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.

Believing the Hope, Not the Hype, of AI

How much longer will our newsfeeds be stuffed with headlines either extolling AI as the greatest thing since sliced bread or damning it as a sign of the coming education apocalypse? It’s going to be a while I’m afraid. In the meantime, I suggest you listen to this insightful interview with Dr. Eric Wang, Vice President of AI at Turnitin, who puts much of the hoopla into context. 

Turnitin has been working in AI since before it was cool—25 years this month. The company’s tools are built into popular learning management system (LMS) workflows across 16,000 institutions, in 140 countries, and used by over 40 million students at both the k-12 and higher ed level. In April 2023, Turnitin launched its AI writing detection tool, which as of July 2023 has processed over 76 million paper submissions.

Eric conjures a future where AI detection tools in education serve as a means to foster learning and growth rather than a gotcha app meant to punish or shame students. The goal is not to discourage AI use but to teach students how to use the tool effectively while valuing authentic human work. Click below to listen and scroll down for some takeaways and other resources offered by Turnitin.…Read More

How to prioritize the future of historically underserved learners

This week the collaborative funding initiative Catalyze opened grant applications for round three of the Catalyze Challenge. This new round of grants aims to reimagine the connections between K-12 education, higher education, and careers for learners aged 11-22 — helping them to build their identities, self-efficacy, and career readiness. eSchool had the chance to dig into details with Michelle Cheang, Ed.D., Director at Catalyze. Scroll down for details on who should apply and how education institutions at all levels can ultimately benefit.

Building on key learnings from two prior challenges, this round of grants will surface and fund innovations in two primary themes — career exploration for young adolescents and activating employer partnerships.

The grant application period opened July 31, 2023, and closes September 22, 2023, with grant awards announced in December 2023. This round of funding will award up to 25 pilot grants between $100,000 and $250,000 to power 6-12 months of exploratory work and early implementation.…Read More

The Social Institute Expands Staff to Meet Growing Need for Nurturing Student Well-Being, Including Positive Social Media & Tech Education

Durham, N.C. – The Social Institute today announced Chris Valada has joined the company as Head of New Partnerships, leading a team of representatives from across the country to bring positive social media and tech education to more schools. Valada spent his career in EdTech sales and has worked across K-12 and Higher Ed.  

“Chris joins us at an important moment for our company,” said The Social Institute Founder and CEO Laura Tierney. “Forward-thinking educators know that social media goes hand-in-hand with student well-being — and now that students are online more than ever, the need for positive social media education has never been greater,” she continued. “Chris has the background, skills, and experience to lead us into 2023 and beyond.” 

The Social Institute also announced that Andrea Jenkins has been promoted to Director of Partner Success. In this role, Andrea will lead the Partner Success team with the goal of continuing to expand district partnerships. Jenkins, a former educator, has been with the company for nearly two years in the sales department. …Read More

Gen Z students are aiming for STEM careers

A majority of high school and college students chose STEM as their No. 1 preferred career path, according to a survey of 11,495 Gen Z students conducted by the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS).

The 2022 Career Interest Survey gives insights into what motivates an adventurous, civic-minded, concerned, vocal, tech-savvy, emerging workforce.

NSHSS is an academic honor society that recognizes and serves high-achieving student scholars in more than 26,000 high schools across 170 countries.…Read More

Territorium Launches First AI-Powered Comprehensive Learner Record for Higher Ed and K-12, TerritoriumCLR™

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 3, 2021 —  Territorium, a global education technology leader with 9 million users worldwide, today announced the U.S. launch of its AI-powered, cloud-based Comprehensive Learner Record. TerritoriumCLR is certified by  IMS Global Learning Consortium. TerritoriumCLR captures all aspects of learning and activities, in school and in life, into a complete competencies and skills transcript, empowering students to optimize their education and career.

By harnessing AI and machine learning, TerritoriumCLR is able to rapidly map and analyze every learning experience inside and outside the classroom into the granular competencies and skills that reflect true learning – not just the courses and grades on a traditional transcript. For higher ed students, TerritoriumCLR recommends courses, learning experiences, and job pathways tailored to each student’s interests and needs. For K-12 students and administrators, TerritoriumCLR ensures the State’s education standards are being followed and the necessary skills are being acquired to provide an accurate measure of competency-based learning.

“We are thrilled to bring our Comprehensive Learner Record to U.S. students,” said Guillermo Elizondo, Cofounder and CEO of Territorium. “By identifying skills gaps at all ages, students, parents, teachers and administrators all have the needed information to ensure proper learning is happening and make any corrections early and in a highly personalized manner. As the future of work changes, the need to understand skills and competencies is becoming increasingly critical. TerritoriumCLR eliminates the guesswork for all involved.”…Read More

Free At-Home Learning Content During Crisis

WESTCHESTER, IL, Mar 18, 2020 – Follett, a trusted partner to PreK-12 schools, public libraries, and college campuses for more than 145 years, is working with customers to ensure they can quickly and easily use the company’s wide range of eLearning solutions and access to content as more students shift to learning from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“As we all navigate through these unprecedented times, we want educators and parents to know they’re not alone,” said Patrick Connolly, President and CEO of Follett Corporation. “Follett offers a variety of eLearning products for both PreK-12 and Higher Ed that can be quickly and easily accessed. These are solutions customers already have access to, and our goal is to ensure they know about all their options to help with the continuity of education.”

Here is a closer look at Follett’s company-wide eLearning resources that are being made available at libraries, schools and universities in communities across North America affected by the COVID-19 virus:…Read More

Why lifelong learning matters for K-12 students

In an ever-changing global workforce, today’s students are developing skills to make them productive members of tomorrow’s workforce. Perhaps one of the most important skills they’ll learn is lifelong learning.

A new report highlights lifelong learning’s prominent part in higher ed and the workforce, but the report’s recommendations are also important for K-12 educators and learners.

Related content: 5 strategies to navigate the future of learning…Read More

How to balance work and study as a teacher

According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Learning Report, 93 per cent of employees would stay at a company longer if their employers invested in their careers. Continued professional development (CPD) is something that a lot of employees, including teachers, are keen to invest their time and energy into.

CPD opportunities for teachers might include: :

  • Workshops, seminars and conferences
  • Online learning
  • Professional reading
  • Mentoring others
  • Formal study.

Going back to study while teaching can not only be fulfilling, but add sought-after skills and qualifications to your CV. Despite this, one challenge for those considering further study is the delicate work and study balance. To maintain this balance, there are some tips you can employ to ensure both your classroom work and study to thrive.…Read More

Student: How a virtual education prepared me for higher ed

For home-schooled students like me, the process of earning a high school diploma is a bit more complicated than it is for “traditional” pupils. Those complications extend into the higher education world where some colleges accept home-school diplomas and others require GED® test scores as part of the application process.

For me, those GED requirements weren’t a problem. I used the Virtual High School (VHS), a non-profit global collaborative of schools committed to expanding educational opportunities for students and educators, for the majority of my studies, and those courses helped prepare me above and beyond for the GED.

In fact, I scored above the 90th percentile on all of them.…Read More