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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.

Allentown-Area School Buses Modernized with Safety Technology to Protect Kids and Stop Dangerous Drivers

Allentown, PA (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Children returning to school on the yellow school bus can expect a safer, smarter commute this fall, thanks to the launch of a new safety initiative across Eastern Pennsylvania. Allentown, Bethlehem, Kutztown Area, and Northwestern Lehigh school districts have each partnered with local law enforcement and BusPatrol to tackle the illegal passing of stopped school buses.

More than 300 buses across Berks and Lehigh counties will be outfitted with automated enforcement technology to detect the license plates of vehicles that fail to stop for school buses, putting children at risk. The video evidence is shared with local law enforcement for review before a citation is issued.

The programs will go live on Monday, August 29, to coincide with the start of the new school year. In addition to enforcement, the initiative includes an education and awareness campaign to remind motorists of school bus safety laws and teach students safety tips for getting on and off school buses.…Read More

School System, County, and Police Partner on New Modernized Bus Initiative to Enhance Student Safety in Anne Arundel County

Anne Arundel County, MD, Aug. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Every day in Maryland, thousands of drivers fail to stop for school buses and put the lives of children at risk. Anne Arundel County Public Schools hopes to halt dangerous driving around its school buses beginning this fall with the launch of a new safety initiative in partnership with the Anne Arundel County Government, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and BusPatrol.

As part of the initiative, the entire AACPS bus fleet of approximately 750 school buses, including those owned by contractors, is being upgraded with advanced safety technology that features AI-powered stop-arm cameras to detect violations and capture the license plates of drivers that illegally pass school buses. This video evidence is shared with local law enforcement for review and validation before a citation is issued.

“There is no bigger cornerstone in the foundation of educational success than the ability to transport students safely to and from our school buildings,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark T. Bedell said. “This partnership is another step in accomplishing that, and we are grateful to those who have invested time, resources, and energy in it. I urge everyone who utilizes our county’s roads to do so in cautious manner so that we do not put our children at risk.”…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

Vernier Software & Technology Enhances Physics App and Publishes New E-book to Engage Students in Video Analysis

Vernier Video Analysis® app and new e-book help students learn important physics concepts in both in-person and remote learning environments

BEAVERTON, Oregon, June 8, 2021 — Vernier Software & Technology has enhanced its Vernier Video Analysis app with new features and now offers the accompanying Vernier Video Analysis: Motion and Sports e-book for high school and college-level introductory physics. Students can now learn key physics concepts and engage in video analysis in both in-person and remote learning environments.

Available as a 30-day free trial and for a site-license subscription, Vernier Video Analysis enables students to use their Chromebook™ or another mobile device to insert a video with recorded motion and mark points to track the object in motion. The app generates accurate and visually rich graphs that reflect the recorded motion for students to analyze.…Read More

Vernier Software & Technology Launches New Vernier Graphical Analysis™ Pro App for Science Instructors and Students

Expanding upon its award-winning Vernier Graphical Analysis™ app, Vernier Software & Technology is launching the Vernier Graphical Analysis Pro app to engage students—either remotely or in the lab—in more advanced analysis of data from biology, chemistry, and physics experiments. The new app, which is available as part of a 30-day free trial, is being offered at a special introductory site license price of $69, granting access through June 2021. Users can easily insert, view, and sync a video to sensor data for inspection and analysis as part of the scientific discovery process.

“The Graphical Analysis Pro app includes all of the features of the Graphical Analysis app, plus upcoming enhancements like internet-based data sharing to further support science teaching and learning,” said John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology. “Whether using it in the classroom or for remote learning, Graphical Analysis Pro provides an intuitive way for students to analyze data—and really delve into what they are learning—in new and insightful ways.”

