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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.

Incident IQ Releases Integration With ClassLink Single Sign-on

ATLANTA (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Incident IQ, the workflow management platform built for school districts, released an integration with ClassLink—a global education provider of access and analytics products that create more time for learning and help schools better understand digital engagement.

As school districts continue to rely on more technology in today’s classrooms, Incident IQ offers advanced integrations that provide data-rich help requests to K-12 IT teams, while being easy to use for end-users. ClassLink’s single sign-on platform gives teachers and students access to classroom resources with a single login. Using this integration, tech support is only a click away, providing users with immediate access to support workflows. 

“Keeping classroom time dedicated to teaching and learning is essential for Incident IQ and ClassLink,” said Matthew Krivanek, Vice President of Marketing. “Incident IQ and ClassLink work together to eliminate the unnecessary back-and-forth that can come with classroom technology support. This integration allows teachers and students instant access to the Incident IQ platform and relevant support workflows using their ClassLink credentials, returning more time to teaching and learning, instead of troubleshooting tech issues. We are dedicated to providing a supportive, streamlined support environment for K-12 districts through our continued partnership with ClassLink.”…Read More

8 questions for educators as they use assessments to support student learning

For assessments to be used effectively in schools, it’s important for districts and schools to consider what assessments are intended for and how the data gained from the assessments will be applied to support student learning. Building and maintaining a balanced assessment system is essential for schools, but the process can be complicated. 

Asking these eight questions can help school district leaders who want to make sure they’re using and administering formative, interim, and summative assessments at the right times and in effective ways. Considering these key questions can help districts build assessment systems that better support student learning and improved outcomes.

1. What is the purpose of this assessment?…Read More

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How to ensure clear communication with your paraprofessionals

As back-to-school commences this fall, in addition to the students and teachers returning to school buildings, somewhere between 160,000 and 250,000–or more–folks will be joining those students and teachers. Known by a variety of titles, from paraeducator and paraprofessional, to aid, to assistant teacher, these educational support personnel have the least training of people working in schools. Add the fact that most paraprofessionals are assigned to work with students with the most significant needs, and one can see why these positions are difficult to fill and have generally high turnover rates.

There are a couple of things that can be done to better assist paraprofessionals in their roles within schools. The first is to ensure more effective communication between teachers and the paraprofessionals who work with the same students and support them in the classrooms.

Building administrators should make sure that teachers provide clear and direct guidance for paraprofessionals at the beginning of each term. Often, paraprofessionals might be new to education and might not have much time to prepare for their assignment. One effective method is to have teachers who will work with paraprofessionals complete a short checklist explaining the items they want the paraprofessional to focus on and what they would prefer is left to the teacher. Building administrators then need to facilitate conversations between the teacher and paraprofessionals so expectations are clear. Such a practice can help eliminate problems before they arise by ensuing clear expectations are set for each paraprofessional.…Read More

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Students desperately need to see relevance in their learning

Many students see no relevance between their education and the real world, and say they are struggling to find meaning in their education or find a career direction, according to a new survey from YouScience, a student engagement platform.

The paper, “Solving Education’s Relevance Gap,” is a call to action for educational institutions, businesses, families, students, and community leaders to analyze the state of student engagement and work together to shift educational approaches to better meet student’s needs.

If communities take advantage of opportunities to close the relevance gap, students can move from disengaged to motivated, with a deeper understanding of their own natural talents and their potential for fulfilling, long-term, in-demand careers, according to the paper.…Read More

Educational Support for Students Reaches New Levels with Paper’s™ 2022-2023 Platform Upgrades

MONTREAL— Paper, the leading provider of academic support, today announced a series of upgrades and additions to its best-in-class Educational Support System (ESS). The new features will be available to all 2.5 million students on the Paper platform just in time for the 2022-2023 school year.

Over the last several months, Paper worked with students and other stakeholder focus groups to understand how to improve its ESS and find better methods to engage with today’s students and their preferred ways to interact and learn. 

“From the beginning, we have always relied on student and teacher feedback to help us build and improve Paper,” said Philip Cutler, Paper co-founder and CEO. “Our team is focused on constantly innovating to create a more engaging and effective platform that students will regularly use to get help with their academics and preparing for life and a career.”…Read More

18 back-to-school tips to start the year off right

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to cast uncertainty on education, and the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year is no different. But with some valuable lessons learned under their belts, educators are feeling better prepared for the back-to-school season–one that could be the most normal since the pandemic.

Here are some back-to-school tips, advice, and valuable insights from educators, stakeholders, and industry experts.

“COVID has dramatically impacted students from a social and emotional standpoint. It’s basically shifted the developmental continuum for where kids are and what they can handle and it has been a struggle for schools and districts to adapt. This school year will see a focus on prioritizing social and emotional learning–accepting the fact that that continuum has changed and giving teachers permission to spend time reteaching those skills. We’ll see more schools and districts placing a priority on SEL instruction just like math or reading. We’ll also see a greater increase in educators looking for solutions for their students with challenging behaviors and looking for tools like DESSA to help schools design interventions for students in specific social emotional competencies.”
Dr. Norah Barney, EdD, Director of Special Education and Curriculum, Anaconda School District #10, Montana…Read More

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Star Assessments Now Connect to Nearpod to Accelerate Student Growth

Bloomington, MN (August 17, 2022) – Renaissance, a global leader in pre-K–12 education technology, is pleased to introduce a powerful new connection between its industry-leading Star Assessments and Nearpod platforms to accelerate learning in the 2022–2023 school year. This is just one of the many exciting new product features that schools and districts can access for Back to School. Renaissance has also curated fun, engaging, and helpful resources for its products to help ensure a strong start for both educators and students as they are together again in the new school year.

To better connect assessment, instruction, and practice, Star Assessments users now have one-click access to Nearpod’s lesson library and learning resources within the Star platform. This streamlines the lesson-planning process and helps educators to more easily differentiate instruction for individual students, small groups, and entire classes in both literacy and mathematics. Educators who are using Nearpod Math have access to additional content and tools within Star to support students’ math achievement.

In addition, Renaissance is thrilled to introduce two foundational literacy assessments for the new year:…Read More

4 tips to bring the real world into your classroom

Too often, the focus of education is not the actual use of knowledge and material but rather a memorize and repeat model.

It is an archaic formula that stems from a time when students were required to simply sit and listen–and it is poor preparation for the modern world. Today’s students need to be exposed to working environments that foster collaboration, communication, and community. Higher education and the workforce do this well. However, schools and teachers need to foster that same collaboration in K-12 education to better prepare students for their futures.

One way to do this is for educators to incorporate real-world examples into their teaching. Real-world examples bring something more tangible, impactful, and real to the curriculum, and students become more interested and engaged when they see how their lessons apply to their daily lives. They also promote a more critical and holistic way of thinking. After all, life is often more complex than what is presented in the classroom.…Read More

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How hands-on education creates better educators

The profession of Educator is one of the most important occupations in the world. A great teacher inspires, motivates, encourages, and has direct impact on their students’ academic and career goals.

Educators are held to very high standards and are expected to have advanced knowledge and skills, as well as adopt and adapt to evolving practices and technologies. Great teachers know that their role first and foremost is to treat the student as an individual and understand their needs, learning styles, and abilities.

A teacher’s job is no longer simply delivering facts and information, but to help students learn how to use them, develop abilities to solve problems, make informed decisions, and build knowledge.   …Read More

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