Auburn University’s All Access program has saved students money and enabled first-day access to digital course materials having an impact on their retention, course grades, and overall success in college.

SUCCESS STORY

Inclusive Access study tracks student access and cost savings

Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama

Key Findings

• Pearson Inclusive Access at Auburn University (known as the All Access program) has cumulatively saved students close to a million dollars since Fall 2014.
• Based on survey data, a projected 2,185 students who opted in to the Inclusive Access program during Spring 2017 would otherwise not have purchased course materials. It has enabled these students (over one-third of participating students) who would not have otherwise purchased the text to gain access to required texts from the start of the semester.

Setting

Auburn University is a public research university in Auburn, Alabama. It is a land, sea, and space grant institution and one of the largest universities in the region. Offering a choice of over 140 majors in 15 colleges and schools, it enrolls over 28,000 students, with more than 22,000 undergraduates. Seventy-seven (77%) percent of students are White, nearly 7% are Black, 3% are Hispanic, and 2% are Asian. The university boasts a freshman retention rate of over 90%, and a five-year graduation rate of nearly 73%. Auburn prides itself on its international footprint, with over 800 international students benefiting from its Accelerator Program, 500 Auburn students studying abroad, and a global faculty.

Challenges and Goals

In the Inclusive Access model, all students enrolled in a course receive first-day access to digital course materials, and the cost of the materials is included in the course fee. Auburn University became a pioneer of Inclusive Access for several reasons. With its history of customer service and helping faculty solve problems to improve the educational experience, the bookstore sought to provide a digital solution that would empower faculty members in a new age. The bookstore management at Auburn embraces change and transparency as critical to moving the university bookstore industry forward. In its quest to serve as a value provider and seek innovation, Assistant Director Russell Weldon explained that, “Inclusive Access became the next logical step.” Finally, the model helped further the university’s strategic mission of engaging students and increasing success and retention rates.

Implementation

Auburn University’s bookstore began implementing its All Access program in Fall 2014. Its primary focus was on ensuring a smooth but easily scalable implementation. The first course adoptions had no need for a student opt out, since the digital materials were only available via the All Access program. Auburn also worked to develop their own in-house management system, rather than relying on a third-party partner, to ensure that they can more easily control all aspects of the implementation. Auburn’s system menu allows for use of an access code, an eText, or a Canvas (Learning Management System) integration of a digital product. The system emails students upon course registration to inform them that they have enrolled in an All Access class and are provided an individual access code. They are also redirected to the bookstore’s website to help them understand what this term means and how they will receive their course materials.

In March, the bookstore hosted an event with multiple publishers and digital providers for forty instructors. All of the participating instructors chose to implement All Access in the Fall semester. As Russell Weldon described, “There is an explosive amount of interest and growth. We can tell that there is something happening.”

As a result of the careful planning and infrastructure created to manage the program, students experienced a smooth transition to All Access, as reported by history professor Dr. Daren Ray, who implemented it in Spring 2017. Students received instructions from the bookstore that explained how they would be charged for the course materials and how they could opt out of the program. According to Dr. Ray, for nearly all students, this explained the process sufficiently. The only exceptions were a few international students who experienced difficulty understanding the instructions and required assistance from the instructor to explain the opt-out process. Professor Ray uses Revel™ in his course, and transitioning to All Access was a natural next step that simplified the registration and onboarding process for his students. In addition, the cost savings of twenty dollars per unit on the program reduced student frustration regarding the cost of the multiple course materials in his course.

There’s an explosive amount of interest and growth. We can tell that there is something happening.

—Russell Weldon, Assistant Director, Auburn University Bookstore

Cost Savings

The All Access initiative at Auburn University Bookstore has translated to significant cost savings for students:

• Students have saved an average of fifty dollars for each unit in the program compared to the new price of the unit.
• On average, students saved just over 50% off of the lowest print option (new or used).
• In the Spring 2017 semester alone, 6,500 students enrolled in 20 courses saved a total of $178,000. In Fall 2017, the program grew to 16,000 students enrolled in an All Access course with cost savings of $441,850.
• Over the lifetime of the All Access program (three years), students have realized a cumulative savings of almost one million dollars ($991,227).
• In courses that required students to purchase course materials, student opt-out rates over the past three years has been less than 1.2%, significantly lower than the national average of close to 6%.¹
• Despite the significant student cost savings, the bookstore has consistently reported a revenue from All Access sales, enabling it to continue to provide faculty with solutions that facilitate their instruction.

