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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.

Education’s Great Resignation

Just outside of Des Moines, Iowa, an opening for a sixth-grade teaching job sits vacant… with zero applicants.

An hour northwest of Chicago, a shortage of bus drivers, special education teachers, counselors, and paraprofessionals is forcing teachers to reexamine their workload and look outside of the profession.

Public concerns around books, curricula, and learning platforms, combined with debate over masks and vaccines, have compelled college students who intended to major in education to choose a different career path.…Read More

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3 tips to balance the back-to-analog edtech transition

During the “emergency teaching” era of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital resources and edtech tools were used by educators worldwide in an effort to maintain students’ continuity of learning. Tremendous investments were made by school systems in an effort to rapidly scale digital learning.

With many of the COVID-era restrictions receding, it is tempting to think that we’ve entered into a new, highly digital era of education that will be far less dependent on pencils and paper. But, in the famous words of college football insider and former coach Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend!”  

Interestingly, the post-COVID teaching environment has so far, in my opinion, been marked by a strong desire to see things done with pencil and paper. In my district, I hear from educators, students, and families alike that they wish to see what they learned online to be applied in hard copy. After a two-year period where “virtually” everything was done on an iPad, parents have a thirst to see their children bringing home papers in their backpacks again.   …Read More

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Chicago students can take up to 5 mental health days

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

This story was produced as part of the Medill Media Teens journalism program for Chicago Public School students at Northwestern University. The writer worked under the mentorship of Medill graduate Anandita Bhalerao.

With working 25 hours a week at her minimum wage job at an ice cream shop, juggling a stressful workload with AP and honors classes, and dealing with anxiety, sometimes Jones College Prep sophomore Meghan Cuddy just needs a break. …Read More

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AtomicMind launches the AtomicMind Foundation Scholar Program to assist students from families experiencing financial hardship

NEW YORK — AtomicMind, an education technology company that offers families a boutique coaching experience in the increasingly competitive college admissions landscape, today announced the establishment of the AtomicMind Foundation Scholar Program to help make the company’s services available to those students who would otherwise be unable to afford them. In its inaugural year, AtomicMind is committing up to $500,000 worth of services to support up to 50 qualified students, with plans to expand in future years. 

The AtomicMind Foundation Scholar Program will provide comprehensive support throughout a student’s college admissions journey, starting as early as the freshman year of high school. Students will receive tailored counseling to build strong candidacies for elite colleges, as well as assistance with every facet of the admissions process during the college application season.

AtomicMind also aims to help these students more easily obtain financial aid. Given the amount of need-based aid often falls short, under-resourced students need to be able to close the funding gap with merit-based aid. To qualify, these students must demonstrate strength of character and a track record of academic and extracurricular accomplishment. Success rates are significantly higher when students have access to long-term, quality support. …Read More

Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners Present Students, Educators, and Families No-Cost Financial Literacy Resources for College Savings Month

Charlotte, NC — To support students on their journey to higher learning during September’s College Savings Month and beyond, Discovery Education and its social impact partners are offering students, educators, and families an array of no-cost digital resources focused on financial literacy. This selection of dynamic content inspires students to think critically about their college plans and financial goals. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art K-12 digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

The following no-cost digital resources were created in collaboration with Discovery Education’s social impact partners: 

  • Personal Finance Support: Educators discover how to make personal finances culturally relevant and interesting in the professional development series from Pathway to Financial Success, a program developed with Discover Financial Services. Through these real-world educator stories, teachers see firsthand the benefits financial education can have on students. The professional development series and other resources offer step-by-step navigation to help guide students to reach financial and personal goals. 
  • Entrepreneurship Inspiration: Make financial literacy engaging and fun with Discover Venture Valley, a program with the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship. Discover Venture Valley empowers students in grades 6-12 to build financial and business basics through gamified learning and taking on the role of a budding entrepreneur in the new Venture Valley video game. 
  • College Planning Resources: Family discussions about college planning are made easy with discussion guides from TGR EDU: Explore, a program with TGR Foundation, A Tiger Woods Charity. From finding the right college fit to navigating financial aid, the resources will help students understand the various types of financial aid, navigate the application process and prioritize responsibilities for college admissions. 

“While college may not be right for all students, it’s an important step to think about and financially prepare for. During College Savings Month, and always, Discovery Education and its social impact partners are committed to making available helpful, easy to understand, and engaging no-cost content designed to support student discussions around higher education,” said Beth Meyer, Vice President of Social Impact at Discovery Education.  …Read More

New Physics E-Book Helps High School and College Students Explore Mechanics Concepts Using Video Analysis

BEAVERTON, Oregon — To support high school and college physics instruction, Vernier Science Education has released Vernier Video Analysis: Conservation Laws and Forces. This new e-book, which features 12 hands-on investigations that use the award-winning Vernier Video Analysis® app, helps students explore mechanics topics beyond basic motion, such as conservation of energy and conservation of translational and angular momentum.

