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.

Intelitek Opens the First of 20 STEAM centers in the Republic of Ghana

DERRY, N.H. – In partnership with the Ghanaian Ministry of Education and Israeli government, Intelitek and its parent company, Robogroup T.E.K. Ltd., have opened the first of 20 planned STEAM (Science, Technology, Arts, Engineering and Mathematics) centers in the Republic of Ghana. Located at the Accra High Senior High School, the new center is part of the ministry’s initiative to increase student interest and instructional quality around STEAM. Students ages 6-14 will be trained to use advanced STEAM technology in a modern interactive learning environment.

The Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education held a commissioning ceremony for the Accra High STEAM Centre in November. Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, commended all involved for their commitment to the project and called the center a testimony of the government’s commitment to STEAM education.

“We can become a developed nation,” Dr. Adutwum said, “but it is going to emanate from how well we focus ourselves, how we remain determined and focused in the midst of challenges and say to ourselves we can.”  …Read More

NASA’s latest mission can fuel STEM engagement

STEM education is in crisis in the United States. It’s predicted there will be 3.5 million STEM jobs in the U.S. by 2025–incredible news if not for the fact experts believe at least 2 million of those jobs will go unfilled.

However, the excitement of our nation’s return to the moon could help resolve this. NASA’s Artemis mission just launched its first of three rockets after several months of delays. The goal is to ultimately return humans to the Moon, including the first woman and the first person of color, by 2025. It’s an exciting time for space exploration and perhaps the launch pad American educators and employers need to renew students’ interest in STEM education–and in turn, create a pipeline of new technical talent in the U.S.

The Artemis Mission can bring students within the ‘orbit’ of NASA, so that it’s tangible for them. This is an opportunity, not just for educators, but for our whole community to harness the excitement like our nation did with Apollo decades ago and remain competitive with STEM powerhouses, like China and India.…Read More

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Gen Z students want STEM careers

Many 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

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Reading Horizons Launches Free Online Community to Support the Science of Reading

KAYSVILLE, UT — Reading Horizons, a company committed to partnering with educators to eradicate illiteracy, has launched the Science of Reading Collective, a free, online community designed to help teachers confidently and effectively implement the science of reading.

The science of reading identifies the most useful techniques for teaching and learning to read, but adopting a new approach can feel overwhelming, no matter how beneficial it will be for students. To support educators with any level of experience and an interest in teaching reading regardless of grade, the Science of Reading Collective is offering free access to:

  • Bite-sized practical lessons and professional learning events;
  • Monthly Q&A sessions with experts in the science of reading; and
  • An always-open forum for discussion with peers.

“Our mission is to empower educators to eradicate literacy,” said Tyson Smith, the CEO of Reading Horizons. “That’s why we’re offering free access to the Science of Reading Collective to all educators, whether they invest in our products or not. The science of reading comprises the most powerful tools for teaching students to read, and we believe that teachers deserve every advantage available to face the challenges of illiteracy.”…Read More

4 tips for online learning success in schools

Our school has been using online learning since the mid-1990s when we became one of the first to sign up for VHS Learning. Since then, we’ve expanded our use of the program and involved more students.

Here are four tips for success that I’ve learned along the way, and that other schools can use to get the most out of their online learning partners:

1. Involve all types of learners. Online learning isn’t just for high-performing students who want to earn more credits or expand their learning horizons. We use it for learners of all levels, and it can serve as a successful alternative for struggling students, allow students to explore specific areas of interest not offered at our school, and for those who want to take more Advanced Placement (AP) courses than we offer on campus. I always have several students who are interested in AP classes that we don’t offer at our school, but I also make sure that I keep half of the online semester elective courses open for students who are interested. I want to make sure that students at different levels have an opportunity to learn online as well.…Read More

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YouScience Releases National Student Ability Report, Indicates Widening Gap Between Students Aptitudes and Workforce Needs

AMERICAN FORK, Utah, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —  YouScience, the leading student engagement platform that leverages data science to improve student success and bridge the divide between education and careers, today announced the release of a new national report, ” State of The Future U.S. Workforce: Student Ability Report.” The findings reveal that students have the aptitudes, or talent, to excel in today’s in-demand jobs, but often lack interest in these fields, in some cases due to lack of knowledge about available careers. There is a critical need to address this career exposure gap. In doing so it can help engage students towards an educational pathway that results in career success.

