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The research begins with the history of standards, starting with traditional outcome-based standards. It then delves into the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), which highlights the type of skills 21st century students are expected to develop and master by the time they enter college and careers. Next, it explores the hot topic of Education to this date: Common Core State Standards. In the midst of educational reform, these standards seek to add consistency across the nation in regards to what students should know at each grade level and also encourage teaching of the 21st century skills. This section briefly details the content of Common Core English Language Arts and Mathematics standards.
After summarizing P21 and Common Core, this report shifts into its focused 21st century skill: collaboration. As one of the 4 C’s that P21 and Common Core emphasize in their standards, it is imperative to research critical elements of collaboration as they relate to groups and teams of all ages. Even more specifically, collaboration is a practice that is becoming more and more standard in business across all industries, so it is a skill that is highly in demand for students to acquire. In regards to collaboration, Executive Vice President of Verizon, Bob Mudge, states, “companies are able to innovate much more quickly and even create solutions to problems that may not be prevalent issues yet” (Mudge 1). The standards expect that students will be prepared to collaborate in college and careers, so key elements of collaboration in those settings—in-person or virtual—need apply or be simplified to K-6 collaborative environments. This section also analyzes a case study experiment on young children about how technology functionality and design enables, encourages, or enforces collaboration.
Next, this thesis reviews three case studies that represent evolution in our understanding of technology’s role as a support system in teaching and learning collaboration. The first case study shows how simple handheld devices assisted in correcting weaknesses in a variety of collaborative and organizational skills. The second study utilizes interactive tabletop technology to realize the idea of tracking collaborative ability in real time through synchronized audio and touch recording. Finally, researchers assess the effectiveness of one student to one device (1:1) initiatives by gathering student-reported data before and after the program’s implementation, which largely speak to the direction of many schools’ technology strategies.
To supplement all of the secondary research above, the researcher of this thesis conducted interviews with nine K-6 teachers to gather their insights on collaboration and how they facilitate it. They explain how they use technology in their classroom to enhance the learning environment. Additionally, they give opinions on what could be done to make collaboration more easily taught and facilitated, as well as what would better develop their students’ collaborative skills.
The compilation of this information then leads to implications of what needs to be present, from a technology standpoint, to more effectively teach collaborative skills to our schoolchildren. This includes a brief industry analysis of a program that already exists, as well as recommendations for new technology that considers the research conducted throughout the paper. Another implication addressed centers on the instruction and facilitation of technology and the digital divide that can result from varying competency among teachers, which brings to light the need for proper technology development programs for educators.
A guide to implementing empathy in crisis communications
First, we created two separate surveys, taking responses from over 1000 individuals at Arizona State University. These surveys focused on building trust in nonprofits, preferred marketing strategies as a consumer, and general awareness for various social issues that affect local and national nonprofits. Second, we conducted professional interviews with marketing leaders at nonprofits. These ranged from smaller, local nonprofits to nonprofits that operate on a national level. Their missions were all geared toward different causes, meaning they offered a diverse set of skills and advice on nonprofit marketing.
After obtaining this data, we created a guide for nonprofit marketing. Because there is a lack of information available on building marketing techniques in the nonprofit sector, we aimed to create a general guideline that could be applied to a variety of nonprofits and develop their marketing strategy. This includes details on how to create an executive summary, conduct a SWOT analysis, and the different strategies a nonprofit organization should implement.
Further, to test this marketing plan, we partnered with a local nonprofit in Arizona, Million Dollar Teacher Project. Million Dollar Teacher Project is a relatively new nonprofit, and focuses on educational inequality in Arizona. After looking over all our research and the nonprofit marketing guide, we were able to develop a plan for increasing engagement, awareness, and trust for Million Dollar Teacher Project. We pinpointed areas of improvement, such as social media, ambassador programs, email marketing, and follow up strategy.
The nonprofit marketing plan, our survey results, interview transcripts, as well as our marketing plan for Million Dollar Teacher Project can be found below.
You can find my documentary here. Throughout the process of creating my thesis I was consistently intrigued by one constant phenomenon I’ve noticed throughout my time at Cronkite – that of competitive collaboration. I’d define that term as what happens when thousands of highly motivated individuals are thrown into a space where they are competing for a limited number of jobs in a high-pressure environment, while still needing to work with each other in order to succeed. Throw college social lives and general young adult anxieties on top of that, and you have the culture present within journalism school. For my project I wanted to contextualize and present a cohesive look at both the mentalities of students and the environment of the school. Dear Cronkite: A Love Letter is truly that. A labor of love and care for a place that has impacted me so deeply, I hope that this twenty-one-minute documentary opens a window into the world students deal with on a daily basis. Everyone interviewed expressed their deepest appreciation for the Cronkite School, while also making clear that they believe there are changes which could be made to better the educational environment. Every opinion and statement in this film comes from a place of compassion and respect.