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.

A cautious approach to using AI in education

Key points:

The November 2022 release of ChatGTP by OpenAI was an inflection point for AI technology. It was quickly followed by several competing AI systems: Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing search engine, Google’s Bard, and Meta’s Llama 2. And like so many technologies before it, companies are now in a rush to find ways to monetize and adopt AI, applying the technology to customer service, law enforcement, transportation–and education.

Guidance for using AI in education…Read More

10 reasons we love teachers

My second-grade teacher made me love Ramona Quimby.
I’ve never forgotten my multiplication tables, thanks to my fourth-grade teacher.
My fifth-grade teacher taught me to confidently project my voice (much to my husband’s chagrin when I’m on video calls!).
My sixth-grade teacher inspired me to be a fast typist and gave me independent reading time so I could accomplish my goal of finishing Gone with the Wind.
My high school Algebra II teacher made me believe I was, in fact, really good at math.
My English literature teacher inspired me to write a book.
My Humanities teachers inspired me to travel the world.

Just seven days a year to celebrate teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week is hardly sufficient.  After all, they celebrate our students’ wins and teach them lessons through their mistakes every day of the school year. Let’s reflect on 10 reasons we love teachers…

  1. A Lifetime of Influence

    Growing up in a small town and attending a school with approximately 25 classmates from pre-school through eighth grade, I had a couple of teachers twice and interacted with all the teachers in the building regularly. Whatever the length of interaction, it can go a long way for students, like artist Dean Thompson. Dean shared his teacher’s valuable guidance: “Robert Dominiak was an art teacher who was a mentor to me. He taught me how to look at things with a different perspective, and he helped me put together a portfolio when I applied to the Art Institute of Chicago. With his help I received my degree from there, and I’m still in contact with him to this day.”…Read More

    6 ways to embrace the messiness of math education

    Math is not easy to teach or learn. So, teachers use a variety of strategies to boost their students’ numeracy skills as they progress through math education.

    But some of those approaches could be unproductive, contended Dr. Juli Dixon, Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Central Florida, in a recent edWebinar sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Mathematics. She described standard practices that can derail rather than support mathematical reasoning, and offered alternative methods that would benefit students far more.

    Embracing the messiness of math education…Read More

    Here’s the biggest mistake educators make with remote learning

    This story on the biggest mistakes educators are making during remote learning, originally published on June 4, was eSN’s No. 2 most popular story of 2020. Check back each day for the next story in our countdown.

    Education thought leader Alan November isn’t shy about discussing what he believes is a key misstep that many educators are making in shifting to web-based instruction during the pandemic.

    Instead of taking the same techniques that teachers have used in their classrooms for years and trying to apply them within a remote learning environment—an experience he compares to forcing a square peg into a round hole—November believes teachers and administrators should view the pandemic as an opportunity to reinvent education.…Read More

    Grade expectations: How to look at grading in a new light

    The teacher finishes giving instructions and sits down for students to begin completing the assignment. While students work, the teacher grades papers and prepares for the next hour, answering some questions here and there. As students finish the work, the assignments get turned in to be graded later.

    If this scenario sounds familiar, then you are not alone. Teachers traditionally follow the model of present, practice, and let students work independently. There is a much better use of teacher time: feedback-in-action.

    Feedback-in-action shifts a teacher from treating work as an autopsy to more like an ICU. Instead of waiting for students to make mistakes and leave class, the teacher makes formative assessments the norm.…Read More

    Want to improve your leadership development? Use simulations!

    American schools are facing a crisis in the lack of professional learning for school leaders.

    These leaders are required to be licensed, which usually entails a two-year program at a university or college. However, once they actually begin their careers, most of them will tell you that any further professional learning comes on the job. This vacuum of professional learning among principals and superintendents means many have to stub their toes by learning from mistakes, leading sometimes to grave consequences and almost certainly to less-than-optimal outcomes.

    In my research, I’ve worked extensively with simulations that help our school leaders continue their professional growth well past their licensing requirements. Effective simulations present relevant scenarios that offer leaders the opportunity to listen and learn from their peers and to gain experience without risk.…Read More

    8 ways to reduce device damage in 1:1 programs

    As a technology user, I have over the years:

    • Dropped and broken my phone’s screen
    • Spilled liquid on my laptop’s keyboard, frying the motherboard
    • Pulled the cord out a device, breaking off the connection
    • Pushed a monitor off my desk onto the floor
    • Left my computer bag on top of my car’s roof, and driven off

    These acts were, believe me, unintentional. The costs of these mistakes wound up coming out of my own pocket.

    So I have a degree of sympathy when our students bring their Chromebooks in for repair. Stuff happens to even the most careful technology user.…Read More

    How I found more satisfaction in teaching

    Early in my career, I got upset and disappointed when students made mistakes in class. I couldn’t understand why they weren’t understanding when I was teaching everything so clearly and putting so much time into scaffolding my lessons. As a new teacher, I worked hard to deliver concise lessons at the front of the room, and I became resentful when students asked questions or did not understand.

    My attitude was exacerbated by the fact that there are some students who process information easily and master new ideas quickly, while other students struggle to grasp the same material. I assumed many children were not listening, not taking good notes, or not studying. My attitude made me annoyed when helping students one on one, because I was continually repeating what I had just taught at the front of the room.

    This attitude created a very negative atmosphere in my classroom. In my first few years as a math teacher, students cried often in my class. I chalked this up to my being strict and having high expectations. Eventually, my poor attitude toward the learning process became pervasive and manifested itself into anger. I often considered leaving the profession.…Read More

    How I found more satisfaction in teaching

    Early in my career, I got upset and disappointed when students made mistakes in class. I couldn’t understand why they weren’t understanding when I was teaching everything so clearly and putting so much time into scaffolding my lessons. As a new teacher, I worked hard to deliver concise lessons at the front of the room, and I became resentful when students asked questions or did not understand.

    My attitude was exacerbated by the fact that there are some students who process information easily and master new ideas quickly, while other students struggle to grasp the same material. I assumed many children were not listening, not taking good notes, or not studying. My attitude made me annoyed when helping students one on one, because I was continually repeating what I had just taught at the front of the room.

    This attitude created a very negative atmosphere in my classroom. In my first few years as a math teacher, students cried often in my class. I chalked this up to my being strict and having high expectations. Eventually, my poor attitude toward the learning process became pervasive and manifested itself into anger. I often considered leaving the profession.…Read More