UDebate:

Can Teaching and Technology Successfully Merge?

It is no secret students are becoming digital aficionados by gathering and exchanging informa-tion through technology. In fact, technology has made its way into the curriculum, but many ar-gue that teachers are restricted within the classroom. The most important thing technology can offer to teachers is a new method of flexibility and creativity within the classroom. Technology should be a tool for teachers to connect their students. The debate stands that teachers are becom-ing more of facilitators rather than leaders in the classroom, but that is far from the truth. Accord-ing to EdTechReview, 92% of teachers access content, resources and other materials from the internet and at least 57% use the internet and technology to interact with their students. Unfortu-nately, the internet distracts students from utilizing additional sources for research. Students are relying on search engines for the bulk of their research rather than primary sources. Teachers have made progress through the utilization of digital platforms to understand their students per-spectives and comprehension.

In fact, teachers are distributing lesson plans and educational materials through technology. For example, debating has been an effective method within the classroom allowing students to share their perspectives on global issues as well as taking a glimpse into issues that effect their com-munity. Teachers create a set of standards for their students to interact, engage and research using digital platforms. This allows students to communicate and translate their ideas to their peers and a broader audience. Using technology as a bridge for communication or a tool to supplement ed-ucation is necessary to help students find a voice within their writing and rhetoric. To say the least, the integration of technology and education has cultivated a sense of cooperative social learning.

UDebate's goal is to encourage more than rhetoric and healthy debate, but also cooperative learn-ing between teachers and students. Students can engage with each other through the software, but also use additional resources through research to support their claims. Among other skills,writing and research skills are strengthened through use of the software, but students and teachers have the opportunity to create topics as well as discuss them. Teachers have the ability to measure their students comprehension of class material through their writing and engagement. The merge between technology and teaching is clear and positive. Teachers are still the leaders of the class-room, not facilitators. They direct and strengthen the course of student interaction by using tech-nology as a tool engaging the students.

Important Skill Sets Developed Within Debate:

Debate across the curriculum develops skills that are essential for students to possess in the workplace. Specifically, written debate promotes to develop research methods and negotiation, improved communication, research, and writing. Although debate activity can be time consum-ing, students find that the tradeoff is advantageous to their educational goals. Many high school debaters agree that the critical reasoning skills acquired are substantial to their overall success in progressing in academics. Unfortunately, students are faced with the burden of writing apprehen-sion; Daly and Miller coined this term, describing individuals behaviors in regard to tendencies to avoid situations that involve writing, find writing unrewarding, and have a fear of their writing being evaluated or viewed in public form. The writing process can be daunting for students who have trouble translating their ideas cohesively into organized text.

Written debate allows students to overcome this common anxiety through utilizing their research skills to develop concise material. This also encourages better written and oral communication skills in other subjects. Students who participate in written debates are able to easily integrate their knowledge in other subjects and become proficient writers overtime. Essentially, debate teaches students to research, organize and analyze, and synthesize data for their arguments. With research driven content, students have supported evidence to their claims and are challenged to think critically about the subject matter. These techniques are important to demonstrate critical thinking within academic written pieces that require extensive research in any subject. Although, writing apprehension is common within students, written debate helps students overcome that fear and actively participate within classroom discussions without hesitation.

Skills that are developed through writing are valuable within academics and potential career paths. Practicing these techniques can only help students become proficient writers and thorough researchers. UDebate encourages students to expand skills taught in the classroom and apply them technologically for enriching discourse online. Communication, research, and writing skills are vital for students to succeed beyond the classroom.

