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.

Welcome to the “largest on-air classroom” in Louisiana

Learning doesn’t just happen inside the classroom, and Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is working to ensure family engagement plays a vital role in students’ education.

LPB is Louisiana’s largest classroom over the air, on every device, in schools, and in the community. LPB’s Educational Services Department is committed to providing extensive information, lesson plans, materials, and digital resources to support formal K-12 education statewide.

LPB’s top priority focuses on family engagement in order to extend learning and help build critical skills in students.…Read More

Galaxy Next Generation Offers G2 Visual Alerts to Every School in the U.S.

TOCCOA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2022 / Galaxy Next Generation, Inc. (OTCQB:GAXY) (“Galaxy” or the “Company”), a provider of interactive learning technology solutions, has offered a complimentary one-year (school year) subscription for its G2 Visual Alerts security solution to every school and school district in the U.S.

G2 Visual Alerts, part of the larger G2 Secure platform, is a cloud-based solution that can send visual alerts or announcements to any internet-enabled device within the school or district, disseminating a lockdown message throughout the building within seconds of an indicated threat.

“With the rise in school violence continuing across the nation, we felt compelled to make an impact on the education community by providing any schools with a proven security solution at no cost,” said Magen McGahee, Chief Financial Officer of Galaxy. “The majority of our employees are either parents or grandparents of school age children, so it is a personal mission for all of us at Galaxy to make our schools safer for this generation of kids and beyond. Since most of our costs for the development of G2 Visual Alerts has already been accounted for in previous years, we are able to offer a solution to our community in a time of need without a large impact to us financially.”…Read More

Kyocera’s TASKalfa Pro 15000c is Making a Bold Impression on the Production Print Inkjet Market

Fairfield, New Jersey, March 29, 2022 – Kyocera is reimagining market opportunities in the production print space with the TASKalfa Pro 15000c. Since its launch, the device has exceeded sales expectations with over 100 devices placed in the U.S. alone. To build on this initial progress, Kyocera is taking bold steps to position the Pro 15000c Sheet-fed Inkjet in this segment of the industry and bring it to an even more comprehensive range of businesses.  

The Blueprint for Success 

Designed with a focus on transactional, trans-promotional, book publishing and CRD environments, the Pro 15000c is a fresh alternative to other inkjet and laser-based machines, giving customers exceptional reliability with a low cost of ownership. It is also quickly proving its flexibility with different kinds of media. It does exceptionally well with a broad range of applications, including direct mail, catalogues, and brochures. “Kyocera has a reputation for building rugged, reliable equipment,” says Product Marketing Director Michael Poulin. “We’re seeing run rates that exceed our targets along with higher uptime and a broader range of applications.”…Read More

Carnegie Learning Appoints Lenovo Executive as New Chief Marketing Officer

PITTSBURGH–( BUSINESS WIRE)–Carnegie Learning, a leader in artificial intelligence for K-12 education and formative assessment, today announced Quinn O’Brien as Chief Marketing Officer. The addition of O’Brien to its executive leadership positions Carnegie Learning to continue driving its mission of shaping the future of learning by delivering groundbreaking solutions to education’s toughest challenges.

Prior to joining Carnegie Learning, O’Brien transformed the Lenovo brand from a device leader to a global solutions leader as VP of Global Marketing at the $70B parent company of ThinkPad, Motorola, YOGA, Legion, and a range of other brands. O’Brien also brings a wealth of experience from spending 12 years as a leader at Ogilvy & Mather, the storied advertising, marketing, and public relations agency, as well as starting up Craft Worldwide, a design and production agency that today is a thriving business with 1,000+ employees in 120 markets. O’Brien has been recognized as a Top 100 Marketer Award Winner by the OnCon Icon Awards for three consecutive years.

In his new role, O’Brien will apply his extensive experience in global technology marketing to the K-12 education space, bringing a fresh perspective and leading-edge ideas to Carnegie Learning. With a proven track record in innovation and expansion on a global scale, O’Brien is poised to expand the reach and impact of Carnegie Learning’s K-12 math, literacy, world languages, computer science, and professional learning offerings on educators and students at an urgent moment in education.…Read More

Pikmykid Prioritizes School Safety with Expansion of Features

TAMPA, Fla., Mar. 17, 2022 –  Pikmykid, the leading provider of school safety and dismissal solutions, today announces its latest features to provide schools with the most inclusive resources to implement a safer learning environment for students. 

