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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.

Why we use a multilingual districtwide platform for personalized communications

With more than 15,000 students across 25 different schools in central Washington state, one of our biggest goals coming into this past school year was to develop a feature-rich communications system that was the same for teachers, schools, and the district. We looked at the options on the market, talked to other districts about what they are using, and then put in a new school-home communications platform in place for the 2021-22 school year.

One of our concerns when adopting a new platform was whether it could handle multilingual communications for the district, where our students speak eight different languages–mainly English and Spanish, so that was our previous sole focus.

If you take Spanish and English out of the mix, we’ve never communicated using the six other languages before, unless it was an Individual Education Plan or something else that had to be translated. We’ve never communicated our normal messaging out in ALL languages that impact our families.…Read More

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Poptential™ Free Curriculum Brings History Alive for Independence Day

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — (May 6, 2022) — Poptential™, a family of free social studies course packages that pair pop culture media with engaging digital storytelling, provides teachers and students media-rich lessons on the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence, celebrated July 4. Click to tweet.

“While the Declaration of Independence was adopted 246 years ago, the heroes guiding the birth of our nation are brought to life in popular culture, which appeals to today’s digitally-savvy learner, and can make teaching more effective and relevant,” said Fred Fransen, CEO of Certell, Inc., the maker of Poptential.

Poptential courses, used by more than 30,000 teachers in 50 states, include everything instructors need to teach a subject, digitally accessible in one place, including lessons, ebooks, bell ringers, quizzes, and tests, as well as pop culture media to make lessons interesting and relatable to students. Curriculum packages are standards-based and developed by social studies teachers.…Read More

Bringing the world to life through augmented reality

My school, located in London, is a rich and diverse community with over 40 languages spoken at the school. Affectionately known as a ‘village school in the United Nations of Brent,’ we can see the arch of the iconic Wembley Stadium from the end of our street. However, like some of our American counterparts, we serve students who have never been able to visit–let alone step inside–the iconic landmarks like Wembley, Buckingham Palace, or the Tower of London, in their own backyard. 

This fact was brought home to me several years ago when a 10-year-old student from Brazil, whom we will call Lucas, made a sobering observation on a school trip to center city London. Looking up at the glass, the skyscrapers, the abundance of wealth, Lucas casually remarked, “I didn’t know London could look like this.” 

In that moment we knew we were failing our children. If our neighborhood of Cricklewood in North London was all they knew, how could they have aspirations beyond it? It was augmented reality that began to bring the world to life for our learners.…Read More

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Do your teachers know what good teaching looks like?

Pick any high-priority instructional initiative in your district. Can you think of at least one teacher who is excelling in that priority area?

Maybe it’s an early-elementary teacher facilitating small group math learning. Or, maybe it’s a high-school science teacher appropriately deploying sheltered-instruction techniques into a lesson rich with academic language.

Now ask yourself… how can every other teacher get a chance to see that teacher’s classroom?…Read More

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How our coding platform helps us teach STEM

In a district where most of our students receive free or reduced lunches, we have next to no access to high-quality STEM programs, computer science classes, or coding courses. When I was Googling different ways to fill some of these gaps and incorporate more STEM into my Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) after-school club, I discovered an online coding platform and coding competitions that are both accessible and affordable.

This was a big find. I wanted my students to excel and compete effectively with important college and career and STEM skills, regardless of how rich or poor our school district was, but we just didn’t have the resources to make that happen. I was looking for a platform that taught basic computer coding, and one that would allow anyone at any skill level to jump in and participate.

