How 5 student entrepreneurs built a mental health tool for their peers

In 2020, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing reported that one in six children under the age of 18 experiences a mental health disorder each year. The pandemic has drastically changed the lives of high schoolers as academic institutions shifted to online or hybrid learning, leading to increased feelings of anxiety, depression, and isolation.

To prove that data point for ourselves, we conducted our own mental health survey, which revealed 100 percent of respondents knew someone suffering from a mental health-related illness. Yes, 100 percent.

That’s when we discovered the need to develop a new peer-led support tool for students who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Concerned by watching our peers drown in anxiety and depression, we decided to create an accessible and supportive safe space for our classmates and for our own mental health research.…Read More

ASU Prep Digital Forges Partnership With Ohio Charter School Network To Reduce Student Learning Loss Due To Covid Quarantine

ARIZONA AND OHIO (Sept. 16, 2021) – After powering through a year or more of remote and hybrid learning due to COVID, a significant share of traditional school districts are returning to familiar in-person models this school year. Even so, the advantages of online learning remain clear, particularly in the event of student quarantines. In Cleveland, one forward-thinking network of schools is offering students and their families a first-of-its-kind solution to keep students up to date with the school content and curriculum they have the potential to miss because of a COVID quarantine.

A new offering called Learning Under Quarantine from ASU Prep Digital, envisioned for Breakthrough Public Schools in collaboration with The 305 Education Group, is now in place. To prevent COVID learning losses, ASU Prep Digital provides online instructors to teach Cleveland-area students who miss in-person learning due to a 10-day quarantine. This innovative approach increases teaching and learning time simultaneously, while providing a practical solution for schools that simply do not have the human or financial resources to operate dual in-person and online models.

During the 2020-21 school year, Breakthrough – one of the highest-performing public, nonprofit charter school networks in Ohio – only operated remotely. However, for the 2021-22 academic year, network leaders knew changes were necessary.…Read More

3 ways technology paves the way for more student engagement

As we enter the 2021-2022 school year, many of us are still reeling from the last one. Last year was defined by massive changes to the learning landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders meant that students and teachers alike were forced to shift to online or hybrid learning overnight. Now, more than a year later, educators, students, and parents have been able to reflect on their experiences with online learning. 

While many have faced obstacles in integrating distance learning—any abrupt change operates on a learning curve—it’s also become clear that technology-based learning is essential to education to allow students to learn from wherever they are and prepare them for the future. These key benefits allow us to engage students and bring them in as active participants in their continued education more fully. 

Allow learning to happen anywhere…Read More

7 eye-opening back-to-school predictions

This back-to-school season is unlike any before it. Not only are many students heading back to full in-person learning after more than a year of virtual or hybrid learning, they’re doing it in the middle of COVID-19 surges nationwide.

The pandemic brought with it a renewed focus on glaring equity gaps, the need for strong cybersecurity practices, and social-emotional support for students and educators.

Here, educators share some of their back-to-school predictions, including trends and practices they expect to see as the school year progresses.…Read More

The role of no-code in back-to-school safety

The next challenge for educators as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic is safely returning to in-person learning. After over a year of forced shutdowns and adoption of an online workforce and remote learning, the logistics of safely returning to in-person learning are overwhelming. The challenge is even greater with the Delta variant of COVID-19 becoming more prolific, and K-12 districts, colleges, and universities are racing against the clock to figure out what their approach will be this coming fall.

Whether schools opt for a phased approach, stay with hybrid learning or proceed with fully in-person classes, the goal is the same: to safely, quickly and efficiently return to school. Further, higher education institutions have to be cognizant of their impact on the larger community. Colleges and universities are a hub–with thousands traveling to and from campus each year, mingling, cohabitating and more, what happens within an academic institution may reach far beyond the campus.

So what can be done to help leaders navigate these challenges? Enter no-code. The past year has highlighted the need for agility and the ability to adapt when change and disruption happens – which, as we know, is a constant. The adoption of no-code processes is vital to empowering organizations to adapt with change.…Read More

9 social-emotional learning tips to take into this school year

Following the 2020-2021 school year, educators can look back with pride–and exhaustion–on all we have learned. We have learned to teach in brand new modalities like remote and hybrid learning, foster more student independence, and adapt instruction to a huge variety of learning needs.

But one of the most important lessons to come from this pandemic year is a greater focus on the importance of social-emotional learning.

Throughout this school year, educators, coaches, and school leaders have engaged in virtual professional development and one-on-one coaching sessions to hone their social-emotional learning skills and knowledge to meet the needs of all learners. The following are some of the most effective strategies all educators should take within them into next year.…Read More

Mississippi Approves Classworks® as Evidence-Based Academic Intervention

Aug 12, 2021- Duluth, GA – Classworks®, a best-in-class online intervention solution, is one of the first programs approved as an evidence-based intervention by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) Office of Student Intervention Services. The comprehensive MTSS solution joins Classworks Universal Screener in the company’s MDE-approved offerings.

MDE’s Office of Intervention Services solicited a request for qualifications for a new, evidence-based academic interventions list of programs that address the needs for students in Tier II and Tier III, and support students learning face-to-face, virtual, or in hybrid learning environments. The purpose of the list is to provide Mississippi districts with state-approved, evidence-based interventions that include effective instructional strategies and research-based teaching methodologies.