The Pikmykid platform initially began as a solution for schools to streamline drop-offs and dismissals safely and efficiently but has since expanded to become a fully comprehensive safety platform. The platform now includes access to a safety panic button, enabling school staff to raise an alarm on any device for over a dozen different emergencies that can occur with one push of a button. While this feature will allow staff to take quick action against school violence or other unprecedented events, it can also be used as a resource for more common emergencies, including a medical crisis or power outage. This latest safety feature has allowed Pikmykid to tie dismissal, safety, and parent engagement all into a single, user-friendly platform.

Along with the installation of its safety panic button, Pikmykid has also added a  Daily Health Check-In module to help parents and teachers identify students who may be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. The customizable health questionnaire allows schools to determine the most pertinent information they need to keep students safe. The survey only takes a few seconds for parents to complete and will provide school administrators a variety of insights about students’ health to ensure a safe and ongoing learning environment. The Daily Health Check-In will also help schools apply social distancing measures during morning drop-offs and dismissal and will limit the number of visitors allowed on school property. …Read More

10 cool AR and VR tools for the classroom

We all know that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are super fun, but AR and VR tools can also be incredibly powerful when integrated into classroom learning.

What’s the difference? AR is the idea that the user brings something into their real world and using a device to see something that isn’t actually there–animation or 3D images come into the real world. VR immerses a person in the experience, as if they’re actually there.

AR and VR tools have a number of benefits for students, and because the tools are engaging, students are more likely to absorb classroom lessons and concepts. Plus, students are engaged in active learning with AR and VR tools.…Read More

How technology impacts literacy

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on student engagement and online or hybrid learning strategies related to pandemic teaching. This year’s 7th most-read story focuses on the myriad ways technology is changing literacy instruction.

We live in a world where learning and technology are intrinsically linked, especially in the minds of our youth. But do today’s students process information differently because it comes on a digital device? Is there a correlation between technology use and plummeting literacy rates?  And is the way our young people consume information negatively impacting their growth as learners?

I recently discussed these questions with two education experts on my podcast, What I Want to Know. Earl Martin Phalen is the founder and CEO of Summer Advantage and the George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academies, and Dr. Maryanne Wolf is the Director of the UCLA Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice. Phalen is well-known for his work improving literacy in marginalized populations, and Dr. Wolf has done extensive research on brain development and literacy.…Read More

How to bundle education device management

Technology has opened up endless possibilities in classrooms around the world. For one, access to education has been significantly broadened, facilitating a wide range of teaching strategies and learning styles. The pandemic accelerated the adoption rates of educational technology solutions. In some cases, demand far outstripped supply, leading to backlogs of requests for laptops, tablets, Chromebooks, and other school-issued devices. With the flood of school-issued devices, the need for education device management is fast becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Schools are always looking for ways to keep their students engaged and learning–and implementing technology can do that. Technology is changing the way we teach and learn. In today’s world, where children are already familiar with tablets and smartphones from watching videos on YouTube or playing games at home, learning through technology will likely become more exciting than daunting (and this goes for teachers too).

One of the most important aspects of using technology in schools is responsible and secure management: ensuring devices are protected from viruses, malware, and other threats that can cause significant disruption to critical school operations.…Read More

Is it possible to innovate your district workflow?

COVID disrupted classroom teaching and learning, but it also prompted school district leaders to come up with new and paperless processes to keep school offices and operations running remotely.

Are you interested in building on your “keep after COVID” processes? Learn from a panel of experts in the first of two online conversations to discuss building efficiencies in education. If so, check out Part 1 of this eSchool News webinar series.

Discover how automating your district’s various workflows–from staff onboarding and 1:1 device management to digitized e-signature consent forms–can improve the user experience for administrators, educators, parents, and students alike, while also saving time and money.…Read More

5 things you need to know about device buyback programs

While most school district officials are aware that they can sell their digital learning device fleets at the end of their lifecycles, many don’t do it because they don’t understand the device buyback process.

This is a key finding from a recent study conducted by Project Tomorrow, best known for its annual K-12 Speak Up education research.

The survey showed that while just 7 percent of district administrators and 14 percent of technology leaders were unfamiliar with buyback services, only a little more than half said they were somewhat or very likely to participate in a buyback program over the next two years.…Read More