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.

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

eLumen Introduces Professional Services to Help Institutions of Higher Learning Lead Change and Improve Outcomes

Minneapolis, MN―eLumen, the all-in-one platform that helps institutions of higher learning and all individual stakeholders succeed on purpose, today announced the launch of a suite of professional services designed to leverage the effectiveness of instructors and enhance the accomplishments that take place on campuses across the world every day. These services will support colleges and universities in their efforts to better understand and utilize the technology solutions across campus, access more timely and insightful performance data, enhance accreditation and compliance practices, give students better visibility into their mastery of key skills, and much more.

“At eLumen, our focus is to help institutions facilitate student achievement that is foundational―guiding the pathway to mastery of key skills in a fashion that provides a course to something greater. That’s why we work to provide resources and technology to connect what’s possible for all stakeholders, expanding and enhancing the expectations of what education should be,” said Joel Hernandez, CEO of eLumen. “Our new professional services build on what we’ve already achieved through our platform by addressing institutions’ needs in educational technology, curriculum, assessment management, and student pathways. These services, delivered in-person or remotely by experienced practitioners, will help institutions introduce a sense of control of complex processes and gain confidence in the value they can deliver to students.”

eLumen’s professional service engagements range between three to five days in duration and can be delivered on or offsite. This includes the COVID-19 Toolkit, a customizable package of services created to support institutions through current challenges, and to prepare for success this fall and beyond. The toolkit includes training and workshop options to best prepare staff for the upcoming semester.…Read More

Simplify student health care management

Frontline School Health Management has expanded their offering to include COVID-19 training, tracking, data analytics and reporting for students AND staff to support and ensure the physical, mental and behavioral health, well-being and regulation compliance of the full school community as they develop plans to address social distancing, COVID-19 case tracking and more in addition to their existing responsibilities.

  • Comprehensively and easily collect health data on students, their families and school staff (e.g., symptoms, testing, immunity and other data)
  • Educate, implement and enforce practices to increase safety and reduce risk
  • Provide comprehensive tracking, reporting and oversight
  • Support mental and behavioral health issues among students

For additional information visit Frontline Education

…Read More

Verizon announced support for relief efforts

Verizon announced support for relief efforts across communities impacted by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by tripling monthly data allowance for its Verizon Innovative Learning schools and committing $10 million to nonprofits directed at supporting students and first responder healthcare workers.

“Verizon stands ready to support our community members during this challenging time,” said Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO. “We will continue to work closely with partners to help provide resources and care for those who need it most.”

As the list of nationwide K-12 schools shifting to remote learning heightens, Verizon is supporting the students and teachers in its Verizon Innovative Learning program, the company’s education initiative targeting Title 1 middle schools, by tripling their data allowances. Effective March 16, the additional connectivity includes all tablets and laptops within the program and upgrades data plans from 10GB/month to 30GB/month through June 30.…Read More

Student Mental Health Resources

Schools may have protocols in place to support students on campus, but with the recent transition to distance learning can leave educators unsure of how to help. Gaggle has put together resources to help students in this time of isolation. With changes to their routine, concerns over COVID-19, and possible scarcity of food and resources, it’s a stressful time to be a student or educator.

Resources provided by Gaggle:

…Read More

Augmented reality science flashcards

While the current COVID-19 virus lock-down continues, many children across the world are unable to attend school. Parents and teachers alike may need to come up with creative ways to keep the children occupied and also provide them with education from home.

During these hard times, Octagon Studio would like to support those who are currently at home with our #LearnFromHome campaign. We are giving away 3,000 serial numbers and digital markers for users to enjoy our educational Augmented Reality experiences for free. This campaign shall be ongoing until the pandemic is over or until the 30,000 quotas have been met.

To get a free serial number, users can simply visit our website at https://octagon.studio/ and scroll through to find the #LearnFromHome campaign banner. By clicking the CLAIM NOW button and fill in their details, users will receive an email from us containing a free serial number and the digital markers of the product of
their choice. Each serial number can be used on one device, and each email address can be registered to claim one product out of five available 4D+ series: Animal 4D+,
Octaland 4D+, Space 4D+, Dinosaur 4D+, and Humanoid 4D+.…Read More

New Webinar Series to Support Virtual Coaching

Edthena is kicking off a new webinar series to help instructional coaches provide newly-virtual teachers with timely and much-needed support. The four-part “Kitchen Table Coaching” series, launching this Thursday, will provide strategies and best practices for facilitating virtual coaching. The series is part of the #PLtogether project (PLtogether.org) which will provide a collection of free resources for instructional coaches, including tactical advice from notable thought leaders in the education industry.

“Effective coaching will lead to the ultimate success of distanced teaching,” said Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena. “The #PLtogether project will provide a hub for topical resources to support instructional coaching during this unprecedented time. The first resource – this new webinar series – offers coaches an opportunity to ask questions and get tips and best practices for supporting professional learning now.”

The 30-minute Kitchen Table Coaching webinars, which will be led by former classroom teachers Heather Purzner and Rob McCreary of the Edthena Partner Success team, will take place every Thursday in May at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT. Educators can register for some or all of the following sessions:…Read More

Easy way for teachers to hold “Office Hours”

Numerade—a fully free online education platform founded with a mission to close the educational opportunity gap by democratizing access to extraordinary educators and content—is making it easy for teachers to support students in a distance learning environment through its “Office Hours” feature. This easy-to-use feature gives educators a simple way to create and upload asynchronous lesson videos and provide answers to anonymous student questions, promoting engagement and equitable access to online instruction.

Like the rest of Numerade’s resources, all features within Office Hours are entirely free for users. It allows teachers to easily create beautiful videos on any topic using the recording and whiteboard system, create a playlist from the more than 250,000 existing lesson videos within Numerade, track student engagement, and create weekly class recaps to ensure all students are getting the clarification they want and need.

The platform allows students to ask questions anonymously and ‘vote up’ questions from classmates, indicating which questions are most popular among the class and should be prioritized. Teachers can then create video responses to questions, which are available for all students to view to gain further clarification on key concepts.…Read More

Supporting emerging readers with home based literacy instruction

To help educators support emerging readers at home, multisensory phonics system Square Panda is offering a complimentary site license through 7/31/2020 and free Home Edition Playsets, valued at $49.95, for participating families (while supplies last).

The School to Home Engagement program is designed to provide quality literacy instruction and support so the student can work independently at home. It’s fun for students, easy for parents, and provides feedback in the Teacher Dashboard so their teachers can stay connected and provide support—even when they can’t be with the student.

To support your emerging readers at home, our complimentary offer includes:…Read More

Getting feedback quickly and easily

To help strengthen support to teachers, coaches, and school leaders in this time of need, Insight ADVANCE is providing its ADVANCEfeedback® video coaching tool, powered by the Vonage Video API, free of charge. As a custom-built solution, ADVANCEfeedback helps teachers, instructional coaches, and school and university leaders connect on a deeper level than off-the-shelf video conferencing tools, by using secure video for self-reflection, peer feedback, and instructional coaching. Powered by the Vonage Video API, it features both asynchronous video, and synchronous video via ADVANCElive, allowing for real-time meetings and trainings. ADVANCEfeedback helps districts, schools, and higher education institutions increase the frequency of coaching, save time and money, and drive educator growth all in one platform.

Insight ADVANCE has developed a suite of products that connects self-reflection, virtual instructional coaching and peer collaboration, and observation in one secure place to permanently impact how all educators involved in teacher growth are supported.

…Read More