6 ways you’re already using AI in the classroom

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Many educators are cautiously optimistic about AI, indicating that they’d like more guidance to effectively integrate it into their instructional strategies. But while generative AI tools like ChatGPT have dominated conversations for the past year, there are many classroom tools that have quietly used AI to deliver personalized and targeted learning to students.

Let’s take a look at some classroom tools that are already leveraging AI for efficiency and learning outcomes:…Read More

6 trends to watch in K-12 schools in 2024

This post originally appeared on the Christensen Institute’s blog and is reposted here with permission.

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As we move through the beginning of 2024, parent power, rethinking assessments, and career and technical education (CTE) for every student are some of the trends rippling through K-12 education. …Read More

Enhancing classroom learning with interactive maps 

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As most teachers will tell you, in the post-Covid world, technology is an everyday part of education. It has undeniably transformed the way educators engage students and deliver content.

As an educator with 10 years of experience teaching in diverse settings in the United States and abroad, interactive maps have become a staple in my lessons. While primarily a geography resource, interactive maps can be used across various subjects within the social studies domain. Teachers can integrate maps into lessons related to history, cultural studies, and geopolitics. These maps go beyond traditional static maps, allowing students to investigate, evaluate, and engage with spatial information.  …Read More

Winners of the Lexia LETRS Science of Reading Grant Contest Announced

BOSTON     Lexia, a  Cambium Learning Group brand, has selected the 118 winners of its inaugural Lexia LETRS Science of Reading Grant Contest. Winners comprise K-5 educators in 26 states. Each will receive a grant providing them with no-cost access to the award-winning LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) professional learning program.

To enter the grant contest, applicants created short videos (60 seconds or less) explaining how LETRS would help transform their teaching. A panel of judges carefully reviewed each applicant’s entry to select the winners.

“These applications submitted by teachers showed their enthusiasm for science-based reading instruction and a deep desire to learn the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind the way we all learn to read, spell, and achieve reading comprehension,” said Lexia President, Nick Gaehde. “We have every confidence that they’ll use what they learn in LETRS to transform their teaching.”…Read More

Navigating cultural diversity in American education

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The tapestry of America’s history is arguably woven with threads of multiculturalism, reflecting a nation that has embraced diversity since its inception. In many ways, the history of multicultural education runs parallel with the history of the United States, because we have been an ostensibly multicultural nation from the very beginning.

Within the educational landscape, the concept of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) has emerged as a multifaceted approach that aims to promote equitable excellence and validate the diverse experiences of students. CRT refers to a student-centered approach that seeks to validate and affirm students’ diverse experiences and contributions. By creating bridges between students’ knowledge and classroom content, educators who employ CRT practices aim to affirm identities and values. Furthermore, educators who employ CRT extend learning beyond the classroom, thereby fostering community engagement and service learning to enhance students’ critical consciousness regarding social justice and racial inequalities.…Read More

Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd for Middle School Receives All-Green Rating from EdReports

BURLINGTON, NC Leading school science supplier Carolina Biological Supply Company announced that its Certified Version of OpenSciEd for grades 6 to 8 received all-green ratings from non-profit EdReports. The organization provides free reports and reviews online that help K-12 educators evaluate math, language arts and science instructional materials because high-quality content matters to teachers, to kids, and to their collective future. The materials are rigorously evaluated for alignment to standards and usability by teams of educators. EdReports’ content reviewers consist of outstanding classroom educators, district coaches, and state content leaders who deeply understand college-and career-ready standards and the importance of high-quality instructional materials. Read the full report on EdReports.org.

            In simple terms, the all-green rating from EdReports means that the Carolina Certified Version of OpenSciEd meets expectations for all three categories of review: Designed for the Next Generation Science Standards* (NGSS); coherence and scope; and usability. It further demonstrates that the enhancements Carolina made to its version of the program also meet expectations for alignment and usability.

  “As a non-profit science developer, OpenSciEd intentionally created an open-source science curriculum so that teachers could edit and adapt and localize the content for their students,” said Jim Ryan, Executive Director of OpenSciEd. “By making the OpenSciEd for grades 6-8 curriculum easier to use last year, the Carolina Certified Version paved the way for teachers to make these changes, while maintaining the high quality of the instructional materials. Working with Carolina as a certified partner resulted in another excellent version of our curriculum.”…Read More

CoSN names 9 edtech hurdles, trends, and tools

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Teacher retention, learner agency, and, yes, generative AI are among the Hurdles (challenges), Accelerators (mega-trends) and Tech Enablers (tools) impacting education innovation for the year ahead as outlined in CoSN‘s 2024 global Driving K-12 Innovation report.

