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.

Ripple Effects Offers Access to Its Educator Ally Program to Support Teachers’ Social Emotional Needs

SEATTLE – May 26, 2022 – As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, educators found themselves in unfamiliar territory as they dealt with new technology and concerns over in-person learning while also caring for their own children. These anxieties served to heighten an already stressful profession. According to the 2021 State of the U.S. Teacher Survey conducted by The RAND Corporation, teachers were almost three times more likely to report symptoms of depression than adults in other professions. Additional independent research indicates that 54 percent feel unprepared or very unprepared to respond to students’ behavior problems.

To give educators much-needed support in the classroom, social emotional learning pioneer Ripple Effects, today announced that through June 30, 2022, it is offering complimentary access to its staff professional development wellness program, Educator Ally. This solution equips educators with the tools they need to address their own stressors as well as students emotional and behavior problems more effectively.

“When educators have the proper tools, their stress levels decrease,” said Heidi Johnecheck, chief impact officer for Ripple Effects. “As they continue to deal with the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it is more crucial than ever to give educators the infrastructure they need to help build their classroom management skills and manage student behaviors in a personalized, supportive and non-judgmental manner. We want to extend as much help as possible to educators and we hope that using Educator Ally will give them the vital tools they need to be their best in the classroom.”  …Read More

Case Study: How Weston School District Built a Digital Strategy with Digital Signage, 15 Minutes at a Time

(May 12, 2022) –– Rise Vision has released a new case study of Weston School District, a small school district which serves three rural communities of Cazenovia, Hillpoint, and Lime Ridge, Weston and has a student population of 300 students. While Weston School District doesn’t face the problems a very large school does, it does face its own challenges.

Amanda Keller, who has been social media and public relations director at Weston for the past 4 years discussed the district’s challenges of its students across 12 years of compulsory education. Back in 2018, Weston struggled with keeping families updated with printed, physical newsletters.

‘It was frustrating to put so much time into communication we knew would be outdated before it reached our families and community,’ Keller continues. ‘It was also time-consuming to create bulletin boards that were very limited in how we could use them. These bulletin boards also had to be recreated often to keep the images current.’…Read More

6 things you can do now to make smarter tech purchases later

The sudden switch to remote learning during the Covid-19 pandemic caught plenty of school districts off guard, and they scrambled to find devices that were up to the task.

Now two years later, it’s time to begin planning to do it all over again.

Forward-thinking education leaders know that tech costs are an ongoing line item, not a one-time expense. Those one-to-one devices that were purchased with special funds during the pandemic will most certainly become obsolete and lose function – probably within five years.…Read More

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5 tips to bring engineering into the classroom

STEAM education is critically important in the classroom, and engineering education is a key part of STEAM learning. And on World Engineering Day, the need for students to explore engineering and pursue it in college and the workforce has never been more apparent.

The 2020 Global Engineering Survey launched by DiscoverE, the organization responsible for World Engineering Day, found that 54 percent of respondents believe that there will be a shortage of engineers in the future, and a recent census survey found that only 27 percent of engineers are women.

Exposing students to the importance of engineering and giving them the skills required to be the problem solvers of tomorrow is crucial, but educators often don’t know how to integrate engineering concepts into their instruction. eSchool News connected with Lauren Harter, Senior Educational Developer for VEX Robotics, for some classroom engineering tips. Harter’s work in developing and bringing a series of educational robotic solutions, known as the VEX Continuum, to the classroom is aimed at helping to solve some of the world’s growing problems. …Read More

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5 edtech opportunities that will emerge in 2022

There is a certain perspective that comes from being in the edtech industry for over 30 years, and while I thought I had seen it all, nothing could have prepared me (or anyone else) for a global pandemic. Not only did the pandemic upend our lives, it looks like we will be managing and battling surges and outbreaks of COVID variants for a lifetime or more. 

There are significant positives about how we as a society have learned to deal with COVID. Much as the problems in our medical systems, for example, have given rise to better and more efficient care, so can education benefit from rethinking its model.

The problems we’ve experienced educating students who are learning at home, either full time or in a part time model, spotlight needed improvements (particularly with equity of access) and spark new ways of thinking. …Read More

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Twig Education Launches Twig Science Next Gen for Middle School

(Los Angeles, Calif.) October 28, 2021 —  Twig Education, creators of the leading elementary level science program Twig Science, today announced the launch of Twig Science Next Gen for grades 6–8.

