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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.

Classworks® and Gwinnett County Public Schools Are Platinum 2022 Learning Impact Award Winners

Duluth, GA — June 15, 2022 — Classworks, provider of a best-in-class MTSS solution, and Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS), the nation’s 13th largest school district, were recognized with the 2022 Platinum Medal Learning Impact Award by 1EdTech™ Consortium, the world’s leading non-profit collaborative advancing educational technology and digital learning.

Institutional leaders and public voters selected from 34 finalists to honor innovative projects that successfully impact and elevate learning experiences. The platinum award-winning project features the partnership between Classworks and Gwinnett County to deliver a successful online summer learning program, powered by 1EdTech’s Competency and Academic Standards Exchange® (CASE®) framework.

The project mitigated learning loss precipitated by COVID and effectively prepared students for the 2021-2022 school year. GCPS decided to launch a districtwide, online Summer Enrichment and Acceleration (SEA) program using Classworks evidence-based instructional program. GCPS utilizes district-specific Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS) standards in reading, language arts, and mathematics as part of its curriculum. The summer learning program required Classworks to align its standards-based learning progression to the GCPS AKS.

“As a district with our unique curriculum standards, the CASE framework allows us to more easily align content and resources from our partners with our standards so that teachers and students have the exact resources to match their instructional needs,” said Tricia Kennedy, executive director of instructional development and support for Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia. “Our partnership with Classworks leveraged CASE to create a customized summer school curriculum addressing district-defined targeted standards in a learning path scaffolded for understanding.“

The CASE framework simplifies the way systems manage learning standards information, making it easier for districts to provide standards-based learning experiences. Using CASE, Classworks instruction was quickly aligned to the GCPS-specific AKS, saving hours of manual work. The effort ensured that students had access to summer lessons that both reviewed focus standards from the prior year and prepared them for the upcoming year in a research-based learning progression.

“By replacing a manual and labor-intensive mapping project that typically takes weeks with a CASE-powered process, Classworks provided more than 180,000 students at Gwinnett County Public Schools with a high-quality, standards-based learning experience in just a few days,” ​​explains Jerry Henley, senior vice president of product experience for Classworks. “Classworks embraces 1EdTech’s philosophy on interoperability, and we’re proud to partner with forward-thinking and innovative districts like GCPS. Our success demonstrates why we are a best-in-class online intervention solution.”

To learn more about the Classworks and GCPS summer learning project download our whitepaper Using CASE to Power Standards-Based Learning for All Students. 

Learn more about the 2022 Learning Impact Awards.

About Classworks …Read More

Why “offline” digital learning is critical to impact children worldwide

As thousands of educators, entrepreneurs, and investors gathered at the recent ASU+GSV Summit, a growing number recognized both the need and opportunity for educational innovation in developing countries, particularly for the over 250 million children who lack access to schools.

But many of the solutions proffered still focus on internet-based solutions. Glaringly missing from the landscape are adaptive, digital learning solutions that are offline.

While we work to increase universal access to the internet, the edtech ecosystem cannot ignore the hundreds of millions of children currently without connectivity but who are eager to learn.…Read More

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5 ways to engage your students with Minecraft

As an educator for over 27 years and a Digital Learning Specialist (social studies) for the past 7 years in Atlanta Public Schools, I have supported educators across my district and beyond as they purposefully integrate technology in the classroom to promote engagement and 21st century skill development.

While there are many tools and resources available to educators to support their efforts to create dynamic digital learning environments, one of the newest and most engaging is Minecraft Education Edition (M:EE). Popular among students (and teachers!), M:EE is a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive digital environment.

Here are five ways that I have helped my district’s teachers use M:EE into classroom instruction that you can use in your teaching practice. Best of all, you don’t even need to be a Minecraft expert to get started!…Read More

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Discovery Education’s K-12 Learning Platform Earns Learner Variability Product Certification From Digital Promise

SILVER SPRING, MD (Thursday, April 14, 2022) — Discovery Education—the worldwide edtech leader whose digital services support learning wherever it takes place—announced today that its award-winning K-12 learning platform has earned the Learner Variability Product Certification from Digital Promise. Working at the intersection of education leaders, researchers, and technology developers, Digital Promise seeks to improve learning opportunities for all and close the Digital Learning Gap. 

The Learner Variability Product Certification serves as a rigorous, reliable signal for district and school leaders, educators, and families looking for evidence of edtech products supporting learner variability. Discovery Education submitted evidence to Digital Promise demonstrating its K-12 platform’s ability to support the diverse needs of learners and confirming their commitment to continuing to design with learner variability in mind. 