The Student Experience

The Auburn University bookstore surveyed students enrolled in courses that participated in the All Access program at the end of Spring 2017.² Out of 6,707 students, 112 students (1.7% of students surveyed) responded to the survey, of which 92 (82%) opted in to All Access for at least one course during the Spring semester.

Affordability

92% of student respondents who opted in to All Access believed that the cost of digital materials in the program were a similar or better value compared to print textbooks they had purchased in the past. Student perception here is in line with the actual student cost savings reported above.

Access

Over one-third of students surveyed reported that they were unlikely to purchase course materials at all if they were not offered digitally via the All Access program. This translates to 2,185 students (of the 6,284 students enrolled in the program during the Spring semester) who opted in and were able to access the course materials due to All Access. These 2,185 students would likely not have had any access to course materials during the semester without the All Access program. 78% of students who opted in to All Access agreed or strongly agreed that the digital course materials were easy to access.

Spring 2017 survey data projections

Technology is driving the sports industry, making it easier to gather player insights. Can it do the same for student performance?

The sports industry has changed drastically in recent years with the implementation of technologies that improve player and team performance. NFL teams now use digital playbooks to enhance training and communication, the NHL is planning to introduce smart puck technology in 2019 to track movement on the ice, and most recently at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, all 32 teams used Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS), technologies that give coaches, analysts, and medical teams access to player statistics and video footage, such as player positioning data, speed, passing, and tackles. With high stakes competition in every game, coaches can rely on EPTS to help them make informed decisions. And sports coaches aren’t the only ones using technology to gain insights and drive results. Just ask a teacher.

Teachers and coaches embrace technology

According to a 2016 survey by Edgenuity, provider of online and blended learning services, 91% of teachers believe technology provides a greater ability for them to tailor lessons and homework assignments to the individual needs of each student.

By implementing technology in the classroom and learning how to use new apps and platforms, teachers are able to stay on top of learner progress and provide immediate feedback that will improve performance. Teachers, like sports coaches, have to learn about the latest technologies so they’re able to build the skills and the talents of others.

Technology affects everyone

In 2016, FIFA invited the soccer industry to Zurich to learn more about new technologies like EPTS that would impact the game. Johannes Holzmueller, FIFA Head of Football Technology, believes the advantage of wearable technology is the amount of data people can access. His colleague Marco van Basten, FIFA’s Chief Technical Development Officer, notes that data informs players on their performance, it gives doctors insight into player health and wellbeing, and trainers can use it to recommend player substitutes.

With innovative technology, a community of people interested in the soccer player’s abilities can work together. The collaboration and involvement look similar to the way teachers, parents, and administrators work together to do what’s best for the student. Cutting-edge technology affects an individual’s entire ecosystem.

Keller Battey, a first grade teacher in Atlanta, Georgia, relies heavily on technology to help her track progress and personalize teaching. “Technology helps all students,” Battey says. “If a student is above grade level, I can extend a skill or a lesson and if a student is struggling then I can remediate. I know exactly how my students are performing and so do their parents. The data is all there.”

Industry innovation

Education companies, large and small, are listening to consumers and have focused on the benefits of providing data and analytics to help teachers and students achieve success. Pearson’s Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA) is a prime example of a capability that meets the needs of teachers and students.

IEA is a suite of automated essay scoring capabilities that can analyze open-ended responses from learners and then assesses the content knowledge and understanding. It uses a range of machine learning and natural language processing technologies to evaluate the content and meaning of text and feedback is immediate, allowing teachers to monitor ongoing progress at an individual and class level.

The goal of technology here is to ensure correct evaluation and accuracy. In this year’s World Cup, the new Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology performed in a similar capacity.

