Scholastic Provides Educators Award-Winning Digital Solutions For Virtual Learning

As school districts nationwide begin the 2020–21 academic year, whether in person, remotely, or following a hybrid model, access to high-quality, flexible digital literacy resources is more critical than ever before. Amidst this shift, Scholastic is meeting the needs of nearly 50,000 educators nationwide with a suite of award-winning personalized learning programs designed to fit varying schedules and implementation models with equitable learning opportunities and robust analytics: Scholastic F.I.R.ST. for grades pre-K–2, Scholastic W.O.R.D. for grades K–5, and Scholastic Literacy Pro for grades K–8. In August, Digital Promise recognized Scholastic F.I.R.S.T. and Scholastic W.O.R.D. with Research-Based Design product certification, verifying for parents and educators that these programs are steeped in research about learning.

To learn more about the full range of Scholastic digital solutions to support literacy instruction, visit: www.scholastic.com/edtech.

“School closures and disruptions to learning have presented unprecedented challenges for educators and families,” said Beth Polcari, President, Scholastic Magazines Group. “We know that educators are doing the best they can right now to keep their students safe and ensure that learning continues. Scholastic remains committed to supporting teachers by making personalized learning accessible and equitable, to help students continue to grow as skillful readers, regardless of their learning environment.”…Read More

School librarians can save democracy

Regardless of one’s political views, there seems to be consensus on one political reality: America is dangerously polarized. According to Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, in a recent edWebinar, “The future of democracy presents a case for the critical need for school librarians in every school.”

School librarians are essential to help students gain equitable access to high-quality inquiry instructional experiences for all learners–not just for the future of education but also for the future of democracy.

The problem…Read More

Los Angeles Unified, Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education Launch New Partnership Bringing Dynamic Digital Resources

Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles Unified), Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education today launched a new partnership providing educators, students and families access to high-quality digital resources.

Through this new partnership, Los Angeles Unified educators, students and families are empowered to interact with more than 300,000 exciting digital resources, standards-aligned activities and vetted, high-quality content carefully curated by grade level. These new digital resources will play a critical role to support continued learning on any device; whether at home or in the classroom.

“We are grateful to Annenberg Learner and Discovery Education for helping us provide students with the tools they need to receive a great education.” said Austin Beutner, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent.…Read More

Codecademy Expands Online Coding Education

Codecademy, the online education platform empowering millions of people to learn code, announced two new initiatives for students and teachers, including its first-ever student membership and a new partnership with Clever, the most widely used single sign-on (SSO) portal in K-12 schools nationwide

With many schools going fully or partially remote this fall, Codecademy is making its learning platform more accessible for students and teachers. For college students, Codecademy is launching a new Pro Student membership, which includes complete access to Codecademy’s catalog for a more affordable price.

Codecademy is also providing free access to its online coding courses for high school teachers and their classes via a new partnership with Clever. Codecademy Pro courses will be available in Clever Library, a catalog of high-quality digital resources that teachers can deploy to their classroom within seconds. High school teachers can access Codecademy’s interactive curriculums for free, empowering their students to learn how to code in a fun and engaging way online.…Read More

Columbus City Schools Adopts Curriculum Associates’ Ready Classroom Mathematics

Columbus City Schools in Columbus, Ohio has adopted Curriculum Associates’ Ready Classroom Mathematics to support students’ growth and achievement in mathematics. The rigorous, standards-aligned core curriculum, which emphasizes modeling and discourse, will be implemented with all of the District’s 25,000-plus students in Grades K–5 starting in fall 2020. The District will additionally continue its use of Curriculum Associates’ online i-Ready program to support both mathematics and reading instruction across all of K–8.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that students are learning and developing proficiency,” said Dr. Talisa Dixon, superintendent/CEO at Columbus City Schools. “This new curriculum will provide rich, robust, high-quality instruction for all students to reach mastery and have deep meaningful learning experiences online and eventually in the classroom.”

Ready Classroom Mathematics helps teachers deliver discourse-based instruction while empowering students to think mathematically and discuss mathematical ideas. Its printed and online resources work cohesively to support the teaching and learning process. The program uses multiple-day lessons and instructional routines to help students understand important mathematical concepts, make connections between multiple mathematical strategies, and deepen their conceptual understanding by leading the majority of the classroom discussion. There are also frequent opportunities for practice and assessment to ensure that students understand concepts and to help teachers make instructional decisions.…Read More

Pinna launches “Time for Kids Explains”, a timely, informative weekly news podcast for kids

Pinna, the only on-demand audio entertainment service developed and curated exclusively for kids 3-12, today announced the availability of the first weekly podcast installment of TIME for Kids Explains, the result of its partnership with TIME for Kids, the publication that has provided quality, trusted journalism to millions of students for 25 years. Concurrently, Pinna is offering any teacher or educator who creates an account via Pinna.fm/teachers six months’ free access to Pinna’s entire collection of podcasts, audiobooks and music.

