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.

Research: Digital media could aid early math skills

Study of early learners reveals media content from the show PEG + CAT could help improve children’s critical math skills

math-skillsChildren who used media content from PBS KIDS’ series PEG + CAT showed improvement in critical math areas involving ordinal numbers, spatial relationships, and 3-D shapes, according to researchers at EDC and SRI International.

Parents and caregivers also showed greater comfort and confidence in supporting their children with math concepts and problem-solving strategies.

The randomized Ready To Learn study was based on a sample of 197 children ages 4 to 5 years old, primarily from low-income families, in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area.…Read More

Set Up Your Own Digital Media Lab for Next to Nothing

A green screen and a Mac turn a storage space into a hi-tech playground

media-labBack when I was in school, class projects were limited to written reports, dioramas, and posters—things we could create with pencils, paper, Popsicle sticks, and glue. To say our students today have many more options available to them would be the understatement of the 21st century.

With the advent of lightning-quick computers and gorgeous digital media tools, students are now dreaming up PowerPoint presentations, Prezis, websites, wikis, Photo Stories, and more—things limited only by their imaginations. Creating these types of digital projects has become second nature to them, and they have no concept of a time when these technologies were not available. In fact, creating digital media has become a very personal matter. Just look on Facebook, YouTube, Vine, Vimeo, Instagram, Twitter and you will see that our students are creating and sharing digital content on a daily basis.

As educators, it behooves us to find ways to provide opportunities that allow our students to engage in learning activities relevant to their lives. As a library media specialist, I know there’s no better place to provide them with these opportunities than a school’s own library media center.…Read More

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Five strategies for using classroom technology

New paper from Center for Promise highlights best technology practices gleaned from school districts

classroom-technologyTechnology and digital media continue to represent a powerful pathway for advancing the goals of education, including raising academic achievement and preparing students for college and career, according to a new study released by the Center for Promise, the research arm of America’s Promise Alliance.

In time for Digital Learning Day, the new paper, Wired to Learn: K-12 Students in the Digital Classroom, supported by the Cable Impacts Foundation, explores digital learning as a promising strategy for improving students’ educational experiences and highlights the efforts of five school districts across the country focused on reshaping the traditional learning environment.

“Our research findings illustrate how carefully planned and implemented digital learning initiatives can powerfully impact how students learn,” said Jonathan Zaff, executive director, Center for Promise. “Identifying innovative, yet practical ways to involve students in meaningful teaching plans that meet their individual needs and strengths is critical for creating positive pathways toward graduation.”…Read More

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Editorial: Media illiteracy

Technology itself may not impact education until teachers and students take control of its potential.
Education is what will help today's graduates effectively navigate the flood of digital media now at their fingertips.

Default Lines column from June 2010 edition of eSchool News—President Obama caused quite a stir among the technorati with his commencement address at Hampton University last month.

You might have heard about it: Supposedly, one of the most technologically savvy presidents in our nation’s history—and someone who largely owes his Election Day victory to the power of social media in connecting and engaging today’s youth—decried the tools of the iGeneration as instruments of evil. Or something like that.

“You’re coming of age in a 24-7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t always rank that high on the truth meter,” Obama told the graduating class of this historically black Virginia university.…Read More

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Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 targets 21st-century skills

Adobe's latest release targets digital learners.
Adobe's latest release targets digital learners.

Adobe Systems Inc. has updated its multimedia design and publishing software with the April 12 release of Creative Suite 5 (CS5), which contains new curricula, a certification program, and learning resources to better train students and faculty in the digital communication and collaboration skills that are increasingly important in a global marketplace.

Adobe has developed three different CS5 curricula designed to help teachers implement design, web, and video programs. These curricula focus on the technical skills and design theory students need to be successful communicators in their fields: (1) Digital Design: Foundations of Web Design; (2) Visual Design: Foundations of Design and Print Production; and (3) Digital Video: Foundations of Video Design and Production. The year-long curriculum guides will be available free of charge from Adobe and will align with the International Society for Technology in Education’s National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for Students.

Educators and students can become certified for both entry-level skills as an Adobe Certified Associate and professional-level skills as an Adobe Certified Expert. Developed and deployed by Certiport and Adobe, these certifications validate a broad range of technical and communication skills when entering post-secondary schools or the workforce.…Read More

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Texas district streams video wirelessly on demand

Keller ISD installed a video-on-demand solution to enable the school district to deliver rich digital educational content to classrooms throughout the school district.
Keller ISD installed a wireless video-on-demand solution to deliver rich digital content to students' mobile devices.

A Texas school system has set up a wireless network infrastructure that is capable of streaming high-quality video to students’ mobile devices—enabling true anytime, anywhere learning to occur with the help of visual media.

The Keller Independent School District recently began using a wireless video streaming solution that supports its effort to put mobile devices in the hands of every student. Using the Video-on-Demand (VOD) and Digital Media Management solution from SAFARI Montage, Keller ISD can stream rich digital content to students throughout the school district wirelessly, which enhances their overall learning experience, said Chief Technology Officer Joe Griffin.

“Our existing wired infrastructure limited where and how users could access the content,” he said. “We needed a cost-effective solution that could provide high-speed, district-wide coverage and ensure seamless delivery of multimedia content to students and teachers, while supporting our efforts to expand these capabilities to all classrooms.”…Read More

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FCC announces Children’s Agenda for broadband

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski highlighted ways the new National Broadband Plan will effect children and families.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski highlighted ways the new National Broadband Plan will affect children and families.

Digital access, literacy, citizenship, and safety are the four key areas of focus in the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to bring broadband access to all children.

Broadband internet access should be available to 100 percent of American children, but parents should be aware of the possible challenges they will face by the increased amount of time their children might spend online, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a March 12 speech.

Genachowski announced the creation of the FCC’s “Children’s Agenda for Digital Opportunity,” which he said will build on the four pillars of digital access, digital literacy, digital citizenship, and digital safety. The Children’s Agenda is part of the National Broadband Plan to be released this week.…Read More

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Teachers’ digital media use on the rise

More teachers are adopting digital technology into their instruction, according to a PBS survey.
More teachers are adopting digital technology into their instruction, according to a PBS survey.

Teachers are making significant progress in adopting digital media and using the internet for instruction, according to findings from a new survey released Jan. 5 by PBS.

The survey, “Digitally Inclined,” aims to provide information about instructional needs and trends to education leaders, policy makers, and the media industry.

The survey, compiled by education research group Grunwald Associates, includes data collected from pre-K educators for the first time. The annual survey has been conducted since 2002 to examine educators’ media use.…Read More

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Protecting kids or free speech: Where to draw the line?

KidComputerControlling what children see on TV, online, and in other electronic media requires a delicate balancing act between the First Amendment rights of content providers and the desire to protect kids from inappropriate material, said panelists during a Nov. 2 discussion at the Georgetown Law Center in Washington, D.C.

“The law is not settled on this subject,” said Jim Steyer, chief executive officer and founder of Common Sense Media, which sponsored the discussion along with the Georgetown Law Center. He added that “reasonable minds can disagree” on where the intersection of children’s safety and developing media should lie.

The panel, which represented a broad range of opinions and backgrounds, included Steyer; Daniel Brenner, a partner with the media group at the law firm Hogan and Harston; Georgetown law professor Angela Campbell; Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Senior Attorney Kim Matthews; and Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler. The discussion was titled “Media, Kids, and the First Amendment.”…Read More