Following The Vision Under 30: Justin Tutt

A hero is traditionally admired for courage, outstanding achievements and noble service. Twenty-six-year-old Justin R. Tutt has truly embodied this role as he mentors children, us-ing innovative techniques to help them achieve their goals. Tutt’s “free spirit” has allowed him to effortlessly connect with youth, helping them reach their full potential. In 2012, Tutt founded Kutz 4 Kidz, Inc., a mentor-centered organization catering to boys and girls, ranging from ages five to eleven years old. This federally recognized, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization has a mission to “shape tomorrow’s hero.” Their core programs include: Hero In Me, Sidekick Mentoring, Day In College and Power in the Pages. These empowerment programs allow children to participate in various activities, meet community heroes and become better team players. Oftentimes, students are disconnected from tapping into their full potential within the traditional education system. K4K provides the bridge to fill the social and educational gaps for students who are at risk of falling behind. Improved self-esteem, better grades and behavioral development are a few of the many benefits, experienced by K4K participants. Tutt values the strengths of each child within the program and “connects the youth to opportunities.” At an early age, Tutt learned the value of hard work and dedication. Thus, success for him is simply understanding a mission, envisioning it and execut-ing the vision. He teaches these simple success principles to his mentees. “Knowledge is power” is not only the quote Tutt lives by, but he utilizes this ideal within the structure of his organization. The Kennesaw State University graduate experienced a purpose-defining injury to his Achilles tendon one year before completing his degree program. This un-fortunate incident hindered his physical movement, but presented him with an opportunity to meet and mentor the youth. Tutt initially spent quality time with children through sports-related activities, conversations and hair cutting. Though Tutt felt that his crutches “slowed him down,” he became more frequent with his visits to the local children he mentored. Throughout the process, Tutt learned “it was more about the conversation and not the haircuts.” Tutt quickly became a popular community fixture as more youth—and their parents—requested his involvement. As support, he began recruiting college friends as participation grew. These were the birthing grounds for Kutz for Kidz, Inc. Tutt has helped children in his program explore opportunities in higher education, personal de-velopment and relationship building. He has also partnered with colleges and universities to give participants a glimpse into collegiate lifestyle and opportunity. Tutt’s natural ability to connect individuals with community initiatives aids in K4K fundraising. Instead of “saving the day”, Justin R. Tutt is a renaissance hero impacting children’s lives with lessons that last a lifetime and catapult them to greater heights. In the next five years, Tutt hopes to expand Kutz 4 Kidz, Inc. into a national platform that spreads the message that making dreams come true and revolutionizing communities is possible.

First ATDC Switch Pitch Hackathon a Success:

ATDC took an interesting spin on the Hackathon in August when they hosted their first ever ATDC Switch Pitch Hackathon. This inaugural weekend hackathon brought together hackers, developers, designers, and other technology creatives to solve problems faced by ATDC’s fastest growing startups. Traditionally, hackathon participants find a solution to problems they have identified on their own, but ATDC took an interesting spin on things. Participating companies presented challenges to participant that had been low on the company’s to-do list but still were of importance. Chal-lenges ranged from small features to entirely new products to drive new lines of revenue. The minor problems that are on startup’s to-do lists are always bumped down week after week in priority and things are just left hanging. We thought this would be a great opportunity to get in-novative and creative hackers together and solve some of these problems and have a great time doing it, ” said Everett Steele, president of Kanga and one of the participating companies. Eight ATDC companies pitched their respective problems to hackathon participants who then worked over the weekend to develop solutions that were then presented to a panel of judges the Tuesday following the weekend hackathon. Stephen Fleming, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at Georgia Tech; John B. Hayes, chairman of Now Account; Michael Tavani, founder of Switchyards and co-founder of Scoutmob and Trish Whitlock, director of marketing operations at Tech Square Labs served as judges. Participating Companies: • First Performance, a platform providing financial institutions with customer self-service

capabilities, card management and messaging tools that deliver greater control, security and communication to the cardholder. Challenge: create a solution for stronger security for First Performance’s cardholders throughout different stages of their transaction’s process.

• Kanga provides an Uber-like service for local delivery and a technology platform that enables others to start their own delivery service. Challenge: develop a portal for compa-nies to crowdsource labor to support their business model.

• Groundfloor offers an enabling platform for individual investors to finance residential real estate loans. Challenge: develop a mobile solution to make processing and communi-cation between borrowers and investors more transparent.

• Florence Healthcare offers software that connects home health care data from outside the clinic with the healthcare community. Challenge: develop a mobile solution to help man-age physical hospital documents that can be sent to trial-pharmaceutical sponsors to achieve more efficiency in clinical trials.

• Amplify 4 Good caters to underserved communities through rapid problem solving and focusing on economic development, health and wellness, education and safety. Chal-lenge: create a mobile solution to help nonprofit organizations source and manage volun-teers for community efforts.

• Synappio helps email marketers get and stay in compliance with email service providers. Challenge: create a platform that protects e-commerce merchants from fraudulent charges and verifies transactions.

• Rescour offers a data platform and recommendation engine for commercial real estate investment. Challenge: create a property management tool that allows renters to input their own pricing data and allows renters to promote their property and share findings with others.

• Cognosos provides a Sensing as a Service platform that collects information from low cost, battery powered sensors that can measure physical data outdoors. Challenge: devel-op a physical asset packing system that was inexpensive, easy to use and scalable.

The solutions presented were evaluated based on validation, execution and design, and overall business model. Results Third Place: Rescour was also the crowd favorite. Rescour’s team won a $150 cash prize for their innovative mobile app. Second Place: Groundfloor’s team built a better way for the company to communicate with cus-tomers and won the $300 cash prize. Winner: Florence Healthcare team took first place with a live application to address the needs of sending sourced documents to healthcare sponsors globally. The team’s prize was $500 in cash. If you missed this hackathon there are plans for a Fintech Hackathon in November.