With Graphical Analysis Pro, instructors can perform live experiments for students using common video conferencing tools and soon will be able to share data directly with students in real time for immediate analysis. Since the app is compatible with most Vernier sensors, teachers can continue to use sensors they already have available to collect data during these experiments. Or, if students have access to sensors at home, they can create their own experiment videos to share. Additionally, the app is compatible with most devices used in schools, including Chromebooks, providing flexibility and cost savings as students can use their own devices for analysis while learning remotely.…Read More

Copyright Clearance Center and EL Education Make it Easy for Schools to License Trade Book Content During Pandemic

Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, in coordination with participating publishers, is providing US schools and districts that have adopted the EL Education Language Arts Curriculum the ability to easily obtain permission to use grade level texts for distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many schools across the country have moved to hybrid or distance learning. Since closing their doors in the spring, students lost access to schoolbooks. Those that have purchased classroom copies of the supporting texts for the EL Education Language Arts Curriculum have asked for a way to provide teachers and students with permission to reuse those texts. Without an easy licensing service, it would be inefficient for school districts to purchase, distribute and recover potentially thousands of additional copies of the required works for those students without access to e-book editions. As a consequence, schools are seeking permission to photocopy or scan the texts in the EL Education Language Arts Curriculum to permit easy access and distribution.

CCC, EL Education and participating publishers have combined permissions into a single-source license covering the reuse of all participating texts as part of EL Education’s K-8 Language Arts Curriculum. Participating publishers include Boyds Mills & Kane, a division of Astra Publishing House; Holiday House Publishing, Inc.; Kids Can Press; Prestwick House, Inc. and more.…Read More

Adobe Offers Free K-12 At-Home Access

As an unprecedented back-to-school season rolls out across the United States, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced expanded support and resources for students, educators and the broader education community.

Adobe is offering Creative Cloud application access at no additional charge to all students and teachers from August 24, 2020 through January 31, 2021 for current U.S. K-12 volume license customers. New U.S. K-12 Creative Cloud customers can also take advantage of these cost-savings by purchasing a volume license for their school or district, giving access (including at-home) to all students and teachers at no additional charge. More information on this offer can be found here.

Education around the world has been synonymous with the classroom, but our new reality of distance and online learning has fundamentally changed the way institutions operate, how educators teach and how students learn, and ultimately, how student success is measured and achieved.…Read More

Supporting emerging readers with home based literacy instruction

To help educators support emerging readers at home, multisensory phonics system Square Panda is offering a complimentary site license through 7/31/2020 and free Home Edition Playsets, valued at $49.95, for participating families (while supplies last).

The School to Home Engagement program is designed to provide quality literacy instruction and support so the student can work independently at home. It’s fun for students, easy for parents, and provides feedback in the Teacher Dashboard so their teachers can stay connected and provide support—even when they can’t be with the student.

To support your emerging readers at home, our complimentary offer includes:…Read More

Free access to assistive technology products

If you or your students are suddenly at home with no access to your AT software, Freedom Scientific has you covered.

Your health and safety are just as important to us as accessibility. We know many of you must remain at home and will need to continue to work or attend school remotely. To ensure that your life remains accessible Freedom Scientific is offering those in the US and Canada a Free Home License of JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion which will expire June 30, 2020.

For those outside North America, Freedom Scientific and its international distributors are working together to provide home solutions for their customers during the COVID-19 crisis. Please contact your local distributor if you need assistance connecting to school or work from home.…Read More

Screen recording and asynchronous collaboration tools

TechSmith is helping organizations and academic institutions who are preparing for prolonged absences and/or campus closures due to COVID-19. TechSmith is offering free access and expanded usage of tools that help enable business and educational continuity.

Their screen recording tool, TechSmith Snagit, and their asynchronous collaboration platform, TechSmith Video Review, will be free to use through the end of June 2020 to any organization that needs it.

In addition, for existing customers using their digital learning platform, TechSmith Relay, or their online video collaboration environment, Video Review, they will support increased usage with no charge. Existing Relay customers will be provided an expanded site license with campus-wide access through the end of June 2020.…Read More