Best Practices Archives

Six ways to engage in Connected Educator Month

October 11, 2013 by By Patrick Larkin

During Connected Educator Month, it's important to realize that the skills, information, and resources shared among school leaders and teachers should be used and applied all year long…

District Management

Admins, teachers partner to embrace technology infusion

November 6, 2013October 11, 2013 by By Scott Rocco

Classrooms across the nation are experiencing an infusion of technology that is meant to engage students and take learning beyond the four walls of a classroom. This infusion…

District Management

A more social form of professional development

April 17, 2014September 27, 2013 by By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor, <a href='https://twitter.com/esn_laura' target='_blank'>@eSN_Laura</a>

The state of Utah has adopted an innovative online platform for its 25,000 teachers that reinvents the notion of how professional development is experienced. The platform, called Teaching…

District Management

Tips for launching a one-to-one initiative

June 16, 2014September 26, 2013 by By Kevin Schwartz

The Clear Creek Independent School District in Texas truly puts the public in public education. I cannot think of a more profound example of this statement than what…

IT Management

Schools need help with technology

March 18, 2014September 23, 2013 by By Michael Smith

School technology has big potential, but schools need even bigger funds to realize that potential Technology is many things: Exciting. ... Read more

District Management

How ed tech can help with Student Learning Objectives

November 6, 2013September 18, 2013 by By Kimberly Fleming

Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) have gained tremendous momentum in K-12 education over the last 15 years and hold great promise for improving student learning. An SLO is an…

IT Management

Connecting vulnerable students to services

November 6, 2013September 2, 2013 by By Christina Mann

The small, tight-knit community of Eudora, Kan., is nestled between two college towns to the west of Kansas City. With just 1,600 students, our district is committed to…

District Management

‘Technology-enabled active learning’ spurs achievement

November 6, 2013August 29, 2013 by By Pat La Morte

Using a technology-rich environment to promote collaboration and independent learning, we’ve seen student engagement—and achievement—rise.

IT Management

How software streamlined our community service program

November 6, 2013August 28, 2013 by By Róm Crespo

Giving back to the community through volunteer service is a value we want to instill in our students at Morton Ranch High School in Texas. In the 2012-13…

Curriculum

How to create a student-centered digital classroom

November 6, 2013August 27, 2013 by By Mark Barnes

How can you boost engagement, and learning, through a student-centered approach to learning? Here's one model that has proven successful.

Featured Funding News

How we’ve raised more than $25,000 by recycling eWaste

November 6, 2013August 22, 2013 by By Diana Utroske

The Waugh Elementary School District has raised more than $25,000 for its ed-tech needs over the last decade—simply by recycling electronic waste through FundingFactory.

STEM & STEAM

Engaging, educating students with chemistry app

November 6, 2013August 22, 2013 by By Dr. Layne A. Morsch

This summer’s chemistry section at University of Illinois-Springfield began with the same challenge that I always face with my students: how to get them to engage with the…

District Management

Viewpoint: Moving beyond technology initiatives

November 6, 2013July 19, 2013 by By Bill Goodwyn

Walking the show floor in San Antonio at the recent International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) conference, it was hard not to be impressed by the broad…

IT Management

Lowering education’s cost through free or open source tech

November 6, 2013July 17, 2013 by By Arthur Beltran

A few years back, one of my classmates from a graduate course had a complaint. She told me that her school bought an expensive technology system, which included…

Best Practices in School IT Management

Desktop virtualization leads to higher-quality education for one district

November 22, 2013June 25, 2013 by By Rick DeLaunay, Director of Technology & Media, Scotland County

By the time students wake up for the school day, teachers and faculty have already had their first cup of coffee for the morning and are reviewing a…

Featured on eSchool News

New yearbook model is a win for students—and schools

November 6, 2013June 19, 2013 by By Ryan Novack

TreeRing’s on-demand digital printing eliminates minimum yearbook orders, saving money for schools—while also allowing customization for each student.

District Management

How we created an app for our district—and why you should, too

November 6, 2013June 18, 2013 by By Steve Young

When we discovered that more than 10 percent of our website traffic came directly from mobile devices, we decided it was time to go mobile.

District Management

With flipped learning, how to make sure students are doing the work

March 11, 2014June 10, 2013 by By Stacey Roshan

In-video quizzes can answer the question: "Who is doing their homework?" and help direct the focus of the class.

District Management

Oral history project blends technology, tradition

November 6, 2013June 3, 2013 by By Steven J. Ebner, Gus Grissom, and Caroline English

When 21st-century skills are used to connect with 20th-century individuals, the results can be powerful.

