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.

5 ways educators can leverage ChatGPT

Artificial intelligence is currently walking itself through the hallways of our schools and some teachers may not be leveraging this tool to enhance their teaching methods. Instead, many educators and learning institutions are nervous about the student use of artificial intelligence to pass assignments and assessments. Here are five tips for educators to enhance their learning methods and help students grow. 

  1. Create rubrics for all assessments with ease.

ChatGPT, one of the most well known artificial intelligence tools, can curate useful tables of resources for educators to minimize the need to search for information. One way educators can harness this optimization is by asking the software to produce a baseline rubric, with the teachers’ needed areas of assessment, for the educator to review. Type these prompts into the chat feature for a preview of the power ChatGPT can provide: 

  • Create a table of educational grants, with links, for classroom supplies. 
  • Create a presentation rubric, with 1 thru 4 scale, for organization, content, delivery, and creativity.
  1. Spark a new idea.

Artificial intelligence can help teachers spark a new idea by making suggestions for ways to engage students. Teachers plug in their lesson needs and artificial intelligence can help spark some ideas. These ideas do not replace the teacher, rather, they help set educators on the path of lesson creation with an added spark. Try these prompts in ChatGPT for yourself: …Read More

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Strategies to help IT leaders combat imminent cyberattacks

It is undeniable–the education sector is prone to cyberattacks from malicious cybercriminals due to the amount of personal data available across user devices and organization networks. Just this past fall, the FBI, CISA and MS-ISAC issued an alert on Vice Society, whose actors have been known to disproportionately target the education sector with ransomware attacks.

While cybersecurity is certainly a top concern among this sector, tight budgets and resources mean that it is often not addressed until a major incident occurs. Given the imminent nature of today’s threat landscape, now more than ever, the urgency surrounding how best to protect and mitigate such attacks is at an all-time high.

With 40 percent of education devices found to have sensitive data stored, educational institutions must be adequately prepared to proactively prevent and respond to potential cyberattacks before a system breach occurs.…Read More

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My top 3 digital science lab resources

As a former molecular biologist turned college and 7-12 educator, I have taught laboratory science classes for the past 3 decades. I’ve seen a lot of changes in science education (especially digital content) over the last 30 years, but one challenge has remained the same: students have to learn laboratory skills.

As a science department chair at a high-performing public high school in Arizona, I can attest firsthand to the stress this component of science education places on young, new science teachers who may not have the benefit of being a trained research scientist in college and who feel intimidated to lead an entire class of 30+ adolescents through a lab that they must by themselves prepare everything for.

This insecurity can lead to many 7-12 science teachers opting not to complete many hands-on labs with their students either because they lack the resources or the confidence to do so. Add to this the fact that districts often emphasize and require science teachers to host and participate in school and district Science Fairs, and it is no wonder that good science teachers are hard to come by.…Read More

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5 math resources to boost student inquiry

Lloyd Alexander once said, “We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from the answer itself.” I love this quote because I’ve witnessed the truth of it firsthand in the classroom. Like much of life, the best parts are often found in the journey rather than the destination itself.

When students are truly engaged in inquiry, they are able to construct deep knowledge and understanding rather than just passively receiving the information. It also gives them the opportunity to encounter different perspectives that build upon prior learning, which they can then return to for guidance as they continue to grow.     

This is particularly true when it comes to the study of mathematics. With math, educators often find themselves jumping between two worlds: the conceptual knowledge and the procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge is what’s learned through standard memorization (like math facts), but conceptual knowledge is where students are able to grasp deeper learning through thoughtful, reflective activities. …Read More

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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

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Savvas Learning Company Introduces the Newly Updated enVision Mathematics 2024

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY — Savvas Learning Company, a K-12 next-generation learning solutions leader, introduced its newly updated enVision Mathematics series with many exciting enhancements inspired by feedback from math teachers, including brand-new family engagement resources to support student learning at home.

enVision © 2024, the newest edition of Savvas Learning Company’s highly-effective and best-selling math series for grades K-12, is now packed with even more student-centered activities that engage learners in real-world, meaningful math, along with a variety of new instructional support tools to save teachers time while offering them flexibility for lesson planning.

“Savvas has always been focused on providing educators the highest-quality math curriculum combined with the most flexible resources to make teaching easier, a commitment that has made enVision the nation’s most popular math program used in thousands of classrooms everywhere,” said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company. “With new features centered around students and more supportive resources for both home and classroom, enVision offers an innovative curriculum that helps educators teach with confidence and engages students with hands-on, problem-based learning.”…Read More

Online learning can help schools retain students

There were 1.3 million fewer students enrolled in U.S. public schools in fall 2021 than there were before the pandemic began–a drop of nearly 3 percent. Given that educational funding is tied to enrollment, this development has serious implications for the availability of resources in our schools.

Some of this decline may be the result of changing demographics. But much of it can be attributed to families who have opted out of public schools during the pandemic, choosing private schools or homeschooling for their children instead.

On top of these losses, traditional school districts also have lost about a quarter of a million students to charter schools since the emergence of COVID. An analysis by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that charter school enrollment increased by more than 7 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020 as families found other alternatives for their children’s education.…Read More

Discovery Education and Boeing Present a New Virtual Field Trip for Students Exploring STEM and Robotics in Aviation Manufacturing 

Charlotte, NC — Discovery Education and Boeing present a new virtual experience – Manufacturing the Future of Aviation Virtual Field Trip – to show students how STEM makes aviation manufacturing more efficient and safer. This virtual field trip is part of FUTURE U, an award-winning program that provides standards-aligned, hands-on, experiential learning resources that ignite excitement and inspire students to become tomorrow’s innovators. 

Premiering Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. ET and available on-demand, this virtual learning experience transports students to manufacturing centers in Renton, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City, Utah to meet the diverse mechatronics, robotics, and ergonomic engineers at Boeing. During the Manufacturing the Future of Aviation Virtual Field Trip, students discover the revolutionary devices and machines that make modern manufacturing safer, faster, and safer. Learn more and register here. 

“It’s critical for us to do all that we can to get students excited about the careers of the future. This new virtual field trip is another exciting way students can learn more about how important STEM careers are in the aerospace industry–and how fun and rewarding they can be,” said Vice President of Boeing Global Engagement Cheri Carter. …Read More

Mississippi Principal Named Curriculum Associates’ 2023 Inspire Award Winner

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass.—Dr. Kiana Pendleton, principal of Laurel Magnet School of the Arts in the Laurel School District in Laurel, MS, was recently named the winner of Curriculum Associates’ 2023 Inspire Award. This recognition, which is part of the company’s annual Extraordinary Educators™ program celebrating exemplar teachers around the country, is given to one administrator nationwide for their ability to create strong bonds with school-based teams to take the use of Curriculum Associates’ i-Ready program to new levels to support students’ academic success.

“Dr. Pendleton is a standout leader who understands the support and resources teachers and students alike need in order to succeed,” said Emily McCann, vice president of educator community at Curriculum Associates. “Dr. Pendleton’s dedication to her school community and her hard work day-in and day-out is admirable.”

Pendleton began her career in education as an America Reads tutor in Jackson, MS. Prior to coming to the Laurel School District in April 2018, she served as a teacher, interventionist, and district reading specialist. For her outstanding leadership and dedicated service as principal of Laurel Magnet School of the Arts, Pendleton was named Laurel School District’s Administrator of the Year in 2019. She was also later selected by the Mississippi Department of Education as a finalist for the title of Mississippi Administrator of the Year.…Read More