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.

Ello, World’s Most Advanced AI Reading Coach Recognized by Common Sense Media as Top AI Tool

SAN FRANCISCO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ello, developer of the world’s most advanced AI reading coach, announced today that Common Sense Media rated the Ello app as one of its top 10 AI products for ethical use, transparency, safety and impact.

Ello received an overall ranking of 4 out of 5 and 5 out of 5 for privacy and kids’ safety in Common Sense Media’s first-ever AI-ratings system. Common Sense Media recognized Ello as a company that displayed Responsible AI practices, especially its machine learning fairness that contributed to the app’s high rating. Ello was also recognized for the unique design of its AI reading tutor, the selection of diverse and engaging books that it offers, and the positive ways the AI tutor motivates young, struggling readers. Ello’s detailed Participatory Disclosures provided a strong basis for its positive evaluation against the “ Common Sense AI Principles,” the AI ratings system, developed with input from a range of AI experts. To read more about Common Sense’s AI rating and review of Ello, please visit https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ai-ratings/ello.

“Ello worked directly with parents, children and educators to build our AI reading tutor to ensure the experience is educational and safe while also addressing diversity and representation in children’s reading,” said Dr. Elizabeth Adams, co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of Ello. “Nearly 70% of American children read behind grade level, and the latest AI technology can help address this issue by providing 1:1 reading support while still putting privacy and safety of kids first. We are honored that Common Sense Media recognized Ello as a responsible AI application.”…Read More

Hadley Introduces Social 529 App Transforming The Way Americans Save For College And Career Training

LOS ANGELES, CA — Hadley, a new app seeking to make it easy and social to save for school and career training costs, announced today its official launch after a successful beta period. The app, named after Founder and CEO Yosh Miller’s niece, simplifies finding and funding 529 savings accounts, helping others plan for future education and career training expenses without any advisory or monthly subscription fees.

Hadley breaks down systemic barriers that blocked people from starting 529 accounts sooner. Traditionally, parents are the main contributors to their 529 plans and wait on average until their children are seven years old before setting up an account due to the reality that many families face immediate financial needs like daycare and doctor visits that make long-term saving for education more difficult. Now, families can open and link their 529 accounts to Hadley for free, even before their child is born, so others can contribute to it – allowing families to take full advantage of the power of tax-free compounded growth. In turn, Hadley helps families to start saving more, sooner.

Miller, a former Deloitte Strategy and Operations consultant for government agencies and strategy executive for MRC Entertainment, created Hadley to address families’ challenges when planning and saving for education. One of Hadley’s most impactful features allows family members and friends to contribute to a 529 plan, even if they don’t directly own the account. App users can quickly link their new or existing 529 plans to their Hadley account, making it easy for others to contribute to a child’s or adult’s education. App users can make one-time gifts or set up recurring contributions to their own or others’ accounts. Hadley works with all 529 Plans, 529 Advisor Plans, and 529 ABLE Plans.…Read More

SchoolStatus Announces Acquisition of ClassTag Strengthening its Suite of K-12 Data, Workflow, and Communications

RIDGELAND, Miss. —  SchoolStatus, a leader in K-12 data and communications, announced today the acquisition of  ClassTag, a unified family communication and engagement platform for educators, schools, and districts.

This strategic acquisition expands SchoolStatus’ current offerings with a robust communications app that enables sharing of essential student-level data in streamlined and easy-to-use ways. ClassTag’s smart messages reach all families based on their preferred channel (SMS, email, app, web or paper) automatically translated into 100+ languages. Seeing all relevant student information in one place helps families stay informed and get involved.

Based in New York, ClassTag is a unified family engagement platform used by over 5 million families. The platform enables teachers to efficiently communicate and coordinate with families and provides school and district leaders with insights on effective ways to build school-home connections that improve student outcomes.…Read More

Mobile app helps students with special needs self-monitor behavior

Key points:

  • A new grant will fund research around increasing the academic engagement of students with special needs
  • Teachers will benefit from insights into how to best support students with unique needs who also wish to be independent
  • See related article: What matters most for our special education teachers?

When Sara Estrapala started her career as a high school paraeducator supporting students with disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome, learning disorders and challenging behaviors, she quickly recognized a challenge–her teenage students desire to make their own decisions and their teachers’ struggle to keep them engaged and following directions.

Now an assistant research professor in the University of Missouri College of Education and Human Development, Estrapala is leading a four-year, $519,939 early career development and mentoring grant aimed at increasing academic engagement and decreasing disruptive behavior by empowering select students to self-regulate their own behavior.…Read More

Internet Safety Labs Advances Mobile App Safety for K-12 Students, Families and Educators with New App Microscope

SAN DIEGO (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Internet Safety Labs, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent software product safety testing, today announced a big leap forward to help ensure mobile app safety for K-12 students, families and educators with the introduction of the App Microscope.

