Month: October 2014
How to boost parent-teacher communication
As we prepare for a new school year, many parents would like to know how they can better connect with teachers and stay informed with their child’s progress.
5 strategies to align district leadership with unions
Teachers are essential to a successful digital transition, and when it comes to the relationship between teachers' unions and school district leaders, open communication is the most important…
App of the Week: Tons of kid-friendly activities
KidQuest makes it easy with dozens of free things to make and build, with step by step illustrated guides.
Six key competencies for effective Pre-K-3 principals
Providing personalized learning environments and ensuring developmentally-appropriate teaching are just two of six competencies principals need to support teaching and learning during the transition from birth and preschool…
LAUSD plagued by student information system problems
With a few taps on a computer keyboard, a student's entire school history from kindergarten to high school graduation was supposed to show up on the screen. That…
Easy steps to OER creation
Open educational resources (OER) offer educators a chance to align learning materials to students' needs--and teachers can create their own OER through a surprisingly straightforward process, using materials…
Project-based learning gives students ownership of their education
This article is no longer available.
Using flipped learning to boost engagement
Supporters of flipped learning have proven that the instructional model is more than just a fad. As it spreads to classrooms across the nation, educators are leveraging the…
Robotics enters K-12 classrooms
The lesser-known elements of STEM are enjoying the limelight right now, with computer science and coding moving to the top of educators’ priority lists. Robotics, too, is following…
STEAM Ahead program gives students a taste of higher-level science, math, arts
This article is no longer available.
Connect students, teachers to engineering
eGFI is managed by the American Society for Engineering Education, which aims to promote and enhance efforts to improve K-12 STEM and engineering education.
Focus learning and make exam day like any other
The use of iPads in the classroom has opened many doors to learning and discovery—but keeping students focused can be a challenge, especially when using iPads for high-stakes…
16 educators new teachers should follow on Twitter
It’s no secret that new teachers need lots of support, and these days, teachers often find support online and through social media. In fact, following just a few…
Carnegie Science Center defends its offerings to girls after criticism in social media
This article is no longer available.
Top predictions for tomorrow’s classrooms
Given the fast pace with which technology evolves, it’s not entirely a huge stretch to say that a new learning tool could transform classrooms within a year.
7 STEM apps designed by students
Students from across the United States met with congressional leaders and the Obama administration to show STEM apps and games they've developed.
App of the Week: Busy bee storytellers
The Honeycomb Keyboard lets young children see and write rhyming words and sight words.
HP hopes its breakup will benefit schools
Innovations in mobile computing, 3D printing, and cloud services are what HP hopes to deliver to schools and other customers as a result of its decision this week…
What you need to know about Kaplan’s new SAT survey
Kaplan Test Prep, one of the leading SAT tutoring and college prep companies, believes that the SAT is still relevant in the CCSS era.
Coding with the kindergarten crowd
Introducing coding to kindergarten students helps them reflect on their own learning as they develop 21st-century skills such as problem solving and creativity, experts say. Coding has emerged…
How one school set up 600 iPad Air tablets in 2.5 hours
Many people think of iPads in education as devices that need to be locked down. But at Immaculata-La Salle, we're doing things a bit differently.
How Defined STEM meets the goals of ‘Understanding by Design’
Understanding by Design (UbD) is a framework for guiding curriculum,instruction, and assessment, with the end goal of student understanding: the ability to make meaning from “big ideas.” Defined…
Five apps for storytelling, astronomy, and museum art
Each week, we feature a new App of the Week on our website and in our newsletters. These apps are for students or educators and offer a range…
Can we change the PD culture of communication?
One of my first activities as an Outstanding Educator in Residence with the Academy of Singapore Teachers two winters ago was to observe elementary school students using laptops…
End of support for Windows Server 2003 to affect schools
Microsoft’s decision to end support for its Windows Server 2003 edition next July means the clock is ticking for schools that continue to use this older server platform,…
How to avoid eRate rule violations
This summer, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created a Universal Service Fund (USF) Strike Force, which is tasked with combating waste, fraud, and abuse in various USF programs,…
Quick Guide to Launching Your First 1:1 Program
Students and teachers can reap many benefits from 1:1 learning—when implemented thoughtfully. Amplify and the One-to-One Institute have partnered to produce an overview of all of the key…
Four tips to manage mobile classrooms
As classrooms change with the evolution of mobile technology, classroom management strategies must adjust to walk the line between keeping students on task and giving students freedom to…
The MaKey MaKey might change the game
Tell me if this sounds familiar... You want to increase student buy-in on a project by designing a challenge with a connection to the "real world." You want…
Become a Connected Educator in October
Connected Educator Month (CEM) kicked off on Oct. 1, and there are several weeks left of events, seminars, webinars, and more. Participation is free, and topics range from…
What to look for in a cloud provider of Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange provides a rich feature set for email, which has made it a popular option among schools and colleges. And the latest version, Exchange 2013, is a…
3 ways technology buoys at-risk students
Interactive learning and other technology-enabled strategies can increase engagement and significantly improve achievement among at-risk students, according to a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE)…
Empowering superintendents in the digital age
Superintendents lead. They are charged with preparing students to be college-, career-, and life-ready, and with enabling a 21st-century learning environment. Increasingly, this means leveraging digital technologies to…
The key to PreK-2 blended learning success
Implementing blended learning in the earliest grades can have an incredibly positive impact on students if educators follow a "transitional" blended learning model that focuses on active and…
Students receive innovation grants for games and apps
At a special luncheon in Washington, D.C., 20 students from across the United States received awards from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Entertainment Software Association as Leaders…
edX turns attention to high school MOOCs
High school students now have access to massive open online courses (MOOCs) through a new effort from MOOC platform edX, which says it intends the courses to help…