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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.

Free classes and practice problems in over 200 subjects

Many K-12 schools have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More closings are sure to come. In response, Varsity Tutors, founded by Washington University in St. Louis alum Chuck Cohn, has launched a new service called Virtual School Day.

Virtual School Day: Nearly 200 free, live K-12 classes available all day long intended to help parents fill their children’s day with enriched learning. Some popular classes are “Intro to Spanish for Kids”, “Coolest Women in History”, “Java Programming Basics”, and “The Story of Your Favorite Fairy Tales”.

Virtual Summer Camps: Free half-day summer camps are a week-long, with enrichment-based classes in subjects like foreign languages, chess, theater, coding, Minecraft, how to be a detective, photography, and more. These live, interactive camps will be taught by expert instructors vetted through Varsity Tutors’ platform.…Read More

Complete web-based math curriculum

Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) is offering one free month or a $15 discount on a yearly subscription to Beast Academy Online, the complete web-based math curriculum designed to help students ages 8-13 deepen their understanding of math. The program features engaging, comic-book style illustrations that keep kids coming back for more, even as they grapple with some of the most rigorous math problems available.

Some of Beast Academy Online’s highlighted features include:

●     More than 800 lessons and over 15,000 problems including puzzles, games, word problems and skill drills. Students get immediate feedback when they complete problems and full solutions are provided for every problem.…Read More

7 keys to effective online learning

Online learning’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years amid reports of poor academic performance and concerns over lax regulation. While there is certainly some cause for concern, many of the problems center on for-profit providers who manage full-time virtual schools. The truth is that not all online learning experiences are of suspect quality.

When done well, online learning can be highly successful—opening the door to numerous learning opportunities that students otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to, while providing very rich and rigorous instruction. In fact, students who take online Advanced Placement courses from VHS Learning consistently outperform national passing rate averages on AP exams.

Related content: 10 things to help students during the COVID-19 outbreak…Read More

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Dreambox Learning Math provides 90 day free trial

DreamBox Learning Math is an award winning K-8 online math program.  Our truly adaptive engine looks beyond the answer at how a student is solving problems, and adjusts accordingly to build a unique learning path for them.  We’re passionate about math, because math unlocks future dreams for children, and we believe DreamBox can help them get there.

Offer: 90 day free trial of DreamBox.  Sign up by April 30th.

Get it now…Read More

No-Cost Access to ST Math

With the spread of Coronavirus, COVID-19, schools across the country are temporarily closing.

At MIND Research Institute, our mission is to ensure that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems.

That’s why we stand ready to provide resources and no-cost access so the learning can keep on happening, even if school is temporarily closed.…Read More

Here’s why robotics education will help students for life

Much of today’s impactful teaching focuses on the “why” behind the concept being taught. When it comes to STEM concepts such as robotics, educators and students alike may wonder why they should learn robotics if they don’t plan to pursue it in college or the workforce. The answer? Robotics education will help students for life.

Students are more engaged when they understand how classroom concepts apply in the real world. Learning how robotics, science, engineering, and other STEM concepts are used to solve complex problems speaks to the “why” behind robotics education.

Related Content:…Read More

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5 Cool STEM Grants for 2019

Although we’re still in the middle of our current school year, it’s never too early to get a jump on grants for the 2019-2020 year–especially where STEM funding is concerned.

Grants of all sizes can support research to learn more about STEM instruction, or can help pique students’ interest in STEM.

Check out the following 5 STEM grants–some are research-based, others are for teachers, and a couple are focused around student involvement…Read More

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How to cut your bus disciplinary referrals by 67 percent

Several years ago, my school adopted a Positive Behavior Support Program (PBSIS) program. Solutions to persistent problems pointed school climate in the right direction, reduced disciplinary referrals, and tackled bullying incidents (suspensions decreased by four times, and bullying incidents by three times).

PBSIS and programs like it are replicable, if school communities and their leaders are patient and sustained in adoption. Resources are available for free. Part of implementing such a program includes a schoolwide identification of problem areas in the school. This should be done through data analysis (run a report of how frequently incidents happen in various locations) and from voting by staff and students. (We use Google Forms to determine school community perceptions.)

Survey says…
When we surveyed our school community and compared this to our own data, four problem areas emerged:…Read More

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5 ways to optimize learning spaces for student success

As we address the challenges of a highly competitive world, we must enable students to learn and generate new ideas by moving away from the “old school” classroom. The good news is that architects and interior solutions providers are embracing ways help transform our schools.

Here are five important aspects to consider.

1. Collaboration is now a given
At its most basic, collaboration is shared communication. It’s talking in small groups. It’s brainstorming ideas together. But in a traditional classroom setup, our students sit in forward-facing rows waiting to receive instructions and then do heads-down tasks.…Read More

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