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

6 apps to help parents and teachers communicate

Keep parents in the loop with these tools

Educators know that students’ home lives play an integral role in their academic success. Communication between teachers and parents makes it easier for educators to understand the outside challenges students may deal with, and it helps parents understand how they can better support their children in school.

SimplyCircle
SchoolCircle helps parents stay connected to teachers by organizing school communications in a central dashboard with action items and alerts.

Ringya
Ringya lets users create groups and, within those groups, create subgroups or lists. Users can call, text, email, and chat with individuals, subgroups, or the entire group. Group members are identified by how they’re connected to the user, so a teacher knows who is calling or texting.…Read More

5 critical 21st century skills that go way beyond the 4 Cs

Teach students to think like entrepreneurs with these skill sets

21st-century-skillsSince the publication of his highly impactful book, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman has been teaching his readers and listeners to think differently about our world and how we interact with each other. Friedman consistently talks about new skill sets that are required for anyone who wants to not only survive but truly thrive in the hyper-connected world that is life in the 21st century.

Educators have been tackling a new mindset for student learning for nearly two decades. In the early 2000s, when as a nation as we sat at the dawn of the 21st century, The Partnership for 21st Century Learning (formerly The Partnership for 21st Century Skills) introduced the education community to a Framework for 21st Century Learning, which highlighted 18 different skills. Over time leaders from a broad spectrum of business and education communities narrowed the focus to concentrate on a set of skills that came to be known as the 4Cs—communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

The goal was to have the 4Cs integrated with the “3Rs” that had served as the backbone of American curricula for centuries. As the K-12 education community continues the work of embedding the 4Cs into all content areas, the world continues to evolve and we find ourselves once again considering what it is all students must know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school.…Read More

4 ways to make your class more engaging

New method called ‘Connected Learning’ aims to make courses more engaging for youth

engaging-class-connectedMobile technology and its use in the classroom is booming across the country; but outside of the ‘cool tech’ aspect, many educators struggle to understand why students find tech-connected classrooms more engaging. A new method of teaching and learning explains that it’s not about the technology–it’s about the four principles behind it.

Connected Learning, an educational approach designed by the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE), says it harnesses the information age to make learning more powerful.

“For too many young people, particularly our most vulnerable populations, formal education is disconnected from other meaningful social contexts in their everyday lives,” explains AEE in a new brief. “The connected learning model posits that focusing educational attention on the links between different spheres of learning—peer culture, interests, and academic subjects—better supports interest-driven and meaningful learning in ways that take advantage of the potential of digital networks and online resources to provide access to an engaging learning experience.”…Read More

Five essentials to create connected students

Recently we had a holiday, or at least it felt like one, edSurge reports. Apple released its new operating system. The students knew it was being released at 1pm EDT which was during their lunch, so many ate early and were stationed in various WiFi nodes to “try to get the best signal” to download the new update. At 12:57 some person in California hit the switch three minutes early and you could hear the noise ripple through the building. These students are already connected. But there are students who are not. The most obviously disconnected students don’t have phones or WiFi. They don’t have the technology in their hands because they don’t have it at home. Many are just glad to get a meal and having a cell phone is not high on the priority list for their family…

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Six can’t-miss Connected Educator Month panels

Connected Educator Month (CEM) kick-off sessions discuss STEM, peer collaboration, and more

connected-educators

What better way to commence Connected Educator Month (CEM), starting Oct. 1st, then to connect educators across the country to discuss topics most relevant to education today?

In an effort to highlight topics many educators say are critical to 21st century learning, Connected Educators highlighted six kick-off panels (three on Oct. 1st and three on Oct. 2nd) to get the virtual ball rolling on topics such as integrating formal and informal professional development, classroom management for the connected (think BYOD) classroom, and what it means to be a connected leader.…Read More

Learn how to become a connected educator

Not a “connected” educator? Here’s where you can start.

educators-connectedConnected Educators Month (CEM), an initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to help educators make better use of digital and social media tools for collaboration, has released a new video highlighting popular educators on Facebook, Twitter, and other digital spheres.

“Go back thousands of years and educators would collaborate,” said Tom Whitby, founder of #edchat and a high school English teacher, “but technology has taken us to a level where we can collaborate beyond our wildest imagination.”

The video aims to spread the word about Connected Educators Month, first launched in 2012. The goal, says ED, is to call attention to the different ways online communities and learning networks can connect educators and aid them in collaborating with and learning from peers.…Read More