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.

School libraries are disappearing when students need them most

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

In 2014, I got my first teaching job at a brand new high school in Detroit. The building had once been an elementary school with a fully functioning library. There was even a built-in card catalog. Now, though, it was empty, and the position of librarian didn’t exist. When we held a community book drive to fill the shelves, we ended up with a ramshackle collection of old, random, age-inappropriate books, some print encyclopedias, and an eclectic mix of cookbooks.

Two years later, that room had become a dumping ground for unused supplies, and the school football team frequently used it as a meeting space. The bookshelves were disorganized, their alphabetization long ago destroyed. In fact, not a single area school I have worked at in the past nine years has had a functioning library. …Read More

Vector Solutions Releases New Student Safety & Wellness Courses to Address Topics of Concern for Students Today

Tampa, FL – June 16, 2022 – Vector Solutions, the leading provider of training and software solutions to help schools make their operations and communities safer, smarter, and better, has created a new set of online courses for students focusing on important safety topics such as trauma awareness, dating violence, human trafficking, and more. The courses are the latest addition to Vector’s award-winning library of Student Safety & Wellness Courses.

The short online video lessons help schools teach and promote discussions about important safety, wellness, and social and emotional learning topics that have a big impact on individual students and the school community. The new collection of courses includes:

  • Active Assailant Preparedness
  • Dating Violence Awareness
  • Human Trafficking Awareness
  • Sexual Abuse Awareness
  • Trauma Awareness

Each course is broken into short, age-appropriate modules for grades 9-12 and grades 6-8. The courses will be available for schools to implement at the start of the 2022-2023 school year.…Read More

Gale’s Political Extremism and Radicalism Series Wins 2022 SIIA CODiE Award

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – June 16, 2022 – Gale, part of Cengage Group, is thrilled to announce that its Political Extremism and Radicalism series has been named the best Library Reference or Educational Database of 2022 as part of the annual SIIA CODiE Awards. The CODiE Awards recognize the companies producing the most innovative education technology products across the country and around the world. This marks the second consecutive year that a Gale Primary Sources archive has won a CODiE award in the best Library Reference or Educational Database category.

“We are honored to have Political Extremism and Radicalism recognized as a CODiE award winner,” said Terry Robinson, senior vice president of Gale global academic. “Our mission is to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights and this recognition is further confirmation of the innovation and value Gale Primary Sources brings to enriching the research experience for students and faculty.”

Political Extremism and Radicalism is an award-winning archive series available on the Gale Primary Sources platform that provides insight on unorthodox groups and movements from both the right and left of the political spectrum through providing digital access to rare, hard-to-find primary sources supporting the study of activism, cultural studies, political science, policy studies, gender studies, sexuality, race, religion, civil rights and many other related areas of research. Scholars and researchers can analyze the rhetoric, ideology and evolution of fringe, right and left-wing groups to better understand their impact on today’s mainstream politics as well as broader society.…Read More

K-12 Students Access 100 Million+ Digital Books from their Schools with Sora Reading App

CLEVELAND – June 7, 2022 – Digital book access for reading and listening for K-12 students has reached a milestone. Students using the free Sora student reading app have now accessed more than 100 million books from their school’s digital collections since Sora launched in 2018. Sora is the award-winning student reading app available in more than 53,000 schools worldwide.

As schools transition to increased use of digital books and reading technologies, educators and school librarians are creatively integrating digital titles and Sora into curriculum programs and pleasure reading. For example, educators use Sora to connect students with their local public library for additional age-appropriate materials through Public Library CONNECT. Also, educators can create their own digital book clubs for students as well as encourage involvement in regional or global programs. Finally, educators can serve those with print or reading disabilities effectively via digital audio, and encourage students to spend more time reading by leveraging Sora’s badges and achievements.

Through Sora and a school-managed account, students have convenient and safe access to age-appropriate ebooks, audiobooks, digital comic books and more from their school’s hand-selected collection. Noteworthy data regarding the 100 million books milestone:…Read More

4 innovative online learning practices educators should keep

Over the past two years, education systems across the nation have been challenged with oscillating shifts, from classroom learning to remote and online learning, and even hybrid approaches, due to COVID-19 precautions and responsiveness. Amid these ongoing changes, educators reimagined the ways they engaged with their students, and many turned to museums and other community organizations for support to better understand how to leverage our collections, educational resources, and expertise creatively for their students.

For the community of more than 300 museum educators at the Smithsonian, the sudden urgency to scrap our traditional modus operandi unleashed new levels of innovation. We reimagined how to share a vast library of artifacts, artworks, specimens, and content expertise with our audiences to best meet their teaching and learning needs.

As teachers and students return to schools and museums searching for a “new normal,” below are some practices from the past two years I know we’ll keep.…Read More

PresenceLearning and Highlights Partner To Support Children With Special Needs

NEW YORK, April 21, 2022— PresenceLearning, the leading provider of online therapy solutions for schools and clinicians, unveiled a new strategic partnership with Highlights, the children’s media brand known for their beloved Highlights magazine.  