Technology as a supplement

VAR was created to ensure fairness and identify any errors on the field. Video Assistant Referees work in a team of four, and each referee undergoes extensive training to support match officials in the decision making process.

FIFA referee Mark Geiger has been a VAR since the project started in 2016 at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. He says, “When you have a critical decision in a game…they’re there to tell you ‘check complete.’ It’s the two best words for a referee to hear because now you know your decision was correct, and you’re able to go on with a lot of confidence.”

VAR technology proved to be a controversial topic at the World Cup, and though it may undergo improvements, the technology is here to stay. At the closing news conference in Moscow, FIFA president Gianni Infantino touched on the technology at the games. “This is progress, this is better than the past,” he said. “VAR is not changing football, it is cleaning football.”

A similar sentiment is expressed by education leaders who assure consumers and educators that technology doesn’t exist to replace teachers; it exists to support them. Tim Hudson, SVP of Learning at DreamBox, told Business Insider, “It’s important that we listen to teachers and administrators to determine the ways technology can assist them in the classroom.”

When students must choose between textbooks and food or gas money, the latter wins. But without course materials, students often find classroom success elusive.

A student entering his or her first year of college can expect course materials to cost between 5 to 10 percent of total expenses. At the same time, student populations are changing from the traditional 18 to 22-year-old to campuses that are more diverse, including older adults and returning veterans, all with unique financial challenges. But one financial concern remains consistent: course materials are expensive are often the first college expense cut when money gets tight.

The steep rise of textbooks

In 2016, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a Consumer Price Index for college expenses. Between 2006 and 2016, tuition costs jumped 63 percent. Over that same period, textbook prices increased 88 percent. Covering that same time period, a study conducted by the Florida Virtual Campus revealed more than half of students spent more than $300 on books in a semester, while nearly a fifth shelled out more than $500.

More importantly, the Florida study showed how the high cost of materials directly impacts the student’s ability to succeed. When books are too expensive, two-thirds don’t purchase them, and of those students, 37 percent earn a poor grade, while almost one-fifth end up failing. To compensate for high book costs, students are taking fewer classes or don’t register for a class they need — but that ends up extending their time in school, which costs more money. It’s an ugly, expensive cycle.

How campuses stepped up

Students began to complain openly about the price of textbooks. Faculty became concerned that students stopped purchasing the expensive materials. Educators at Indiana University paid attention.

“We started pilots in 2009, working with some publishers, to make some electronic textbook content available, and we didn’t ask the students to pay,” said Stacey Morrone, associate vice president for learning technologies in the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology at Indiana University. The students liked the change.

Indiana University now works with 30 publishers who agree that the cost of e-texts will be at least 35 percent of a hard-copy edition. They have publishers who now offer their entire digital catalog at a flat rate. And importantly, the students will be able to access the e-text throughout their college career. While digital formats are optional, more faculty are buying in because, Morrone said, it ensures every student has their materials on the first day of classes. Indiana’s data shows that students who achieve A/B grades start coursework immediately and keep reading.

The faculty benefit

San Diego State University began its Immediate Access program in 2016 with two classes. That’s since grown to 80 classes with savings of $2 million in textbook costs, with a projection of 150 classes next year and $4 million in savings.

James Frazee, senior academic technology officer and director of instructional services, said students at SDSU are charged for digital books and materials as a course fee, and they aren’t charged the fee until after the add/drop deadline. The majority of students said they access the materials before that deadline and felt this access helped them academically.

“Students feel this is a good value,” Frazee said. Not only are the materials more affordable, but they deepen the level of engagement with faculty. Faculty can monitor the way the materials are used and can focus lessons around sections where it is clear students are struggling. Also, as students have access to materials immediately, faculty can conduct more frequent, low-stake assessments earlier in the semester. Having improved insight to how students are faring from day one, faculty can restructure the lesson plan that lead to improved student success.

