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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.

4 engaging strategies that promote student SEL

In 2020, the World Economic Forum released a list of the most sought-after skills for the jobs of tomorrow. Among them were a number of surprising entries such as creativity, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, and service orientation. At least, they were surprising if you weren’t an educator. For those of us who spent the last year teaching through a pandemic, the necessity of social-emotional learning (SEL) has been only too apparent. After all, what good is a knowledge of STEM if you don’t have the ability to recognize and manage your own emotions?       

As educators, we know all too well how important social-emotional learning is to a student’s overall development. Science, math, and reading are vital subjects, but empathy, self-awareness, and responsible-decision-making are what allow someone to apply those subjects in ways that make the world a better place.

But with so many standards and subjects competing for our attention, how do we make space for effective SEL in the classroom? Well, it starts with the right activities. Here are just a few engaging lessons that can make a huge impact on students’ emotional growth:…Read More

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Edthena Names Winners of the 2022 Teacher Leader Impact Awards

SAN FRANCISCO (June 14, 2022) – Edthena is announcing this year’s honorees for the Teacher Leader Impact Awards which recognize the outstanding achievements of teacher leaders nationwide. All four of the winning educators were nominated by either an administrator or colleague at their school or district for making a measurable impact on others and creating positive lasting change.

“Educators are true superheroes,” said Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena. “This is particularly true of this year’s awardees from across the country. From supporting students and fellow teachers to spearheading STEM initiatives, all of the honored educators are so deserving of the Teacher Leader Impact Award recognition.”

The 2022 Teacher Leader Impact Award recipients are:…Read More

5 STEM-based TED-Ed Lessons to close out your school year

School days might seem as if they move at a glacial pace in the countdown to summer break. Some schools have already closed, while others have a couple more weeks left. Teachers who still have classrooms full of students can use TED-Ed Lessons to liven up these last days and highlight students’ different personal interests.

The TED-Ed platform is especially cool because educators can build lessons around any TED-Ed Original, TED Talk, or YouTube video.

Once you find the video you want to use, you can use the TED-Ed Lessons editor to add questions, discussion prompts, and additional resources.…Read More

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ASU Prep Poly students win NASA challenge

April 29, 2022 — When NASA’s Blue Origin rocket launches in January 2023, its cargo will include a 4-by-4-by-8-inch container that weighs a little more than a pound.

Inside that container will be two sponges, a syringe, a motherboard, two cameras, LED light strips and the intelligence and curiosity of six students at Arizona State University’s Preparatory Academy Polytechnic STEM High School.

Those six students — Deaglan Salado, Hafsa Kaysan, Samantha Llagas, Elijah Linman, Ryan Robinson and Sawyer Ganes — were winners in NASA’s TechRise Challenge and are being given $1,500 to design an experiment that will take place during the January flight.…Read More

STEM careers are among students’ top choices

Students’ interests in various career fields had an overwhelming STEM and digital focus, according to a survey from the nonprofit American Student Assistance (ASA).

ASA, which aims to change the way middle and high schoolers learn about careers and navigate education-to-career opportunities, used its free immersive digital Futurescape platform to survey more than 2,000 students as they explored real-world careers beyond the classroom.

“We need to set students up for success by exposing them to career choices that they can explore where they live, which is on their mobile devices. We also have to reach them as early as middle school, before a world of career and postsecondary options begins to narrow,” said ASA President and CEO Jean Eddy. …Read More

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YouScience Releases Career Insights Report on Women, STEM, and the Talent Shortage

AMERICAN FORK, Utah, March 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —  YouScience, a leader in aptitude-based assessments, personalized career guidance, and industry-recognized certifications that support college and career success, today announced the release of a new national report,  Career Insights: Women, STEM, and the Talent Shortage. The insights are based on data gathered from the test results of more than 100,000 female high school juniors and seniors across the nation who completed a  YouScience Discovery assessment. The findings uncover a significant career exposure gap for women, as their aptitude scores for STEM-related occupations far outweighed their self-defined interest in them.

According to a 2021  ManpowerGroup survey, talent shortages in the U.S. have more than tripled in the last ten years, with 69% of employers struggling to fill positions, up from just 14% in 2010. Globally, estimates show that by 2030, the talent shortage could reach 85.2 million people, resulting in the loss of trillions of dollars in economic opportunity for companies.

