eMail Archives

Gaggle Reports Over 95% of School Districts Renew Their Partnerships

Many districts across the United States are starting the 2020–21 school year using hybrid or fully remote learning, so students’ online safety remains a top priority. That fact, plus Gaggle’s high success in saving student lives (927 in the 2019–20 school year), has resulted in 95% of districts renewing subscriptions to Gaggle’s student safety solution, up from the previous year. In addition, 286 districts across 42 states have implemented services with Gaggle since March.

“The School District of Osceola County utilizes multiple systems to protect its students in an increasingly complex digital world,” said Superintendent Dr. Debra Pace. “Gaggle is one system that the district relies on to monitor the safety of our students’ Microsoft email and OneDrive, and has proven itself on multiple occasions, especially during possible student situations. During the last year, the district was notified of 14 possible student situations, including issues of violence and suicide. Knowing that Gaggle is monitoring the safety of our students is a great comfort.”

For more than 20 years, Gaggle has helped thousands of districts avoid tragedies and save lives while also protecting against district liability. The company helps ensure student safety in digital spaces by providing real-time monitoring of the use of online tools within Google’s G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, and the Canvas learning management system for more than 4.5 million students across the United States.…Read More

Augmented reality science flashcards

While the current COVID-19 virus lock-down continues, many children across the world are unable to attend school. Parents and teachers alike may need to come up with creative ways to keep the children occupied and also provide them with education from home.

During these hard times, Octagon Studio would like to support those who are currently at home with our #LearnFromHome campaign. We are giving away 3,000 serial numbers and digital markers for users to enjoy our educational Augmented Reality experiences for free. This campaign shall be ongoing until the pandemic is over or until the 30,000 quotas have been met.

To get a free serial number, users can simply visit our website at https://octagon.studio/ and scroll through to find the #LearnFromHome campaign banner. By clicking the CLAIM NOW button and fill in their details, users will receive an email from us containing a free serial number and the digital markers of the product of
their choice. Each serial number can be used on one device, and each email address can be registered to claim one product out of five available 4D+ series: Animal 4D+,
Octaland 4D+, Space 4D+, Dinosaur 4D+, and Humanoid 4D+.…Read More

Google Meet is here to host your video meetings, for free

Google Cloud announced it’s making Google Meet, Google’s premium video-conferencing solution, free for everyone with availability rolling out over the coming weeks. Starting in early May, anyone with an email address can sign up for Meet and enjoy many of the same features available to G Suite’s business and education users, such as simple scheduling and screen sharing, real-time captions, and layouts that adapt to your preference, including the expanded tiled view.

“With the lines blurred between work and home, Google Meet can offer the polish needed for a work meeting, a tiled view for your online birthday party and the security needed for a video meeting with your doctor,” said Javier Soltero, VP of G Suite. “We’re in the middle of a significant worldwide shift impacting communication from the workplace to schools to the home. People want familiar, secure tools that they can use across all facets of their lives.”

Google has invested years in making Meet a secure and reliable video conferencing solution that’s trusted by schools, governments and enterprises around the world, and in recent months has accelerated the release of top-requested features to make it even more helpful. Whether it’s hospitals supporting patients via telehealth, banks working with loan applicants, retailers assisting customers remotely, or manufacturers interacting safely with warehouse technicians, businesses across every industry are using Meet to stay connected.…Read More

Digital Skills Playlist – a free resource for K-8 students

Learning.com is offering the Digital Skills Playlist – a free resource for K-8 students. It consists of grade-specific digital literacy lessons that students and parents can easily access and launch at home without any setup or district subscription required.

With this tool, your students, and at no cost, dive into the interactive digital lessons and hands-on projects available in a Learning.com curriculum subscription.

The tool is available here: https://info.learning.com/digital-skills-playlist …Read More

Encrypt Email and Attachments

Today, and in the coming days, data privacy will become even more important as the need to collaborate and share data securely increases. For many, data protection is not a choice, it is a legal and operational requirement.

To better support organizations hit especially hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Virtru is offering the following through June 30, 2020:

K-12 Education institutions and organizations supporting the defense and intelligence mission may receive unlimited complimentary licenses.
Any Healthcare, State and Local Government, or Nonprofit organization may take advantage of up to five complimentary licenses.

For more information visit https://www.virtru.com/covid-19/…Read More

Free tool to better communicate with parents

The Smore Template Center is comprised of pre-made newsletters that aim to address the variety of communication needs that you might be experiencing. They have templates for remote teaching, parent communication, and updates to stakeholders in your community. It is designed to save time and help you get your message out with customizable templates to suit your needs.

Smore newsletters can be shared on social media, sent via email, exported to mass notification systems, and embedded in your school website. You can also update them after they are shared, so the information is always current.

All templates in the COVID-19 Center have their Pro features enabled. This means you will have access to automatic language translation, WCAG 2.0 AA compliance, custom backgrounds, file attachments, and enhanced analytics — regardless of whether or not you are a Pro user.…Read More

Tips for using social media with educators

Social media is an essential marketing tool for educational publishers. But the changing algorithms, rise and fall of new platforms, and overall nature of social media make some developers hesitant. In their edWebinar, “Social Media Marketing 2.0: Educators Love Social Media,” several education marketing insiders offered their perspectives on using social media with educators.

First, because educators continue to flock to social media, it should be part of every marketing plan, along with email and media relations. It may consist of organic messages as well targeted social media ad campaigns. The key is to know when using social media with educators should be the prime channel, and when it’s going to support other efforts.

Using your LMS for teaching and professional learning

Picture this: You roll out a new learning management system (LMS) for students, but all of your professional learning is either hosted on a different platform or conducted in person with notes shared via email afterward. Sound familiar?

It’s more common than you think, but separating the educator professional learning (PL) experience from the student learning experience can actually have a negative impact on both parties’ experiences in the long run.

About eSchool News HH10

History

eSchool News covers education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to case studies, to purchasing practices and new products. First published in March of 1998, eSchool News is a monthly print and digital newspaper providing the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and the internet to transform North America’s schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals. The newspaper is read by more than 300,000 school leaders, and a companion web site—eSchool News Online (http://www.eschoolnews.com ) is visited by more than 500,000 unique visitors each month, including over 280,000 registered members.

eSchool News is a marketing solutions company serving the education technology industry. Throughout our 25-year history, we have created the most comprehensive portfolio of products and services in the industry. We offer access to the broadest reach and deepest range of education technology professionals worldwide across the entire technology spectrum: the creators, sellers, and buyers of technology around the world.…Read More