Digital materials go beyond affordability, said Drew Miller, senior vice president of marketing with Pearson. Digital learning platforms, like Pearson’s Revel, combine content with immersive and engaged academic experiences. It allows both students and faculty to be interactive in the education process, creating a sustainable business model for both higher education institutions and the students they serve. Students are able to access and afford the materials they need to succeed while the institutions provide a learning environment that allows options that work best for all.

This content was sponsored by Pearson. See the original article here.

Diversity, communication, and other learnings that companies and higher education can take away from the World Cup.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament is taking place in Russia from June 14 – July 15 and England is bringing the most diverse team it has ever taken. England has players ranging in age from 19-32 and nearly half of its players are black or of mixed identity.

Bringing together 32 nations with players speaking more than 20 languages, the World Cup is celebrated for its diversity and multiculturalism. While billions of people will watch the matches to see who will be declared winner, there is something else that businesses, in particular, should pay close attention to — team diversity and culture.

A recent article in the Harvard Business Review notes that a strong culture is implicit, pervasive, and enduring. Senior executives and HR professionals know this well. According to Deloitte Insights, 87 percent of organizations cite culture and engagement as one of their top challenges. Creating a diverse workplace with a strong shared culture is hard to build, but the rewards are far-reaching.

Avid soccer fan Ikechukwu Odum says the World Cup is his favorite sporting event. Having traveled to Brazil for the 2014 matches, he said what he enjoys most is the competition, the talent, and learning about the players’ backgrounds. “The World Cup means so much for the players and for the countries, communities, and the people they represent. Every player brings different abilities and talents, but they come together and try their best to win.”

In this way, FIFA soccer teams resemble the modern-day workplace, where different groups of people must work together to outperform the competition and reach a shared goal.

Diversity not only brings different experiences and skills to a team, but it also drives team performance. England midfielder Dele Alli said, “We’re all confident in ourselves and the team we have. We have a young, very talented squad…we just have to play as well as we know we can.” The same spirit of teamwork and collaboration should be present in the workplace.

Shideh Almasi, Director of People at Feedvisor, an algorithmic commerce company, said, “Teams at work function quite similarly to sports teams. They need to be diverse, they need to be adaptable, and they need to work together. You, of course, need the technical skills, but it’s the skills like communication, leadership, resilience, and interpersonal skills that help teams push forward to reach their goals.”

And CEOs, much like head coaches, must embrace soft skills like empathy to help guide employees to achieve success. Former Starbuck’s CEO Howard Schultz was well-known for his inspirational and touching messages to employees, driving big wins for the global company.

German soccer coach Joachim Low has a similar success story. During the 2014 World Cup championship, he told player Mario Götze, “Show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup.” Götze went on to score the game-winning goal for Germany.

Talent is the prerequisite, but the interpersonal skill of communication is what set Germany apart from the competition. Soft skills for both players and coaches prove to be crucial, driving results and positive outcomes.

Reflecting on the victory, Götze said, “…We can be happy that we have so many great and skillful players and a real good mixture of young guys and experienced players.” While there is no gender diversity among the all male soccer teams, the different ages, languages, and backgrounds make teams stronger, more agile, and more competitive.

The referees who govern the game are not exempt from using strong communication to work through language barriers and cultural differences. The 36 referees and 63 assistant referees were picked based on their skills and personality. Prior to refereeing the games, they were required to attend workshops and seminars.

FIFA Director of Refereeing Massimo Busacca said, “…the referee has to prepare himself in the best possible way in all areas…Knowing the different football cultures will help him in his performances.”

 Similarly, companies like Pearson offer employees ongoing training to help them develop a global mindset and understand cultural differences.

“It’s not always pretty if the teams aren’t organized or if there’s not a shared philosophy,” Odum says. “But you hardly see bickering or egotism, because the players know they represent more than the game.” Companies that take time to build their culture with diverse teams and shared values have employees who work effectively with others toward the mission and vision of the organization.

Almasi adds, “There’s so much you can learn by working with people who share common goals and values, but who think differently and maybe even look differently than you.” Soccer teams competing in the World Cup understand this and use diversity to their advantage. Businesses tuning into the World Cup may do the same and prioritize investing in a more diverse workforce. That’s a winning strategy — on or off field.

