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.

Complete web-based math curriculum

Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) is offering one free month or a $15 discount on a yearly subscription to Beast Academy Online, the complete web-based math curriculum designed to help students ages 8-13 deepen their understanding of math. The program features engaging, comic-book style illustrations that keep kids coming back for more, even as they grapple with some of the most rigorous math problems available.

Some of Beast Academy Online’s highlighted features include:

●     More than 800 lessons and over 15,000 problems including puzzles, games, word problems and skill drills. Students get immediate feedback when they complete problems and full solutions are provided for every problem.…Read More

Free programs for remote learning

Renaissance is working to find solutions for students suddenly learning remotely during this unexpected global crisis. Renaissance is offering several free programs that enable students to access literacy and math activities and to complete assignments remotely.

myON and myON News
myON is a digital library that provides 24/7 access to thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles. Titles are available in English and Spanish.

myON News delivers engaging daily articles, reporting on US and world events that are reviewed by a child psychologist. Articles are available in both English, Spanish, and French.…Read More

Free computer programming courses

DataCamp for the Classroom offers free access to data science and analytics educators across the globe to all DataCamp content. This includes a growing library of 325+ courses in Python, R, SQL, and other technologies.

To date, DataCamp has helped over 200,000 students and teachers from 180 countries build data skills. This delivers on its mission for democratizing data science and analytics education around the world.

For more information visit DataCamp for the Classroom…Read More

Free access to English and Spanish eBook libraries

Benchmark Education is are now offering free access to their extensive collection of eBooks to families and educators. The library includes books both in English and Spanish for grades K-6 and is accessible to users using nearly any device with internet access.

The books are organized by subject and reading level making it easy to find the books that will interest your students while they are reading at home.

This library is available through July 31, 2020.…Read More

Transforming your library into a makerspace

In a recent edWebinar, hosted by edWeb.net, Michelle Luhtala, library department chair, and Donna Burns, technology integrator, both from New Canaan High School (NCHS) in Connecticut, showcased the transformation of the NCHS library from a collection of used reference and biography books into a living, breathing makerspace. Using mostly recyclable materials, equipment, and furniture, these educators are providing learning opportunities for students and teachers that have changed the school climate and culture. “Making learning more real for students allows them to learn better in a much more energized school,” said Luhtala.

A multi-year redesign

Through a five-year radical book-weeding process from 2011- 2016, the NCHS library had eliminated all of the library’s free-standing bookshelves. This process created both an opportunity and a challenge for Luhtala and Burns to convert this newly created space into a makerspace. With minimal funding in the early stages of the makerspace, the duo salvaged discarded lab tables and art stools and recycled material from all areas of the school.

Related content: 5 ways STEAM is used in storytelling…Read More

8 things to ask about your first makerspace

You wouldn’t just randomly choose a tool from your toolbox and feel confident it was the right one to cut a board or attach a hinge. Same goes for a school makerspace.

Like everything in ed tech, it’s not enough to have a bunch of shiny gadgets in your makerspace. You need to have the right materials to meet your goals.

Vinnie Vrotny, director of technology at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas, understands how tempting it is to fill a space with the latest devices. But before you do, here are eight questions you should ask to determine if you’re choosing wisely.…Read More

How to transform a library into a makerspace

In a recent edWebinar, hosted by edWeb.net, Michelle Luhtala, library department chair, and Donna Burns, technology integrator, both from New Canaan High School (NCHS) in Connecticut, showcased the transformation of the NCHS library from a collection of used reference and biography books into a living, breathing makerspace. Using mostly recyclable materials, equipment, and furniture, these educators are providing learning opportunities for students and teachers that have changed the school climate and culture. “Making learning more real for students allows them to learn better in a much more energized school,” said Luhtala.

A multi-year redesign

Through a five-year radical book-weeding process from 2011- 2016, the NCHS library had eliminated all of the library’s free-standing bookshelves. This process created both an opportunity and a challenge for Luhtala and Burns to convert this newly created space into a makerspace. With minimal funding in the early stages of the makerspace, the duo salvaged discarded lab tables and art stools and recycled material from all areas of the school.

Although this space was optimal for student making, organization and storage issues became the prime concern in the second year of the makerspace. Luhtala and Burns rescued much-needed shelving from the elementary school and clamped the refurbished shelves together to create an 80-bin storage system that provided teachers and students easy access to the makerspace materials.…Read More

4 Fresh Approaches to Coding in The Classroom

Coding is one of the most crowded categories in edtech. And while there are a ton of great tools for students of any ability level, many of these tools have hit on the same formula. So whether you’re prepping for Hour of Code or looking to launch a coding unit or curriculum in your classroom, lab, or library, it’s tough to find the right solution or even determine what separates one from another. Thankfully, there are a few developers out there breaking the mold and doing something different.

These developers are not just iterating on the tried-and-true coding formula but exploring new frontiers that offer students new ways to learn—from VR and hardware hacking to on-the-go learning to courses and curriculum that blend technical skills with “soft” skills.

Hardware hacking: Pi-Top and Piper
Computer scientists and software engineers know it’s important for coders to have an understanding of how computers are made and how they work. Knowing a bit about the hardware side of things helps inform a programmer’s understanding of why code works the way it does. As someone who likes to build his own computers, I can also say it’s just flat-out fun to put together a PC and swap in and out components. It’s like the nerdier version of hot rodding.…Read More

The New Librarian: Implementing a district-wide Library Learning Commons initiative

A few years ago, while working as a teacher librarian at Templeton Elementary School in Oregon, I had the opportunity to redesign the school’s library website to include digital resources for the students to use as part of a shift to 1:1 iPad learning.

Three years later, I’m replicating this model for the entire district, building a Library Learning Commons where all students have digital access to curated, shared resources in conjunction with full-scale 1:1 learning. The result of our Library Learning Commons initiative will include a seamless integration of shared digital resources that are pre-approved and pushed out every iPad, making it easy for students to read, research, collaborate, and own their learning experience.

As a district librarian media specialist, I work with more than 13,000 K-12 students, and building a digital library that can meet the needs of this many learners can seem intimidating. On top of that, I have to ensure that content is age-appropriate, platforms are vetted, and that the resources are able to be used in inclusive classrooms. I also have to make sure that my students are responding well to any new edtech product, and that the tools I curate are authentically enhancing learning.…Read More

The New Librarian: I started a digital badging movement for my students

They said it was boring and it broke my heart. How could something I felt so passionate about be boring to my students? Creating citations is where it’s at! But still, my students labored through the inquiry process, looking forward to getting it over with.

I struggled with how to engage students in extremely important skills like finding, evaluating, and citing scholarly sources; weeding through J.U.N.K. to find gems; becoming global citizens; making informed actions; and exploring digital tools. Then in 2015, my teaching partner and I decided to go one step further with our learning management system. Instead of simply delivering content, we would front load the entire year’s work and allow students to choose what they wanted to work on and when. We also created a rubric for students to evaluate their own work and decide for themselves if they have mastered specific skills. Finally, we created paper and digital badges for students to earn to record their achievements.

We have had success over the last three years empowering our students to choose what they work on and decide if the work they did meets the standards agreed upon with the class. Students are motivated to ask questions, find answers, and share their learning with classmates, teachers, and the Colchester (CT) community.…Read More