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Sustainable Development Goals: Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education
The United Nations poses 17 interconnected goals to reach by the year 2030 as a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future” (United Nations). While people working towards this may focus primarily on one goal all the goals are connected. Meaning if someone works to support goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production they are also helping with goal 13: Climate Action, though it may not be the goal they intended. All the goals work together to reach a world of peace and prosperity.
As an educator Goal 4: Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education and Promote Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All, piqued my interest. As with every other aspect of life, this goal was greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to gain back the progress in improving education lost to the pandemic, 2021’s Higher Education Sustainability Special Event (an annual) focused on getting the 17 SDGs back on route to their 2030 timeline. While Goal 4 wasn’t the primary goal under the spotlight in 2021, as all SDGs are interlinked, it plays a key role in assisting with the others getting back on track.
Like the HESI Special Event, multiple sessions are arranged throughout the year in order to update progress and raise awareness for supporting the 17 SDGs. Other ways to meet this goal are:
- Promoting an inclusive and equal world for neurodiverse people
- Demand government to support improving education through funding
- Meet with policy makers to share opinions on what should change
- Implementing the SDGs into school curriculum
- Supporting non-hierarchal educational systems
- Work to become educated yourself and share your knowledge
- Spread the word about the SDGs
Reaching these 17 goals is vital to ensuring a peaceful and successful life for future generations. All of the goals, though their own separate entity, are interlinked and help to reach the others. The best way to reach these goals is to spread the word, many people are still unaware of these priorities for the future. In order to take further action we must first shine a light on the SDGs themself.
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Mathkind: Becoming a Better Teacher
As a future high school math educator, I am always looking for new opportunities to become a better teacher. Mathkind, an organization founded in 2014, seems like a great chance for me to do just that. Mathkind’s model is focused on helping educators develop better teaching skills and shows them how to apply them in the classroom. The model goes even a step beyond by showing them how to pass that knowledge on to fellow teachers.
Learn
The first step in Mathkind’s education model is to help teachers discover new opportunities to develop their teaching skills. With the help of each other, teachers form new practices that will be used in the classroom. As I am just beginning my journey to becoming an educator, I am very interested in a program designed to help develop new skills. Having a network of other teachers that I can go to for information will also help me grow.
Apply
With these new skills, teachers apply what they have learned to their classroom and report back on the success. The program encourages teachers to be outgoing and take some risks. Having the opportunity to discuss the effects of my teaching with other professionals sounds like an excellent way for me to refine my teaching strategies.
Lead
The final, and probably most important step in the Mathkind model, is to lead. Teachers are encouraged to take what they have learned and share it in order to create lasting change. As I am just beginning my journey to becoming a future educator, this resource seems like a guarantee for success. It has the tools and community that I need to get my feet off the ground.
To see how Mathkind can help you out as well, check out their teaching model at https://mathkind.org/our-model/
Immersion Programs to Improve Language Learning
The Global Educator Toolbox gives educators of any age group access to many tools and programs that they can use to encourage their students to learn outside of the classroom or to use within their classrooms to deeper engage their students in learning. Since I am a Spanish major and have a passion for the language, one of the tools within the Global Educator Toolbox that stood out to me was Concordia Language Villages. The website is easy to navigate and accessible. The Concordia Language Village is an immersion program for any age. The program has 15 languages to choose from. The trips range from one week to a month away in a country that speaks the language of choice. Due to my interest being in the Spanish language, I decided to focus in on that portion of the website.
The time of immersion includes culture studies, sports, activities, songs and dances in the language of their choice. The video below will show what students experience at El Lago del Bosque, the village students will stay at if they choose to learn Spanish.
The Concordia Language Villages also provides virtual courses that range from a week straight of learning over the summer to courses that are once a week throughout a semester. This tool could be great for students interested in taking their language skills to a new level. I definitely recommend that language teachers of any age group check out the website and encourage their students to explore it as well!
What is the World’s Largest Lesson?
The World’s Largest Lesson is an outstanding website that works toward improving the education of all children. Their goal is to offer free educational resources for children all over the world. They include their resources in 30 languages!
Partners of The World’s Largest Lesson
The World’s Largest Lesson has an extensive list of partners. To my surprise I know about so many of these companies, and I am sure you do to! Their leading partners are UNICEF, Avanti, SalesForce, and Hasboro. These companies all work together to try and spread their goals to as many children they can reach. The World’s Largest Lesson makes it very accessible for any organization to become a partner.
How Can You Use The World’s Largest Lesson in Your Class?
The World’s Largest Lesson has a bunch of different resources to choose from! Here is each category:
- Videos
- Training and Guides
- Quizzes and games
- Projects
- Parents
- Lesson plans
- Introducing global goals
- Future sport
- Distance learning
- Clubs and camps
- Certificates and display materials
- Books and comics
This list of resources can help you provide fun, interactive learning experiences in your classroom!
Impacts of The Worlds Largest Lesson
The World’s Largest Lesson has made their mark all over the world. From providing SDG’s to 1.2 million Nigerians to being celebrated in Denmark by their Royal Highness, Princess Mary, The World’s Largest Lesson has provided so many opportunities all over the world. You can visit their website to see the huge impact they continue to make all over the world.
