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.

Poptential™ Free Economics Curriculum Adds Content to Explain Today’s Inflation, Recession Woes

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — With inflation reaching a 40-year high and talk of a looming recession, high school students are coming of age during one of the most challenging economies in recent history. To help them make sense of how we got here, Poptential™ has expanded and updated its Common Sense Economics digital curriculum to include recent economic events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, and the current inflation crisis. Click to tweet.

“The last couple of years, and this year in particular, have seen huge shifts in U.S. and world economies that will have implications for years to come,” said Julie Smitherman, director of content management at Poptential. “The beauty of a digital curriculum is that it can be updated at any time, so we have been adding content to help explain these shifts.”

Poptential Common Sense Economics is a 15-week curriculum that is standards-based and developed by teachers. Topics are illustrated with pop culture media taken from sitcoms, movies, animations, cartoons, late-night shows, and other sources, to help students better understand and retain a specific concept.…Read More

How I use digital curriculum in my math classroom

Prior to the COVID pandemic, technology integration in my high school math classroom was mainly used in two ways: discovery-based activities and homework assignments. Finding applicable resources for discovery-based learning that would fit into existing lesson plans was not always easy.

Along with that, the curriculum supplement that came with our new textbooks was starting to replace some of the traditional paper-and-pencil work that we had been doing. Being suddenly thrust into distance and hybrid learning situations for the next year and a half pushed me to find additional, more efficient ways to blend technology integration into my teaching.

In this article, I am going to briefly cover some of the tools and practices that I found to be most useful, in all classroom settings, as I continue to try to move toward an effective blended learning style.…Read More

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Madison Metropolitan School District Selects Open Up Resources And Kiddom To Provide K-5 English Language Arts Blended Learning Program

MADISON, WI – Today, Open Up Resources and Kiddom announced Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) has selected its top-rated EL Education K-5 Education Language Arts (ELA) curriculum for its 31 elementary schools in support of the district’s efforts to prioritize early literacy and beyond. Open Up Resources, a nonprofit, works to increase equity in education by making the highest quality curriculum accessible to educators, and Kiddom is the first all-in-one education platform for high quality digital curriculum.

MMSD’s investment will provide its teachers the ability to utilize the ELA curriculum to:

●      Share assignments digitally;…Read More

Charleston County Schools Selects Open Up Resources And Kiddom To Provide K-8 English Language Arts Blended Learning Program

CHARLESTON, SC – Open Up Resources, a nonprofit increasing equity in education by making the highest quality curriculum accessible to educators, and Kiddom, the first all-in-one education platform for high-quality digital curriculum, announced today a new partnership to bring the top-rated EL Education K-8 English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum to Charleston County School District (CCSD) in support of the district’s blended learning efforts.

The partnership will provide teachers the ability to utilize the ELA curriculum on Kiddom’s platform to share assignments digitally, communicate with students, and deliver personalized feedback on submissions, while prioritizing student reading proficiency and content knowledge of science and social studies. Additionally, the partnership will equip CCSD with a full-service, multi-year professional learning plan from EL Education to support teachers, plus access to peer-to-peer communications within Open Up’s K-8 EL Education digital community.

“Putting students at the heart of this work has been our tagline for a while, but we watched schools make the decision to opt-out of what’s easier or more comfortable and that’s the true evidence that we are putting students first,” saidEmilie Woody, Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction, Charleston County School District.…Read More

CenterPoint’s Illustrative Mathematics Certified and EL Education Aligned Assessments Now Integrated with Kiddom’s High-Quality Digital Curriculum to Support Learning and Instruction

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  CenterPoint Education Solutions, a nonprofit provider of assessment solutions, curriculum services, and professional learning designed to help schools and districts build aligned education systems, today announced that their Illustrative Math (IM) certified and EL Education aligned interim assessments will be available for the 2022-2023 school year on  Kiddom, the first all-in-one education platform for high-quality digital curriculum. The partnership will provide educators and students with instant access to high-quality assessments aligned to the curriculum already being used in their classrooms.

“CenterPoint welcomes this opportunity to expand student and teacher access to our one-of-a-kind assessments,” said LJ Sylvester, Vice President of Growth at CenterPoint. “Aligned assessments allow educators to gauge both student understandings and misunderstandings — paramount information to guide instructional planning. Kiddom supports aligned instructional models by connecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment onto one platform, which fits nicely with CenterPoint’s larger mission of building aligned education systems.”   

Interim assessments are administered throughout a school year and are key to supporting learning. They empower educators to measure student learning, identify where students are on their path to grade level expectations and provide data to drive instructional strategy. With Kiddom now hosting CenterPoint’s IM certified and EL Education interim assessments, students and educators are provided with expanded access to high-quality curriculum-aligned assessments that align with Kiddom’s digitized curriculum. Via Kiddom’s platform, CenterPoint’s assessments will make use of the existing assessment functionality in Kiddom, including technology-enhanced question types to heighten student engagement and real-time standards-aligned data reporting for teachers to inform instructional strategy. Additional benefits include:…Read More

Defining digital curriculum in a new era of learning

Even after the events of the past two years, the definition of what constitutes digital curriculum is still a source of disagreement for some. Misalignment among educator roles regarding curriculum has far from disappeared, and in some cases, the gap has grown even wider, according to new research.

