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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.

The critical link between scholastic esports and career pathways education

When I first approached my administration back in August 2021 about implementing a scholastic esports program at school, I had imagined facing significant opposition to the idea, and, in preparation, had rehearsed my talking points and done my research in order to be persuasive.  I was prepared to talk about the connections to STEM learning, the opportunity to engage otherwise disengaged students, the inclusive nature of gaming, the research behind gamification and game-based learning, and more. 

None of that was necessary, however, as my school principal was extremely supportive in my effort to implement scholastic esports at the school and, more importantly, to use the program to teach students transferable skills while simultaneously encouraging them to explore related career pathways.

I began my esports program with a focus on social-emotional well-being using resources from NASEF to structure initial lessons.  Before jumping into the competitive aspects of esports and gaming, we spent three weeks discussing the importance of positive mental health and the negative effects associated with some online gaming cultures.  This included discussions of toxicity and online “trash talk” of opponents, as well as the impact on one’s emotional well-being and overall confidence as a result of being repeatedly subjected to such toxicity. …Read More

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SplashLearn Announces SpringBoard Math Challenge 2022 Winners

San Francisco, CA, 22 June 2022: SplashLearn, the game-based learning program used by millions of students, announced the winners of its massively popular annual competition – the SpringBoard Math Challenge. The 8th edition of the SpringBoard Math Challenge 2022 was rolled out for elementary classrooms across North America on March 1, 2022 (the competition ended on May 8, 2022). Over the duration of this 10-week math challenge, SpringBoard saw participation from over 400,000 students from 20,000+ classes!

Arpit Jain, CEO, SplashLearn, said “SpringBoard is over and I’m thrilled for all the winners. SplashLearn would like to congratulate each and every school, teacher, and student who participated in the competition. We are glad to be part of their journey as they collaborate and celebrate learning. The competition has motivated students to stay engaged and excited, which has always been our goal with everything we build at SplashLearn.”

SplashLearn announced Matthew Norris’ class from Sunset Park Elementary, North Carolina as the National Champions of SpringBoard Math Challenge 2022, US. The 1st runner-up was Lisa Machado’s class from Pacific Union School, California and the 2nd runner-up was Erin Noel’s class from Petersburg Elementary School, Illinois. Along with national winners, the top classes on the state leaderboards also won prizes. All the participating students will also receive a ‘Certificate of Participation’.…Read More

SplashLearn Rolls Out Dates For Its Much Loved ‘SpringBoard Math Challenge 2022’

San Francisco, CA, 23nd February 2022: The popular game-based learning program SplashLearn, today announced the 8th edition of its massively popular SpringBoard Math Challenge. The math competition is a calendar marked event and is highly anticipated by teachers across the US and Canada. SpringBoard Math Challenge 2022, open to all classes from Kindergarten to grade 5, will run from March 1 – May 8, 2022.

Participation is free for the SpringBoard Math Challenge, whichis designed to give teachers and schools the opportunity to engage their elementary school students through fun math challenges aligned to the curriculum. The 10-week challenge will allow students to master their math skills and enter the new class with confidence, whilst having fun. 

Joy Deep Nath, co-founder, SplashLearn, said“SpringBoard is a math competition, but it has achieved more than that. It has grown to be a platform for social and emotional bonding for both students and teachers alike. Of course, it also helps reduce the attainment gap and ensures students are prepared for the next grade. There is a growing appreciation for SpringBoard as an effective way to challenge students in a familiar, secure and friendly setting to practice with their peers which is paramount in the present times”.  …Read More

How scholastic esports helps students’ academic achievement

According to Newzoo, the live-streaming audience for games will hit 728.8 million viewers in 2021 globally. For reference, the NFL is projected to hit 141 million viewers.  Clearly, esports’ popularity is growing exponentially. However, many people are still unfamiliar with esports, especially the emergence of scholastic esports in education.

The utility of game-based learning in education has been known for a long time, but what is beginning to emerge is an understanding of how esports are having an impact in education. Due to the affordances of video games, esports promotes important qualities, forcing students to develop new skills and problem solve in novel situations bounded only by their imaginations.

Teachers who are pioneering esports programs can attest to this. Tyler Hahn, Director of the Cherokee Public Library in northwestern Iowa, has seen that “esports empowers learners to use the convergence [of] games and their own interests as a platform to acquire communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in all aspects of life”. His program is focused on developing college and career awareness services for middle school youth through esports and community engagement.…Read More

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Scholastic esports participation leads to substantial learning outcomes

According to Newzoo, the live-streaming audience for games will hit 728.8 million viewers in 2021 globally. For reference, the NFL is projected to hit 141 million viewers.  Clearly, esports’ popularity is growing exponentially. However, many people are still unfamiliar with esports, especially the emergence of scholastic esports in education.

