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.

Student creativity celebrated internationally on Sept. 15

“When we as educators tell a student that he or she matters, that his or her ideas have value, that his or her curiosity and creativity help build knowledge, we open doors we never knew existed,” said educator and author Angela Meiers.

In today’s AYP-focused school culture, it might be hard to see students as more than just data sets and test scores.

In an effort to remind educators, students, and the world about just how important it is to celebrate each individual student’s creativity and passion, a number of organizations are teaming up Sept. 15 to celebrate International Dot Day.

Dot Day was launched on Sept. 15, 2009,  by teacher Terry Shay when he introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot (Shay chose Sept. 15 because the original publishing date of The Dot is Sept. 15, 2003). The Dot tells the story of a teacher who reaches a reluctant student in a creative way.…Read More

Social media savvy: The new digital divide?

Readers' advice to students: Think about the digital footprint you want to leave.

The inclusion of social media data in the algorithms that search engines now use to help people find relevant information online could create a “new digital divide,” educator and consultant Angela Maiers believes—“those with a powerful network and those without.”

She also proposed a “new rule” that sums up the importance of managing one’s online profile carefully: “You are what you share.”

In a wide-ranging Twitter chat with eSchool News readers Oct. 19, Maiers discussed the implications of the decision by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and other internet gatekeepers to build social media data into their web-search formulas.…Read More

Twitter chat to explore the future of internet search

Google and other online gatekeepers recently revised their search algorithms to bring users more personalized information.

How will new web-search formulas adopted by Google, Microsoft, and others affect future scholarship, or students’ understanding of the world? What skills should students be taught in school so they’re prepared to make sense of, and make their mark on, this new digital landscape?

Award-winning educator, speaker, author, and consultant Angela Maiers will address these questions and more in a special Twitter chat hour with eSchool News readers Oct. 19.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and other online gatekeepers recently revised their search algorithms in an attempt to bring users more personalized information. This subtle shift has enormous implications for students, researchers, and society at large, Maiers and other experts agree.…Read More

Los Angeles area schools, teachers accused of cheating

Student test scores from two Los Angeles-area schools have been thrown out based on evidence of cheating by teachers, the Huffington Post reports. Three teachers at Short Avenue Elementary are accused of correcting answers on student answer sheets or instructing students toward correct answers–or both. A science teacher at Animo Leadership Charter High School is also accused of correcting answers after exams have taken place…

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…Read More