YouScience garnered the insights by analyzing student’s self-defined interest in top careers versus their aptitude for success in those careers, including STEM and other high-paying opportunities. The data includes the top 50 most frequent career matches from a selection of 500.…Read More

VHS Learning Continues to Serve Massachusetts Students Underrepresented in Advanced STEM Courses Through Statewide Initiative

Boston – Feb. 18, 2022 –Many students don’t have the opportunity to take Advanced Placement® (AP®) classes due to limited availability of AP® course offerings or certified instructors to teach the classes. To help, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) partnered with VHS Learning to create the STEM Advanced Placement Access Expansion Opportunity, which enables up to 1,500 students within the state to take free AP® courses during the 2022-2023 academic year.

The STEM Advanced Placement Access Expansion Opportunity is designed to increase Massachusetts high schoolers’ participation in advanced coursework. The statewide initiative will provide select high schools with access to up to eight AP® STEM courses free of charge.

Data from the DESE’s Student Longitudinal Database System reveals that students who take AP® coursework are more likely to enroll in college. In fact, 86% of high school students who take at least one AP® course attend college. An even higher percentage (92%) of students who take two or more of such courses go on to postsecondary education. However, only 63% of Massachusetts high schoolers who do not take an AP® course attend college.…Read More

Fastest-Growing EdTech Provider Trox + Tierney to “Bluum” Under New Brand

PHOENIX, AZ – Jan. 26, 2022 – Having already transformed into North America’s leading education technology company, Trox + Tierney will continue to grow in the education markets under the new brand of Bluum beginning today. The higher calling of ensuring every student has access to a world-class education remains the company’s mission.  

The April 2021 Trox and Tierney merger resulted in a technology solutions provider with a robust suite of technology products and services, AV design and integration, and professional development for educators. Many of Bluum’s 775 employees stem from education, providing first-hand experience and unrivaled knowledge to their former colleagues.

“Our company’s growth has occurred through mergers and acquisitions, as well as organically, more than tripling our revenue over the past three years,” Bluum CEO Erez Pikar said. “We are united under one aspirational brand and a vision of creating equity and access in education. All of our employees equally share in this identity, which aligns with our mission, objectives and pursuit of continued growth.”…Read More

8 virtual field trips for STEM education

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on student engagement and online or hybrid learning strategies related to pandemic teaching. This year’s 6th most-read story focuses on how virtual field trips can engage even the most reluctant STEM learners.

It’s January. Winter break is over, and the rest of the school year–whether in person, hybrid, or virtual–seems never-ending. And while traditional field trips are on pause while COVID still spreads, virtual field trips are still very much possible.

Hands-on STEM subjects are challenging to teach when students aren’t in the classroom all the time, and student engagement is also a challenge during COVID. Virtual field trips address both of these persistent roadblocks.…Read More

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West Sound STEM Network Expands Partnership with Slooh to Engage More Students in Space Exploration

Washington Depot, Connecticut, October 29, 2021 – Slooh, the only organization offering live online telescope feeds of amazing astronomical events to students, and the West Sound STEM Network recently expanded their partnership to help more teachers and students throughout northwest Washington State engage in space exploration that is aligned with state and national standards. After successfully providing a number of Network member schools with access to Slooh’s robotic telescopes and patented Mission Interface last year, West Sound STEM Network is now expanding the program to reach 250 teachers and 10,000 students. This comes as Slooh works toward its goal of helping one million students nationwide experience the wonder of space from their classroom and home computers.

“Our partnership with Slooh is – and has been – highly inspirational for our teachers and students,” said Dr. Kareen Borders, executive director of the West Sound STEM Network. “Our schools are actively exploring the moon, Mars, and beyond in real time!”

Serving the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas, the West Sound STEM Network is a public-private regional network committed to building PreK-career pathways to postsecondary credentials and a stronger STEM workforce. The cross-sector network of businesses, school districts, education agencies, higher education institutions, Career and Technical Education (CTE) practitioners and providers, government, military, community, Tribes, library systems, nonprofits, out-of-school providers, and workforce development agencies introduce and link students, teachers, and the community to high-quality STEM resources, such as Slooh.  …Read More