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.

South Carolina adopts science video service

Supplementary STEM videos serve to engage students in science learning

science-videosStudents in South Carolina will soon have access to short Twig Science and Tigtag Science videos through a new statewide partnership.

The South Carolina State Board of Education approved the adoption with Carolina Biological. These supplemental STEM resources can enhance science curriculum connecting science teaching and learning to career and college readiness.

South Carolina schools and Districts can now use State Board of Education approved instructional materials funding to purchase and implement Tigtag (K-5) and Twig (level 6 and above) online learning tools to supplement core curriculum programs (such as the Smithsonian’s K-8 STC Program™ – also adopted by the state) or other textbook or inquiry programs used in South Carolina schools.…Read More

New Va. high school to focus big on coding

Students will enter an innovative program that teaches core graduation skills alongside industry internships and computer science

coding-schoolHigh school isn’t what it used to be.

That’s the consensus of a growing number of educators who say how and what students are taught must change in order to better prepare them for a rapidly changing workforce that demands new skills.

With that goal in mind, a group of 13 Richmond-area school systems have banded together to start a new regional high school that will allow students to meet their core requirements while getting an education focused on computer science.…Read More

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4 Essential Game-Based Learning Questions

Asking the right questions can help games make a positive impact in the classroom

game-learningYou’d have to live under a rock to be unfamiliar with the rise of game-based learning in classrooms across the nation in recent years. Integrating a game into an instructional unit may seem daunting, but four key implementation questions should help educators use games to support teaching and learning and help drive student engagement.

Games offer opportunities for collaboration and inquiry-based, self-directed learning. They also support skill development that students need under Common Core math and Next Generation Science Standards.

It’s first important to define what is not a learning game, said Susannah Gordon-Messer, curriculum and professional development specialist at the MIT Education Arcade, during an edWeb webinar on gaming implementation strategies.…Read More

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How to Create Assessments for The Common Core

Here’s how to create new formative assessments to measure complex student comprehension

assessments-common coreThe rigors of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) ask today’s educators not simply to measure students’ factual knowledge, but instead to accurately assess students’ critical thinking. With such a major transition from multiple-choice testing, it’s important to know how to create assessments for these 21st-century standards.

“The most important question to ask at the onset of assessment creation is: How might we develop and use rich tasks to focus on those outcomes that matter most, and make school more relevant and engaging for learners and teachers?” explained Jay McTighe, consultant and author of the new Lumibook, Core Learning: Assessing What Matters Most, during a webinar hosted by the School Improvement Network.

McTighe emphasized that the aim of the new standards is autonomous transfer, or student comprehension and understanding of concepts, rather than facts.…Read More

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New Common Core writing resource could save billions

New writing infographic can help save employers billions per year on remediation

writing-common coreIt seems that writing has almost gone the way of mathematics, with many students saying, “When will I need to use this in real life?” But according to research, billions are lost each year teaching employees the basics of good writing. However, thanks to a new Common Core writing resource, schools can now break down the basics of grammar, spelling, and punctuation into concepts appropriate for different student ages.

The infographic comes from Grammarly, a company that aims to improve communication among the world’s 2+ billion native and non-native English writers. Grammarly’s flagship product, the Grammarly Editor, corrects contextual spelling mistakes, checks for more than 250 common grammar errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and provides citation suggestions.

Grammarly’s aim is that this new resource can help curb the billions lost each year on writing remediation.…Read More

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