“Classworks has been supporting Mississippi educators and students for over 15 years, and we’re excited to see our evidence-based solution added to their approved interventions list. This year, more than ever, districts need simple but effective MTSS processes,” says Melissa Sinunu, Classworks president and COO. “Teachers must address unfinished learning as well as larger populations of students in Tiers II and III. Classworks’ streamlined intervention program supports teachers with identifying deficits, providing the right interventions, monitoring progress, and addressing students’ social and emotional learning needs.”
Classworks’ streamlined intervention program supports teachers with identifying deficits, providing the right interventions, monitoring progress, and addressing students’ social and emotional learning needs.”…Read More

How to strengthen school IT for continued hybrid learning

With school out and summer break here, administrators are planning for the fall – but much still remains up in the air. Despite rising vaccinations, it seems inevitable that just like hybrid enterprises, hybrid schooling will continue to be the new normal. So how can district IT teams continue to handle the infrastructure impact that hybrid environments create?

In 2020, COVID-19 forced much of the K-12 world to adapt to a remote-first learning environment. With the nation re-opening amid rising vaccinations, hybrid models for workplaces are now becoming the new norm. Looking forward to back-to-school season, it is quite likely that we will see the same option continue for students for the foreseeable future.

These virtual models, though, have directly impacted school IT infrastructure in unanticipated ways. To ensure operational longevity and prevent any child from falling behind, it’s never been more critical for schools to reevaluate their IT infrastructure.…Read More

5 fun tools for student collaboration

During the pandemic, side-by-side student collaboration took a back seat to online learning and distanced in-person or hybrid learning.

But student collaboration is a cornerstone of 21st-century skill-building, teaching students how to listen to others, build off of ideas that aren’t their own, compromise, and work as a team.

If you’re looking for a new student collaboration tool for your school team to try, or to try in your own classroom, take a look at the tools below.…Read More

5 learning apps for students with special needs

Millions of students transitioned to online and hybrid learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. While that transition was relatively easy for some students, many–including students with special needs–found it difficult or impossible to access in-school services and therapies.

While many schools returned to full in-person learning or hybrid learning, COVID-related learning loss is still a concern. There are a number of apps and online tools that can help parents and caregivers of students with special needs fill the gaps as much as possible during the summer months.

These apps can be especially helpful for parents looking for easy-to-access resources even after in-person learning resumes in the fall.…Read More

Instructure Launches Canvas for Elementary User Experience for Back to School

SALT LAKE CITYJune 28, 2021 — Today at ISTE Live 2021, Instructure launched the Canvas for Elementary user experience, a combination of features that make Canvas more user-friendly for elementary students. The new features were developed using feedback collected during the pandemic and thoughtfully designed to more closely mimic an elementary school classroom, supporting both in-person and hybrid learning environments. Among the updates is a new dashboard, subject cards and schedule to orient the student when logging in and help them focus on what needs to be accomplished. 

“The most important factor in any educational setting is high-quality teaching,” said Trenton Goble, VP of K-12 Strategy at Instructure. “Since hybrid learning will continue to impact schools, our job is to develop resources that enable that amazing teaching and engagement to shine through in a variety of environments. We know that younger learners have different needs and priorities, and this new bundle of features makes it even easier for elementary age students to use Canvas.”

Last week Instructure released new research that explores how the pandemic has impacted K-12 education. The report found that hybrid teaching and learning will continue. 81% of educators say that technology will become increasingly important in teaching and learning moving forward, and 67% believe remote learning will impact classroom practices in the future. At the same time fostering and maintaining student engagement is critical, with 92% of teachers ranking it as the number one priority. …Read More

Yamaha UC Partners With HuddleCamHD to Enable Clear Collaboration in Classrooms

SUDBURY, Mass. — June 10, 2021Yamaha Unified Communications is teaming up with HuddleCamHD to further enhance Yamaha’s portfolio of scalable, high-quality collaboration solutions with easy-to-deploy audio and video product bundles perfectly suited for meeting and learning spaces. Adapted for today’s evolving video conferencing and hybrid learning requirements, the bundles are designed to fit a variety of small, medium, and large meeting and teaching environments and budgets, incorporating Yamaha’s portable YVC-330 USB & Bluetooth® speakerphone, YVC-1000 USB & Bluetooth conference phone, or Yamaha’s HD Single and HD Dual wireless microphone systems.

“Great meetings and learning sessions are a result of best-in-class audio and video solutions that enable clear, distraction-free conversation,” said Michelle Baeza, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Yamaha Unified Communications. “By partnering with HuddleCamHD, we are providing our customers with more interoperable options that are easy to deploy and incredibly simple to use to ensure flawless collaboration in any room.”

Yamaha’s rich history delivering audio hardware and HuddleCamHD’s innovations in video conferencing will provide customers with scalable solutions for video conferencing, hybrid learning, and other communications from the home, office, or event space. For small rooms, the portable YVC-330 USB & Bluetooth speakerphone with SoundCap ensures the best-quality audio, no matter where a meeting happens. The YVC-1000 conference phone is an intuitive communications system featuring separate microphone and speaker units for flexibility during audio, web, and video conferencing in medium to large spaces. For large rooms such as boardrooms, lecture halls, or auditoriums, the HD Single and HD Dual wireless microphone system features a portable plug-and-play design with simple setup and produces superior HD sound quality. …Read More