Each episode of the TIME for Kids Explains podcast is themed to the content of each week’s TIME for Kids issue, contextualizing the information to bring a broader understanding while allowing kids to process and interpret the news.

“Today’s announcement furthers our commitment to providing teachers with access to resources proven to enhance learning on multiple fronts,” said Maggie McGuire, CEO of Pinna. “By giving teachers access to Pinna’s full library of content, we are doing our part to provide them with flexible resources – regardless if they find themselves in the classroom, teaching remote, or a combination of both!”…Read More

Yamaha CS-700 Video Sound Bar Now Available With Promethean Collaboration Tool

Yamaha Unified Communications is partnering with Promethean Interactive Displays and DisplayNote to outfit conference rooms with a three-for-one enterprise-grade plug-and-play collaboration tool. Exclusively available from Promethean, the display system simplifies meetings, making them more productive than ever before. It provides conference and collaboration spaces with high-quality, professional audio, video, and meeting room software. Featuring Yamaha’s award-winning CS-700 all-in-one Video Sound Bar, Promethean’s ActivPanel™ Titanium Pro, and DisplayNote Launcher application, the solution is fast and simple to deploy, set up, and operate.

“Think of this system as your next enhanced collaboration solution, bringing together three of the industry’s leaders in interactivity and superior communication,” said Michelle Baeza director strategic partnerships, Yamaha Unified Communications, Inc. “Our solution is affordable, easy to deploy and operate, providing organizations with everything they need to launch a collaborative meeting with one touch.”

Engineered from the ground up leveraging Yamaha’s years of audio and UCC expertise, the CS-700 Video Sound Bar integrates an adaptive beamforming microphone array for perfectly captured conversation; four Yamaha speaker elements to provide the highest degree of audio intelligibility; and a wide-angle HD camera that captures guests and the room in clear detail. The solution eliminates the inherent inefficiencies of operating disparate video and audio during calls and the eye sore of cables snaked around the room.…Read More

Interactive Online Tool that Gives Teachers a Shortcut to Creating Quality Project Based Learning Units

PBLWorks, the leader in professional development for high-quality Project Based Learning (PBL), has created a first-of-its kind PBL Project Designer to help teachers plan standards-based PBL units for students. Teachers can build PBL projects from scratch or easily adapt one of 72 Gold Standard PBL units for their students and context.

The Project Designer walks teachers through each step of designing a project, providing tips for creating or adapting projects, instructional ideas, links to project resources, and modifications for online learning. Once complete, projects can be downloaded, printed, and immediately implemented with students.

“Project Based Learning is an incredible way to engage students and promote deeper learning and we want to provide as much support as we can to help teachers do it well, whether they are teaching in classrooms or remotely,” said PBLWorks CEO Bob Lenz. “The PBL Project Designer is a great resource for teachers – whether they’re experienced in PBL or just starting out – to help them confidently plan their next PBL unit.”…Read More

Carolina Biological Launches Remote Learning Add-Ons to Award Winning K-8 Science Curriculum Kits with Teacher Planning Features

Leading school science supplier Carolina Biological launched three new sets of K-8 digital resources for remote teaching this fall: Smithsonian Science for the Classroom™@HOME, Smithsonian Science and Technology Concepts™ Middle School@HOME, and Building Blocks of Science™ 3D@HOME. Carolina updated its award-winning K-8 science programs to support essential remote instruction in elementary and middle schools this fall. All programs are available now and were designed to provide high-quality, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science instruction. Carolina enhanced Smithsonian curriculum and Building Blocks of Science 3D products with simplified digital teacher-planning features for robust remote science instruction, as well as a variety of live and online on-demand professional development called Get Ready! Professional Learning. Whether educators are teaching students from their classrooms or at home, they can maintain a high-quality science program, engage students online in three-dimensional learning, and continue to support English language arts and math.

