7 Mindsets Acquires Lessons For SEL

ROSWELL, Ga. – March 16, 2022 – 7 Mindsets, the leader in online Pre-K-12 social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, announced the acquisition of Lessons For SEL, a cloud-based solution featuring a streaming platform of video lessons and SEL content. The acquisition will allow 7 Mindsets to broaden their comprehensive program to include Lessons For SEL’s trademark 6 Minute SEL lessons, SELTV, and the popular SEL Video of the Week, among other assets. Byron McClure, D.Ed., the founder of Lessons For SEL and a National Certified School Psychologist, will join 7 Mindsets as Director of Innovation.

Lessons For SEL offers a variety of powerful, engaging resources and video content to help educators, mental health professionals, and school leaders focus on improving the social emotional wellness of their students and staff.  “I look forward to working with 7 Mindsets to move the education landscape from a fixation on what’s wrong to what’s strong,” said McClure. “Together, we can maximize the unlimited potential of educators, parents, and students to unlock authentic joy, creativity, and deep healing that our nation so desperately deserves.” 

As part of the purchase, 7 Mindsets will also acquire SELTV, a unique streaming platform with hundreds of SEL video lessons and content. On the platform, educators can browse a curated library of original SEL video lessons, shows, and webinars across categories such as self-management, decision-making skills, physical and mental well-being, and educator professional development. McClure is also the creator of the Lessons For SEL YouTube channel.…Read More

Discovery Education Supports Social-Emotional Learning Day with High Quality Resources for Educators, Students, and Families

Silver Spring, MD (Friday March 11, 2022) — Discovery Education and leading social impact partners are offering engaging, high quality digital learning resources to students, teachers, and families to support Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Day nationwide. Established in 2019 by SEL4US and the Urban Assembly, SEL Day empowers communities to celebrate the importance of social-emotional learning. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

SEL is often described as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Research reveals that SEL programs provide students the ability to manage stress and depression, improves self-esteem and school behavior.  

Observed this year on March 11th with theme “Finding Common Ground, Pursuing Common Good.” SEL Day helps connect students, educators, and families to resources learn about and integration social emotional wellness into all aspects of life. In support of this theme, Discovery Education is providing educators and students access to hundreds of digital resources tailored for any learning environment through its dynamic K-12 learning platform. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are: …Read More

Why video creation encourages classroom innovation

Think about how students today communicate outside of school–so much of it is video-based, and if educators can meet students in that space, they’ll be able to create more engaging and impactful lessons. In the TikTok, Instagram Video and Snapchat era, video creation has also provided the perfect medium to encourage and empower intuitive content creation in classroom environments.

Some of the best educational content develops with creative thinking and a willingness to try new things–and if teachers and students have the right tools, they’re on the right path.

Learn more during this eSchool News webinar featuring educators and edtech experts who can speak to how video lets teachers gauge student understanding, enables students to access content at their own pace, and more.
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3 edtech trends to watch in 2022

It is impossible to exaggerate how much the edtech sector is growing – in fact, exploding might be a better word! The edtech market in the UK is now estimated to be £3.2bn following growth during 2020 of more than 70 percent.

This phenomenal growth ensures that the sector is newsworthy, but what are the key trends emerging? These trends are the ones to watch throughout the coming year–and probably the coming decade.

Personalized learning…Read More

Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners Offer Educators and Students No-Cost Resources Supporting Women’s History Month Celebrations

Silver Spring, MD (Thursday, March 3, 2022) — Discovery Education and leading social impact partners are offering engaging, no-cost digital learning resources to students, teachers, and families to support Women’s History Month observances nationwide. Discovery Education is honoring the incredible accomplishments of women leaders during Women’s History Month and beyond with STEM-focused resources encouraging young women everywhere to reach their fullest potential. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

Under the 2022 theme of “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope” these curated resources from Discovery Education introduce students to the women leaders whose innovations make the world a better place for all. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are:    

Career Profiles 
Meet the women cybersecurity experts working to keep us all safe online in the career profiles from Girls4Tech – Mastercard’s signature science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program supported by Discovery Education. Geared towards giving girls in middle and high school access to STEM resources and career exploration tools, this program dives deeply into the topics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cyber security. …Read More

9 new digital learning resources from TCEA

With the realization that COVID will stick with us, and with determination to live with it and resume aspects of pre-pandemic life, educators are once again eager to gather at edtech conferences and experience the latest and greatest solutions, digital learning resources, and professional learning opportunities.

In Dallas, TCEA began with keynotes and sessions from top edtech thought leaders and real-world practitioners.

Here’s a sampling of new digital learning tools and innovations from edtech solution providers.…Read More

10 cool AR and VR tools for the classroom

We all know that augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are super fun, but AR and VR tools can also be incredibly powerful when integrated into classroom learning.

What’s the difference? AR is the idea that the user brings something into their real world and using a device to see something that isn’t actually there–animation or 3D images come into the real world. VR immerses a person in the experience, as if they’re actually there.

AR and VR tools have a number of benefits for students, and because the tools are engaging, students are more likely to absorb classroom lessons and concepts. Plus, students are engaged in active learning with AR and VR tools.…Read More

New ParentSquare Guide Provides Best Practices to Help K-12 Educators Engage With the Hardest-to-Reach Families

Santa Barbara, CA — Feb. 18, 2021 — The role of effective communication has never been more critical, but districts and schools are facing a gamut of challenges in engaging all parents and guardians — especially the hardest-to-reach families. To help educators bridge the communications gap between school and home, ParentSquare, the award-winning unified school-home communications platform for K-12, has created a free best practice guide.