Twig Science Next Gen for middle school is an investigation-based science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) solution developed for the three-dimensional Next Generation Science Standards. It transforms the standards into story-based modules in which students take on a range of STEAM career roles through various investigation types:

  • Hand-On Labs: Students learn through inquiry-based activities, solving problems and designing solutions using resources supplied in Hands-On Kits and other everyday items.
  • Digital Interactives: High-quality simulations based on real-world phenomena and authentic data, from the Gravity Simulator and Volcano Builder interactives to adventures like “The Great Air Race” and “Into the Abyss,” let students experience science in action.
  • Real-World Multimedia Field Trips: Through video and text, students shadow scientists and engineers around the world as they explore local, national, global, and space phenomena, deepening student understanding of STEAM practices and concepts.
  • Scientific Text Investigations: Students experience a variety of authentic scientific text types, including informational, narrative, descriptive, and argumentative, reinforcing the real-world science and engineering concepts of their learning journey.
  • Video Labs: Specially shot in the Twig studio, video labs enable students to take part in scientific inquiries and experiences that would be impractical to carry out in the classroom.

For Twig Science Next Gen, Twig partnered with some of the most highly respected organizations in the worlds of science and engineering education. Developed with the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) team, three-dimensional performance assessments evaluate student attainment of NGSS Performance Expectations and prepare students for state testing. Imperial College London also acted as scientific advisors during the development of the program, which introduces students to multiple real-life STEAM professionals who inspire and motivate students and help them explain phenomena.…Read More

If Not You, Then Who? Children’s Book Series Launches Classroom Program Encouraging Students To Explore The World Of Inventions And Inventors

DALLAS (October 1, 2021) — If Not You, Then Who?, the popular book series for early and grade school children, has launched an educational curriculum for teachers designed to introduce the vast world of inventions and inventors through history to contemporary times into the classroom. 

Each of the If Not You, Then Who books showcases how Inventions and Inventors can come from anywhere, how inventions solve everyday problems and how many of our most enduring inventions were actually created by accident.

To further expand the educational mission of the book series, If Not You, Then Who? has developed a Young Inventors Club  website for in-school and home use along with an Educator’s Guide to help teachers implement the many associated themes in the classroom. The guide aligns the If Not You, Then Who?  books with Next Generation Science Standards sharing such topics as:…Read More

Why STEM literacy is critical for our students

Providing an engaging and equitable STEM education is an important step in helping to develop more scientists and engineers while increasing race and gender diversity in the field–both of which are much needed in today’s world. Education in STEM can also help develop a STEM-literate citizenry. 

While there are many nuanced definitions for STEM literacy, the basis is that STEM-literate individuals are able to apply STEM concepts to identify, understand, and solve problems in the world around them, whether or not these problems are scientific in nature. STEM-literate individuals are able to think in a scientific-minded way about issues that impact their life and the community as a whole.

As educators, helping students understand the importance and benefits of STEM literacy – and how science impacts so many facets of their everyday lives – is an important responsibility.…Read More

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Student entrepreneurs flex a funding win to grow 3D printing business

Since the first patent for additive manufacturing (more commonly known as 3D printing) was filed in 1980, the industry has expanded rapidly. As with any new technology experiencing accelerated growth, unforeseen problems spur innovation.

In San Antonio, TX, an all-women team of Alamo Heights High School students realized one of the problems facing manufacturers of 3D printers was the procurement of raw materials available to make filament. After collaborative deliberation, the group founded FYDER Filament—a company poised to revolutionize sustainable materials sourcing in the 3D printing market.

We developed the idea for FYDER Filament while participating in INCubatoredu, a full-year entrepreneurship program offered at our school to empower young business leaders to identify an opportunity, develop solutions, and create an actual business. At the end of the course, each team competes for funding to grow their business.…Read More

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How the 4 Cs prepare students for the real world

As our world continues to become more connected through technology, today’s students have boundless access to a wealth of information. But, to effectively leverage these resources, students need to be able to make meaning of them.

According to educator Thomas Hoerr, the very notion of intelligence has changed. We no longer rely on the limits of our single mind to access the information resources we need to solve problems. Problem solving has always involved teamwork and cooperation. Today, however, open source programs, wikis, blogs, and other Web 2.0 technologies enable total strangers divided by space and time to collaborate.

Successful problem solving in the 21st century requires us to work effectively and creatively with computers, with vast amounts of information, with ambiguous situations, and with other people from a variety of backgrounds.…Read More

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