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.

Discovery Education Experience Updates Tailored to Support Students and Educators for Remote, Hybrid, or In-Person Learning

Discovery Education–the global leader in standards-aligned digital curriculum resources and professional learning for K-12 classrooms–today introduced updates to the award-winning Discovery Education Experience platform designed to support educators and students in distance and hybrid learning environments. The updates focus on increasing functionality, capability, and personalization for all users.  

Experience, Discovery Education’s flexible K-12 learning platform, connects educators to a vast collection of compelling high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, and professional learning resources vetted by Discovery Education’s expert content team. Together, these resources give educators everything they need to facilitate instruction in any learning environment and create lasting educational impact.  

Now, teachers and students can take advantage of new features inside Studio, the embedded creation and collaboration tool, as well as ready-to-use SOS instructional strategies templates, a reimagined Professional Learning Center, and comprehensive English Language Learner (ELL) Center. Learn more about each update below: …Read More

Free math curriculum resources

Open Up Resources (OUR), a nonprofit whose mission is to increase equity in education, and Kiddom, whose platform helps educators bring open curriculum to life by connecting curriculum to instruction and assessment, are now partnering to offer free access to top-rated Open Up Resources 6-8 math curriculum within Kiddom’s digital platform to support distance learning initiatives.

Now through August 1, 2020, schools and districts will be able to freely access OUR’s 6-8 Math curriculum within Kiddom. This allows teachers to utilize OUR’s high-quality core digital curriculum on a platform that allows them to share assignments digitally, communicate with students, and deliver personalized feedback on submissions.

Additional resources include The No-Nonsense Distance Learning Resource Guide, weekly webinars to support teachers and districts, ongoing articles and professional learning materials to aid with distance learning, and peer-to-peer communications with OUR’s 6-8 Math community.…Read More

23 amazing STEM and digital learning tools

Technology changes at a rapid pace, and educators have to keep up.

Check below for the latest marketplace news to keep you up-to-date on product developments, teaching and learning initiatives, and new trends in education.

College and Career Readiness…Read More

Going digital? 5 tips for a smooth start

As schools look to modernize teaching and personalize learning, technology is becoming an indispensable tool in the classroom. Though technology alone does not improve learning, it does offer a greater opportunity for students to improve skill proficiencies, test scores, spontaneous collaboration and productivity.

While it’s no longer a matter of if technology is right for the classroom, just which technology and how much, districts aren’t always sure about the best ways to get started on the digital journey.

Like any other important education initiative, going digital requires a hefty amount of planning and implementation. Districts that have been most successful in their digital transformations [Read: “12 districts honored for their innovative digital curriculum transition strategies.“] seem to share a commitment to a careful, multi-stage process involving the full range of stakeholders – administrators, teachers, students and parents.…Read More

12 districts honored for their innovative digital curriculum transition strategies

At the Learning Counsel’s Annual Gathering and National Awards event, twelve leading districts were recognized for their vision and innovation in integrating digital curriculum and technology into their teaching and learning process. Attendees at the event included top education executives from around the U.S., who gathered to acknowledge exemplary progress and discuss how innovation, technology, and school and classroom remodeling is pushing the education envelope—all in the name of better outcomes for our youth.

“The Learning Counsel is helping education leaders chart a course that includes actionable data and current trends,” said Janell McClure, the director of Digital & Multimedia Learning from Cobb County School District. “These awards share incredible examples of innovative thinking. The knowledge we’ve gained at this Gathering event will guide our work as we continue to strive for excellence in teaching and learning through digital platforms, tools, and practices.”

The national awards were made possible through sponsorship from Ruckus Wireless. As schools like these go truly digital, they need resilient WiFi. With so many types of mobile devices integrated into a student’s learning process, schools need a WiFi network that can handle a high density of devices with speed and reliability.…Read More

5 goals, 5 barriers of digital curriculum

Survey reveals how school and districts leaders aim to use the digital curriculum transition to better serve students and teachers

 

digital-curriculumSchool district leaders’ top objective in transitioning to a digital curriculum is to achieve greater instructor effectiveness, according to a survey from The Learning Counsel.

The second annual survey from the organization, which aims to provide guidance around the K-12 shift to digital curriculum, also revealed that 65 percent of those surveyed are currently staffing positions to help deal with the expansion of digital resources.…Read More

7 digital curriculum implementation strategies

Key implementation steps can help a digital transition be as smooth as possible

digital-curricSchool leaders know how important it is to “make the move to digital”—ensuring students are able to access digital tools and resources to cultivate skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and research and evaluation.

To support this digital push, a number of solutions have flooded the market in an attempt to help districts make this transition. But before school leaders choose and implement a solution, they must make sure they’re planning properly.

Here, Tom Arnett, a former math educator and an education research fellow at the nonprofit Clayton Christensen Institute, outlines how to evaluate and implement digital curriculum so that it empowers students and teachers.…Read More

How school leaders can empower the digital transition

Administrators are crucial to helping teachers implement digital curriculum

digital-transitionTransitioning to a digital curriculum has been met with a mixture of enthusiasm and concern. While digital resources align with students’ learning preferences and will enable them to leave school ready for college and the workforce, education leaders know that the digital shift requires planning, professional development, and support for teachers.

As school administrators determine which digital curriculum solution–including packaged solutions with built-in assessments to state-created resources–will best suit their needs, they must ensure that teachers have enough administrator support and professional development to correctly implement truly beneficial digital curriculum resources.

A large piece of the puzzle is “finding a way to get teachers comfortable with rethinking what they’re doing,” said Jeremy Macdonald, integrated technology systems coordinator with Bend-La Pine Schools in Bend, Ore., during an Alliance for Excellent Education Project 24 Google+ Hangout.…Read More