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.

How educators can make time for self-care

This time of year sees email in boxes filled with information about how to prepare for the next year, reminders that grades are due, and papers await grading. We are deluged with predictions about the future, what to worry about, and sometimes even what to be excited about. Those with calendar year goals are often rushing to complete projects or solidify a final sale. Family and other holiday obligations can often add an extra level of stress as well. One thing often missing is how to make sure you are balanced and ensure you are taking time for self-care.

According to a recent NBC article about the increasing educator shortage, between retirements among an already-aging population and the stress and burnout of the pandemic, the number of potential educators in the pipeline is not nearly enough to match needs.

An October 2021 NPR report showed that 80,000 aspiring nurses were turned away from nursing schools due to a lack of adequate nursing instructors. It is clear that educator burnout can directly lead to shortages in other critical areas such as health care.…Read More

What you need to start an esports program

Esports is seeing phenomenal growth, with the worldwide market expected to reach $2.2 billion by 2023. There are professional esports leagues for popular video games such as Overwatch, League of Legends, Rocket League, Call of Duty, Halo, Fortnite, and more.

As the popularity of esports continues to increase, colleges and universities have begun embracing esports as well. Last year, some 200 U.S. colleges offered about $16 million in esports scholarships, NBC News reports. That’s a threefold increase in scholarship money since 2015.

Related content: 4 ways to futureproof networks for an esports takeover…Read More

NYC bans Halloween, birthdays, aliens and more on school tests

Students in New York City’s public schools cramming for tests can delete words like birthdays, junk food, Halloween, dinosaur and even dancing from study lists, NBC reports. References to such words have been banned from city-issued tests in an edict issued by the city’s Department of Education for fear the words could “appear biased” or “evoke unpleasant emotions” in students. The department included the list of 50 banned topics in a recently issued request for proposals to companies interested in creating new versions of tests given to New York City students throughout the year to measure progress in English, math, science and social studies.

“Some of these topics may be perfectly acceptable in other contexts but do not belong in a city- or state-wide assessment,” reads the request, first obtained and reported on by the New York Post…

Click here for the full story…Read More

Watch: Former Atlanta schools chief: ‘I can’t make you cheat’

In her first official television interview since investigators uncovered one of the largest cheating scandals in public school history, former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Beverly Hall said she takes responsibility for not recognizing the need for heightened test security, but doesn’t acknowledge personal accountability for the individual cheating teachers or the scandal as a whole, NBC reports.

“I can’t make you cheat. Nothing that I could ask of you … would be an excuse for you to cheat,” Hall told NBC’s Harry Smith on Rock Center. “We did not emphasize testing at the expense of integrity.”

Over the summer, findings from a two-year investigation found widespread cheating among at least 44 Atlanta schools and implicated 178 educators involved in test tampering, including erasing students’ incorrect answers on standardized tests and replacing them with correct ones……Read More

Congressional Democrats challenge Comcast, NBC on merger

Congressional Democrats on Feb. 4 challenged executives from Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal to show that the cable TV operator’s plan to take control of the entertainment company won’t hurt consumers and rivals, reports the Associated Press. In back-to-back hearings, members of House and Senate subcommittees expressed concern that the transaction could lead to such competitive harms as higher cable TV rates and fewer video programming choices. Comcast is seeking federal approval to acquire a 51-percent stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co. The Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are expected to sign off, but likely with conditions—and input from Congress could sway the outcome of those regulatory reviews. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told lawmakers that the combination would produce “a more creative and innovative company that will meet consumer demands” and drive more innovation among competitors. But Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said he is worried about the dangers of allowing the nation’s largest cable and broadband provider to take control of NBC Universal’s vast media empire. “When the same company produces the programs and runs the pipes that bring us those programs, we have a reason to be nervous,” said Franken, a former comedian who spent nearly two decades as a writer and performer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”…

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…Read More

Free videos explore the science behind the Olympics

The videos capitalize on students’ interest in the Winter Olympics to make science more accessible.
The videos capitalize on students’ interest in the Winter Olympics to make science more accessible.

Teachers looking for ways to incorporate the Olympic Winter Games into their instruction have a new resource they can use: NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, has teamed up with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to produce a 16-part video series focusing on the science behind the games.

How does angular momentum help figure skater Rachael Flatt achieve the perfect triple toe loop? How does elastic collision allow three-time Olympic hockey player Julie Chu to convert a game-winning slapshot? How do Newton’s Three Laws of Motion propel short track speed skater J.R. Celski to the finish line?…Read More