The utility of game-based learning in education has been known for a long time, but what is beginning to emerge is an understanding of how esports are having an impact in education. Due to the affordances of video games, esports promotes important qualities, forcing students to develop new skills and problem solve in novel situations bounded only by their imaginations.

Teachers who are pioneering esports programs can attest to this. Tyler Hahn, Director of the Cherokee Public Library in northwestern Iowa, has seen that “esports empowers learners to use the convergence [of] games and their own interests as a platform to acquire communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in all aspects of life”. His program is focused on developing college and career awareness services for middle school youth through esports and community engagement.…Read More

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SplashLearn Announces Winners of SpringBoard Math Challenge 2021

Mega success with participation from over 600K students

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, May 26, 2021: SplashLearn, the game-based learning program used by millions of students, announced winners of its massively popular annual competition – the SpringBoard Math Challenge.

The 7th edition of SpringBoard Math Challenge 2021 was opened to elementary classrooms across North America on March 1, 2021 (the competition ended on May 9, 2021). Over the duration of this 10-week math challenge, SpringBoard attracted a record number of participating classes – over 600,000 students from 35,000 classes! …Read More

SplashLearn Raises $18 Million in Series C Funding Round From Owl Ventures & Accel

SplashLearn, the US-headquartered learning company began 2021 on a high note raising $18 million in Series C funding round led by Owl Ventures. San Francisco based Owl Ventures is the largest edtech sector-focused venture capital firm in the world. Accel, who earlier invested $7 million in Series B, also participated in this round.

SplashLearn was incorporated in 2010. The bulk of the business comes from the United States and currently, students in one in every three schools in the country use SplashLearn. SplashLearn is a game-based learning program that intelligently adapts to each child’s learning ability and helps them master skills at their own pace. Its curriculum covers pre-kindergarten through grade 5 for math and reading. With a strong focus on engagement and efficacy, it has over 4,000+ curriculum-aligned games and activities, designed to create an exciting learning experience for kids.

With the onset of Covid-19, SplashLearn saw a surge of almost 3x in adoption, as more students turned online and families began seeking educational support. In 2020, more than 10 million new users joined the SplashLearn program. The demand came in not only from the US but also the UK, Australia, and Canada. In the latter half of 2020, SplashLearn expanded its offering beyond the math program to include reading and also launched a personalized tutoring product, owing to growing demand from parents and teachers.…Read More

SplashLearn Announces ‘SpringBoard Math Challenge 2021’

The popular game-based learning program SplashLearn, announced the 7th edition of its massively popular SpringBoard Math Challenge today. The math competition is a calendar marked event and is highly anticipated by teachers across the US and Canada. SpringBoard Math Challenge 2021, open to all classes from grade 1 to grade 5, will run from March 1 – May 9, 2021.

“SpringBoard is unique because it brings students together in an environment that enables competition as well as collaboration. This year, it assumes a new meaning as different classes compete with each other but are also coming together, learning together while also having fun – something they haven’t been able to do this year,” said Joy Deep Nath, Co-founder, SplashLearn.

After creating an account on SplashLearn, teachers can enroll their classes for SpringBoard 2021. Once enrolled, all the math problems the students solve will earn them points, which will count towards the total class score. The best performing classes with the highest points win weekly prizes at both the state and national level. The grand winners will be announced at the end of SpringBoard. Prizes worth more than $20,000 are up for grabs this year.…Read More

Read to Lead free web-based curriculum

Read to Lead is a 100% free and proven blended learning solution that leverages game-based learning to help students in grades 5-9 build reading, writing, and leadership skills. Teachers across the country can use the “Be the Boss” learning experiences to engage youth and build core academic and leadership skills essential to their success in school today and the careers of tomorrow.

Read to Lead Website

The free web-based curriculum is modular so students can move at their own pace, logging in any time of day for any length of time. One episode, or one “day at work”, takes about 30 minutes to complete. In that time, students read 5,000 words, make 10 leadership decisions, and practice Reading Anchor Standards. If students read their way through 12 episodes, that’s equivalent to completing a middle school chapter book! The program includes engaging content, data dashboards, and hands-on activities.…Read More

I gamified my classroom and students are soaring

An average child today will have played 10,000 hours of video games before the age of 21. If playing games is part of our culture, even part of our identities, then it stands to reason that students can be highly motivated by game-based learning opportunities. So what if we make classrooms the game?

Gamification means using game-design principles such as cooperation, competition, character development, and point scoring in a non-gaming context. In the classroom, it can be as straightforward as transforming learning activities into games or a more subtle application of game-design principles to learning tasks.

Gamifying your classroom can be as simple or as complex as you choose to make it. Some teachers choose to create their own game for their classroom in order to customize features including backstory, characters, rules, and objectives. At the same time, there are many user-friendly apps that teachers use to simplify those features.…Read More

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