The Report findings are an analysis of anonymized data from the YouScience Discovery aptitude assessment taken by 239,843 male and female U.S. high school students during the 2021 school year. The students represent all 50 states. YouScience Discovery uses psychometrically valid brain game-like exercises combined with an inventory of interests to uncover students’ aptitudes. Unlike interest-only surveys, aptitude assessments measure abilities, such as numerical reasoning, comprehension, spatial visualization, inductive reasoning, and sequential reasoning, to show how a person performs in given areas. Moreover, unlike interests, aptitudes don’t change and stabilize around age 14,  according to research. 

“This latest data paints a critical picture for industry and education: the skills gap is widening. Plus, it is widening at an increasingly rapid rate which impacts every aspect of our economy. Students must be better aligned to and prepared for the future needs of our workforce. We know students have the talent, but they are not being adequately exposed to the career pathways wherein they possess natural skills and where they have the most potential to thrive,” said Edson Barton, Founder and CEO of YouScience. “The good news is there is still time to close the gap and help all students become more engaged in their educational journeys and futures through early aptitude assessment and proper career guidance and exploration.”…Read More

How teachers can make history current this Presidents’ Day

Social Studies teachers seem to have an impossible challenge: take events that happened hundreds or thousands of years ago and make them relevant to today’s teens. That explains why only about half of middle and high school students say they are engaged in what they are learning in school most of the time, according to recent research from Project Tomorrow.

Presidents’ Day is a great opportunity to turn this around. The key is understanding what gets students jazzed and adapting lessons to fit their preferences.

There are many reasons for the lack of interest in history and other subjects. Teachers worry that it’s hard for them to compete with smartphones and the type of entertaining content that students can access at any time, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. …Read More

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Unistellar Research: Got Questions About Outer Space? Forget Google—Just Ask Your Kids

San Francisco—February 3, 2022— A pathbreaking study just confirmed something that many parents already suspected: young Americans have a voracious interest in outer space, already know a lot about it, and are eager to learn much more. But while most parents are excited to know that their kids are interested in space, and are eager to encourage that interest, they’re unsure about how to do it. The study was released today by Unistellar, the pioneer of New Astronomy, whose smart telescopes give space lovers novel tools so they can explore the cosmos in new and exciting ways. The survey queried more than 500 American parents with children ages 7-14.

Our kids have their eyes on the skies

According to parents, there are a vast number of young space lovers in the U.S.—93% of American kids are interested in outer space, and 84% became even more interested in the subject over the last year. The numbers tell a dramatic story:…Read More

The State of Utah Empowers Educators to Close the Career Exposure Gap for Students Across the State

AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —  YouScience, the only fully-integrated platform provider of highly accurate aptitude-based assessments, personalized career guidance, and industry-recognized certifications, today announced the results of its new statewide talent report of Utah middle school and high school students, ” 2022 Utah Talent Report.” These initial findings reveal that while Utah students possess the necessary talents needed for Utah’s in-demand careers, many students do not show interest in these areas. The results point to a potential “career exposure gap,” meaning that students who are naturally talented in areas such as computers and technology and manufacturing show little interest in these fields, often because of lack of exposure to existing opportunities and awareness of their own abilities.

YouScience analyzed the anonymized results of more than 23,000 Utah middle and high school students through its  YouScience Discovery aptitude-based career guidance assessment, which was made available to Utah schools statewide for the 2021–2022 school year. The findings showed that across all grade levels there was a mismatch between the careers students were interested in and the careers for which they had aptitudes.

Utah educators and educational stakeholders are leading the charge in working to close this gap by using YouScience Discovery, which assesses each student’s natural talents (aptitudes) and strengths and then introduces the students to a wide variety of related career opportunities. YouScience Discovery provides students with insights into how their natural talents translate to careers where they are naturally wired to perform well and find satisfaction, and can often be more successful. Natural talents can be detected as early as middle school (aptitudes solidify by age 14), providing educators and parents time to ensure students build on their natural strengths through course selection and, ultimately, college and career choices.…Read More

Discovery Education and Social Impact Partners Support Families with New No-Cost Resources to Ignite Student Interest in STEM

Silver Spring, Md. (Thursday, September 16, 2021) — To accelerate student learning and ignite student curiosity in STEM, Discovery Education presents parents and guardians an array of no-cost dynamic digital resources. This selection of content, created in partnership with leading corporate and community partners, inspires families to learn together by exploring the world around them. Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art K-12 digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place.

The following selection of new no-cost digital resources added to existing programs connect families to the wide world of STEM learning by bringing STEM learning home:

Science at Home with 3M…Read More