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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.

Georgia Power Launches Interactive STEM-Based Educational Videos

ATLANTA – July 22, 2020 – For parents looking for new ways to help keep children learning while outside of the classroom this summer, Georgia Power’s education team has created a series of interactive videos that allow students to discover science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through activities at home. The videos cover a variety of STEM energy topics with hands-on activities requiring only a few basic supplies, most of which can be found around the house.

“These videos are another way to engage students at home to explore STEM concepts,” said Lisa Olens, Georgia Power Education Manager. “The activities are designed to help make it exciting and fun for students to learn about the transformation of energy by building a balloon rocket or learn about solar energy by making s’mores in a simple sun-powered oven. There are many other topics and we hope students, parents and educators will find these videos helpful as they look for fun educational activities that can be done from home.”

To get started with these interactive activities and to learn more about Georgia Power’s Learning Power program, visit www.learningpower.org.…Read More

Free online resources to help address “summer slide”

Miacademy.co, the online homeschooling website, is proud to collaborate with ASU in offering fun, free online resources to help address “summer slide,” the loss of academic mastery during weeks away from the classroom. Many educators expect this to be profound this year, on top of the missed weeks this spring due to the pandemic, which creates their own loss of academic proficiency.

As part of ASU’s commitment to supporting parents by providing free educational resources, ASU created https://asuforyou.asu.edu/miacademy where parents can find hundreds of original teaching videos covering every K-8 grade level across every core subject.

Each of these educational videos forms part of a learning module on Miacademy.co, where student members can practice what they’ve learned, use online simulations, complete graded assessments, and work through related offline activities independently or together with family members. As an ASU For You learning partner, Miacademy is offering these videos, aligned to Arizona learning standards, free to Arizona families and all online learners. “I’m proud that Miacademy was chosen as a partner by one of the most prestigious online education providers in the U.S.,” says Dr. Johannes Ziegler, CEO of Miacademy. (Learn about Johannes and the founding of Miacademy here: https://parents.miacademy.co/help/about)…Read More

Free video lessons offered by leaders in innovation, thinking

If the idea is approved, TED will send over a portable recording booth.

In the vast realm of dogs hugging baby deer and toddlers laughing hysterically, it’s not always easy finding online videos that have a deeply profound impact—that is, until Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) entered the market, providing “ideas worth spreading.” Now, TED is venturing into education with TED-Ed.

TED, a global set of conferences owned by the private nonprofit Sapling Foundation, usually gives speakers 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Malcolm Gladwell are just a few notable speakers who have presented at TED.

In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” TED launched TED-Ed on March 12 with the intent of making available the “mind-altering lessons that happen in classrooms every day” to everyone in the world.…Read More

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Disney turns its focus to curriculum

Disney's curriculum on U.S. presidents features a whiteboard application.
Disney's curriculum on U.S. presidents features an interactive whiteboard application.

Readers with young children no doubt are familiar with Disney as a multimedia launching pad for the careers of teen superstars such as Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, while others might associate the company with its slew of animated features over the years. Now, Disney is hoping that educators will think of it as a provider of educational technology as well.

About 60 years ago, Walt Disney created Disney Educational Productions (DEP) and brought educational films into schools for the first time. After losing focus a bit, DEP now has recommitted to bringing educational multimedia into classrooms—and its latest set of videos combines Disney’s brand of educational movies with the interactivity of electronic whiteboards.

“The American Presidents” is a series of DVDs with an interactive whiteboard feature that lets students play games that use video clips, photographs, and quotes to test students’ understanding of the subject material.…Read More

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UCLA resumes streaming video after legal complaint

UCLA's video streaming lab will have extended hours this spring.
UCLA's video streaming lab will have extended hours this spring.

In the latest development in a dispute with broad implications for colleges nationwide, UCLA says it will continue to stream online instructional videos to students. The move comes after a trade group urged the university to review copyright laws and threatened legal action if campus officials did not stop offering free unlimited access to the educational content.

UCLA officials suspended their streaming video program in January after the Association for Information Media Equipment (AIME)—a nonprofit organization that advocates for “fair and appropriate use of media”—said the university didn’t have permission to offer unlimited access to students through its password-protected class web sites.

A university IT official said March 3 that UCLA’s resumption of the streaming video initiative was a necessary stand against opponents of open access to educational resources.…Read More