Weekly education roundup

By Daniel Friedman | October 5, 2012

education, schools, Phoenix, Gilbert, Scottsdale

Bring Your Own Technology programs are springing up Valleywide. Photo by Daniel Friedman.

A few weeks ago I wrote about students bringing their own technology devices to school to use with the teacher’s direction during classroom activities. The article featured a high school senior writing class and an eighth-grade science class. Carol Rae Ranch Elementary School is one of the Gilbert Public Schools piloting that district’s Bring Your Own Technology to School program.

Teacher Jared Sawyer’s sixth grade students bring their devices in during lunch and learn to use different educational applications like Edmodo, a software platform that allows students and teachers to interact and do school work in a social network-like environment. Once they are proficient with their devices and apps, the sixth graders will teach other students how to use the technology in the classroom environment.

BRIDGEWAY OPEN HOUSE

An Oct. 25 open house, from 6-8pm, at Bridgeway Transition Program will provide parents and students with an overview of the program’s mission to “provide support, resources and guidance to post-secondary students with learning disabilities currently attending college or vocational school,” as stated on the website. Bridgeway strives to keep students from being discouraged and connects them with resources and strategies to help them stay in school and succeed. (Learn more about Bridgeway in the RAK archives: Transitioning learning-disabled students to college.)

Applications for Brideway are still being accepted for the fall and spring semesters of the 2012-13 school year. Students ages 18 to 26 who have graduated from high school are eligible to apply. Tuition is $5,000 for the school year, which includes two academic semesters.

Bridgeway Transition Program is located at 7000 E Shea Blvd. #J-262 in Scottsdale. For information on the program visit bridgewayaz.org or contact: Simon Crawford, executive director, at crawford@bridgewayaz.org.

RESOURCES AND TIPS FOR THE COLLEGE-BOUND

The 2012 “Taking Steps Towards College Success” Walk-a-Thon is Sunday, Oct. 14. The walk starts with a college resource fair at 9am at Margaret T. Hance Park. The actual walk will start at 11am and head to the Phoenix Convention Center for the National Association for College Admission Counseling College Fair, which will feature representatives from more than 200 colleges and universities. After the walk, Tours of the College Depot at Burton Barr Library will be available.

The walk-a-thon is free, but registration online is recommended. For more information or to register visit bealeaderfoundation.org or call 602-758-8000.

The path to college is paved with good grades, good intentions and, hopefully, a positive social media/digital reputation. According to a Kaplan TestPrep survey, 24 percent of admissions officers checked out prospective students’ Facebook pages and Twitter accounts and 20 percent Googled students’ names to see what turned up.

Looking at it another way, there is a 75 to 80 percent chance that the colleges your high school senior applies to will not check them out online. But if they do, the survey revealed, it had a negative impact on admission 12 percent of the time. For now, the odds are in your child’s favor, because most Facebook users have the common sense to restrict access to their trove of embarrassing photos. But it’s a “best practice” for adulthood to keep and maintain a positive image online.