“Discovery Education’s culture of innovation is driven by our mission to prepare learners for tomorrow by creating innovative classrooms connected to today’s world,” said Pete Weir, Discovery Education’s Chief Product Officer. “However, we recognize that every student comes to the classroom with different approaches to learning. That’s why we strive to build products with flexible features that help all students grow and achieve. Discovery Education is proud to have earned the Learner Variability Product Certification and is grateful to the team at Digital Promise for their thorough review of our K-12 platform.” …Read More

Clever Releases Latest Identity Management Tool, Adding Microsoft Active Directory Support to Google Workspace

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 14, 2022 – Clever, the most widely used and trusted digital learning platform in U.S. K-12 schools, today announced an expanded identity management offering with new support for Active Directory, used by thousands of districts to manage users’ access to software applications and devices. Clever IDM helps school districts automate provisioning and management of their Active Directory and Google Workspace user accounts, saving districts time while helping to improve account security.

Clever Identity Management (IDM) was built to address growing school district concerns about cybersecurity threats in K-12 education that have accompanied rising edtech use. The last few years have increasingly shown school districts to be a target for cybercriminals posing a distinct challenge for overtaxed IT teams.

With Clever IDM, student, teacher, and staff accounts are automatically created once they’re added to the district student information system, meaning every user has access to learning resources from their first day of school. As users join, leave, and move around within a district, Clever IDM keeps their accounts current – ensuring everyone has the right access at the right time. The new solution saves district administrators hours of work a week, with the same level of reliability and trust that more than 65% of U.S. K-12 schools have come to expect from Clever – and at a significantly lower cost than alternatives on the market today.…Read More

Discovery Education Supports Social-Emotional Learning Day with High Quality Resources for Educators, Students, and Families

Silver Spring, MD (Friday March 11, 2022) — Discovery Education and leading social impact partners are offering engaging, high quality digital learning resources to students, teachers, and families to support Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Day nationwide. Established in 2019 by SEL4US and the Urban Assembly, SEL Day empowers communities to celebrate the importance of social-emotional learning. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

SEL is often described as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Research reveals that SEL programs provide students the ability to manage stress and depression, improves self-esteem and school behavior.  

Observed this year on March 11th with theme “Finding Common Ground, Pursuing Common Good.” SEL Day helps connect students, educators, and families to resources learn about and integration social emotional wellness into all aspects of life. In support of this theme, Discovery Education is providing educators and students access to hundreds of digital resources tailored for any learning environment through its dynamic K-12 learning platform. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are: …Read More

Clearlake Capital to Acquire Discovery Education from Francisco Partners

SANTA MONICA, CA and CHARLOTTE, NC – March 9, 2022 – Discovery Education, Inc., (“Discovery Education” or the “Company”), a global edtech company whose digital learning software platform supports educators and improves student achievement, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”). Upon closing of the transaction, Clearlake will become the majority shareholder while Francisco Partners will retain a minority equity stake. Scott Kinney, CEO of Discovery Education, will continue to lead the Company supported by the existing management team. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Discovery Education provides K-12 digital curriculum to educators and students around the world, driving student engagement across a variety of subjects via interactive content, video resources, and teaching tools that deliver real-world learning experiences. The Company’s integrated learning platform empowers teachers by offering easy lesson creation, ready-to-use formative assessments, and personalized, data-driven recommendations from a library of educational resources. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in approximately 100 countries and territories.

“Discovery Education seeks to empower educators and inspire students worldwide through digital content delivered by our award-winning platform. Francisco Partners has been a great partner in our pursuit of this vision, and I am grateful for their support,” said Scott Kinney, CEO of Discovery Education. “We look forward to Clearlake’s investment accelerating Discovery Education’s efforts to acquire like-minded companies that complement our portfolio. In addition, this new collaboration will enhance our efforts to deepen platform distribution, earn more of educators’ instructional time, and win customers. We believe Discovery Education has a bright future as part of the Clearlake family of companies.”…Read More

Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners Offer Educators and Students No-Cost Resources Supporting Women’s History Month Celebrations

Silver Spring, MD (Thursday, March 3, 2022) — Discovery Education and leading social impact partners are offering engaging, no-cost digital learning resources to students, teachers, and families to support Women’s History Month observances nationwide. Discovery Education is honoring the incredible accomplishments of women leaders during Women’s History Month and beyond with STEM-focused resources encouraging young women everywhere to reach their fullest potential. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

Under the 2022 theme of “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” these curated resources from Discovery Education introduce students to the women leaders whose innovations make the world a better place for all. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are:    

Career Profiles 
Meet the women cybersecurity experts working to keep us all safe online in the career profiles from Girls4Tech – Mastercard’s signature science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program supported by Discovery Education. Geared towards giving girls in middle and high school access to STEM resources and career exploration tools, this program dives deeply into the topics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security. …Read More