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.

TCEA 2013: New software for curriculum and instruction

Through a partnership with Samsung, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is bringing its HMH Fuse app for teaching algebra and geometry to Android devices.

Mobile apps for education were all the rage at the 2013 Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference in Austin this month, as developers of classroom software announced new apps for teaching grammar, learning algebra on Android devices, and turning iPads into collaborative learning tools.

But the news from the TCEA exhibit hall wasn’t just about apps, as a number of classroom software companies announced more traditional curriculum and instruction tools as well.

Here’s a roundup of new curriculum and instruction products discussed at TCEA.…Read More

1 2

Is education software failing our schools?

The Web site of Carnegie Learning, a company started by scientists at Carnegie Mellon University that sells classroom software, trumpets this promise: “Revolutionary Math Curricula. Revolutionary Results,” reports the New York Times. The pitch has sounded seductive to thousands of schools across the country for more than a decade. But a review by the United States Department of Education last year would suggest a much less alluring come-on: Undistinguished math curricula. Unproven results. The federal review of Carnegie Learning’s flagship software, Cognitive Tutor, said the program had “no discernible effects” on the standardized test scores of high school students…

Click here for the full story

…Read More