are NOT the Enemy When it Comes to Educational Innovation

In my last post, I provided my take on the various companies in support of education.  In the end, there are companies and foundations that will be responsible for improving education and contributing in a positive way to the educational reform on the horizon.

Now, it's time to take things a bit further.  I take on the question, how will fundraising be a catalyst for innovation and change in schools in the future.

In order to explain this, we have to look at where schools are today.

Schools are by and large still using old technology to connect with children and at the same time, the digital front is already embraced at home.  Without going into much detail I think we can all agree that schools are still lagging behind the technology curve.

On a slightly different front, schools are still using paper in a large way.  Paper is used in the classroom and textbooks are in paper form.  This will eventually be replaced by all things digital.

But who will fund this technological revolution?  This switch from paper to devices?  How will schools afford to keep up with technology?

Yesterday I ran across this article: Obama Boston-bound; education, fundraising on tap

It's very interesting to me for a few reasons.  A group of corporations working together to consider educational innovation fills a huge and desperate need.  Unfortunately, one main point in the article is that schools need to do more with less.

So, how do companies create devices, textbooks and digital learning tools without schools being able to pay for this technology when it's relevant.  I think we all realize that if schools adopt new technology too late, there is a challenge relating to students who have a different technological reality at home.

I believe fundraising will be around for a very long time and will be a logical partner with foundations and corporations to complete the funding cycle.

I can envision corporations stepping up to do their part to get the newest technology into production. I believe schools will take a chance and go paperless.  I see schools making up a shortfall in technology spending with fundraising dollars and support from foundations. 

Once the need to save our schools is great enough, the community will support what is best for children.

I leave you with this...

Students will never express the need for better schools, new technology or collaborative learning.  They won't ask to go paperless, or for new playground equipment.  They will step over cracked concrete steps that need to be replaced.  They won't ask for unprocessed lunches.

Students don't know about the educational reform on the horizon nor is improving schools even something they are aware of.  They don't have a voice and won't be heard on their own.

We have to step up and represent the children if improving schools is to be a reality.

Fundraising Companies are NOT the Enemy When it Comes to Education Innovation

We're hearing a lot of bad news on the school front.  Lower performance, shrinking budgets, schools closing, teacher layoffs.  While schools are getting less, they are also on the verge of sweeping educational reform.

Schools are embracing technology in new and exciting ways allowing teachers to improve their relationships with parents.  We're really only seeing the very beginning.  Student's are using devices, computers, social media and technology at home.  The challenge is bringing schools up to speed with new and collaborative ways of learning.

There are many companies in support of improving education.  Some relationships based on profit, some on supplying commodities and some based on education innovation.

Many see schools as a business segment where a good is sold to a school at a profit.  Some see education as just any other business that buys cleaning supplies, paper and other commodity type products.  Even fewer see schools as dynamic, changing systems that need improvement.  This last category brings innovation and change to the market.

I see fundraising as the latter. 

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In my next post, I'll explore just how fundraising will be a part of educational reform and the technological changes on the horizon.

Schools and Technology... Changing Perceptions in the Mind of the Community.

Ask a random member of your community if they think the local elementary school is on the cutting edge of technology and most likely, they'll be thinking overhead projectors and VHS tapes.

I applaud educators today for pushing to improve the reputation of teachers when it comes to technology.  I no longer picture a teacher as purely a red pen, loose paper, dusty book person.  I picture educators as Macbook toting, Smartboard using folks planning their classes on an iPad.

So, here's the trouble.  When your average person pictures a school, they do not imagine a well-designed modern layout with comfortable furniture and quiet voices. They do not see subdued indirect lighting.  They do not envision students on the newest technology available.  They do not imagine students truly engaged.

They hear the clicks and squeaks of shoes in long echo filled hallways, the grinding of pencils being sharpened and outdated textbooks hitting the desks.  In the mind, the school is exactly as it has always been.  Loud, sterile and behind-the-times. They picture a lot of horseplay and talking back.

Change takes time and that's why I have so much respect for the educators in my PLN (my Personal Learning Network).  I see first-hand what technology and communication can do to improve learning.  The development of the educators that have embraced sites like twitter and express themselves with blogs such as this one is mind-boggling.  The desire to integrate apps and devices and create an environment where collaborative learning replaces memorization.