This new collaboration marks Highlights’ first entry into online therapy in support of children with special needs. Speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and behavioral and mental health professionals using PresenceLearning’s proprietary platform now have access to an enhanced digital library featuring a curated collection of more than 160 content pieces from Highlights’ extensive catalog. This new content includes games, stories, and activities designed to support each child’s therapy goals for reading comprehension, handwriting, fine motor, and problem-solving skills. It also promotes social and emotional health to support the whole child by educating and nurturing well-rounded and confident children—a core philosophy of Highlights.

When children carry over content experiences from their therapy sessions into their play at home, it helps them to make connections and practice skills that can support their progress. By incorporating familiar characters and fun, purposeful activities into therapy, clinicians have the potential to create more dynamic therapy experiences. With the addition of Highlights content, PresenceLearning continues to invest in brand name, digital content that helps providers personalize and enliven each student’s session. …Read More

Labster Secures $47M in New Funding Tranche to Expand Global Opportunities for Virtual Science Laboratory Simulations

COPENHAGEN and BOSTON – April 6, 2022 – Labster ( www.labster.com), the world’s leading platform for virtual labs and interactive science, has raised $47 million in additional funding to support massive growth opportunities worldwide. This new capital infusion will enable Labster to further develop in Europe and the United States and to establish itself within Asia and Latin America. By investing more funds into its library of science simulations and expanding its reach to younger students and adult workforce skills training, Labster will be able to serve 100 million students around the world through its institutional and government partnerships.

Total investment in Labster now stands at $147 million. This new financing tranche is sourced from new investors: Sofina Group and Pirate Impact, along with fresh infusions from existing investors: Owl Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, EduCapital, NPF Technologies, and GGV Capital. They are joining the Series C round announced in 2021 led by Andreessen Horowitz. Additional investors included Balderton Capital, Northzone, Swisscom Ventures, and David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies.

“As a contributor to sustainable development, Sofina is proud to support Labster’s vision of empowering millions of students with an engaging STEM learning experience,” said Bertrand Fawe, investment manager at Sofina Group. “The use of immersive virtual reality technology will continue to play a growing role in the delivery of education.”…Read More

TeachingBooks Resources Available to 24 Million Readers with New Statewide Library Systems Added in 2021

CLEVELAND – February 3, 2022 – TeachingBooks, an online database of supplemental resources that enrich children’s and young adult books, had a busy year in 2021. In addition to being acquired by OverDrive in October, TeachingBooks announced the signing of four new statewide licenses and one territory license in 2021. TeachingBooks also was awarded the “Common Sense Selection for Learning” as a best-in-class resource for both students and educators.

With the addition of the new licenses, more than 24 million readers at over 55,000 schools, public libraries and higher education institutions can now access TeachingBooks’ curated educational materials. TeachingBooks deepens the learning experience by “bringing books to life” through their database of over 270,000 digital resources, including author interviews, video book trailers, discussion questions and literary games.

The five new licenses signed in 2021 represent more than 7,300 institutions and 2.6 million students. These library systems include:…Read More

Salt Lake City School District Partners with Vector Solutions to Manage its Staff Training

Tampa, FL – February 3, 2022 – The Salt Lake City School District in Utah has adopted Vector Training (formerly SafeSchools), an award-winning online training management system  and Vector Solutions’ online video training courses to help the district manage staff training and compliance for its 4,000 employees. The switch to Vector Training helps the district address federal, state and local compliance training requirements, along with district-specific policies.

Vector’s Safety & Compliance course library includes expert-authored online courses such as Bullying Recognition and Response, Active Shooter, Accident Investigation, Athletic Liability, Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Prevention, and more. Vector Training helps districts simplify training management and comply with important state and federal training mandates, including OSHA, Title IX, Mandatory Reporting, Youth Suicide Prevention, Bullying and FERPA.

The Salt Lake City School District selected Vector Training after an extensive vetting process. Among its requirements were:…Read More

Gale In Context: For Educators Receives Product of the Year in 2022 Modern Library Awards From LibraryWorks

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – January 14, 2022 – Gale, part of Cengage Group, is thrilled to announce that Gale In Context: For Educators has been named Product of the Year in LibraryWorks’ eighth annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs). The MLAs were created to recognize the most elite products and services that serve the library industry.

Products and services were submitted in the fall of 2021 using a simple application, and then were posted on a private site with an enhanced description and attendant materials. These products were batched into small groups and sent to the LibraryWorks database of more than 80,000 librarians at public, K-12, academic, and special libraries. Only customers with experience with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge the products/services, resulting in a truly unbiased score. 

Each judge scored the product on a numeric basis from 1-10 on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service experience and overall satisfaction. The product with the overall highest score was awarded the coveted Product of the Year award. Gale In Context: For Educators received the top score this year, achieving a 9.95.…Read More