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.

Your monthly marketplace update

Tech-savvy educators know they must stay on top of the myriad changes and trends in education to learn how teaching and learning can best benefit from technology’s near-constant change.

Keep reading for a monthly recap of the latest marketplace news that will keep you up-to-date on product developments, teaching and learning initiatives, and new trends in educational technology.

College readiness…Read More

ISTE seeks your opinion on its Standards for Teachers

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE®) announced that it is seeking public comment on the first draft of the refreshed ISTE Standards for Teachers. More than 600 individuals from around the world provided insight into the contents of this initial draft and, by the time the second draft is released in early 2017, ISTE anticipates that thousands more will have participated in the process.

HOW:  Similar to the recent refresh of the ISTE Standards for Students, the refresh process for the ISTE Standards for Teachers is open and inclusive, soliciting input from educators around the world at every step. To help educators participate in the process, ISTE today released a free toolkit for facilitating a public forum, Twitter chat, or conference session with colleagues to provide feedback to the process.  The toolkit includes a facilitator’s guide, surveys for gathering feedback and annotated presentation slides.  For more information, visit http://www.iste.org/TeacherRefresh

WHERE: The first draft of the refreshed ISTE Standards for Teachers is available for comment at http://bit.ly/2eU05Rl…Read More

6 tips from personalized learning innovators leading change

Earlier this year, the Rhode Island-based Highlander Institute and the Clayton Christensen Institute teamed up to bring together a conference on blended and personalized learning in Providence, R.I.  The goal of the event was to focus on the practical elements of blended and personalized learning by surfacing the tactics that practitioners were deploying in the trenches. More than 100 teachers and leaders from around the country were invited to share their approaches to piloting and scaling blended learning in classrooms and schools, which we summarized in our latest report, From the Frontlines, out this week.

Although our many presenters hailed from a variety of geographies and contexts, one refrain echoed loudly throughout the Providence Convention Center: implementing blended and personalized learning is about managing change. Innovators stressed that without effective change management, the best technology tools and the most elegant personalized learning models will come up short.  Here are six change management strategies that practitioners stressed as vital to driving new models of learning across traditional systems:

1. Embrace not knowing

One tension in managing change across a classroom or an entire district is making the unknown an opportunity rather than a threat. This framing depends on leaders who are willing to make the unknown safe. As Amanda Murphy, a Highlander Institute Fuse Rhode Island Fellow from Westerly Public Schools, put it, managing change across a system is about “supporting the eager, but non-expert.” In part, this requires giving people room to express concerns. “We had faculty volunteers who were interested but didn’t have expertise,” she said. “They talked about why they were nervous, and this helped people understand that there were many others in the same boat. It set the tone that it’s okay not to know. And now they’re asking for help.”…Read More

Survey: What online professional learning do teachers prefer?

New survey reveals teachers’ professional learning preferences, trends in priorities

Educators from Pre-K up through higher education most often prefer to participate in professional learning opportunities that focus on training for online software and digital resources (34 percent), classroom management strategies (34 percent), and digital device training (33 percent), according to a new survey released during this year’s ISTE conference.

The 2016 Vision K-20 Professional Learning Survey Report is the ninth annual national K-20 educator survey from the Education Technology Industry Network (ETIN) of SIIA, and also is the first survey focusing on online professional learning (PL).

The survey finds that educators from PreK-12 and higher education institutions most often enroll in courses that provide training for online software and digital resources and classroom management/behavior training.…Read More

Boxlight to debut standard, interactive laser and bulb projectors at ISTE

New P12 line of projectors offers models for every classroom budget and need, including laser projectors, touch projectors, and combinations of both

Boxlight will be unveiling its new line of P12 projectors at the 2016 ISTE Conference & Expo in Denver, Colorado. Attendees will be able to see live demos of the touch projectors by visiting the Boxlight booth (#3311).

Scheduled to start shipping in late June, the product line offers educators four easy ways to bring stunning visuals to classroom instruction. In addition to a standard projector, the line includes laser, laser HD, and laser ultra-wide projectors. A full list of all 12 P12 interactive touch projectors, as well as stylus-only and non-interactive models, is available at http://www.boxlight.com/P12-Series.

Stevan Vigneaux, Director of Product Management for Boxlight, drew special attention to three models: the P12L ultra-short-throw laser projector, the P12LU laser ultra-wide projector and the P12B ultra-short-throw projector.…Read More

Impero Software’s keyword library addresses online safety concerns

New terms will help schools flag potential instances of bullying, abuse, self-harm or radicalization

It makes the headlines often: A young man or woman in the U.S. ends his or her own life due to bullying or becomes radicalized and attempts to join ISIS or other hate groups. In both instances, adults in these youth’s lives are often left wondering what they could have done to intervene.

In an effort to protect students in this always-on and connected world, Impero Software, a remote monitoring and management software provider, has updated its keyword libraries to include a more comprehensive list of U.S. specific terms related to bullying, self-harm, radicalization and more, in order to alert educators so they can help students before a tragedy occurs. Impero will showcase the updated library in their booth #708 during the 2016 ISTE conference June 26-29, 2016 in Denver.

The updated library, combined with Impero Education Pro software, gives educators an edge on internet safety by helping them monitor and analyze student activity on school devices. The software alerts educators when a student uses words or phrases that match a term in the keyword library.…Read More

eSchool News, Xirrus launch Innovate to Educate Awards at ISTE 2016

Innovate to Educate Awards to recognize the best ed-tech innovation and commitment to making the digital classroom and personalized learning a reality

eSchool News, in partnership with Xirrus, provider of next generation, cloud-enabled Wi-Fi networks, invites K-12 schools and districts nationwide to participate in the first ever Innovate to Educate Awards program, kicking off June 27 at the ISTE 2016 conference at Xirrus Booth No. 2937.

The Innovate to Educate Awards program recognizes the country’s finest ed-tech initiatives, and offers schools and districts across the U.S. the opportunity to showcase their groundbreaking approach to improving teaching and learning through the use of technology. ISTE 2016 attendees will have the first chance to enter the contest which runs until October 14, 2016. Attendees can enter by creating a video that describes their ed-tech innovations at the Xirrus booth and will receive five free raffle tickets for the daily Xirrus Apple Watch drawing.

The winning school or district will be awarded the grand Innovation Showcase Prize November, 2016—a multi-faceted eSchool News media package that promotes the success of the winner’s technology program to local and national stakeholders and constituents. The award package includes a feature story in eSchool News print and digital issues, a success story for the winner to share and distribute, a grand prize winner press announcement, and a custom-designed “Innovate to Educate Winner” icon for online posting and promotion.…Read More

The big events, keynotes, and 5 major trends at ISTE 2016

Are you heading to Denver? Here’s a quick look at what you’ll experience

Educators preparing to travel to Denver for ISTE 2016 can expect thought-provoking keynotes, interactive learning opportunities and more than 900 sessions at this year’s conference.

The annual event offers networking and professional development opportunities for educators from every discipline, education leaders, ed-tech coordinators, library and media specialists, and more. And while sessions and events run the full gamut of ed-tech topics, there are a handful of major themes that crop up again and again.

Playgrounds will feature hands-on learning opportunities that let attendees see, touch, hear and feel classroom solutions. Playground themes include Computational Thinking & Computer Science and Maker playgrounds on Sunday afternoon. Creativity, Digital StoryTelling, Early Learning, Ed Tech Coaches, and Games & Virtual Environments.…Read More