Luke Reinsma recently retired from Seattle Pacific University, where he worked as Professor of Medieval Literature since 1986. His approach to teaching has inspired generations of students, including Melody Joy Fields.

It was Melody’s freshman year at Seattle Pacific University, and as she says, “I didn’t know anyone — or anything.” She was taking a class and a teaching assistant asked her if she’d met Dr. Reinsma yet. “You MUST meet Dr. Reinsma,” the TA told her.

“She walked me up to Luke’s office — completely book-lined walls, classic professor’s office—and he immediately invited me to come in, sit down, and tell him about myself.”

The traditional professor/student dynamic had always bothered Luke. From early in his career he had tried to find ways to bridge that gap. He felt that if professors and students could talk to and learn about each other as equals, the outcomes would be better for everyone.

His first approach to teaching was a simple one: by getting to know his students as individual people, he felt they’d open up to him, enabling them to learn more and understand better. He spent more than half of his time talking with his students to learn about them and their backgrounds. And more often than not, it happened outside of the classroom.

As Luke puts it, “I’m not sure the best learning happens inside a classroom, so I make sure to leave the classroom behind and change the context now and then.” Often that meant one-on-one office hours, meetings at the local coffee shop — even organized group hikes in the coastal forests.

Only after he’d gotten to know each student would he tackle the essays they’d written for his class.

Melody recalled learning a lesson from Luke the first time she met him to get feedback on an essay.

“He made me realize that you never know what’s going on in students’ lives. They don’t always come to class ready to learn — I certainly didn’t. Only after he’d really figured out who I was and what I was bringing to the classroom every day did we discuss my essay.”

His dedication would be inspiring in any person but it’s exceptional in a teacher.

— Melody Joy Fields, Adjunct Professor

With the professor/student hierarchy broken down, Luke would often write as much feedback on the papers as content Melody had written. His responses delved deeply into her opinions and ideas, which he would always value over grammar or grades. She responded well to this mutual respect.

“Luke excelled at finding something incredible rather than only seeing problems,” says Melody. “He always managed to find at least one elegant sentence so that I left his office knowing I could do it. His dedication would be inspiring in any person, but it’s exceptional in a teacher.”

That empathy and desire to find something beautiful in every essay also gave Melody the confidence to begin the revision process.

“He’d find a passage I’d written and say, ‘That’s ordinary. What’s extraordinary about this?’ And that taught me what revision is all about. It’s rethinking and revisioning what it is you really want to say, and saying it in the best way possible.”

Now a professor herself, Melody credits Luke with inspiring her to become a teacher.

“I didn’t know I was going to become a teacher. Certainly not a professor. I didn’t think I was smart enough. But I really wanted to be just like Luke. I wanted to read amazing stories, find incredible moments, and help others see that. To have someone take the time to see the world with you and give you fresh eyes — that’s what Luke did.”

Melody also credits Luke with her approach to teaching.

“Luke is why I teach the way I do. My experience as a student was so much more about a relationship, and not just about passing along information or skills. Yes, teaching is about skill building, but the best way to learn a skill is to see it modeled in front of you. And I saw the most valuable skills modeled by Luke every time we spoke.”

A new report responds to The Future of Skills by exploring its implications for education systems and offers up practical solutions for higher education to more closely align with what the workforce needs.

We are excited to share a new report by Jobs for the Future (JFF) and Pearson that explores the changing world of work and provides recommendations for shifting from the traditional route to employment to a network of pathways that is flexible, dynamic, and ultimately serves more learners.

Released at the Horizons conference in June, Demand-Driven Education: Merging work and learning to develop the human skills that matter looks at what is required for transitioning to the third wave in postsecondary education reform – demand driven education.

The first wave – access – was focused on getting more people to enter higher education. The second wave was focused on improving achievement – getting more students to earn degrees and certificates.

In this third wave, the worlds of education and work will converge producing programs that ensure students are job-ready and primed for lifelong career success.

