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.

5 edtech tools to save time this year

Key points:

Back-to-school and the first weeks of the new year are definitely busy for teachers as they are diligently preparing lesson plans and getting to know their students–all while building a sense of community in their classrooms. Teachers must meet the challenge of creating engaging instructional resources to support personalized learning, develop lessons to spark student curiosity, and facilitate opportunities for collaboration.

As an educator for more than 26 years, I understand the importance of leveraging technology to “work smarter, not harder” when planning and implementing lessons. As a digital learning specialist, I support instructional technology implementation in my district as well as provide training for teachers on edtech tools. …Read More

HMH Introduces Generative AI Teacher Supports in its Connected Literacy Solution to Empower Educators

BOSTON – As part of its human-centered approach to AI in K-12 education, learning technology company  HMH today announced new OpenAI-powered integrations within  Writable, its award-winning writing practice and assessment solution for grades 3-12. Within HMH’s connected literacy solution, Writable’s new GenAI capabilities increase the impact teachers can have by engaging more students with targeted feedback and motivating better writing in the moment. This approach to AI is teacher-guided, allowing teachers to incorporate AI-suggested feedback and scores into their instruction. This saves valuable time teachers can use to invest in student connections.

“At HMH, we believe technology should be applied with purpose to deepen the human connections that accelerate learning outcomes,” says Jack Lynch, CEO at HMH. “Today’s announcement represents a thoughtful step forward in the transformative journey of using generative AI to enhance student learning and give teachers time back to do what only they can do, which is really connect with their students on a human level.”

Providing comprehensive and skill-aligned feedback on student essays is time-consuming, and educators often wish they could offer more support during a student’s writing process. To address this challenge, Writable’s new generative AI-powered tools include AI-generated prompts and assignments, AI-suggested feedback and scores on any writing assignment, as well as tools to guard against plagiarism and detect AI writing in student submissions.…Read More

Catholic Schools Continue Long-Time Partnerships with VHS Learning to Give Students Hundreds of Course Options

Boston – U.S. Catholic schools have renewed their partnerships with VHS Learning to provide their students with continued access to high-quality, teacher-led online classes. Through these partnerships, many of which began 10 to 25 years ago, Catholic high schools are expanding their curricula and providing students with collaborative, engaging learning opportunities.

Catholic schools that have extended their long-time partnerships with VHS Learning for the 2023-24 school year, include:  

  • Pope Francis Preparatory School in Springfield, Mass., began its partnership with VHS Learning 10 years ago.

  • Immaculate High School in Danbury, Conn.; Lowell Catholic High School in Lowell, Mass.; and Nativity B.V.M. High School in Pottsville, Pa., launched their partnerships with VHS Learning 15 years ago.

  • Saint Paul Diocesan Jr. Sr. High School in Worcester, Mass., and Berks Catholic High School in Reading, Pa., started with VHS Learning 20 years ago.

  • Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody, Mass., first partnered with VHS Learning 25 years ago.

“These long-time partnerships speak volumes about the relationships VHS Learning forms with Catholic schools and students,” said President & CEO of VHS Learning Carol DeFuria. “We value each of our partner schools and are thrilled to help them expand their curriculum and give their students extensive course options that rival those found at public schools, all without sacrificing quality. Working together, we help Catholic schools resolve scheduling issues, combat teacher shortages, and stay competitive.”…Read More

4 big benefits of professional development for adolescent reading instruction

Key points:

The mission of our English Language Arts Department is for staff, families, and community members to work in partnership to ensure that all students have adequate and equitable access to high-quality literacy instructional experiences that will prepare them to graduate ready to transform their communities and beyond.  As part of our theory of action, we believe that if we support teachers in developing and delivering aligned, rigorous, and engaging literacy instruction (including targeted professional development for reading instruction), and if we use varied, intentional, and common literacy assessment data coupled with individualized student learning, then we will achieve equitable outcomes in which every student thrives, and every school is high performing. 

Our district was already engaged in a professional development program for literacy in grades K-3 when we learned about a new offering that had been created specifically for adolescent reading instruction. We were instantly interested, knowing that we had interrupted and unfinished teaching and learning, especially in grades 4 through 8 as a result of the global pandemic.  …Read More

CodeHS Launches Comprehensive, Easy-to-Use Computer Science Curriculum for Elementary

Chicago, Illinois – The significance of computer science education in schools is growing exponentially as it empowers children with the essential skills to navigate and excel in the digital world. While the emphasis on computer science curriculum is often placed on middle and high schools, the need for elementary students to acquire the skills necessary for success in a technology-driven world is becoming increasingly crucial.