CoSN’s Driving K-12 Innovation Advisory Board–made up of 140+ global educators and IT professionals–has selected three top Hurdles, Accelerators, and Tech Enablers impacting education technology for the coming year. This year’s top topics shifted more from 2023 to 2024 than they have in any of the past five cycles of the project, underscoring a turning point in education and emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts.…Read More

An alarming number of educators are jumping ship

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While finding their work meaningful, a majority of education professionals experience burnout above the national average, according to a recent study. In fact, more than 20 percent plan to switch to a related field and more than 30 percent look to change careers altogether. 

Soliant, a healthcare and educational staffing company, published the report to help the industry better understand and address educator burnout, staffing challenges, and opportunities facing U.S. schools. …Read More

PowerNotes Launches Composer, an AI-Enriched, Semi-Proctored Writing Tool

(CHICAGO)   PowerNotes, a provider of tools that help students and professionals create high-quality research quickly and efficiently, has added Composer, an advanced, web-based word processor, to its PowerNotes+ platform. The new tool provides a semi-proctored environment for organizing research and writing in an AI-enabled environment.

PowerNotes+ is a reading, research, and writing platform that helps educators and institutions have control and confidence using artificial intelligence (AI)—and addresses questions of intellectual integrity using transparency and evidence, not suspicion. Composer is a new tool that allows PowerNotes+ users to see the full picture of writers’ research and writing, from AI-assisted text to outside sources to original thoughts, all color-coded for easy identification.

“AI is still a new tool, but it’s already incorporated in a lot of spaces,” said Dr. Catina Mitchum, Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Maryland Global Campus. “And it’s constantly changing. Developing the skills to use these tools ethically is an essential part of digital literacy that will carry forward to help them succeed in school and in life.”…Read More

Teacher Shortage Solutions for Computer Science and CTE

The lack of computer science technology educators in middle schools continues to be a genuine crisis, especially considering the critical role of STEM education in preparing students for future careers. Traditional hiring practices often result in non-specialist educators teaching computer science, leading to challenges in delivering effective instruction.

Graham Celine, VP of Business Development & Marketing for Intelitek, which offers the online platform CoderZ, emphasized this topic last month at FETC and in this conversation with eSchool. CoderZ aims to address this gap by providing comprehensive tools and resources for both students and educators, enabling structured and engaging computer science education. 

With increasing recognition of computer science as a fundamental skill, particularly evidenced by state standards mandating its inclusion in curricula, CoderZ offers a solution aligned with educational goals and industry demands. Graham says the program’s flexible implementation options cater to various educational settings, from individual subscriptions to district-wide adoption. Moreover, he points to the product’s assessment strategies focused on student outcomes, employing a combination of automated evaluations and teacher-led assessments to ensure comprehensive learning assessment. Have a listen:…Read More

How to weave video game principles into the classroom

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Student engagement is vital for any educator throughout the length of a course. The unfortunate reality is that a great teacher only has control of a student’s environment for a short period of time. When a student goes home, they are inundated with many other potentially more engaging activities. In the last few decades, the main attractor for many students have been video games. Video games have become so mainstream over the years that children are just as engaged watching the games on streaming services like Twitch as playing them. The challenge posed to educators is how to gamify coursework that students can play, enjoy, and learn.

The most successful video games have a stratified reward system that rewards players at spaced intervals while the player works towards a goal. The best way to explain this is by looking at a successful game–let’s use World of Warcraft as an example. Players progress through levels toward the end objective while, along the way, completing objectives and earning in-game equipment. At the same time, the player can work and collaborate with other players to defeat more difficult challenges. This is analogous to the education system on a much more condensed time scale. There is an end goal in mind, achieving the maximum level or graduation. This is completed by working through objectives that, in education, are various courses: algebra, history, English, etc. Students earn grades as they complete objectives and even collaborate with classmates on projects. Understanding how the education system is similar to games is vital to redesigning an education-based learning system that would be more engaging for students.…Read More

3 data management considerations for district leaders

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As data analytics comes of age for the K-12 sector, educators are increasingly turning to data insights to help identify students’ learning abilities and areas of opportunity, enhancing operational efficiencies, and helping teachers’ professional development. Naturally, administrators are often enticed to engage powerful, enterprise-grade solutions like PowerBI or Tableau. After all, if it’s good enough for a Fortune 500 company, it’s good enough for a school district, right? 

Not so fast.…Read More