Thank you for reading!
Jillian DeMore
Twitter: @DeMoreJillian
Virtual Field Trips with Discovery Education
Discovery Education is a tool that allows students to travel without ever leaving their desks. This program is great to implement in a History or Social Studies classroom. Traveling is vital in education, however, not everyone has the resources to travel frequently, if at all. Many schools do not have the funding for field trips, but with Discovery Education, all students can have equal access to the benefits of travel.
Discovery Education has both live and on-demand virtual field trips. The on-demand feature allows teachers to use the same source for every class. The program includes multiple on-demand field trips involving important sites for teaching Social Studies or History to high schoolers. These trips include The City of U.S., 9/11: Day of Service, Magna Carta: The Story of Our Human Rights, and many more.
These virtual field trips with Discovery Education can be implemented into a history or social studies classroom to give students a visual source of learning. These field trips can be used to teach students about the White House, historical events, important documents that shape our world, and more.
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Samantha Pollina
Is It Time To Rethink Traditional Examinations?
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein (possibly)
While we are not sure if this was a line uttered by Einstein or not, we have certainly reached a point in the world of education in which we are starting to understand how this quote is eerily descriptive of the traditional examination assessment structure. This article explores various concerning trends seen in the world of education and how they relate to a failure in adapting to the needs of modern students.
What are the issues?
In recent years, trends of mental health issues and unemployment rates among young people in their late teens and twenties speak to the lack of preparation many feel as their traditional schooling ends.
While in school, students are increasingly struggling with the traditional forms of education and assessment. This is leading to an increased need for additional private tutoring and support, which is not universally accessible.
What does the future hold?
The Global Pandemic has dramatically altered the landscape of education worldwide. There have been countless innovations that have emerged out of necessity and many will be carried on, even into a post-pandemic world. Author Aiysha Khan implores us to use our creativity and continue educational innovation. She hopes we can improve our forms of assessment and adapt our curriculum to the needs of individual students. This is something we should all work towards.
Thanks for reading! If you like what you read (or don’t like what you read) let me know! @PatrickWCrowell
How a Video Game is helping kids become better learners.
Here we are, half way through 2021 and COVID-19 continues to cause conflicts in child education. Teachers continue to struggle to find a bridge between keeping their students social and safe. However, it seems Microsoft might be offering a solution with their new title Minecraft: Education Edition.
Minecraft: Education Edition
With Minecraft: Education Edition, students are able to play and learn together while still following CDC guidelines.
- Classroom Multiplayer keeps students connected with each other, allowing them to collaborate on projects in their own worlds.
- Students can build, plan and strategize together
- The Camera feature allows students to record their work as well as export their in-game creations.
Minecraft for Educators
Minecraft: Education Edition allows teachers an opportunity to see how their students learn differently.
- The game offers lessons in every subject. From STEM to language arts to history.
- Provides customizable toolkits that can help solve real-world challenges
- Allows educators to develop their own connections with their students through a digital environment
- “I was truly learning with and from my students”
With COVID-19 continuing to be a problem in 2021, Microsoft seems committed to providing solutions for educators. Minecraft: Education Edition is one tool that is proving an opportunity for teachers and students to find new ways of learning and communicating while remaining safe. Thanks to Microsoft, he future of digital education seems bright!
Thanks for reading!
You can follow my twitter here: @BenPaine2108
Can Kahoot! Improve Your Classroom?
I used Kahoot throughout my entire high school career. This website encourages students to study for their tests and quizzes. While there are many pros of Kahoot, there are also some cons to beware of while using the website in a classroom.
What is Kahoot?
Kahoot is a website that is commonly used in schools as a way to study for tests in class. This website appeals to students, and can often be used as a reward, because it allows them to challenge their friends to see who takes the gold. To use Kahoot, the teacher creates a series of multiple choice questions that appear on the board. The students are provided with a pin that allows them to join the game. Then, the. students computers will give them four colors and shapes that correspond with the options on the board. The students who answer the questions correctly and quickly will see their names on the leaderboard that appears on the board.
This video gives a visual of how Kahoot is used by teachers and students.
Pros of Kahoot
- Kahoot can be used as a reward.
- Kids are participating in friendly competition.
- Kahoot encourages kids to try their best because their names will appear on the leaderboard.
- The children are studying in an exciting way.
- Children are engaged in the content they are studying.
Cons of Kahoot
- Since kids can choose their own nickname that appears on the board, there is always a class clown who uses an inappropriate name.
- When children lose, it may hurt their confidence in class.
- This game could potentially be very difficult for students with disabilities because the of the timer on each question.
Finals Thoughts
Overall, I highly recommend for Kahoot to be used in the classroom. Kahoot allows for children to use technology to prepare for their tests in a not so traditional way. Finally, children who use Kahoot will be more encouraged and confident when they reach exam day!
Thank you for reading!
Jillian DeMore
Twitter: @DeMoreJillian
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