Teachers can access these new digital components and share digital resources in English and Spanish with students online from home or anywhere they have Internet access. The new add-ons for remote learning cover all Smithsonian curriculum and Building Blocks of Science™ 3D programs, to complement the classroom teacher’s instruction. These new features are free and live in their accounts on Carolina Science Online®, the online portal where teachers can access digital components of all programs for schools that already own Smithsonian Science for the Classroom, Smithsonian Science Technology Concepts Middle School (STCMS) or Building Blocks of Science 3D. The new digital @HOME and Get Ready! professional development features are included automatically for new customers at no additional charge. The programs include access to a wealth of digital resources, including instructional videos, demonstrations and simulations.

Carolina created a lesson plan for every lesson in the @HOME programs, which includes a one-page summary with five steps to help teachers use it for a remote learning environment, as many will be doing when school begins this fall. Each summary includes a list of the included digital resources they need to share with students for the lesson. Each of the steps can be done in just five or 10 minutes. If teachers are not able to have live class time or video conferences, they can also create their own content through @HOME by recording videos of themselves talking to introduce and personalize the lessons. Being able to see their own teachers will help students to feel better connected with them.…Read More

Future of School Awards Scholarships to Students from 23 States

Future of School (FoS), a national public charity focused on access to quality public education, today announced its 2020 Student Scholarship Program (SSP) winners. High school graduates from 23 states were awarded this competitive scholarship of up to $10,000 each. The financial award will support post-secondary education plans for nearly 40 students who are choosing to attend vocational, tech or trade programs, community colleges, or four-year universities

Since 2016, FoS has supported digital pioneers—both students and teachers alike—with the ultimate goal of demonstrating to all Americans the importance of transforming schools to include more innovative, tech-enabled teaching and learning opportunities. Student scholarship winners submit written essays and video testimonials focusing on the impact of digital education on their lives. Now more than ever, these success stories are important lessons for schools as they navigate plans for reopening amidst the pandemic.

In her video, 2020 SSP Scholar Alaina Smith stated, “In these trying times it’s been so difficult for all of us. There hasn’t been a single one of us that hasn’t been affected by what’s going on. However, I can say that my schooling was unaffected. Because I was already going to online school…I didn’t miss a beat.” Learn more about Alaina’s story here, as well as other students taking charge of their futures.…Read More

Innovative Tablet and Headphone Charging Station

The new charging station was designed to support the use of audio accessories in the learning environment and to help address the need to isolate headphones for dedicated student use. The Tablet and Headphone Charging Station uses easy-to-clean, high-quality 8.9”x11.5” tote bins and covers to store headphones, audio connectors, accessories, and even individual student projects.

Designed with a front-access cord management system and a UL-listed power system, it’s easy for students to keep their classroom space organized and their technology powered and ready for use. The tablets, iPads or phones store and charge directly on top of each tote bin cover. By keeping cords contained and connectors handy, students will never have to untangle cords again!

Available in two sizes, which support either 8 or 16 devices and bins, the Tablet and Headphone Charging Station can accommodate any classroom size. “The open architecture and removable bin design are easy to clean and can be placed strategically around a classroom to encourage social distancing,” said David See, President of Spectrum Industries. “You can store each student’s headphones separately in the removable, multicolored tote bins. Add labels and projects to the bins to keep the spread of germs to a minimum while customizing each student’s lesson plans for the day. The Tablet and Headphone Charging Station facilitates an incredibly active and safe classroom environment,” See added.…Read More

Forces Join To Grant the Wishes of More Than 500 Classrooms Nationwide

My Wish For U.S., the digital platform that invites Americans to share their wishes for the country’s future, today announced a partnership with First Book, a non-profit social enterprise that provides new, high-quality educational resources to children in need, and AMERICAN HERITAGE® Chocolate. The partnership will provide classrooms nationwide with books to add to their libraries, chosen by educators to support the wishes they submit with their students on MyWishForUS.com. Educators will be able to select books from categories like Activism and Civic Engagement, Making a Difference, Biographies, and more. The program will launch this fall and will distribute approximately 15,000 books to classroom libraries serving children living in poverty.

My Wish For U.S. and First Book will encourage educators across the country to post their classroom’s wish to the My Wish For U.S. platform and social media. At least 500 educators will be chosen to receive gift credits to the First Book Marketplace (www.fbmarketplace.org), where they can select books that support their students’ areas of interest.

“Often, we tell students what they need to know and learn about, and that relationship only goes one way,” said Caroline Kilbanoff, Program Manager for Made By Us. “We are excited to collaborate with First Book to let students tell us what they are interested in learning more about and giving them the tools and information to take action.”…Read More