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.

FEV Tutor Names Two New Executive Leadership Team Members

WOBURN, Mass. – FEV Tutor, the market-leading provider of the most comprehensive virtual tutoring solution in K-12, recently announced the addition of two executives to its senior leadership team. The company has named Abhinav Ramani as chief operating officer and Aaron Osmond as chief growth officer.

Before joining FEV Tutor, Ramani oversaw regional operations for the health care provider DaVita (DVA) Kidney Care. In west Los Angeles, he led a team of managers in implementing change management and process innovation measures across 10 clinics, improving their overall outcomes until they ranked among the top 25% of clinics across the enterprise. Next, Ramani worked as a DVA group regional operations director in the state of Washington, leading three regional directors in overseeing 36 clinics in Portland, Tacoma, and Seattle. There, he increased net revenue by over $1 million. Ramani holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Osmond has approximately 30 years of experience in K-12 education. Most recently, he held several business development leadership positions at Amazon Web Services. He first served as the western regional lead for the company’s Education to Workforce Team program and then led the program’s U.S. business development and program management team. After that, Osmond was promoted to global lead for the AWS Training and Certification team.…Read More

TutorMe Partners With West Virginia School District to Provide One-on-One, Individualized Tutoring Support

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) — TutorMe, an online tutoring solution creating access and opportunity for all students, today announced a partnership with  Roane County Schools in Roane County, West Virginia. This partnership provides all K–12 students in the district with one-on-one, individualized tutoring support this school year.

High-impact tutoring is one of the most-studied and  effective educational interventions. Through the partnership with TutorMe, students can now work one-on-one with high-quality tutors, 24/7, when it works best for them—whether that’s before school, after school, or even on weekends. TutorMe enables meaningful connections students need to learn and thrive, creating better learning outcomes for the entire school community.

“We are excited to partner with TutorMe and provide our students an additional avenue for growth,” said Richard Duncan, Superintendent at Roane County Schools. “Our goal is to provide equal opportunities for our students to grow as learners. The around-the-clock access to high-impact tutoring through TutorMe ensures each one of our students receives the personalized support they need to build their confidence and knowledge in reading, math, and other subjects—no matter their personal schedules or transportation situations.”…Read More

How to be proactive in your cybersecurity strategy

Keeping K-12 schools safe from cyberattacks has become a growing concern for educational institutions, especially as these attacks increase in sophistication and frequency nationwide. This past September, a school district in Detroit was hit with a cyberattack that closed its schools for two days. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country, was also subject to an attack over Labor Day weekend, which shut off access to email and crippled the district’s website and critical systems.

These attacks have been a wake-up call to school districts about the risk of cybercrimes and the impacts they can have on operations. But why are cybercriminals drawn to them?

Why Schools Have Increasingly Become the Target for Cybercrime…Read More

Protecting your schools as cyberattacks rise

Think cybersecurity won’t or can’t impact you?

Well, you would be wrong.

The number of cyberattacks only continue to grow. Virtually every business you can think of has been hit–cybercriminals have targeted the pipelines we rely on for oil and gas; the hospitals we turn to in times of need, even the social media companies where we connect.…Read More

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Ransomware attackers head back to school

Just when we thought the painful trend of ransomware attacks on public schools might be waning, news arrived of a massive incident. Over Labor Day weekend, the country’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, experienced a ransomware attack. The district serves 600,000 students and described “significant disruptions affecting access to email, computer systems, and applications.”

There was good news, though. The district appeared to catch the attack early, shut its systems down and avoided more serious problems. A lot of the time these attacks result in the loss of social security numbers and all kinds of other data, amounting to a serious violation of children’s privacy. For such a large district, this could have been catastrophic. LAUSD’s impressive response likely resulted from some smart preparation.

