BenQ Boards Create Affordable, Future-Ready Learning Pathway for Paso Robles Joint Unified School District

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display and collaboration solutions, today announced that Paso Robles Joint Unified School District in California has selected and installed BenQ Boards in more than 200 classrooms across the district. The BenQ Boards allowed Paso Robles to bypass an expensive cabling infrastructure update many of its schools needed while introducing an affordable yet innovative classroom solution for fostering engagement and collaboration and nurturing future-ready students.

“We were at a fork in the road on how to move our classrooms into the future affordably,” said Scott Buller, MBA, director of information technology at Paso Robles Joint Unified School District. “Instead of rewiring our classrooms and using all available money toward replacing our legacy projectors, we were able to invest in BenQ Boards and propel our school district into the future of learning. We saved money, and increased engagement, accessibility, inclusion, collaboration, and tech skills — all while meeting the needs of our teachers and IT staff. The BenQ Boards’ features and tools have transformed our learning possibilities.”

BenQ Boards Increase Engagement and Interactivity
BenQ Boards immediately introduce a new, hands-on way of learning in the classroom. From the display’s antimicrobial screen, students can participate in lessons with enhanced interactivity. To boost engagement without expensive subscription costs, BenQ Boards include the license-free EZWrite 6 annotation and collaboration software. This gives teachers and students the freedom to annotate and work directly from the interactive display or a wirelessly connected device. Rather than sit-and-get lectures, EZWrite encourages students to manipulate content, explore concepts, and solve problems, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. With EZWrite’s Floating Tool, users can add text to any app, video, website, document, or image. They can also choose the pen color, erase, open files, or take screenshots.…Read More

MathWorks and Discovery Museum Renew Long-running Partnership to Bring Hands-on STEM to PreK-8 Classrooms

Acton, MA – Discovery Museum and Natick-based MathWorks announced today their continued partnership to bring the Museum’s Traveling Science Workshops to classrooms throughout Massachusetts and beyond for the 2023-2024 school year. This is the fourteenth consecutive school year that MathWorks has invested in the school outreach program.

Traveling Science Workshops (TSW) are state curriculum-aligned, small group, in-classroom workshops that use simple, everyday materials and a hands-on approach to allow students to be scientists by exploring, observing, asking questions, and sharing discoveries. Museum educators deliver twenty-three STEM topics—including Sound, Weather & Climate, Physical Changes of Matter, and Force & Motion—to give elementary and middle school students direct experience with how things work in the physical world. It is the only classroom-based program of its kind in Massachusetts.

MathWorks has partnered with Discovery Museum since 2010 to bring TSW to school classrooms, supporting program growth and developing virtual workshops and distance learning resources for teachers. MathWorks also supports community access to the Museum by funding free-access Friday nights and a week of reduced admission pricing in the fall. MathWorks volunteer groups also undertake on-site projects several times each year.…Read More

How to work for equity of access in classrooms

Key points:

Ensuring equity of access in the K-12 classroom is crucial for providing all students with a fair and inclusive education. Educational disparities can exacerbate existing inequalities, and it’s essential that school leaders and teachers address these issues to promote a level playing field.

Here are five key strategies to ensure equity of access:…Read More

K-12 Tech Innovation News

Key points:

  • K-12 technology is reaching students across the globe, equipping them with critical skills
  • Leveraging the power of educational technology helps create dynamic, personalized learning environments
  • Stay informed with the latest K-12 tech innovation news

K-12 tech innovation has become a cornerstone of modern education, reshaping traditional classrooms and equipping students with the skills needed for the 21st century.

One notable piece of K-12 tech innovation news is the integration of interactive devices and digital learning tools, transforming static learning spaces into dynamic, multimedia-rich environments. These devices and tools empower teachers to create engaging lessons, fostering a more interactive and collaborative learning experience.…Read More

Schools and districts that ignore TikTok’s lessons are bound to fail

Key points:

If you talk to 200 teachers around the country today and ask them to describe their challenges in the classroom, you’re likely to get 201 different responses. And that makes sense–as systemic as some issues facing our education system are, every school, class, and student is unique. Yet through all that, there is perhaps one constant, one shared experience that is as universal as the No. 2 pencil. TikTok. Yes, TikTok has become the new American pastime of millions and public enemy number one of many teachers, parents, and some lawmakers across the country.