I also wanted a program that included robotics, and that segued into our existing robotics program, which starts in seventh grade. CoderZ checked all of these boxes, so we started using it three years ago. It effectively replaced the Hour of Code general coding/computer programming platform that we were previously using.…Read More

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Discovery Inc. and Discovery Education Partner to Present Exclusive Virtual Field Trip Behind the Scenes of the Inauguration

Discovery Inc. and  Discovery Education are partnering to present  I Do Solemnly Swear: The U.S. Presidential Inauguration to help educators, students, and families across the United States and around the world explore the rich history and tradition surrounding the Inauguration of the President of the United States. This exclusive, no cost virtual learning experience provides students behind-the-scenes access to this extraordinary quadrennial event. I Do Solemnly Swear premieres Tuesday, January 19 at 12:00pm ET exclusively on  www.discoveryeducation.com and will air the same week on  Discovery Family, and in Spanish on  Discovery Familia.

During I Do Solemnly Swear, elementary and middle school students, their teachers, and families will learn about the many distinctive aspects of the Presidential Inauguration. Through a series of interviews, Inaugural experts and historians will share their perspectives and insight, and answer questions such as why we have an Inauguration, how does a First Family move into the White House during the Inauguration, and what do the symbols and language of the Inauguration mean. In addition, a surprise guest is scheduled to appear who will share a special message with students.

Interviewing the Inaugural experts featured in I Do Solemnly Swear are a group of extraordinary students from families served by  Operation Homefront, the national nonprofit whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families. Since 2002, Operation Homefront has provided relief, resiliency, and recurring support programs that help military families overcome short-term bumps in the road so they do not become long-term chronic problems.…Read More

Barix Speeds and Simplifies IP Speaker Installations with New Remote Configuration Toolset

IP audio innovator Barix has added a powerful new remote configuration toolset in its award-winning IP Former analog-to-IP speaker upgrade solution that makes multi-unit installation faster and easier. Built into each IP Former device and accessible through a web browser, the new toolset enables efficient, centralized configuration of all IP Former units on the same network.

The IP Former hardware transforms analog loudspeakers into feature-rich, networked IP speakers. The cost-efficient device provides an IP network interface, audio stream decoder, and amplifier front-end for a two- to eight-ohm speaker, with power supplied over PoE to minimize cabling requirements. Current analog speaker installations can be retrofitted by simply swapping their transformers with IP Former units, maximizing the lifespan of customers’ existing investments.

The new toolset enables installers to efficiently configure any number of IP Former devices – from two to hundreds of units – at once from a single, intuitive dashboard. A grid view displays all IP Former devices on the network, their settings, and the active stream on each unit for easy visualization and validation of the deployment.…Read More

LenelS2 Introduces OnGuard Security Management System Version 8.0

LenelS2 today announced the release of the OnGuard® security management system version 8.0, empowering security teams with enhanced situational awareness through unified views of the security environment, as well as powerful visualization for data-based insights. Version 8.0 provides major updates including integration with the Magic Monitor® unified client, rich interactive maps, a new modern reporting engine, cybersecurity enhancements and more. The OnGuard security management system is an advanced solution in Carrier’s Healthy Buildings Program, and provides critical features like occupancy management, enhanced access control and proactive screening solutions to better protect people and assets, and optimize building health and efficiency. LenelS2, a global leader in advanced security systems and services, is a part of Carrier Global Corporation (NYSE: CARR), a leading global provider of healthy, safe and sustainable building and cold chain solutions.

“OnGuard version 8.0 provides end users with the tools they need to be in complete control of their security environment and transform security data into actionable insights,” said Jeff Stanek, president, LenelS2. “As the world returns to the workplace, the breadth of new features, updates and enhancements in OnGuard version 8.0 make it an ideal solution for today’s unique security challenges.”

The OnGuard 8.0 system enhances security and situational awareness through integration with the Magic Monitor client, a Windows® and MacOS® client, which provides a unified view of access control, video surveillance feeds and web content in a single display. Users can view OnGuard system alarms, credentials as well as live or recorded video from the LenelS2™ Network Video Recorder (LenelS2 NVR) platform, or third-party video management systems, including the Milestone XProtect® system. The Magic Monitor unified client supports a single display, a command center workstation or expansive video walls.…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