Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

7 computational thinking strategies to help young innovators fail forward

Computational thinking has been trending, but what is it, really?

Simply put, computational thinking is a method of reasoning that teaches students how to solve real-world, complex problems with strategies that computers use. Computational thinking and the design thinking process are frameworks for problem-solving to help address the need for 21st-century skills across our nation’s K-12 school system. While computation governs the world around us, computational thinking as a teaching and learning framework is a new concept for many.

These skills are becoming progressively important due to the constant evolution of technology and its place in our economy. An increasingly automated workforce means students who have had exposure to tech-thinking will be more likely to succeed.…Read More

Putting the SEL into PBL

In project-based learning (PBL), teachers present students with a real-world problem and challenge them to solve the problem through research and inquiry, often collaborating with each another and producing a final product that encompasses everything they have learned. The project relates back to the standards and learning objectives teachers are covering, but in a more tangible way. Often, PBL will naturally integrate objectives from a variety of subjects within the same project.

The Buck Institute for Education outlines seven essential components for project-based learning:

  1. a strong student activator
  2. a driving question
  3. opportunities for student voice and choice
  4. 21st-century skills
  5. time for inquiry and innovation
  6. feedback and revision
  7. a publicly presented final product.

Learn more about these seven essentials here.…Read More

Eight ways kindergarten holds the key to 21st-century instruction

Here are eight important pillars of a 21st-century education that can be found in most kindergarten classrooms every day.

I was recently giving a workshop at a local elementary school. While walking around and speaking to teachers and children, it suddenly dawned on me that several of the “revolutionary” educational changes we’ve been calling for have actually been around for quite a while—just talk a stroll down to the kindergarten classes.

If only the rest of school looked a little more like those classrooms. In fact, eight important pillars of a 21st-century education can be found in most kindergarten classrooms every day of the week:

1. Play…Read More

InfoComm 2011 reveals the future of AV technology

InfoComm brought more than 33,000 people to Orlando in June.

The 2011 InfoComm conference and exposition, the nation’s largest trade show devoted to the audio-visual (AV) industry, in June brought more than 33,000 people to Orlando, where several hundred companies demonstrated their latest AV products. Here are some of the highlights from the conference (click on each headline to learn more).

Companies reduce barriers to school video production

Many schools are building high-quality video production studios to give their students valuable experience in recording, mixing, and producing video broadcasts—from live coverage of concerts and athletic events to student-run news programs. Using professional-grade video equipment in these efforts can be costly, but at InfoComm 2011, several companies exhibited products designed to make live video production easier for schools.…Read More

New classroom furniture facilitates 21st-century instruction

Soft, comfy chairs contain a built-in electrical outlet and USB port at their base, so students can plug in their laptops while they sit.

Those bland, standalone classroom desks arranged in neat rows could become a relic of the past, replaced by stylish tables and chairs with built-in power sources and wireless charging capabilities, if furniture maker Bretford Manufacturing has its way.

In a growing number of schools, classroom instruction is changing from a passive experience in which students sit and listen at their desks to a more social activity in which they learn in groups, often with an electronic device at hand.

Recognizing this shift, Bretford has introduced a new line of furniture that helps educators implement a more social and technology-rich learning environment in their schools.…Read More

New ed-tech tools and techniques mark FETC 2010

Actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. opened the 30th annual Florida Education technology Conference Jan. 13.
Actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. opened the 30th annual Florida Education Technology Conference Jan. 13.

Free online tools that can save teachers time, new innovations that could make online learning more accessible, and keen insight into how educators can let students take responsibility for their own learning safely were among the highlights at the 2010 Florida Education Technology Conference (FETC) in Orlando last month.

More than 7,000 educators and administrators gathered in Orlando Jan. 13-15 for the 30th annual FETC, one of the largest state ed-tech conferences in the nation. The conference also featured an exhibit hall with more than 400 ed-tech vendors.

Here are some of the highlights from this year’s show. (To read about each topic, click on the headline.)…Read More