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.

Balancing high expectations with relationship building to boost engagement

Teachers are constantly challenged with improving student engagement, something they know directly impacts student learning outcomes. A USC Rossier School of Education Center EDGE survey this year queried 1,400 teachers about the engagement strategies they use most often in their classrooms and those they think will hold most value next year. For 2022, the most common response was building relationships with students. In 2023, educators anticipate establishing high expectations for students. 

The prioritization of these two practices alongside each other begs the question of how teachers can balance these two strategies — one of which relies on kindness and compassion, and the other which lends itself to more serious goal-setting and intense conversations. The key is approaching high expectations as an integral part of building strong relationships.

Raising the bar for learners …Read More

1 2

Education must keep pace with evolving ransomware

Despite the alarming rise of ransomware incidents in 2022, many education institutions still fail to address gaps in their protection protocols. A Sophos survey found that 64 percent of higher education and 56 percent of lower education institutions were hit by ransomware over the past year.

These statistics should raise some red flags as the education sector continues to lag behind in cyber defense practices, making them one of the most vulnerable industries. If an educational institution is attacked, administrators often don’t have the resources to respond, due in no small part to staffing shortages.

Administrators and IT leaders across the education sector need to leverage modern innovations like AI and machine learning (ML) to ensure data protection for faculty, staff, students and the institution as a whole. Let’s take a closer look at why education is so vulnerable and how school administrators can implement preventative and restorative measures to curb long-term effects.…Read More

1 2

8 predictions about literacy learning in 2023

In the coming year and beyond, educators and students will continue to deal with fallout from the pandemic, but as they look for effective ways to help students become proficient readers, instructional practices based in the science of reading will become more widely used.

At the same time, teachers will focus on assessing individual students to understand their unique learning needs. Here are eight predictions about changes coming to the reading classroom in the coming months.

1. Students who were in grades K-3 during pandemic shutdowns may be most affected.…Read More

Use these 5 strategies to boost student engagement

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 9th most-read story focuses on instructional strategies for better student engagement.

Student engagement has long been an indicator of growth and progress, and in the wake of the pandemic, it will prove essential for academic and social-emotional recovery.

Recent insights pulled from a survey of more than 2,000 identifies instructional practices that enable student engagement, no matter the learning environment.…Read More

How teachers like me can use AI to improve their teaching

It is easy, as an educator, to get stuck in a rut. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to avoid at some point or another during the school year.

Throughout my 17 years of teaching, I’ve found myself asking questions like, “Is my instruction still engaging and fun?” and “Am I really helping my students become independent thinkers?”

I’ve even found myself feeling hesitant at times to use new technology. It can be time-consuming and, in some cases, intimidating.…Read More

1 2

Using online modules to strengthen teacher leadership programs

Teacher leader programs offer opportunities for teachers to assume leader roles and leverage their expertise in teaching without leaving the classroom. Despite some of the potential and promise of teacher leader programs, new programs often struggle with problems that stem from mismanagement that limits their effectiveness.

As teacher leader programs become more prolific across the country, there is a growing need for district- and school-level staff to design policies and practices to select, develop, support, manage, compensate, and retain teacher leaders. While there is a plethora of literature on teacher leadership that addresses these components, the information is not accessible to educators in a manner that allows them to easily and efficiently digest all of the different approaches and lessons learned to adapt to their context.

To make the literature on teacher leadership more accessible and engaging, we chose to develop interactive online modules—Managing Teacher Leadership—that cover nine components critical to managing teacher leadership programs. The modules focus on increasing awareness and understanding of how to design, implement, and evaluate a teacher leader programin a school building or district. …Read More

1 2