There is no doubt in my mind that our current educators can bring a new level of awareness and reform education.  Here's proof that our educators are on the cutting edge:

2010 Edublog Award Winners

If you take a look at some of the winners listed here, you'll get the idea that blogging, social media, technology and new strategies are being widely distributed TODAY.

And the kids are ready for it!  Right now, our toddlers are fully capable of operating computers and apps of all types.

My son just turned 4 years old and can surf YouTube, find age appropriate Netflix content to watch without help, take photos and videos and play them back and he can easily operate a number of educational apps without supervision. I know that sounds like he must be online all the time but it's not that he's always using technology.  He's a regular boy and plays and we do a lot of fun things together - He's just pretty darn good at it now that the devices are as intuitive as they are today.

This phenomenon is not just happening to just a few kids.  Take a look at this:

Learning to Play ‘Angry Birds’ Before You Can Tie Your Shoes

The technology gap between home and school could just as easily widen if school budgets don't allow for integrating technology into the classroom creating a dynamic where students don't relate to school as well. Although I'm no expert here, what I do know is that children like to be challenged.  Not being up-to-date is just not all that interesting.

This is why I respect schools that pay attention to design, lighting, comfort, computers & devices, video, sound reinforcement and simplicity.  I also applaud educators that push the boundaries discovering new and exciting ways to engage students and inspire others.

In the end, changing schools is going to be a long haul but I believe it can be done.

People will have to see for themselves this 'new school' is dedicated to the integration of technology and new principles of learning in order to believe it.  It will have to shatter the expectation that the school was created from the 'hand-me-downs' of the business sector and let it be known that the educators actually know how to use the technology.

We can get there and it will happen when thousands upon thousands of little actions improve the way schools work.  I see these improvements daily from the educators in my PLN and I am impressed.  It's perhaps not yet a movement, but it is something powerful.

I, for one, look forward to following these small innovations all along the way.  Things will soon look very different as a result.

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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and blogs here at BelieveJay.Blogspot.com as well as TheFundraisingPln.com


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Here's the article that inspired this post: Tightrope Teaching

Halloween, Texting, Facebook and Blogging...

Last night was Halloween.  I was so bummed because as a blogger, I had a great opportunity.  A ring on the door and as I opened it, a girl was texting while holding her bag out to me. 


I regret not having that photo of the texting trick or treater to post for you today.

So, this image was fresh in my mind when I ran across a post on Facebook where was thinking about this and checked in on a friend who said their daughter texted 4,180 times last month. 

If you do the math on this it's an insane amount of texting.  Something like a text every 6 minutes throughout the entire number of waking hours - every day of the month! 

A few days ago, I took my kids to the roller rink to do some roller skating.  I remember loving my roller days way back when and everything looked exactly the same as back in the day - except for one thing.  Next to us was a table of three teens all texting vigorously.  They didn't talk to each other at all.  I should have taken a picture of that too but I know most of you have seen this phenomenon for yourselves plenty of times.

If you follow my blog at all, you know that I am a proponent of technology in the classroom and I believe that technology today offers unprecedented insight, education and inspiration.  We have an outrageous amount of helpful data, entertainment, education and reference tools all literally at our fingertips. 

Most of my focus as a fundraising guy involves paying for technology in the classroom - smart boards and computer labs, etc. and it's interesting to see a dynamic where technology can really change personal interaction.  I especially think we'll be challenged when every student has a device instead of a backpack full of papers and books.

I believe that digital technology wants to be free and thank goodness in this case.  My Facebook friend above would be paying thousands of dollars a month in her daughters texting bills if it weren't for an unlimited text plan.

So, what's the point of all this?

The first thing is I got one of those reminders you get every so often that things are different.  This was quickly followed up by the fact that living 'in the moment' may begin to mean something different to the youth.  They may consider their online and texting time to be as real as their interaction with people directly.

As children begin to put their connection with devices above being off-the-grid so to speak, things are going to get interesting.  I'm certainly no expert here but doing things a lot more things remotely seems in our future and beyond that, I'm not really sure what ramifications we will experience beyond repeating to our kids 'Uhh, Hello?  You there? Can you Hear Me?' when the kid is there in the same room.

The point is, we'll be thinking and talking a lot more about this as a society I suspect.  In the meantime, I will take better pictures for you :)