While the majority of educators are more optimistic about the state of their curriculum this year than before COVID-19, the theme of misalignment persists in several areas, including:

Quality of Curriculum…Read More

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Kiddom Expands Partnership with Kendall Hunt Publishing

SAN FRANCISCO — January 12, 2022 — Kiddom, the first all-in-one education platform for high-quality digital curriculum, today announced an expansion of its partnership with Kendall Hunt Publishing. As a Certified Partner of the nonprofit OpenSciEd since August 2021, Kendall Hunt will offer a customized version of OpenSciEd’s high-quality middle school science instructional materials in a dynamic format through Kiddom’s comprehensive digital curriculum platform. This expansion comes on the heels of Kiddom and Kendall Hunt’s successful partnership in February 2021 to provide the Illustrative Mathematics K-12 math curriculum to users interested in a more robust or exclusively digital experience.

“Working with Kendall Hunt for the past year has been a dream for Kiddom and we’re thrilled to further strengthen our partnership with the integration of their customized OpenSciEd offering for middle school science,” said Abbas Manjee, co-founder and Chief Academic Officer at Kiddom. “OpenSciEd’s commitment to flexibility and quality directly align with Kiddom’s core values and we are looking forward to offering a dynamic, fully customizable version of OpenSciEd’s standards-aligned materials on our digital curriculum platform.”

Kiddom provides teachers and administrators with all the tools they need in one digital setting so they have a single, cohesive place to seamlessly access high-quality content and personalized learning. With Kiddom, teachers no longer need to juggle multiple tools and can access 70,000+ high-quality, modifiable, standards-aligned curated supplemental resources in an integrated content library. Its key features are in alignment with the five key features of OpenSciEd’s instructional materials, including:…Read More

Edmentum to Acquire Apex Learning, an Industry Leader in Virtual and Hybrid Learning for Middle and High School Students

Minneapolis June 22, 2021 – Edmentum (edmentum.com), a global pioneer in education technology, announced a definitive agreement to acquire Apex Learning, a Seattle-based industry leader in digital curriculum and virtual learning with over 20 years of deep expertise providing high-quality, rigorous, and teacher-centered programs. Apex’s mission of making a difference in education complements Edmentum’s drive to amplify teaching and propel student learning forward. Together, these two organizations will support millions of students worldwide.

“I am thrilled to welcome Apex into the Edmentum family,” said Jamie Candee, Edmentum CEO. “As the school year comes to an end and districts evolve into new models of teaching for the fall, so too must Edmentum continue to grow to meet those needs. Pairing Apex’s proven, high-quality secondary learning programs with Edmentum’s full suite of high-quality, online learning programs creates a rich array of offerings designed specifically for the next generation of learners. Together, in partnership with schools and districts globally, we will move education forward.”

Edmentum’s research-based approach offers hundreds of state- and nationally-certified courses, supported by comprehensive consulting and educational services. Adding Apex’s credit-bearing core and elective courses, project-based technology courses, and student-targeted, standards-matching tutorials will create a new industry-leading model for virtual and hybrid learning programs.…Read More

Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education Announce the 2021 Possibility Grant Sweepstakes Winners

In its sixth year, the Possibility Grant Sweepstakes has expanded to include five schools across the country to impact more students in their pursuit of STEM

Silver Spring, MD (Friday, June 18, 2021) – Five schools across the United States have been selected to receive a $5,000 grant each for STEM technology through the 2021 Possibility Grant Sweepstakes. Created by the Siemens Foundation–a leader in advancing STEM workforce development and education initiatives–in partnership with Discovery Education, the Possibility Grant Sweepstakes inspires the next generation of STEM leaders by providing critical resources and support to schools. Through its partnership with Discovery Education, the Siemens Foundations is providing no-cost standards-aligned digital curriculum resources, engaging content, and professional learning for K-12 classrooms.

Now in the sixth year, the 2021 Possibility Grant Sweepstakes continues to enhance the availability of STEM supplies and technology. The 2021 grant now expands efforts to further equity and inclusion in education and impact more students by offering a total of $25,000 to five under-resourced schools, building upon the traditional single $10,000 grant. Out of more than 12,000 submissions, the five 2021 Sweepstakes recipients are:…Read More

Louisiana Public Broadcasting and Discovery Education Renew Long-Term Partnership Serving Educators and Students Statewide

SILVER SPRING, MD (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)— Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) today announced the renewal of its long-term partnership with  Discovery Education, a leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources and engaging content for K-12 classrooms worldwide. LPB’s renewal of its 18-year collaboration with Discovery Education empowers K-12 educators across the state to create dynamic digital learning experiences in the classroom and beyond with high-quality digital content from Discovery Education’s award-winning K-12 learning platform.

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. Through its nearly two-decade long partnership with Discovery Education, LPB has offered educators and students a host of digital resources including Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 platform.

Discovery Education’s platform connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.…Read More