Robotics isn’t scary! 4 benefits of working with robots

Robotics is attracting more student interest, and there’s a reason–when students can make real-world connections between what they learn in the classroom and exciting careers, their engagement and achievement often improve.

Educators across the country are working to establish robotics clubs after school, they’re creating robotics units in STEM classes, and they’re doing their best to ensure all students have the opportunity to learn just how essential robotics is to our daily lives.

As the director of blended learning in the Lancaster Independent School District (TX), Kimberly Lane Clark works with district campuses to help them implement successful blended learning practices. In that role, she frequently incorporates personalized learning and differentiated instruction.…Read More

We need to put robotics in rural schools

Rural schools in the United States face challenges many of their suburban counterparts couldn’t fathom. For example, access to challenging and engaging STEM courses such as robotics and coding is not as prevalent in rural schools as it is in larger districts. But one district is aiming to make it easier for students to access robotics in rural schools.

Out of the Loop,” a 2018 report from The National School Boards Association Center for Public Education, notes that “rural students have significantly less access to STEM-focused AP courses” and that gaps such as this “may indicate that rural students have limited access to academically rigorous programs.”

Related Content:…Read More

How one district handles student data privacy

Every school district is faced with a choice about how to protect student data. As districts have implemented more technology to support digital learning, student data privacy in schools has become a critical issue.

It can be a huge undertaking to vet and manage the privacy policies of all of the online resources used in a district. Even with good intentions, most districts do not have adequate protection and are vulnerable to a data breach. These breaches are becoming more common as districts struggle to keep up with technology.

Related content: 5 ways IT directors handle student data privacy…Read More

How we found budget for student programs in our printers

Demographics

Hatboro-Horsham School District, located in suburban Philadelphia, has a strong history of academic excellence. Serving approximately 5,000 students, the district provides education from grades K-12.

It has received blue ribbon honors from both the Pennsylvania and United States Departments of Education. Hatboro-Horsham’s schoolboard, parents, teachers, and staff are committed to moving into the future of education.…Read More

eSchool News launches innovative Robotics Guide for educators

We are excited to bring you the very first in a series of eSchool News Guides, which are full of resources, tips, trends, and insight from industry experts on a variety of topics that are essential to the classroom, school, and district.

This first guide, the eSchool News Robotics Guide, offers expert insight on why robotics is quickly becoming a cornerstone of classroom instruction. In the guide, we take a look at resources to make robotics instruction a bit more manageable. Plus, we’re giving you robotics grants and funding tips, showing you how real teachers incorporate robotics into their classrooms, and linking you to robotics learning apps.

Have you dreamed of building a robotics education program in your school or district? In the eSchool News Robotics Guide, we feature a story outlining how one educator did just that. Do you want to introduce your students to robotics, but find yourself cash-strapped without available funding to finance that goal? We’ve compiled a list of robotics grants to help.…Read More

October 2019 Guide: Robotics

We are excited to bring you the very first in a series of eSchool News Guides, which are full of resources, tips, trends, and insight from industry experts on a variety of topics that are essential to the classroom, school, and district.

The eSchool News Robotics Guide offers expert insight on why robotics is quickly becoming a cornerstone of classroom instruction. In the guide, we take a look at resources to make robotics instruction a bit more manageable. Plus, we’re giving you robotics grants and funding tips, showing you how real teachers incorporate robotics into their classrooms, and linking you to robotics learning apps.

…Read More

5 benefits this district got from K-12 esports

Esports is booming, from K-12 right on up to college and at the professional level. As more districts start K-12 esports leagues of their own, the academic and social-emotional benefits become increasingly clear.

Roughly a year and a half ago, leaders in the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) in Texas, which has been 1:1 for 8 years, noticed the growing esports trend at the collegiate level. The district was already partnered with Dell for technology initiatives, prompting Kyle Bergerr, the district’s chief technology officer, to look a bit closer at esports’ relevance at the K-12 level.

“I felt like high school was about to explode in this,” he says. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area alone, he adds, there are four professional esports teams, leading lots of momentum to build around esports at the high school level.…Read More

How we got the edtech resource we wanted

As classroom teachers, we are always on the lookout for new resources and services that will benefit every student in our school. One day we encountered an edtech resource that would deliver curated, safe, and vetted digital media to teachers that would empower them to create dynamic digital learning environments for their students.

While we knew the addition of this resource–Discovery Education Experience–would drastically shift the work and culture of our staff, thanks to incredibly supportive peers and administrators at both the school and district level, we felt inspired and empowered to create a path that would bring this service to our school while drastically shifting the work and culture of our staff. Together, we worked for change while delivering this valued instructional resource.

Related content: 6 ways to get teachers on board with edtech…Read More

8 ways to ensure tech readiness this school year

Before each new school year starts, educators have been busy preparing, organizing, and welcoming students back to school–and that means ensuring tech tools and digital resources are ready to go.

District administrators, principals, and teachers are prepping for full classrooms and full schedules. Now is a great time to double-check school priorities, tech tools, and instructional strategies for the coming school year.

Related content: What’s the one tech tool you can’t give up?…Read More

3 districts that battled malware–and won–with endpoint security

It’s not exactly a secret that most educational institutions are vulnerable to data breaches and security hacks. All it takes is one attack to freeze school operations and disrupt learning, to say nothing of putting sensitive data and private information at risk.

Being proactive is better than being reactive, and one of the biggest proactive steps districts are taking today involves targeting endpoint security and beefing up endpoint resilience.

Endpoint security, essentially, involves protecting the endpoints, or the devices and tools, connected to school and district networks. As BYOD and mobile initiatives expand, endpoints multiply, underscoring the importance of this security strategy. Endpoint resilience combines protection and response in a way that allows a district to recover quickly from an attack.…Read More

Getting the most from collaboration tools

Communication and collaboration are not the same thing. There are many tools that allow educators and administrators to talk to each other, but to take advantage of edtech’s promise, they should also be able to use collaboration tools to work together on the same projects.

In her presentation, “Collaboration Near and Far in Digital Professional Learning Communities,” Geri Gillespy, administrator of digital integration at West Ada School District in ID, talked about how to get the most out of online collaboration tools.

Related content: 7 collaboration tools for the modern classroom…Read More