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.

7 things Gen Z students say about educational technology

Student-teacher interaction is one of the most important things when creating a positive and effective classroom environment–in fact, it ranked higher than educational technology use, according to both teachers and students in a new survey.

The survey from online learning service provider Quizlet seeks to outline how teachers and students, including Generation Z students (those born in 2001 or later), feel about technology in their classrooms.

Eighty-seven percent of surveyed teachers said interaction with students is an important part of their teaching environment.…Read More

5 ways connected school buses are on the rise

As internet connectivity becomes a necessity for schools and students, there is a new call for the government to make school bus wi-fi eligible for federal E-rate funding.

The trend is growing. More and more, school buses are equipped with wi-fi to give students connectivity while they are on their way to and from school and during travel to extra-curricular activities.

School bus wi-fi also is viewed as a way to close the persistent homework gap that occurs when students have internet access during school, but lack it at home. Many schools are developing initiatives to park wi-fi enabled buses in school communities after school to help more students connect when the school day ends.…Read More

Chromebooks are on the rise, but Windows reliance remains

Sixty-two percent of K-12 schools participating in a recent survey support Chromebook initiatives, and 22 percent of those schools use Chromebooks as a primary classroom device.

While Chromebooks appear to be increasing in popularity, Windows presence remains heavy–92 percent of survey respondents said their schools use at least one Windows-based application, and 29 percent said they use five or more Windows applications for teaching and learning.

[Editor’s note: We’re always tracking mobile device trends for you; click here and here for the latest information.] …Read More

Stop asking whether laptops improve learning outcomes

The media might not be able to get past the question — but we in education need to dig deeper

It’s a question we hear all too often—from parents, technology critics, and, of course, the news media: Do those pricey laptops schools buy actually improve academic results?

On the surface, it seems logical. Schools make big investments in technology and stakeholders want to see a return on that investment—by way of better school ratings or big jumps in test scores. But really, the question is superficial and shows a limited understanding of what is needed to enhance teaching and learning using technology.

Laptops by themselves change little. They are simply one component of a range of things that need to change in order to leverage technology to enhance education. Introducing laptops while not changing the teaching and learning paradigm is of little use, and may even produce negative academic outcomes.…Read More

Tablets will see a decline, then increase in 2018

After a decline, tablet shipments will pick up due to the emergence of detachables

Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to decline for the second straight year in 2016, dropping 9.6 percent compared to 2015 volumes, according to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker forecast.

The tablet market in totality has seen its peak and will face down years in 2016 and 2017, followed by a slight rebound in 2018 and beyond driven by detachable tablet growth. Right now the detachable category only accounts for 16 percent of the market and IDC expects it to reach 31 percent in 2020.

Tablet life cycles have proven to be more like PCs a few years back, which is likely to be somewhere around four years. Tablet manufacturers, both large and small, are slowly shifting focus toward the detachable tablet market segment, which has quickly resulted in increased product offerings, lower average selling prices (ASPs), and broadened consumer awareness for the category.…Read More

10 steps to a better one-to-one experience

Planning is a big part of any initiative. Here’s how to plan a better one-to-one program

The word is out. We hear every day from teachers who tell us their school will be going one-to-one this school year. Their classrooms will be equipped with a laptop or tablet for every student, and in many cases, the students will get to take those devices home at the end of the day. For some teachers this is overwhelming; for others it is exciting, and for a few it’s just plain scary. Wherever you are on that spectrum we have some advice to help you move forward and make the most out of these new resources in your classroom.

We both teach in one-to-one classrooms. Diana’s students have iPads that they take home, whereas Jen has a cart of laptops students use daily in her classroom. We’ve both been teaching with one-to-one in some capacity since 2008, and we also both coach our colleagues who are new to technology integration. If you know your school is going one-to-one this year, there are some things you can do this summer to get yourself geared up. Here are the top ten things we find ourselves telling teachers over and over:

Relax. Integrating technology into your classroom is a marathon, not a sprint. It will take a few years before you and your students are completely comfortable with a range of digital tools and the ways they can enhance learning. Try not to worry about “keeping up with the pace of technology.” Realistically, none of us can do that. Just jump in where you can, and start getting comfortable with one thing at a time.…Read More

Do one-to-one laptop programs improve learning?

A Michigan State University study found surprising results when researchers analyzed laptop programs

Students who receive a laptop computer from their school tend to see a noticeable increase in academic achievement, a Michigan State University study reveals.

Michigan State University’s Binbin Zheng and colleagues analyzed past studies on one-to-one laptop initiatives, and Zheng’s own research, and found that such programs that take a comprehensive approach, including offering one-to-one program support to both students and teachers, saw higher test scores in English, math, science and writing, along with other benefits.

“In the past couple decades, one-to-one laptop programs have spread widely, but so has debate about whether they are cost-effective and beneficial to educational outcomes,” said Zheng, assistant professor of educational technology and lead author on the paper. “I believe this technology, if implemented correctly, is worth the cost and effort because it lifts student achievement, enhances engagement and enthusiasm among students, improves teacher-student relationships and promotes 21st century skills such as technological proficiency and problem solving.”…Read More

Lenovo launches two new K-12 laptops

New N23 and N42 laptops are specifically designed for K-12 institutions

At its annual Accelerate Partner Forum, Lenovo announced two new N-series laptops designed specifically for K-12 institutions. Like the current Lenovo N22 models, the Lenovo N23 and N42 models are purposely designed for the K-12 market with ruggedized features including reinforced ports, stronger hinges, a spill-proof keyboard, and anti-peel keys to protect the system in the classroom.

The Lenovo N23 with Microsoft Windows 10 offers students an 11.6-inch multimode form-factor with four unique positions including laptop, tablet, tent and stand. The Lenovo N23 can adapt to the application or content that the student is working with, and is powered by an Intel processor for fast boot times and an all-day battery life. Lenovo’s new N23 laptop also includes an HD IPS panel for crystal clear computing across a wide range of viewing angles and is available with up to 8GB of memory and up to 128GB of storage.

For students who need a device optimized for applications requiring a larger screen size, the Lenovo N42 Chromebook is a great choice and offered as a 14.0-inch form factor. The Lenovo N42 Chromebook is available with up to 4GB and up to 32GB of storage.…Read More

Company provides a Windows desktop on Chromebooks

With Chromebook CX110 and Chrome app, NComputing provides millions of U.S. students with easy access to Windows

NComputing has launched the Chromebook CX110 and Chrome app, giving U.S. schools the ability to easily run Windows applications on their Chromebooks.

More than half of all computers used in U.S. K-12 schools are Chromebooks, and now NComputing Chromebooks – with the vSpace client – provides easy, multi-user access to the Windows, Java or Silverlight applications often necessary for learning and testing applications.

vSpace software benefits schools by providing a centrally managed, reliable and scalable solution that delivers as many as one hundred individual Windows desktops from a single computer. This creates a cost-effective and easy-to-deploy solution for schools who can now use a single Chromebook device to access all their ChromeOS and Windows applications.…Read More