Funded with support from the  Internet Society Foundation, the new web-based resource is designed to help school technology decision-makers and other interested parties pierce the technology fog and take a good hard look at what is really going on with children’s private and personal data inside the EdTech mobile applications they are using.

The extensive research presented in the ISL’s  2022 K12 Edtech Safety Benchmark Findings Report Part 1 makes it clear the technology recommended and used by U.S. educational institutions poses substantial privacy and safety risks to children and families. The report shows that 96% of educational apps share children’s personal information with third parties — 78% of the time with advertising and data analytics entities – and typically without the knowledge or consent of the users or the schools.…Read More

BenQ Education Partners With ANTON Learning App

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, announced that the ANTON learning app is now available on BenQ Boards. Trusted by over 15 million learners and teachers in over 60,000 schools, the ANTON learning app features learning material across a multitude of subjects, with the goal of making learning fun for students and easy for teachers to create and deliver engaging lessons. This partnership strengthens BenQ’s commitment to providing direct access to the apps and learning software that educators use daily from their BenQ Boards for a more streamlined, future-ready classroom.

“We’re steadfast in our mission to make it as easy as possible for educators to use the BenQ Board while helping students achieve great outcomes,” said Bob Wudeck, senior director of business development at BenQ Education. “ANTON is widely used by thousands of teachers. This is a great addition to the many resources now available in our BenQ Boards and is another step in bridging the gap between traditional teaching methods and cutting-edge technology that will help teachers shape the future of learning.”

The ANTON learning app and online learning portal are part of a standards-aligned curriculum available in multiple languages. Boasting over 100,000 exercises and 200 exercise types, it contains interactive elements, feedback, games, and explanations aimed at supporting and engaging young people in learning. It covers English, math, science, social studies, languages, and music, following set lessons with exercises in each topic. Users are able to select the subject that they wish to focus on and then follow scaffolded exercises developed to help them understand the material. Students can earn coins through their learning to spend on fun games and avatars.  Teachers are able to create classes, assign homework, and track the learning progress of their students. This information can then be used to personalize any learning or to bridge the learning between school and home.…Read More

How ChatGPT made my lessons more engaging

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

Much of the education narrative around ChatGPT has focused on the potential downsides of the AI tool (think Skynet from “The Terminator”). But as a high school teacher who has experimented with the sophisticated word predictor app in my economics, U.S. History, and speech and debate classes, I’ve found that ChatGPT provides opportunities to engage the students in class activities. Here’s how I’ve harnessed a tool that is here to stay (no matter how many school districts try to block it). 

I welcomed our first “speaker,” ChatGPT.…Read More

How our school handled the chaos of an active shooter hoax

Key points:

  • Every moment is critical during a school emergency, and having the right tools is a must
  • An emergency response app helped one school leader receive and deploy clear communication

I was in a meeting when I heard the sirens. I immediately excused myself and saw the first squad car screech to a halt in front of our doors and knew it was bad. The police department had just received a call saying there was an active shooter somewhere at Spanish Fork High School and two students were deceased.  

As it turns out, we were the victim of a coordinated hoax that targeted schools throughout Utah and other states, but for the next 24 minutes, this was our reality and as principal, I had to act. My emotions almost got the better of me; not only do I care deeply about each and every one of our 1,469 students, I also have a daughter who was in class just down the hall. I almost lost my motor skills but was able to pull my phone from my pocket to instantly lock down the school with the push of a button and watch our emergency plan unfold almost flawlessly before my eyes.   …Read More

Vernier Science Education Updates Vernier Graphical Analysis® Pro to Further Meet the Needs of Educators and Students

BEAVERTON, Oregon — Vernier Science Education has updated Vernier Graphical Analysis ® Pro to further meet the needs of high school and college educators and students. This award-winning app, which helps students engage in advanced data analysis as they think critically and make real-world connections, now includes even more features to deepen and extend learning—including an annotation feature, which enables students to comment on a region or point of a graph.

“Technology, such as our newly updated Graphical Analysis Pro app, can support students in building STEM literacy and forming critical connections between abstract scientific ideas and the real world,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Science Education. “With Graphical Analysis Pro, students can visualize and interact with experiment data they have collected via nearly 50 of our sensors. At the same time, educators can use the app to enrich their live instruction and provide even more opportunities for students to interact with and analyze data outside of the classroom or lab.”

Graphical Analysis Pro lets educators and students easily view and sync a video to sensor data, which enables them to replay, speed up, slow down, and pause recorded experiments at key moments in time. Whether learning happens remotely or in person, students can perform live experiments and share data over the internet in real time as they analyze and graph data and experience three-dimensional learning. …Read More