Students today are more distracted and disengaged than ever, all while they’re spending an average of 95 minutes every single day on TikTok alone. Meanwhile, 80 percent of teachers across the nation are reporting critically low student engagement, signifying a lack of connection with the material, the methodology, or both. But TikTok, and social media more broadly, continues to capture curiosity and attention, and it’s not all just dance videos–Indiana science teacher @ChemteacherPhil commands an audience of more than 3 million followers on the app. Is there a lesson in that?…Read More

Poptential™ by Certell Revolutionizes Social Studies Education with Integration of American Principles and Launch of Engauge™ Teacher Dashboard

INDIANAPOLIS — Certell, the creator behind the Poptential™ family of free social studies course packages, announced a significant update to its digital curriculum and platform designed to help students better understand the principles that have shaped American history while giving teachers tools to better manage their classroom and improve learning.

Poptential course packages have been updated to incorporate “American Principles” designed to foster a greater understanding of American civic life and sharpen critical thinking skills among students. Additionally, Certell introduced a powerful new dashboard for teachers called Engauge™, which helps instructors understand student engagement with Poptential e-books in real time.

The integration of American Principles into Poptential social studies courses is a significant milestone. These principles are fundamental ideas that have shaped U.S. history, culture, and identity, serving as the bedrock of American civic life. The goal is to ensure that students not only grasp these principles but also understand why they were deemed essential by the nation’s founders.…Read More

3 ways educators leverage gamification strategies

Key points:

Students don’t have to be video game fanatics to appreciate a gamified classroom lesson. When teachers turn a lesson or tough-to-teach concept into a motivational gamed or use a fun competition to teach new concepts, students become immersed in their learning and are often more engaged–meaning they’re more likely to retain information.

Still, there’s an art to gamifying a lesson and ensuring that students are actually learning instead of just playing a game for points. …Read More

Reaching edtech harmony in your classroom

Key points:

In today’s dynamic educational landscape, technology has become an integral part of teaching and learning, but it presents a paradox. While diverse edtech products promise innovation, they simultaneously pose challenges. Educators, learners, instructional technology coaches, and IT/edtech staff are grappling with the complexities of managing an ever-expanding arsenal of disconnected digital tools. It’s important to understand the challenges more closely and how an integrated, interoperable, and effective educational technology ecosystem can meet the evolving landscape of learning for more efficient, impactful, and secure learning experiences.

There are several prominent shifts that are driving the future of learning, therefore making a comprehensive and interoperable ecosystem essential. First is the permanence of a remote and/or hybrid learning structure. Solutions like interactive displays, cloud whiteboarding, screen sharing, and video conferencing tools have helped schools embrace and succeed in this new learning format. Second is the need to create a 21st century learning environment that is accessible for all students, encourages engagement and collaboration, and can be more easily tailored for different learning levels and needs. For example, smart board tools such as text to speech, translation, or word prediction can help students overcome language barriers and unique challenges. For increased engagement and collaboration, teachers are relying on new teaching methods such as microlearning and gamification. Finally, there’s also a drive toward more community and outreach.…Read More

The pandemic is over–but American schools still aren’t the same

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

On a recent Friday at Gary Comer Middle School in Chicago, you had to squint to see signs of the pandemic that upended American education just a few years ago.

Only a handful of students wore face masks, and even then, some put them on to cover up pimples, staff said. The hand sanitizer stations outside every classroom mostly went unused, and some were empty. Students stopped to hug in the hallway and ate lunch side by side in the cafeteria. …Read More

Using tech to teach emerging readers high frequency words

Key points:

If you were to poll an audience of educators–classroom teachers, literacy specialists, reading researchers, and university professors–about whether high frequency words should be taught in early elementary, the resounding answer would be YES. These words, after all, are important to students’ ultimate reading success.

The nuances of teaching high frequency words in early elementary would only arise around how these words should be taught.…Read More