District Management

A different kind of ‘flipped’ learning: Students teaching students

November 6, 2013May 31, 2013 by By Darren ‘Mike’ McGuire

As a teacher at Granby Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio, I've orchestrated a more interactive style of instruction, in which students teach each other. This approach has raised…

District Management

Creating an app programming course for high schoolers

November 6, 2013May 30, 2013 by By Thomas White

iPad integration specialist Thomas White, who hadn’t written any software code for nearly two decades, was tasked with creating an app programming class for students at his private…

District Management

Students’ ‘magic school bus’ increases college acceptance rates

November 6, 2013May 13, 2013 by By Melanie Agnew

Most educators are familiar with the adventures of Ms. Frizzle’s Magic School Bus and the incredible journeys students take while riding it to explore the solar system, inside…

IT Management

Ten keys to a successful school iPad program

November 6, 2013April 30, 2013 by By Sam Gliksman

It seems that every school is considering purchasing iPads these days, and Apple has reported that iPad sales to schools are currently outpacing MacBook sales by a very…

District Management

Six tips for guiding the learning of students with autism

November 6, 2013April 25, 2013 by By Heather Patin

Classrooms come with their own unique characters, props, and soundtracks. To the average student, these things meld into the background, setting the scene for learning. However, for children…

STEM & STEAM

Why iPads? It’s a question of innovation

March 4, 2014April 24, 2013 by By Tom Daccord

By the end of 2012, Apple reported that it had sold more than 4.5 million iPads directly to educational institutions. At its January Education event in New York…

District Management

Don’t plan for technology; plan for learning

October 21, 2013April 16, 2013 by By Alan November

You never know how someone will react when you suggest that they junk their title and replace it with a new one that leads to a different focus…

Curriculum

Five examples of innovation in today’s schools

April 4, 2013 by By Britten Follett

A student-developed vocal warm-up app … Graphic novel biographies … Robotics competitions: Students and teachers using technology to drive innovation is a theme woven throughout this year’s Follett…

District Management

How I turned my classroom into a ‘living video game’—and saw achievement soar

November 6, 2013March 12, 2013 by By Joli Barker

The notion that struggling and failing is important to learning runs counter to traditional approaches to U.S. education. In the world of gaming, however, the very elements of…

IT Management

Launching a district data warehousing project

January 28, 2014March 7, 2013 by By Betty Weycker

A redesign of a school district’s information systems is always a challenge, but Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WSFCS) was further complicated by rapid growth, changing demographics and school choice.…

IT Management

Prevention through information: Promoting social norms awareness with digital signage

November 6, 2013March 4, 2013 by By Jeffrey S. Van Lone

A small liberal arts college located in the heart of the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) are home to one of…

IT Management

Plagiarism souvenirs

November 6, 2013February 26, 2013 by By Dorothy Mikuska

Most teachers will tell you that when assigned a research paper, students enter a few keywords into a Google search, download some relevant webpages, cut and paste passages…

IT Management

Four steps to admissions superstardom with Google AdWords

November 6, 2013February 20, 2013 by By Susie Gotschall

With the growth of non-traditional students, campuses must tailor their communication to each audience. A strategy that enrolls adults must differ from one that enrolls high school students.

eClassroom News

How a flipped classroom flipped a student’s perspective

March 13, 2014February 15, 2013 by By Kylie McAuley

The idea of graduating high school is supposed to be exciting: the beginning of a brand new life filled with experience and opportunity. But, when I thought about…

District Management

The science of the sudden school turnaround

November 6, 2013January 4, 2013 by Staff and wire services reports

New research helps to unveil the science of the school turnaround, revealing that improving schools dramatically isn’t about working miracles—it’s about having the right tools and the right…

Best Practices in School Technology: Winter 2013

Encourage greater interaction and engagement with classroom management software

November 6, 2013January 4, 2013 by Staff and wire services reports

NetSupport School is a classroom management software program that gives teachers the ability to instruct and visually or audibly monitor, as well as interact with, their students—either individually,…

District Management

How to sustain technology funding in schools

November 6, 2013January 2, 2013 by By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor

Involving the community, identifying backup revenue sources, and dedicating time and resources for professional development are the keys to sustaining technology funding and ed-tech initiatives, according to a…

District Management

Ed-tech best practices: November/December 2012

May 8, 2013November 29, 2012 by From staff reports

How to make “bring your own device” programs work for your schools, and how to assess your students’ reading skills without losing valuable instructional time to testing: These…

IT Management

10 tips for success with analytics, information management, and reporting projects

November 6, 2013November 29, 2012 by By Georgia Mariani

Launching information management, reporting, and analytics systems can be difficult. Sustaining them – and creating enthusiastic users – is even trickier. In a series of interviews, technology leaders…

District Management

Important considerations for blended learning

August 7, 2014November 28, 2012 by By Laura Devaney, Managing Editor

As blended learning programs grow in popularity, proponents of the approach—which involves a combination of computer-based learning and face-to-face instruction—say there are a few key considerations school leaders…

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