CodeHS, a leading platform for K-12 computer science education, has launched a curriculum for elementary schools to fit seamlessly into a K-12 computer science pathway. With ready-to-go lessons, CodeHS makes teaching computer science simple even for elementary teachers who have never taught computer science before. Lessons include engaging student-facing videos that guide instruction, discussion questions, interactive activities, and practice.

Designed to fit the needs of any elementary school, CodeHS curriculum offers two K-5 pathways: Computer Science in Context and Computer Science in Focus. The In Context Pathway includes interdisciplinary lessons built to be incorporated into other parts of the school day- including ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies instructional time. The In Focus Pathway is designed for a dedicated computer science or technology class.…Read More

4 engaging assessment ideas for middle and high school

Key points:

  • When students have different ways to demonstrate learning, educators can collect more accurate data
  • Middle and high school students benefit from choice, and different assessment options can lead to better engagement
  • See related article: 3 new trends in student assessment

As an educator and leader who grades holistically, it becomes important to consider how to create well rounded assessments that offer students myriad different opportunities to demonstrate their learning.

Providing students with authentic and varied assessment opportunities helps educators gather datapoints on a student holistically. What is equally important is that we provide varied assessment opportunities so students can demonstrate understanding in different ways. This article offers ideas that are outside traditional essay writing and test taking mediums.…Read More

4 exciting ways AI is a game-changer for teachers

Key points:

  • Teachers are embracing AI and other emerging technologies to help elevate lesson plans and make challenging lessons more engaging
  • AI can also help teachers alleviate the burden of tedious tasks and make learning more inclusive
  • See related article: How to redefine learning in the digital age

In the world of education, where innovation and creativity are especially vital, technologies with AI-generated content are reshaping teaching and how students learn in surprising ways.

There has been no shortage of news coverage on AI in education. However, much of that coverage has centered on the student experience. As a former teacher who now interacts with edtech companies on a daily basis, I think we miss a hugely important part of this conversation if we don’t also focus on how this technology could positively impact the teaching profession.…Read More

High Schools Worldwide Partner with VHS Learning for Teacher-Led Online Classes

Boston – Schools around the world and across the United States have launched partnerships with VHS Learning this year to provide their students with rich, engaging online courses in a variety of disciplines. These new schools join more than 600 high schools worldwide that use VHS Learning online courses to expand their school’s student offerings.

New international school participants this year include the American International School of Budapest in Nagykovácsi, Hungary; American International School of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, China; American International School of Muscat in Oman; Qatar Academy Al Khor in Qatar; and

Frankfurt International School in Oberursel (Taunus), Germany.…Read More

BenQ Education Partners With ANTON Learning App

COSTA MESA, Calif. — BenQ, an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, announced that the ANTON learning app is now available on BenQ Boards. Trusted by over 15 million learners and teachers in over 60,000 schools, the ANTON learning app features learning material across a multitude of subjects, with the goal of making learning fun for students and easy for teachers to create and deliver engaging lessons. This partnership strengthens BenQ’s commitment to providing direct access to the apps and learning software that educators use daily from their BenQ Boards for a more streamlined, future-ready classroom.

“We’re steadfast in our mission to make it as easy as possible for educators to use the BenQ Board while helping students achieve great outcomes,” said Bob Wudeck, senior director of business development at BenQ Education. “ANTON is widely used by thousands of teachers. This is a great addition to the many resources now available in our BenQ Boards and is another step in bridging the gap between traditional teaching methods and cutting-edge technology that will help teachers shape the future of learning.”

The ANTON learning app and online learning portal are part of a standards-aligned curriculum available in multiple languages. Boasting over 100,000 exercises and 200 exercise types, it contains interactive elements, feedback, games, and explanations aimed at supporting and engaging young people in learning. It covers English, math, science, social studies, languages, and music, following set lessons with exercises in each topic. Users are able to select the subject that they wish to focus on and then follow scaffolded exercises developed to help them understand the material. Students can earn coins through their learning to spend on fun games and avatars.  Teachers are able to create classes, assign homework, and track the learning progress of their students. This information can then be used to personalize any learning or to bridge the learning between school and home.…Read More

Roblox, PLTW team up for immersive STEM experience

Key points:

  • Immersive learning experiences are highly engaging and give students another way to grasp key STEM concepts
  • Roblox and Project Lead The Way are offering 3D immersive learning with a new STEM experience
  • See related article: Are you teaching with Roblox? You should be

Immersive learning experiences are all the rage, and for good reason—they engage students and help make challenging concepts–particularly STEM concepts–a bit easier to learn thanks to they way they are presented.

Pathogen Patrol, a new 3D immersive learning experience from Project Lead The Way, brings important STEM learning content to life. These learning experiences give students another way to learn educational concepts, such as space exploration or different processes in the human body, which are typically challenging to teach with traditional methods.…Read More