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 to find language learning opportunities for students

There has been a steady decline in language learning in schools. According to the Pew Research Center, only one in five K-12 students in the United States now learns another language, and just 10 states and the District of Columbia make world language learning a requirement for graduating from high school.

New Jersey has the most students studying a world language (51 percent), followed by the District of Columbia (47 percent) and Wisconsin (36 percent). However, the vast majority of states have fewer than 25 percent of students learning another language — and just 9 percent of students in Arizona, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Compare that to Europe, where 92 percent of students learn a foreign language, Pew observes.

The decline in language learning carries over into college: According to the Modern Language Association, university and college enrollment in language courses dropped by nearly 10 percent from 2013 to 2016. During that same period, higher education institutions cut 651 foreign language programs nationwide.…Read More

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Feds: Older teens often text behind the wheel

An anonymous national survey conducted last year found that 58 percent of students said they had texted or eMailed while driving during the previous month.

More than half of U.S. students in their last year before college admit they text or eMail while driving—the first federal statistics on how common the dangerous habit is among teens.

An anonymous national survey conducted last year found that 58 percent of students said they had texted or eMailed while driving during the previous month.…Read More

Survey: Teens’ cell phone use may cause tension with parents, schools

The vast majority of teens who own cell phones send text messages, a survey found.
The vast majority of teens who own cell phones send text messages, a survey found.

Teenagers have embraced text messaging as their main form of communication, but mobile phones are often a source of tension with parents and schools, a new survey found.

The frequency with which teens text has overtaken every other form of interaction, including instant messaging and talking face-to-face, according to a study released April 20 by researchers at Pew Research Center and the University of Michigan.…Read More

Study: Millennial generation more educated, less employed

The most detailed study to date of the 18- to 29-year-old Millennial generation finds this group probably will be the most educated in American history. But the 50 million Millennials also have the highest share who are unemployed or out of the workforce in nearly four decades, USA Today reports. “It’s a very consequential generation,” says Paul Taylor of the Pew Research Center, the report’s co-editor. “It has made its mark in some fairly dramatic ways.” Overall, Pew says, Millennials are confident, upbeat, and open to change. They’re more ethnically and racially diverse than their elders and also less religious. Although there is no one-size-fits-all description of the individuals within a generation, Pew says its findings show clear, distinctive traits for this group, particularly in certain areas. For instance, they’re more politically active at an earlier age, and 41 percent use just a cell phone and no landline for their telephone communications…

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