Titled “ Reaching the Last 10%: Engaging the Hardest-to Reach Families,” the 13-page guide provides practical recommendations to address five common barriers to effective communication. Additionally, readers can also access a companion infographic, “5 Barriers to Engagement Through Communications,” which provides supporting data points behind the five situations that can have a significant impact on family engagement.

“Our collective years of experience with schools and districts across the country helped us identify the challenges that we discuss throughout the guide,” said Anupama Vaid, Founder & President of ParentSquare. “It’s through that experience that we were able to observe and devise strategies to help educators overcome some of those obstacles.”…Read More

National Engineering Week Observances in K-12 Classrooms Get a Boost from Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners

Silver Spring, MD (Thursday, February 17, 2022) — Discovery Education and leading social impact partners are offering engaging, no-cost digital learning resources to students, teachers, and families to support National Engineers Week nationwide. Established in 1951, National Engineers Week immerses students in the future of engineering and helps create pathways to careers. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.  

Taking place February 20-26 with theme “Reimagining the Possible” will help show students that innovative technologies and diverse leaders can create brighter futures for all through the power of engineering. To support this theme, Discovery Education is providing educators, students, and families with hundreds of no-cost resources tailored for any learning environment. Among the resources created in collaboration with leading social impact partners are:   

Virtual Field Trips  
The Future is Now Virtual Field Trip from Reach for the Sky – designed with Edge at Hudson Yards – takes students on a virtual adventure into NYC’s newest and most forward-thinking neighborhood and the incredible observation deck where marvels of modern engineering elevate the possibilities of everyday life to meet with various leaders about the STEM, history, and social impact of the new gravity-defying structure. …Read More

Many educators say video is more effective than text-based content

A new survey predicts that video in education will continue to grow, as a majority of educators say they believe video content is more engaging and effective than text-based content.

The State of Video in Education 2022 report from Kaltura assesses the growth and evolution of video’s impact on education over the past year and providing insights into the coming year. This is Kaltura’s eighth annual report on video in education and the first since vaccination programs for COVID-19 enabled many teachers and students to resume in-person education.

As the use of video in education has grown greatly over the past two years, the study’s goal was to provide answers to pressing questions facing educators about the long term value of video in education, namely, what are the benefits of using video for learning beyond the pandemic and how is video transforming education over the long term?…Read More

Honoring Black History Month by Celebrating Black STEM Leaders with Career Readiness Resources for Students from the STEM Careers Coalition

Silver Spring, MD (Tuesday, February 2, 2022) — The STEM Careers Coalition™ – the first-of-its-kind national STEM initiative powered by corporate leaders and anchored in schools by Discovery Education – is connecting students to a curated collection of dynamic careers content celebrating Black leaders in STEM during Black History Month and beyond. The array of on-demand resources and an engaging event both introduce and deepen students’ connections to STEM through real-world content. Discovery Education is the worldwide EdTech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. 

Building on the achievement of reaching 4.5 million students in its mission to support the next generation of diverse STEM solution-seekers, the Coalition presents a robust array of career profiles featuring diverse leaders across various industries and job roles. Included in the curated collection are career profile videos featuring Black leaders like science communications manager Nicole Epps at Procter and Gamble (P&G), Microsoft program manager Wadood Daoud, engineering project manager Antoine Sands at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), reliability engineer Korede Oluwasuji at Stanley Black & Decker, and many more. The videos are accompanied by career preparatory materials engaging students in the world of STEM by helping them focus on their career goals with simple strategies, roadmaps, and other easy-to-use digital tools. Learn more here

Students, educators, and families can take the learning further with a Hands-On STEM event on February 22nd featuring Coalition partners the American Petroleum Institute and P&G. The action-packed event empowers the next generation of STEM solution seekers with the skills they need to take on some of the planet’s greatest sustainability challenges. Host Brandon Okpalobi will introduce students to a local or global issue, explore why it is happening, connect with inspiring people working to find solutions, and help student solution seekers uncover their own potential with exciting Hands-On STEM activities. Register for the event here…Read More

3 resources for building engaging paperless lessons

As an inner-city U.S. History teacher of 17 years, I often reflect on my instructional practice in an effort to find new ways to improve. As I recently reviewed some of the videos I have of own instructional practice, I was struck by the massive amounts of paper-based assignments being handed out and collected.

While COVID-19 has forced educators to rapidly embrace digital resources, I have taken the opportunity to lean deeply into “green instruction” and attempt to go completely paperless. Thankfully, when the Duval County Public Schools went completely virtual in 2020, our district put into place a host of digital learning applications teachers could use to support blended instruction.  While my district has thankfully gone back to in-person teaching and learning, the resources we used to teach in the remote or hybrid environment are now supporting efforts to move to paperless teaching and learning.

A good example of what paperless lessons can look like in practice can be seen in how I teach my students about the history of D-Day. As the Team Historian for the Round Canopy Parachuting Team USA—an organization dedicated to honoring America’s paratrooper by performing the same types of parachute jumps that occurred on D-Day—I had access to a treasure trove of materials about the Allied landing in Europe.  Using these resources, I created a unique digital lesson on the history of D-Day using content from Discovery Education and the Airborne Special Operations Museum Foundation.…Read More