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.

Osmo From BYJU’s Names Former WarnerMedia Executive Shawn Smith as Its First Global Head of Communications

Palo Alto, CA–March 23, 2022–Award-winning STEAM brand, Osmo from BYJU’S, announced today that former WarnerMedia executive Shawn Smith is joining its leadership team as its first-ever Global Head of Communications, effective immediately. Smith brings her extensive experiences leading multimillion dollar campaigns for global entertainment brands and franchises to the newly-created role. She will lead Osmo’s communications strategy and narrative messaging across all aspects of its business, including corporate communications and brand publicity campaigns. 

“As we continue to build the Osmo brand and bring more inspiring and impactful learning experiences to students around the world, we’re excited to have Shawn’s leadership and talent at the helm of our communications division at this exciting time in our company’s journey,” says Cherian Thomas, Senior Vice President of International Business at Osmo from BYJU’S. 

Smith most recently held the title of Executive Director of Publicity and Communications for WarnerMedia Global Brands and Experiences, where she developed global communications campaigns for DC franchises including Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and more, and led franchise publicity campaigns for WarnerMedia’s animated properties such as Looney Tunes, Space Jam, Scooby-Doo, and other fan favorites from the Kids, Young Adults and Classics portfolio.…Read More

McGraw Hill Announces a Next Gen Update to Its Beloved Reading Mastery K–5 Instructional Solution

Learning science company McGraw Hill today announced the release of Reading Mastery Transformations, a long-awaited update to the beloved and effective English language arts solution for grades K–5, used in tens of thousands of classrooms across the country and trusted by educators for 65 years.

Reading Mastery, an evidence-based Direct Instruction program, is a comprehensive K–5 ELA curriculum that has been shown to improve reading performance for a wide range of students, including special education populations. Educators use Reading Mastery to systematically teach key foundational literacy skills and how to read, comprehend, and write narrative and informational text of increasing complexity—while building oral language fluency skills. Reading Mastery motivates learning, transforms teaching with greater efficiency, and achieves substantial results for children.

The Transformations Edition includes over 40% updated, meticulously curated, author-crafted content, combined with responsive data monitoring for identifying mastered skills, measuring achievement, targeting remediations, and facilitating mastery for all students. Leveraging the strong foundational skills pedagogy, the program now features multimedia and video content, critical classroom management updates, just-in-time remediations, and a focus on teaching students how to write and discuss, beginning as early as kindergarten.…Read More

Why we need to change the teacher vs. tech narrative

A recent chart from Bloomberg on the future of artificial intelligence and employment lends evidence to a point I have been making for years: teachers will not be replaced by machines.

The chart compares a wide array of professions based on required education levels, average annual wages, and likelihood of automation. Sure enough, elementary and secondary teachers are among the most educated yet least paid professionals; and their likelihood of automation: practically zero.

Yet the debate about machines replacing teachers rages on. Recent opinion pieces claim that teacher obsolescence is inevitable and something we should embrace. Fortunately, a recent article in the Economist gets the narrative right, pointing out that “the potential for edtech will be realized only if teachers embrace it.”…Read More

5 apps for creative iPad storytelling

A clutch of tools for writing ebooks, poems, flipbooks, and more

storytelling-ipadNarrative writing and storytelling skills are useful in nearly every discipline, from English language arts to science and history. Students that might not be able to explain their thinking one way, might fare better using audio, visuals, or some combination of the two. The iPad, a recognized content-creation tool, is a natural companion.

Here, we’ve gathered a handful of apps for story creation, in all its forms, that were originally summarized on APPitic.com, an app resource site with more than 6,000 apps in more than 300 subcategories.

[Editor’s note: eSchool News has selected these apps, which were originally curated by Apple Distinguished Educators, that may help you meet your instructional needs.]…Read More

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