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.

4 ideas to consider when designing a STEM lab

Key points:

  • STEM labs are engaging environments that encourage exploration
  • With the right tools and supports, students develop and grow 21st-century skills

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is focused on developing students’ skills and connecting these subject areas, preparing them for future careers and the real world. It’s a key area of teaching worldwide and thousands of schools are now investing in learning spaces specifically designed to support STEM–called STEM labs.

What is a STEM Lab?…Read More

Are you choosing the right classroom visual displays?

Key points:

  • Size isn’t the only important part of classroom visual displays
  • Brightness, contract, interactivity, and resolution are all critical factors

The transfer of knowledge is an educator’s principal concern–one that has led them, along with researchers, to ask: “What’s the best way to help transfer that knowledge and help students learn?”

Research has shown that students learn better with visuals than words alone. Visual presentations using a projector or interactive display can help to promote a much more active learning environment and more successful outcomes. However, in the last few years, as interactive displays have become more popular, there has been a significant debate on which is the best display type–projectors or interactive flat panel displays–for the classroom.…Read More

ClassIn Launches its World-Class Teaching and Learning Platform in the United States

SAN DIEGO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ClassIn, a world leader in hybrid, blended, and remote learning solutions, today announced the launch of its globally recognized platform in the United States. The ClassIn platform has been purpose-built for education and based on nearly a decade of research, development, and in-market experience. Through its software and hardware solutions, ClassIn provides the digital infrastructure for the hybrid future of education by building classrooms in both the virtual and physical worlds. ClassIn is the only end-to-end education platform with a full suite of innovative tools and features, all designed with hybrid-first pedagogy at its core. It supports active learning, student flexibility, and various teaching and learning methods.

While schools have worked to embrace technology for decades, innovation has been slow and fragmented, and most new technologies have been designed to solve a singular problem. Today, the average US teacher uses 148 different EdTech products and the average US school district uses over 1,400 EdTech solutions. The pandemic exacerbated this issue, as most schools implemented “emergency remote teaching” instead of pedagogically aligned instruction, cobbling together many disparate technologies that were not built or designed for education.

“Remote and hybrid teaching brought long-touted but previously out-of-reach, student-centric instruction to life, making room for self-guided learning, flexible schedules, and additional time to explore volunteer, hobby, and work opportunities,” said Sara Gu, Co-Founder, and COO at ClassIn. “We’re at an inflection point. The classroom of the future will be networked, digitized, and intelligent, which means our learning solutions must be built on a solid foundation: based on hybrid-first pedagogy and backed by learning science. With over 50 million students using our solution in 160+ countries, our hardware and software solutions reduce districts’ need for the patchwork of over 1,400 different technologies by combining many of those capabilities seamlessly.”…Read More

Harnessing edtech for deeper science engagement

Throughout my career as a science educator in Colorado, Washington, and now in Florida, I’ve collaborated with many tremendous educators to solve the challenge of engaging students in science. Over time and through trial and error, we’ve learned the importance of engaging students in relevant content that is meaningful to them, engaging them in monitoring their own learning, or engaging them through strategies that make learning accessible.

However, I believe the most important factor in achieving a high level of student engagement in science is providing opportunities for students to participate in active learning experiences. As the K-12 science coordinator in a medium-sized school district in Central Florida, it is a critical part of my team’s work to find and create these opportunities and share them with teachers across the district.

There are five examples of these active learning experiences that stand out as effective strategies to achieve student engagement through relevancy, self-monitoring of learning, and accessible learning for every student:…Read More

Pivot Interactives Named Best of STEM by Science Educators

MINNEAPOLIS, July 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Minneapolis, Minnesota Pivot Interactives, a phenomena-based, active learning tool for science teaching, has been honored with three Educators Pick Best of STEM™ awards, an EdTech program judged solely by science and STEM educators. Educators named Pivot Interactives Best of STEM in three categories: “Best of STEM for Phenomena-Based Teaching and Learning,” “Best of STEM for Video-Based Learning,” and “Best Resources for Analyzing and Interpreting Data.”

“We are thrilled to be recognized by science and STEM educators with this award,” says Peter Bohacek, CEO and Co-Founder of Pivot Interactives. “At Pivot, we are educators first and foremost, and to be recognized as the Best of STEM by teachers is deeply rewarding. The needs of science teachers have profoundly changed in the last few years, and we will continue to innovate to create the tools that educators need most.”

Pivot Interactives won the following Best of STEM Awards:
Best of STEM for Phenomena-Based Teaching and Learning
This category honors organizations that anchor instruction to meaningful natural phenomena.…Read More

Why video creation encourages classroom innovation

Think about how students today communicate outside of school–so much of it is video-based, and if educators can meet students in that space, they’ll be able to create more engaging and impactful lessons. In the TikTok, Instagram Video and Snapchat era, video creation has also provided the perfect medium to encourage and empower intuitive content creation in classroom environments.

Some of the best educational content develops with creative thinking and a willingness to try new things–and if teachers and students have the right tools, they’re on the right path.

Learn more during this eSchool News webinar featuring educators and edtech experts who can speak to how video lets teachers gauge student understanding, enables students to access content at their own pace, and more.
…Read More

Why active learning environments are key to student engagement

Technology’s pivotal role in education can’t be denied, and it will remain a constant in classrooms. Many schools are turning to active learning environments to effectively use technology to help engage students in learning.

When students are engaged in their learning via active learning environments, they absorb more content and they intuitively explore concepts at a deeper level.

Join a panel of educators and experts as they tell eSchool News how they have created immersive classrooms in their schools. You’ll discover insights on renovations that turned classrooms into active learning environments, and you’ll learn how one school has been using these learning environments since 2013.…Read More

10 cool AR and VR tools for the classroom

We all know that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are super fun, but AR and VR tools can also be incredibly powerful when integrated into classroom learning.

What’s the difference? AR is the idea that the user brings something into their real world and using a device to see something that isn’t actually there–animation or 3D images come into the real world. VR immerses a person in the experience, as if they’re actually there.

AR and VR tools have a number of benefits for students, and because the tools are engaging, students are more likely to absorb classroom lessons and concepts. Plus, students are engaged in active learning with AR and VR tools.…Read More