“Vernier Video Analysis: Conservation Laws and Forces builds on students’ understanding of physics as they delve into more complex concepts,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Science Education. “It features a number of real-world examples to help increase engagement and knowledge retention as students critically analyze data.” 

The investigations in the e-book go beyond simple kinematics, connecting physics concepts to various sports and athletic activities. In addition, students can examine interactions between different objects, such as a physical pendulum and a cart, or two similarly charged objects. Sample investigations include “Energy of a Bouncing Ball,” “Introduction to Weight Lifting,” “Angular Momentum and Energy,” and “Water Flow from a Tank: Parabolic Trajectory.”…Read More

Alabama’s Huntsville College Preparatory School Selects Discovery Education to Support the Creation of Individualized Academic Experiences for All Students

Charlotte, NC — Alabama’s Huntsville College Preparatory School (HCPS) today announced a new partnership with Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through this new collaboration, HCPS’s educators gain access to an award-winning suite of digital resources supporting the school’s mission to provide students with an individualized academic experience that is a catalyst for confidence and curiosity. 

HCPS is committed to offering students a multisensory learning experience that increases student engagement, skill acquisition, and retention. All students are exposed to various university-level learning opportunities through dual-enrollment volunteer and enrichment relationships with local universities. To assist HCPS educators in their efforts to create rigorous, individualized instruction for students, school leaders sought a suite of ready-to-use digital resources.  

Following a review of possible solutions, HCPS staff selected the following Discovery Education resources: …Read More

3 simple things you can do to start an esports program

Esports is a hot topic in higher education, from recruiting esports athletes, to helping to prepare the future workforce for a multitude of jobs in this more than $1 billion industry. Esports has pretty much exploded on college campuses in the last 10 years–and for good reason. According to Insider Intelligence, it is estimated there will be more than 29 million monthly esports viewers in the U.S. this year. With this amazing growth at the college level, it is bound to trickle down into K-12 education.

For higher education institutions, there have been many benefits of creating successful esports programs. It’s a great way to recruit students, increase engagement, and showcase potential career opportunities. It’s also a great way to connect students who may not have had any interest in other extracurricular activities on campus.

As more K-12 schools and districts start to consider esports, there is often the question of how best to bring it to their students–especially if they don’t have the budget or resources to create an arena like the ones seen on TV.…Read More

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AtomicMind Launches College Admissions Technology Platform for a Personalized and Comprehensive College Application Experience

NEW YORK— AtomicMind, an education technology company that offers families a boutique coaching experience in the increasingly competitive college admissions landscape, today announced the launch of a unique technology platform. The new offering provides a comprehensive and personalized college application experience by combining hands-on expert guidance from dedicated advisors with robust virtual task management, communication and feedback tools.

The platform was designed by MIT and Harvard graduates using best practices identified over the course of their 40+ years of combined experience helping students get into top colleges. It gives college applicants the benefits of enhanced feedback and collaboration with a team of experts including strategists, writing coaches and former admissions staff members from elite colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, MIT and Stanford. The AtomicMind platform addresses every aspect of the admissions process, from crafting compelling essays to mastering interviews to refining activity and college lists. The technology includes tools for keeping track of important deadlines and documents, while offering applicants key insights into what each college admissions committee is looking for. With the platform, a greater number of students will have access to the best resources regardless of where they live.

“The new AtomicMind platform offers families access to the tools and experts needed to navigate the increasingly high standards of the elite college admissions process,” said Leelila Strogov, the founder and CEO of AtomicMind. “The platform aims to maximize college acceptance rates by helping students more effectively build college lists, create tailored applications and stay organized. It also provides parents with an opportunity to monitor the progress of their student’s college applications. This spares busy applicants the extra stress of having to provide updates to their parents or the feeling that they are being interrogated.”…Read More

Slooh Partners with TransAstra to Add to its Network of Student-Controlled Telescopes – This Time in Space

Washington Depot, Connecticut, August 10, 2022 – Slooh, the pioneer in offering live online telescope feeds of major celestial events along with expert commentary and instructional lessons to individuals and school communities worldwide, is partnering with space domain awareness, orbital logistics, and space mining leader TransAstra to add to Slooh’s student-controlled network of telescopes. TransAstra’s ground-based telescopes, as well as its future space-based telescopes, will be added to Slooh’s network.  

Through this partnership, middle school through college-level educators can engage students in discovery-based science using Slooh’s Online Telescope and TransAstra’s breakthrough Sutter Telescope Technology. Students can direct the view of the telescopes to detect, track, and potentially get credit for the discovery of comets, asteroids, and other moving bodies in space. Using Slooh’s education platform, educators and students can additionally collect data and images to analyze what is taking place beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

…Read More