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.

Reading Horizons Launches Free Online Community to Support the Science of Reading

KAYSVILLE, UT — Reading Horizons, a company committed to partnering with educators to eradicate illiteracy, has launched the Science of Reading Collective, a free, online community designed to help teachers confidently and effectively implement the science of reading.

The science of reading identifies the most useful techniques for teaching and learning to read, but adopting a new approach can feel overwhelming, no matter how beneficial it will be for students. To support educators with any level of experience and an interest in teaching reading regardless of grade, the Science of Reading Collective is offering free access to:

  • Bite-sized practical lessons and professional learning events;
  • Monthly Q&A sessions with experts in the science of reading; and
  • An always-open forum for discussion with peers.

“Our mission is to empower educators to eradicate literacy,” said Tyson Smith, the CEO of Reading Horizons. “That’s why we’re offering free access to the Science of Reading Collective to all educators, whether they invest in our products or not. The science of reading comprises the most powerful tools for teaching students to read, and we believe that teachers deserve every advantage available to face the challenges of illiteracy.”…Read More

Udemy’s Upskilling and Educational Content is Now Available on LenovoEDU Community

Udemy, the world’s largest destination for learning and teaching online, today announced that the recently launched LenovoEDU community by Lenovo™ will offer Udemy content and pathways to course recommendations for specific careers. Designed to inspire people to take education into their own hands, LenovoEDU is an online community that offers support and resources for college and career students, parents and guardians of K-12 students, and educators around the globe to optimize learning opportunities with a “self-serve” and “build your own curriculum” mindset.

“2020 brought record challenges to how students and teachers across the world access, consume and share e-learning resources,” says Ajit Sivadasan, Vice President and General Manager of Lenovo.com at Lenovo. “At a time when education has undergone such historic shifts, it is now more important than ever that students can readily access the most in-demand skills to forge a long-lasting and successful career. That’s why we’re collaborating with Udemy to offer smarter online education for all through the LenovoEDU community.”

In a global economy that’s becoming increasingly difficult to navigate, the LenovoEDU community offers learners and educators a one-stop-shop to connect with peers. Members get access to curated educational video and expert blog content offering advice on teaching, learning and professional development to help teachers educate and students prepare for whatever comes next. To streamline access to the necessary skills to thrive in today’s competitive economy, the LenovoEDU community offers its members Udemy’s extensive library of over 155,000 courses taught by more than 70,000 real-world experts by topic and career path.

“Learning is more important than ever, and we want to make it as simple as possible for students and teachers to access, consume, and share educational resources around the globe,” said Llibert Argerich, SVP of Marketing at Udemy. “At the core of our business, we help people do whatever comes next in their professional journeys and improve lives through learning. As such, we’re thrilled to be a part of LenovoEDU to help more people more easily access necessary skills when they need it.”

To learn more about and discover Udemy resources on the new LenovoEDU community, visit: https://education.lenovo.com/

About Udemy
With a mission to improve lives through learning, Udemy is the world’s largest online learning destination that helps students, businesses, and governments gain the skills they need to compete in today’s economy. Thirty-five million students are mastering new skills from 70,000 expert instructors teaching over 155,000 online courses in topics from programming and data science to leadership and team building. For companies, Udemy for Business offers an employee training and development platform with subscription access to 8,000+ courses, learning analytics, as well as the ability to host and distribute their own content. Udemy for Government is designed to upskill workers and prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow. Eighty percent of Fortune 100 companies trust Udemy for employee upskilling. Udemy is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver, Brazil, India, Ireland, and Turkey. Udemy investors include Insight Partners, Prosus (Naspers Ventures), Norwest Venture Partners, Stripes, and Benesse Holdings.

LENOVO is a trademark of Lenovo.

…Read More

Nepris raises $1M in to build more connections between industry and education

Nepris recently closed a seed round of funding totaling $1 million, led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF).

Nepris brings together educators and industry professionals in an easy-to-use online community to collaborate and connect through live online interactive sessions where students get to see what they’re learning in the classroom applied to the working world.

MSDF invested in Nepris for its ability to make a positive social impact in students’ lives by preparing them for college and career. While Nepris connections do bring classroom lessons to life and add relevance, the greater impact is often inspiration students find in the professionals and experts whom they meet. These experts encourage students to dream big or to consider careers they may never have known about, like being an aerospace engineer or speech therapist or amusement park designer. Frequently, students ask questions about what college was like or what classes they should take now to help them prepare for college. Many students who previously felt college was unattainable begin to see greater possibilities for higher education and new career paths after a Nepris session.…Read More

Students create site for college journalists to talk about the craft

Two young entrepreneurs have launched an online community where college journalists are sharing ideas on technology, leadership, news judgment, and content, Poynter.org reports. Kelsey A. Schnell and Brandon Martinez built CollegeNewsroom.org in Big Rapids, Mich., the home of Ferris State University. So far, students from about 30 colleges have joined. Schnell, creative developer for CollegeNewsroom.org, is editor-in-chief of the Ferris State Torch. Martinez is web editor for CollegeNewsroom.org and the Torch, which are independent of each other. CollegeNewsroom.org, which launched in November, has featured discussions about college editors’ use of Twitter and, within days of its launch, the iPad. Posts about whether college papers should print the n-word and whether it is OK to take a reporter’s byline off a poorly written story have made for some lively discussions on the site. Other posts include information on how to come up with catchy headlines and how to retain and motivate staff…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

FETC 2010: Online Learning Communities

2859_echalkeChalk, which sells online communication and collaboration tools to connect K-12 communities, unveiled its newest release, eChalk 10.0. The software features enhancements designed for more effective communication among school leaders, teachers, students, and parents, including a web site layout manager, free parent accounts, and redesigned web mail. Thanks to a partnership with PropellShops, the online platform also includes built-in “school stores”: fundraising sections in which school leaders can choose items for sale and set prices.

it’s learning, a global provider of learning management system (LMS) software that began selling to U.S. schools early last year, demonstrated its fully hosted online platform for delivering individualized instruction. What distinguishes it’s learning from other LMS providers, said Jon Bower, president of the company’s U.S. division, is its underlying technology that can take a “flat” course file that a teacher uploads and convert it automatically to a hierarchical file that can differentiate, or personalize, the delivery of course content to individual students or groups of students. (Teachers must tag the content appropriately for this to occur, Bower explained.) With it’s learning, each student receives an Individual Learning Plan, and the software monitors students’ progress, showing them how they are doing with their work. Reports also show administrators, teachers, and parents where further instruction or intervention is needed to help students master the content.

School systems now can use Skyward’s K-12 administrative software to facilitate one-to-one computing initiatives, the company said. Recent additions to Skyward’s software suite, such as Student Access—and its Online Assignment feature in particular—can complement a district’s laptop program well, said the company. Today’s students work with a variety of online applications, including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, and the Skyward Student Access program harnesses that familiarity by incorporating features of the social media experience into the student’s educational environment. Students have the ability to review and complete assignments online, make course requests, read and respond to messages via a message center, use a custom personal calendar, eMail school personnel, respond to teacher surveys, and more.…Read More