Adapting to the needs of both the learner and the employer, “demand-driven education takes account of the emerging global economy — technology-infused, gig-oriented, industry-driven — while also striving to ensure that new graduates and lifelong learners alike have the skills required to flourish.”

The report states, “as the future of work unfolds, what makes us human is what will make us employable.”

While technological literacy is critical, learners need educational experiences that cultivate skills, including fluency of ideas, originality, judgment, decision-making, and active learning, all supported by collaborative academic and career paths.

Higher education and employers are making headway in this arena with innovative programs like University of North Texas’s Career Connect and Brinker International’s Best You EDU.

In a recent interview, Joe Deegan, co-author of the report and senior program manager at JFF, said,“although technology such as digital assessment might enable educators to make programs faster and more adaptive, the most significant change is one of mindset.”

The future is bright. And there’s a lot of good work to do through active collaboration and partnership to create rewarding postsecondary learning experiences that are responsive to our changing world and inclusive of all learners.

With the help of her professor, Katie grew from an aspiring leader to one of Chicago’s most respected school administrators.

What traits come to mind when you think of the attributes of an excellent school administrator? You might say being affable, able to connect with students and teachers, and maybe even fun. When asking what sets assistant principal Katie Magnuson apart from her peers, we certainly didn’t expect to spend time talking about leadership through the use of data, but that’s exactly what happened. University of Illinois at Chicago professor Shelby Cosner has played no small part in Magnuson’s steady rise to becoming one of Chicago’s most respected school administrators.

Katie, who now works at Skinner North Classical School, was part of Professor Cosner’s cohort-based program at UIC. As members of the cohort, aspiring school leaders spend several years learning the fundamentals of educational leadership by way of not just classroom learning, but also a rigorous resident principal program at a struggling school. During their year-long residency they also work closely with a UIC leadership coach.

“Katie was able to use her incredibly strong data skills to make sense of large student learning and instructional data sets, and help her school leadership team draw conclusions about the strengths and growth areas at her school. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Katie has a special way of getting people to work with and for her. She is patient, reflective, and persistent all at the same time.

— Beverly LaCoste, School Leadership Coach, UIC

Professor Cosner credits Katie’s work ethic and passion as driving factors that have led to her success, although it’s evident that Cosner herself is behind more of it than she admits. Each year, she helps her students realize that being a data-driven leader involves much more than coming into a school, seeing low math scores, and then trying random strategies to improve them. To really get to the heart of improving learning outcomes, one needs to take a long-game approach and must go where the data leads.

Professor Cosner helps her students grasp this by assigning real-world exercises that have a “heavy lift” component. For Katie, this meant building a school leadership team that would help guide this work and then leading the design and implementation of a data system that would find instructional problems that undermined student success. They then studies those instructional practices to determine whether they limited student learning.

“You can’t learn to swim by standing on the side of the pool,” Professor Cosner quips.

This project-based strategy has proven effective, and had a profound impact on Katie.

“It is rare to have a college professor who uses such strong educational pedagogical strategies, but that is Shelby Cosner,” Katie tells us. “She’s a dynamic and talented educator and professor. She engages students on a level that allows for deep understanding of content and connects learning to real life. Her classes pushed my thinking on leadership and made me strive to be my best. The work I did in her classes still guides my thinking, leadership, and understanding of trust.”

So, it seems, the secret to school improvement is in the data. But what of passion? In the case of both Katie and Professor Cosner, there’s more than enough of that to go around.

“Principalship is greatest job on the planet,” says Cosner, who served as a principal for years prior to becoming a professor at UIC. “It’s the most exciting job I’ve ever had in my life. I speak from my heart when I say that.”

If she’s able to impart that passion into more up-and-coming school leaders like Katie, the future of Chicago’s schools is in good hands.

Dianne Young, a developmental math professor at the Austin Community College District in Austin, TX, showed Shellie Burton strategies to overcome her math anxiety. Shellie now uses those strategies with her own students.

“She believed in me and showed me what an excellent teacher looks like,” Shellie Burton, a 3rd grade teacher, said about Dianne Young, a professor who helped her reach her goals.

