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.

VHS Learning Supports Students’ College and Career Readiness via Expanded Catalog and New “Exploring College & Careers” Infographic

Boston – April 14, 2022 – Giving students the chance to explore subjects beyond those in a standard core high school curriculum is a crucial step in readying them for college and careers. Students taking online high school courses through VHS Learning will start the 2022-2023 school year with many unique for-credit options, from Python Programming to Law, thanks to the nonprofit’s newly expanded course catalog. These new courses add to the more than 300 courses already available.

VHS Learning’s new courses for the 2022-2023 academic year include the following:

  • AP® Chinese Language and Culture
  • Business Law
  • Career Exploration and Readiness
  • Chinese 3
  • Civics and U.S. Government
  • Law and the U.S. Legal System
  • Python Programming
  • Spanish 1 Credit Recovery
  • Spanish 1 Summer
  • Studio Art
  • Veterinary Medicine

AP® Chinese Language and Culture runs 33 weeks, while the other new courses are semester-length and run for 15 weeks. These new courses enable students to discover subject areas that might not otherwise be available to them at a high school level.…Read More

Digital footprint? Try digital tattoo, experts say

In digital citizenship education, the idea of a digital footprint—the “tracks” students leave behind online as they interact on social media and put information online—is nothing new.

But lately, the digital footprint is being replaced by the digital tattoo, to emphasize to students the idea that any information they put online is permanent, just like a tattoo. Even if they think they’ve deleted it, it could have been saved or screen-shotted by others, or saved by the app or platform they use to post it.

Check out this digital citizenship infographic, and other digital citizenship information, from ISTE. These resources from last year’s Digital Citizenship Week may help, too.…Read More

Infographic: Why mobile technology is hurting some students

[Editor’s Note: Read “Infographic: The edtech challenges faced by immigrant students” here.]

Although most children in families earning below the median U.S. household income have internet access and devices that connect to it, they struggle with being “under-connected.”

Ninety-four percent of families surveyed by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, have some kind of internet access and most have at least one device connecting to the internet, but the quality or consistency of their internet access is lower than they would like it to be.…Read More

Yes, teens are addicted to mobile devices — but so are adults

Infographic shares realities behind today’s mobile device addiction

As kids get older, cries for strict limits on their screen time tend to taper off. By the time students hit high school, many are accustomed to texting in the hallways or even sneaking a peek at Facebook during dinner. But is the laissez-faire approach to device use actually enabling addictive behavior? Parents think so—and so do many of their kids, according to a recent Common Sense Media poll of 1,200 parents and teens centered around technology use and addiction.

Multitasking, toggling between multiple screens or between screens and people, which is common for kids doing homework or socializing, can impair their ability to lay down memories, to learn, and to work effectively, according to the report.

See also: Report: Teens feel ‘addicted’ to mobile devices…Read More

How do teachers use technology?

National data on all public school teachers reveals teacher technology use across the U.S.

teacher-technology-infographic In education it’s easy to get data from one school, district, or even state. But obtaining national data, encompassing most of the teachers in the U.S., is no easy feat, and breaking that data into technology use is even rarer. However, that’s exactly what the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) accomplished.

The data compiled by the NCES is one of the most comprehensive breakdowns of how teachers use technology in classrooms, from professional development to its use in parent and student communication. It also details the availability of the technology, and whether or not teachers make use of it.

What’s interesting to note, is that technology availability and use don’t differ as dramatically across geographically, and perhaps socio-economically, diverse schools and districts as many may think—perhaps computers really are ubiquitous these days.…Read More

What it takes to be a teacher

New Teacher Appreciation Week infographics visually represent the career of the 21st Century educator

teacher-appreciation-infographicMy Parisian mother was a teacher for a year, as a favor to my private school when its French teacher unexpectedly quit one summer. “Sure, I could teach,” was her casual answer.

Little did she, or I, know what was entailed in a teaching job. From late nights grading homework and designing fun, meaningful projects, to emptying the grocery store of Nutella and baguettes for ‘Fun Fridays,’ I had a hard time figuring out why all of a sudden my socks hadn’t been washed for a week and the once Julia Child-worthy dinners quickly became Lean Cuisines with a side of “there should be stuff in the fridge.” (Did I mention I’m an only child?)

Jokes aside, being a teacher is one of the most difficult, and one of the most under-appreciated, jobs in the U.S.…Read More

INFOGRAPHIC: STEM facts that should shock you

Is the U.S. really making progress in STEM? These statistics shed new light on the current crisis

STEM-infographic-factsBy now every stakeholder in education is aware of ‘the STEM crisis,’ but with an increased focus on K-12 STEM curriculum, are post-secondary students attaining STEM degrees? How did the Great Recession affect STEM jobs, if at all? New statistics help shed light on the current state of science, technology, engineering and math.

In this infographic, you’ll find the most up-to-date information on the projection of STEM careers in the near future, and how everything from K-12 class time, to taking AP exams, can affect these core subjects in higher education.

For example, did you know that in 2020 there will be 9.2 million STEM jobs, with 4.6 million in computing alone? Yet currently, only 31 percent of U.S. bachelor’s degrees were awarded in science and engineering.…Read More

INFOGRAPHIC: The influence of apps in education

Think it’s just a fad? Think again. Apps are quickly becoming education’s #1 teaching and learning resource.

apps-education-infographic

[Updated: Infographic now includes more accurate pricing information as well as current data on users of Google Apps for Education]

From lists to websites specifically devoted to app lists, and from using apps for school staff management to teaching eager students how to code, education is one of the largest consumers of mobile applications. But just how many apps do educators download? How many are available? Is Apple or Android more popular?…Read More

Infographic: Tech planning vs. zombies

Most people would rather face a zombie apocalypse than build and implement a district-wide technology initiative, according to Atomic Learning. Why? Because while ideas are exciting, translating these ideas into executable, strategic goals is not only daunting, but frightening. Check out this infographic with some fun facts…

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