LAUSD was unfortunately not the only school to be victimized this year, and in other cases, some of the consequences appear to have been more severe. Staff at Cedar Rapids, Iowa schools saw their personal information stolen this summer, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, and even medical history information. …Read More

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Forget flat networks–tighten your security

If you heard about the attack on the Los Angeles Unified School District in early October, you probably heard that 400,000 students’ private data was put at risk and that the hackers demanded a ransom. When speaking about the attack, the police chief made a point of saying that cyberattacks are “the number one threat to our safety” and that everyone is vulnerable. Even so, the education sector seems to have an especially large target on its back, with LAUSD being the 50th education entity to be hit with ransomware in 2022. If you want to avoid being next, there are a few key steps to take – including getting rid of flat networks. The status quo has to go.

Are You Prepared to Pay the Costs of Convenience?

All too often, schools blend their guest and student networks together. Such a move flies in the face of every single, basic security recommendation ever made, so why do they do it? Convenience. Yes, it’s more convenient but that’s because it’s insecure.…Read More

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New Storybooks and Companion Stuffed Animals Support Children’s Mental Wellness

Los Angeles — Silver Lining Stuffies launched its inaugural line of storybooks and companion stuffed animals crafted to provide children with the tools to cope with mental health conditions. The first three books, Slow Down, Alfie!, Andie & the Worries, and Frankie & Gloob, address attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, and depression. Each stuffed animal stars in its own story as a lovable, relatable character who learns to cope with a unique set of difficulties, helping to normalize the experience of mental health challenges.

Silver Lining Stuffies was born out of the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when CEO and founder Sara Moore recognized the massive toll it was taking on the mental health of many, particularly children. As someone who has lived with depression and anxiety from a young age, Moore empathized and was propelled into action. As a child, she was fortunate enough to have a supportive family that provided the resources and tools to cope with depression and anxiety, which she continues to use.

Unfortunately, her story is not the norm. 1 in 6 U.S. children aged 2–8 are diagnosed with a mental or behavioral disorder every year, and only 20% of them ever receive treatment. Silver Lining Stuffies aims to improve that by offering parents, educators, and children strategies to deal with these conditions, and by donating part of their proceeds to relevant organizations.…Read More

TutorMe Partners with Columbia Public Schools, Providing Students with Tailored Instruction for Academic Advancement

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) — TutorMe, an online tutoring solution creating access and opportunity for all students, announces a partnership with  Columbia Public Schools in Columbia, MO, supporting students during the 2022–2023 school year with learning recovery and academic advancement.

Made possible through ESSER funding and a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the district, Columbia Public Schools sought tutoring services to provide supplemental academic support to students. Columbia Public Schools chose TutorMe through a selection process among more than 20 applicants.

“As a district, our goal is to provide our students with resources that will help them grow confident as learners and further their academic careers,” said De’Vion Moore, the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education of Columbia Public Schools. “We selected TutorMe with the intent of making personalized tutoring support sustainable and scalable.”…Read More

TutorMe Partners with Rural Wyoming School District, Providing Students with Diversified Academic Support

LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) JULY 27, 2022 — TutorMe, an online tutoring solution creating access and opportunity for all students, announces a partnership with  Park County School District #16 in Meeteetse, WY, supporting students with high-dosage tutoring and supplemental academic support. Made possible through a  Wyoming Department of Education grant for after-school and extended day efforts, each K–12 student at Park County School District #16 will have 24/7 access to TutorMe’s high-quality tutors starting this fall—providing students with additional teaching perspectives and avenues for learning.

Park County School District #16 consists of just one school and serves around 90 K–12 students from Meeteetse and surrounding communities. Due to the small student population, teachers are often providing instruction for several grade levels each school day. The partnership with TutorMe ensures students receive the personalized, 1:1 support needed to succeed.

“We are excited to have one more tool available to our students and teachers,” said Shane Ogden, Superintendent of Park County School District #16. “Being a small rural school, our students receive their education from some of the finest educators, yet their options are limited in having lessons presented in varying methods. TutorMe will expose our students to seeing and hearing content in a different way which provides our students additional opportunities to learn and grow.”…Read More