Shellie, a college dropout and single mother, enrolled in at Austin Community College (ACC), when her youngest child entered kindergarten. She wanted to earn a teaching degree so that she could better support her family.

But after being placed in developmental math, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to graduate. “Math was my biggest anxiety,” Shellie confided. “I hated math growing up. I really wanted to be a teacher, but I didn’t know if I had the math skills to be able to do it.”

Dianne, who has taught developmental math at ACC for a dozen years, works with many students who have math anxiety. She believes that every student can learn math. “Maybe he or she hasn’t learned how to do it yet, but I can teach anybody math if they show up and they want to learn,” she said. “Math should never be the reason why somebody can’t fulfill the career path that they want.”

… I can teach anybody math if they show up and they want to learn.

— Professor Dianne Young, Developmental Math, Austin Community College District, Austin, TX

Shellie met Dianne when she took her Elementary Algebra course. “She was so encouraging, and no question was a dumb question,” Shellie recalled. “Unlike most professors, she walked around the classroom. She got to know you, and she was really passionate about her subject.”

Dianne remembered Shellie coming to office hours with her friends and asking a lot of questions. “She made it clear she didn’t like math,” Dianne commented. “But she wanted to learn. I taught her that she can do math. And I told her that when she becomes a teacher, she will need to teach math and she can inspire her students.”

Shellie passed all her math courses at ACC and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in elementary education at Concordia University in Austin. Since graduating, she has taught in elementary schools in Texas and California, and was nominated for Teacher of the Year by her school during her fourth year of teaching.

Shellie regularly uses Dianne’s strategies to alleviate math anxiety in her own classroom. “Dianne asked a lot of questions,” she noted. “‘Who can help me with the next step?’ and ‘What’s the next step that I would do?’ So there is a conversation that’s going on instead of a teacher telling you what to do.”

“Dianne also pulled different students into the conversation because there are different strategies you can use to solve a math problem,” she added. “Having peers teach peers is another great way to get students to learn and feel safe to share. I do that in my classroom, too.”

To help her students overcome their fear of failure, Shellie occasionally makes mistakes on the board on purpose. She said, “My students will say, ‘Ms. Burton, you added that wrong,’ and I’ll thank them for helping me out so they know that mistakes are OK and we’re on the same team. I learned that from Dianne.”

“I’m proud of Shellie,” Dianne concluded. “If I ever have grandchildren, I would want them to be in her class because she’s very, very good.”

Biographies

Shellie Burton is a single mother of three. After transferring from Austin Community College to Concordia University to earn her bachelor’s degree in elementary education, she taught 4th and 5th grade in Round Rock Independent School District in Texas. She is currently a 3rd-grade teacher at Huntington Christian School in California.

Dianne Young earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary education math from the University of North Florida and her master’s degree in education from Virginia Polytechnic University. She has been teaching developmental math courses at community colleges for more than twenty years, most recently as an adjunct professor at the Austin Community College District.

Pearson study reveals Generation Z and millennials’ learning preferences

Young people are the first to admit they can easily spend hours a day on the internet—whether it’s via a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. While they may be tech-savvy by nature, this innate connectivity poses the question of technology’s place as it relates to how Generation Z and millennials learn.

In a recent survey of 2,558 14-40 year olds in the US, Pearson explored attitudes, preferences, and behaviors around technology in education, identifying some key similarities and differences between Gen Z and millennials.

While 39% of Gen Z prefer learning with a teacher leading the instruction, YouTube is also their #1 preferred learning method. And 47% of them spend three hours or more a day on the video platform. On the other hand, millennials need more flexibility—they are more likely to prefer self-directed learning supported by online courses with video lectures. And while they are known for being the “plugged in” generation, it’s apparent that plenty of millennials still prefer a good old-fashioned book to learn.

Regardless of their differences, the vast majority of both Gen Z and millennials are positive about the future of technology in education. 59% of Gen Z and 66% of millennials believe technology can transform the way college students learn in the future.

See below for the infographic, “Meeting the Expectations of Gen Z in Higher Ed” for additional insights on Generation Z and millennials’ learning preferences.